This story takes place some years in the future, and tells a little of back story of pony's history
Time has passed, and our pony heroes have separated, each one following her dreams, leaving only Applejack and Twilight still residing in Ponyville, until a series of events would lead them to reunite with their friends, for a bigger and more dangerous adventure that will make them uncover the dark secrets behind Equestria's history.
AUTHOR NOTES:
Humans may take a while in appear but there will definitely be humans in the story Cover by Tsitra360
Years ago, the small town of Ponyville was home to all kinds of adventures and special events. And such events were always linked to six particular mares who were always there to solve the problem, even if in some cases, they were the ones who caused the problem in the first place. Nowadays, Ponyville is more peaceful than ever, ponies trotted free, minding their own business. There hasn't been a single trace of danger or weirdness in about thirty years.
In a small cafe, a light purple unicorn was seated in front of a table for two, with a cup of daisy tea, she was moving her head as if looking for somepony to show up. Suddenly, a hasty earth pony came trotting to where the unicorn was. Barely tired, the earth pony spoke as she took a seat "sorry to keep ya waitin', Twilight. There were more apples to pick than I expected!", she said.
After taking a sip from her tea cup, Twilight answered "It's ok, Applejack. But don't push yourself too hard, we don't want to happen the same as the last time you tried to pick all the apples by yourself, right?".
"May I take your order, please?" a waiter politely asked the mares.
"I'm fine, thanks. What about you Applejack?" Twilight answered as polite as the waiter
"I would like some orange juice, please" said Applejack, not so politely, while she took a seat in front of Twilight.
"Ummm, we also have some apple juice, and apple cider too" suggested the waiter with a calm expression on his face.
"I know that!" Applejack replied looking a little upset, "we sold those apples to you, remember?"
"Oh, yes, of course, miss. It's just that I thought you would prefer..." The waiter suddenly lost his cool and started sweating bullets.
"Look pal! Maybe you didn't know this, but I live and work in an apple farm. That means that each and every single day, I pick apples, eat apples, smell apples and everywhere I see, there are apples! I pick 'em up with my mouth!"
"E-Excuse me, I-I was j-just..."
"Don't you think I might be a little too tired of apples? And I don't know, maybe I want to drink anythin' besides apples?"
After gulping himself the waiter responded with a trembling voice, and fearing for his life, "ummm y-yes, miss..."
"Then bring me some orange juice before I lose mah patience, please and thank ya!"
Twilight awkwardly took another sip, and watched the poor waiter rushing to bring the so called orange juice. "You're a little grumpy today, Applejack" Twilight stated due to the rudeness of her friend.
Applejack nodded, while gazing at the peaceful streets, "eeyup, maybe because things have been too quiet around here lately. It's kind of boring without our friends."
"Yeah, since they all left, Ponyville isn't just the same. First, it was Fluttershy."
Applejack looked down and said "she left Ponyville to go on a journey to test herself or somethin'. It was about facing her fears and all that stuff. I sure hope she's fine."
"She doesn't want to be crybaby anymore" added Twilight as the waiter brought Applejack's drink. "I think that going on a journey might make her more confident, and I'm sure that she has learned lots of new stuff and her ability to tame creatures has increased even more. Who knows? Maybe we'll meet a brand new Fluttershy when she comes back."
"Y'know, I think you're right! Fluttershy is a brave pegasus in her own special way" Applejack nodded and turned her sight to Carousel Boutique in front of the cafe. "You know? I have always argued with Rarity. But I sure miss her now that she's gone."
Twilight frowned after seeing a couple of tears droping from Applejack's eyes. "She wasn't so happy to leave either."
"Rarity and I were born and raised in Ponyville, we were just neighbors, and her special talent was amazing. I knew Rarity would leave Ponyville someday, and I'm glad she is on her way to the top."
"I can't believe Photo Finish finally realised Rarity's talent and vision."
"Eeyup, and we got rid of that snooty drama queen for good."
"You're so mean" Twilight giggled, "she is now pretty famous, specially in Canterlot, but what did you mean by just neighbors, weren't you friends before?"
"Not that close. We only talked to each other once in a while during Pinkie's parties. We became closer friends when we met you and became the Elements of Harmony. I've never really considered Rarity as my friend until our lil' slumber party."
"You never told me that story before" Twilight seemed a bit surprised, "and wasn't Pinkie Pie born here in Ponyville too?
"No, she came from Hoofington. The strange, excesive friendly pony organized a welcome party for herself" Applejack recalled the funny fact, laughing out loud, "by the way, she's the one that surprised me the most when she became the official party planner for Princess Celestia, it must be heaven for that party monster."
"Her last wedding was a huge success, I was invited, and I didn't even knew who were getting married!"
"She invited you?" Applejack yelled surprised, "Why didn't I get an invitation? Are you still in contact with her?"
"Well, yes..." replied Twilight, "I send a letter to her once in a while with Spike's help."
"Oh, yeah, that. Spike can send letters" Applejack remembered, she took her hat to scracth her head, "It's been a while since I see you send a letter that I totally forgot 'bout that, maybe I'll send her a letter to give her a piece of my mind."
After a few laughs Twilight kept the conversation going, "Pinkie said that Rainbow Dash left the Wonderbolts in one of her letters."
"What?! But it was her life's dream!" Applejack gasped and spitted some of the orange juice she was about to drink. "Do you know what she's doing right now?"
Twilight answered while using her magic to clean her face with a napkin. "Actually no. Looks like the pegasi are the less communicative ponies around. Ironic, considering that they are the responsible for delivering mail" Twilight began to laugh.
"Well, Rainbow's always been' like that. I remember as if it was yesterday. It was thanks to Fluttershy that Rainbow and I first met" Applejack smiled nostalgic, "Rainbow seemed a little bored of bein' in Ponyville until we first met, she and I started arguing inmediatly who was the strongest pony around, and it's been like that since always."
"I really hope we could meet again soon" Twilight said with a sad tone, "our friendship was something so beautiful, but deep inside, I knew we would have to walk separate ways someday. But when that happened, I was both happy and sad. It was the same feeling I felt when I had to leave..." Twilight interrupted herself.
"Your brother?" Applejack guessed, "It's been like ten years now, ya can't be angry at each other forever, right? Are you still studying friendship? Maybe you should leave too, it's not like you can study friendship with no friends around."
"Not you too, Applejack..." Twilight frowned as she avoided the gaze of her friend, "there is something I'm missing here. I don't know what it is, but I'm sure there is something else I have yet to learn, and I have to wait here for it to happen. I don't know it for sure, but maybe our friends leaving Ponyville it's something I have to experience. I feel that I'm where I'm meant to be."
As Applejack finished drinking her orange juice, she stood up and leaving a few bits on the table, she said "A'ight, time to go back to work, since Applebloom works for herself it's been more work for me and Big Mac. See ya!"
"Ok, I also have to return to my studies" Twilight stood up too, "I hope Sweetie Belle and Spike have cleaned the mess in the library, see you later!" both ponies left smiling back at each other. They didn't know the dangerous adventure that was waiting for them around the corner would change everything in Equestria.
Applejack began to walk toward Sweet Apple Acres while Twilight walked toward the library. When the unicorn finally arrived her home, upon entering the library, a male and female voice exclaimed at the same time "It wasn't my fault!". A young white unicorn with a pink and purple colored mane was buried in the middle of a pile of books, and laying on top of it, a young purple and green dragon. "All you had to do was to organize a couple of books! What happened?" questioned Twilight with an hysterical face.
"Ummm, it's a funny story hehe" the dragon tried to explain, "Sweetie and I were about to put the books in their places when suddenly..." he gave a weak elbow hit to the unicorn, "We-we... Owliscious!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed with a nervous smile.
"It's midday. He is asleep" Twilight keep interrogating with her suspicious stare.
"Haha yes, of course, what Sweet here tried to say was..." Spike keep trying to explain when he was interrupted by a loud Sweetie Belle again "Pee Wee!"
"What? No way Pee Wee would make a mess like this!" Spike jumped to defend his pet, "he is the best educated phoenix I know!"
"Raised by you? I highly doubt it" Sweetie Belle replied giving place to a discussion.
Watching how her two assistants exchanged words, blaming each other, and some irrelevant arguments to the actual conversation, Twilight finally lost patience and raised her voice, "enough!" And after sighing and calming herself, she continued, "It doesn't matter whose blame it is, but that you didn't the small, simple task you had to do. And who the hay is Peanut Butter, and what was he doing all over the kitchen?" And after a silent second and with a scared look she ran to the kitchen, only to find the kitchen, literally, all covered in peanut butter.
"I'm going to study all day long in my room" Twilight picked some books from the pile and stepped up the stairs to her room, "when I come back, I want to find everything clean and shiny!" Twilight yelled from her room, "and don't bother to come back tomorrow, Sweetie Belle!", and she slammed the door, causing to drop some more books from the shelves in front of her assistants.
"Awww, she fired me again..." Sweetie Belle said looking down.
"That's like the fourth time this week" Spike said picking a few books, "and today is wednessday! It's a personal record."
During the silent nights in Ponyville, some ponies like to visit the very same cafe where Twilight and Applejack use to meet and talk, the Silver Café. Inside its walls, lots of exhausted ponies stop by for a well deserved rest and time to relax. Some ponies join with their friends, some ponies join with their crush, and some others just drink to drown their sorrow. Next to the bar, there are three young mares talking with the bartender.
"And she fired you again?" a not so surprised grey earth pony wearing glasses asked, trying to confirm what she just heared, "seriously, it's like the sixth time this week." While she was cleaning one of the glasses.
"Fourth time... We really messed up back then, but only I got fired" said the depressed unicorn, "It's not like she can fire Spike, right?".
Then a dizzy looking orange pegasus took the word, "hey! Look at the... bright side..." she said, interrupted by her hiccup and trying to be funny, "at least Spai... Spike is the ones who has to deal with da ragin' witch.... I mean Twi... Twil... zzzzzz."
"Sweetie Belle, how is it possible you get fired every single day?" said a pale yellow colored earth pony, "it's not like you to be this irresponsible" then looking at a snoring Scootaloo, she asked to the bartender "how many cups has she drunk?"
"Only two... and it's just milk" said the bartender, then, she kept the important conversation going, "Sweetie, you're not the greatest worker in town but I don't think you can be the worst one."
"It's easy for you to say, you both work for yourselves!" said Sweetie Belle justifying herself, "it's just that, working is so boring, so I keep distracting myself with every single thing, and we all know Spike isn't the most responsible partner to work with."
Then Scotaloo woke up and yelled, "Anothar round, Silver Spoon!", she fell asleep immediately after.
After a really long night at Silver Cafe, the midnight finally came and the time to sleep had come. Even for the hard working Applejack, but the quietness of the night lasted only a few minutes, a huge roar could be heard pretty close of Sweet Apple Acres. "What in all the apples was that?" Applejack woke up, and yawning she took a look at the window, "Ah could swear I hear a loud burp or somethin', must have been those new musicians neighbors..." then, after an even closer roar, a rain of fire started to fall on several areas of the orchards, followed by a huge red dragon.
Jumping out from the window, Applejack rushed and found a huge dragon throwing fire at the trees. "Whoa there, big guy, whatcha think you're donin'?" the dragon, looking down on the pony, just hit her away with her huge tail, and kept on with his rampage.
"Applejack!" a familiar voice yelled to her, it was Twilight and Spike riding on her back. "We'll deal with him together!" she exclaimed, and Big Macintosh appeared next to Applejack, "Eeeyup!", he said in his unique and calmed posture. "All Right!" Applejack said standing on her hooves again and taking her rope, "Yeeeehaw!" the dragon turned his head towards the ponies after hearing Applejack's warcry.
Twilight easily made herself grew up a pair of wings with her magic and lifted the flight with Spike still on her back, she skillfully flew around the dragon as Spike fired at him a really decent firebreath for his age. The dragon kept struggling to hit Twilight down, meanwhile the two earth ponies tied the dragon's legs, and as a final blow, Twilight started to spin around her own axis and attacked the dragon while Spike wrapped himself and Twilight with is own firebreath to create a sharp fire arrow.
The dragon was knocked down imminently, putting an end to his sudden rage. "Wow!" Spike surprised exclaimed, "I can't believe we made it! We knocked out a huge dragon, Twilight!"
The unicorn ending her magic said, gazing at the orchards, "but lots of apple trees were heavily damaged, and why didn't the dragon use his fire to attack us?"
Applejack and Big Macintosh were speechless to see how a big number of apple trees burnt, the dragon suddenly stood up and flew his escape to the southwest before anypony could do something about it. The ponies just watched him fly away just before the pegasi fire fighters came to control the fire caused by the dragon.
The next day, Applebloom was standing in front of the now old Cutie Mark Crusaders house club. "What's the matter blank flank?" an annoying voice of a light pink colored earth pony called taking care of her white and violet mane.
"Not now Diamond Tiara..." Applebloom stopped her while looking down.
"Sorry, cheering up ponies isn't really my strong point" Diamond Tiara said palming Applebloom's back, "but hey, it has never been right?" she said while smiling unconvincingly.
"I'm here to help you restore the apple trees. A lot of ponies came from all over Ponyville to help. Aren't you coming?"
"I was just thinking... maybe I shouldn't have left the farm. Now my home was destroyed and I wasn't even around."
"Come on! What could you do if a huge dragon attacks your home. And besides, it wasn't even your home, it was just the apple trees."
"That makes me feel a lot better!" Applebloom said sarcastically, "come, I have some new tools in the workshop to help planting the seeds."
"That's surprisingly convenient right now" Diamond Tiara said while she walked beside Applebloom.
Twilight and Applejack agreed to visit Princess Celestia after they sent a letter. What they didn't know is that this was going to be a lot more than a simple visit to the princess, this is how their new quest was beginning.
Every resident of Ponyville was in Sweet Apple Acres to restore the apple trees, it was an act of fellowship and support, showing their appreciation, respect, and good wishes towards the Apple family. Everypony was helping them, and bringing them foods and drinks to cheer the family up. But among all the ponies around, a couple of them stood out from the others.
"HEY HEY HEY, PONYVILLE! Let's do our best helping the Apple family! YEAH!"
"Vinyl! if you're not going to help, at least, could you please be quiet?"
"Awww, loosen up, Tavi! Haven't you heard that music helps plants to grow up?"
"Octavia! My name is Octavia! And wubs isn't what I would call music"
"Now now, let's not make one of your famous shows in front of everypony, ok?"
"My famous shows?! It's your fault that the whole townsfolk knows us as the new insane neighbors!"
"Come on! It's not insane to be roommates, a lot of ponies live that way."
"Arrgh! You know what? Forget it! I'm just wasting my time, in fact, I believe I'm wasting my whole life... what did I do wrong? how did I end up like this?"
Two days have passed since the night the dragon attacked Sweet Apple Acres. Normally, the towns in Equestria receive warnings of dragons to take the proper precautions, but this didn't happen this time, and the letter Twilight sent to the princess was never answered, this woke up Twilight's concern and decided to visit the princess at once, and find out what was happening.
In Ponyville's train station, a small group of ponies reunited to wish Applejack and Twilight a safe journey. "I feel bad for leaving you when you most need me" said Applejack to her family, "but we'll be back in a couple of hours, then back to work!" Granny Smith and Big Macintosh were there, but Applejack's sister was nowhere close to be seen.
"Well, It's time to go" said Twilight while the train to Canterlot stopped by the station.
"Twilight! May I have my job back, please? I promise to take good care of the library!" asked Sweetie Belle, shouting at Twilight from the distance just before she could take a step inside the train.
"Ummm, ok. But this is your last chance, got it?" answered Twilight, the young unicorn and got in the train while a Yay! could be heard from behind her.
Meanwhile, in Canterlot, a white unicorn with a stylized purple mane was in the judge's table of what it looked like a private fashion runway, she had a boring face and yawned frequently. Next to her, there was an earth pony with a gray mane wearing a pair of sunglasses, "Next!" she exclaimed in a German-like accent, she looked impacient and unsatisfied.
"No, no, no, NO!" she yelled at the models, "You don't have what it takes, you don't have what we need, you don't have... the magics!" exclaimed the earth pony while putting one of her front hooves in the air, and paused for a second while everypony else watched her with anticipation. "Now leave!" she suddenly commanded. The models couldn't help but leave the stage dissappointed and upset for not pleasing what the judges were looking for.
"Photo Finish, how are we supposed to reveal this dress if nopony has ummm.... the magics?" Rarity sighed.
"We need, somepony with class, somepony with grace, we need somepony... like her!" very excited, Photo Finish described the perfect model for the dress, picturing a certain pegasus that had worked with her in the past.
"You mean Fluttershy? I'm sorry, but that will not be possible. Even if I knew where she is, she has already told me that being a model isn't her joy at all", Rarity informed the overly excited photographer.
"What?!" Photo Finish asked in a shocked way, "has she gone missing? We must find her! And maybe she'll work with us."
"I don't think that is going to work. You'll see, she..." Rarity tried to stop her, but it was too late, Photo Finish had already raced towards the exit of the building leaving no sign of her presence. Photo Finish can be a complicated partner, sometimes, she thought, while rolling her eyes, and just before she could leave the building, a couple of royal guard pegasi stopped her.
"Miss Rarity, the princess requires your presence. Please come with us" one of them said with an authoritative tone. Rarity gasped with excitement and her eyes were so shiny that everypony could notice them, even in daylight.
Back in Ponyville, in Applebloom's workshop, she was reunited with with her friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, along with other two friends they made by putting their differences behind as they all grew up together. Discusing what Diamond Tiara has called in her mind as The craziest crusade a Cutie Mark Crusader has ever thought in history.
"You are going to what?!" Diamond Tiara quickly questioned with a surprised and scared look on her face.
"Chase that dragon" answered Applebloom with confidence, "I'm going to make him pay for the apple trees that he burned."
Scootaloo then, fluttered with excitement and shouted, "yeah! Let's show him that no dragon messes with us ponies!", but Diamond Tiara almost suffers a heart attack.
"I just got my job at the library back" said Sweetie Belle, she frowned while she was beside Applebloom in a seated position, "If Twilight finds out I left to chase a dragon she'll fire me again. Not to mention she might tell Rarity."
Diamond Tiara perked her ears up, and then she stomped the floor and stated "she's right! And what about your sister?" she said, doing everything in her hooves to make Applebloom reconsider.
"I'm an independent mare now!" Applebloom stomped her own hooves against the floor, "and you are too, Sweetie Belle! Don't let your sister scare you now, we're all grown up!"
"You're right, I'm independent!" Sweetie Belle stood up and replied Applebloom with a defying tone, "and I remember that you were the one who told me that I can't be irresponsible anymore, so I'm sorry, but I'm keeping my job this time!"
"Well I'm chasing that fire-breathing lizard with or without you!" Applebloom also defied the young unicorn.
"Easy there, let's think things first, shall we?" Silver Spoon suggested while she was cleaning her glasses, "Applebloom, how are you planning to find this one dragon?" she asked with a calm posture and her eyes mid closed.
"I'm glad you asked" Applebloom smiled at Silver Spoon and pulled a lever behind her, suddenly, a subterranean hangar showed up behind the workshop, and inside it, a huge machine that looked like a vessel. A gigantic wooden ship equipped with wings made of some kind of metal that could bend as if made of thread. There was three masts, one on the center, one on the rear and one on the front just behind the helm, and each one had on top a huge helix, the one on the center was the biggest. And below the hull, there was yet another helix, as big and wide as the ship. The ship's sails were made of a white robe, and the main sail portrayed the emblem of a big red apple with green wings.
"What is that?" all of her friends asked, while gazing at the huge vehicle and leaving their mouths and eyes wide open.
"You like it?" Applebloom proudly said while jumping on the machine, "It is called the Sky Wanderer. I've been working on it for years."
"You built a weapon of war?!" Diamond Tiara asked surprised, gazing at the cannons set at the sides of the vessel.
"It was supposed to be only for traveling, but that dragon really crossed the line! I couldn't help but create weapons to hunt him, and the idea just hit me, so I installed them on the Sky Wanderer. So are you in, or out?"
"Count me in, of course!" Scootaloo was the first to answer anxiously, "this is gonna be great!"
"Sorry but I'll be out of this, ponies will go crazy if I close the cafe one single night" said Silver Spoon still in shock of the huge vessel.
"Alright! I'm in too!" Sweetie Belle made her mind, "this is so exciting!"
"WHAT?!" another what?! question coming from Diamond Tiara, "Sweetie Belle, you're supposed to be the voice of wisdom among the three of you! What about being responsible and keeping your job?"
"I know, but I really want to do this!" Sweetie Belle replied with an ear to ear smile, "It's like being crusading again, but instead of just Ponyville, we'll go all around Equestria!"
"Well, count me in too..." Diamond Tiara included herself too, with a notable fear in her voice and eyes, "somepony has to take care of you three."
"Hold on a minute!" a young male voice shouted from the front door, it was Spike not so happy to see her partner about to leave her job.
"Spike! How did you know?" gasped Sweetie Belle, very desperate.
The dragon just mid closed his eyes and pointed with one of his fingers at the gigantic vessel that suddenly appeared in Applebloom's workshop, "that thing really attracts anyone's attention."
"I-I can explain! Please don't fire me!" Sweetie Belle begged the young dragon while bowing down to him as if he was the ruler of Equestria.
"Ok, ok. But I'm going with you!" Spike set the condition, "I don't want to be alone in that boring library, but we need to find somepony who is up to the job."
Then Sweetie Belle suggested, "Silver Spoon can do it, right?"
"Fine, but I'll take half of your salary" Silver Spoon nodded with a little of annoyance, rolling her eyes.
"I can live with that!" said Sweetie Belle who was all ready to go.
Silver Spoon waved her hoof while the Sky Wanderer began to take off, her friends, waving their hooves back at her while everypony in Ponyville watched them go as if they were watching an UFO.
"So... where are we going?" Spike asked defeated by his curiosity.
"We're taking down the dragon that burnt Sweet Apple Acres!" answered Scootaloo, with a brave and confident gesture.
"What?!" the dragon was shocked, for it was obviously too late to turn back as the Sky Wandered gained more and more altitude and the ponies in Ponyville started to look like ants.
A few hours later, Applejack and Twilight reached Canterlot's Palace, escorted by royal guards, they were guided to the Magic Court Chamber, "please wait for the princesses" said one of the guards, leaving them and closing the doors. Twilight and Applejack looked around the chamber and found a big number of serious and important looking ponies everywhere.
"Oh! Twilight! Applejack! Over here!" a pink cheerful pony jumped tirelessly, her smile stood out from the sea of frowning faces around her. "I can't believe you're here!" she said, "It's been like one hundred years. No! Like one thousand years! I've never been this excited before, well, except for when..."
"Pinkie!" Applejack interrupted, "it's so wonderful to see you again, and you haven't changed nothin' at all!" she replied with the same excitement.
"Pinkie Pie, it's been only thirty years" said Twilight with a huge smile and her eyes wide open with joy, "look at you! One of the most important party planners for Canterlot and Equestria."
Pinkie Pie blushed and nodded, "yeah! Thanks Twilight, making parties was more of a hobby to me, but thanks to the princess, I see that planning parties is a real job. Even those... Ugh! Sofisticated parties for royalty" Pinkie said with disgust on her face and showing up her tongue.
"What's the matter, Pinkie?" asked Applejack while Twilight giggled, "too much class and rules for you?"
"Too much?" Pinkie began to complain, "It's sooo boring you can't even call that a party! No balloons, no games, and that music, well, it's good, for the naptime! Weddings are more like my style!"
"Yeah, by the way. We have to talk about the guests list for that last wedding you planned" Applejack suddenly remembered.
Just before Applejack could start saying anything else, the doors opened again, this time, Rarity was the one escorted in to the chamber, "thank you, gentlemen" she said to the guards while walking inside the chamber.
"It's my pleasure, miss Rarity" one of the guards blushed.
"Rarity!" all of Rarity's friends jumped towards her. "Oh my! What a pleasant surprise!" Rarity contemplated at her now more mature friends, "It's been so long that is simply a blessing to find you all here!" Rarity cleaned some tears from her eyes while smiling.
With no time for more talking, the Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadence along with General Shining Armor, walked in the chamber from the back door and took a seat in their respective spots, each one giving a smooth smile to Twilight and her friends, except Twilight's brother. However, Princess Celestia had a serious gesture all over her face.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked to Pinkie who was the first of the friends to be in the chamber.
"I don't know, but the princess asked for an urgent audience with the council and the Elements of Harmony, I mean, us" Pinkie whispered to Twilight's ear, as confused as all of her friends.
With everypony silently watching at Princess Celestia, the front doors opened once again, a sky blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane walked in, wearing a golden aerodynamic armor decorated by silver pads and hooves, and a golden helmet. Upon her entrance, the aura of the chamber suddenly changed, her imposing presence announced that a very important pony had just arrived.
"Rainbow Dash!" all of her friends greeted her, grinning and admiring her.
"Hey, girls" she just smiled back without any surprise or any other reaction towards her friends, and kept walking forward.
"Rainbow Dash, captain of the Royal Elite of Equestria" announced Princess Celestia, "do you have any news about these events we have witnessed lately?"
"It is just as you suspected, princess" Rainbow Dash frowned, "this dragons' attacks weren't simply a wild rage. They were planned, all the most important farms and factories were all attacked and devastated." Every pony in the chamber gasped in shock, specially Applejack. "I'm afraid the dragons have declared war to us, your highness" the pegasus concluded.
"Prepare the defense line" the princess commanded with preoccupation in her eyes, "do we know where they may attack next?"
"No. But the dragons seem to be attacking from the Badlands southwest" Rainbow stated and proceed to suggest without losing her cool, "we don't know why they attacked, or what they want, but we better take some action now, your highness."
"We know where they are" Princess Luna stood up, "let's launch a counter attack now and end this before it gets worse, sister!" she suggested.
"These are dragons, aunt Luna" Princess Cadance also intervened, "we can't just attack and expect to win, can we?"
"But we have the Elements of Harmony, on our side" said one of the unicorns and was inmediately supported by his fellows.
"Not all of them" Twilight frowned and made Rainbow Dash realize that, in fact, Fluttershy was not in the chamber.
"What is this? It is an insult that one of you, ignores a direct audience with the princesses!" one of the unicorns madly exclaimed.
"Watch it, gramps. You're talking about my friend" Rainbow Dash quieted down the unicorn with a calm but unhappy glare.
"Twilight Sparkle, it looks like hard times are approaching Equestria" Celestia talked directly to Twilight, the alicorn wasn't surprised to see Fluttershy was missing, "I summoned you and your friends to ask you to stay out of this."
"But princess..." Twilight questioned the princess.
"You are my student, not my soldier" the princess explained, "I'm not willing to send civilians to war, not even the Elements of Harmony."
The princess then stood up to give her final command.
"General Shining Armor, prepare the defense lines, and tell the civilians to stay in doors. Luna and I will take care of the offensive. Captain Rainbow Dash, escort Twilight and her friends to the guests bedroom, and meet us in the throne room."
"Yes, your highness" Rainbow Dash nodded, "this way, girls."
After a walk through the hallways of the palace, they arrived one of the guests tower's bedroom. "This is it" said Rainbow Dash, she let her friends in with an apparent indifference to her friends. But upon their entrance in the bedroom, Rainbow Dash locked the door and suddenly let all her feelings out.
"Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh! You're here!" Rainbow Dash jumped at her friends and flew around the bedroom while her confused friends were wondering about the sudden change of mood.
"Isn't it a little too late for that Rainbow?" Twilight asked.
"Hehe, yeah, sorry. As captain of the Royal Elite, I must always keep calm and cool."
"That's a very amazing armor you're wearing" Applejack contemplated with awe due to how shiny it was.
"Of course! Rainbow Dash always dresses in style" Rainbow Dash nodded and showed off, "actually, it's Rarity's design."
"Why thank you! I'm just glad you appreciate a piece of art" Rarity proudly stated while fixing her mane, "it was hard to find an elegant, yet light, yet aerodynamic style, but as always I was able to..."
"We're finally all reunited! Isn't this wonderful?" Pinkie suddenly bounced around the place, interrupting Rarity's profesional explanation, "you know what this calls for? A huge PARTY!".
"Maybe some other time, Pinkie" Rainbow Dash stopped Pinkie's excitement, "I have orders, so..." when suddenly, a loud roar echoed from across the hallways, the dragons were now attacking Canterlot's Palace, "oh no! The princesses!" Rainbow Dash flew out from the window to rush to the throne room.
"Hurry girls!" Twilight ran to the hallways also rushing to the throne room with her friends behind her, "what about what the princess said, Twilight?" asked Pinkie.
"I know! But I can't leave her alone in this hard times."
In the throne room, Princesses Celestia and Luna were fighting five huge dragons, when Rainbow Dash appeard breaking through the door. "Princesses! I'm on my way!" When another red dragon came to stop Rainbow Dash. "Out of the way!" Rainbow Dash warned the dragon before charging at him. When Twilight and the other ponies also appeared while breaking through groups of smaller dragons.
"You!" Applejack noticed the red dragon that Rainbow Dash was facing, it was the same dragon that burned Sweet Apple Acres.
"It's payback time!" shouted Applejack while she and her friends joined the battle, but the red dragon set a fire wall preventing the ponies to advance anymore. However, Rainbow Dash flew through the fire, but the dragon kept the fight up, not allowing the pegasus reach the princesses.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna joined their horns to perform one of their almighty spells, "now, sister!" Luna exclaimed while Celestia nodded.
"Stand back, everypony!" Celestia commanded while focusing her magic.
"We got you!" said a purple and green dragon, while crashing in through the roof, making now six dragons in the chamber, he spat some kind of purple flame just before the sisters could finish their spell, Celestia pushed her sister away to save her from the flame, but it was too late to save herself, she was caught in the purple flame wich became crystal in wich Princess Celestia was now trapped.
"Nooooooo!" Everypony screamed in panic.
"Do not worry, ponies. It is dragon's magic, she is still alive, but we will take her with us. Ha ha ha ha!" said the purple and green dragon with a fiery voice, while he and the others made their quick escape leaving the palace with Princess Celestia as their prisoner.
"THOU SHALL NOT TAKE OUR SISTER!" Luna exploded with wrath in every inch of her being, summoning a powerful storm of rays, lightnings and thunders. She flew chasing the dragons, and throwing bolts at them, but the green dragon, with a form like a snake covered by shiny feathers green, blue and used his magic and summoned a hurricane that blew the storm away along with Luna who crashed on one of the citiy's walls.
"I am sorry alicorn. But your sister is a bigger threat than you" said the green dragon with pity in his eyes before leaving.
General Shining Armor was too late in reaching the throne room. "Where are the princesses, Rainbow Dash?"
"I'm sorry general, we failed..." Rainbow Dash frowned, "they took Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna was defeated, she is somewhere in Canterlot..." Shining Armor then, commanded to look for Princess Luna.
The city of Canterlot was invaded and devastated, royal guards and elites ponies fighting back, the dragons retreated after the big ones escaped, but it was anything but a victory for the ponies, with Princess Celestia imprisoned by the dragons, and Princess Luna injured, it was Cadance's turn to take on command while Princess Luna recovers from her injuries.
"Are you sure the dragon went to Canterlot?" Scootaloo was so bored that it seemed her yawn would last forever as she stood beside the border of the ship, watching the fields they were passing over, "didn't Applejack said he escaped to the southeast?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" Applebloom, who was piloting the ship, answered furiously at the pegasus, her face turned red and heat started coming out from her ears, she had lost her patience, "I was sure the first sixty-seven times you asked!" The other ponies and the young dragon were playing some kind of cards game, when they turned their sight at the angry pilot, when she suddenly looked back at them, they quickly put their attention back to their game.
The mood of Applebloom changed as soon as she put her eyes on the city of Canterlot, she was shocked to see that part of the glorious Canterlot Palace was reduced to crumbled walls, along with some of the buildings in the city. Scootaloo joined the shock just before the rest of the group.
"W-What... What happened?" Diamond Tiara couldn't help but rub her eyes with her hooves for a second look, the appearance of the city was the most horrific view she had ever seen.
As the Sky Wanderer landed on the outskirts of the city, the wind produced by the helix of the Sky Wanderer blew the present ponies' manes and tales. Everypony was amazed, contemplating the enormous machine wich was able to defy gravity without any kind of magic, but with the strength of some kind of giant fan below the ship. In the end, Applebloom and her friends came out of the Sky Wanderer, everypony in town saw them as if they were from another planet, then after a few seconds, the shock was over, and everypony remembered they had something more important things to do.
The group walked in the city and watched royal guards around the streets, some ponies were hiding in their houses, and the ones on the streets were scared or injured. The crying of colts and fillies sounded from far away, pegasi were flying all over the city and some of the unicorns and the earth ponies were helping rebuilding the city.
"I can't believe a single dragon could do all of this" Spike was amazed of how devastated the city was.
"It wasn't a single dragon, Spike" a white unicorn showed up in front of the group, she had a crimson mane with a violet stripe, and she seemed to know Spike somehow, "six huge dragons came to attack the palace, and with them, a large horde of smaller dragons to attack the city."
"S-Six huge dragons?!" The traveling group gasped.
"And what about the princessess? And who are you, anyway?" Diamond Tiara questioned the unicorn.
"Sorry... I don't know the details" the unicorn frowned and her voice softened a little as she tried to explain, "I am Moondancer, I'm Twilight Sparkle's... classmate. I was ordered to lead the crew of that flying machine to the palace, that would be you, right?"
"Right! It's the Sky Wanderer and my pride" Applebloom jumped in front of the unicorn, closed her eyes, and began to endlessly explain the details about the Sky Wanderer, as the rest of the group just stared at her trying to understand Applebloom's words in vain.
"That's great!" Moondancer giggled, interrupting the excited pony, "maybe you'd like to explain all that to the princesses. Shall we go, then?"
The mare unicorn led the group to the palace while she had a friendly conversation with his old friend Spike until they finally reached the palace. "Please wait here while I inform the princess you are here" said Moondancer before she left the group in one of the palace's big halls.
After a few seconds of silence, Sweetie Belle noticed a dark room, "I wonder what is in that room..." her curiosity led her to investigate, shortly followed by her friends. The echo of their steps filled the hall as they got closer to the door, they could feel the dark aura of the room running through their bodies. Slowly opening the door, the alicorn inside the room noticed she had visitors.
"Who's there?"
"A-Are you ok, Princess Luna?" Scootaloo asked in a very concerned tone, "you don't look so good."
"It's nothing, I was just..." The depressed princess tried to hide the sadness of her face, "just thinking."
"Please, your highness. Forgive our intrusion." Diamond Tiara bowed to the princess, "but I think you should talk to somepony if something is bothering you."
Princess Luna stared at their sincere eyes for a while, until a few tears droped her face. "I tried to help her, to be like my sister. But I only humiliated myself in front of my subjects. I failed as a Princess, and as a sister."
"Well of course!" Sweetie Belle talked to the princess, making her see her mistake, "you tried to be like your sister, but you obviously aren't your sister."
"Yeah! Imitating the older sister is a common mistake among younger sisters" added Applebloom.
"You have to start being like yourself, stop thinking what Princess Celestia would do, and start doing things your own way. Because Princess Celestia has skills that you don't, but you also have skills that Princess Celestia will never be able to imitate" said Sweetie Belle, she smiled at Princess Luna.
"Spike? Girls? Where are you?" Moondancer's voice sounded from outside.
"It's Moondancer. I think we should leave now, girls" said Spike, and they proceeded to make their way out of the room to reunite with the unicorn while Princess Luna stayed, thinking of what the young ponies have said. Doing things my own way.
Soon after the short conversation with Princess Luna, Moondancer led the group to the throne room where Twilight and her friends were already waiting for Princess Cadance.
"Goodness! Sweetie Belle! What are you doing here?" Rarity jumped to greet her sister, smiling even more than Pinkie Pie, "you were just little filly when I left Ponyville! And now look at you. You have become a beautiful young mare. I can't believe it's only been thirty years!"
But unlike Rarity, Applejack wasn't happy to see her sister at all, "Applebloom! What in tarnation are you doing here?"
"Please, Applejack" Rarity stopped Applejack, "I know you are her older sister, but Applebloom is not a filly anymore."
"But aren't you worried about your sister with all those dragons hangin' round Equestria?"
"Of course I am, darling. But they are totally conscious of their actions and we must respect them" said Rarity, then calmly turned to her sister and asked, "now, Sweetie. Could you tell us what brings you to Canterlot, please?"
"Ummm, we came here looking for the dragon that burned Sweet Apple Acres" answered Sweetie Belle, very nervously, not knowing how her sister would react.
"WHAT?! Are you out of your mind?!" Rarity gasped, and after a few seconds, she regained her cool, "Sweetie, my dear, you may want to reconsider."
"No!" Applebloom interrupted with a serious face, "Applejack, a huge dragon attacked our home, and you're expecting me to sit and do nothing?" Suddenly, Applebloom stopped herself and widened her eyes as she watched Princess Cadance come along with General Shining Armor and Captain Rainbow Dash.
"Are you the ones who brought that flying vessel, girls?" Princess Cadance was surprised to see Applebloom and her friends.
"Yes, we are, your highness" Diamond Tiara politely bowed down to the princess, "Applebloom built it, and we were planning to use it to attack a dragon."
"We are at war with the dragons, young mare. You can't just go and attack the dragons by yourself" explained Princess Cadance, "I honestly expected somepony more... mature, to bring such a fascinating machine. Applejack, your sister is quite a smart and talented pony. And how fast can fly?" said the princess as the earth pony sister's face blushed as red as apples.
"Wait, Cadance! I mean... your highness," Shining Armor questioned the princess, "what are you thinking?"
Princess Cadance let go a long sigh and continued to explain her idea, "I'm sorry to inform that my aunt, Princess Celestia, has been kidnapped by the dragons, and Princess Luna has been injured." The younger group of ponies along with Spike and Moondancer gasped in shock after hearing the bad news.
Princess Cadance then watched at the Sky Wanderer from the window and made a serious face, "so... like you, Applebloom. I also have a grudge against dragons. But I know I'm powerless to just go and attack them, that would be unwise from me. But we can help each other out... I was thinking, maybe we could use your machine to rescue Princess Celestia."
Shining Armor was the first to protest "Princess Cadance! We can't send civilians to war! Remember what Princess Celestia said..."
"I know what the princess said, brother!" Twilight said, "but we must take action! And that machine could be of great help, and besides if there's something I can do to help the princess, then I'll do it without hesitation!" Her friends nodded and supported her as they all gathered around the general, making him give up on his protest.
"Fine... But we'll need a strategy..." Shining Armor explained his plan, summoning a holographic map of the battlefield with his magic, the rest of the ponies listened carefully to his instructions as he made a small simulation of the battle.
"Any doubts?" asked Shining Armor, very proud of his clear and bright strategy.
"Well, yes... what exactly are we supposed to do again?" Pinkie Pie asked with the most confused face anypony has ever made.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and explaied to Pinkie Pie the plan in a way she could understand. "Basically, we're going to rescue the princess on that flying thing, while the troops kick some dragons' tails. You just follow me, ok?"
"Very well. General, Captain, gather your troops and prepare for battle, We're going to rescue Princess Celestia and finish this once and for all. Everypony else, rest well, but be ready" after giving the last orders, General Shining Armor and Captain Rainbow Dash saluted the princess and left the the throne.
The rest of the ponies headed to the guests tower, Twilight got closer to Moondancer as they walked, and after trying to get the courage to talk to her, she finally spoke, "Moondancer... I wanted to say... I'm so sorry for my past behavior."
"Why are you apologizing, Twilight?" asked the confused unicorn.
"I... I was so... so mean to you. You were always talking to me, and sitting next to me, always trying to be kind, but I just ignored you, and rejected your friendship."
"It's ok, Twilight. You were right all along. If I had focused more on my studies instead of making friends and throwing parties, maybe I'd be as good with my magic as you are."
"No, Moondancer. It was YOU who was right all along. We could have helped each other, but I was selfish. I didn't understand back then, but now I do. You were my friend... from the very beginning... we are still friends... right?"
"Yes... yes, we are" a couple of tears dropped from Moondancer's eyes.
The time passed by, but however, there was no princess able to lift the moon, the night never covered the skies. Using this daylight, ponies prepared their attack. The formation of the royal troops were already marching to the Badlands, where the dragons have made their hideout. Civilians watched from the windows countless unicorns and earth ponies, wearing armors and wielding spears and shields, while the pegasi royal guards escorted them from the air and the Royal Elite soared the skies. The team was preparing to board the Sky Wanderer from the throne room's balcony. When the sky suddenly began to turn dark, Princess Cadance smiled, she knew it could only be Princess Luna's doing.
"Look everypony!" Princess Cadance stated, "it's getting dark! Night is coming!"
"It's Princess Luna! This is great! Now we will save Princess Celestia under Princess Luna's direction!" Pinkie Pie began to hop all over the balcony.
"Twilight. Princess Luna seems to trust as a friend. Will you please go see if she's alright?" Princess Cadance asked Twilight who just nodded and headed to Princess Luna's room.
In front of the same dark room that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had visited earlier, Twilight opened the door and found the princess looking at herself in the mirror among the darkness. "Princess Luna? Are you ok?"
"I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle, but I've been thinking... I'm not half the princess I once was."
"What are you talking about? You are a great princess!"
"No, Twilight Sparkle. That dragon was right. My sister was the only threat to them. I was no match at all" Princess Luna's eyes began to glow and the window opened by the force of the wind. Princess Luna smiled, turned around, and walked a few of steps toward Twilight.
"I'm sorry, but I gave up to her" said Princess Luna as she kept getting closer, Twilight recognized the armor Princess Luna was wearing.
"No, Princess Luna! You must fight! Don't let her beat you!" Twilight desperately tried to stop the princess, while she began to put the violet helmet on.
"Don't you see, Twilight Sparkle? My true power is awakening. I can't keep denying my true self. Without me, she is a mere shadow, an old pony tale to scare little colts. And without her, I'm just a powerless princess, just an alicorn with a noble title always in need of her big sister. But together, we are the mighty Nightmare Moon! The True Princess of the Night!"
"Princess, please stop this. Or else..." Twilight prepared to try and stop Princess Luna, but she was already consumed by Nightmare Moon's powers.
"Or else what, Twilight Sparkle?" Nightmare Moon defied Twilight as her horn began to glow, "are you going to fight me? I don't suppose you're kidding this time, right?" The magic of Nightmare Moon overwhelmed Twilight's, who was knocked out to the hallway.
"Do you realise we have tried this before, Twilight Sparkle? Without the Elements of Harmony, your efforts will be in vain. I'd like to play with you, but I have better things to do. From now on, no more nice Princess Luna! It's time I started doing things my own way!" As Twilight tried her best to stand up, she watched Nightmare Moon using the window to flee. As soon as Twilight was on her hooves again, she rushed to the throne room's balcony as fast as she could.
"Twilight! What happened? Who did this to you?" Shining Armor rushed to help his panting sister .
"It was... It was Nightmare Moon. She has returned!" Twilight closed her eyes, and told her friends what she had witnessed, while the Sky Wanderer lifted the flight alongside an escort of Royal Elite troops.
After some time, Shining Armor approached his sister to show his concern, with Rainbow Dash on his side, "Twilight... I know you want to do this" said the General, "but after what happened to you, I can't let you risk your life without protection."
"Are you on this too, Rainbow?" Twilight turned to her friend suspiciously.
"Well... as your friend, I know you can pull your own weight. But as a soldier, It's my duty to protect civilians, and that includes you too."
"Captain Rainbow Dash and I, have choosen personally a bodyguard to protect you from any danger."
"Me? But what about the others?" Twilight gasped.
"I'll take care of the rest, I said I can protect all of you, but General Shining Armor insisted and... well, he is my general after all" explained Rainbow Dash.
"Guardian Sword, you may come now" after giving the order, a white pegasus wearing a Royal Elite armor landed on the Sky Wanderer's deck, his cutie mark was a golden shield crossed by two swords and his crimson eyes pierced through everypony's soul while his serious face gazed at Twilight. He then took off his helmet, showing his wavy black mane with a single red stripe and stepped in front of Twilight.
"Who is this?" Twilight asked very angrily.
Rainbow Dash jumped to answer very proudly of the stallion, "he is a promise! One of the best from the best among the best of the Royal Elite! He is probably the best of them all, if I say so myself. Soldier! Introduce yourself."
"My name is Guardian Sword, It's a honor to protect the general's sister" Guardian Sword bowed to Twilight. Everypony, especially Rarity, were shocked watching how gallant he was.
"Umm... I am, I mean..." Twilight blushed and walked a step backwards.
"Oh please excuse her, sir" Rarity interrupted stepping beside Twilight, "What she means is that she is very glad to meet you." Don't worry, darling. I got you covered, She whispered to Twilight's ear.
The Badlands seemed closer and closer each moment. Everypony was determined to rescue the princess, even Pinkie Pie, though she looked very distracted. But Twilight's mind was concerned as she gazed at the night sky, What is Nightmare Moon up to? Eternal Night? And where is Fluttershy? She was hoping that rescuing Princess Celestia will make things get better, before they get worse.
"Well, sir Guardian Sword" Rarity approached the pegasus stallion, blinking her eyes and fixing her mane with her hoof, "now that we are going to team up. We could start by meeting each other and starting a friendly relationship, don't you agree?"
"Sorry, miss Rarity. I'm not interested" Guardian Sword replied, "the success of this mission does not rest on me making friends. I hope you can understand this." Upon hearing those familiar words, Twilight stared at the stallion for a brief moment, then, shaking her head, she feigned uninterest at the stallion.
"Yes, of course. We should keep a professional link. I totally agree with you, sir Guardian Sword" Rarity once again blinked her eyes trying to get Guardian Sword's attention, who was too busy looking at Twilight ignoring him.
"Look at that snooty!" Spike pointed at Guardian sword very jealously, complaining about him with Pinkie Pie, "can you believe him? He's just showing-off to impress Rarity. What a dork!"
The darkness of night covered the Badlands, lit only by the fire of the dragons, and the spells of unicorns. The battlefield was raging with fierce battles, the younger dragons were outnumbered by the ponies. Magic beams, light balls and fire were being shot at every direction, and the sky was filled with a storm of fighting pegasi and wyverns. The Sky Wanderer was being piloted skillfully by Applebloom across the battlefield as shining armor was in command and ready to join the battlefield.
"Applebloom, remember the plan. The center peak is probably where the princess is, try to get as close as you can. We'll lure the battle out so you can get in and rescue the princess."
"Roger, general" Applebloom put one of her front hooves on her forehead, saluting Twilight's brother.
Turning his sight to Twilight, Shining Armor shared his feelings with his sister. "My sister, we haven't been on the same page lately" he said, "I admit I have doubted your friendship, but your friends are here, even in war they stand by your side. You have learned a lot about friendship but this is going to be another lesson to you, and a hard one. This time you... I just want to say that this isn't like your past adventures, this is a war, and you will see things that everypony will regret, be careful my sister... I love you."
"Brother, stop. You sound like this is the last time we see each other"
"It might be. In war, you never know" the general put on his helmet and before teleporting to the battlefield he said, "soldiers, please keep everypony safe. You're in charge Rainbow Dash."
"Roger, general" the two soldiers saluted the general.
The Sky Wanderer boosted towards the center peak until a wave of wyverns attacked the vehicle. Applebloom tried to maneuver through them, but the dragons' fire damaged the ship. The hull and mast were on fire and the inferior helix was falling apart.
"Hey Bloom, what happens if we lost that huge fan thing below the ship?" Scootaloo nervously asked Applebloom.
"What? Oh no! Hold on everypony! We're going down!"
As the ship was falling, the wyverns chased behind it, "if they keep attacking, we're going to blow!" shouted Applebloom, very desperate.
"Let's keep them away!" Rainbow Dash, Guardian Sword and Scootaloo flew to fight the wyverns, as Twilight shot magic beams, but they couldn't stop them all.
"I'll jump!" Spike suddenly suggested.
"Are you insane? It's too dangerous" Rarity interrupted.
"My fire is strong enough to bring them down! I know I can do it!"
"But it's a long fall. You may get hurt! It's out of the question, Spikey Wikey."
"I'm not that little dragon anymore. I have grown stronger. And if I have learned something from Twilight, is that I can use my strength to protect my friends!"
"But... but... Twilight, please, say something!"
"Good luck, buddy" Twilight nodded at Spike and before he jumped. She closed her eyes.
"What?! Are you serious?!"
Spike, then, ran to the back of the ship, and made a long jump facing the wyverns, using all his breath, he threw the largest firewall he could, and burnt the closer wyverns.
"Spike.... No! SPIKE!"
Rarity broke into tears as Spike, along with the wyverns, fell into the middle of the dragon's lines. Applebloom took advantage of the moment to land on higher grounds near the crag where the princess was being held captive.
Upon landing, Rarity jumped out and headed backwards, "Spike! We have to save him!"
"Hold on!" Rainbow Dash stopped her, "I'm sorry Rarity, but we can't take out an army by ourselves."
"I can't believe you! You are supposed to protect us! And now, you want to abandon him?"
"I know! I was slow, and I'm sorry... But it was his own decision, and I bet he will be fine. The little guy is brave enough to risk his life for all of us, we would have toasted if it wasn't for him. Do you want that to be in vain?"
"But he was... I can't... I can't believe he's gone" Rarity used Rainbow's shoulder to vent her pain, the rest of the group stood silent for a moment, resenting that their friend was now at the mercy of the dragons.
"Yeah... we should keep moving, alright?" Rainbow Dash blushed and gently pushed Rarity away.
"Y-Yes, you're right... ahem, let us go" Rarity cleaned her eyes just before the group began to march inside the crag.
The dragon's hideout was lit by torches, and surprisingly not a single jewel to be found, the air was completely mixed with the smell of sulfure and the temperature high enough to make anypony sweat. As they kept moving forward, the ground felt even more hot and dry until they reached a part of the cave that looked like a great hall.
"This whole place was obviously built by those dragons" stated Moondancer.
"Yes, the geological shape seems broken on purpose" added Twilight.
"And some of the rocks on the walls were moved from their original position, and some others don't even belong to this cave, they were probably brought here to act as pillars and keep the place safe from slides. But who knows? Maybe it's just for decoration" added Pinkie Pie, very cheerfully while the others wondered how did she have that much knowledge about geology.
"What?" asked Pinkie, "Twilight is always bragging about her know-it-all attitude, but I can't do it?"
Twilight mid closed her eyes and said "Pinkie, I'm going to love and tolerate the..."
"Shhh, I can hear something" Applejack raised her ears.
"What is it?" Sweetie Belle also raised her ears, "it's the Princess' voice!" she gasped.
The group trotted following the princess' voice to the bottom of the hall, and there she was in front of the ponies, she was being guarded by the purple, green dragon who locked her inside the crystal.
"It is very impressive that you came here, ponies" the dragon stepped forward, ready to confront the ponies. "My name is Skyclaw. If you want to save your princess, you will have to deal with us first."
"Us? You're by yourself, big guy" Scootaloo confidently taunted the dragon, trying to sound like Rainbow Dash.
"In fact, young pegasus, I am the second in command" the dragon looked down at Scootaloo, "we dragons are all rage and brute strength. We do not have the ability to think in the brilliant strategy we used to capture your princess."
"What does that mean? Who is your boss?" Rainbow Dash asked, waiting patiently the moment to attack Skyclaw.
"I am" a sweet, gentle voice responded from behind the dragon. As Skyclaw moved aside, the shadowy figure turned out to be a pony, a pale yellow pegasus stepped closer, her pink tail was so long it could touch the ground, and her pink mane covered one of her light blue eyes and her face expressed concern, yet no surprise upon seeing the group that came to rescue the princess.
"FLUTTERSHY?!" the shocking gasp echoed through the hideout, as Princess Celestia was lowered her gaze, as if she knew all from the very begining.
"W-What do you mean, Fluttershy? What is this all about?" Twilight questioned the yellow pegasus, even though she was afraid to hear the answer.
"It is as you see. I joined the dragons' side. And their attacks to Equestria were all my ideas" Fluttershy hid her face with her mane.
"What?!" Rainbow Dash's eyes stared furiously at Fluttershy's, "are you saying that YOU planned the attack to Equestria?!"
"And what about Sweet Apple Acres?" questioned Applejack, "was that your idea too?"
"Yes" Fluttershy admitted, closing her eyes, she wasn't proud nor regretted, "the farms, the big cities, even the capture of the princesses. All the attacks were planned to stop the ponies from fighting back, I didn't want to hurt anypony. But somehow Princess Luna escaped. And still, deep inside of me, I knew you'd come here eventually."
"But darling. Why?" asked Rarity, "you were always scared of the dragons. How could you possibly join them?"
"I met Skyclaw during my trip" Fluttershy began to tell her story, "I was collecting food in a forest, when suddenly, it started raining, so I took shelter in a cave. And he was there. At first, I was scared, of course, but then I took a second look, and I saw a nest full of sad starving baby dragons. Some of them were even younger than Spike, I couldn't just ignore it. I gave them a few jewels I found, and so, Skyclaw thanked me and we became friends, he told me why there were less dragons, and why they were in that condition."
"Oh, what was it?" Pinkie Pie curiously questioned while she ate a popcorn box.
"Maybe Princess Celestia can explain that to her subjects" Skyclaw stated, and all the stares were set on the princess.
Princess Celestia sighed, then then she talked, "you know the story about the hearth's warming eve we tell every year, I presume. Well, the three races of ponies, didn't join because they became friends. They had to do it to conquer the new land, the land that was inhabited by dragons."
"The dragons? But what about Windigos?" Moondancer gasped, "I studied and learned the whole story. Was it all a lie?"
"It was a little modified. The ponies banished the dragons from their own home, dealt out the land and each race built they're own country, Pegasopolis, Unicornia and Earth. The Windigos appeared after the ponies failed to live in harmony as neighbor countries."
"But" Twilight turned her sight to Fluttershy asking for an explanation, "why war? Why didn't you negotiate?"
"We did negotiate, Twilight. But Princess Celestia didn't agree. Now it's too late" Fluttershy moved between the ponies and the princess, blocking their way. "The dragons are the owners of the land, and they shall have it back. Skyclaw, please take the princess, I mean, if that's ok with you" Skyclaw nodded and using his magic he escaped with the princess, to another crag.
"Girls, go after him, and save the princess" Rainbow Dash ordered the rest of the team as she began to remove her Royal Elite armor and took a battle position "alright, Fluttershy. No armor, no handicap. Let's do this with honor!"
"You are not serious, right?" Rarity shot a glance at the two pegasi, "are you really going to fight?"
"Go, now! Your presence might bother me!" Rainbow Dash shouted at the group of ponies, that then, hesitantly left to give chase to Skyclaw and save the princess.
Just after they were left alone, before the battle, Fluttershy began a short conversation with the rainbow pegasus, as they both walked in circles in front of each other, waiting for the moment to strike, and getting their wings ready for a battle that will surely take place on the air.
"Don't you remember, Rainbow Dash? When you joined the buffalos in Appleloosa?"
"This isn't like that!"
"Yes, it is. You turned against the ponies because you knew they stole the land from the buffalos. That time, all ended well. But this time, the negotiations didn't work, the princess didn't trust the dragons, she didn't even wanted to share the land. She said the dragons are dangerous for the ponies, and they should find someplace else to live."
"What do you expect from all this, Fluttershy? Do you think Princess Celestia will let it pass when this is all over?"
"I only wish to stand by the creatures who can't stand by themselves, I always felt a special link with them, I am unable to leave them alone when they need me. I heal them if they're hurt, I feed them if they're hungry, and of course, I'll give them shelter if they're homeless. It is only in my nature, it is something I need to do, even if I have to turn against my own race, because all creatures have the right to have a good life, and we ponies are no one to take that right from any creature, not even from the dragons."
"I see you're determined to it. Let's see if you can stand by yourself, once I'm done with you!"
Rainbow Dash launched herself and connected a punch in Fluttershy's face who was knocked backwards. Without warning, Rainbow Dash charged at Fluttershy a second time and knocking her back again. Rainbow Dash attacked a third time, but Fluttershy swiftly dodged by flying. Rainbow Dash hit the ground with her hind hooves and impulsed herself upwards to attack, but Fluttershy to the left, dodging Rainbow's attack and countered with a tackle that Rainbow Dash blocked with her front hooves.
"Are you serious?" Rainbow Dash said with a cocky attitude, "you don't expect to beat me like this, right?"
Rainbow Dash performed a spinning attack and hit Fluttershy who inmediately regained balance and charged at high speed, knocking Rainbow Dash against a wall. As the battle continued, attacks at high speeds took the battle out of the cave and over the peak of the crag. Rainbow Dash gained altitude, preparing her Sonic Rainboom, but when she was about to descend, Fluttershy surprised her and performed a quick attack that hit Rainbow Dash's chest, she fell down and crashed on the peak.
"Damn, somepony learned new moves, huh?" Rainbow Dash used all of her strength to stand up while panting, as Fluttershy landed in front of her.
"Dragon's techniques. I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I don't think you can win this one."
Fluttershy's eyes showed no mercy at a hurt Rainbow Dash, it was as if she was a different pony from the Fluttershy that Rainbow Dash used to know in Cloudsdale. There was no trace of the once shy and kind pegasus, Rainbow Dash stared at Fluttershy's eyes once more and took a deep breath.
"Good. You wanna do this the hard way? We can do this the hard way!" Rainbow Dash began to fly once again and put a serious face, while Fluttershy followed, both preparing for the second round.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team chased Skyclaw to a higher crag. The dragon landed on the peak and looked at them with defying eyes, challenging them to go and try to rescue the princess, Applejack's competitive pride made her run first inside the cave leading to the top, with the rest of the team behind her, but their enthusiasm didn't last long. A few steps inside the cave, rocks began to fall down on the ponies.
"Take cover!" Guardian Sword pushed Pinkie Pie and jumped towards Twilight to save her and himself from the sliding rocks, while Moondancer and the crusaders jumped back from the boulders, and Applejack and Rarity jumped to opposite sides to avoid a bulder from crushing them. The giant pile of boulders were stuck between the ponies, separating them into different parts of the cave.
"Is everypony ok?" Twilight asked out loud, with a tone of desperation.
"I'm still in one piece" Applejack shook off the dust from her hat and her body.
"That was close" Moondancer stood up, and watched Scootaloo shake her head, then turned to her friends, she was relieved that no pony was hurt.
"Oh no! Please, no! Of all the worst things that could happen, this is the WORST! POSSIBLE! THING!"
"Rarity, are you still on four hooves?" Applejack doubtly questioned, Rarity's drama.
"My mane is a disaster! And my coat is all dusty and dirty!"
"Don't worry, miss Rarity. At least you're still breathing, right?" Guardian Sword cheered up Rarity, whose eyes shined inmediately and forgot about her looks upon hearing his voice.
"Of course! You're right, Sir Guardian Sword! It needs more than a couple of stones to stop this unicorn. Oh, look! There's a way out!" Rarity tried to impress the stallion by sounding brave and confident, while walking towards the only path she had left.
"Wait, Rarity! We should keep going together!" Applejack tried to stop her, but her efforts were useless.
"Says the pony who just ran after that dragon, without even stopping to think that might be a trap" taunted Applebloom.
"Don't tempt me, Applebloom!" responded Applejack, "at least I didn't build a huge piece of junk to chase a dragon!"
"Please, let's all calm down, ok?" said Sweetie Belle, very concerned, "we got a bigger problem."
"You're right, Sweetie Belle! We'll have to find another way from the outside!" Applebloom leaded her friends to the exit.
"Applebloom! Come back here! I'm not done with you!"
"Sorry, sis. But we have to save the princess."
"Don't worry, Applejack. I'll get them" Moondancer ran after the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"One day, I'll teach that stubborn girl to listen to me. Anyway, looks like we're stuck."
"Wait! Twilight might help us teleport out of here!" Pinkie Pie suggested with her recognizable cheerful personality.
"I can't" Twilight answered with a very disappointed tone, "I must see where I'm teleporting to or know exactly where that place is, or else, I might get stuck between the rocks."
"Well, miss Twilight, there's a way out up there, I'll take you flying" Guardian Sword grouched and prepared his wings to fly, willing to carry Twilight.
"Oh... that won't be necessary" Twilight blushed and performed a spell to grow her own magical wings, then she and Guardian Sword flew to a hollow that was left on the roof of the cave.
"Ok, Pinkie. I'll be going too. Good luck, pal" Applejack began to climb the pile of rocks to find a way out.
"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie Pie started digging a hole, and like a mole, she went inside it.
Meanwhile, the main battle where ponies were pushing back the dragons kept going as it had no end, General Shining Armor had everything under control, until a huge black and white dragon appeared. His right side was white and shined with a beautiful light of hope, but his left side was black and emanated darkness of distress. As the dragon began to beat ponies down, Shining Armor charged to defend his allies.
Applejack found herself on a side of the crag, where a big red dragon was waiting for her. Is this coincidence? Or fate? The dragon that burned Sweet Apple Acres was standing before her, confronting her with fierce eyes, roaring and throwing fire aimlessly upwards to intimidate the pony, he was ready to fight Applejack and finish their business once and for all.
On the opposite side of the crag, the place was cold and almost freezing, as if it was the middle of the winter, Rarity found a blue dragon, he was sit with his eyes closed and breathing deeply, like meditating, waiting patiently for his opponent to appear. Then suddenly he oppened his eyes, without staring at Rarity, he spread his wings, taking his battle position.
Near the entrance, where the damaged Sky Wanderer was, Moondancer and the younger ponies met the brown dragon. The ground quaked with each step the dragon made as he came closer, Moondancer stood in front of him and protecting the younger ponies, the dragon just looked down and smiled, confident that he had an easy victory.
The back side of the crag was a narrow piece of ground, where Pinkie Pie dug out to surface. The strong wind blew almost as if it was alive, and it's direction was constantly changing. Slowly, the green feathered snake descended before the pony. He had no wings, he seemed to be riding on the wind, controlling it at his will.
And on top of the crag, Skyclaw and Princess Celestia saw how Twilight and Guardian Sword were bravely approaching.
"Look, princess. Your heroes are coming. All of this is almost over."
The brown dragon growled at Moondancer, intimidating, and the ground around them seemed to growl along with him. Moondancer gulped, but she stood still between the dragons and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"You dare to oppose me? The mighty Tremor? I am the Dragon Lord of Earth, one of the six Dragon Lords of the Ancient Dragons!" the dragon did a strong stomp, opening the ground around the ponies, who struggled to keep their balance on the narrow grounds they had left, "ha ha ha! Feel the wrath of the earth, little ponies!"
Moondancer's horn began to glow, as she began to levitate with the might of her own magic, three orbs began to float around her, and as she opened her glowing eyes, the orbs flew up to the sky, then a rain of light beams fell on the dragon's body, stunning him for a short momment, when Tremor recovered from Moondancer's attack, she already had her next spell ready, another five orbs floating behind her in a pentagonal formation joined their beams in front of Moondancer, who then used her horn to fire a massive beam of crimson light at Tremor, knocking him out.
"Holy salamander cuttlefish!" Scootaloo expressed her shock, "she's really kicking the hay out of his tail!"
"I never thought you had this kind of skills, Moondancer" Applebloom was also shocked.
"Well, you know, Celestia's students are pretty good with magic" Moondancer humbly smiled back at the Crusaders.
"Pretty good?! That was more than just pretty good!" Sweetie Belle gasped, a little scared, "that was astonishing! I don't recall Twilight doing that kind of magic spells ever before!"
"How could this be?" Tremor got up on his feet again, looking really surprised, "where did you get this magic from? How can a little creature like you hold it?"
"Magic it's not about size..." Moondancer answered, "It's about will power, a bunch of determination, and lots and lots of practice."
Tremor, then, let go another roar, building towers made of earth, including the piece of ground the ponies were standing on, they were now on the top of one of the earth towers. As soon as the field ended changing its shape, the dragon appeared in front of them with his wings wide open, and crushing the towers with his tail, one by one.
"Oh no!" Moondancer noticed the tower they were standing on was going to crumble, "we have to move, quick!"
The ponies jumped from one tower to another, moving away from the crumbling ones, but they stopped when Tremor appeared on the other side, using the same trick.
Moondancer desperately looked around, watching how the towers were crumbling, leaving no ground to stand on. She then noticed Scootaloo was flying, and quickly turned her sight towards the other ponies.
"You..." she pointed her hoof at Sweetie Belle upon seeing that she was a unicorn, "what's your magic level?"
"Who? Me?" Sweetie Belle also pointed herself with her front left hoof, "well, Twilight taught me some spells, and she said I'm level two."
"Good! Then you must know the levitation spell, right? Do it! Now!"
Sweetie Belle inmediately used her levitation spell shortly before Moondancer moved beside Applebloom and used her own levitation spell to lift Applebloom and herself, just before the tower they were standing on was crumbled down.
"What?! Can the unicorns fly too?" the dragon was sure to win the battle, but Moondancer's quick thinking surprised him.
"Now it's my turn!" Moondancer smiled at the dragon, confidently, before closing her eyes, and started floating as her horn began to glow again, the Sky Wanderer began to float behind them, aiming his guns toward Tremor. When Moondancer opened her glowing eyes again, the Sky Wanderer's cannons shot a powerful beam of light that covered Tremor's whole body, the earth came back to normal inmediately and Tremor crashed on the ground with a strong impact.
"Is everypony alright?" Moondancer asked while landing.
"You bet!" Scootaloo landed in front of her after doing a somersault, very excited, "wow! I don't know you guys, but you made Twilight look like a filly up there!"
"Yeah!" Applebloom nodded, "how come she is called Princess Celestia's best student? You have showed us better magic in a couple of days, than her in her whole life in Ponyville!"
"What?! No..." Moondancer giggled humbly, "I wish I was that good, I'm sure Twilight would have defeated Tremor in a single blow. But anyway, according to the general's plan we need the Sky Wanderer to escape with the princess. Can you repair it, Applebloom?"
"Yeah, I could repair it" Applebloom nodded and began to think, "but with your awesome magic, I think we could even improve it!"
Meanwhile in the southeast side of the crag, Applejack was in front of the red dragon that burned her home. The dragon was raging with fire endlessly, showing his power upon the pony. The heat was unbearable, and the dragon's fire just made it worse.
"Behold the power of Ignis, the Dragon Lord of Fire, one of the six Dragon Lords of the Ancient Dragons!"
"What's this? I thought all the dragons could throw fire."
"Well... yes. But mine is more devastating!"
"Well, that means you have nothing special from other dragons, right?"
"Wrong! I am superior than other dragons!"
"Oh yeah? Then show me what makes you so special, Ignis, the Dumb Dragon of Fire, one of the six Dumb Dragons from Dumbland!"
"I thought you would never ask!" Ignis spread his wings, and flapped towards Applejack, throwing flames from his wings, Applejack jumped away avoiding the fire, but Ignis kept shooting fireballs at her. Applejack, then saw her chance to attack, charging at Ignis, but his tail knocked Applejack back and made her lose the hat on her head.
"Ouch... I must find a weak point or I'll be a roast pony in no time" Applejack stood up rubbing her head, but the dragon let no time to react and threw even more fire at her, making Applejack throw herself aside to dodge it, she crawled to reach the back of the dragon.
"OK, It's do or die! Yeehaw!" Applejack without hesitation jumped on the dragon's tail and began climbing on his back.
"Oh you want a ride, huh?"
The dragon spread his wings and lifted the flight with the pony on his back, flying around crag, making pirouettes and turns to make her fall, as Applejack was struggling to hold herself and climbing the dragon's back trying to get to the back of his head. When Applejack finally got on the dragon's nape, she made a strong stomp, knocking out the dragon, and making him fall on a field with rocks and boulders.
"Whew..." Applejack climbed off the dragon, "that's gotta be the wildest rodeo ride I ever had."
Applejack walked away a few steps, but Ignis got up and let go of the strongest roar he could, wrapped by his own fire, he charged at Applejack, who could barely avoid the attack. Wherever the dragon passed by, a trace of fire followed him, he drew a huge circle around the pony, leaving her with no escape.
"It is time to end this, pony!" The dragon, then, made a wall of fire that was quickly approaching Applejack, who hid behind a boulder and avoided being burned. But the dragon kept flying at her and throwing fire balls.
Applejack used the strength of her hind legs to kick the boulder and hit the dragon, making him fall again. Ignis got up, and began turning around at high speed, making a fire tornado, and slowly getting closer to her. Applejack, dessperately kept kicking boulders at him, but they only got in the tornado to be returned as meteors.
Applejack dodged them but as the meteors exploded, she was thrown away.
"Talk about backfire" Applejack hardly got up and gazed upon the tornado getting even closer, "alright...I didn't want it to come to this, but I guess I have no choice"
"This is for the apple orchards!" she, then, stood on her two hind legs, and stomped the ground with her front legs, a large earth crack started opening in front of her and below Ignis. And after stomping stronger with her front legs a second time, the crack opened even more, until the dragon's tornado stopped and Ignis fell in the crack.
"And that was for attacking the palace!"
"You forgot I can fly, pony!" Ignis stopped his fall and began to fly to the surface. But Applejack stomped a third time, making the walls of the crack crumble down on him, until he was knocked out. The last thing Applejack heard from him was a long roar, as he fell to the bottom of the crack.
"And that was for my hat!" Applejack, feeling tired, turned around and watched the crag where the princess was taken away, she remembered that the entrance cave was crumbled down and it was too tall for her to climb up, so she realised she was out of the combat for saving the princess, I know my friends will do it, she thougt. So she slowly trotted away towards the battlefield where both armies were fighting in the middle of the Badlands.
On the north side of the crag, Pinkie Pie found the featherd snake. A huge green dragon, who was floating in front of her. It was strange, he had no wings, and yet, he was inexplicably floating on the air, not moving anywhere just floating and staring at the pink pony with calm eyes, so different from other dragons.
"Oh, howdy!" Pinkie smiled and said, "what's your name?"
The dragon brought his face closer to hers and said, "it is a courtesy to give your name, before asking another creature's name."
"Silly me, that's right!" Pinkie giggled, "my name is Pinkie Pie."
"I have had many names in my life, but the most common is Quetzalcóatl. They call me Quetzal, though."
"That's so cool! Ok, listen, I really, really need to reach the princess, now. So, would you be so kind to let me pass please?"
"I am very sorry, Pinkie Pie" he said, after a brief silent moment, "but my mission is to stop you. So please, I would appreciate if you just turn around and walk away. Sorry for wasting your precious time."
"Well, like you, I have a mission too, wich is to save the princess. I can't just turn around and leave, please understand."
"I understand very well, Pinkie Pie. I am afraid we have a problem. If you insist to advance, I will have to use my power to stop you. It is nothing personal. I would prefer if you just leave peacefully."
"That's not good. That means I can use my own powers to advance. I'd really hate to do this with you, you seem very nice. I wish there was another way."
"I agree, Pinkie Pie. I do not have any grudge against ponies, and it pains me I have to hurt the pony I have just befriended."
"Oh, I consider you a friend too. Ok, let's be professionals, and no matter who wins, we'll still be friends, deal?"
Pinkie offered her hoof to him, Quetzal rolled his tail around Pinkie's hoof, and gently shook it. Then, Pinkie turned around, and walked a few steps just to turn around again, facing at Quetzal, who was floating in front of her, preparing for the battle.
Pinkie Pie made a few warm-up exercises and said, "alright, Quetzal. Shall we begin?"
Upon hearing this, a strong wind began to blow Pinkie, making her crash to the wall behind her. Suddenly, Pinkie jumped out and fired a cannon at Quetzal.
Quetzal, very surprised asked, "what is this? How did you...?"
"Nuh-uh, this is my little secret!" Pinkie answered, with her cheerful voice.
Quetzal's wind blew Pinkie away, but she took out an umbrella and use it to hover on the air. She reached a higher side of the crag, and used another cannon to shoot confetti balls at Quetzal. He, then, used his breath to blow Pinkie again, the wind was so strong that Pinkie's umbrella was turned inside out. But somehow, Pinkie Pie inflated herself like a balloon and hovered, landing on the crag again.
"Now, that was close" said the pink pony, but suddenly Quetzal hit the crag's wall with his tail, making some rocks fall on Pinkie, leaving only a dust cloud. After a short pause, Quetzalcóatl sighed and thought to himself, I am sorry, Pinkie Pie. But as the dust faded away, Pinkie Pie appeared unharmed, and shot a firework from her cannon directly at the dragon's face.
"What?!" The dragon widened his eyes as the fireworks exploded in his face, making him fall and crash on the ground.
"You ok, Quetzey?" Pinkie peered down, until Quetzal showed up floating in front of her, his eyes were lost in wrath as the winds blew with rage, blowing Pinkie away again. A wind so strong and catastrophic, there was nothing Pinkie could do to save herself. When Pinkie Pie began to scream, Quetzal's eyes came back to normal, and the winds calmed down, as Pinkie began to fall. Quetzal used his winds, slowing Pinkie's fall, as Quetzal sucessfully caught her on his back.
"Whew, thank you, Quetzal" Pinkie smiled at him once again.
"This was not what I wanted, Pinkie Pie. I sincerely apologize. I will leave you alone if you want."
"What do you mean? I don't want you to leave me alone, silly."
"But I almost kill you."
"Yes! But if it weren't for you, I would have become a Pinkie Pie tortilla down there. Besides, we made a deal, right?"
"Yes... Yes, that is true. Then, how about I take you to the princess?"
"Would you do that? But, considering what happened, I lost, didn't I?"
"I do not care that, now. This war sickens me, to be honest. If dragons win this battle, we will proceed to take over the land, but if we lose, I am sure, your princess is powerful enough to end it right now."
"So you don't want to live in Equestria anymore?"
"I never wanted to. Dragons lived in this land ruled by the great Draconequus. We had food, yes, but everydragon fought among themselves, we were selfish and arrogant, it was not exactly a happy life. When the ponies came, two young mares swallowed their fears, and used their magic to turn the Draconequus into stone. Then, our land was conquered, and we were banished to live in caves and mountains. But still, I liked that way of life better. For once, we were looking after each other. We shared the food, shared the shelter, we were not free as before, but we were finally a brotherhood of dragons. However, Skyclaw did never forgive, and he did never forget."
After walking through the dark and creepy caves, Rarity found her way out to the surface where the blue dragon was waiting for her. The dragon stood still, his eyes closed and breathing very deeply. The unicorn thought it was her chance to sneak past him, walking slowly, as quietly as she could.
"Do not even bother, Rarity" The dragon said without even moving, "I am totally aware of my surroundings."
"H-How do you know my name?"
"Lady Fluttershy told us about you" the dragon opened her eyes, and approached the unicorn without even turning his face toward her, "the beautiful and classy unicorn with shiny eyes, self centered, yet generous and sensitive."
"Self centered?! What a nerve!" gasper Rarity, "is that what she thinks of me?! I am the most sharing and magnificent fashion designer all over Equestria!"
"It is time, Rarity" the dragon wasted no more time, as he began to fly to gain advantage over his opponent, "my name is Lednik, the Dragon Lord of Ice, one of the six Ancient Dragons."
The dragon quickly threw a wave of blizzard from his mouth each time he charged at the pony, like a normal dragon would throw fire, and the unicorn was constantly caught in the blizzard and was thrown away by the dragons attacks.
Rarity had no powerful spells to defend herself nor she had the physical strength to fight the dragon. Blizzards and Ice balls, made her hit the ground once and again until she found a diamond buried right in front of her. As the dragon approached she used her jewel detector spell, the whole field was covered by buried jewels. Now Rarity had a weapon to defend herself, using her telekinesis, she shot the diamonds at the dragons.
"Take that!" Rarity's confidence grew up as she kept shooting diamonds and jewels at Lednik, "diamonds are truly a mare's best friend."
The dragon covered himself with an ice shield he created, but it was useless, the jewels were harder than the ice, and Rarity's attack broke through the shield. Lednik, then, used his ice breath, freezing the diamonds and shooting them back at Rarity, who barely dodged with a backflip.
Rarity prepared herself to shoot more diamonds but Ledinik attacked with an clear blue colored beam that hit Rarity, her hooves were frozen solid, stuck on the ground.
"W-What?" Rarity tried her best to free herself as the ice began to slowly spread up to her legs, but her efforts were all in vain, she was almost totally frozen. "No way... Is this it? But I had so many things I wanted to..."
"That is the Ice Curse. It cannot be broken. Once any creature gets this curse, it means it is all over" the dragon said as he landed facing away from her. "You can still see, and you can still hear, but it will not be for much longer, your life will freeze slowly. Soon, you will fall asleep, and there will be no awakening. I am very sorry, Rarity. The least I can do to apologize is give you a proper end for you to stay beautiful until the end of time."
Lednik prepared his wings to fly away, but before he could even lift the flight, a desperate and raging shout caught his attention. Noooooo!, the source of the voice came from behind the frozen unicorn, a young, purple and green dragon gazing upon a frozen Rarity.
"Identify yourself, creature" commanded Lednik, turning around, to face the young dragon, but somehow, he refused to place his sight on his new opponent.
"You! How dare you?" The young dragon cleaned some tears from his eyes as he left behind the unicorn, he threatened the blue dragon with his sharp claws, "I will avenge you, Rarity. No... I'll save you!"
"It is too late for her" the ice dragon calmly stated, "Rarity is halfway there. There is no way to break the curse, not even the alicorn princess could do it. Not even myself can break this curse."
"Shut up!" as the young dragon's wrath increased, his body began to be covered by green flames, he strikes first, charging at Ledniks with an unstoppable will, trying to scratch his enemy's face with his claws, "I'll always fight for her! No matter what!"
"S-Spike... Is it really you...?" Rarity witnessed Spike's sudden appearance, but her words were trapped in her mind, watching Spike fighting with Lednik, but unable to act.
The small dragon fought fiercely, throwing his flames and attacking with his whole body, jumping skillfully around the dragon dodging the ice balls coming at him from above, and the large dragon was struggling to keep his defense up, the little Spike was too quick for him, and his attacks were coming randomly from all directions.
"What is going on?" the blue dragon was confused upon receiving such a beating, he blew ice from his mouth aimlessly, hoping to hit his target, "this fighting spirit... It is impossible."
As Lednik blocked Spike's last attack, he throw his blizzard up to the sky. Spike stopped his attack due to confussion, as the field became a huge ice field. Lednik closed his eyes and and stood still, deeply breathing, like meditating. The surroundings turned cold.
"There is nothing you can do, creature. Now I can defeat you without moving a single muscle."
"Oh, yeah? We´re about to see that" Spike striked with all his might, trying to catch Lednik with his guard off, but before he could land a punch, the ice on the field raised to hit him.
"Ice is my enviroment, I have total control on the field now" stated Lednik, as Spike tried to stand up, but the ice raised over and over again, without giving the young dragon a chance to defend himself.
"Spike... stop it... please..." The unicorn, struggling to move, could only see his friend falling constantly, until Lednik finally decided to stop.
"It is enough" the ice dragon turned his back at Spike and said, "you have not a single possibility to defeat me. I will let you live, but you should learn this, young creature, battles are won with courage, not with anger."
But before Lednik could fly away, Spike was getting up again, his whole body was weak and shaking, but he could barely stand on his feet.
"No way..." Spike said, struggling to keep his balance and walking toward Lednik. "It's not over yet. I can still fight!"
"Why do you keep fighting a lost fight? Why do you fight with so much rage?"
"Because of Rarity. You hurt her, and that makes it personal! I'll fight for her, until the very end!"
"I have no intention to kill you, but you will keep fighting for Rarity. Even if you could waste your life doing so?"
"For me... Living in a world without her, is living in no world at all."
"I respect that, mysterious creature. You shall end just like her, to honor your passion for her" said Lednik, then, he prepared himself to launch his ice curse once more, but suddenly, Rarity's magic bursted out of her horn, surrounding her in a magic sphere, casting powerful spells at Lednik.
"What?" The ice dragon was caught by a countless light beams. "Impossible! No creature could break my ice curse before!"
Lednik used his ice field to counter atack, but the ice couldn't pass through Rarity's magic sphere. The unicorn was making an uncontrollable storm of spells aimlessly, Lednik was knocked out by Rarity's spells and the ice field melted almost inmediately, but she didn't stop, she was out of control, overpowered by her own magic, only a far away voice could reach her ears, getting closer by each second, until it was close enough to her to hear it clearly.
"Rarity!" The young dragon passed through the burning sphere, and touched her shoulder. "Rarity, wake up!" The unicorn, then, recovered her conscience, the magic sphere around her faded.
"Uhhh... What happened?" Rarity wondered, very confused, while shaking her head, and upon noticing Spike's condition, she gasped. "oh, Spikey! You're hurt."
"Oh, it's nothing" Spike scratched the back of his back, "here I was trying to save you, but you were the one who saved me."
"Oh, Spikey..." Rarity showed a concerning face, "but it was so noble of you, my brave knight fighting for me. But then you started losing, and I couldn't stand to see how that bully was beating you. And you were willing to lose your life... for me. If you wouldn't have appeared, I would have given up sooner. You saved me."
"Yeah, well..." Spike blushed and avoided Rarity's eyesight.
"Now that I mention it, I saw you fall from the Sky Wanderer, how is it that you're ok?"
"Well, I found myself among an army of dragons, and I was taken away, but then Fluttershy said I was one of them. Oh, I totally forgot! We gotta find Fluttershy quickly, you wouldn't believe it, but she..."
"She is behind all this, I know. I still can't believe it..." Rarity interrupted, "Rainbow Dash must be fighting her right now. I'm worried."
"Rainbow Dash?! versus Fluttershy?! B-but how?!"
"We had to save the princess, and Fluttershy wanted to stop us, so Rainbow Dash stayed to face Flutershy and... let's just hope it doesn't end in tragedy. If we save the princess, she'll bring order and they'll stop fighting. We must be on our way. So, can you walk, Spike?
"Of course I can!" Spike walked ahead with a tough attitude and ignoring his wounds to impress Rarity, "that was nothing. In fact, I was just getting started." Suddenly, Spike stopped walking and fell face down to the ground unconscious.
Rarity gasped and rushed to inspect Spike, after a loud snore, Rarity sighed in relief, she carried Spike on her back, and walked forward to reach the princess. "Spikey wickey... you were just getting started, but he was about to finish you..."
Meanwhile, on the top of the crag, Guardian Sword and Twilight Sparkle finally found Skyclaw, who was waiting with the princess imprisoned beside him. Right afrer the ponies landed right in front of the dragon, they were greeted by Skyclaw.
"Only two of you? what happened to your precious friends, unicorn?"
"Don't you dare talk to the general's sister like that!" Guardian Sword respond right before Twilight say anything, "I am the one you will be facing."
"What? No way you're doing this alone!" stated Twilight, not very happy with Guardian Sword.
"Miss Twilight, I can't allow that" Guardian Sword's sincere eyes stopped Twilight's reaction, as he continued his chivalrous speech, "my mission is to protect you. I am loyal to my duty, please allow me the honor to accomplish my mission."
Guardian Sword, bravely flew toward Skyclaw, but he was easily deflected by the dragon's tail, however he recovered quickly and repeated his attack, Skyclaw used his tail again, but Guardian Sword avoided it, and used his hooves to hit the dragon in the face.
The dragon used his fire, but Guardian Sword was too fast, and using his wings as razors, he slashed the dragon over and over, until Skyclaw began to fly himself. Guardian Sword chased him, and the battle kept going on air. Meanwhile, Twilight rushed to Princess Celestia.
"Your Highness! Hang on, I'll get you out of there!" Twilight used all releasing spells she knew, but they were all useless.
"It's no use, Twilight. This isn't a prison spell. It is some kind of barrier, that can't be broken from either side."
"Then just as Skyclaw said, he must be defeated. I'll be right back." Twilight used her magic wings and flew toward the battle.
Guardian Sword was using his speed to fight the dragon, but Skyclaw had more tricks up his sleeve, using his magic, a flash blinded the pegasus, leaving him vulnerable, Skyclaw threw his fire again, but before the pegasus was wrapped in the dragon's flames again, Twilight teleported beside him and used a barrier spell.
"You see?" said Twilight, "you need to be protected too."
"I'm sorry, Miss Twilight. I have dishonored myself."
"No, you haven't. I'm still alive, right? We can protect each other, and certainly, we can defeat Skyclaw together."
Twilight teleported behind Skyclaw and shot magic beams at him, as Guardian Sword's razor wings slashed him, constantly. Skyclaw's magic summoned a thunder storm. And the ponies moved quickly in circles to dodge the thunders, until the dragon hit them both with his tail.
"This was only a warm up. Prepare to feel my full power!" Skyclaw began to glow, as the storm raged stronger, the winds created a hurricane around the ponies and the dragon. "Behold! The skies bow to my power! Do you really think you can save your princess now?"
The ponies did all they could to keep up, but the dragon's power was too much for them. Guardian Sword protected Twilight with his body, as he avoided the thunders and Skyclaws flames, but Twilight used another barrier spell, which was slowly breaking.
Without thinking twice, Guardian Sword pushed Twilight far from the hurricane, and he charged at the dragon hit him in the chest, then, the pegasus began descend to the ground, speeding up and taking the dragon with him. The dragon covered his body with flames, but the pegasus ignored it and kept going downward.
"No! Guardian Sword, stop!" Twilight was deliberately ignored by the pegasus.
"What are you doing? If you do this, you may die, too!" The dragon desperately tried to reason.
"You're hurting her. My mission is to keep her safe with my life. She is one of the Elements of Harmony, she holds the power to keep peace in Equestria, her mission is far more important than me, my life is a low price to pay in order to accomplish that mission."
Upon hitting the ground, a big burst covered the dragon and the pegasus, Twilight landed as soon as she could, and she found both Guardian Sword and Skyclaw laying on the ground, she approached Guardian Sword very quickly.
"Oh no... are you ok? Please, talk to me!" Twilight saw that the pegasus' wounds were serious.
"I'm sorry... I have failed... I won't be able to protect you..." Guardian Sword could barely whisper.
"What do you mean? You defeated him!" Twilight, then, noticed that the hurricane was still going on, and the princess was still imprisoned in the crystal. "No way... How can this be?"
"Miss Twilight, you were wrong... We can't defeat him together... but you can do it yourself... I know you don't want to hurt Skyclaw, even if he is the enemy... I could see you didn't use your battle spells... but if you want to save the princess, you must be willing to take Skyclaw's life."
"N-no... I can't... There must be another way... "
"This is war, Miss Twilight... We are pawns in a chess match between life and death... the battle is ruthless... so you must take your enemies' lives so they can't take yours..."
"No... I'm sure that if I beat him hard enough, I could release the princess, and she... she will fix everything."
"You will understand, Miss Twilight... and just like everypony's first time in war... you will understand the hard way."
Guardian Sword fainted, and Twilight was left alone in the battle. The dragon was already awakening, he had hurt the right wing, his rage was now aimed at Twilight.
"You do not understand what is like to see your how brothers starve, and not being able to help them!" roared the dragon , and his glowing eyes were filled with hate. "You do not understand what is like to fly around looking for a few jewels to eat, and find nothing, because you ponies use them to decorate your cities and dresses. Always being treated like monsters with no feelings! It has been so long since I soared freely through the sky, I even forgot how it felt like! You are the only obstacle between me and the liberation of the dragon kin! This doesn't end until one of us can not go any longer!"
"It doesn't have to end like this, I know we can work this out another way!" Twilight tried to reason.
"Fluttershy tried to work this out another way. But your princess was too arrogant, there was no place for such dangerous creatures in Equestria, those were her exact words."
"Princess Celestia said that?" Twilight turned her sight to her princess, and the princes could only stared at the ground in regret, "please. It's never too late."
"It is too late. You were separated from your friends. It was also Fluttershy's idea, she knows that your power comes from your friends, and by yourself, you are nothing. Your friends probably were already eliminated by my partners. Do you still believe there is another way?"
"What?! No... My friends... Fluttershy... how could you? They were her friends too..."
"I also have friends that have died by following me. We must end this, here and now, Twilight! We both owe it to our fallen friends."
Applejack was tired and limping, but after a few minutes she at last returned to the ponies' camp, and she saw the white and black dragon rampaging on the main force of the ponies. One of the unicorn soldiers watched her coming and helped her reach the infirmary tent. After preparing a bed, he used a healing spell on Applejack's wounds, and gave her a bowl filled with herbal soup, wich Applejack didn't hesitate to eat.
"Thank you, sir" said Applejack with her mouthful, and after swallowing she continued, "I'm so hungry I could commit canibalism."
"What happened to your legs" asked the soldier after healing Applejack's hurt hooves, "your horseshoes are a mess, looks like you went against an entire army, all by yourself."
"It's nothing," Applejack shook her right front hoof and showed it to the soldier, "it's a trick some earth ponies do when we need to shake the ground a bit. This is what happens if you overdo it."
"Can earth ponies really shake the ground?"
"Not all of us. It takes strong hooves and years of working in an apple farm. We're not called earth ponies just because we don't fly" and Applejack continued eating.
"Well... umm please, don't tell me you're the only survivor" The soldier asked, after taking off his helmet.
"Of course not!" Applejack stopped eating, "we were scattered, and well, I don't know about the others, but I went off track. And as much as I don't like it, I don't think I'll be of much help right now. Anyway, where is Twilight's brother?"
"The general is outside, fighting that huge dragon, and I better be on my way. Please stay here, and have some rest" the unicorn put on his helmet again and headed outside.
The white and black dragon, fighting countless ponies was leading the dragons to victory, as nopony seemed to be a match for him, even General Shining Armor was having trouble, and his spells were useless against the mighty dragon. Ponies were outnumbered, and the dragons pushed forward, the battle was almost lost, but suddenly, a hurricane was born on the crag where Twilight and her friends were, the black and white dragon flew away, heading that way.
"Yes! Escape while you can, you... you big ball of... you coward! You don't mess with us!" one of the pegasus soldier yelled, while Shining Armor decided to take advantage.
"Don't taunt him! This is our chance!" Shining Armor commanded the counter attack, "charge! For the princess!" Without the big dragon in their way, the ponies advanced, beating wyverns and pseudodragons. But just before Shining armor began to move forward, the unicorn who helped Applejack talked to his general, and Shining Armor rushed back to the infirmary tent.
"Applejack! Where is my sister?" Shining Armor wasted no time to ask, "is she ok? What happened?"
"I don't know!" Applejack answered after a surprised gasp, "I said we were scattered. But she was with Guardian Sword, she should be alright."
"Please! Tell me everything!" Shining Armor put her hooves on Applejack's shoulders, he was hysterical as the unicorn tried to calm the general.
"Can you calm down for a bit, now?" Applejack pushed Shining Armor back, "Twilight's no wimp, she can handle a dragon by herself, and by the way, I'm fine, thank you very much for your concern."
"I-I'm sorry" The general looked down.
"I know how you feel, Shining Armor" Applejack said, "my sister's there too, and i'm also worried sick about her. But my friend Rarity told me that she is not a filly anymore, and I believe in her. So maybe you should believe in Twilight as well, it's not like she hasn't been in danger before, right?"
"You're right. My sister's magic has been stronger than mine even since long ago" the general finally calmed himself.
Meanwhile, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Moondancer finished the reparations on the Sky Wanderer, a notable upgrade compared to what it was before. It was now faster, with new shields and guns, and finally flyable again. As soon as it was ready, the ponies boarded the ship and Applebloom turned on the boosters while Moondancer used her magic to activate the engine. The Sky Wanderer took off, the propeller slowly started to spin, and after a few seconds, Applebloom was ready to pilot again.
"Way to go, Applebloom!" Moondancer was very excited.
"It's thanks to you, just remember to keep the engine power constant" Applebloom answered with a proud smile in her face.
"Look! Isn't that Rainbow Dash?" Sweetie Belle pointed with her right hoof, as she noticed a rainbow trail and a pink trail chasing each other.
"Where?" Scootaloo pushed Sweetie Belle aside so she could see by herself "Rainbow Dash... She was really angry at Fluttershy..."
"Sorry, Scootaloo" said Moondancer, "but the princess is our top priority." And the Sky Wanderer headed for the hurricane.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash fought Fluttershy, and to her surprise, Fluttershy fought back, very decently. The shy pegasus who once was her friend was now her enemy. Long ago, Fluttershy showed her the peaceful town below Cloudsdale, and the wonderful ponies who lived there, and now, she had to fight her.
"How dare you do this?" said Rainbow Dash, "you were like a sister to me, my very first friend. And you betrayed me? Just like that?"
"I didn't want this" Fluttershy sighed and tried to reason, "it was Princess Celestia who brought this by her own. Loyalty is not a virtue if it makes you blind. Open your eyes, Rainbow Dash, all those dragons live in caves and mountains because they are considered dangerous creatures. Ponies fear the dragons because the princess wants it that way."
"You're right" Rainbow Dash nodded, "I admit I follow Princess Celestia blindly, because it's my duty. But I'm not the only blind, look around you, Fluttershy. This isn't just Princess Celestia's fault, it's yours too. Did you even took the time to think about all the ponies you've hurt? All that time the Apples family has spent working on Sweet Apple Acres? Will all of this be worthy after it's over?"
"I... I just... It's too late now..." Fluttershy looked down, "this was the only way."
"No, it wasn't. This is all a big mistake. A mistake that I'm going to fix right now!" Rainbow Dash launched herself at Fluttershy once more.
Fluttershy wasn't a match for Rainbow Dash in close combat, she was using her dragon skills to quickly attack Rainbow Dash from the distance, as the rainbow pegasus, was recieving all the hits until she fell once again. Rainbow Dash stood up, and realizing she needed to change her strategy, she started flying around Fluttershy.
"I have tricky moves too, Flutters" taunted Rainbow Dash, and little by little she was moving faster, until a twister swallowed Fluttershy. "Let's see you fly out of this one!"
Fluttershy was struggling to get out of the twister, but suddenly, Rainbow Dash also got in the twister, and using the spining force of her own twister, she attacked Fluttershy several times until the twister stopped. Rainbow Dash elevated herself, but Fluttershy noticed she was preparing another Sonic Rainboom and she chased her to stop her again, but before catching up with Rainbow Dash, a flash blinded her, and Rainbow Dash tackled her to the ground.
"What was that?" Fluttershy was the one getting up now, very confused.
"It was noghing less than my Buccaneer Blaze... copyrighted" stated Rainbow Dash as Fluttershy regained altitude.
After a short pause. Rainbow Dash accelerated slowly toward her opponent, and Fluttershy did the same, the two pegasi crashed at each other once and over again, gaining distance between them as they were elevating, sparks appeared in each impact, each one stronger than the last one. The final charge, Rainbow Dash did a Sonic Rainboom, and Fluttershy did her own Sonic Boom at the same time. The clash between the two forces was intense, as both pegasi struggled to defeat each other.
In the end, the Sonic Rainboom overcame Fluttershy, and took her to the ground, leaving a huge dust cloud.
"Fluttershy..." said Rainbow Dash, panting and exhausted, "give me a good reason to not finish you off."
"I don't have any..." the hurt and defeated Fluttershy just smiled at Rainbow Dash and lost conscience.
"Well... I do" Rainbow Dash also smiled at the unconscious Fluttershy, before carrying her on her back, and fly away toward the hurricane.
The hurricane's wild winds, made it hard for Rarity to keep going forward while taking care of Spike, he was awake now, walking beside the unicorn, as they were climbing up little by little, a familiar voice sounded from a far, Rarity! Spike! but the rage of the winds made it hard to reach the unicorn's ears, however Spike could hear it.
"Ummm... Is it just me? Or that sounded just like Pinkie Pie?" the young dragon stopped to wonder.
"Darling, I think you're exhausted..." said Rarity before she turned around to notice the huge green snake floating behind them, "WHAT ON EARTH, SKIES, AND SEAS IS THAT?"
"Howdy! Do you need a ride?" Pinkie waved her hoof while hopping on Quetzal's back.
"My name is Quetzalcóatl, it is my pleasure to meet you" the feathered green snake also greeted Rarity and Spike as he lend his tail to let them climb on his back, "please do not fear me, for I am no longer your enemy."
"Wow, those are good news, for a change" Spike said and jumped on Quetzal's tail right after Rarity, "this hurricane is sure giving us a hard time."
"Umm... Are you guys alright?" Pinkie noticed the injuries on her friends bodies, "did a huge dragon gave you a hard beating too?"
"I can feel their cold bodies" said Quetzal "you have encountered Lednik, I presume?"
"Oh, heavens. Was he your friend, sir?" Rarity lowered her ears, and after sharing a worried sight with Spike she proceeded to inform Quetzal what happened, "the truth is, he and I had a... shall we say disagreement? And well, I would be frozen down there if it weren't for Spike, here. I'm really sorry, but I had to take certain measures to deal with your friend."
"I see" the dragon closed his eyes, and after a few seconds he said, "he was my friend, yes. But do not worry, we were ready for something like this would happen. I am not happy to hear it, but I must not let that get in my goal now."
"So you're still helping us, Quetzey?" Pinkie asked after hearing how Rarity and Spike defeated Quetzal's friend.
"Of course" Quetzal approached the peak of the crag, where the princess is supposed to be, "Lady Fluttershy is wrong, and your princess did not help either, and this hurricane is proof that Skyclaw has lost his cool. It is up to us to end this fight, for the sake of dragons and ponies." The snake dragon, then reached the top, where they found both, Skyclaw and Twilight.
After Guardian Sword had failed in his last stand to defeat Skyclaw, the dragon, although wounded, survived the crash, and his rencor toward Celestia, Twilight and almost everypony in Equestria was the only thing his eyes showed. The princess was still in her prison, the only obstacle stopping him from an Equestria ruled by dragons was Twilight, an obstacle he was determined to crush. However, Twilight believed that she lost her friends, and only one thought passed through her mind, this is war... we are pawns in a chess match between life and death... so you must take your enemies' lives... so they can't take yours... Then, Twilight used her magical wings, and floated in front of the dragon.
"My friends... Guardian Sword, you were right" Twilight's trembling voice turned into a loud speech, "Skyclaw! My friends give me power, alright! But I was Princess Celestia's star student before I met them, and you are about to see why."
As soon as Twilight said that last phrase, her whole self began to glow in a lavender color, and a strange symbol with the same shape as her cutie mark appeared behind her. The dragon threw his fire at her, but a strange barrier protected the unicorn, then, the barrier got in Twilight's horn, and she shot the same fire at Skyclaw.
The dragon attacked Twilight with his claws, but she teleported, avoiding his attacks. Twilight dashed at the dragon's face and a huge sword came out of her horn, she hit the dragon several times before the sword turned into a javelin and threw it at the dragon. The javelin took Skyclaw to the ground and exploded after the impact.
"Ugh... Is this a unicorn's true magic?" Skyclaw found himself in trouble, "and she is just the princess' student. Then, Celestia must be far more powerful, now I see why Fluttershy wanted to capture the princesses."
"Princess, I'm sorry I'm using this forbidden spells." said Twilight, "but Skyclaw will see, what happens if you mess with my friends. I will release you, princess, no matter what!"
Skyclaw summoned a lightning storm again, but Twilight multiplied herself, the storm hit several Twilights, but none of them were the real one, the confused dragon went on a rampage, throwing fire and attacking with his claws aimlessly, trying to hit the unicorn unsuccessfully, until he tired himself, all the remaining Twilights became light needles which hit the dragon. Then, Skyclaw covered himself in green fire, and jumped high.
"There is no escape from this! Meet my Dragon Meteor!" The dragon let himself fall to the ground, wrapped by his own flames.
"Twilight! Please, stop Skyclaw!" Quetzalcóatl warned the unicorn about Skyclaw's next attack, "he will destroy everything if he hits the ground!"
"What?!" Twilight tried to use a massive barrier spell, but was broken by the Dragon Meteor. Then, Twilight tried to use her telekinesis, Rarity jumped from Quetzal's back to aid Twilight, but nothing seemed to stop the meteor. After a short while, the Sky Wanderer came, and Moondancer and even Sweetie Belle joined the struggle.
"What is this thing?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"It's Skyclaw!" Twilight desperately answered, "don't let him advance!"
Quetzalcóatl rushed to stop him with his body, even if his speed was lowered, it wasn't enough to stop him, when suddenly, the blue dragon appeared beside him.
"Lednik... You are alive!" Quetzal was happy to see his friend again.
"Did you really think I would die so easily?" the blue dragon smiled at his friend.
Shortly, Rainbow Dash also appeared, "c'mon, Scoot! Fly with me as if there's no tomorrow."
"Yeah! Or else there won't be a tomorrow!" Scootaloo without thinking twice flew, beside Rainbow Dash.
"Please allow me to assist you, captain!" Guardian Sword also joined and all the pegasus used all of their strength to stop the meteor, still in vain.
"Skyclaw! Stop, please!" Fluttershy had woken up, and with this single request, the meteor lost power.
When Twilight saw this, she decided to fly toward the meteor, she turned herself into a light beam and shot herself at a high speed.
"Don't stop! We got it!" Twilight shouted. The rest of the creatures saw the unicorn coming and helped Twilight with their strength combined, in the end, the hurricane stopped, and the green flames on Skyclaw's body were extinguished. Twilight and the dragon both fell on the ground, exhausted.
"It is over, Skyclaw! We lost" said Fluttershy.
Twilight stood up, and without saying a word, her horn began to glow, and she slowly began to walk forward. Her face had an awfully serious look, she stopped for a few seconds in front of Skyclaw, she stared at him, and kept walking heading for the princess. She shot a small light beam to the princess' prison, and as simple as that, the crystal broke into pieces, the princess was finally free.
"How can this be? I thought you couldn't break the spell unless Skyclaw died" Guardian Sword wondered.
"I told you I'd find a way." Twilight smiled at her friends, happy to see they were fine, "Skyclaw wasted all of his magic fighting me, and that meteor was the last thing he could perform. Dragon's magic is different from the unicorn's, but magic is not unlimited not even for dragons, I only had to make him lost enough magic so he couldn't keep the prison anymore."
"Twilight Sparkle, you never stop to make me proud of you" the princess smiled at her student, and hugged her with her right wing, "now, Fluttershy. Stop this madness, immediately! And your punishment won't be so painful!"
"Ummm, the princess seems a little angry, right?" Pinkie Pie whispered to her friends.
"A little angry? She is furious!" Rainbow Dash whispered back, "remember how Twilight freaked out when she was late for her letter to the princess? Well, let's just say she wasn't overreacting at all."
The princess approached Fluttershy, and the pegasus finally admitted her defeat, but behind the princess, the white and black dragon landed, surprising all the creatures, even his own allies.
"This is not over yet!" stated the black and white dragon.
"Stop it now, Foskiá!" Fluttershy commanded, "we lost, let's face it." But the dragon didn't listen, and he attacked Princess Celestia.
"Princess!" All the ponies gasped and rushed to help the princess. And the dragon was now aiming at Fluttershy, but the rest of the dragons stood in his way.
"What are you doing Foskiá?" Skyclaw prepared his fire, "if you dare to defy Fluttershy. Then you dare to defy me."
"You fools!" Foskiá laughed, "she is just another pony. I was just waiting for this precise moment, you are all tired, and you have no power left, I have nothing to fear!"
"Did you plan all this by yourself?" Lednik asked.
"Of course not. I couldn't have done it by myself, while you were following Fluttershy, I met another pony who is far more powerful than her, he promised me not just a land for dragons, but a land where I will be the great Dragon King."
"Another pony? Who?" said Twilight.
Foskiá laughed a little more, and answered, "by now, he must be reigning in Canterlot Palace. The dark unicorn, King Sombra."
"No matter how fast I run, how far, there's just no escape. I hid between Canterlot's alleys, but they seem to know where I am. Princess Cadance tried to protect me, but the darkness swallowed her in no time, then, it swallowed the whole city, the princess became one of them. One by one, ponies were vanished into darkness, and were turned into dark ponies, some of them just disappeared, maybe they were the luckiest ones. Why King Sombra had to appear now?"
"Pssst! Diamond Tiara, over here!" A dark silhouette appeared from an alley close to Diamond Tiara, she had a familiar voice. The earth pony heard some steps getting close around the corner, and without thinking she rushed to the alley, and then, Diamond Tiara and the strange pegasus went inside a large box, when the dark ponies came to look for Diamond Tiara, they didn't suspect and passed by.
"Ditzy Doo? Is that you?" Diamond Tiara tried to identify the familiar silhouette, apparently, she was right. "What are you doing here?"
"These weird black crystals started poping out from the ground back in Ponyville, I came here for some help, but it looks like Canterlot is in worse shape."
"What?! And what about the ponies in Ponyville?" Diamond Tiara's question was answered by a depressed sigh, soon afrer that, they were found by the dark ponies who changed their form into changelings who took away Ditzy Doo and Diamond Tiara.
Meanwhile, Foskiá was sure he had victory guaranteed, waves of darkness and light, pushed the ponies and the dragons back, all the weak creatures were unable to fight, his white side became completely dark, his eyes' sclera turned green and his iris turned red, a sinister laughter echoed all across the Badlands, Foskiá was consumed by King Sombra's dark powers. But his victory was cut short when Princess Celestia's eyes and horn gleamed as she used her magic, the sun raised again, and suddenly, it launched a strong ray at Foskiá. The sunlight burned the dark dragon wherever he moved.
"THOU HATH CHOSEN THE WORST TIME TO COME AND ANNOY US!" Princess Celestia exclaimed, "WE ARE IN AN AWFUL MOOD! HOW DARE YOU BACKSTAB US? THOU SHALT PAY FOR THY INSOLENCE!" The solar ray grew stronger.
"The princess is out of control!" Pinkie Pie showed some concern upon watching the princess' reaction. "Can't you do something, Twilight?"
"I'm sorry, Pinkie." Twilight wasn't worried to see the princess, but a little scared. "When the princess gets mad, there's no way out. She tries her best to not show it, but even she has a limit. Trust me, it's better if we stay out of this one."
"Princess Celestia! Sister!" Shining Armor with Applejack suddenly arrived giving his report, only to find out that the circumstances have changed. "We saw a huge meteor! so we... what the..."
"What in tarnation is going on here?" Applejack questioned as clueless as the general.
"Applejack! Shining Armor! I'm so glad you're fine!" All the ponies reunited together and Twilight explained the situation. "King Sombra is back. He has Equestria under his power, and this dragon was under his orders from the very beginning."
"WHAT?!" Applejack and Shining Armor both gasped in shock.
"But what about Fluttershy?" Applejack asked.
"Foskiá just used me and the other dragons for his own selfish purposes." Fluttershy answered and covered her face with her mane. "I'm sorry... I caused all of this."
"Yeah, partly, you did." Rainbow Dash stated. "But that overly grown lizard is no match for our princess."
Suddenly, Foskiá summoned dark clouds to cover the sun, he was impressed by the tremendous power that Princess Celestia could release. Upon regaining his breath, the dark dragon flew away trying to flee, but the alicorn teleported blocking his escape. The princess used a gravity spell on the dragon wich made him fall, he tried to fly but his efforts were futile, the spell had disabled his wings.
"I have the total power over darkness. You will need more than this to defeat me!" Foskiá claimed before covering everything in darkness, everything was pitch black. Princess Celestia used a spell to illuminate, but the light only reached a small radius. Foskiá attacked the princess from the dark hitting her several times, until Princess Celestia fell to the ground.
"No... Princess Celestia." Twilight rushed to help the princess get up. "Are you okay?"
"That will not do it." Lednik commented. "As one of you said, your princess is out of control, she is powerful, yes. But she also looks desperate. Maybe... scared."
"Scared?" Said Rainbow Dash. "No way! That guy is the one who must be scared of the princess!"
"It's the truth, Captain Rainbow Dash." Princess Celestia frowned. "I've always had fear of the dragons, it's a phobia that I did never overcome. Even now, it's not rage what is making me fight back, it's fear. That's why I didn't want to share Equestria with the dragons, it's because I was scared. Fluttershy was right, I brought all of this myself."
Foskiá was ready to finish the princess, he laughed in relief because he barely survived the princess' raging attacks, "Ha ha ha, Impressing, is not it? I can not believe it myself, you are even more powerful than Fluttershy said. But I prevailed, because of the terror you feel for me. Farewell, ponies!" But before he could launch his final attack, a purple mist appeared between him and the princess, and quickly turned into an alicorn. It was Nightmare Moon, and without saying a word, she protected Princess Celestia and Twilight with a barrier.
The dark clouds that covered the sun faded by Nightmare Moon's magic, and then, she healed Princess Celestia's wounds. Foskiá threw his dark fire at Nightmare Moon, but she changed into the purple mist again, and took control over the dark fire, throwing it back at Foskiá.
"Why? Why my dark powers do not affect you?" Foskiá desperately wondered.
"You're not the only one with dark powers." Nightmare Moon smiled. "But unlike you, the moon is not only darkness, it reflects the light from the sun." She, then, stood beside Princess Celestia, and with a combined spell, the dragon was hit, without even the chance to scream, Foskiá faded into thin air, he was gone.
Nightmare Moon, then turned at the rest of the dragons. "Am I a threat big enough to you, now?"
"You... give her back to me!" Princess Celestia stopped Nightmare Moon. "Give me back my sister if you don't want to be sent to the moon again?"
"Wait!" Sweetie Belle shouted and teleported in front of Princess Celestia, she then took a closer look at Nightmare Moon for a few seconds, then she smiled. "Princess Luna? Is it really you? The real you?" Nightmare Moon removed the helmet from her head, and smiled at the young unicorn.
"Luna? What happened to you?" Princess Celestia also took a closer look at Nightmare Moon.
"Thanks to you and your friends, Sweetie Belle." There was not a single difference, it was Princess Luna wearing the armor of Nightmare Moon. "I finally accepted that I will never be like my sister, I was afraid of my old self and my old power, so I played it safe, and acted like my sister would. But when you taught me I was wrong and that I should be myself. So I wondered who I was. Then, the answer came by looking at myself through the mirror. Envy turned me into Nightmare Moon, and released my true potential, but I'm not envious anymore."
"We were meant to rule together, sister." Nightmare Moon turned a smile to Princess Celestia. "Would you accept my friendship?" Princess Celestia smiled back, and both sisters hugged each other, even if it was strange for the rest of the ponies to see Princess Celestia hugging Nightmare Moon.
"Sorry for interrupting, your highness." Shining Armor said. "But we need to do something about King Sombra, Cadance is there."
"You're right, General. There is no time to waste." Princess Celestia was ready to command again. "We shall return inmediately, and save Equestria from him."
"Excuse us, Princess Celestia." Skyclaw talked directly to the princess. "Your student spared my life, I am willing to help her save your kingdom, and I will make Lednik and Quetzalcóatl help too."
"Will you lend us your strength, Skyclaw?" Twilight asked. "Thank you..."
"Dragons always pay their debts, besides, Fluttershy lend us her strength to us, too."
So, ponies riding on the Sky Wanderer, and dragons flew together to Canterlot. Dark crystals were sprouting on the city's streets, the mountain where Canterlot was built, was surrounded by a dark aura, and all the ponies were turned into dark ponies, fighting each other, consumed by hatred, and those few who weren't turned into dark ponies were chased down, consumed by fear.
"As you can see is worst than just King Sombra in Equestria." Nightmare Moon stated. "This is what would had happened to the Crystal Empire if Spike would have failed to protect the Crystal Heart."
"But we do have the Crystal Heart, don't we?" Spike wondered upon seeing the horrible shape of the city.
"No... The look of the city is proof that the Crystal Heart is already under King Sombra's power." Princess Celestia answered and turned to Twilight with a serious face. "The only way to confront King Sombra is with the Elements of Harmony."
"But princess..." Fluttershy then interrupted. "I betrayed you. After all I've caused, do you still trust me?"
"That doesn't depend on me, Fluttershy." Princess Celestia answered. "That depends on the rest of the Elements."
"Of course we trust you." Rainbow Dash responded. "You were just making honor to your Element of Kindness, our elements conflicted back there, but you're still one of the Elements of Harmony, you will always be part of the team." All of her friends agreed with Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie said we still love you.
"Very well" Twilight, performed a spell to summon the Elements of Harmony from her library, all the elemens appeared in a flash on each pony, her friends were amazed. "What a convenient spell, huh? It makes everything easier."
Lednik raised its altitude for a few seconds and then came back. "This King Sombra is like nothing I have seen before. His power is spreading over the land even as we speak."
"It does not look good, right Lednik?" Skyclaw laughed smoothly alongside with Quetzal.
"That is a joke I am going to ignore." Lednik was a bit annoyed.
"Ha ha ha. It WAS a good joke." Pinkie also laughed, and after a brief moment. "But I didn't understand it."
"Lednik is blind." Quetzal explained the pink pony. "Perhaps you did not notice, but he is always looking somewhere else, he can only see the auras of the creatures that are near to him, their power, and sometimes, how they feel."
"Oh my..." Rarity gasped. "So that's why you avoided eye contact with me all the time, and that explained why you didn't know Spike was a dragon, because you couldn't see him."
When the creatures finally reached Canterlot Palace, they got inside the throne room from the balcony, King Sombra was sit on the throne as if he was waiting for them.
"Ahhh, Princesses." He greeted, standing up. "What a pleasant surprise, I am honored by your visit."
"Where is Cadance?" Shining Armor jumped forward ready for battle. "What did you do to her?"
"Shining Armor!" Princess Cadance came in the throne room from the front door.
"Cadance! You're safe!" Shining Armor met his wife and held her hoof.
"But where are my manners?" King Sombra mocked the ponies. "Allow me to welcome you, like you never were before." King Sombra attacked the princesses with dark beams.Suddenly, Foskiá crashed through the walls and attacked King Sombra, the rest of the dragons also attacked them without hesitating.
"You useless minion, you were supposed to be destroyed by Luna and Celestia" King Sombra was surprised, and dodged the dragon's attack. "You had them on a silver plate, and still, you failed."
"I escaped using my magic! You deceived me to do the dirty work for you." Foskiá's dark colors turned completely white, illuminating the whole room. "I do not need your power, you will not control me anymore!"
"I'm sorry, but I differ that." King Sombra used a spell, and then he turned into a shadow to flee, and the princesses chased him. But Foskiá went on a rampage, and the rest of the dragons tried to stop him with the help of Shining Armor and Guardian Sword, but Foskiá knocked all the dragons and the ponies, then, he jumped to attack the first pony he saw, Fluttershy.
"Foskiá stop!" Fluttershy said, and the dragon stopped.
"Fluttershy... I can not control myself." Foskiá was using all of his strength to hold himself back. "You must... stop me... Please do not... let me hurt you..." He went on a rampage again, but Fluttershy dodged the attack.
Lednik. Quetzal and Skyclaw held Foskiá's claws with their mouths, Fluttershy took some distance and charged at Skyclaw's head, I am so sorry, Foskiá. Please forgive me, tears were dropping from Fluttershy's eyes as she hit Foskiá as hard as she could.
"Fluttershy... Thank you..." Foskiá fell in front of Fluttershy, he could barely breath, and blood was pouring from the wound of the hit, passing through his right eye.
"No... What have I done..." Fluttershy started crying on Foskiá's wound. It was the first time she killed a creature. "I am so, so sorry, I am supposed to take care of creatures, not to hurt them... Please forgive me..."
"Fluttershy, do not cry for me... I am a traitor, I let him control me... I wished to be powerful enough to defeat the alicorns... And make Equestria a land of dragons... but that wish turned into greed when King Sombra gave me power... I am the one who must sorry... Please, forget everything about me, forget my whole existence... that is the only way to forgive those who deserve no forgiveness." Foskiá finally closed his eyes, and his breathing stopped.
"How can you ask me that?!" Flutershy screamed in tears. "I'll never forget you... I'll never ever forget you... I could never..."
"Flutters... I understand how you feel." Rainbow Dash tried to console her. "But..."
"No, you don't understand!" Flutterhy shouted at Rainbow Dash. "You are a soldier! Killing is your job, you're used to it. It's easy for you!"
"Shut up!" Rainbow Dash punched Fluttershy and made her stop shouting. "Do you think it's easy for me? Do you think I enjoy it? It's never easy! It doesn't matter how many times you do it, taking other creatures' lives never gets easier. It's not something you can get used to."
"I... I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash. I wasn't thinking." Fluttershy cleaned her tears. "Everything Foskiá did was to help me, but him... King Sombra... He deceived him..."
"SISTER!" A scream sounded from the top of one of the towers, after a surprising gasp, the ponies and dragons rushed to the tower's top, and they found Nightmare Moon lying unconcious on the floor, and Princess Celestia was trapped in King Sombra's shadowy spell.
"Girls! Formation! Now!" Twilight stepped in front of King Sombra, and her friends behind her. "Let her go!"
However, Princess Celestia's eyes turned green, the same eyes as King Sombra's, her white coat turned into a dark velvet color little by little from her feet to her head, and her rainbow colored mane turned red, Princess Celestia was another victim of King Sombra, she was turned into a dark pony. The Dark Princess Celestia used a spell, sealing the Elements of Harmony, and so, the Harmony Spell was stopped, leaving Twilight and her friends vulnerable.
"What? What just happened?" Pinkie Pie touched her necklace. "Why didn't it work?"
"Celestia's magic is now on my side." King Sombra smiled, and caressed Princess Celestia's chin. "This is a spell she had ready just in case the Elements of Harmony would be used for evil."
"You... First Foskiá and now the princess!" Fluttershy rushed and attacked King Sombra, but she was knocked back by a dark beam that was shot from King Sombra. Skyclaw, Quetzal and Lednik tried to protect her, but it was trap, one by one, dragons were all trapped by a shadow who pulled them down to the floor, until they were completely swallowed.
"Can you see how powerless you are against me?" King Sombra mocked Twilight. "Not even Celestia or her sister can stop me now that I control the Crystal Heart, I have already won."
"Not if we have something to say." Twilight defied King Sombra with Moondancer beside her, showing the determination in her eyes.
"I see. You must be Celestia's most faithful student." King sombra smiled at her, he turned into a shadow and appeared in front of her. "You caused me a lot of trouble back then, you know? But that's fine, I feel no rencor towards you. In fact, I feel pity for you."
"I don't need your pity." Twilight said, and shot a light beam at him, but he dodged easily and appeared behind her.
"You have so much potential and energy, but they are all wasted and held back by Princess Celestia." King Sombra started walking around her. "I know. I have been were you are, devoted to your princess, learning everything, as she holds you under her wing. Millenia ago, I once was Celestia's most faithful student, I learned everything about pony magic, until one day, she put me to the test to advance to the next level of my studies. In the Crystal Empire I found greater magic, even greater than Celestia's, I discovered that hate and fear enhance the magic, and allows to control weaker minds. So I took down the Crystal Queen and became the new king. And you, Twilight, you can be as powerful as I am, you can master even more magic than Celestia, if you accept me as your new teacher."
"I would never study your ways of magic." Twilight answered, confronting King Sombra face to face.
"It is a shame, Twilight. Your power is beyond mine was, when I was your age. That's why I can't let you go." King Sombra summoned the shadows and darkness was starting to surround Twilight, but suddenly, Twilight was pushed aside by Moondancer.
"Twilight! Run!" Moondancer said as she was being swallowed by the darkness.
"Moondancer! No!" Twilight offered her hoof to Moondacer, but she used her magic to push Twilight and her friends away. "Why do you do this?"
"Don't waste this chance!" Moondancer smiled at Twilight while being covered by the shadows. "You can't use the Elements of Harmony, but there is another magic you can use. The Rainbow of Light is in my house! But to use it you will need...." Before Moondancer could finish the sentence, her whole self was completely banished into darkness.
"This way, everypony!" Princess Cadance opened a portal and the ponies fled, and Shining Armor and Guardian Sword carried the downed Princess Luna on their backs. They passed through the portal before the darkness swallowed them all. The ponies appeared in the Crystal Caves below Canterlot, the place was filled with survivors helping each other. Every face they saw showed hopeless and sadness as Princess Cadance guided them through the caves.
"Cadance, can I ask you something?" Twilight asked.
"Of course. What is it, sister?" Cadance turned her attention at Twilight.
"How dumb do you think I am?" Twilight's face turned serious, and everypony else gasped at her.
"Twilight! What does that mean?!" Shining Armor frowned at Twilight, but he was ignored and Twilight insisted.
"I don't fall for the same trick twice, Queen of Changelings!" Twilight said, and upon hearing this, Princess Cadance was surrounded by a green flare that completely covered her body, and when the flames faded, the Queen of Changelings was there, instead of Princess Cadance.
"As clever as always, Twilight." The Queen of Changeling showed her true form, and some of the ponies changed into changelings as well. "How did you know it was me?"
"I just realized, how could King Sombra take over Equestria without defeating Cadance first." Twilight answered. "But more importantly, what are you up to? Why did you used Cadance's form?"
"Would you had trusted me if I showed you my true self?"
"That's a good point." Spike added. "I woudln't had, but why did you help us?"
"Because I asked her to." Princess Luna woke up, and began to explain. "I was ready to fight the dragons, but a dark cloud appeared on the Crystal Empire, it wasn't a storm cloud, it was King Sombra raising from the ashes. I visited Chrysalis to ask for her help."
"And you agreed? just like that? Do you expect us to believe that?" Applejack skeptically asked Chrysalis.
"Yes, I did." Chrysalis nodded with a serious face. "All I had to hear was the name of King Sombra, and I accepted Nightmare Moon's offer. Because I used to be the ruler of the Crystal Empire, I was the Crystal Queen. I joined King Sombra to dethrone Celestia and Luna, but he betrayed me, and I was turned into this, because of him."
"You were the Crystal Queen?!" Rarity shocked and put a serious face. "That hideous King Sombra, uses everypony and everydragon to do the dirty work for him! He... must... pay..."
"Right! And we need the Rainbow of Light. Just like Moondancer said." Twilight stated. "Can we reach anywhere in the city from this cave?"
"Of course." Chrysalis gave a confident smile.
After some indications from Chrysalis, the mane six were found their way to Moondancer's house, it was a big mansion with a rose garden. It was filled with dark crystals and the house was all shattered, the colors and life of the place were drained away by darkness.
"Well... it's a... a lovely mansion." Rarity said, while contemplating the garden. "I didn't know she had such a high standard."
"It's just King Sombra's decoration that makes the house look like this. Moondancer's mother was a heroine." Twilight closed her eyes and began to lecture her friends. "There is a story of three witches that tried to destroy the country of Ponyland, that is, what we now know as the town of Hollow Shades, but Moondancer's mother used the famous Rainbow of Light and saved the day. The Rainbow of Light has been in Moondancer's family since then."
After walking inside the mansion while Twilight kept lecturing endlessly, she suddenly stopped upon seeing the Rainbow of Light, a heart shaped pendant, Twilight grabbed and hung it on her neck.
"It doesn't look like a rainbow to me." Rainbow Dash raised one of her eyebrows.
"It's not the pendant, it's what's inside it." Twilight answered.
"Twilight, if you're watching this, it means Equestria is in great danger..." A hologram of Moondancer appeared from the Rainbow of Light's pendant. "Princess Celestia asked me to use the Rainbow of Light in case the Elements of Harmony can't be used, but if something happened to me, I could choose another pony of my trust to use it instead of me. I choosed you, Twilight..."
"Wow... you are so clever, Moondancer." Pinkie Pie talked to the hologram, but she was ignored.
"Pinkie, holograms can't hear you, they are pre-recorded messages." Twilight explained. "And be quiet I can't hear."
"Wherever there is light, there must be darkness. That's why the power of the Rainbow of Light is not complete. First, you must find it's counterpart, the Rainbow of Darkness, but nopony knows where it is, not even Princess Celestia knows that, but she told me about one pony that may know. The Observer." The hologram, then, banished.
"The Observer?" Applejack wondered. "Who in all of the hooves in Equestria is that?"
"That's the case, The Observer is not in Equestria. It's a banished pony." Twilight closed her eyes. "But she banished herself, nopony knows her real name, nopony knows why she left, she just did, and lives in an observatory, always watching the stars. They say, that she knows everything that there is to know."
"Alright... she's a mystery and she knows a lot. Maybe she can tell us where the Dark Rainbow is..." Rainbow Dash frowned, tired of listening to Twilight's tale. "Where do we find her?"
Twilight watched the far away snow mountains through the window. "Even beyond the Frozen North."
"So.... if this Observer is really that mysterious..." Applejack broke the silence as the mane six returned to where Princess Luna and the others were. "How come y'know a bunch 'bout her?"
"I don't know anything about her..." Twilight answered. "It's all from myths, legends and pony tales from books in the school's library... I don't know if it's him or her, or even if him or her exists at all."
"Wait, wait wait. Are you saying that you're betting the fate of Equestria and everypony on a mere gossip? And the chance to find her is close to nothing?" Pinkie Pie lifted an eyebrow.
"Yes..." Twilight just sighed and nodded unconvincingly at her.
"Ooookaaaay... That's.... good to know, I guess..." Pinkie Pie said, and everypony followed silently, looking pretty down.
When they came back to Princess Luna, she was skeptical about the Observer's matter.
"Twilight. The tale of The Observer is just a rumor." Said Princess Luna walking here and there around the ponies of harmony, "Do you realize that this whole adventure you're planning may be all in vain?"
"I understand, princess." Twilight was explaining to her. "But it's our only clue. And Moondancer, left the Rainbow of Light to me, I think it deserves a shot. Besides, we're useless if we can't use the Elements of Harmony."
"King Sombra will catch you as soon as you step on the surface." Chrysalys added. "You won't even last five seconds. He can see everything through the Dark Ponies eyes."
"Ummm... well, I think there is a way..." Fluttershy suggested with a very low voice, her mane was partly hiding her face, as everypony else turned their attention to her, she timidly shared her idea.
"Very well, Twilight." After thinking for a few seconds, Princess Luna agreed with Twilight's plan. "You and your friends prepare for your journey, and make it as quickly as you can.General Shining Armor, we shall now execute Plan B, direct confrontation, that should gain your sister some time."
"Roger, your highness! Hold on, Cadence... I'm coming for you." Shining Armor saluted Princess Luna, and performed a teleporting spell, and the changelings around began to move, also preparing for battle. "Guardian Sword, my sister is in your hooves."
"Yes, sir!" Guardian Sword prepared himself to go with Twilight and her friends once again.
"Oh that's wonderful news!" Rarity, very excited, tried her luck again. "It is rather certain that we will become good friends, isn't that right, sir Guardian Sword?"
"Sorry miss Rarity. Friendship is not necessary, only the mission" Guardian Sword once again rejected Rarity and turned his attention to Twilight "The mission is always more important, even if I have to die to complete it."
Twilight and Spike both sighed in annoyance. "Not again."
As they prepared for their journey, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were both wishing a safe return to their sisters. However, Scootaloo was hesitating to talk to Rainbow Dash, she was somehow dissapointed, and after a brief moment, she made up her mind and got closer to Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow... Can we talk before you leave?" Scootaloo kicked a small pebble as she got closer to Rainbow Dash.
"Make it short, squirt. I'm almost done." Rainbow Dash said as she was preparing her armor.
"Did you leave the Wonderbolts for this?"
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash interrupted herself and turned to Scootaloo.
"I thought you being a soldier was cool. But is it as Fluttershy said? Always fighting? Did you stopped being an athlete to become a fighter?"
"Being a soldier it's not about fighting, it's about what you're fighting for. When I left the Wonderbolts, I was really excited to join the Royal Elite. Spitffire, Soaring and I aspired to join them. It was brutal, Spitfire and Soarin couldn't make it, and I barely made it with the lowest score. It was just another flying game to us, back then. But once with the Royal Elite, being the best flyer wasn't that important to me anymore. I learned what is really important to me."
"But if being the best is not important to you, now... Then, what is it?"
"My country, my family, my friends. I use my skills not to show off, but to protect Equestria and everypony in it. And that includes you, shorty."
"I thought you're special talent was all about speed, and racing, wasn't that what you were born for?"
"Let me tell you something you already know, everypony has a special talent, and lives to master it. But it's not your special talent what decides what you will do with your life. It's you who decide what to do in life with your special talent."
Scootaloo, stood silent, and then smiled. "I thought I learned everything from you, but I still have much to learn."
"Hey, I'll be always happy to teach you, sis." Rainbow hugged Scootaloo with her wing, turned around and started walking toward her friends. She stopped to say one last thing, before leaving. "Sometimes fighting is the only way, so make sure you fight for what it's important to you, no matter what or who you're fighting."
After some time, Shining Armor crashed through Canterlot's main door, with strength in his magic and rage in his eyes. Behind him, there were thousands of ponies and dragons, charging at Canterlot Palace, and fighting all the dark ponies who tried to stop them. Princess Luna and Queen Chrysalys, broke into the throne room, but King Sombra wasn't there, only Dark Princess Celestia.
Meanwhile, throught the alleys of Canterlot, six cloaked ponies were troating toward the exit of Canterlot, but just before they could leave the city, King Sombra appeared from the shadows in front of them.
"Ha ha ha! That was a nice try, ponies of harmony." He laughed. "But six disguised pony, sneaking through the confussion of battle, you should have known better than trying to fool me like that. It is quite obvious."
"Oh, you're right, you're smarter than us." Twilight said and uncovered her face, then, a green flame around the mane six turned them into changelings. "But you're not smarter than the original Twilight Sparkle." And on the north side of the city, the Sky Wanderer took off.
"Nooooo!" King Sombra raged, and turned the changelings into Dark Changelings. "Get them. Don't let them complete the Rainbow of Light."
The Ponies of Harmony left Canterlot and were on their way to the Frozen North at a high speed, out of King Sombra's reach. But still, there was no warranty that they would find the pony they were looking for.
Meanwhile, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, were on the loose exploring the crystal caves. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, following their restless friend, Scootaloo was up to something.
"C'mon, girls!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "We need to hurry! Everypony is doing their best we must do the same!"
"I'm totally with you, Scoot." Applebloom said. "But what are we up to?"
"We're going to find the Crystal Heart. And steal it back from King Sombra's dirty hooves."
"That is, if we don't get ourselves swallowed by darkness." Sweetie Belle wasn't too confident on the matter.
"Come on! Sweetie Belle, stop being so pessimistical!" Scootaloo frowned at the unicorn.
"I'm just being realistic what are our chances of stealing the Crystal Heart from King Sombra if we don't even know where is it? And I think you mean pessimistic, not pessimistical." Sweetie Belle corrected Scootaloo with a proud look in her face.
"Wow... dictionary strikes again." Scootaloo was annoyed. Suddenly, somepony crashed right in front of Scootaloo, who gasped in terror, and rushed behind Applebloom. Ditzy Doo got up and rubbed her head.
"Wow... chicken strikes again." Sweetie Belle laughed at Scootaloo. "Are you ok, Derpy?"
"Girls! You're safe!" Ditzy perked up her ears and smiled. "I thouhgt Diamond Tiara and me were the only ones who survived from Ponyville."
"Diamond Tiara? Is she alright?" Applebloom asked, very concerned.
"I'm fine!" Diamond Tiara appeared behind Ditzy, she smiled back at Applebloom, but she was still depressed. "Ditzy fainted when the changelings found us on the surface. And when she woke up, she was scared by them and tried to fly away."
"That's when she scared Scootaloo." Applebloom giggled.
"I wasn't scared, I was just... surprised." Scootaloo tried to act tough, but none of her friends believed it.
"Can you believe the changelings want to help us?" Ditzy made a suspoicious look. "I don't buy it. They must be up to something."
"I told you, we have no choice but to trust them." Diamond Tiara tried to reason with her, but the pegasus wouldn't calm down. "Anyway, what happened with the dragons? where are all the pony soldiers? And the princesses?"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders, told to Diamond Tiara and Ditzy Doo about the end of the war with the dragons and about their short battle against King Sombra, and Diamond Tiara told them of how Canterlot and everypony were taken over by King Sombra, and how Princess Cadence sacrificed herself to save her.
"I couldn't do anything." Diamond Tiara frowned, dissapointed. "She saved me, and I could only run for my life. Not even the princesses could defeat King Sombra. What's going to happen to us?"
"We'll find the Crystal Heart!" Scootaloo stated, very excited. "And we'll show King Sombra who's boss."
"W-What? Are you crazy?" Diamond Tiara gasped. "How do you think we can do that?"
"I really don't know. But Moondancer sacrificed for us, just like Princess Cadance did for you." Scootaloo answered. "It's our turn to pay them back! When Twilight and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon for the first time, they had our age, well... except for Derpy".
"No way!" Ditzy Doo interrupted. "It's too dancgerous! I've seen it happen, I can't let you go and get yourselves turned into those... those monsters! And did you just call me old mare?"
"We can't depend on Twilight and her friends forever! It's time we started pulling our own weight!" Scootaloo defied Ditzy's authority, and her friends supported her. "And besides, it's just like Guardian Sword said, the mission is always more important, even if we have to die to complete it."
"Yeah!" All of her friends nodded. "Wait, what?" Then, looked at each others face with concern upon hearing Scootaloo's intentions.
"Fine... But I'll come with you." Ditzy Doo finally agreed, and whispered to herself "Somepony has to make sure that you don't break the Crystal Heart." As they all ventured to find their way to Canterlot Palce.
Somewhere, Moondancer was falling in a black void. She could barely open her eyes, but there was absolutely nothing, it was pitch black as far as she could see. She could only talk to herself.
"Where am I? Is this all there is when you die?"
"Moondancer...."
"Black... it's no diference if I open or close my eyes... everything is black.... "
"Moondancer...."
"I can't even tell if this words are coming out of my mouth, or they are just in my mind."
"Listen to me... Moondancer..."
"Is something... calling me? Am I hallucinating?"
"You are not dead Moondancer." A strong, yet calm voice talked to her. "Do not surrender. We still have one more chance."
"That voice... I've heard it before. Are you... Are you Lednik, the blue dragon? Where are you? What do I do?"
"Calm down, Moondancer. Close your eyes and focus. Listen to my voice. Use your senses."
Moondancer closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She perked up her ears, and after a few seconds, she could feel something was moving behind her. She turned around, and a small blue aura appeared from the darkness, then, it slowly began to grow up, it was right in front of her. Something really big was causing that huge aura.
"What is that?" Moondancer asked, a bit scared, as hundreds and hundreds of auras started appearing all over the dark place. "What's going on?"
"This blue aura is me, Moondancer. Blue due to the cold of my whole self."
"Then, that means... that all of these auras..."
"They are, of course, ponies that were swallowed by King Sombra's darkness, just like us."
"How can this be? Are we all in the afterlife?"
"We never died. We were just sealed under a dark spell. It works similar to my Ice Curse. We are imprisoned, left alone to die by our own thoughts, where there is nothing. But we can break the curse, with your help, that is."
"What do I have to do?"
"Foskiá was the master of light and darkness. He once shared his knowledge to us. Light and darkness can be scary, but they are not harmful by themselves, it is the creatures the ones that make them harmful. Darkness is not a monster that devours victims, it's the universe where everything subsists. And light is not a purifying hope, it's an illuminating wave created by nature."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You can only see, because of the sun, your lamps and torches. Because there is light."
"But if you turn them off, there is only darkness. There's always darkness, we only turn on all the lights. I understand now!"
Moondancer used a spell and created a light orb from her horn, iluminating a wide area, and all the ponies around noticed the light, amazed to see it. All of them looking tired and hopeless, resigned to their imminent end.
"Listen, everypony!" Moondancer exclaimed, calling the attention of all the ponies that were illuminated by her orb's light. "There is nothing to fear! We are all still alive, all unicorns use your magic to create light! We need to find a way to release ourselves from this curse!"
"Are we under a curse?"
"Didn't King Sombra killed us all?"
"Are we still alive?"
Some ponies began to question themselves, as some unicorns created light by their own, little by little, the light began to reach everypony, until it finally reached Princess Cadence.
"Light? It's light!" Princess Cadance was dazzled by the light, she got on her hooves, and saw everypony around her, happily contemplating the lights, then, she also created her own light. A huge orb of light, and everypony else cheered and celebrated for a moment, but the Princess Cadence's light illuminated the two dragons, Skyclaw and Quetzalcóatl, then, everypony was now screaming in terrror.
"Oops..." Moondancer made a pretty bad poker face, and proceeded to calm everypony, explaining that the dragons were now on their side.
Far in the northern part of Equestria. After some hours, on the Sky Wanderer, the seven ponies and the young dragon were already crossing frontier on the Frozen North. Twilight's magic barrier was protecting them from a strong snowstorm, but there was still turbulance which made harder to fly for the ship.
"Ummm girls, I think we may have a little problem." Pinkie Pie came out from the cabin's door, and she brought young earth pony wearing a brown cloak.
"Pinkie! Who is that?" Applejack asked.
"My name is Scr... Scrapped Cloak." The young pony answered herself quite annoyed.
"You shouldn't be here." Twilight scolded the young pony. "We don't know what kind of dangers we may find. What were you thinking?"
"I couldn't help it." Scrapped Cloak frowned, keeping her anger at bay. "I wanted to take revenge on the ones who separated me from my father."
"You're talking about those awfull Dark Ponies, right?" Fluttershy crouched to talk to her.
"Ummm.... Yes! That's right! And you... you are the Elements of Harmony, right? You can help me. Please, help me!" The young pony was very anxious.
"Look, kid." Guardian Sword got closer to her. "Revenge is not the answer to anything, but we'll turn everything back to normal, I don't know if that will bring your father back, but you need to be strong, and move on, you will find somepony who will love you as much as your father did." Scrapped Cloak stared down, and covered her face with the cloak's hood.
After some hours, the snowstorm had ended, and the ponies were quite asleep, except for Applejack, Twilight and her bodyguard, who were looking for the minimal signal of life among the white fields below them, until Applejack found some kind of structure, a tall building that seemed with a huge telescope aiming at the sky.
"Wake up y'all! It's an observatory!" Applejack shouted, and pointed at the buildings direction with her right hoof. "There it is! We're on the right track!"
"I can't believe it..." Twilight stated as everypony cheered up. "It really exists!"
Rainbow Dash used the helm of the ship and steered the Sky Wanderer towards the observatory, as Twilight increased her magic on the engine to boost up. Once they landed in front of the observatory, the main door opened, and a pink earth pony came out of it.
"What is all that ruckus?" The pink pony said as she came out.
"Hi! We're here looking for The Observer." Twilight approached at the pink pony and offered her hoof to greet her. "Is that you?"
"S-sorry, you got the wrong address, missy." The pink pony's voice began to tremble and slammed the door on Twilight's face.
"What? Oh no, you didn't..." Rarity knocked on the door with great strength. "Listen, you... We came all the way here from Canterlot, and we're not leaving until we have a word with this so called Observer with a cup of hot chocolate. Is that clear?"
"Rarity!" Twilight frowned at Rarity, but the door opened again, this time, it was a tall white unicorn, with a long emerald colored mane. She was as tall as Celestia, and was wearing a scientist coat and light violet eyes.
"You are pretty loud." The tall pony said. "Come in, so you can shut up at once. I really hope you're not wasting my time."
It was warm inside of the observatory. There were bookshelves all over the place, each and everyone completely filled with books that Twilight had never seen before. The tall pony let them in the living room, then, she sat down, took a drink of what it seemed a cup of coffee, and stood silent for a brief moment.
"I am the one you call The Observer." She stated. "I see you had already met Lickety Split, my assistant."
"Hi! Sorry for being so rude before..." Lickety Split tried to apologize.
"Ummm... She's a little bossy." Spike whispered to Twilight.
"I'll make questions first. Who are you?" The observer asked, and once her guests introduced themselves, The Observer let go a slight laughter.
"Twilight Sparkle?" She smiled down at the unicorn. "THE Twilight Sparkle? And THE Elements of Harmony?"
"Hey, watch it!" Rainbow Dash stepped forward, very angry. "She is the former Princess of Friendship of Equestria! You should bow down to her!"
"Please excuse my rudeness." The Observer took another sip from her cup. "But as you said, she relinquished her title, isn't that right? Besides, I bow down to only one princess. But anyway, I can't believe the Elements of Harmony have honored us with their visit. Stories tell of six regal ponies, capable of unleashing the Elements of Harmony, saved Equestria and released Princess Luna from her evil self. Yet, you look like ordinary ponies."
"Well stories tell of a noble, kind pony, who left the land of Equestria to the edge of the world to find the meaning of life, and nopony knows her whereabouts. Yet, it only took a few hours to find you." Twilight calmly replied.
"Touché." The Observer smiled once again. "The rumor was created with the sole purpose of preventing anypony to come this far. Even my existence is doubted. Thus, nopony would try come all the way here, and probably, find nothing. Nopony would think that the rumor is actually true."
"And what 'bout her?" Applejack asked about Lickety Split.
"Oh, me? I volunteered as her assistant, I met her since she left Equestria." Lickety Split answered right before she was interrupted by The Observer again.
"Lickety Split..."
"Yes, miss?"
"Shut up."
"Yes, miss..."
"So... What brings you here, Elements of Harmony?" The Observer finally asked, and took another sip from her cup.
"The rumor says that you know everything. So we're here to ask you about the Rainbow of Light, and the Rainbow of Darkness." Twilight replied, and as soon as she ended her question, The Observer spitted her coffee on her assistant's face.
"Ahhhh! It's hot!" The Observer's assistant began to run around, screaming in pain. "Why is it still hot? It's been like two hours since I served it?"
"Lickety Split..." The Observer called her assistant again.
The Observer, surprised to hear about the ancient magics, as if she didn't expect to hear about them after a long time. It took some seconds after she calmed down before she answered the question made by Twilight.
"T-The R-Rainbow of Darkness, you said?." Said the Observer, sweating nervously. "Do you even know what kind of magic is that? Do you think you can control it?"
"I... I don't know..." Twilight answered, with great doubt in her voice.
"Do you know why ponies stopped using the Rainbow of Light?" Lickety Split asked the mane six, and this time, she wasn't stopped by her master.
"Wasn't because it lost its power? It needs the Rainbow of Darkness to be complete, right?" Applejack responded. But she wasn't sure.
"Correct. The Rainbows of Light and Darkness are two faces of the same coin." The Observer got up from her seat, and with the help of her telekinesis, she brought one of the books from the shelves behind her. She put the book in front of Twilight, and opened it on a specific page, referring the Rainbows.
"But unlike the Rainbow of Light." The Observer explained. "The Rainbow of Darkness is dangerous, and hard to control. If the wielder is not prepared, the dark side of the Rainbow will control the wielder instead. To be honest, I don't think you can handle it."
"Yeah, yeah... We'll see about that." Rainbow Dash asked, losing her patience. "But where can we find it?"
"Well... I don't know." The Observer stared at Rainbow Dash, very intimidatingly. "The last time it was seen, was a long time ago. It was witnessed by the original wielder of the Rainbow of Light."
"Moondancer's mother?" Twilight wondered.
"Wrong." The Observer smiled back. "The original wielder wasn't even a pony. It was a human."
"A human?" Twilight Sparkle wondered. "But humans know nothing about the ponies or our magic, they're from a different world. How could a human use the Rainbow of Light?"
"I don't know the details." The Observer replied. "The real expert about humans is a pony from Ponyville. Her name is Lyra Heartstrings. I suggest you ask her."
"Wait, wait, wait." Pinkie Pie interrupted, while jumping on the coffee table. "Are you talking about our Lyra Heartstrings from our Ponyville?"
"You mean the crazy mare who used to sit oddly on the park's benches?" Rarity also questioned.
"I have no knowledge of her strange manners." The Observer stated, pushing Pinkie Pie back on her seat. "But her researh about humans is, actually, very interesting."
"But all of Equestria's towns were destroyed by King Sombra." Applejack said. "And everypony was caught by dark ponies. Maybe she was trapped too, or maybe she's one of them, dark ponies, now."
"I think Lyra can deal with some dark ponies." Twilight said. "She's another student of Princess Celestia. But then again, she never was the strongest unicorn. I hope she's ok."
"Then we should leave inmediately." Guardian Sword spoke after staying silent during the whole conversation. Twilight and her friends nodded and prepared for another trip, this time, Ponyville as their destination.
"Miss, I think I should go with them." Lickety Split was also leaving, she wasn't asking permission as she already knew that The Observer wouldn't stop her.
"It's time to face your past, huh?" The Observer closed her eyes and took another sip from her cup.
"It seems that soon, it will be your time, too." The pink pony looked back, from the door which leads to downstairs.
Before Lickety Split left. The Observer said goodbye to her assistant with another command. "I forbid you to die, my good friend." And after nodding, Lickety Split left the observatory, then, she caught up with Twilight, and after a short chat, they boarded the Sky Wanderer, and lifted up the flight.
Once on Ponyville, the sight was not better from Canterlot. Houses were destroyed by the dark crystals which sprouted from the ground. Sweet Apple Acres wich was barely recovering from the burns, was also devastated by dark crystals, the trees were turned gray, and the apples looked rotten, still, there were ligths coming from inside the barn, as if somepony was living there. The ponies decided to land near there, and investigate.
As the ponies got closer to the barn, the lights inside it were turned off, whatever was inside it was obviously hiding its presence. After some steps inside, the lights were turned on again. Silver Spoon, Vinyl and Octavia came out of their hiding spots.
"Phew... It's only you." Silver Spoon said in relief.
"Sliver Spoon, where is mah brother? Where's Big Mac?" Applejack grabbed Silver Spoon by her shoulders and asked, desperately.
"Well, he... he is..." Silver Spoon showed a sad face, and was shortly interrupted by Octavia.
"It's not your fault, Silver." Octavia put her right hoof on Silver Spoon's back, trying to cheer her up. "Your brother is a hero, Applejack. He saved us, from those things."
"But he got hurt, I've never seen such a bad beating before." Vinyl added only to concern Applejack about her brother's condition. "They took him to the library, I guess."
"They took him, who?" Applejack looked at the unicorns crimson eyes, very intimidating.
"Cheerilee, and, who was it?" Vinyl nevously answered. "That mare with the candy cutie mark, you know, the one with the bicolor mane."
"Wait, Applejack!" Twilight's tried to stop her but her call was to late. "Let's go with her."
"Yeah, stick together, she said." Rainbow Dash mid closed her eyes. "Lickety Split, Scrapped Cloak, I think you should stay here. Things can get ugly with the dark ponies."
"Okay." Said Lickety Split with a cheering smile, as Scrapped Cloak just sit down.
Cheerilee and Bon Bon were bandaging Big Macintosh's left hind leg in Twilight's room, while Lyra Heartstrings was iluminating the place with her magic as she read one of the books. Suddenly, the entrance door downstairs, was brusquely open, wich startled the ponies.
Big Macintosh got up and, silenty, headed to the door to investigate, but he was stopped by Lyra, who made him a signal with her right hoof to stay still and rest, then, she took a peek outside the room. She saw a dark silhouette come in, but almost inmediately, two more silhouettes appeared at her both sides. They were dark ponies who attacked, the first pony tried to punch her, but she ducked, and quickly teleported back to the room.
"We've been spotted!" Lyra screamed, as her friends gasped. "Let's get outta here!"
The dark ponies approached the door slowly, trying to sneak on the ponies, but the door was blasted off by Big Macintosh's strong charge, and the dark ponies with it. Big Mac and the mares escaped the library, but the streets were filled with dark ponies, and Big Macintosh was still hurt by his leg.
As they escaped, they were chased by the dark ponies, Lyra led the group to a narrow dead end alleyway, and turned against the dark ponies, she opened her legs in a battle position, the alley was so narrow that only small groups of dark ponies could get in to attack, Bon Bon took out an old frying pan from a box nearby, and Cheerilee armed herself with a broom.
"It's alright, Big Mac." Cheerilee sounded brave, but she gulped. "This time we'll protect you."
First, only one dark pony attacked, Lyra closed her eyes, she pointed her horn at it, and righ before he could hit her, she fired a magic beam at him and knocked him away. After this, the dark ponies kept coming in groups, Lyra tried her best to repell them all, using magic beams, but she couldn't stop them all, a dark pony reached her, but Bon Bon knocked him back with the frying pan and Cheerilee was hitting as many dark ponies as she could with mere lucky strikes.
Lyra and her friends were barely repelling the attacks, but each dark pony was more successful on their attacks than the last one, and to make things worse, dark pegasi and dark unicorns also joined the attack. Some dark ponies could connect a punch or a kick on the mares before they were defeated. After all, the ponies were getting exhausted as the dark ponies kept coming, Cheerilee was just a school teacher, Bon Bon a candy maker, Lyra a musician, and none of them had any fighting experience.
One of the dark ponies got pass Lyra, and lifted Bon Bon to the air with a hind legs kick, and Bon Bon was recieved by a dark pegasus who hit her against the ground, and Bon Bon was the first one to fall in battle. Cheerilee jumped on the dark pegasus who knocked Bon Bon and after struggling with him as they rolled on the ground, she defeated him and hit him on the head with the broom. But shortly, she was tackled from her left side by a dark pony and a second dark pony headbutted her against the wall. Big Macintosh furiously punched the dark pony, he then grabbed his hind legs and threw him away towards another small group of dark ponies, then, he ran and stood beside Cheerilee to help her up.
Lyra looked at the situation, and desperately closed her eyes, she opened her legs to keep her balance and her horn began to glow as she prepared a powerful spell. Suddenly, seven strings appeared from her horn, and using them as whips, she swept dark ponies, far and wide the alley. The unicorn, exhausted of performing one of her strongest spells, panted of relief, but another group of dark ponies was left standing, Lyra looked back at her tired friends, she then, dropped to her knees, and closed her eyes, as she was ready to accept their unfortunate fate while the dark ponies came closer.
But just when the ponies were surrounded by their enemies, Applejack came running to help, the dark ponies turned around and the last thing they saw was Applejack charging over them. The dark ponies enraged, they targeted on Applejack for their next attack, but behind them, in front of the alley entrance, Twilight and her friends were backing up.
"Is this all what's left? Ha! They're all yours, Guardian Sword." Rainbow Dash commanded, and without a word, Guardian Sword attacked, and with quick wing attacks, the group of dark ponies were no match for the strong pegasus.
Applejack reunited with her brother, as Twilight and the other ponies met with Lyra, explaining the situation, Lyra smiled really excited and agreed to help, and so, the group went to the barn, where it was safer.
"Hah! I knew it! And you said I was wasting my time!" Lyra was rubbing her glorious momment on Bon Bon's face. "You said I was wrong! You all said I was crazy!"
"So what if some ponies believe you." Said Bon Bon who was still esceptical on the matter. "It means nothing."
"It means a lot if those ponies are Princess Twilight Sparkle AND the rest of the Elements of harmony!" Lyra was very proud of herself.
"I'm not a princess anymore, remember?" Twilight informed the light blue unicorn, but she was completely ignored.
"If you don't mind, could you please be quiet, now?" Rarity was concerned. "I don't think any of us would like to engage with them again."
"Hehe, sorry." Lyra finally calmed herself, picked a book from one of the layin saddle bags, and opened it. "I started researching about humans after I found this a long time ago in the princess' library."
"Ohhh! The adventures of Robin Hood... What is this?" Pinkie Pie read the cover of the book.
"It's a tale. Robin Hood is a human who steals from the rich, and donates it to the poor." Lyra responded. "It's a creature called man, wich equals a stallion for us ponies, there are also women, wich equals mares."
"But I've met the human world. And they look different from this one." Twilight saw the pictures of the book, and she was confused, the humans in the book looked were nothing like the ones from the world she met.
"Yes... but that's because they're from a parallel world from ours." Lyra put a serious face as she continued her explaining. "After some researching, I found out that long time before Equestria was founded, there were another kind of creatures who used to live in this world, the only description was a hairless monkey, with hair only on their heads. Coincidence? I don't think so."
"Hairless monkeys? That's hard to believe." Cheerilee was not too convinced with Lyra's description.
"Yes. How did they protect themselves from cold?" Fluttershy added.
"It's true! Look at the book. Maybe that's why they always used clothing." Lyra tried to convince the sceptical, and showing the pictures page from page. "And look, women used to wear dresses just like mares do, nowadays. And they used sewing machines. A lot of the artifacts we use now may be based on those the humans invented."
"Humans used to live in this world... That would explain the original wielder of the Rainbow of Light." Twilight touched her chin with her right hoof. "Lyra, do you know anything about it?" After asking her last question, Twilight showed the Rainbow of Light to Lyra.
Lyra gasped, and picked up another book, and after turning she showed it to Twilight. "This book talks about the Rainbow of Light. But I have no evidence this was written by a human. I showed it to a bunch of ponies, but they all said it could have been written by anypony."
April 14, 1984
Dear diary, today the most strange thing has happened to me. A talking pegasus named Firefly came flying to the farm to ask me for help and took me to his land, a land called Ponyland, a place inhabitated by ponies, unicorns and pegasi. But some of them were kidnapped by dragons and a strange creature named Scorpan. I'd never let those dragons get away with this. So here I am walking with ponies to save their friends. I keep telling them that we can do it, but I'm not sure how can I help.
I almost die trying to save Applejack, but thanks to the seaponies we're fine. Twilight took us to the woods and we met a strange little man named The Moochick, he gave me this beautiful pendant he called the Rainbow of Light and I need to use it to defeat Tirek, now I know I can help these ponies. Now we're heading to Midnight Castle.
When we got to Midnight Castle, the seaponies helped us again. We confronted Tirek and Scorpan turned out to be good, he tried to help, but Tirek and the Rainbow of Darkness were too powerful. The Rainbow of Light looked weak at first, but somehow it emerged from Tirek's Rainbow of Darkness and we were victorious.
Scorpan turned out to be a prince, and the ponies are free in Ponyland again, they treat me like a hero, they are my friends, now. I hope I can see them again soon. This has been the most exciting adventure I ever had, sometimes I wonder if it was just a dream.
"This... This is fascinating, where is this from?" After reading, Twilight checked the first page, but the only information she could find, was a single word. "Megan? Is this the author's name?"
"I thought the author's name was Dranz." Pinkie Pie stated, confusing everypony with this last comment, a short moment of awkward silence invaded the barn.
"Megan is a weird name for an author." Said Rainbow Dash, they have never heard that name before. "But what are your name and Applejack's doing in this book?"
"Ah don't recall knowing anypony called Megan." Applejack scratched the back of her head. "What 'bout you, Big Mac?"
"Nnnnope."
"I do." Lickety Split said, making a nostalgic face, as she cherished the book with a touch of her front right hoof. "Megan... She was, indeed, a human girl."
"How do you know that? Weren't humans supposed to have lived a really, really long time ago?" Pinkie Pie met eye to eye with Lickety Split, invading her personal space.
"My mother told me about her." Lickety Split answered. "The mothers of Applejack and Twilight also met her. As this diary suggests, humans also lived in this world when Hollow Shades was known as Ponyland."
"That means, there was a time when ponies and humans shared the world." Octavia said. "But it's been some time since Ponyland was renamed. I wasn't even born when that happened."
"Yes! Think about it, back in the day, it was a tradition to name the daughter after her mother." Vinyl palmed Octavia's back.
"But then, what happened to the humans?" Fluttershy wondered, she was curious to know more about these strange creatures.
"They became extinct." Lickety Split put a sad face. "It happened about five hundred years ago... Our mothers were teenagers, back then."
My mother told me that Megan was a young human girl when she first came to Ponyland wich was a country that recently united to Equestria. She was brave, kind and with a strong sense of justice, even if she lacked confidence, she never gave up, no matter how strong the enemy was.
But there was an enemy that she thought she had defeated, but he came back, to take revenge on everything. Maybe you've heard of him, Grogar. He unleashed a destructive spell called, The Wrath. A hole appeared in the sky, and with lighning storms, and meteor showers, little by little, almost the whole world was destroyed, plants, animals, even humans died. Megan was the last survivor of the humans.
She came back to Ponyland, now as an adult. Before The Wrath reached Equestria, the three leaders saw the signals and found out disaster was close to Equestria. They deduced that the only way to stop it, was by using the Rainbow of Light in The Wrath's core.
Megan and the young dragon Spike, sacrificed themselves to save us ponies. Grogar was easily defeated by the Princesses once The Wrath was closed. Equestria was saved from disaster before it happened, but the rest of the world was not. This is kept a secret from the next generation of ponies by order of the three leaders.
"What? Spike?" The young dragon gasped. "Was there another dragon called Spike?"
"Yes... Our mothers knew him." Lickety Split nodded. "He was older than you are, tough. He even grew wings."
"Now that you mention it." Twilight thought about this last fact. "It was my mom who suggested me to call you Spike when you were given to me. This Wrath story actually makes sense."
"The Wrath, it really happened?" Cheerilee knew the story, but she didn't believe it.
"No way! My mom told me that story to put me to sleep." Bon Bon also stated. "It can't be true."
"Did your mother told you all of this?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Who was your mother, anyway?"
"My mother, the first Lickety Split, gave the Rainbow of Light back to Megan. But after that, the Rainbow was powerless, so Princess Celestia gave it to Moondancer's mother to find out why. If you want to use the Rainbow of Light again, you will have to find the Rainbow of Darkness where it was left. In the Midnight Castle."
Tha Main Six, along with Guardian Sword, Scrapped Cloak, and Lickety Split are now heading to Midnight Castle, where Lickety Split is sure they will find the Rainbow of Darkness. But not before leaving their friends in Ponyville inside a safe barrier made by Twilight.
The Sky Wanderer is fast enough to reach everywhere on Equestria in a matter of minutes. After a short and quiet moment, Pinkie Pie decided to know a little more about their three new friends, Guardian Sword, Lickety Split and the young Scrapped Cloak, the poor filly was her first victim.
"Howdy, Scrappy!" Pinkie Pie popped out of nowhere right in front of Scrapped Cloak "Say, how come I've never met you before in Canterlot?"
"Well... I... I am..." Scrapped Cloak nervously tried to answer.
"Pinkie! Canterlot is the largest and most inhabitated city in Equestria." Rarity intervened. "Not even you can know everypony who lives there."
"Is that a challenge?" Pinkie turned her sight at Rarity, smiled and lifted an eyebrow with confidence.
"Err... I pass." Rarity backed down without saying anything else.
"Well? Are you really from Canterlot? Who is your father, anyway?" Pinkie Pie did a big smile at Scrapped Cloak and kept questioning.
"My father... he is... A traveler! Yes! He... he travels from town to town... and I go with him... So no, we're not really from Canterlot."
"Oh... Ok. That's why I've never seen you before." Pinkie Pie seemed satisfied with the answer. But she asked more and more questions. "So why do you travel so much? What does your father do?"
"Well... My daddy ummm... He... He creates..."
"Hey, relax, kid." Rainbow Dash noticed the nervosity of the cloaked pony. "I know Pink here is a bit scary when she starts asking questions, but she doesn't bite."
"Yeah! I don't bite." Pinkie Pie got closer and closer to Scrapped Cloak. "So... your father creates things? How?"
"Yes. He creates things just for fun, with no reason. He is like an artist, he builds his own world, to make it funnier, and more interesting, he always used to say it was the way it was supposed to be. That was until... until they took him away, and I was left alone. I try to follow his steps, but I lack a lot, lot of experience."
"Miss Pinkie Pie. I think you are pressing a wound." Guardian Sword, who was driving the ships helm, stopped Pinkie Pie from asking more questions to Scrapped Cloak.
"Oops. Sorry, Scrappy, I totally forgot." Pinkie frowned, and apologized. Then she went toward Guardian Sword, who gulped upon watching her coming. "Alright! Your turn Mr. Knight. Whether you like it or not, we are friends. Time to talk about yourself."
"Please, miss Pinkie Pie. I've already said that friendship is not part of my mission."
"It doesn't have to be. Everypony needs friends,"
"No, I don't"
"Yes, you do."
"I said no."
"And I said, everypony. And I don't mean just everypony, I mean every creature in every corner of this world needs friends, because friendship is the color in the painting of life, and without it, everything would be just a boring black and white drawing on the white canvas we call life. Besides you gotta have a reason to not want any friends, everypony has a reason for everything and...."
"ARRGGHH! PLEASE, STOP!" Guardian Sword shouted in dessperation, the poor stallion never stood a chance against Pinkie Pie. "I DON'T NEED FRIENDSHIP. NOT BECAUSE IT'S NOT MY MISSION. BECAUSE IS A WASTE OF TIME!"
"A waste of time?" Pinkie Pie frowned.
Guardian Sword looked down, and everypony stood silent for a brief moment. Then, Guardian Sword started talking again.
"Just like miss Scrapped Cloak, I lost my parents when I was young. I was raised in an orphanage, but one day, I was adopted by a rich family, I assisted to the high class parties, I met high class ponies and that's how I met friendship. My brother seemed to enjoy these celebrations with his friends, he invited me to enjoy it as well. But I was criticized, they were making fun of me, they humiliated me. If that's what friendship is, I don't need it."
"Oh my! Your own brother?" Rarity hid her mouth with her hoof. "I'm not the best sister ever, but I would never do such a thing to Sweetie Belle. Who on Equestria could be that mean to his own brother?"
"Maybe you know him. His name is Blueblood."
"THAT CONCEITED, POOR ATTEMPT OF GENTLECOLT?!" Rarity waste no time to show her spite at Guardian Sword's brother.
"Tell me about it." Pinkie Pie nodded. "It's not just Prince Blueblood. High class parties are filled with conceited, poor attempts of gentlecolts."
"That is not real friendship, Guardian Sword." Twilight explained while transmitting her magic to the ship's engine. "Don't you realize the difference between your brother's friendship and ours? Our friendship, the REAL friendship, is to love and tolerate each other, with virtues and defects. I know that if you open your heart to it, you will never want to get away from it."
Twilight smiled at Guardian Sword, and the stallion contemplated Twilight's smile, he gulped, sweat started to stream down his forehead, and his breath began to accelerate as his hooves began to tremble. Rarity saw the stallion's reaction and just frowned, disapointed.
"Come now, Rar." Applejack backpalmed Rarity to cheer her up. "You can't get'em all, y'know?"
"I always had the stallion I wanted." Rarity smiled at Applejack. "But I have to admit it. This time, Twilight has completely defeated me."
"Well, only one left, right Splitty?" Pinkie Pie bounced to Lickety Split. The two pink ponies stared at each other smiling cheerfully. "How did you met The Observer?"
"Well, I was residing in Vanhoover when I met her. She said she was leaving Equestria forever and needed somepony to assist her, so I thought, why not? And I've been her assistant since then."
"Is that really the whole story?" Pinkie Pie asked after a brief pause.
"Yes. That's all."
"Oh! Okey dokey lokey." Pinkie bounced away, leaving Lickety Split alone, as everypony else were left open-mouthed in shock, nopony has got rid of Pinkie so easily before.
Lickety Split indicated where Midnight Castle was and where could they land. Guardian Sword followed her instructions and landed the ship on the castle's main bailey. Lickety Split led the way to the place where they would find the Rainbow of Darkness, and everypony else followed her, as Twilight and Rarity iluminated the place with their magic, and Guardian Sword and Rainbow Dash were using lit torches.
The castle's hallways were deteriorated, many of the stone walls were crumbled, the creaking of the wood doors echoed through the entire hallway, and the stench to dust filled the place. When Lickety Split opened a door, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike and herself passed through, but the door suddenly slammed, leaving the rest of the group behind.
"What in tarnation is going on?" Applejack tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Stand aside! I'm going to knock this door away."
All the ponies on the other side moved away from the door, waiting for the earth pony to break the door, but for some reason, she stopped, and after a few seconds, the door opened again.
"Well, look at that, y'all! It opens to the other side! Sorry 'bout that." Applejack smiled and scratched her head, embarrased.
The group, then, reached the castle's keep where, according to Lickety Split, the Rainbow of Darkness was last used by Tirek on the top.
"Hey, Applejack. How come you're not wearing that dirty old hat of yours, now?" Rainbow Dash noticed Applejack wasn't wearing her hat. After all, she had lost it during her fight against Ignis, the Dragon Lord of Fire. Pinkie Pie and Twilight gasped and stared at Rainbow Dash, disapproving her last comment.
"Umm... well." Applejack was confused, and answered. "It's just a hat, isn't it? Ah can wear it anytime, y'know?." Twilight and Pinkie Pie were more surprised at Applejack's reaction, Rainbow Dash stopped, and smiled with confidence. Rainbow Dash tackled Applejack to the floor, Applejack fell on her back, and was trapped between Rainbow's legs.
"Rainbow! What does this mean?!" Rarity questioned Rainbow Dash, but she was ignored.
"Applejack's hat is a memento of her parents. She would have exploded after what I just said. But you said it was just a hat. Your indiference betrayed you."
"I don't understand." Applejack's southern accent disappeared.
"You mess up, partner. Who are you? Where are my friends? ANSWER ME!" Rainbow Dash interrogated Applejack, but the captured earth pony was covered in red flames, Rainbow Dash jumped backward, as the rest of the ponies who were left behind also covered themselves in red flames, and as soon as the flames were extinguished, the ponies inside them were replaced by Changelings. But these changelings were different from the others, they had red eyes and red wings, their bodies had no hollows, and there was a purple aura around each one, they were Dark Changelings.
"No way... Changelings, too?" Twilight could not believe what she saw.
"No worries, Twi. You and Split go for the Rainbow of Darkness." Rainbow Dash commanded. "Pink, Spike and I can deal with these guys." And so, Twilight and Lickety Split rushed for the top. One of the Changelings tried to chase them, but Rainbow Dash blocked his way.
"No, señor. You will stay here and have fun with us." Rainow Dash punched the Changeling back, starting the battle.
It was Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Spike, versus three Dark Changelings. Spike jumped and from the air, he shot fire at the Changelings, but one of them stepped forward, and countered the flames with a dark beam shot from his horn. The Dark Changelings charged all at the same time, and used their wings to boost theirs speed, the ponies and the dragon did not expect this, and they were knocked back.
Pinkie Pie regained her balance and hopped on the Changelings' heads, landing on the other side, Rainbow Dash charged at them and pushed one of them at Pinkie Pie, who kicked the unlucky Changeling with her hind legs, and Spike burned him with his fire breath.
The other two Changelings quckly regrouped with their downed partner, two of them pointed their horns at the third Changeling, and performed a strange spell, then, the third Changeling, who was surrounded by a dark red aura, pointed his horn at the ponies and the dragon, and a dark red beam came out of it, Rainbow, Pinkie and Spike where caught inside the beam, struggling against a current that was pushing them back, but the two remaining changelings jumped inside the beam and kicked the ponies and the dragon, who were taken by the beam's current until the other side of the hallway.
"Uff... This Changelings are tougher than the others." Pinkie Pie stood up with Rainbow Dash's help, who was the first one to stand up.
"Yeah, they're pretty good." Spike also got up and smiled. "But that's nothing compared to Lednik."
"Heh... yeah!" Rainbow Dash was also confident. "Even Fluttershy alone was more of a challenge than you guys."
The Changelings got angry for their enemies' words, they tried to repeat the same spell, but Rainbow and Pinkie rushed at the Changelings before they could do it. The ponies speed caught the Dark Changelings off guard, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie punched the three Changelings in a hoof-to-hoof combat. While the Changelings were distracted defending themselves from the ponies, Spike covered himself in green flames, he charged at the Changelings, and hit them with powerful green fire claws, then he blew his green flames on to Rainbow Dash, she was powered by the flames as she was wrapped by them, and she boosted at the changelings and ran them over, taking them all the way to the other side of the hallway.
"Hah! How's that, chumps?" Rainbow Dash mocked the Dark Changelings, who were too beaten and weak to stand up again. Pinkie clapped her hoof against Spike's fist, celebrating their victory.
"Okay, no time to lose. Let's move it!" Rainbow Dash commanded as the team rushed to catch up with Twilight and Lickety Split.
Meanwhile, the rest of the ponies were locked inside one of the rooms, Guardian Sword and Applejack, joined forces and crashed through the door, wich leaded to a garden. Other two Dark Changelings were waiting for them, as if they knew they wouldn't hold them locked forever.
"Sir Guardian Sword. You have a mission to complete, am I correct?" Rarity said. "You can leave this to us. And Fluttershy, please take Scrapped Cloak to a safe place." Guardian Sword and Fluttershy nodded at Rarity, and both pegasi flew away, Guardian Sword headed for the castle's keep, and Fluttershy took the young cloaked pony back to the Sky Wanderer,
"Oh my heavens." One of the Changelings imitated Rarity, taunting her. "Aren't you scared of messing up your mane?"
"Come here, you ruffian. So I can teach you how a messed up mane looks like."
The Dark Changeling fell for the taunt and attacked Rarity, he launched a one-two punch combination, but Rarity dodged easily with a left-right move, then, the Dark Changeling tried an uppercut, but the unicorn avoided it stepping to her right side, and countered with a roundhouse kick that hit the Changeling's cheek, and knocking him down.
"What the...?!" The Changeling got up, he was angry.
"Maybe Ah should have warned you." Applejack looked at the Changelings with a cocky smile. "Rarity is actually pretty good at fighting."
The Dark Changelings joined their horns, a purple aura glew around both of them, and a black beast shaped beam hit the two ponies, launching them to against the building, and both ponies crashed against the wall. The ponies stood up, but the Changelings were already making their next attack. One of them kicked his partner and shot it toward the mares, the Changeling who was shot started spinning, covered in purple aura, wich released a shockwave upon hitting the ground, and blowing the mares away, crashing through the building's walls and falling inside the building's hallway.
"Okay.... Ah think we underestimated them." Applejack talked to Rarity, as the mares slowly stood up, and went back out to the garden through the wall's hole. "You ready, Rar?"
"It. Is. On." The mare glared at the two Dark Changelings.
Applejack stomped on the ground, creating a small tremor, strong enough to make the Dark Changelings lost their balance, so the Changelings lifted themselves with the help of their wings, but the tremor was a feint to distract them, Rarity used a telekinesis spell on the stone pieces of the collapsed wall, and used them to knock the Dark Changelings back on the ground, then, the mares completed the combination by charging at their downed enemies, each one hitting a Changeling with a headbutt.
As the Changelings stood up, Rarity hopped on Applejack's back, and the earth pony impulsed Rarity to the air, then, she stomped the ground once again, but this time, the ground below the Changelings lifted them, also throwing them to the air and heading Rarity's way. The unicorn hit their heads with each one of her hind legs, making a strong impact when landing on the ground. The Changelings tried to get up on their feet again, but they were too hurt to do it. Realizing their victory, Applejack and Rarity smiled at each other and followed their way to the keep.
On top of the keep, Twilight and Lickety Split found an old bag, Twilight slowly walked to the bag, but right before she could pick it up, a Dark Changeling appeared and took the bag.
"Not so fast, Twilight!" The Dark Changeling said while keeping the bag away from her. "I'll be keeping this."
"Don't touch that. You don't know how dangerous that is." Lickety Split warned the Dark Changeling, but he ignored her, he was decided to open it, but he was tackled by Guardian Sword, who appeared suddenly, making the Dark Changeling drop the bag, and so,Twilight teleported to the bag and grabbed it,
The Dark Changeling quickly shot a dark beam at Guardian Sword, and the pegasus was hit, making him step back. The Changeling took advantage of this, and attacked Twilight to snatch the bag from her. Twilight's horn glew as she lifted a barrier and repelled the changeling, but he covered himself by his purple aura and shot another dark beam, this time penetrating the barrier, and hitting Twilight, who dropped the bag upon the impact, and the bag landed on the floor, opened. The Rainbow of Darkness was released and took the form of a dark flare wich started to surround Twilight.
"The Rainbow of Light, Twilight! Use it, now!" Lickety Split screamed and Twilight opened the glowing pendant, a small rainbow was released from it, and instantly fused with the Rainbow of Darkness.
The two rainbows formed a single large rainbow, while the darkness was trying to swallow the multicolored rainbow, wich was also trying to swallow the darkness. Twilight gazed upon the mighty power of the Rainbows, she heared a voice inside her mind, distracting her.
"You have so much potential and energy, but they are all held back by Princess Celestia."
"No... Princess Celestia is helping me grow... I even became a princess thanks to her..."
"You can be as powerful as I am, you can master even more magic than Celestia."
"I can... even more magic... No! I can't turn against her..."
"Twilight, Celestia has had many star students. You are just another one to her."
"Just another one...?"
"Once she sees you have gained the Rainbow of Light's full power, she will take it from you, because she is scared of anypony growning stronger than her. Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon. Discord was turned into stone. I was imprisoned in the Crystal Empire. Even your friend, Fluttershy, was about to be punished by her."
"No... Princess Celestia knows best... she will... she... she had... she had a spell ready, just in case the Elements of Harmony turned against her... We... we are a threat to her..." Twilight's doubt, made the Rainbow of Light lose power, and the dark side of the Rainbow was winning the struggle.
Lickety Split, against the strong winds created by the Rainbows, crawled to the Rainbow of Darkness' bag, and closed it, as Guardian Sword crawled to Twilight and closed the pendant. Both Rainbows were imprisoned, leaving a strong shockwave who pushed all the ponies back.
"TWILIGHT!" All the unicorn's friends reached the top and rushed to her friend to help her up.
"I'm... I'm fine..." Twilight rubbed her head and touched the Rainbow of Light's pendant with a trembling hoof.
"It's okay. We can leave. We have the Rainbow of Darkness, now." Lickety Split stood up, and started walking to the keep's stairs, she glared at Twilight with a disapointed look in her eyes. "My master was right about you. You can't wield the Rainbow of Light."
The ponies left Midnight Castle with both Rainbows in their possesion, heading for Canterlot, to face King Sombra once again. The last Dark Changeling watched them leave from the castle's keep, he stopped his companions from chasing them, as if he knew that there was a chance to defeat the Dark Unicorn. He knew that if the ponies were successful, he and his partners would be free again.
The ponies, now in possesion of the Rainbows of Light and Darkness, are in their way, back to Canterlot, decided to put an end to King Sombra's reign at once. However, Twilight's concern of being unable to control the Rainbow of Darkness still haunted her.
"Lickety Split, can we talk?" Twilight talked to the pink pony, who was sharing a few laughs with another pink pony, "What would have happened if you wouldn't saved me?"
Lickety Split answered, very happily. "Well, in theory, the dark rainbow would have consumed the multi-colored one, creating a completely negative magic and..."
"No no no, I mean, what would have happened to me?" Twilight interrupted, showing a frowning face, and after hearing the last question, Lickety Split's smile disappeared, turning into a serious face.
"You would have been driven to pursuit your own greeds, considering your enemy everything that stood in your way. The Rainbow of Darkness would have granted you his power to get what you want. Good or evil would not be important to you anymore, not even your friends, not even your family, the only pony you would care for, would be yourself."
"It was awful, I could have betrayed the princess. I can't believe King Sombra had the power get in my head all the way to the Midnight Castle."
"Hold your horses, Twilight. Don't blame King Sombra for your own problems."
"What?" Twilight lifted an eyebrow. "But it was his voice, and those were his exact words. I remember perfectly!"
"It was the Rainbow of Darkness in your head. It manifests differently to everypony, but in the end, YOU are the only responsible for it, that is your dark side."
"Whoa there, Nelly!" Applejack intevened in the conversation. "Dark side? For the beards of my uncle Traders Joe! What is a dark side?"
"It's that little voice that induces you to do bad things to fulfill your own desires." Lickety Split explained. "Stealing, lying, that kind of stuff. Every rational creature has a dark side. And when exposed it to the Rainbow of Darkness, it messes with your greeds, fears, and even your love interests to let the Rainbow of Darkness corrupt you. Twilight lost control of her dark side, and that's why she couldn't wield the Rainbows."
"Maybe Twilight can't" Pinkie Pie popped out between Twilight and Lickety Split. "But what about the others? Can any of us wield the Rainbows? Or maybe YOU could use it. You know, since you know a bunch about it."
"Good idea, Pinkie!" Twilight perked her ears and smiled. "You know how it works, I can't think of anypony more capable than you."
"Actually... no, I can't." Lickety Split also smiled back at Pinkie Pie. "I also have trouble dealing with my own dark side, but I don't want to talk about it right now."
"Well, what about me?" Pinkie bounced in front of Lickety Split, anxious for an answer.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Lickety Split widened her eyes and shouted at Pinkie Pie, she startled the rest of the ponies around them.
"Why not?" Pinkie asked very confused.
"You are the most dangerous pony to attempt to wield the Rainbows," Lickety Split pictured the consequences of letting Pinkie Pie wield the Rainbows in her head. "I don't know what could happen if sad Pinkie takes over. And I don't even want to think about it, if the angry and rancorous Pinkie prevails in the end. That wouldn't be nice at all..."
"Well, then, who would be the most suitable pony?" Rarity asked curiously.
"The wielder must have total control of herself. She must face the darkness within her, accept it and defeat it." Lickety Split touched her chin and took a closer look at everypony around her, even Spike was considered. But nopony seemed to be capable of wielding the Rainbows, for all the candidates had potential dark sides that could bring catastrophic results, including herself.
Twilight was doubting her loyalty to her teacher. Rarity's love for fame might betray her. Rainbow Dash's pride could turn her into another tyrant. Applejack would do anything to see her parents again. Fluttershy lacks confidence, has a lot of phobias, and tends to care more for the creatures than for anything else. Guardian Sword doesn't seem to know what light is. Pinkie Pie has a light side, a dark side, and an angry side. Scrapped Cloak was driven by revenge. And Spike had a greedy dragon deep inside of him.
Lickety Split finally came to an answer, after staying silent for a few seconds as everypony else stared at her impatiently.
"We'll be sure when the moment is right... It could be any of you. Except for Pinkie Pie, of course. But also... Maybe it's none of you."
At that time, the battle in Canterlot seemed like a lost cause. The Dark Ponies were outnumbered by the equestrian army, the changelings and the dragons, but that didn't matter if every defeated ally turned inmediately into a new enemy unit. The battlefield was mess, with dark crystals covered almost the entire city, the buildings were crumbling down like domino pieces, and a dark sky which showed it was not daytime, but certainly it wasn't night either. King Sombra was enjoying his spectacle from the lord's balcony with an arrogant smile covering his face.
Inside the throne room, Dark Princess Celestia turned out to be a hard challenge for Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon. With her magic powered by darkness, her Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis could barely get closer to her. Dark Princess Celestia striked with a black beams at her opponents.
"Ugh... this is getting annoying." Chrysalis rubbed her head.
"This is leading nowhere." Nightmare Moon answered, standing up again. "And Twilight may come back anytime soon..."
"How do you know she was successful? And even if they are, King Sombra, undoubtedly, will catch their presence."
"That's where you come in." Nightmare Moon said.
"I knew it. I suppose that evil minds think alike. Fine, I'll distract him, but just because I'd love to get him angry. But what will you do with Molestia? Not even together we can get a scratch on her. What can you possibly do by yourself?"
"I didn't want to tell you this, but you are holding me back. I'm going to use my full power now, so if you don't want to get hurt, I suggest you leave at once." Nightmare Moon smiled at Chrysalis.
"Awww, so kind of you." Chrysalis smiled back, and she left the throne room to find King Sombra, while Nightmare Moon faced Dark Princess Celestia, with excitement in her face.
"O my sister! I've been wanting to do this since a really, really long time ago. And now, I finally have an excuse to punch you in the face, once for all those mistakes you've made as a ruler, and twice for being too stubborn to admit.
Nightmare Moon took off and blasted the rooftop, she gained considerable altitude over Canterlot Palace. Princess Celestia followed her, ready to confront her. Nightmare Moon's wings and horn unleashed a dark cobalt blue aura, as her eyes shone in a dark turquoise colored glow. Nightmare Moon was combining the power of Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna into a new power.
Princess Celestia quickly shot a powerful dark beam, but Nightmare Moon only had to stop it with her hoof to made it vanish in thin air. Upon seeing this, the Dark Princess Celestia spreaded her wings, preparing her next attack, but Nightmare Moon quickly teleported in front of her, surprising Celestia. The Princess of the Night calmly aimed her horn at her sister, and a dark blue burst, blew away the Dark Princess Celestia.
The elder sister regained balance, and shot dark beams, and waves of dark magic, but Nightmare Moon quickly gained the advantage in battle, as Princess Celestia's spells meant nothing to her. As a last resort, the elder sister began to spin on her own axis, turning into a spinning needle, wich attacked Nightmare Moon, but it was another meaningless effort, for she could not penetrate the magic barrier Nightmare Moon lifted before the impact.
Suddenly Nightmare Moon's barrier compressed to her horn, and was shot in form of a beam directly at Princess Celestia, who fell and crashed on top of one of the towers.
"Too weak." Nightmare Moon stared at her sister, who was standing up. "I don't remember our fights at all, sister. But somehow, my body seems to remember that your original magic was supposed to be stronger than this."
"You have seen nothing!" Dark Princess Celestia released a strong energy coming out of her horn, her whole body was covered by a dark purple glow, the flowing of her mane and tail changed to a raging pattern, imitating the motion of fire, and the shape of her cutie mark, the sun, projected behind her, as purple and sinister as the glow behind her green eyes.
At the same time, Luna's body was also covered by a dark blue glow, beautiful as the night sky, and as well, her mane and tail changed the frequency of their flow, but unlike her opponent's, her mane and tail both waved like a flag following the momentum of the winds of storms.
Both alicorns summoned magical swords from her horns, and dashed directly at each other. Upon the first contact of the swords, a huge spark exploded from the impact, strong enough to destroy the throne room if the battle would have taken place there.
"What is that? Fireworks?" A young pegasus soldier stopped to gaze the sparks shining between the blackness of the sky.
"The moon and the sun... It's the princesses... They are fighting, using the forbidden spells..." An older pegasus, also stopped to share the sight.
"Forbidden spells, sarge? What does that mean?" The young pegasus asked.
"They were created by Star Swirl, and are extremely dangerous. Legend says, that when two ponies with equal skill in magic, fight using these spells, it will be a battle that will last a thousand days."
But the older pegasus quickly regained concentration. "Now focus, soldier! We have our own battle down here. Don't get distracted and maybe, if you're lucky, you will tell this tale to your grandchildren someday."
"Yes sir." The young pegasus nodded, and advanced beside his elder, with one thought in his mind. Wait for me, Serena. I will save you!
After an exchange of hits by crossing swords with her sister, Dark Princess Celestia, decided to change the strategy. Spreading her wings once again, countless purple orbs spawned around her, and one by one, they were launched toward Nightmare Moon, who summoned a magic barrier around her.
Although the barrier took a few hits before the Nightmare Moon, the orbs completely shattered the barrier and hit Nightmare Moon one after another, more than a hundred orbs impacted on her legs, wings, body and even her face, causing her to fall and crash on the palace.
Nightmare Moon barely got back on her hooves, she stared up to see the Dark Princess Celestia, and was shocked by seeing a huge dark red sun above her sister. Dark Princess Celestia, then, slowly aimed her horn at her sister, preparing to shoot, as Nightmare Moon summoned a huge quarter of the moon in front of her. Nightmare Moon used it as a bow and set up herself as the arrow.
Princess Celestia shot a purple solar beam at the same time Nightmare Moon shot herself toward her sister.
"The battle of a thousand days. It looks like this is one of those." Princess Luna thought to herself, as the solar beam and herself were quickly getting closer to each other. But suddenly, Luna sighed, and smiled. "But, when it comes to magic. We both know this..."
"I am more skilled than you!" Upon the impact, Nightmare Moon pierced through the solar beam, and reached to her sister's chest, the solar beam disintegrated, and after a long fall, both alicorns landed on the garden of statues, but only one of them was unconscious.
After a short while, Nightmare Moon slowly crawled at her sister's side, her body invaded by pain. The darkness in Princess Celestia was slowly fading away from, recovering her original colors.
Eventually, the younger alicorn reached the elder, and stared at the unconscious face of her sister for a while.
"Wake up!" Nightmare Moon punched Celestia's face. "I know you're not dead! I didn't hit you that hard!"
"Uhhh..." Celestia opened her eyes after a second punch, and suddenly, she was punched a third time. "Oww! Hey! I thought you said only twice!"
"Thrice for having banished me to the moon!" Nightmare Moon yelled at Princess Celestia.
"Does that makes us even?"
"Well... Maybe I should banish you to the sun for joining forces with King Sombra."
"Very funny, Luna. Ha ha ha... Ummm, you're kidding right?"
Nightmare Moon carried Celestia on her back, heading back to the Crystal Caves.
During the battle of the princesses, somewhere inside the palace, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Ditzy Doo, sneaking in one of the palace's hallways, were looking around for any clues of the whereabouts of the Crystal Heart, as Scootaloo was investigating room after room, her friends followed, trusting in the carefully calculated plan of the young pegasus.
"You have no idea what you're doing, right?" Ditzy Doo had lost faith in Scootaloo after trying a few rooms with no results at all, as Scootaloo kept investigating a cabinet.
"Of course I do!" Scootaloo glared at her, very angry. "I am looking for the Crystal Heart! I don't see you helping at all, Derpy!"
"Can you please stop and listen to me?" Ditzy Doo started tapping the floor with one of her front hooves, losing her patience after hearing the popular nickname she always hears.
"The Queen of Changelings and Princess Luna are fighting Princess Celestia! There's no time to waste! We gotta keep looking! We'll find it eventually!" Scootaloo emptied the cabinet as she was falling into desperation. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were helping her looking around, but their hopes weren't too high.
"King Sombra will find us eventually! We can't just go around, checking room by room, expecting to find the Crystal Heart under King Sombra's bed!" Ditzy Doo stopped Scootaloo by stepping on her tail. Scootaloo turned around and tried to release herself.
"Then, what do you suggest?" Scootaloo finally pulled her tail a last time, as Ditzy Doo lifted her hoof to release her, causing Scootaloo to fall on the floor.
"We use our heads. Where is the most secret place in the palace, where King Sombra wouldn't want anypony to get close to?"
"How're we supposed to know that?" Applebloom said, after thinking the answer for a second.
"Yeah. If it's a secret place... How can we know where it is?" Sweetie Belle added.
"Well, by asking somepony who knows the palace far and wide, General Shining Armor, for example." Ditzy Doo answered. "We find Shining Armor, we decrease the number of places to look, and increase the chances of finding the Crystal Heart."
"Wow, that's... actually smart." Scootaloo thought about the plan.
Ditzy Doo glared at Scootaloo directly at her eyes with an unhappy look in her face. "Oh, excuse ME! You thought I was dumb? You thought you can make fun of me? Just because of my eyes? Is that it?"
"Umm... N-n-no?" Scootaloo answered, feigning a confident smile. Ditzy Doo, let go a sigh, and led the group outside the palace to look for Twilight's brother.
Meanwhile, General Shining Armor, shooting beams indiscriminately at her enemies, was leading his unit toward the palace. Making haste, he knew that the enemy's numbers were increasing each second. Dark changelings were a real pain to fight, but dragons powered by dark magic were enemies so much stronger and more ruthless, the kind of creatures that would have never spawned in his worst nightmares. Slowly advancing through a sea of dark creatures, little by little getting closer to the palace, he was driven by one single desire, to find and rescue his beloved wife. With no idea of where she is, or how to find her, however, that didn't stop him from crashing through his fallen troops, who have now became into his enemies.
Finally, General Shining Armor and his squad got into the palace, smashing through the main gate. He stopped for a second to examine the hostility inside the palace, he spotted a few silhouettes coming down the main stairs. Silently and quickly, he organized his soldiers in an assaulting formation, and slowly surrounded the hostiles. When the suspects came down the last stair step, Shining Armor and his troops showed up, aiming their horns and lances.
"Wha... What the? What are you doing here?" Shining Armor was surprised to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Ditzy Doo. "Don't you know it's dangerous here?!"
"S-sorry, w-we were looking for you..:" Sweetie Belle answered nervously, raising her front hooves as if she was interrogated as a criminal.
"Go back to the Crystal Caves. You're in the way of our mission."
"And what mission is that, General?" Scootaloo asked with defying eyes.
"To find King Sombra, defeat him, and seize the palace." Shining Armor answered with the same defying eyes on Scootaloo.
"You can't defeat King Sombra..." Ditzy Doo said. "And you know that."
"Yeah, Ah know you want to save Princess Cadance." Applebloom added, standing beside Ditzy Doo. "But this isn't the way."
"Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna lost to King Sombra." Sweetie Belle also tried to convince Shining Armor, making the face of a nice filly and huge teary eyes. "You are just exposing yourself, and your soldiers, too." It was a very effective move, even for a mare of her age, the whole squad fell for it.
"I know that!" Shining Armor shouted, and after calming himself, he sighed. "There must be something we can do."
"There is! Help us find the Crystal Heart!" Scootaloo suggested, as she turned here and there, talking to the whole squad, trying to convince them that it was the better option. "King Sombra said it himself. With the Crystal Heart under his possession, we are no match for him."
"But where could King Sombra hide the Crystal Heart?" Shining Armor touched his chin, thinking for a few seconds, until he remembered something. "There is a perfect place in Canterlot Palace that only the royalty knows."
And so, Shining Armor ordered his troops to guard the palace, and led Ditzy Doo and the Cutie Mark Crusaders through the Palace.
"What's going on down there?" King Sombra sensed Shining Armor getting closer to the Crystal Heart, and performed a spell that opened a window, wich allowed him to see them. "Ha ha ha. You fools. Even if you know where the Crystal Heart is, that doesn't mean you can find it."
"Why don't you just simply move the Crystal Heart from it's current location?" Queen Chrysalis showed up, hovering in front of the balcony, she landed on the balcony fence.
"Well, well, but if it isn't my favorite queen?" King Sombra said. "The Crystal Heart is immune to magic. It must be grabbed by bare hooves. But you already know that, right Crystalis?"
"I'm so flattered! You still call me by my true name." Chrysalis smiled, and stepped beside him.
"Sombra, do you really think you can win? Your Dark Princess Celestia is fighting Nightmare Moon, right now. Their subjects are close to find the Crystal Heart, and most importantly, Twilight Sparkle and her little group went looking for the Rainbow of Darkness. How come you can sit still, with all these threats against you?"
"Your simple minds can't possibly understand." King Sombra laughed. "My dear Crystalis, do you want to know why I have succeeded where many others have failed? Including you."
"You mean the conquest of Equestria?" Chrysalis glared at King Sombra.
"Equestria has many means of defense." King Sombra replied. "Even if you can break through one of them, there are still others that can ruin everything. The princesses are one of the most dangerous, next to the Elements of Harmony. But if you keep all of this defenses busy with something else, the path to victory becomes clearer and easier to traverse."
"Keep all the defenses busy?" After thinking for a while, Chrysalis gasped, as she realized and smiled. "I see! Clever!"
"I gave power to that foolish dragon, Foskiá, to keep war between ponies and dragons. I showed my presence to Nightmare Moon to make her leave Canterlot and seek for her sister. Who would have thought that she would turn to you? Also I defeated Princess Cadance effortlessly while her army, her aunts, and the Elements of Harmony were too busy dealing with Foskiá."
"A flawless checkmate, I must say." Chrysalis nodded, showing respect to King Sombra, but she wasn't as impressed as King Sombra expected. "But still, you are just a lucky foal."
"WHAT?! A LUCKY FOAL?!" King Sombra glared at Chrysalis, very loudly and intimidating. "How dare you talk to me like that, everything went according to my master plan!"
"Yes. But think about this, what if the war between ponies and dragons would have never occurred. What would have you done, then? Show yourself, just to be defeated by Celestia and Luna once again. You didn't started the war, did you? You didn't even know it would happen."
King Sombra widened his eyes, and stood speechless for a few seconds. "Well I... That was... Details are not important. My master plan worked just fine! And the best part is yet to come! Ha ha ha ha ha!"
Queen Chrysalis mid closed her eyes, as King Sombra made the loudest evil laugh she's ever heard. She was annoyed, for she always preferred the smoother laughs, those were more elegant than the laughs of a maniac. She stared at the horizon from the balcony, and watched the flying vessel aproaching.
"Well, well, well." King Sombra noticed the Sky Wanderer without even watching it. "Looks like Twilight was successful. I see you didn't come looking for a fight, Crystalis, so if you'll excuse me, I have some guests I need to attend." Thus, King Sombra headed to the throne room.
Chrysalis took a deep breath, and said. "Who said that I'm not?" And so, she shot a beam against him. But it was no match for King Sombra, he also turned around, and turned Chrysalis' beam against her, then, he defeated her with a single dark beam shot from his horn. A battle so uneven, it had ended even before it started.
Shortly after, the Sky Wanderer finally reached Canterlot, with Rainbow Dash on the steering wheel. Everypony was shocked to see Canterlot Palace even more obliterated than before. They landed on the center of the plaza, where there was a secret entrance to the Crystal Caves.
Once inside the caves, the ponies wasted no time to meet Princess Luna, they had a nice surprise by finding Princess Celestia was back on herself, although she and her sister were badly injured, both of them were recovering with the help of some medic unicorns of the royal guard.
"Princess Celestia..." Twilight saw her mentor, she was concerned but not very excited, she didn't trust Princess Celestia as much as she used to.
"It's nothing, Twilight Sparkle." Princess Celestia tried to hide her wounds, even though the bandages around her were more than evident. "But more importantly, what happened while I was... away?"
"Well... about that..." Inmediately, Princess Luna, who next to her sister, reacted with a nervous face.
"We ventured in a quest to find the Rainbow of Darkness!" Pinkie Pie informed. And upon hearing this, Princess Celestia stood silent, comprehending what she just heard.
"You did what?" Princess Celestia questioned, and without expecting an answer, she made a second question. "Luna, does that imply that they have met you know who?"
"Yes, I think they did, sister..." Princess Luna sighed and raised one of her front hooves to cover her eyes.
"Did you truly went all the way to find that... that... that ungrateful witch?!" And so, Princess Celestia talked so fast, complaining and pointing out all the defects of the mentioned pony.
"Doesn't look she's on the same page with The Observer, right?" Pinkie Pie wispered to Rarity.
"Same page? I'd say they're not even on the same book..." Rarity replied.
Eventually, Princess Celestia's grunt was interruped by Lickety Split. "With all due respect, princess. My master may be all that and more, but I think we have more important matters we need to attend to."
"Lickety Split?" Princess Celestia recognized her. "You're right. King Sombra must be stopped once and for all."
"Wait, princess." Twilight called for the word. "King Sombra said he was one of your students. What happened back then. Why did he turned evil?"
"I reckon I am be the one who must answer that question." Princess Luna intervened in the conversation.
"Once, Sombra was my sister's most dedicated student. Telekinesis, summoning, transformation, he could master all kinds of magic arts. The other students called him a magic genius. But he was no genius, his mastery in magic is the result of rigorous studies and hard training. He was respected by everypony, he had good friends, a promising future, and there was even a mare who was dumb enough to fall in love with him."
"Yeah, he sounds a lot like Twilight. Except for the love part." Spike commented, grinning at Twilight. But she just ignored him.
"But one day, he was sent to the Crystal Empire for an exam, he was sent as an ambassador to exchange knowledge of magic between the countries. When he returned, he was not the same unicorn. He locked himself in his own ivory tower, and began a new study. Always reading a strange book. He started ignoring the letters and summons from my sister. He grew distant to his friends, and was occasionally visited by that mare who loved him blindly, but he always ignored her, she insisted, denying the fact that Sombra wasn't the same unicorn she was in love with. Until one day, he ruthlessly broke her heart to pieces."
"The poor thing." Rarity cleaned some tears. "That monster! It takes some nerve to hurt a lady's feelings!"
"It was a matter of time until we found out what he was reading. A book containing the secrets of dark magic. Celestia asked him to stop, but he refused, so he was banished from Equestria as punishment. That's when he made an alliance with the Crystal Queen, to take over Equestria, but he betrayed her, and took over the Crystal Empire instead. And well... I think you know the rest of the story."
"How did he return?" Guardian Sword asked. "I thought he was destroyed by the Crystal Heart, when Miss Twilight was sent to the Crystal Empire."
"He was." Celestia answered. "But his whole existence is one with darkness, he is a shadow, he can't die, but once destroyed, it takes some time for him to recover his true power, that's why the Crystal Empire is so important, the secrets of dark magic are hidden there.
"But now that Princess Celestia is free!" Rainbow Dash stated. "The seal on the Elements of Harmony can be lifted. We can use them to turn him into stone."
"No, the seal can't be lifted yet." Princess Celestia said. "As you may know, the seal was created to prevent the Elements of Harmony from being used against Equestria. My sister and I can seal the Elements, but remember that Luna and I used to be the Elements of Harmony, so there's no point in sealing them, if the Elements can release themselves from the seal."
"The seal has a time limit of twenty-four hours." Luna complimented. "And only when twenty-four hours have passed, the seal is lifted automatically. That's why I agreed with the plan of the Rainbow of Light."
"So did you completed it?" Celestia asked Twilight, filled with excitement and pride. "Was my star student able to handle the Rainbows of Light and Darkness?"
But suddenly, they were surrounded by a dark mist. Everypony was alerted, Rainbow Dash and Guardian Sword used their wings to blow the mist away, and when they did, the group was located in the throne room.
"That was a brilliant hideout." King Sombra was seated on the throne, beside Chrysalis, who was hurt and defeated next to him. "But you knew that it wouldn't last forever."
"We have the Rainbows, King Sombra!" Twilight stepped forward, and acted brave. "Your reign has come to an end!"
"Well, then, go ahead and use it." King Sombra walked down the steps from the throne, exposing himself in front of Twilight, but she obviously couldn't do anything.
"You can't, do you?" King Sombra walked around Twilight. "I knew you couldn't, Twilight. You were so easily influenced. All I did was plant a small seed. And just like that, your mind was filled with doubt and fear. How much time will it pass until you turn evil, just like every single one of Celestia's star students. Maybe the Rainbow of Darkness is the power that will turn you against your teacher."
"Twilight..." Princess Celestia saw how her student was intimidated, how Twilight accepted those words, as if she was read like an open book, how she was psychologically defeated by King Sombra.
Lickety Split saw the need to hand over the Rainbows, she decided for Applejack, but just before she could give it to Applejack, she was forewarned by King Sombra.
"Be very careful, young mare. A wrong decision could make things worse."
Thus, Lickety Split hesitated, and changed her mind for Fluttershy, and then, changed her mind again, this time, for Rainbow Dash, but nopony seemed to be the right one. However, a strong, yet feminine voice came from the gardens.
"We found it! The Crystal Heart!" Scootaloo and her friends were in the center of the maze of bushes, and she held the Crystal Heart over head, victoriously.
"What?!" King Sombra, quickly sprouted a dark crystal from the ground, capturing the Cutie Mark Crusaders and raised them at a very high altitude. King Sombra changed into shadow, and rushed to recovered the Crystal Heart, wich was dropped by Scootaloo.
Before King Sombra could reach the Crystal Heart. Ditzy Doo caught it before him. She maneuvered between the dark crystals that King Sombra sprouted to stop her, but one of the dark crystals hit her, and Ditzy Doo was forced to make a crash landing on the statues' garden, while she protected the Crystal Heart with her body.
"That's enough mischief for now." King Sombra appeared in front of Ditzy Doo. "Give me the Crystal Heart."
"Give up, Sombra. Face it, you are defeated!" Celestia teleported herself, and everyone in the throne room, behind King Sombra. At the same time, Shining Armor released the Cutie Mark Crusaders from the dark crystal. And they all surrounded King Sombra.
"Is that so?" King Sombra chuckled for himself. "So, you have the Rainbows and the Crystal Heart. And still, you can't do anything to defeat me. Look at yourself, Celestia, neither you nor your sister can fight another round. The Elements of Harmony are sealed, and even if you have the Crystal Heart, there's no Crystal Queen to use it. Princess Cadance was swallowed by my darkness, she is lost forever. I told you before! I have already won!"
King Sombra turned into a giant shadow, and striked the ponies with dark beams and everyone was blown away. After standing up, Twilight's cutie mark portraited behind her, she had unleashed the forbidden spells, and striked King Sombra with a violet colored beam, but King Sombra's shadow form was immune to it. Twilight summoned the huge javelin from her horn, the same she used to defeat Skyclaw, and threw it toward the Dark Unicorn. However, it was another failed attempt, for the javelin was stopped, and turned against Twilight. She tried to teleport away, but King Sombra teleported her back to the javelin's destination. Twilight was hit by her own magic, she was hurt and coud barely stand up again, so she decided to use her most powerful spell. She summoned magical wings, and flew toward King Sombra, turning into a light beam, she could hit King Sombra, but she was defeated again by his shadow form, she was completely covered by it and knocked back on the ground.
King Sombra returned to his normal form, and put his front right front hoof on Twilight's lying body. Twilight did her best to get up, but the pain was unbearable through every single inch of her, and King Sombra's hoof felt as heavy as if she had a whole mountain over her body.
"Put your dirty hoof away from her!" Shining Armor shouted at King Sombra.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Guardian Sword also shouted at him.
Both stallions bursted into a rage, and dashed directly at King Sombra to save Twilight. But King Sombra grabbed Twilight from her neck and used her as a shield, causing Guardian Sword and Shining Armor to stop their attacks. Suddenly, another dark crystal sprouted from the ground, wich captured Shining Armor, Guardian Sword tried dodged it, but his left wing was caught by the dark crystal.
"Now, now, if you don't want anything bad to happen to Twilight. You will hand over the Rainbows and the Crystal Heart." King Sombra got closer to Lickety Split, and extended his hoof to her.
"Y'could have stopped us from getting the Rainbow of Darkness if ya wanted, right?" Applejack deduced King Sombra's plan. "You used us like toys to get it for yourself."
"With the Rainbow of Darkness on my side, my power will be unlimited!" His smile was enough to proof that Applejack was right. "But don't worry, I will let you all live, as my personal slaves."
"Wait!" Fluttershy stopped King Sombra, who was about to take the Rainbows from Lickety Split. "But you think you are powerful enough to defeat the three Dragon Lords of the winds, ice and heavens? All by yourself?"
"Yeah! Now that you mention it. They are very powerful, how come they did almost nothing to help us defeat King Sombra in the first place?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Well, you could ask them if you want." Fluttershy smiled, and pointed behind King Sombra. A dark sphere appeared out of thin air, it increased and decreased its size, as if something was trying to get out of there.
"What is happening? How is this possible?" King Sombra gasped.
"You thought you defeated my dragons so easily, right?" Fluttershy explained to him. "You didn't do anything, they just let you win so they could release all the ponies you have imprisoned. As you can see, you are not the only one who can plot a master plan."
"It cannot be!" King Sombra, striked with a dark beam the sphere to seize it again, but it was that same impact that caused it to blow up, a dark aura covered the entire garden. When the aura vanished, Moondancer, the three dragons, Princess Cadance and all the ponies who were swallowed by darkness were finally released, and no one was very happy to see King Sombra.
"What?! But why?! My dark magic should have sealed you again!" King Sombra was shocked, and exposed Twilight in front of him again. "You... You don't want to hurt Twilight, do you?"
But then, Guardian Sword took advantage of the confussion, and forced himself out of the dark crystal, breaking it to pieces, he snatched Twilight from King Sombra, and flew as far as he could away from him.
"Guardian Sword... Your wing..." Twilight could barely speak, and noticed that Guardian Sword's wing was broken alongside the crystal that captured him.
"I'd rather to lose both of my wings, instead of losing you, Miss Twilight." Guardian Sword smiled at her.
"You... I know it's only your mission... but thank you very much." Twilight said.
"This wasn't for my mission. It was because I care for you. I want to protect you by my own will, because everything is better when I'm with you."
Guardian Sword held Twilight's hoof, as her face blushed, but the scene was cut short by King Sombra who was taking his shadow form again.
"This is not over yer! Feel the wrath of the darkness!"
"Darkness is a part of everything." Moondancer stated. "If you accept darkness as the true nature of the universe, it is no longer harmful, in fact, you realize that it never was. Darkness is not an evil power! It's ponies like you, the ones that make it do evil!"
Lickety Split heard Moondancer's words, she perked up her ears and her eyes shone as if she would have found the most precious jewel in the world.
"You are the one!" Lickety Split gave the Rainbows to Moondancer. "I'm sure! You must be able to wield of the Rainbows!"
Moondancer opened the pendant containing the Rainbow of Light, and the bag containing the Rainbow of Darkness. Both Rainbows joined together without even struggling, and expanded all over Canterlot. King Sombra completely covered by the Rainbow of Light and slowly, began to fade away.
"No... No way! I had already won! NOOOOOO!" King Sombra shouted as strong as he could, but his defeat was imminent, he faded completely, and only his crown was left.
"This is your own fault, Sombra... You asked for this..." Princess Luna mumbled to herself, as she stood in front of the crown. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry I couldn't save you... My dear..." She held the crown against her chest, and tears began to stream down her face.
And so, the dark ponies, changelings and dragons, returned to their true selves, the conflict was finally coming to an end. The dark spells were broken all over Equestria. Finally, Princess Cadance shared a long kiss with her husband, then, she put her hoof on the Crystal Heart, and just like that, the dark crystals sprouted from the ground shatered to pieces. The Princesses Luna and Celestia vanished the darkness in the sky, bringing life to a new day, and returning Equestria to normality.
Before the Rainbow returned to the necklace, it started to take form before Moondancer. It was there, just standing, the shiny colors slowly gave form to a young woman with country clothes, and a long blonde hair tied by a red ribbon as a pony tail, everypony gathered around to witness the event, specially Fluttershy, who even pushed some ponies to have a better sight.
"Thank you, Baby Moondancer." Her gentle voice spoke to her. "No... You're not a baby, anymore. You have grown up."
"Who... Who are you?" Moondancer got closer slowly to her, she tried to touch her, but Moondancer's hoof trespassed Megan.
"Moondancer... You were too young to remember." The human ooked at her with tenderness. "I am Megan. And I... I no longer exist... I was friends with you, little ponies."
"She's not the same Moondancer, Megan." Lickety Split got closer to the strange woman. "She is her daughter."
"I see... This is wonderful!" Megan responded. "And Lickety Split, look at you! You haven't aged at all!"
"Megan... How is this possible?" Princess Celestia also came to talk to the human.
"So good to see you again, Princess Celestia." Megan bowed down. "Our spirits were trapped inside of the Rainbow of Light. And now that you finally released it again. We can finally rest in peace."
"Excuse me, but our spirits, you said?" Twilight asked.
"Spike's and mine. We... used the Rainbow of Light without the Rainbow of Darkness. So we were punished for cheating. Our spirits would be trapped, until the Rainbow of Light was used properly once again."
"Punishment?" Twilight wondered. "What kind of punishment?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell." Megan scratched her head. "Or I'd be breaking more rules. By the way, who might you be?"
"My name is..." Twilight tried to answer, but she was abruptly interrupted and pushed aside.
"I am Fluttershy! And I... I like all kinds of animals and creatures! This is the first time I meet a creature such as you."
"Wow, Fluttershy! You are very energetic and extroverted! I like you!" Megan smiled back at Fluttershy. "I'd love to stay a little longer, but my time is running out. I must say good bye."
"Wait, Megan. I'm sorry it took me so long to find an apropiate wielder." Lickety Split apologized to Megan. "Finding a pony who can control the Rainbow of Darkness was not easy."
"It's fine. Ponies' hearts are usually happy, and they usually live in peace and harmony." Megan grouched to Lickety Split's level. "That's why finding a pony who is capable of handling the darkness is no easy task."
"This world is much better than mine. My world was always hard, working at something you don't like, millions of people living as foes. Crime and corruption everywhere, but somehow, somwhere, there was good people. People that never gave up against the adversity of the mean world we had built. Congratulations, my little ponies, you made a beautiful world."
In the end, the Rainbow of Light returned to the pendant, leaving Megan behind, who simply disappeared, waving her hand, smiling at the ponies, until she was completely away.
Remember, ponies. Never give up hope...
Cheers and laughs were shared by the creatures who joined forces to fight King Sombra's oppresion. Friends and families were finally reunited, except fot a single pony, that young filly who was always wearing a brown cloak covering herself.
"What are you waitin' for, sugarcube? Go and meet your father!" Applejack talked to Scrapped Cloak.
"Oh! I will. Any second soon..." Scrapped Cloak giggled like an innocent filly, but that little laughter became louder and louder, until it started to sound evil.
"Wow... she must be very happy, or she just remembered a really good joke." Pinkie Pie came by, alongside with the main six.
"Ah dunno, Pinkie." Applejack stepped away from the young pony. "She's kinda creepin' me out..."
"I'm sorry, everypony, but I lied to you! My name is not Scrapped Cloak! It's Screwball!" She stated, and took off her cloak, revealing a pale violet earth pony with purple and white, curly mane. She was wearing a propeller beanie. Her violet eyes had white spirals instead of pupils, and on her flank, her cutie mark was a screw and a baseball.
"What? But darling, why would you lie about that? What about your father?" Rarity tried to talk to the young pony. But she dissapeared in a blink.
"Oh! I didn't lie about that!" She reappeared on Discord's statue. "I told you I am here to take revenge on the ones who separated me from my father."
Pinkie Pie stared at her, hugging Discord's statue, and after a few seconds, she realized. "I am starting to suspect that Discord IS your father!"
"If he is... then that means..." Twilight deduced. "You want to take revenge on us?!"
Screwball smiled, and nodded slowly. And little by little, the stone around Discord's body started to crumble, liberating the Draconequus, spreading his limbs as far as he could.
"Ahhhhhh... It's so good to be back..." Discord rubbed his eyes. and yawned. "And look at this! You organized a welcome party in my honor? Oh! You shouldn't have bothered, Pinkie Pie."
"I would never throw a party for the likes of you! Snake tongue!"
"How dare you show your face again!"
Pinkie Pie and Flutershy yelled at Discord, for they will never forget how he used both of them as toys to play his chaotic games.
"Huh, excuuuuuse me! Whatever happened to love and tolerance?" Discord rolled his eyes in a sarcastic manner.
"Daddy! I missed you so much!" Screwball hugged Discord, hanging from his neck.
"Oh, my dear! I missed you too. So tell me, what would you like to play this time?"
"I learned a really, really funny game in kindergarten!" The little filly whispered to Discord's, as she turned an evil sight to the ponies.
"Wonderful, wonderful! Let's make all of Equestria our playground! But wait... do you know what time is it?"
"Discord! DONT. YOU. DARE." Celestia forewarned him, but he ignored her, as usual, raised his eagle claw, and snapped his fingers. And just like that, everything turned blank.
Princess Celestia woke up jumping from her bed, taking heavy breathing, she found herself on her bedroom. Beside her, there was Trusty Link, Princess Celestia's most trusted mare and advisor, a light yellow earth pony, whose mane and tail waved in a perfect zigzag, with a beautiful red tone and a silver stripe. A pink tie ribbon was pictured in her flank, representing the union between her and the Princess.
"Where's Discord?! What happened?! Where's Twilight?" The princess asked, very impatiently.
"Princess, please, calm down." Trusty Link replied. "You decreed that Twilight shall stay in Ponyville to study the magic of friendship, remember?"
"What? No. That was more than thirty years ago."
"That was last week, Princess. It seems you had a really long dream, maybe because of the stress of planning the Grand Galloping Gala."
"A dream?" Princess Celestia rubbed her head, she was certain that everything really happened. "But the war against the dragons, and King Sombra, everything felt so real..."
"Your highness... Are you feeling alright?"
"Discord was free again, and he was about to brig chaos once again... then, then I woke up..."
Trusty Link watched through the window, and stared at the garden of statues, but there was nothing unusual. Princess Celestia stood beside her to watch the statues too, she was very confused, but also, relieved upon seeing everything was normal.
"Your highness... I think that Nightmare Moon's matter really affected you. But thanks to Twilight and her friends, your sister is back safe and sound, and you recovered the Elements of Harmony. Everything will be fine from now on."
Trusty Link left the Princess' bedroom, "Take some time to relax, Princess, but not so much time. You have business you must attend to. And don't forget to raise the sun, of course." she said before closing the door.
Princess Celestia laid on her bed again, thinking about her strange dream, she remembered everything as if it really happened, but the peacefulness of her bedroom also seemed real. She decided to stand up, stretched her front legs, then her hind legs, and then her wings, her ritual for standing up from bed. She raised the sun from her balcony, and proceeded to left the bedroom, after closing the door, a royal guard bowed down to her upon passing her by. Good morning, your highness. The alicorn smiled at him, and started walking through the hallway, she turned on several corners and walked down a few stairs. She felt like it was a long time since she walked so quietly through the palace, but it also felt like it was like any other day, and nothing strange had happened in absolute.
Once downstairs, she turned left, heading to a big door wich leaded to the dining room. There was a tasty-looking breakfast, consisting of finely prepared daisy sandwiches, salads made from cabbagesand oranges, and sweet apple cider, and peach pies. Seated on a chair, there was Trusty Link, and beside her, there was Ceremony, she was the royal party planner, a pink unicorn with a beautiful and straight purple mane, she was wearing a silver tiara adorned by a small ruby, and her cutie mark was pictured by a golden star surrounded by tiny blue musical notes.
"Greetings, your majesty. The party planer is here." Trusty Link waved her hoof as the alicorn took a seat, and Ceremony bowed down to her.
"Pinkie Pie. you said, Princess?" Ceremony replied, very confused.
"Umm, never mind... I apologize. It seems that my mind has been quite distracted, lately." Celestia stated.
"Oh! That's fine, princess. It's normal for a party host to be stressed from the preparations. It happens all the time." Ceremony replied. "Anyway, the Gala is scheduled, we got the decoration, the banquet, the ball, the only thing is missing is the music, I was thinking in the Canterlot Philarmonic Orchestra. They got a new member, and they say she plays wonderfully any instrument, specially the cello."
"A philarmonic... huh?" Princess Celestia wasn't very excited with the idea.
"Psst, Princess." Ceremony whispered to the alicorn. "I know how you feel about it, but remember, high class ponies come to the gala and they really enjoy all kinds of symphonical music. Remember, the Gala is for the subjects, not for you, princess."
Princess Celestia sighed, and answered. "That sounds wonderful, Ceremony. I don't think they refuse a concert at the Gala."
"Excellent, Princess. Oh! And what about your personal guests?" Ceremony suggested, and gave two tickets to Princess Celestia.
"Twilight Sparkle, of course." Princess Celestia answered without thinking twice. Then, she summoned a feather, a bottle of ink and paper, and began to write a formal invitation, then, she rolled the tickets inside it, and finally sent the letter with her magic. "It's the least I can do to thank her for saving my sister."
"Very well, your highness." Ceremony stood up from her seat. "I'll speak with the Philarmonic Orchestra, right away. As always, it is a delight to plan your parties." And so, the unicorn left the dining room, walking stylishly.
"Another year, another Gala, another awful night." Celestia bit a piece of pie, trying to swallow the disgust from the preparations of the Gala.
"I know that classical music is boring, princess. But the guests will really appreciate it." Trusty Link said.
"It's not just the music, Trusty. The Gala in general is awful." The Princess responded. "The banquet is barely an apperitive, the decoration doesn't seem to live up the party, and the guests only come to compete who is richer and more hypocrite. And you don't have to pretend, Trusty. I know you love classical music."
Trusty Link giggled nervously, and then she said. "But the Gala it's a tradition, princess. It is to celebrate..."
"... the union of the three races and the foundation of Equestria. I know, you think I don't know? I was there when it was first celebrated. At least I'll have a good time with my most faithful student."
"Twilight Sparkle is not exactly a party pony, your highness."
"No, but at least I get along well with her."
As Princess Celestia and Trusty Link conversated while they walked toward the door of the dining room, a particular question was made.
"Princess, how did you know I like classical music?"
"That's because you... you told me?" Princess Celestia stopped walking. "No... you didn't. But you were supposed to."
"Ummm... Princess?"
"You were planning on telling me that today, isn't it?" Princess Celestia realized.
"How did you...?"
"I remember... Yes, everything, it couldn't be a dream... "
"Princess, calm yourself, it was just a dream... Nothing important." Trusty Link tried to approach the princess.
"Dream or not, something is wrong here! Don't you see? It has to mean something!" Princess Celestia yelled at her, and that got the attention of all the ponies around.
"Your highness, you're alarming everypony..." Trusty Link stepped back with fear in her eyes.
"Is there something the matter, your highness?" An elegant white unicorn appeared, he was a member of the royal council.
"Something bad is happening! Summon the council, alarm the Royal Guards, and send the Royal Elite to patrol the cities of Equestria!"
"Pardon me, your highness?" The unicorn questioned. "I think you need to relax, there's nothing wrong happening, right now. I'll call the doctors, if that's fine with you."
"No! I don't need a doctor!" The princess yelled. "Do as I said!"
"Princess, we are just trying to help." Trusty Link tried to touch the princess.
"There's only one pony who can help me, Trusty Link! But you're not her." The alicorn said, shortly before she teleported, a flash of light blinded the ponies, and thus, the Princess was nowhere to be found in the palace.
"Where did she go? What's wrong with the princess?" One of the mares asked.
"To see the only pony she trusts more than me." Trusty Link replied.
In Ponyville, it was a beautiful day, there were some clouds on the sky that indicated that a certain pegasus hadn't finished her labors. The streets were lively and filled with ponies trotting around happily. Suddenly, Princess Celestia showed up from the flash of light caused by the alicorn's teleportation spell, the villagers were surprised, and then they bowed down to their princess as they wondered the cause of her visit. The Princess made haste to knock the library's door ignoring the townsfolk bowing down to her. But there was no answer.
"Your highness, if you're looking for Twilight Sparkle, she left early to Sweet Apple Acres." Daisy said.
Princess Celestia thanked and wasted no time to lift the flight, heading for the Apple's farm, where Applejack and Rainbow Dash were having a hoof-wrestling contest, until they were stopped by Twilight.
"Girls! These are MY tickets. I'll decide who gets it, thank you very much." Twilight scolded her friends.
"Twilight Sparkle!" Princess Celestia, suddenly landed in front of her student, with a desperate look on her face. "You got to help me!"
And so, Twilight Sparkle and her friends met the princess in the library, Spike prepared a cup of lemon tea for everypony. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight were worried, Fluttershy was nervous as usual, Pinkie Pie had no clue what was going on, and Rarity showed up with the finest dress she had designed.
Princess Celestia started relating the events of her dreams, mentioning every detail she could remember. While her student and her friends were listening, it was hard for them to believe the Princess' tale, but their reaction was completely negative when the princess mentioned a very important detail.
"... And so, the dragons attacked Canterlot, and took me as their prisoner, under Fluttershy's orders, she had betrayed us." The princess said.
"Your highness... Dragons scare me... I would never..." Fluttershy said, containing some tears from her eyes.
"It is true, Fluttershy. That's how I remember..." Princess Celestia tried to explain, but she was abruptly interrupted.
"That's it! I'm not going to let you pick on Fluttershy, not even you, Princess!" Rainbow Dash said. "Let's go, Flutters, we don't have to hear this nonsense!" Rainbow Dash took Fluttershy and turned around to give a disaproval look to the princess.
"No... please, don't go. You have to listen to me..." Celestia tried to stop them but they didn't listen.
"I believe you, princess." Twilight said, and Rainbow Dash, of course, had something to say about it.
"You believe her?! You can't be serious! Fluttershy wouldn't attack a cockroach, let alone start a war!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Princess, can you tell me what her name is?" Twilight pointed at Rarity.
Princess Celestia was confused by the question, but she anwered. "Her name is Rarity."
"Darling, I'm not so sure I can deduce the point of the Princess, knowing my name." Rarity said.
"That's exactly the whole point, Rarity. She knows your name." Twilight explained, as everypony else made gestures of confusion. "She knows all of your names, and she hasn't even asked them, she hasn't even bothered to meet you at all. This is the first time she actually talks to you directly, and still, she already knows who you are."
After hearing this, Twilight's friends realized she was right.
"Please, everypony, look in your memory. Everything I've said has already happened. Even this day, I remember it."
"So, are you saying that all this should be happening right now?" Spike asked.
"No... I changed the history." The princess replied. "But if I hadn't, everything would have happened just as I remember."
"Then, maybe... You traveled through time and you are a princess from the future!" Spike widened his eyes with excitement.
"No. If that was the case, there would be two Princesses Celestia. This is quite a predicament." Twilight cut the young dragon's excitement.
"That's why I came here looking for help. If I remember, so can you, you have to remember something!"
"Ah'm sorry, princess. But the only thing Ah can remember, is our lil' adventure at Everfree Forest." Applejack said, after trying to remember, and everypony else agreed with her.
Pinkie Pie bounced around for a while, and then, she stopped, she realized something. "Princess! What if the dream you had was a premonitory dream?"
"Pinkie! That's brilliant!" Twilight perked up her ears. "Only you remember all that, princess. Perhaps not because it has happened, but because it WILL happen!"
"A premonitory dream?" The princess stood silent, thoughtfully. "If that's the case... Then I have a second chance, to prevent the disasters in my dreams... That has to be it! Why didn't I thought of that?"
"We'll need to do some research on the matter, but first, why don't you tell us everything that happened in your dream." Twilight suggested.
After a hearing the rest of the Princess' dream, and explaining to Spike what a premonitory dream is, a long conversation about it took place. Princess Celestia had to reveal secrets of Equestria again. Some hours passed, the time for the night had to come, Princess Luna hadn't recovered her full power, so it was still Princess Celestia's responsibility to raise the night, but she refused to return to Canterlot Palace, and asked the ponies to keep her presence as a secret. She raised the night from the library's balcony, and after that, the ponies discussed where the princess should stay. Rarity tried to convince the princess to stay in Carousel Boutique using complex arguments and terms, but her friends were only convinced that Rarity would make a scandal about the Princess staying with her.
They decided that the princess should stay at the library, but Princess Celestia stated that it would be obvious and she would be easy to find, in the end, the princess herself, decided to stay in Sugarcube Corner, maybe it was because of her love for desserts. After that, everypony left to their respectives homes, Princess Celestia covered herself with a sheet and left with Pinkie Pie.
A few hours after her friends left, Twilight was reading a book about dreams and predictions while Spike grabbed Twilight's mirror and locked himself in the bedroom, he did that quite often, but Twilight never gave that much importance. After a few minutes, somepony knocked on the door.
"Spike! Somepony's at the door!" Twilight said without taking her sight away from the book.
"I know... I'll get it..." Spike came out and went downstairs, after a second couple of knocks on the door, Spike opened. "Sorry, the library is closed at night, come back tomorrow." He said.
"I'm not here for the books, I came to visit the librarian." Trusty Link was the one knocking the door.
"Who is it, Spike?" Twilight also came downstairs, and recognized the pony in front of the door at first sight.
"Hello, Twilight." Trusty Link said.
"Hello." Twilight answered, they stared at each other with unhappy faces and creating an awkward silence.
"Yeah... well... it's been some time, right?" Spike tried to break the ice.
"Not enough time." Twilight said.
"Ummm... I'll be at that side of the library... Alright? Okay..." Spike left the two ponies alone and dropped some books from the shelves just to pick them up, as an excuse to not get involved.
"Aren't you going to invite me in, Twilight?" Trusty Link asked. Twilight opened the door and let the way clear, after her guest came inside the library, Twililight slammed the door as hard as she could, and the sound startled Spike.
"Very well, where is she?" Trusty Link inmediately asked, inspecting the library.
"Not here." Twilight confronted her.
"Twilight, you have to tell me, or else something awful may happen." Trusty Link threatened.
"She doesn't want to return, and I promised to help her."
Trusty Link sighed and said. "Look, Twilight, we may not be the best of friends, but you have to help me with this. The gravity of the situation is a lot worse than you may think. Equestria is without a princess, and the council is thinking that the princess is not capable of ruling Equestria because of her... mental instability."
"What? Why would they think that?" Twilight was speechless,
"It's all my fault... I tried to justify the princess' behavior but I just made everything worse, now they think the princess is crazy and that she needs help. We need to show them that the princess Celestia is okay, that it was all a mistake, and that her dreams mean nothing. Please, Twilight, we must make the princess come back to the palace before the council takes action."
Twilight stood silent again, in shock. Just as Trusty Link said, she didn't expect the plight to be so grave.
"Fine... After all, it's for the princess' sake, right?" Twilight nodded quietly.
"Thank you, Twilight! Everything will be alright." Trusty Link held Twilight's hooves, and shook them with appreciation.
"Just... Just leave, ok?" Twilight said and turn her back at the earth pony. Trusty Link left silenty, and only the sound of the door closing behind Twilight.
When Pinkie Pie and Princess Celestia reached Sugarcube Corner, she introduced herself to the Cake famiily, the earth ponies were happy to recieve the princess, and even if not all the truth was revealed to them, they promised to help her. After a long conversation of how Pinkie Pie met Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and a sweet and delicious dinner, bedtime had come. Pinkie Pie lend her bed to the princess, then she grabbed some blankets and pillows to prepare a small bed for herself on the floor.
"Good night, your highness..." Pinkie Pie said. "Everything will be solved tomorrow..."
"Good night, Pinkie..." The princess answered. Pinkie Pie laid, and inmediately fell asleep.
The whole night passed so fast that the princess' sleep felt like a mere blink, no dreams whatsoever, not a single premonition, and not even a single thought before falling asleep. The princess turned her sight to Pinkie Pie who was snoring like a bear. The princess giggled and performed the sun rising spell, little by little the the daybreak's light started coming inside the window.
Mrs. Cake slightly opened the bedroom's door, she poked her face and said in a low voice. "Your highness, Twilight wants to see you."
The princess, then, put on the sheet on herself once again, and Twilight was waiting for the princess right outside the bedroom.
"Follow me, princess." Twilight said, very seriously, and the princess followed without questioning.
It was still early, there were barely a few ponies already awake, and even fewer walking the streets. The walk went from Sugarcube Corner to the northern side of the town, without a conversation, after a few turns, they walked inside an alleyway, and inside it, Trusty Link was waiting for them.
"Trusty Link? What does this mean?" The Princess bewildered, turned around to flee, but some unicorns had lifted a barrier around the alleyway, leaving no escape.
"Princess, please, listen to me..." Twilight tried to reason.
"No, Twilight, how could you do this to me?!" Princess Celestia went into berserk, she spread her wings and lifted off. "You said you believed me, I thought that you could help me to interpret my dreams! At least the Twilight from my dreams was loyal, even if filled with doubts, she would fight to help me. But you... you ratted me at the first opportunity you had!"
Trusty Link tried to convince the princess to stop. "Princess, that was just a dream! This is real! Think of what you're doing to Equestria! Please, be rational!"
"I am being rational, Trusty Link. You didn't listen to me. Why should I listen to you? My most loyal ponies turned against me, this whole Equestria has turned against me! Is almost as if this was a bad dream from the very beginning..."
And so, Princess Celestia realized there was a possibility that she had not considered.
"My dream... It wasn't a dream... THIS is the dream! I am having a really, really bad dream. Discord! He must be behind all this."
The Princess bursted into light, and everything turned blank, then, Princess Celestia woke up jumping from her bed with heavy breathing once again. She was all alone in her bedroom, and everything seemed normal, it looked like the dream was just restarted, she quickly got up from her bed, and ran to the bedroom's door, once she opened it, she found Trusty Link and General Shining Armor who were about to get in.
"Your highness! You are awake!" Trusty Link gasped.
"Yes, I am... Is there something wrong?" Princess Celestia asked suspiciously.
"You don't remember? Discord returned... and he..." Trusty Link looked down.
"Discord, you said? Wonderful!" The princess interrupted and sighed of relief. "I mean, not wonderful... It's just... I had the most awful dream ever."
"Discord put you to sleep, your highness. And he said you would never wake up." General Shining Armor said.
"It's fine, now. Did I slept too much? I almost don't feel my wings nor my horn."
"Yeah... funny thing you mention that, princess..." Trusty Link said and shared worried look with Shining Armor.
Princess Celestia turned to her mirror, and after staring at herself for a few seconds, she let out a loud and long shriek which echoed throughout the palace.
When Discord snapped his eagle fingers with that mocking smile in his face, Princess Celestia fell on the floor like a puppet whose strings have been cut. Upon this, Princess Luna confronted the Draconequus, her wings spread and her horn glowing, but Discord laughed at her, he snapped his eagle fingers again, and the princesses horns and wings were separated from their respectives bodies with a pop sound, like the pieces of a plastic toy. The whole crowd around them was horrified.
"No! Princess!" Twilight ran to her teacher's side, and shook her body trying to wake her up. "It can't be... not like this..."
"Awww! Stop all this drama, Twi." Discord popped out beside Twilight. "She is not dead. She's just asleep, I don't think she'll wake up anytime soon, though."
"Discord!" Princess Luna fell in anger. "I demand you return our horns and wings, or else..."
"Or else what?" Discord said. "You'll use the Elements of Harmony to turn me into stone? I already took the elements for our little game."
"We don't need the Elements of Harmony!" Moondancer stepped up with a confident smile on her face. "We have the Rainbows of Light and Darkness on our side!" She released the Rainbow from the pendant, drifting in the air, twisting and dancing like a feather suspended on the air, then, it quickly headed Discord's way.
However, Discord who was disguised as a baseball catcher, trapped the Rainbow in his glove, then he turned the glove into a glass filled with a multicolored liquid, and he drank it all in one gulp.
"Umm, it tastes like Rainbow," he said, and then, he burped a multicolored gas out of his mouth.
"No way... the Rainbows... How could this happen?" Moondancer's smile faded, and bacame a disapointed gesture, lowering her ears.
"Discord is the Spirit of Chaos," Skyclaw said. "an almighty being with powers even beyond our comprehension. Even light or darkness are mere toys for him to play."
"Skyclaw! Lednik! And the former god of the winds, Quetzalcóatl!" Discord spread his arms and showed a joyful face. "How happy I am to see you again. You guys and my friend Fluttershy put quite the show back then. I am so proud of you, Fluttershy!" he pinched Fluttershy's cheek.
"I am not like you, and I am not your friend!" Fluttershy released herself from Discord, and aimed every bit of her anger at the draconequus.
"Aww, c'mon Flutters," Discord said, "you're not angry at me because of my little prank from the last time, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not!" Fluttershy replied, "I'm angry at you because you betrayed my friendship, and used me as a toy for your little prank."
"Yeah! And you fooled me too, you broke a Pinkie Promise!" Pinkie Pie added, she was red of anger.
"Not to mention the tragedy which your little prank caused!" Twilight also said.
"Ah... yes.... I remember that..." Discord quieted down for a while, "anyway, accidents happen, don't you agree?" he came back to his old self.
"It's time to get our little show started," he added, and created a stage out of nowhere. The Ponies of Harmony showed up on it, alongside with him, he was wearing a shiny blue suit, just like a host of a contest television show, and the little Screwball dressed as his assistant, with a fancy red dress and a red hair bow on her mane.
"Once again, you'll have to find the Elements of Harmony, You will only find them where they were originally discovered." Discord announced.
"Heh! We've heard that before, looks like you're out of ideas." Rainbow Dash laughed.
"We'll see if you keep thinking that, once the game is started." Discord got closer to the pegasus, face to face with her, midclosing his eyes and smiling. "But first, it's time to set the rules."
First, the usual: All the Ponies of Harmony must play.
Number two: Ponies of Harmony must find their respective Element without the help of other Pony of Harmony, or it doesn't count, and naturally, I win.
And last but not least: No help from your dragon friends.
Discord clapped his eagle claw and lion paw together, and suddenly, the three dragons shrinked almost as big as a parastripe. Skyclaw tried to summon a storm, and the storm was created matching his current size, it was like a small rain that could only be catastrophic for little ants.
"Now, good luck everypony! I'll be watching the show from the throne room, with my special guests Luna and Celestia, if she wakes up, that is."
After his speech, Discord and her lovely Screwball floated for a while, dragging the princesses and the Queen of Changelings with them, and laughing out loud, until they randomly disappeared. Inmediately, the damage made in Canterlot Palace and all of Equestria by the battle against King Sombra was repaired, but not before long, all the structures, including the palace began to slowly float on the air as aerostatic balloons lifting off from the ground. Discord had begun to create his chaotic world once again.
"The elements where they were originaly found..." Twilight began to think.
"Fine! We found the elements inside the castle ruins in the Everfree Forest, right? We should go there!" Rainbow Dash stated and lifted off.
"Hold on, Rainbow!" Applejack holding the pegasus by the tail with her mouth, "He said we must find them by ourselves, which means they must be in different locations."
"What should we do, then? I don't know anything about my element. How am I supposed to find it on my own?" Rarity whined.
"Actually, I dunno a hay 'bout mine either." Applejack added.
"I got it, I studied the origin of the elements of harmony," Twilight said. "and I read something about where they were originally discovered. You see, the elements themselves weren't discovered, they were crafted by ponies. What was actually discovered was the jewel attached to each element."
"The star shaped jewel attached to my tiara was discovered somewhere in the Crystal Mountains. The apple jewel, the Element of Honesty, was found in the Foal Mountains to the east. The thunder shaped ruby, the Loyalty, was found inside some cave on the Smokey Mountain. The Element of Laughter was found somewhere in San Palomino Desert. The Element of Generosity was found far to the southeast, in the Hayseed Swamps. And the Element of Kindness, was found behind one of the Neighagra Falls."
"I'm heading to the desert?" Pinkie Pie grunted, "Fine! The sooner I find that thing, the sooner we'll erase Discord's smile," she turned around and started walking.
"Wait! I'll go with you!" Lickety Split announced, but Discord appeared between them.
"Oh ho ho, breaking the rules already?" he said.
"No I'm not." Lickety Split said.
"Yes, you are! I said the Ponies of Harmony must play alone." Discord replied.
"No, you said Ponies of Harmony must play without another Pony of Harmony." Lickety Split smiled at him, and she said, "I am not a Pony of Harmony, so I can help Pinkie. You're not changing the rules so you can win, right? That's just cheap."
"I am not cheap! Alright, you win this one, but only if Pinkie is ok with it." Discord announced and dissapeared again.
"Do whatever you want." Pinkie said to Lickety Split, who made a worried face and walked behind Pinkie Pie.
"I must not leave her alone." Quetzalcóatl rushed to Pinkie and Lickety Split.
Soon, the rest of the ponies also made their teams, Scootaloo joined Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow Dash asked Ditzy Doo if she wanted to come. The Apple sisters were arguing, as always, while Rarity and Sweetie Belle were hugging. Sweetie Belle decided to go with Fluttershy and Skyclaw, and Rarity was teaming up with Moondancer and Lednik.
"See? Rarity is letting her sister go! And Sweetie Belle is two years younger than me!" Applebloom yelled.
Applejack sighed and finally agreed, "Okay, you can come, but you're coming, because I told you to!" she said. She, then, mumbled to herself, "since when did Rarity become a better sister than me?"
Twilight asked Spike, Shining Armor and Guardian Sword to stay to take care of Princess Celestia, but the pegasus refused to stay and decided to go with her again.
"All your friends have companions." Guardian Sword said, "I will not leave you go alone."
"With that broken wing you'll only slow me down." Twilight said.
"Please, let me help you, Miss Twilight. I'll protect you, even if I have to lose both of my wings." the pegasus asked her.
Twilight looked at him directly to his eyes, Guardian Sword has this sincere eyes, they were the eyes of a chivalrous knight, the kind of eyes she saw from another pegasus she used to know. Twilight turned around and rejected Guardian Sword's help. "I'm sorry, I can't" she said, and left.
Rarity couldn't help but to hear them, "Wait for me, just a minute." she said to her companions.
Twilight was running to through the city with floating buildings, she stopped for a while, tears were dropping from her eyes.
"Twilight." Rarity's voice called for her.
"Keep it to yourself." Twilight said, a little mad.
"No, Twilight. It's time to talk about it." Rarity insisted. "It's hurting you more than ever, you have to drop that weight off your shoulders."
"I can't... he said he would be with me until the very end." Twilight turned, with some more tears in her eyes.
"And he did, Twilight. Now you must carry on."
"I was, and everything was fine, until Guardian Sword appeared with his shiny red eyes and..."
"Darling, I understand how you feel." Rarity grabbed Twilight's shoulder, and talked to her with a soft voice. "But you must accept the fact, Sir Flash Sentry is dead, and it wasn't your fault."
"It WAS my fault. If I hadn't been a princess, he wouldn't have to protect me. And now, Guardian Sword is on the same track, he has already hurt one of his wings, it's just a matter of time before he gives his life for mine."
"No! If Flash Sentry had a second chance, I bet my design career that he would do the exact same thing again, not because you were a princess, royal titles have nothing to do with it, he did it because he loved you. So keep on living, have fun, fall in love. Flash Sentry gave you his life, don't waste it all on regret."
"I loved him too. It hurts so much." Twilight dropped more tears on Rarity's shoulder.
"I know it's hard." Rarity palmed her friend's back. "And of course it's unfair, too. But don't remember how he died, you should remember how he lived. Remember that memories exist for all the precious moments that your heart still wants to keep, somewhere deep inside of you."
"Well, we must be going, darling. Those elements aren't going to find themselves. No more crying, right?"
"Right." Twilight cleaned her tears, and smiled at Rarity. "Thank you, you are a wonderful friend."
The teams parted ways, each one heading to a different extreme of Equestria, and the night covered the skies. Meanwhile, in the observatory on the Frozen North, The Observer was watching the sky through her telescope. A dark blue sky filled with dancing stars iluminated the white snow like reflectors on a theater stage, as a large chariot pulled by four ponies landed in front of the observatory. Another tall pony, a little taller than Celestia, walked down the chariot and opened the door.
"No one can study under this conditions." The Observer was gazing at the unquiet stars, that made it more difficult for the unicorn to keep watching. "Dancing stars, very childish."
Soon, the Observer realized she had guests by hearing footsteps coming from the stairs. It was an unicorn wearing a black cloak.
"Hello, hello, hello," she greeted with relaxed voice, calm and elegant, and a smooth smile, "Are you still writing this old books?"
"Get right to the point." The Observer smiled at her, as if she knew her from years.
"I want you to come to Equestria." The strange pony said.
"To clean Celestia's mess? No, thank you."
"You haven't changed one bit." The pony laughed and added, "I reckon I didn't make myself clear. The fact is, that I am not asking you to."
Two normal days have passed since Twilight and her friends departed in search of the Elements of Harmony, but the sun and the moon went and came without order or schedule. The floating buildings of the city of Canterlot started to spin around the palace, and the trees and bushes grew legs and were walking on the streets, nopony knew what could happen next. Some ponies, dragons and Changelings couldn't stand the randomness of the city, their colors faded away as the time passed until they were completely gray colored, and most of them left the city to find a new home. As for the creatures who stayed in the city, they were trying to get used to the chaos and kept the hope that the Elements of Harmony would return to defeat Discord.
In the palace, Discord and Screwball were watching from the throne room, they were both laughing out loud, and Discord was holding a bowl filled with popcorn on his lion paw. Princess Luna and Queen Chrysalis were also inside the throne room, unable to do anything, Chrysalis still had her horn and wings, but trying to attack Discord was foolishness.
Suddenly, a long scream echoed from afar, it was Princess Celestia's voice, who had been sleeping under Discord's spell, Discord and Screwball laughed for a while until the doors to the throne room were aggressively opened. It was, of course, Princess Celestia, so enraged that you could practically feel a tremor with each one of her steps.
"Discord!" she exclaimed, "give us back our wings and horns, NOW!"
Discord watched her while he was munching some popcorn, put his mouth on a straw drink and drank some gulps of soda from a large plastic cup, and after swallowing, he turned his sight to Princess Celestia.
"No." He calmly said, and ate another handful of popcorn, Celestia enraged even more as Discord's daughter fell on her back, laughing unceasingly.
"Don't try our patience, Discord." Luna warned the Draconequus. "When the Elements of Harmony return, you'll pay for this."
"Twilight and her friends!" Screwball remembered something, "why did you let them go, daddy? You are the spirit of chaos, you don't have to follow no rules, you have the power to create anything you like, and destroy everything you don't." she strongly stomped on the floor as if trying to crush an insect.
"My little dolly, I have to follow the rules I create." Discord lifted her up with his lion arm, "Yes, we have all the powers we could ever dream, but it doesn't matter how mighty we are, that doesn't give us the right to decide who lives and who doesn't. Besides, there's no fun in creating a wonderful chaotic world if no creature is going to live in it."
"But they always turn you into stone! Doesn't that make you angry? Don't you want revenge?" Screwball asked curiously.
"It's how it is, darling. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose." Discord said, "Revenge corresponds to a sore loser, to a rancorous soul who lives in the past unable to seek for a better future. No, my young demon, leave revenge to the crybabies."
"But this game is too easy for them," Screwball frowned. "They even have friends to help them."
"It seems easy now," Discord laughed, "I let them go with some friends because they won't stand a chance by themselves against my favorite pony." He smiled at his daughter.
"Yay! Can I really go and play with them?" Screwball jumped and bounced around Discord, cheerfully. And she disappeared in a blink, leaving the echo of her innocent laughter which slowly turned in a sinister laugh.
"I understand that you keep Celestia and Luna," Chrysalis was a little annoyed to be part of Discord's game, "but my Changelings and I have nothing to do with this."
"Oh! I see, you want to leave the party," Discord turned to her and smiled, "now that Equestria is not a place of love and tolerance anymore, there's no love for the Changelings to consume."
"We have nothing to do here," Chrisalys stepped forward, defying Discord, "if you excuse me, we must leave Equestria and find another place filled with love." Then, she walked to the throne room's main door, while Luna and Celestia were indignant, but not surprised.
"Yes, you could do that, or you could..." Discord interrupted himself, he closed his eyes and started playing with his beard, thinking, knowing that the Queen of Changelings would stop to hear what he had to say.
"Or we could what?" Chrysalis turned around.
"Or you could stop stealing love," Discord snapped his fingers again, "and live once again, as the beautiful crystal ponies you used to be," he said, while the green flames wrapped Chrysalis' body, she was being transformed while the flames began to fade like big candle which is fading, the Queen of Changelings was turned into the Crystal Queen.
However, this wasn't a Changeling transformation. When the Changelings transform, they keep their horns and their wings, even the hollows of their bodies, they see themselves and other Changelings as what they really are. But this transformation was real, Chrysalis saw no more hollows in her now crystal blue colored body, her wings were made of transparent and shiny feathers, her horn was straight and bright as a lamp, her manes and tail, sraight like a light blue waterfall, and her eyes shone like two precious amethysts stones.
"Is this... Is this really happening?" Chrysalis put one of her hooves in front of her face, her voice was clear.
"No tricks, no catch," Discord bowed to her, as Chrysalis stood speechless, contemplating her body, Discord said, "this is really happening to you, and to all your dear subjects. You don't have to starve ever again, you are what you are supposed to be."
"Don't trust him, Chrysalis!" Princess Celestia objected, "he is deceitful and treacherous."
"Shut up!" Chrysalis turned around and yelled, and the sisters quieted down. "Since I was turned to a Changeling, I regretted the day I decided to join King Sombra, all I wanted was to lift this curse from me and my subjects. But he said that Equestria holds magic secrets that the Crystal Empire could not imagine, even the magic to lift curses.."
"Then, why didn't you asked for our help?" Celestia asked her, trying to understand. "You didn't have to attack us, we could have helped you."
"When I was a filly," Chrysalis replied with an unhappy tone, "I was told that I should look after my subjects, and that my duty was to make them happy, I grew up to be the queen everypony expected. Until Sombra, YOUR student, showed up, under YOUR command, to exchange secrets of magic. It's a good chance to befriend the neighbors, I thought."
Chrysalis laughed, making fun of herself, then she changed to an angry tone.
"But silly me!" She said "It was all a trick to have me teaching him the secrets of dark magic. And I fell for that! When he returned, he said that Celestia ordered him to conquer the Crystal Empire, he used our own magic to defeat us, enslave my ponies, and cursed me and my loyals to be those hideous Changelings! It was all your fault!"
"No! Sombra and you conspired to take over Equestria!" Luna replied, defying her.
"Was that what he told you? Or what you deduced." Chrysalis said, and Luna backed down without saying a word.
"It was all a misunderstanding, Chrysalis," Celestia said, "There was no reason for you to attack us!"
"Save your excuses, Celestia!" Chrysalis turned her back against the alicorns, and faced the window. "Look at your ponies, they follow you blindly, they do anything you tell them without questioning, it's only natural that some of them look for freedom to act on their own, and as long as you keep ruling like this, there will be more Kings Sombras and more Fluttershys who will start more wars. But these wars not only affect Equestria, they affect the neighbor kingdoms, too."
Chrysalis turned her sight to the sisters again and kept talking. "So I decided that I had to make it stop! We dug the Crystal Caves to sneak in Canterlot, we kidnapped your niece, I took her place and used Twilight's brother's love to feed me and keep my energy. I could have taken over Equestria, I could have prevented Sombra's return and Fluttershy's treason, and recover my old body! I could have made everypony happy, I could have had my perfect day! The kind of day which I dreamed since I was small!"
"But you failed," Discord said, "defeated by a completely ridiculous power, the power of love." He said while making a disgusted gesture, "but you can still do the right thing, I have created a new kingdom, and every kingdom needs its queen, right? What do you say, Chrysalis?"
Chrysalis turned an evil smile at Discord and replied, "I say, that my name is Crystalis."
Hollow Shades is a small town of Equestria, even smaller than Ponyville, to the west from Canterlot. A small village surrounded by a forest. There is a small apple orchard in the north of the town which belonged to the Apple family residing in there, it was so small that it wasn't even a tenth part of the orchard in Sweet Apple Acres.
Normally, it would be a cheerful place, where fillies and colts roam free on the sreets of a dirt, so soft that it felt like stepping on a mattress. But given the circumstances, there were bears, bunnies and birds all around the town, dancing some kind of Tango, obviously under Discord's influence. Just like in Canterlot, and every city in Equestria, some ponies have succumbed to the disharmony, while other still stood strong.
Applejack and her sister, visited Hollow Shades to prepare their trip to Foal Mountain, Discord was kind enough to keep the trains working, although they moved with the grace of the earthworms now. Upon reaching the town, they decided to visit their cousins' place. It was a small place, a small brown farm house with walls made of wood and a thatched roof from where a brick chimney was poking. The door was painted white but it had some dirt stains, there were round windows decorated with a cross shaped grill, and behind the house was the small apple orchard, but it was all burnt and damaged, there were marks of repairs on the house's walls, and on the orchard there were newborn apple trees, but their roots were turned into legs, and they were running all over the orchard.
The Apple brothers, as they are known by the locals, live in this small farm, which is a large terrain according to the Hollow Shades' standards. Both of them have a mellow yellow colored coat and green manes. Bushel is a tall and strong stallion, a bit shorter than Bic Mac and has a bucket full of apples in water as his cutie mark, nopony in the Apple family is as good as he is when it comes to washing apples. And Curly Clobber is a mare, her mane is as curly as her name suggests and she always combs it with two pigtails, her cutie mark is an apple brown betty, for she is an excelent baker.
Applejack knocked on the door, but there was no response, she stared at her sister looking a bit puzzled, so she knocked on the door a second time, "I'm comin', I'm comin!", Bushel's voice said. He carefully opened the door just enough so he could poke an eye to see the visitors, then, he completely opened the door, "COUSINS!", he shouted with excitement.
"What brin's you to the good ol' Hollow Shades?" He asked with a huge smile on his face.
"Hi there, Bushel," Applejack smiled back, "I'm glad to see you guys are ok, considering these... strange events."
"No kidding!" Bushel's smile disappeared, "First, a bunch of fire breathing dragons came and burned all of our apple trees, we heard of the fight in Canterlot, and just when we recieved the news of the victory, these weird crystals sprouted from the ground faster than you could say Yeehaw!, and ruined our house n' our land. And when we finally repaired the farm and our house this happens!"
Bushel pointed at the funny looking apple sprouts, but he wasn't laughing. He invited her cousins inside, and there they met Curly Clobber, her colors were all turned grey, and she had a grumpy attitude, and she was being mean to Applejack. After a short talk, the two sisters were disappointed to hear that Bushel and Curly Clobber had no apples to share with them for their trip, for their orchard was also destroyed by a dragon.
"Ohh! Of course, Applejack! Go ahead, take our apples!" Curly said, sarcastically, "Take all our trees, too, while you're at it! Y'know. since you don't have enough apples in Sweet Apple Acres!"
"Knock it off, Curly!" Bushel frowned, "Sorry Applejack, but we barely have some apples for ourselves."
"That's ok." Applejack said, "we understand..."
Applejack and Applebloom got no apples from their cousins, but they did got a direction of somepony who could lend them some food. The sisters walked a few houses to the east from the Apple brother's place, they passed by several small houses of wood, even smaller than their cousin's house, all the houses would look like the same to the eyes of any visitor, only the residents of Hollow Shades could tell the huge difference from one house to another. "Just folllow the road 'till you find a carrot garden", Applejack said, remembering the indications given to her.
There was a carrot field, but the house was completely destroyed, there were holes on the walls and on the roof, the windows were all broken, the door was dirty and the doorknob was all rusty and damaged, it looked like the whole house could crumble down any second, Applebloom looked around to make sure they reached to the right place, but her doubts were cleared when she saw the mailbox of the crumbling house, on which the word Serena's was written.
Serena was described as a light blue pony with a white mane adorned with an orange flower, she is the kindest pony known in town, and has one of the sweetest voice ever heard by pony ears.
Suddenly, the door was opened agressively, and a pegasus was thrown away from the house, landing on his back between Applejack and Applebloom. then, his head was hit with a Royal Guard's helmet which was thrown at him.
"Scram, and take your dirty helmet out of my sight!" Serena yelled at him with a rough, husky tone. She glared at Applejack and her sisters, and said, "and what are you looking at?", she slammed the door behind her, locking herself in her house.
The sisters helped the pegasus, he was dark blue with a clear yellow mane, and his cutie mark was a tornado. He stood up and shook his wings, cleaning them from the dust. He stared back at Serena's house with a sad look on his face, he sighed.
"Well, that was awkward", said Applejack after helping him out, "you ok, pal?"
"Still is for me", the pegasus responded, "sorry you had to see that, and thank you", he turned around and walked away, heading Foal Mountain's way.
"Wait, were are you going?" Applebloom asked him.
"Foal Mountain", he said, "I just came here to say hi, but... I should have known."
"Wait, you don't happen to be lookin' for the Element of Honesty?" Applejack started walking beside him.
The pegasus stopped, and stared at Applejack's face, and said, "No. I am looking for somepony. If you're heading for Foal Mountain, I could come along, it may be dangerous if we go alone, right?"
"Yes! That's a great idea, sister!" Applebloom nodded, "We can help each other out!"
"Sure we could!" The pegasus agreed, "besides, you're THE Applejack, right? I mean, you took on the huge fire dragon all by yourself, right? You are a legend!"
"Well, am i?" Applejack blushed. As they walked to Foal Mountain.
"By the way, my name is Spinwind", the pegasus introduced himself, "Spin for short, it's a pleasure to meet one of the elements and her cute sister." Applebloom blushed.
"Well, you already know it, but I'm Applejack", she responded, "Element of Honesty, yadda, yadda, yadda..."
"And I'm Applebloom! The cute sister!" she jumped out between Applejack and Spinwind immediately after her sister finished.
A couple of hours passed while they were visiting the stores to get some food for the journey. While traveling, the conversation revealed that Spinwind is a local, and he is Serena's fiancé, a little fact that dissapointed Applebloom a little.
He knew Foal Mountain like his own hoof, and even with the twisted decorations of Discord, he could still orient himself. They passed through a path that waved around one of the peaks, until the path splitted in three. Spinwind stopped for awhile and lifted off to examine the roads from up high. Flying left and right, shifting his sight between the three roads, he landed and started walking again toward his left road, as Applejack and Applebloom followed him.
Soon, they entered a forest with giggling bushes and grinning trees, their laughters sounded like they were making fun of the ponies. Walking through the woods, the dirt road they were fallowing began to fade between the weeds and bushes as they went deeper to the forest. Spinwind was keeping the pace, but Applebloom was losing her calm, and Applejack was losing her patience.
They began to tire and the forest didn't seem any closer to end, they felt like they have walked some light years, but it seemed like they have walked a a mile or two. "Where are we, anyway?" Applejack asked, who was less tired than everypony.
"I don't know, this forest isn't supposed to be here, in first place." Spinwind scratched the back of his head, and smiled. But Applejack didn't find this funny at all.
After being called with some nicknames that were not so friendly, Spinwind walked again in a hurry, intimidated by Applejack's rage. "Now I see why you represent the honesty", he mumbled to himself, Applebloom could hear this and giggled covering her mouth, and suddenly, they found a wall, part of a higher peak of the mountain, and there was a crag in the wall. "Here it is!", the pegasus exclaimed, right before getting in.
The two earth ponies went inside the crag after Spinwind. To their surprise, the inside of the crag was well illuminated with with candles on the walls, and another one on a table in the center. there was a small kitchen to the right of what it looked like a small living room, which it was decorated with two couches pointed at a coffee table set on a green carpet on the center of the living room.
"There you are!", a brown mare came out from a door in the back, wearing a hiker hat, she was as tall as Princess Celestia herself, if not a bit taller. she took off the hat, revealing a golden mane and a golden tail, "So zetta slow! why did it take you so long?", she said.
"So what-slow? Are you insultin' us or somethin'?" Applejack defied the mare.
"Calm down, Applejack!" Applebloom stopped her sister by biting her tail, "Zetta is a physics prefix. It means ten to the power of twenty one!". Applejack stared at her sister, and blinked twice, silenced by the confusion. "It means a realy big number. So she told us that we're very, very slow." Applebloom explained, while she midclosed her eyes.
"Wow! There IS a smart pony among you!" the mysterious pony praised Applebloom.
"Anyway, who are you? were you waiting for us?" Applejack lifted an eybrow.
"Yes, I was. But my name is not important right now", the mare stated, "what is it what you need, Spinwind?"
"I want your help", Spinwind said, "the princesses have lost their wings and horns. If anypony knows of a solution, it's you."
"Even if I could help them, what would be the point?" The mare turned around, and opened the oven, she took out a plate with plenty of cookies, while she responded, "the Draconequus is too powerful even for the princesses, the Elements are the only power that can hold him."
"But... There's gotta be another way." Spinwind was dessperate.
"The pony that can help you is right next to you," the mare pointed at Applejack, then with the same hoof, she picked up a cookie and ate it.
"Another way? Did princess Celestia asked for this?" Applejack asked, "why does she want another way besides the Elements of Harmony?"
"Discord keeps getting more and more intelligent", the pegasus answered, "he always finds a way to escape his stone prison, and cause havoc. The princesses aren't looking for a way to hold him, they are looking for a way to stop him once and for all."
"I see! That's why they tried ro reform him." Applebloom said.
"The Elements were created specifically to defeat Discord" The mare said, picking another cookie, "It's simple mathematics, the sum of a number with its corresponding negative will always equal to zero."
"So... isn't there another way?" Spinwind looked down.
"Of course not, there are plenty of ways to reduce a number to zero", the mare laughed, "But Discord's number is a variable. But anyway, now let's talk about you, Applejack."
"Me?" Applejack perked up her ears with curiosity.
"I've seen your foe", the mare's eyes shone with a disturbing feeling. "It's a terrible one, it will use all your strengths against you. If I'm sincere, I am happy I'm not standing on your hooves, right now. I've never been so scared of a foe in my entire life. It is totally a complex number."
"Can you stop talking in your fancy mathematic? How do I defeat it?" Applejack asked with even more curiosity.
The mare picked up another cookie, this time with a more serious expression, and she said, "The truth is just like this cookie, so sweet and so crunchy, but if no one eats it, it will get old and flavorless", Applejack didn't know what to say.
"Any advice for me, mistress?" Applebloom asked.
"Ah! Young Applebloom!" The mare was really happy to have met Applejack's sister, "you are so smart that I can tell you only one thing, and I will be completely sure that you will know what to do."
Applebloom got closer and her eyes glew with excitement. The mysterious mare stared right into her shining eyes and finally said something, "Inverse matrix."
Applebloom stood speechless and confused, as the mare took the cookies and put them in a pot, "That's all, you better get going if you want to find the Element. Spinwind, go with them, they may need your help", she said and pushed them out of her little house insie on the crag, then door closed quickly before any of them could say anything. After some minutes with an awkward silence, they turned around and continued their expedition in Foal Mountain.
Day after day, night after night, it didn't matter, one minute it was dawn and the next one it was midnight, and the forest went on and on, almost as if it was growing larger with every step the ponies made. The mysterious mare they met in the crag wasn't much of a help. They stopped to eat a few carrots they bought in Hollow Shades and take a break, that's when Spinwind saw a shadow between the trees, or thought he saw.
He stood up and went to take a look to make sure his fatigue wasn't playing any jokes. As he walked through some bushes, he could hear some hoofsteps to his right, "who's there?", he said, and this alarmed Applejack and Applebloom who also came to examine the place. Guided by the sound of the hoofsteps, they kept walking to a steep climb.
Bit by bit they went forward and upward to the forest, until the forest was finally left behind and they reached to a rocky peak of the mountain. "Hey! Are you ok?" Spinwind called for a sillouhette that was standing right next to a cliff, "are you lost?" he said, "she's just a filly" he mumbled to himself as he and the sisters went to meet the young pony.
Upon they reached a few yards to her, Applejack and Applebloom recognized the young pony. "It's you... Scrapped Cloak" Applejack frowned at the pony, who was giving them her back.
"That's Screwball", she turned around, she was wearing the necklace of the Element of Honesty, "looking for this?", she laughed.
"Give that back right now!" Applejack charged at Screwball, but she was stopped by some kind of invisible wall.
"Applejack", Screwball summoned a small notebook and began to read, "extremely strong, really fast, somewhat smart, extremely brave. Extremely dangerous, avoid frontal attacks, use mind tactics."
"What's that?" Applejack stood up, rubbing her head.
"This is daddy's Strategy Guide" Screwball smiled, "it says all your strengths and weaknesses, and all the tactics I need."
Then, Screwball made a cheerful smile, "let's play a game, shall we?", she said, "maybe you know it, it's called truth or dare. Whoever wins gets the element."
Applejack nodded silently with that rivalrous gesture, and Screwball advanced two steps toward her, "I'll let you start" the chaos pony said.
"Very well... truth or dare?" Applejack asked with an uneasy feeling.
"Dare" Screwball responded immediately, very confident and with that annoying smile.
Applejack smiled, "I dare you to give me the Element of Honesty". Screwball's smile disappeared, she took off the necklace and threw it at Applejack's hooves.
As soon as Applejack took the necklace, Screwball claimed her turn, "truth or dare?"
Applejack asked for a dare, and Screwball laughed like an innocent filly, Applejack realized it was a mistake, the rock peak opened forming a crater full of lava, and Applebloom trapped in a small rock platform floating on the lava. "I dare you to save your sister from dying" Screwball whispered to Applejack's ear.
Little by little the platform where Applebloom was on began to sink, Spinwind tried to dive on the crater, but Screwball stopped him "this is Applejack's challenge, wait your turn".
Applejack stomped, causing a tremor that dropped rocks inside the crater forming more platforms, then she jumped inside landing on one of the rocks that dropped from the tremor, and she proceeded to jump from one rock to another, and each rock sank into the lava as she jumped on them one by one. Applebloom also jumped on the rocks to meet with Applejack. When the sisters met on one same rock, it started floating and increasing until it covered the crater's hollow.
"Woah! Was that intense or what?" Screwball cheered at the sisters, who were exhausted and scared.
"I'm just glad...", Applejack was panting "that our friends don't have to deal with this crazy filly."
"Don't be so sure", Screwball said, "there are six of me, who are simultaneously kicking your tails. But you should be more worried about yourself, it's your turn to ask."
Applejack asked the truth or dare question to Screwball, and she asked for another dare. Applejack challenged her to build a cabin with only wood. But Screwball used the trees in the forest to do it effortlessly.
"Ok, Applejack it's my turn again", Screwball smiled again, "what's it gonna be?"
"Since you're challenges are a matter of life or death, I choose truth this time."
The distinctive laughter of Screwball which changed from innocent to evil demonstrated that Applejack had made another mistake. "Are you sure? You know? Honesty is one of the most painful weapons that have ever existed."
"Honesty is not a weapon!", Applejack replied.
"Then, answer to my question", Screwball said, "Have you ever lied to somepony you dear? Remember that you have to answer truthfully, but of course, as Element of Honesty, you have nothing to worry about."
Applejack hesitated a bit to answer, "Yes, I have lied to somepony I dear. We all say lies once in a while, but sometimes is to protect those we hold dear. My turn! Truth or dare?"
"Truth", Screwball replied, "I have nothing to hide."
"Fine! Who exactly are you and what do you have to do with Discord?" Applejack questioned.
Screwball answered immediately after the question, "I already told you, I am Discord's daughter, I was created by him with his powers, and he gave me the shape of a pony because he believes they are beautiful creatures. That's it. Well, Truth or dare?"
"Truth again..."
"Do you have a grudge against your sister?" Screwball turned serious suddenly. But Applejack started shaking, her hooves were sweaty and her lips were dry.
"That's ridiculous! My sister would never have a grudge against me!" Applebloom protested, but a strong wind blew at her face coming from Screwball.
"Let her answer the question", Screwball was getting mad, "well, Applejack? Answer!"
"Y-y-yes I have", Applejack looked down with a sad expression, "I've had a grudge against Applebloom for a while, now."
"Applejack... but why?" Applebloom gasped, she couldn't believe what Applejack said.
"You... have changed", Applejack couldn't see her sister to the eyes.
"Of course I have, I grew up!", Applebloom stated "you make me mad when you treat me like a filly sometimes, but I don't hold any grudge against you."
"You don't understand!", Applejack glared at her sister and yelling at her, "you are a whole different pony, you used to care for your family, but now you have left us behind just like the farm!"
"No, I haven't!", Applebloom was yelling too, "I love my family like any of our cousins! And I love Sweet Apple Acres as my home!"
"It's not your home anymore! You left it for that fancy workshop of yours, remember?" Applejack yelled, and then, she realised what she have said, she saw Applebloom's face and tears were dropping from her eyes, "No... Applebloom, that's not what I meant..."
"So... that's how you feel...", Applebloom was crying, "I didn't know I wasn't welcome anymore... I hate you!"
"You see how honesty is sharper than any weapon?", Screwball giggled, "truth brings sorrow not only to the ones you love, but also to yourself, if you're completely honest you will not make friends, you will only make everypony hate you"
"You're wrong!", Spinwind protested, "yes, sometimes, to hear the truth can be painful, but that will not make everypony hate you, because if they truly love each other, the simplest apology is enough to overcome the pain, and the bond will only get stronger!"
Upon hearing Applejack's eyes shone as two bright emmeralds, "Truth is like a cookie, so sweet and crunchy, but if no one eats it, it will get old and flavorless, I should have said my sister what I felt when she left the farm, we could have settled things back then, but I let it slide for too long, and it got worse with each day."
"Applejack... I...", Applebloom tried to say something but she was interrupted by Applejack.
"I can't take back what I said, Applebloom, because that's how I really feel, but I can ask for your forgiveness, you're always welcome in Sweet Apple Acres."
"I CAN take back what I said", Applebloom responded, "I don't hate you, sister." The sisters hugged each other for a while, until Screwball interrupted.
"Ewww, what a wet blanket!", she said, "this was just getting exciting! But it's ok, our game is still on and I'll make sure you lose my next turn."
"But it's my turn now", Applejack exclaimed, "truth or dare?"
"I choose truth", Screwball smiled.
Applejack stood slient and thinking, but Applebloom remembered the words of the mare they met in the forest, inverse matrix, Applejack tought of a way to reverse the situation using Screwball's game, "can I make the question?", she said.
"Very well, it won't make a difference.", Screwball replied selflessly.
"Applebloom, what are you doin'?" Applejack whispered.
"I think we can win this", Applebloom whispered back, "but it's not going to be pretty."
Applejack stood aside, letting Applebloom make the question, "do you really love your father?", she asked.
"Of course, my daddy is the most wonderful creature I have met", Screwball answered very proudly, "he is really, really fun, he is the only creature I love."
"But does he love you back?", Applebloom asked with curiosity, "I find that hard to believe."
"What do you mean?!", Screwball was getting mad, "he is my daddy! He loves me more than anything."
"I think you mean nothinh to him, he is just using you!", Applebloom replied.
"No! I am his only daughter!", Screwball yelled with frustration, "You're a liar!"
"Believe what you want," Applejack said, she understood what her sister was trying to do, "But my sister is right, Discord is not the kind of creature that could feel affection for anypony. That's how he is, he tells you that he's on your side, that he will help you, but in the end, he was only toyin' with you for his own personal purposes, he did that to Pinkie Pie, he did that to Fluttershy, and he is doing that to you."
"SHUT UP!", Screwball screamed in anger, and made the mountain crumble down under everypony's hooves. The ponies hurried to escape, and there was an avalanche of rocks chasing them. Spinwind held up Applebloom and Applejack each one in one of his front legs and lifted off, he dodged a few rocks and flew away from the mountain, back to Hollow Shades, and with the Element of Honesty in Applejack's possesion.
After the avalanche, Screwball stood on top of a pile of rocks, she was silently writing something in the Strategy Guide, with rage in her mouthwriting, and with hatred in her eyes.
Applebloom, not so strong, not so fast, really smart, extremely annoying. Extremely dangerous, attack to kill.
The Hayseed Swamps were a land of vast wilderness, amphibious creatures as much as insects, a dense forest of poor visibility and walking was heavy and tiresome due to the muddy ground flooded by dark green waters. Rarity, Moondancer and Lednik were all contempling the wonderful works of nature as they walked through the swamps, that were strangely unaffected by Discord's powers.
"I hate the mosquitoes! I hate the mud! I hate the swamp! And I hate Discord for making me come here!", Rarity walked on the mud, cleaning her hooves with each step, and her companions were only enduring Rarity's complaints and whining with a surprising patience which was slowly running out.
They walked through the flooded forest until they found a unicorn who was on the other side of a pond. Her coat was the purest white anypony has ever seen, white as the light of the moon, and her manes shone in a silver tone, so radiant, as if she could illuminate her surroundings by her mere presence, her cutie mark was a silver crown adorned with amethysts. She was apparently hurt in her right hind leg and she was lying beside an old wooden chariot carrying a pile of vaults and chests. Rarity completely forgot about her looks and jumped to the pond, it wasn't deep so she could run across the pond to help the fallen unicorn. She quickly used a healing spell.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Young lady", said the unicorn, trying to get up, "but your beautiful mane is all soaked, now."
"Oh! It's not important, miss", Rarity replied, "it was my pleasure, although it's just a basic healing spell, it wasn't of much help. Moondancer, you are a student of the princess, you may know a potent healing spell."
"I'm sorry", Moondancer came closer, "we don't learn healing spells from the princess, that's taught in the medicine faculty of Canterlot."
"Perhaps I can help, water has curative properties", Lednik approached the wound, and blew some ice on it, but his magic didn't seem to be strong enough, "Just as I feared, my powers have shrinked, just like my size."
"You..." the unicorn was surprised, then, she smiled at him, "you are indeed, a weird looking gecko", and Lednik laughed along her.
The healing took some time, but the unicorn's leg was well recovered, enough to walk for herself, and as soon as she could stand up, she pulled out some boxes from her chariot, "let me reward you", she said as she opened a small red rounded box, containing a small ring with a nice emerald jewel attached to it, "here, have this, it belonged to me, but now I have no use for it."
"My stars! It's beautiful!" Rarity took it and and put it on her horn, she took a mirror out of nowhere and contemplated it, "Hmmm... Emmeralds aren't really my thing, but...", she took it off, and suddenly put it on Lednik's neck, "look! You look lovely! It suits you very well, Lednik."
"I am starting to question why I decided to join you", said the dragon, not too happy.
"Who are you, mare? If I may ask?" Moondancer was suspicious.
"Oh! Me? Just traveling pony, you know?", the mare was very modest about herself, "I come and go around the world, selling some of my old stuff, they belonged to a way of life in which I don't belong anymore. They call me Starlight, because of my mane, or maybe because sometimes I help lost travelers. I know this world very well, for I have traveled for a long time, always selling my treasures, and always finding new ones to sell later. I was on my way to Dodge Junction, but something hit my carriot and I fell right on my leg. But it was not all bad. Right here in this swamp, I found this particular piece, it's gorgeous."
From one of her vaults, she took out a small jewelry box, golden with some diamonds attached to its contour, and a small silver unicorn statuette on top of it. She opened it, and to Rarity's surprise and her friends, the Necklace of Generosity was inside it. Rarity tried to touch it, but the mare wouldn't let it go that easily.
"No, no, no...", she said, "If you want it, you need to offer anything that equals its worth."
Rarity and Moondancer looked at each other, then, they both looked at Lednik, but unfortunately, they had nothing to offer. Starlight sighed, and locked the small box, and put it inside of one of her chests and was about to leave, but suddenly, the waters of the swamp began to wave, and the vines of the trees began to move, wrapping themselves in the hooves of the ponies and leaving them unable to move.
From the water, Screwball jumped out making fun of her enemies, she calmly walked to Starlight's chariot and picked up the jewelry box, The unicorns tried to use their magic, but their horns was blocked by the vines while she was casting the spell.
"Lednik! What are you doing?! Do something!", Rarity yelled, but Lednik stood still, only watching how the ponies struggled.
"You fools!", Screwball laughed, "Remember the rules? No help from your dragon friends. If Lednik helps you, you'll lose, and it will be Chaos Land forever!"
Screwball turned around with the box levitating around her, she walked to steps, and then, she stopped, "but... on second thought...", she turned around and stared at Lednik, "why don't you help them, Lednik? you're friends are in DANGER!", Screwball stomped the ground with her two front hooves.
An electric shock tortured the mares, as Lednik's claws trembled of impotence, listening how Rarity and Moondancer screamed in agony, but he stood still, and he wasn't willing to move.
"What an electrifying plight whe got here, you know? My father doesn't let me kill you"; Screwball said, and the shocks ended, "but in this kind of games, accidents are likely to happen, aren't they?" She smiled, and even stronger electric shocks started once again.
"What will you choose, gecko?", Screaball taunted the dragon, "Save your friends, or leave them to die, either way... Chaos wins." Screwball left with that characteristic laughter of hers, and Lednik didn't know what to do.
"Dont... Don't do it... Lednik!", Rarity said, while in pain, "I won't... lose... I want lose to that brat!", and Lednik calmed down, he stared at Rarity and his doubts were erased.
Even in pain, Rarity casted her telekinesis spell on the vines with all of her might, little by little, the vines covering her horn were unrolling and she tried to cut the vines holding her hooves, then she realised that she wasn't struggling alone, Moondancer and Starlight were helping her. Rarity felt an insoportable headache, as if her brain was being squeezed like a sponge, and suddenly, the vines were cut with the sound of a whip, the unicorns were free, and all three of them fell to the ground. Moondancer and Starlight fell on their hooves, while Rarity fell on her side, sweating and exhausted.
"Are you well, Rarity?", Lednik rushed to the unicorns, "I am ashamed for doing nothing, but I knew you had the strength to release yourself. Just like Fluttershy said, you have a strong will."
"My... my whole self... hurts a bit... but... I'm fine", she was regaining her breath, as if she had been underwater for hours, "how... how come you... you are not... exhausted at all?", she asked to the other unicorns.
"It was a simple telekinesis spell" Moondancer said proudly, "But those shocks hurt a lot."
"And I let you do all the work", Starlight also said proudly, "I just lent a teeny bit of my magic. I barely did something."
And so, the unicorns and the dragon went to pursue Screwball, chasing her hoofsteps, so clear and easy to follow as the trails of the train of Equestria, Screwball was too sure of her victory that she was careless with the hoofsteps she left behind. However, Screwball's steps disappeared in a lake of greeny water, in the heart of the swamp.
There was the pony of chaos, floating right in the center of the lake, playing with the jewelry box, tossing it and catching it, once and over again. She gazed upon the ponies, smiled and dropped the box to the lake. Rarity gasped, she stared at the lake's green waters, and exposed her tongue with disgust.
"You want it? Go get it!" Screwball mocked her.
"It. Is. On!", Rarity gulped and stepped inside the lake without hesitation, but the waters were getting more dirty as she walked deeper into the lake, and the unicorn didn't know what was going on.
"That's gross!", Screwball said, "You're willing to swim in that water just to get what you want? The waters are getting dirty because of the selfishness of your act."
"It's not selfish!", Moondancer yelled, "she is the Element of Generosity, it's only logical, that necklace belongs to her by right!", Starlight gasped in shock upon listening to her.
"You're wrong, Moondancer", said Rarity, with the water up to her neck, the waters had a black colored tone, and the smell of sewers penetrated through her nose and even her ears.
"It's not because it belongs to me", Rarity continued, and the blackness of the water was somehow clearing, "it's Starlight's treasure, and without our help, she may never recover it. Once I get it back, I will return it to her, and somehow I'll pay for it!" She took a deep breath, and slowly dived to the white lake.
"I don't believe it!", Screwball shouted, as Rarity came out of the lake with the box in her right hoof. Screwball growled with anger and disappeared. Rarity came out to the shore, and she opened the box, only to realise she was tricked, the box was empty and Screwball was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey! Threre's nothing here!", Rarity gasped.
"No way..." Moondancer looked down, "she... she won..."
Rarity's face had an anguish look, she didn't even care about how wet her mane was, or the patches of moss in her coat, she just looked at Starlight, "I'm sorry...", she said, her eyes were shining because of the tears she was containing.
"It's fine, it's fine!" Starlight smiled at her, and casting a summoning spell, the Necklace of Generosity appeared, "I got it right here!"
"What? How did you...?" Moondancer and Rarity gasped at the same time.
"Remember when she took the box?", Starlight giggled, covering her mouth, "We all tried to cast a spell. The spell I casted was a simple disappearing spell, I took the necklace without her noticing."
"I... I don't know what to say...", Rarity replied, "why didn't you said it in first place? I mean, I swam in a pond of disgusting water, for Celestia's sake!"
"I know, and I'm sorry, I thought it was funny", Starlight laughed, as Rarity grumped, then, Starlight put the neckalce on Rarity's neck, "But it's yours, take it."
"I can't accept it"; Rarity frowned, "I have nothing to pay for it..."
"I said you had to pay with something that equals its worth, the Necklace of Generosity it's worth just that, a generous act. You helped a complete stranger and expected nothing in return. Look at the lake, the whiteness of the waters is proof that your generosity is legit, and there isn't a single drop of hypocrecy in your acts. You are generous, indeed, and this necklace belongs to you."
It was a short and boring walk to the town of Dodge Junction compared to the trials Screwball prepared for them, Starlight didin't talk about herself much, but she revealed some of her past as they walked through the swamp.
"I lived in a big house, I had everything I wanted, and I was an important member of society. I got these treasures as presents of birthdays and fancy balls. And of course, when I grew up, I became the head of my house, and everything was going good, I even ended some rivalries of my family. But I took a wrong decision, and everything changed. Fate punished me for it, and now I must deal with it, I left my house in charge of somepony I could trust. And now I travel alone, sharing my treasures with the world. It will be my mission until the end of my days."
"So you're house is still running?", Rarity asked, "do I know who is in charge now?"
"Most certainly you do", Starlight replied, "she is very important."
"Well, who is her?"
Starlight laughed for a while and said, "I'm not telling!"
After that, the goodbyes were short and simple, it could barely be called a goodbye. Starlight continued her journey to the north. As for Rarity, Moondancer and Lednik, they followed the train rails leading to Canterlot.
"That Starlight pony is more than meets the eye, isn't she?" Moondancer said, as they walked.
The colossal waterfalls from Neighagra Falls were considered as one of the most magnificent wonders ever crafted by nature, so majestic that not even chaos could take away the beauty of the falls. However, the waterfalls were going upwards instead of actually falling, the salmons were swimming against the current, which means they were dropping from the falls, and there were some bears around, literally wrestling against each other, some of them were even disguised as masked wrestlers.
Sweetie Belle followed Fluttershy and Skyclaw all the way from Canterlot, the silence became more awkward with each step, only the sound of the falls broke the silence. The young unicorn stared at Fluttershy, but the pegasus avoided any chat with her. Everytime Sweetie Belle tried to speak out, Fluttershy turned her attention to something else. It was like that the whole trip from Canterlot to Neighagra Falls.
"Umm... Fluttershy... Can I...?" Sweetie Belle gathered courage to speak.
"Twilight said the element was behind one of the falls...", the pegasus interrupted again, and walked to the shore of the river. "can you see something, Skyclaw?"
"There are many caves behind the falls", said the dragon, "but the current is strong, how can we get inside them?"
They walked on a rocky trail on the right side of the falls, looking for a way behind the falls, but it didn't seem to be any way inside. Sweetie Belle tried jumping through one of the falls to try to reach the cave behind it, but the current took her away. Sweetie Belle was lifted by the current all the way up and thrown around ten feet to the air as if she was in some kind of catapult.
"Sweetie Belle!" Fluttershy gasped, but a fast blue-green stripe flew by and took Sweetie Belle so quickly that Fluttershy couldn't even follow her with her sight, until a pegasus landed on the other side of river, she was blue-green like an algae, and her violet mane was a little unkept.
The mare didn't speak much, she let Sweetie Belle down and completely ignored her, she turned her attention to Fluttershy, inspecting her with a serious face. However she noticed the dragon flying next to Fluttershy and she smiled.
"I can't believe you are the so called Element of Kindness. Are you sure is not the Element of Cowardly?", said the pegasus. Fluttershy hid her face under her mane.
"Hey! Fluttershy is not the fastest pegasus around! But she is not a coward!" Sweetie Belle didn't like the pegasus' comment.
"If she had time to gasp and be scared, she could have saved you before I did." The pegasus replied, smiling with satisfaction, as if she was trying to make Sweetie Belle angry.
"Well, she came all the way here despite the danger!" Sweetie Belle yelled at the pegasus, and her face turned red with anger. The pegasus stared at the unicorn upon hearing that.
"You're right. And I'm sorry, Fluttershy", said the pegasus, with more satisfaction, she began to walk to the forest nearby, "are you coming or what?", she said, and Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy were confused, while Skyclaw looked like he was having a good time.
They followed the pegasus into a cave hidden in the forest by the waterfall's wall, it was rocky and dark and wet, and visibility was almost imposible if not were for Sweetie Belle's light spell, waterdrops echoed along mazy paths of the cave, and the sounds of the waterfalls became louder.
"Sorry for being mean before, my name is Windy Violet", the pegasus suddenly broke the silence, "I just can't believe that such an important position as the Element of Kindness goes to.... err... you", she looked at Fluttershy with despicable eyes and a disaproval tone in her voice.
"Do you know where is it?" Fluttershy asked nervously.
"Somewhere in this caves", said Windy Violet, with a sarcastic smile, "I bet that little filly is plotting something at this point. I have to say, I'm glad that she is your enemy and not mine."
"Little filly?" Sweetie Belle wondered, lifting one of her eyebrows, "you mean Discord's daughter? Is she that terrifying?", the young unicorn's voice was trembling.
They walked deeper into the caves, until they reached a large rocky chamber, and the road splitted from there. Fluttershy stopped and held Sweetie Belle by the tail, Windy Violet stopped too, and began to examine the chamber from a safe distance. Meanwhile, Fluttershy grabbed a stone nearby and threw it at the center of the chamber. The stone rolled like a dice on the ground, and shortly after, the small stone was buried by boulders and rocks that fell from the ceiling.
"Impressive..." said Windy Violet, she turned her sight at the shy pegasus next to her, but what she saw was a serious pegasus who was apparently prepared for anything. "How did you know?", she asked, but Fluttershy stood silent and didn't answer and turned around to look for another path.
Sweetie Belle followed her to illuminate the walk, she was watching Fluttershy from behind, thinking, like rehearsing the next conversation she wanted to start, but the words didn't came out as easily as when she composed a song. Fluttershy kept walking forward, serious, Windy Violet knew that there was something distracting both ponies, she also noticed that Fluttershy was taking them to higher grounds. Every time the road splitted, Fluttershy decided for the ascending path.
"You're not looking for the Element of Kindness", Windy Violet realised, "what is your plan?"
"Never reveal the plan", Fluttershy answered, "not until it has already been executed."
"Do I detect an evil mind?", said Windy Violet, "you knew about that trap, because you have used it before, right? You remind me of my younger self. It's hard to trust anypony when you've been so long traveling on your own, so many trying to take advantage of you, the only difference between you and me, is that I still trust my friends."
"I am not evil!" Fluttershy turned around and yelled at Windy Violet, "and I still trust my friends too!"
"Is there something you want to speak with Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle?" Windy asked.
Sweetie Belle looked at an angry Fluttershy and gulped, but after a short sigh she finally spoke, "there's something I've been meaning to ask you, Fluttershy."
"I know...", Fluttershy closed her eyes, calming herself.
"Did you find the pony you were looking for?" asked Sweetie Belle, a little doubtful.
"How did you know...?" Fluttershy opened her eyes, that was not the question she was expecting at all.
"Pinkie Pie said... you were sad when you left", Sweetie Belle added, "she said that you had the eyes of somepony who lost somepony important to you..."
"His name is Scout Flag..." said Fluttershy, with sadness in her eyes, "he arrived Ponyville hungry and tired, one day. I gave him shelter in my cottage... he was, sweet and kind, but he was also really bad with the little creatures", Fluttershy remembered with a smooth smile, she pictured the leaf green earth pony and his messy sky blue mane.
"I remember him..." Sweetie Belle was surprised, "what happened to him?"
"One night... he left, he didn't say anything, he just left", Fluttershy looked down, "but on his bed, I found a note... it only said I hope we meet again. He told me how he felt, he told me I was special... that he loved me... but I rejected him. It was until he left when I realised I loved him too. I thought it was too late, but an old donkey told me that it's never too late to find your true love. That's why I left Ponyville, just like Pinkie said, I wanted to find the stallion I love, but then I met Skyclaw and..." Fluttershy stopped talking and hid her face with her mane once again.
"Finally, there you are!" Windy Violet expressed with relief, "the Element of Kindness, you weren't acting as such at all, I started to doubt it was really you. This is yours", the pegasus handed over a small and pink butterfly shaped jewel.
"You had it all this time?" asked Fluttershy, very confused, and as soon as he grabbed the jewel, the cave started to crumble under. Both pegasi reacted fast and grabbed the unicorn and the dragon as fast as they could to the exit. Windy Violet led the way and Fluttershy followed her, they turned several times before they could see the light of the surface, and rushed to it.
They stood just outside the Neighagra Falls to witness the crumble, and just after them, the little filly came out laughing out loud. Soon after that, she raised her arms, the crystal clear water of the falls began to turn orange, and the temperature around began to raise very quickly. The water was turned into lava.
"Do you see how terrifying I can be?", Screwball laughed at the ponies, "you disarmed my trap, that's impressive, but you didn't see this one coming, right?"
"We already have the element!", said Sweetie Belle, "you are too late!"
"No, you don't", Screwball turned the jewel that Fluttershy was holding into a common stone, "see? it was fake, one of your friends played this prank on me, but I learn from my mistakes."
"Give me the real one", Fluttershy flew closer to Screwball, she was adamant. Screwball mocked her at first, but then she saw Fluttershy's eyes, the chaos pony was paralyzed.
"What's this I'm feeling?" Screwball couldn't ignore the imposing pegasus coming to her, "I could easily beat you up but... something tells me... I should listen to you" she extended her shaking hoof to hand over the Element of Kindness, she couldn't turn away from Fluttershy's eyes, until she finally gave up the jewel.
"You poor little thing", Fluttershy caressed Screwball's head and hugged her as she cried on the pegasus shoulder, "you were dragged into this, but you only want some quality time with your father."
"So is this the power of the Element of Kindness?", Windy Violet was a bit confused.
"Yes, I do not understand all of it...", Skyclaw explained "it works on us dragons, too. She has this authority as I call it. Even if you try it, you can not fight it back, you can not disobey, and once you surrender to her... it just feels good. Like there is one who understands how you feel, and can help you."
"You speak like an old and wise dragon", Windy Violet smiled, "but you look like an old purple lizard with wings."
"No!" Screwball, then, pushed Fluttershy back violently, "I'm not... I won't...", Screwball didn't find any words to say, and just left crying.
The ponies and the dragon regrouped somewhere in the forest, where Windy Violet had set a tent camp. Fluttershy thanked Windy Violet for reminding her how the Element of Kindness should behave, and apologized to Sweetie Belle for hiding the truth, Windy Violet did her best to hide her blushing, but failed.
"That was your plan all along?", said Windy Violet, turning serious.
"Screwball may be Discord's daughter", Fluttershy replied, "but is still a young creature, she is mad and confused, but also powerful, and her love for her father makes her really dangerous. I couldn't reform Discord, but his daughter, she is still young, I think we can still show her the light."
"I wonder about that..." Windy Violet packed her things from the tent, preparing to leave, "we'll meet again", she smiled again and took off waving her hoof at Fluttershy and her friends until they lost sight of her. Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle and Skyclaw turned around and headed southeast, back to Canterlot.
Meanwhile, somewhere above the skies, there were two mysterious bodies looking at the events taking place in Equestria like a crowd. One of them had the shape of a young woman, she was watching with anger and impotence. However, the other one was wearing a dark cloak, watching and judging silently.
"Please! Let me go!" said the female one.
"Nothing is keeping you here", replied the other, with a polite male voice, "you are free to go whenever you want."
"I meant down there!" protested the female, "I just leave and then this happens! They need me!"
"Suppose I let you go down there", said the cloaked one, "what would you do, then? You are dead, Megan. Your family and friends are waiting for you in the afterlife. You should go with them and rest in peace."
"If I leave like this, I wouldn't rest in peace", said Megan, "there has to be a way!"
"There is a way...", the cloaked one turned his sight at Megan, "but there are rules. And trust me, the punishment you just went through was a stand in the corner, compared to the consequences of breaking this rules. Do you still wish to go down there?"
"Can you stay quiet for at least five miserable minutes?!" Pinkie Pie yelled at Lickety Split, who was cheerfully singing. Pinkie Pie, however, wasn't cheerful at all, she was all grumpy, since the moment Discord made his appearance. Lickety Split quieted down and looked down, she followed without another word, wondering, what ever happened between Discord and Pinkie Pie?
Pinkie Pie didn't speak through all the trip from Canterlot to Appleloosa, and more importantly, she didn't smile. They walked trhough Appleloosa's sandy streets and everything was as chaotic as anywhere else. Grey ponies around yelling at each other, others were doing nonsense, digging like moles and barking like dogs. They passed through the Apple's farm on their way to San Palomino Desert, only to be interrupted by a happy-go-lucky, optimistic stallion.
"Hey there! Welcome to AAAAAAAPPLELOOSA!", a light yellow earth pony jumped out of nowhere in front of Pinkie Pie and her friends, his green eyes staring directly at Pinkie with a huge smile on his face, "ah remember ya! You're one of my cous' compadres! Pink Dash, am I right?"
Pinkie Pie passed him by and ignored him, her sight was focused only on San Palomino Desert. The stallion frowned upon beig ignored, but he decided to follow, getting on Pinkie Pie's nerves, for he simply won't shut up. As they ventured themselves in San Palomino Desert, the Stallion was endlessly giving the tour details.
"And over there, is the Lemonade Oasis!", the stallion was proud of himself, "see those small trees far ahead?"
"Ohhh! And why is it called like that, mister?" asked Lickety Split
"Call me Braeburn. And they say the water is as sweet as lemonade, but I doubt anypony has actually gotten that far into the desert."
"Well, you are about to find out, pony, for we are heading there, right now", Quetzalcóatl replied, as Braeburn did his best to not freak out.
"Santa cachucha! It's a talking snake?!" the stallion was shock.
"I am not an snake!" said Quetzalcóatl, "I am Quetzalcóatl, the Dragon Lord of the Winds! One of the six Dragon Lords of the Ancient Dragons! I was once considered the god of life and wisdom! I am the god of the four winds!" the dragon summoned a hurricane to manifest his power, but to the ponies, it just fell like a small breath of wind.
"Yeah, right", the stallion wasn't impressed, for the wind barely blew his long blonde mane.
"So you want to go beyond the Oasis? That's a joke right?" Braeburn asked, he laughed nervously, but Pinkie Pie looked back at him, not a single trace of a joke was found on her face.
Pinkie Pie looks scary and intimidating when she's angry, every Ponyvillager knows that the pink eccentric earth pony doesn't get mad easily, but when she does, that's a mare you don't want to mess with. However, not a single one of her companions were residents of Ponyville, so they don't know how to approach her when she is like that. In fact, not even Ponyvillagers know how to.
They walked through a sea of dunes, feeling the hot sun aiming its rays on their backs, and the Lemonade Oasis still looked pretty far. Lickety Split was a pony used to the Frozen North, so the warmth of the desert was affecting her more than others, she struggled even more, not even separating her hooves from the sand with each step she had to make. Next to her was Quetzalcóatl, he summoned a small wind current, trying to keep Lickety Split still conscious. Braeburn was less tired than Lickety Split, but tired still, he had ventured deeper into the desert than any other pony from Appleloosa, he was trying to act cool and collected, but Pinkie Pie put him to shape. Pinkie Pie was walking nonstop, she ignored the sun, the sand, there was no natural power that could prevent her to traverse the desert. Unluckily for her, Screwball was waiting, and her powers are everything but natural.
All of a sudden, far behind the crew, there was a sandstorm approaching at a terrible high spead, like a wave from the sea storming toward Pinkie Pie and her companions. they all completely ignored their fatigue and started to run away from the storm. The sandstorm was quickly gaining advantage over the ponies, getting closer and closer to them. Lickety Split looked back to see how close the storm was, but the sandstorm transformed from a wave of sand to a sand cocodrile which opened his fausts to swallow the ponies.
Lickety Split grabbed Quetzalcóatl by the tail with her mouth, then she pushed Braeburn to make him fall to the ground "Dig under the sand!", she shouted, but Pinkie Pie didn't hear her, so Lickety sprinted to catch up with her, but Pinkie was too fast for her, and the sandstorm was right behind her tail, I'm sorry, Pinkie Pie, she thought, then she threw herself and started digging to cover herself from the sandstorm, closed her eyes, and hoped for the sandstorm to wallow her.
Pinkie running as fast as possible was captured and taken away by the sandstorm, rolling on the air as if she was captured in a sphere that rolled down a rocky slope, until she began lost consciousness.
"Pinkamina Diane Pie... what have you beem doing?", an old and familiar voice of an old mare called for Pinkie Pie.
"Who are you...?" Pinkie Pie responded, "Do I know you...?"
"This is not what I taught you", said the voice.
"He broke... a pinkie promise..."
"Shut it! Don't question me, you stubborn girl! you are not being yourself, anymore... find yourself... Pinkie..."
"NOW WAKE UP, STUBBORN GIRL!"
"WAKE UP!" An light brown mare yelled at Pinkie's ear.
"GRANNY PIE?!" Pinkie Pie shouted, waking up with a jump, she was lying on a red sleepbag, she was all sweaty and having trouble breathing. She looked around and found herself inside a dark brown tent. She quickly sat on her thighs, there was a cauldron with hot water over a bonfire in front of her, and a hot wet compress fell down from her forehead.
"Granny? How did you know?" the earth pony next to Pinkie widened her eyes in shock, "ha ha ha! Sorry, I'm just kidding."
"Where am I?" Pinkie rubbed her head, "Lickety and Quetzal and Braburn! Where are they?"
"I buried them a while ago... and you don't have much time yourself..." The earth pony looked down, as Pinkie perked up her ears and her face showed a concerned expression, as this heavy feeling dropped from the inside of her throat passing down to her chest and getting stuck deep inside her stomach.
"Ha ha ha! Kidding again! Sorry!" The earth pony started laughing, cleaning a laughing tear from her eyes, "I'm sorry filly, I only found you lying on the sand two days ago, which considering the current state of Equestria, was like three hours ago. Ahh... buried them... that was a good one."
"Hey! Where are you going?" the mare asked, watching how Pinkie Pie frowned, and stood up.
"My friends, I gotta find them!" Pinkie Pie headed out.
"You can't go like that!" the mare turned serious for once, "you are a disaster! You are angry, and sad, you won't last more than five seconds."
"Oh! What do you know!" Pinkie Pie yelled.
"You have to rest, organize your ideas, you can't conquer anything if you don't conquer yourself!"
She found herself in Lemonade Oasis as she walked a few steps outside the tent, but suddenly, she fell on her flank, unconscious again. The earth pony midclosed her eyes, she let go of a sigh and draged Pinkie Pie by the tail to bring her back inside the camp.
Somewhere out in the desert, Lickety Split came out to surface, panting, and with Quetzal completely inside her mouth, she opened her mouth with a big Ahhh, and the feathered snake came out soaked in Lickety's saliva. Braeburn came out from under Lickety Split, he stood up and grabbed his hat which he put on his head again, a shower of sand which came out of the inside of his hat fell down on his head. Then he stared to his right, where Lickety was lying because he made her fell on the sand while he was standing up. He helped her up.
"We're alive! How did you know what to do?" asked Braeburn.
"I got experience with storms", Lickety Split was shaking her body to clean the sand, "they're made of snow instead of sand, though."
"Where is Pinkie Pie", asked Quetzalcóatl, "we must find her! She has to win the game", Lickety Split turned serious and nodded, Braeburn nodded, too, but he had no idea what the snake was talking about.
Meanwhile, in the oasis, the earth pony was taking care of Pinkie Pie. She was a considerably tall pony, wearing an explorer suit, her long orange mane was combed as a ponytail, and her tail was straight down. She picked up the compress from Pinkie's forehead and squeezed it, then she soaked it on the cauldron's hot water again, to put it on Pinkie Pie's forehead, but not before her carelessness caused her to knock the caludron on the bonfire. Not again, she thought while making an annoyed look, and picked up the cauldron and left the tent to fill it up with water again.
"Granny... where are you...?" Pinkie Pie mumbled to herself, as she laid on the sleepbag, turning left and right, as if trying to shake the bad dream off. Her consciousness, however, was stuck in a dark blue labyrinth. Hanging on the walls, there were pictures of Pinkie Pie's memories, set symmetrically along the corridors. She turned to look the picture hanging on the wall to her right.
"It's me..." She saw the small pink filly with the straight mane, rolling rocks with her mouth, the filly didn't look happy at all. She moved along the corridor to watch the next picture. There was the same filly, but she was smiling, she was dancing with an old earth mare, as pink as her, but her mane was white. Pinkie made a small smile while a tear droped from her left eye. She moved on, to contemplate the next picture, the pink filly was frowning again, staring at a tombstone in front of her. Shortly after, a galloping sound echoed from the end of the corridor. Pinkie Pie turned around, and saw a pinki silhouette running away from her. Pinkie chased her.
Pinkie sprinted really fast. After all, she is so fast she can even compete with a Rainbow Dash flying. However the mysterious pony was a fast one too, and she skillfully turned the corners of the maze, first left, then right, and then left again, but the pony stopped when she found herself cornered in a dead end. The pink pony turned around to face Pinkie Pie, and when she did, Pinkie gasped.
It was like looking at herself through a mirror, the pink pony was exactly just like Pinkie Pie, but her mane was straight down just like when she was a filly, she frowned at Pinkie Pie.
"What are you?" asked Pinkie Pie lifting her left eyebrow, inspecting the second Pinkie Pie from hoof to head, but no response. "Where you come from?" she asked again.
"It's all your fault!" said the other Pinkie, she pushed Pinkie Pie away, and ran away.
"My fault...?" Pinkie Pie touched her chin, thoughtfully, she continued exploring the labyrinth. As she kept going, some of the hallways had turned twisted, others turned into loops, and others in spirals or turned outside down, and the dark blue color of the walls turned to a bright pink color.
Pinkie Pie was amazed by it. She looked at one of the pictures hanging on the wall, that was the Pinkie Pie she was familiar with, the happy Pinkie Pie was being welcomed by the Cakes. The next picture portrayed Pinkie Pie meeting with Twilight for the firs time on Ponyville's main street.
Pinkie Pie smiled and kept walking, she found a hallway filled with balloons and confetti, she turned her sight to see where the corridor led, and there was a huge bright pink colored door, decorated by more balloons, and lights, and ribbons of all colors. It was like a door for the best welcome party ever. Pinkie Pie couldn't help but to gallop to it and open it. There was nothing inside. Really, it was nothing, not walls, not floor, it was completely blank and empty. Pinkie Pie closed the door in front of her disappointed, and kept exploring the maze.
She reached a section of the labyrinth with cracked red colored walls, and floors. The pictures hanging on the walls were all disorganized. As she walked, she stepped on one of the pictures inside a broken margin. Pinkie Pie looked down to see the picture, she was terrorized by the image. Pinkie Pie was chasing down Applejack, very fiercely, Applejack's eyes showed terror and distress as she ran away from Pinkie Pie. Then, a shadow suddenly covered the picture, Pinkie Pie looked up to find another Pinkie.
"What are you doing here?" asked the mysterious Pinkie, she looked angry, "you don't belong here!" she turned her back.
"Wait! What is this place? who are you?" Pinkie Pie questioned, and the other Pinkie stopped to face Pinkie Pie again.
"You really don't know", she said, "this is your mind, but it's broken now, just like these pictures. As for us, we are your creations. You imprisoned us here, in the darkest space of your mind, to be forgotten and buried away by the dust of your blurry memory! And all for what? This?!" She pointed at Pinkie Pie, staring at her with disgust, "look at you! you are an empty sack with no emotions, and now you are erasing us one by one!"
"Erasing you...?" Pinkie showed confusion.
"So... am I the next one?" the pink pony confronted her, "well, bring it, then! I'm not scared! Do it at once!"
"Don't do it!" shouted the Pinkie Pie with the straight mane showed up, holding Pinkie Pie by the tail, "Just leave us alone, ok? You've made enough damage! Go away and never come back!"
"I see now", Pinkie closed her eyes, "It's my fault... the empty room belonged to happy Pinkie Pie. But I erased her because I'm not being myself anymore, just like Granny Pie told me. And it's not HIS fault, it's MY fault... And just like that mare in the tent said, I AM angry and sad, that's why you two are still here."
Now the other two Pinkies were the confused ones, they stared at each other, as Pinkie Pie kept talking.
"My granny told me that I should always be happy. I thought it meant I should lock you in here to never be seen, but I was only hurting myself. Being sad, and being angry are sometimes needed to be happy. I owe you two an apology, I was being ignorant, but not anymore... you are not creations of mine... you are part of me... No... You are me!"
"What do you say?" Pinkie Pie offered her hoof, "please, forgive me, you will be free from now on. We'll all be together as one smiley and cheerful pony, we'll all be happy Pinkie Pie!"
Sad Pinkie Pie was a little scared, but then she looked at Pinkie's smile, warm and fearless. As for angry Pinkie Pie, she didn't doubt, she put her hoof over Pinkie's, then sad Pinkie put her hoof too. As soon as they touched Pinkie Pie, they all fused together, a bright pink flash glew from Pinkie Pie's persona. Then, Pinkie Pie woke up, inside the tent again.
She stood up in one jump, and saw that the mare was coming inside the tent with a cauldron of hot water.
"You're up! how are you feeling?" asked the mare.
"Yeah! I feel amazing!" Pinkie Pie bounced around the mare cheerfully as she used to, "How do I look, huh? pretty different?"
"Well... I didn't want to tell you this", the mare replied, she was frowning, "your lungs are full of sand, and you need a transplant pretty bad", and so, Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing in front of the mare, looking pretty surprised.
"Ha ha ha! I'm just kidding, I'm sorry, I can't help it", the mare said and began to laugh again, then Pinkie Pie started laughing too, she dropped on her back and shook her hooves while laughing.
"transplant... I'm on fire..." said in between laughs.
"Yeah! that was a good one!" Pinkie Pie added.
"Sorry, I need to go find my friends! thank you for everything!" she went quickly went out to the desert, the mare just poked out the tent door to see the pink pony leaving to the desert.
Out in the desert, Lickety Split, Braeburn and Quetzalcóatl were heading to the desert. When suddenly, another sandstorm was approaching dead ahead. Braeburn started digging, but Lickety Split and the dragon smiled at each other. It was no sandstorm, it was the cloud of sand dust that Pinkie Pie was leaving behind her while sprinting on the sand. The small pink dot in the horizon was getting closer giving form to Pinkie Pie, who was smiling as if she just had the best party of her life. Pinkie arrived and crashed through an invisible wall that broke like crystal upon reuniting from her friends.
"What was that?" Lickety Split wondered. And then, from the sand, a small filly took form, transforming into Screwball.
"What?! How are you still conscious?" Screwball seemed annoyed, "for a party pony, you know how to ruin a party! I set that barrier so that these losers never get to that oasis!"
"What does that mean?" Braeburn asked.
"We have been walking in the desert without advancing", responded the dragon, who was resting on Lickety's head.
"I'm sorry, filly", Pinkie Pie taunted the small pony of chaos, "Your party is no fun, come on, friends, we got an Element to find!"
Pinkie Pie turned around and led her friends to Lemonade Oasis, ignoring the Chaos Pony. Angered, Screwball created another sandstorm to bury the ponies alive, the winds blew around her and the sand obeyed her wishes, as the wave of sand attacked Pinkie Pie and her friends. Screwball laughed like a maniac, but when she noticed, her opponents were, each one, riding a surf table on the sandstorm toward the Oasis. Screwball just stood there, watching how the ponies and the dragon fled from her.
Screwball took out her Strategy Guide to read Pinkie Pie's articles.
Pinkie Pie
Extremely fast.
Not so strong (May vary).
Intelligence unknown.
Extremely brave.
Extremely overpowered. Tactics
No tactics available, if found an effective strategy, please redact. Avoid any kind of confrontation. Notes
I swear this pony has chaotic powers! There's no other logical explanation!
The rest was easy, Pinkie Pie returned to the Lemonade Oasis with her friends, the tent was no longer there, though. They looked all around the Oasis, until Pinkie Pie found the balloon shaped jewel resting by a coconut palm, near by the spot where the mare's tent used to be. Pinkie Pie could return to Canterlot.
Soaring through the skies, three pegasi reached the mountains surrounded by a thick forest, which Rainbow Dash decided to avoid. Smokey Mountains was well known as a Dragons nest, extremely dangerous for ponies to hang around. However, the faint smell of sugar emanated from the caves where the sulfur breath of the dragons was supposed to emanate, and pink clouds took shape over Smokey Mountain's peaks.
Near the top of the mountain, Rainbow Dash turned her sight back at her companions and made a signal to descend. She proceeded from fluttering her wings to spread them wide open and slowly began to drop altitude, her friends did the same right after her. The captain landed smoothly on the mountain where the grassy mountain trail, whited little by little to become snowy. Scootaloo made a harsh landing right ahead of Rainbow Dash. As for Ditzy Doo, she landed rolling around far ahead on the snow, her head poked out of the snowball she built with her own body, she smiled awkwardly.
"Can't you even land properly?" Scootaloo commented.
"Sorry, my depth perception is not too good", Ditzy responded, "You can blame this one", she pointed at her loose eye.
"Come on, Derpy! It's the most basic skill every pegasus must have!", Scootaloo turned a bit more aggressive.
"Of course! You are the expert at landing. You know, since you spent WAAAAAY much time on land", Ditzy said, quite annoyed.
Scootaloo gasped, offended, "watch your words... very... carefully", she warned.
"Enough!" Rainbow Dash put an end to their little argument, she kept walking forward, as the other two pegasi followed, glaring at each other, very tensely.
They followed the trail to the south hemisphere of the mountain, according to Rainbow Dash. "Twilight said that they found the Loyalty Jewel around here. Probably inside one of those caves. Dragons used to lurk around here before the war, so I suppose it was taken from a dragon's treasure", she said.
During the short walk, the pegasi found a trail. Scootaloo found nothing strange about it, it was just a trail on the snow, a path, like any other mountain, but to Rainbow Dash and Ditzy Doo it was a weird sign. Smokey Mountain was famous because there was a dragon taking a nap in the caves most of the time, two in the worst circumstances. "Who do you think made this trail?" Ditzy Doo asked, but none of her partners knew the answer. They decided to follow the trail up the mountain.
Sooner than later, a small wooden cabin stood before the ponies, the chimney exhaled smoke, a clear signal that it was inhabited. Rainbow Dash approached and knocked the door, but there was no response. Rainbow Dash knocked much louder, and after a few seconds, the sound of several things falling against the floor came from inside the house. The door opened quickly and a tall pegasus showed herself. Her coat was grey, and her silver mane was messy, her eyes showed sleepiness, she greeted Rainbow Dash and her friends.
"WWWWWHOOOOAAAAAAAAUUUUU?", she said, during a big yawn. The three pegasi behind her lifted an eyebrow and tilted their heads to the right in confusion.
The pegasus yawned again, and while blinking, she spoke again, "I said, who are you?"
"I'm Rainbow Dash, Captain of the Royal Elite of Equestria", said the sky blue pegasus, "and that one is Ditzy Doo, and shrimp over here is Scootaloo." I'm not a shrimp, Scootaloo murmured to herself.
"RAINBOW DASH?!" the pegasus widened her eyes, as if she had just woken up, "W-WAS THAT TODAY? Oh no! I totally forgot!", she slammed the door, and another scandal sounded from inside the cabin, the mixed sounds of a vacuum, a washer and several dishes breaking. "Come in", she opened the door again, wearing a blue cape, her silver mane was combed ressembling a tornado. The inside of the cabin was clean and inviting, even if it was a last time cleaning, the pegasus smiled as if the first impression she made never happened.
"My name is err... White Wind! Yes, that's my name! Definitely!" She smiled and close her eyes, very proud of herself. However she opened her eyes again to see three doubtful pegasi before her. "What? you don't believe me? Want me to prove it? Look, my mane is white! So that's irrefutable proof!"
"Yyyyyes..." said Rainbow Dash, "so... do you know something about an Element of Harmony being found around here or something like that?"
"I made this trail, it was made by years of visiting the cave", White Wind responded immediately with a serious tone, "the Element of Loyalty was found here by Star Swirl's second disciple. It was guarded by a mighty dragon during the Draconequus' tyranny over Equestria. Star Swirl's second disciple had a tremendous battle with such dragon. But the young unicorn was no match for the dragon, as a last resort, she used a cheap trick to just steal the jewel of Loyalty and escape. That way Star Swirl could complete the spell of the Elements of Harmony."
"Who was Star Swirl's second disciple?" Scootaloo wondered, touching her chin with her hoof.
"Only the sisters princesses are old enough to remember", said White Wind.
"So the Element must be inside the cave!" Ditzy Doo grinned at Rainbow Dash, "thank you so much", she said. The pegasi said goodbye to White Wind and headed outside again.
"Just one more thing, Rainbow Dash", White Wind stopped them, "Do you think loyalty is a good thing?"
"Of course!" Rainbow answered pretty secure, "I'd never leave my friends hanging"
"The dragon was loyal to Discord, and the disciple was loyal to Star Swirl. Loyalty looks like a good thing on the outside, but it's also the cause of many conflicts. If there would be no loyalty, there would be no armies to fight their leaders' wars. There would be peace."
Rainbow Dash quietly turned around and smiled, "If there would be no loyalty, there would be no friends that stick together. There would be loneliness and hate. That's why loyalty is an Element of Harmony", she then, walked away with her two friends.
Good answer, White Wind thought to herself as she watched them leave.
They walked following the trail that revolved around the mountain until they reached one of the caves, a huge one. Rainbow Dash led the way inside the cave without hesitation, as Scootaloo stopped and gulped, inspecting the darkness of the cave before her. Ditzy Doo passed her by, she looked distracted by the pink cloud emanating from the cave, fascinated by the smell of sugar which was getting stronger as she walked inside the cave. The youngest pegasus took a deep breath and stepped inside the cave too. She wasn't going to fall behind Derpy.
The cave wound through the mountain, descending between walls of candy, sweets and sugar. Soon, the pegasi reached to a huge chamber full of jewels and diamonds, a pile of treasures stocked before the ponies. However, Ditzy Doo sensed an uneasy feeling pass through the back of her mind. Big cave, with treasure inside, but where is the dragon? she thought. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were gazing at the treasure walking slowly towards it, as if they were being hypnotized.
"Girls! Wake up!" Ditzy warned, she shook Rainbow Dash, then she shook Scootaloo.
The two pegasi snapped out of it, and Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head, she picked a jewel from the treasure and approached it to her mouth to lick it. It was a fake treasure, a candy, and the smell of sugar was stronger in the chamber. "This shiny treasure and that sugar essence, somepony is trying to play mindgames on us", deduced Rainbow Dash, "I hate those kinds of games."
"Because she's bad at them", Ditzy Doo whispered to Scootaloo, who giggled covering her mouth with her hoof,
Before anything else could happen, the three pegasi decided to ignore the treasure and continue their quest deeper into the cave. As the sweet scent grew stronger, the road of the cave was leading upward in the mountain, they finally saw the light in the distance after a long hallway.
They appeared beside the peak of the mountain, a few stpes around the peak was the very top of Smokey Mountain. Their target was right there, lying on a rock covered by snow, the lightning shaped jewel stood out from the whiteness of the snow, the Element of Loyalty was there right at the hooves of the pegasi.
Scootaloo rushed to pick the Element, but Rainbow Dash chased after her trying to stop her. Immediately after Scootaloo put a hoof on the element, two cages appeared out of nowhere and trapped Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. A young feminine laugh making fun of the victims approached Ditzy Doo from behind, it belonged to Discord's daughter.
"I can't believe you were dumb enough to fall for that", she laid on her back, rubbing her stomach, laughing merciless as if it tickled.
"Let them go!" Ditzy commanded.
"Ummm... I'll let go one of them", Screwball whiped a tear from her previous laughter, then her eyes glared at the pegasi with menacing hate, even if her smile was still on her face, "you decide."
"Pick Scoot! She has the element!" Rainbow claimed.
"No! Only Rainbow Dash can use it!" Scootaloo replied, Rainbow Dash stared at her as if telling her to shut up.
"Let me make this decision easier for you", Screwball talked to Ditzy's ear. "Who has been disrespected you since always? Ever since she met you, she has never shown a little bit of tolerance toward you. She calls you names, and laughs at you, always looking down on you, as if you were some kind of clown. It's an easy choice if you ask me."
Scootaloo looked down speechless, everything Screwball said was true, Why would she ever pick me? she thought, if she was on Ditzy Doo's hooves she wouldn't save herself either. She was scared, but she knew that saving Rainbow Dash was the right thing to do.
"Release Scootaloo."
The orange pegasus perked up her ears at the same time as Screwball
"Say what again?" Screwball questioned, and Rainbow Dash smiled.
"I choose Scootaloo", Ditzy Doo smiled at Screwball.
"Why!? Why would you save the one who torments you!?"
"Yes, she sometimes gets on my nerves. But that's not reason to abandon her. Rainbow Dash is perfectly able to save herself. On the other hoof, Scoot lacks experience. Besides, the fact that you don't want me to save her is reason enough to choose her over Rainbow Dash."
Screwball growled, she tapped her right hoof on the snow twice, and the cage around Scootaloo disappeared. The youngest pegasus slowly fluttered her wings to land.
"Okay, deal done", Screwball smiled again, "you can leave now."
"No! I want Rainbow Dash too!" Derpy insisted.
"I'm sorry, but a deal's a deal. And just so you know, I'm not really sorry at all. Ha ha ha! Now leave before I change my mind, go on, fly away... I mean... if you two sad excuses of pegasi can really fly."
"Sad excuse?! What do you know about flying? your not even a pegasus!" Scootaloo exclaimed completely angered.
"I fly all the time, with my chaos magic. And after I saw what you call landing, I can safely say I do it better than you." Screwball calmly answered, "Not even the two of you together could keep up with me."
"Oh yeah! Well I challenge you to a race, right here, right now!"
"Let's make it a baton race, then", Screwball opened her front hooves wide open, and the clouds and pink smoke began to give shape to a racing track, A wide circle around the mountain. "And to make it interesting... if you win, you'll get Rainbow Dash back, but if I win, I'll get the Element of Loyalty AND keep Rainbow Dash to be my personal pet."
Scootaloo backed down, her ears perked down, and her confidence disappeared.
"Alright, then!" Rainbow Dash accepted the terms for her two friends, "don't worry girls, you got this, no sweat!"
With Rainbow Dash's encouragement, Scootaloo's confidence came back. Thus, Scootaloo flew to the start line. Screwball magically grew a pair of feathered wings and followed Scootaloo. Ditzy Doo wasn't cofident at all, but she had been dragged into all this mess, she also flew to the start line, looking nervous.
"Why don't you start, Scootaloo? Since you're so anxious to race me!" Screwball suggested.
"Will do!" Scootaloo spreaded her wings, she extended her front hooves forward and pulled the rest of her body backward, to take impulse. Suddenly, a strange creature wearing glasses came out riding a cloud, he had a semaphore hanging from a fishing rod, and a weird jingle sounded out of nowhere.
The semaphore's lights turned on each second with a red light. First was the left one, then was the middle one, and lastly was the right light. The next second all three lights turned on with a blue light, indicating the start of the race, and Scootaloo and Screwball now as a pegasus, blasted off from their positions at a high speed.
Quickly, Scootaloo gained the advantage, with Screwball a couple of yards behind, trying to catch up. As the track was constantly turning slightly to the right, Scootaloo tried to stay on the inner side of the track, but suddenly, Screwball tackled Scootaloo by the side, knocking her out of the track. Now Screwball was leading the race.
Scootaloo tried as hard as she could to get back on the competition, even though Screwball was far ahead, she flapped her wings as quickly as a hummingbird, she could shorten the distance between her and Discord's daughter, but Screwball passed the finish line first, and she had one more lap to go.
About three seconds after Screwball, Scootaloo reached the finish line and tagged Ditzy Doo. Out of panic, the grey pegasus just blasted off as quickly as she could. Ditzy Doo was never a racing pony, the closest to a race she has been was when she almost supplanted Rainbow Dash at the Equestria Games. Screwball looked back, and saw a Ditzy Doo shrinking little by little in the distance behind her. Ditzy Doo was already panting after the first curve.
Rainbow Dash was calmly watching the race from the cage, then White Wind appeared next to her, "What are they doing?" she asked.
"They're having a race to save me," Rainbow Dash replied "even though they already have the Element of Loyalty, they risked everything just for me."
"Well... your chances don't look very good... Want me to release you?"
"No thanks," Rainbow smiled at White Wind, "Just sit and watch, they'll pull this off."
Derpy tried as hard as she could, a futile try to catch up with Screwball. The speed of her wings decreased, her sight was becoming blurry, she was giving up.
"I thought I heard Rainbow Dash say: No sweat!" Screwball taunted the grey exhausted pegasus, "But look at your forehead, with all that sweat I'm not surprised pegasi can make it rain. No wonder they call you Derpy, I'm surprised you can put on your own horseshoes!"
There was that word again, and at that moment, time stopped for Ditzy Doo. She turned to see Scootaloo, the orange pegasus was gulping, looking worried, the fear of losing Rainbow Dash invaded Scootaloo's face. Then, she turned to see Rainbow Dash, she saw a calm pegasus, as if Rainbow Dash knew she could defeat Screwball. The last curve was approaching, and after that the final sprint. Rainbow Dash believed in her, and Scootaloo set her hopes on her, and to top it off, Screwball spoke that single word, the one that only her friends are allowed to use. The rest was easy.
Screwball was on the final sprint. Scootaloo widened her eyes and her mouth was left wide open. White Wind watched and some words escaped from her mouth due to the shock, "Holy moustached dragons!". Rainbow Dash also widened her eyes and her lips formed a big whoa!.
A grey stripe passed right next to Screwball, and the chaos pony was left spinning out of control as Ditzy Doo passed the finish line, and winning the race.
"YAY!" Scootaloo let go of her excitement, "That was awesome!" She celebrated around Ditzy Doo. The cage around Rainbow Dash magically opened, she gave a confident smile to White Wind and flew to congratulate the grey pegasus.
After a few seconds, Screwball stopped spinning, gaining control of herself again. She gazed at the celebrating ponies, she just looked down and teleported away from the place.
"Why were you so sure they could win?" asked White Wind to Rainbow Dash.
"Loyalty is not a single player game," Rainbow replied, looking at her friends with relief, "just as I never leave my friends hanging, I know they wouldn't leave ME hanging either."
Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Ditzy Doo said goodbye to White Wind, and headed back to Canterlot with the Element of Loyalty around Rainbow Dash's neck. White Wind just turned away and headed back to her cabin with a big grin.
"Why don't you fly like that every time?" asked Scootaloo to Ditzy Doo, she was so excited. "It was like when you caught the Crystal Heart in mid air! And King Sombra attacked you! And you were like WOOOSSHHH and King Sombra was like CURSE YOU! and you were like NEVER! and..."
"That's not how it actually happened" Rainbow Dash corrected, but Scootaloo wasn't listening to her.
"I don't know, ok?" Ditzy Doo got tired of Scootaloo's babbling, "I just do! I mean, I try,.. I really try... I just can't do it when I want it. It only comes out when I really, really need it... it's kind of a funny thing, you know?."
"Hey, you know what else is funny?", said Rainbow Dash, "that pegasus' name was totally ridiculous!"
"Yeah! That was SO not her name!" Scootaloo added.
"Dumbest name ever! I bet she made it up at that very moment", Ditzy Doo laughed, "At least Derpy is more creative than that."
"Is that of any relevance?", said the white pegasus.
"Ok... then what music do you like?"
"I don't know... should I have a preference?"
"Ugh... well do you like any books?"
"Ummm... what is a book?"
Twilight sighed in frustration. She was trying to be friendly and break the ice, but Guardian Sword's ice was too thick to even scratch, maybe because he was tired, or maybe because his left wing was still injured. He was just next to her left side, just walking forward, and constantly watching over her vigilantly.
It was a long trip to Crystal Mountain, which was now a huge icecream field. Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, all kinds of flavors covered the mountain. Twilight talked and talked along the way, and Guardian Sword just listened, it was a monologue more than a dialogue. She spoke about music, food, and all the books she likes most, although later up, she had to explained to Guardian Sword what a book was.
Once in the city, nothing looked different in there, as if Discord had never been released. Some crystal ponies in town recognized Twilight and waved at her, she waved back pretending, very poorly, that her visit was completely casual. Twilight and Guardian Sword walked to the main square, where they found a suspicious looking crystal pony. His shiny dark blue coat glowed like a lake reflecting the night sky, and his mane shone golden like a streetlight. Guardian Sword stepped between him and Twilight taking a defensive pose, "Who are you? and why does it seem like you're waiting for us?" he asked.
"I'm just waiting for her, tough guy. You can get lost!" said the dark blue crystal pony , his voice was raspy.
"Too bad... I'm her personal bodyguard, I go where she goes", Guardian Sword replied.
"Guardain Sword! Don't be rude!" Twilight pushed the pegasus aside, and she talked to the crystal pony, "excuse me, but... do I know you?".
"Hah! Of course you don't remember me!", said the crystal pony, "Some time ago, we fought over a bag at Midnight Castle".
"You are that Changeling!" Twilight gasped, as Guardian Sword stood on a fighting stance, spreading his right wing, and preparing for battle.
"Easy there", said the crystal pony, "I'm not looking for a fight, I'm just looking for her."
"why are you a crystal pony now?" asked Twilight.
"I don't know... I used to be a crystal pony before being a changeling", he replied, "but... suddenly, I am me again. I can't say I'm not happy about it, but to be honest, I'm not sure if this was supposed to happen. I was researching what was happening with me in the library, where I met a very interesting unicorn, she came to me and asked me to wait for you here, and take you to my house, where you'll be able to conversate."
"That's a very convenient story, so who was this unicorn you met?" Guardian Sword met him face to face, with a threatening glare.
"I really don't know, but she said that you would be interested in talking to her again, and...", he replied as the pegasus was getting closer to him, until he shouted at Twilight, "can you calm your pet down? he's freaking me out!"
Twilight gently touched his the pegasus' shoulder to calm him down. She nodded and followed the crystal pony. They arrived to a small crystal house, it apparently belonged to the dark blue crystal pony, for he opened the door and invited Twilight in, the pegasus wasn't too well received but he let him in anyway, they glared at each other ready to jump to a hoof fight any moment soon.
Inside the house, the crystal pony invited them to the dining room, where a white tall unicorn wearing a white coat was waiting for them while reading an old book. and resting on the table in front of her, there was a red cup of hot chocolate. Twilight recognized her for her emmerald colored mane, "Observer!", she gasped.
"You arrive just in time, Twilight Sparkle" the tall unicorn said as she closed the dusty old book she was reading, she stared at her with calm eyes, she placed a couple of small cups on the opposite side of the table, and filled them with chocolate, "sit down", she commanded.
"What? What is going on?" asked Twilight, she turned to the changeling who just smiled at her. "Why is she here?"
"You know? I've been to the Crystal Mountains", claimed the Observer, she took a sip from her cup, while Twilight and Guardian Sword sit in front of her. "And I saw this young filly who claims to be Discord's daughter. I have to admit, not even I suspected of her when you visited me in my observatory. I advise complete caution with her, I would even dare to say that she is more dangerous than Discord. Just like him, she possesses chaotic powers and can see all your strengths and weaknesses. But UNLIKE Discord, she lacks self control, ergo, she will stop at nothing to defeat you and crush you until you're emotionally destroyed. And then she will end your life while you sob over your own misery."
"End my life...?" Twilight gulped.
"If you're lucky", The Observer calmly added.
"I'll make sure no harm will come close to Miss Twilight", claimed Guardian Sword.
"Tough words for a wingless pegasus", the crystal pony mocked him.
"Wanna see how tough they are?", the pergasus hit the table with both his hooves, causing the Observer's cup to spill some chocolate.
"I'm afraid he's right, Guardian Sword", said the Observer, taking out a handkerchief out of her white coat, "this is something you can't protect Twilight from. Unless you're planning to protect her from herself."
"Whatever do you mean?" asked Twilight, very confused. But the Observer responded with another question.
"May I ask you what were you doing with your life before the dragons attacked Equestria?" she filled her cup again with some more chocolate.
"I... I was studying friendship..." Twilight answered with a trembling voice, she was staring at the table, very nervous. Guardian Sword and the crystal pony stood silent as the Observer raised her voice, as if she was scolding Twilight.
"Even if you're already an expert on that topic, as I've heard. You even became the Princess of Friendship, so why would you relinquish that title and step back the level of your studies?"
"I... I don't want to talk about it..."
"This is why I knew you couldn't handle the Rainbow of Darkness. Something is causing you all this sorrow in your heart. You don't want to get hurt again, so that's why you keep avoiding this topic, that's why you don't know what to do with your life. You are stuck, Twilight. And this is your worst weakness. Past is something that nopony can escape from, even if you try to carry on, it will always haunt you."
"How do you know so much?! Who are you?!" Twilight turned agressive.
"Everything will be revealed in due time", replied the Observer.
"Rarity and I already talked about this, I accept what happened, I'm ready to carry on! I'm not stuck! And I've had enough of this! Guardian Sword we're leaving, now!"
Twilight stood up, and Guardian Sword followed, looking worried. The Observer just sighed and did nothing to stop them, she took one last sip from her cup, and before Twilight closed the door, she told her one last thing.
"The only way to carry on, is to turn around and face it face to face, Twilight. And that's easier said than done," After drinking the last drops from her cup, the Observer laughed and looked at the mountains through the window, "If somepony can understand that... it's me."
Twilight heard the words, but she ignored them and slammed the door behind her. She started to walk toward the mountain with his bodyguard walking close behind her. They walked through the city with a very tense enviroment, Guardian Sword didn't have the courage to say anything, for Twilight could explode in wrath even with the most harmless commentary. He was almost as scared as when Princess Luna was in a bad mood.
A blizzard of lemon flavored snow was blowing from the north, slowing the ponies down, but didn't stop them. Twilight's plan was simple as if it was strategized by Rainbow Dash herself: find Screwball, beat the hay out of her, and get the Element of Magic. Far ahead, they saw the silhouette of a pony, That must be her, Twilight thought, and she rushed to her.
"Wait, Miss Twilight!" Guardian Sword chased her, but the blizzard got stronger, and some unknown force stopped him from following Twilight.
The unicorn, however, pursued the shadow even through the blizzard, shielding her eyes, her mane waved like dancing at the pace of the strong winds. She got closer and closer to the silhouette until the blizzard stopped, she uncovered her eyes, and found out that the silhouette wasn't the pony she was expecting. It was in fact, a pony that she wasn't sure she wanted to see again. Twilight's eyes widened, her jaw dropped down and her ears perked down, she felt a huge and bulky knot inside her throat, and her knees started to shake like jelly.
"Twilight..." called the orange stallion standing before her, with a blue cobalt mane and sky blue eyes staring directly at hers, "have you forgotten me?"
"No... I'd never... you were everything to me..." Twilight responded with tears streaming from her eyes like two rivers. "it's just that... we belong to diferent worlds now... Flash Sentry..."
"Would you die with me, Twilight? Would you hold my hoof once again so we can share our worlds, and join them" the stallion offered his hoof, "everything will be like before. We'll be together until the end. Follow me, to a new journey, to no destination and without no why."
Twilight slowly walked three steps in the pegasus' direction, but her fourth step didn't touched the snow, Twilight was one step to a deadly precipice, but she stopped.
"I'm sorry... I can't die yet..." Twilight stared down, embarrassed to look directly at his eyes.
"Why do you reject me? Am I not worthy?"
"I'm not rejecting you... it's just that... there is still something left for me in this world... My life is not complete yet..."
"And you think mine was?!" The pegasus' eyes turned red, and the blizzard started blowing again, this time it was black snow, and it blew against Twilight's direction, "I wanted to do so many things! My military career was just progressing! I was a candidate for captain! I wanted to have a family! But I wasn't able to do any of that! And it was all because of YOU!"
"Leave her alone!" Guardian Sword appeared out of nowhere, he was soaring through the blizzard, his left wing was moving again. He stood beside Twilight , who was about to crumble down to tears.
"I never met Flash Sentry", Guardian Sword claimed, "but I've heard the stories of a brave pegasus who protected Princess Twilight with his life. He would never ask such a thing to her, and he would never talk to her like that. You are just an impostor!"
"So this is why you reject me, Twilight", Flash Sentry calmly closed his eyes, "you have another chivalrous knight in your life! How easily you forgot about me! No wonder you can't even look at my face!" he opened his dark red eyes again. Then, next to him, appeared another Flash Sentry, and behind Twilight appeared yet another.
After a few seconds, Twilight and Guardian Sword were surrounded by seven Flash Sentries.
"Ugh... you had to come and ruin all the fun!" Screwball appeared behind the Flash Sentry standing in front of Twilight and Guardian Sword, "oh well, Flash Sentries, just finish the job."
Upon her command, the seven pegasi leaped at Twilight, but Guardian Sword pushed her away, and Twilight fell on her flank as the fake Flash Sentries started beating Guardian Sword down, one of them grabbed him by the tail, and threw him down the abyss just to dive in, following him.
"No! Please, stop it!" Twilight stared down the cliff, watching the pegasi disappear through the abyss, her lips were trembling, she covered her eyes with her hooves as she felt like something inside her chest had shattered, like a crystal ball.
"You know what the worst part of all this is?" the pink filly appeared behind Twilight, wearing the Tiara of Magic, she smiled and whispered to her ear, "it was all... your... fault..."
Screwball stood behind Twilight, who was still weeping, and shortly after, one of the Flash Sentries came back, panting. "Back already? did you take care of that meddlesome pegasus?"
"Of course not!" said the fake Flash Sentry, "I escaped! that pegasus is a monster!", he quickly lifted off leaving the area as fast as he could.
"Hmph, what a coward!" Screwball, fixed her mane, "Anyway, when I'm finished with you, he's next!"
However, Twilight stopped crying, all of a sudden, she stood up once again, and turned around to stare the chaos pony face to face. Screwball stepped back and gulped when she realised Twilight's intentions. Twilight's eyes were glowing, showing no sign of conscience, then, a magic sphere bursted around her, blowing Screwball away. At this moment, the icecream snow of the mountain returned to its normal white color, and the blizzard completely disappeared.
Twilight slowly approached Screwball, who was laying on the snow shaking in terror before the unicorn, she was fearing for her life. Twilight stopped right before her, the sphere around her shrinked and accumulated on her horn, and she slowly aimed it at Screwball. The chaos pony pulled her hooves to cover the her chest and belly, and closed her eyes tightly hoping that it would prevent the pain.
"Stop it, Twilight", an orange pegasus with blue mane appeared on the unicorn's left side.
"Nice try!" Twilight shouted at Screwball,
"He... he... he's not one of mine... I swear!" said Screwball, uncovering her teary eyes.
Twilight realised she wasn't lying, either that, or she was a pretty good actress. Those weren't the eyes of a liar, though. Those were the eyes of a victim, ready to beg for her life. Twilight slowly turned to her left. "Is it really you this time?"
"I bet you've heard this a bunch of times", he smiled at Twilight, "but I guess it will count a lot more if you hear it from my lips. Ahem... I regret nothing, if I had a second chance on that very same instant, I would do the exact same thing, no doubt about it."
"Oh, Flash! I'm so sorry!" Twilight tried to hug the pegasus, but it was like hugging thin air.
"Here, take it" Screwball threw the Tiara of Magic right at Twilight's hooves, she looked embarrassed, "my daddy told me not to mess with you... now I see what he meant. You are the scariest pony I've ever met."
Before Twilight could respond, Screwball faded, Twilight picked up the Tiara and put it over her head and stared at Flash Sentry, "thank you", she said.
"That's the way I remember you, even if you're missing your wings, you will always be my beautiful princess", Flash Sentry bowed to Twilight, "I said I would always protect your heart before protecting mine, but now this role belongs to another pegasus."
Climbing from the abyss, Guardian Sword returned to the top of the mountain, exhausted. He stood there looking at Twilight, and sighed in relief.
"I can rest easy", said Flash Sentry.
"I wish you could return to my side", said Twilight, "when you died... my whole world crumbled, and it took me so long to build it again. And even so, I didn't build it right. I always blamed myself, so I tried to stay the same, even tough the rest of the world was changing, my friends moved on with their lives one by one. My good friends... they tried to comfort me, you know? They tried to convince me that it wasn't my fault, until I believed it myself. But now that I faced the guilt with my two eyes, I finally realised that I was right, and Screwball was right too, it was all my fault."
"At last, you understand", Flash Sentry closed his eyes, "yes it was your fault, but if I have something to say about it... I'm proud that your love whas the sole reason I gave my life for."
"Ok. We have only one thing left to say, then" Flash Sentry bowed to Twilight again, and Twilight also bowed to the pegasus before her, when they raised their faces, they stared at each other's eyes. They both said the same word at the same time.
"Goodbye..."
Flash Sentry turned around and started walking away, he slowly faded in thin air.
"Are you ok, miss Twilight?" Guardian Sword waved his hoof in front of Twilight's face.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, you were just standing there, talking alone."
The Observer and his new crystal pony companion were standing on a marble tower's balchony south from Canterlot Palace. The city looked like a circus show, with music, fireworks and spotlights illuminating the skies over the city as elephants, bears, gorillas and giraffes paraded across the streets. The unicorn and the crystal pony stood silent, waiting for somepony to appear, the crystal pony was gazing at the city, with horrified eyes. The Observer, wasn't impressed, constantly tapping her right front hoof against the ground, she was getting impatient.
A few minutes passed, the Observer stopped tapping her hoof, and let go of a sigh of annoyance, she turned her sight to the south. Seconds later a chariot pulled by a cloaked pegasus came flying from that very same direction, it landed on the balchony, exactly in front of the Observer. The chariot was transporting another three cloaked ponies, judging for the complexion of their bodies, they were all mares. They all approached the Observer. The crystal pony stepped back, invaded by confusion and fear. One of the cloaked ponies started talking.
"I see you are punctual, as always, as always", she said to the observer, her eyes hidden in the cloak's shade, her mouth was visible showing a friendly smile and a long white horn was piercing through a hole in her hood.
"May you remind me why are we doing this?" said the Observer, she was completely annoyed.
"We are doing this because we want to see what the future may bring", responded the cloaked unicorn, "you, on the other hoof, are doing this because I, am commanding you to", she and the other cloaked ponies laughed for mere three seconds, then she talked again, "So... is Twilight coming? And more importantly, does she know your true identity?"
"She suspects... no. She KNOWS I'm hiding the truth from her, but she still has no idea, and there is no doubt she's coming", nodded the Observer, "the Tiara of Magic is on her head, and Discord is keeping things around here... quite colorful. Are you sure this little plan of yours will work?"
"It's not a plan, it's not a plan", said the cloaked unicorn, "it's more like a... test... of some sort. Times are changing, Equestria is changing, and so is the world outside. The news of the recent war, the fall of Equestria before King Sombra, and Discord's return. These events will not go unnoticed by the rest of the world. Though changing may be a good thing, it can also bring disaster, or have unexpected side effects, leading to terrible consequences. I have no doubt that Celestia and Luna are great leaders, and they keep a good relation with other lands, but I want to see if they can keep the kingdom afloat, not to mention their nerves, while the walls are crumbling down around them. I trust everything's ready, yes?"
One of the cloaked pony's companions stepped up, the tip of her golden tail poked from behind her cloak, she responded, "the calculations are correct, Discord is holding Luna and Celestia, leaving them vulnerable, as expected. However, the Queen of Changelings has allied with Discord, a variable that we did not consider."
"My queen!" the crystal pony gasped, "what is going on here?! what are you ponies plotting?!"
"Hey look at that!" the third cloaked pony exclaimed, "she brought a crystal pony! why did you bring him?"
"He said he wanted to know", said the Observer, "and I welcome everypony that seeks knowledge. Besides, I sense that he still has a role to play. Speaking of roles, I can't help but see that we're one pony short."
"Don't worry, she'll come", replied the pegasus who pulled the chariot.
"So everything's going well", said the cloaked unicorn.
"Yes... because everything went well with your last test, right?" said the Observer, sarcastically. Then she turned to the crystal pony beside her, who was freaking out, his knees shaking in terror, she made a little smile and said, "I believe you must leave, now. You look like you need your queen, I wonder if it's not your queen the one who needs you."
The crystal pony, quickly turned around and sprinted away from the cloaked ponies as quickly as he could. His face turned pale, his heart was racing, and the chill down his spine was colder than a lonely winter night on the Crystal Mountains.
The cloaked unicorn turned her sight to the north, to Canterlot's palace, and with a huge grin, she said, "now that we have all the actors set on stage, it's time to make them dance!"
Meanwhile, in the palace, Celestia was holding a reunion in the dining room. Princess Cadance, Princess Luna, General Shining Armor, Spike and Trusty Link were present, more than ninety six hours have passed since the mane six and their parties ventured themselves in search of the Elements of Harmony. And the tension was increasing each second.
"I can't believe this is happening", said Luna, "at last I can finally stand on my own hooves and Discord shows up and takes it from me! And to top it all, Chrysalis has the nerve to back stab us!"
"Chrysalis wouldn't have done this, if you hadn't gone crying for her help, Luna!" Celestia claimed.
"I did what I had to do to defeat Sombra!", Luna replied, "what were you doing at that time? Oh! that's right! you were under his influence trying to destroy me! Yet again!"
But Celestia replied even angrier, "you let Twilight go and seek that witch, the Observer! You bring the changelings! And also you let yourself open to Nightmare Moon's powers! Everything you've done is bringing enemies to our land!"
"At least I'm trying to do something! The only thing you've done so far is getting yourself captured, first by the dragons, then by King Sombra, and now by Discord! And now, Twilight Sparkle is gone to save you once again, just like she always ends up doing! She's going to end up dead by your negligence one day, assuming she's not dead yet."
"Princess Luna!" Shining armor shouted, "my sister is not dead! I bet she's got the Element of Magic in front of her, right now as we speak! Besides, she has the best bodyguard to protect her!"
"Yeah, because her brother was too scared to protect her himself!" said Spike, "Twilight needs no protection, she is the one who protects! She'd be a hundred times better general than you!"
"I don't see you protecting her either, Spike!" exclaimed Princess Cadance, "Twilight asked you and Shining Armor to stay and take care of Princess Celestia, becasue there are bigger responsibilities! But you wouldn't understand that, you're just Twilight's pet!"
From this point, the insults just became more personal, and not a single solution, or even a single idea was proposed. Slowly, their colors began to fade, slowly changing to grey. The only one keeping her colors was seated in the middle of the offenses. Trusty Link looked at the others with dismay and confusion, as they seemed to be speaking in a foreign language. Not much time passed until she finally exploded, she raised her voice louder than everyone else, "THAT'S IT! ENOUGH!", but she was ignored.
"PRINCESS CELESTIA! CAN YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH THE HAY UP?!" Trusty link exclaimed, and immediately the room was quiet again. Trusty Link noticed that all the sights were set on her, "with all due respect?" she tried to turn invisible, with no luck, she is no unicorn. She cleared her throat and spoke once again.
"Discord is affecting us all. And turning one against the other", she said, "Princess Celestia, cool your head, take a deep breath and think, what can we do to stop Discord? I don't want to think about it, but the ponies of harmony... isn't there a plan of contingency in case the Ponies of Harmony don't come back?"
"The Elements of Harmony were created only to stop Discord, Trusty Link", said Celestia, "there is no other way. Discord is too powerful for a frontal battle. Even joining forces with my sister, if she was any help, he'd wipe us out without even trying. Just look at us, hornless and wingless, there was just nothing we could do. That's why I wanted him as an ally, rather than as an enemy."
"What about you, Princess Cadance? You still have your horn and wings. The Crystal Empire is supposed to have very powerful magic, right? isn't there a spell that might help us out?"
"Actually, there might be one!" Princess Cadance gasped, "but we need a crystal... a big one... but the spell is really complicated, and honestly, I'm not sure I can pull it off."
"A spell you can't pull off, what a big surprise", Luna replied, sarcastically rolling her eyes.
"I think it's worth a shot", said the earth pony "Princess Cadance, Spike and the General will come with me, I know where we can find a big crystal. Princesses, you stay here and please try to not banish each other to the moon, ok?"
"Not that we could without our horns", Luna sisters replied, as Celestia looked at her very angry.
Discord was not the one to keep guards or constant vigilance over his captives, so the party walked towards the main entrance of the palace like any other day only to find out that the whole palace whas upside down. So instead of going out from the lower exit, they were on the highest one. They didn't fall, though. They were still standing on the palace's floor, as if it had its own law of gravity.
After a long and exhausting walk through the halls, corridors and climbing a considerable amount of stairs, they finally reached the last room of the tallest tower. Trusty Link opened the wooden door, which creaked with a loud shrill sound. The room inside was all dusty and there were all kinds of books well placed on the shelves, there were three small wooden table benches placed in line, and a large desk in front of them. A big blackboard placed behind the desk, showed that the room served as a classroom, of some sort, and next to it, there was a large and tall window, with a stained glass portraiyng a young white unicorn with emerald mane and tail, showing a big smile on her face.
Being in there felt like standing in the middle of an abandoned old photograph. Time had forgotten about this room. Apparently, not even Discord had redecorated it.
After contemplating the room for a while, Trusty Link led the way and opened the window, and poked her head to see how far it was from the ground. A little far, but she could manage the jump. "It's good", she said, and jumped down, landing hardly. Shining Armor jumped next, he landed harder, making a small crag on the ground. Shortly after, Spike landed stomach first next to the unicorn, and then Princess Cadance, elegantly softed her fall with her wings.
Trusty Link's plan became more evident to her companions when she led them to the Crystal Caves, they wandered for a few minutes, and found countless crystals. Princess Cadence wasted no time in looking for the perfect crystal, "according to the ancient scripts in the Crystal Empire, in order to cast the spell correctly, the crystal must be big, shiny, and symmetrical", she described.
"T...this one...?" Spike showed a big crystal he could barely lift on with his arms and holding it with his chest, like lifting up a barrel.
"Not big enough..."
"What about this one?" Shining Armor casted telekinesis and pulled out a huge crystal that was nailed on the ground, he efforlessly lift it up over his head.
"It's not symmetrical, honey..." the alicorn made a small smile.
"That one looks good" Trusty Link pointed at a crystal behind Princess Cadence, it was a huge crystal, also nailed to the ground. Big and like a hexagon prism with a pointy end on top. Its faces reflected everything around like mirrors, and it shined like a diamond, even though it also looked fragile like... well, like a crystal.
"It's perfect!" Candence responded, contemplating the beautiful crystal, "gentlecolts, dig this one out", she commanded.
"Yeah... gentlecolts..." Spike lifted an eyebrow as he and Shining Armor began to dig beside the crystal.
The crystal was taller than expected, the digging extended for a few minutes, until the unicorn could pull it out of the ground with his telekinesis spell. It was heavy, even Shining Armor had trouble lifting it up, he began to sweat and breath heavily. Spike discovered a room behind the crystal, where a pony was apparently trapped.
"Wait! Somepony's there! Looks like a statue", he shouted. Shining Armor carefully placed the crystal laying on the ground, and proceeded to investigate. Princess Cadence and Trusty Link followed him, as Spike was already there, "it's... Dia... Diamond Tiara!" he gasped, realising that she was petrified.
Diamond Tiara had a gasping expression on her face, surprised or scared, turning her face away from watever she was watching and her right front hoof was like trying to stop what was in front of her. "A cockatrice. maybe?" said Shining Armor, "No... i don't think a cockatrice could sneak in here. Until a few days not even I knew this place existed." He then, pointed his horn at the statue and casted a spell. Piece by piece, the stone around the young pony began to crumble like a broken ceramic vase.
"PLEASE DON'T!!!" Diamond Tiara screamed, as she covered her face with her right hoof, she stood like these a coupe of seconds, trembling. Upon realising that nothing happened, she opened her eyes again, very confused. Her eyes only pictured a mix of purple, blue, pink and yellow stains in front of her. She quickly shook her head and looked again, gazing upon the young dragon in front of him, "Spike? What happened?"
"That's what we want to ask you", said Spike, "we found you here petrified!"
"There's a pony! An evil one", Diamond TIara gasped, she was breathing desperately, "I found her here! I... she was laughing, and then... then I heard something I shouldn't have. Revenge! She said, and I was shocked, and then she, looked at me, and then... then..."
"Calm down", said Princess Cadence, palming Diamond's back, "take it easy! Inhale... exhale", she said, and Diamond Tiara obeyed, for she felt great respect for Princess Cadence, maybe even more than for Celestia or Luna. "Good, now tell us exactly what happened", said the princess.
Ditzy Doo and I barely escaped them Dark Ponies. Ditzy fainted when the changelings came to help us. I thought we were their prisoners, and brought us here to the Crystal Cave. When Ditzy woke up, she was greeted by a Changeling, and Ditzy screamed and flew as far as she could, but she crashed against a crystal and fell in front of Scootaloo. That's where we found the Crusaders.
Wherever the Crusaders are, disaster cannot be far. That's an old motto in Ponyville, and as usual, it was proved right, again. Scootaloo decided to find the Crystal Heart, so Ditzy and I decided to follow them. That's when I got distracted by the laughter of a filly. "Who could be laughing at this time?", I thought. So this little giggling brought me here... where I found... her... the cloaked filly.
"Is there something wrong?", I said, but she didn't respond. As I got closer behind her, I heard her voice. She said something like, "they will pay! I will make them pay!", and something about her daddy. I got closer to her, but when she turned around... I realised my mistake... but it was too late.
"Are you in such a hurry to stop breathing?", she said. I remember those awful words perfectly.
I was paralyzed, I was scared, I couldn't believe such words came out from a little filly's mouth, and her eyes... her terrifying purple eyes... I remember them clearly... both of them were loose, and empty as if they held no conscience, and those spirals... they slowly turned red... and then... I knew that my life was in danger... and... and... that's the last I remember.
"Yep, that's Discord's daughter!" Spike stated.
"Discord's daughter?" asked Diamond Tiara, her voice and her whole body were trembling "just what is going on? What happend to King Sombra? Where is Princess Celestia?"
Everyone made a serious face, as they explained everything they knew up to this point to Diamond Tiara. The explanation was rushed and confusing, they interrupted each other as they told the tale. Diamond Tiara made various questions conerning about King Sombra's defeat, and the whereabouts of the Ponies of Harmony, and specially about her friend, Applebloom. Though the news about them were mostly unknown. The last thing they mentioned was their little plan to defeat Discord.
"I think we can imprison Discord within this crystal", stated Princess Cadance, "It's more or less the same spell that the dragons used to seal Princess Celestia. There will be an internal magical barrier that will absorb the prisoner's magic, that way, everytime the prisoner tries to escape, the barrier will get stronger. However, unlike Skyclaw's prison spell, the crystal will still be vulnerable on the outside. Also, it requires a lot time and magic to cast it."
"Meaning?" asked Spike, very confused again.
"Meaning that if his daughter attacks the crystal, Discord will be released immediately. And that is the hard part..."
"So... If we want this to work. Then that filly has to go, right?" said Spike, not very excited.
"Well, looks like we need a strategy, then. The perfect job for me." General Shining Armor stepped up, and the rest sit in front of him, with their ears perked up. The unicorn cleared his throat, and said, "let's recap what we know, first. Discord is in Canterlot Palace, he is smart and sharp, so he will not let Cadance cast her spell if he knows she's doing it. His daughter left to pursue the ponies of harmony, so this might be the perfect chance to strike. However let's not forget about Chrysalis. Discord is powerful enough, and now he has an alicorn on his side, and she holds the Crystal Heart."
Shining Armor, paused for a while and sighed, and his companions stared at each other with uneasiness, then, he spoke again, "Cadence you'll be waiting at the Magic Court Chamber, preparing the spell. I'll distract Discord until the spell is ready, then you give me a signal and I'll lure him there to you. But we need to create a diversion for Chrysalis, too..."
Trusty Link responded immediately, "I'll do it. As an earth pony I'm a fast runner and I've lived in the Palace almost my entire life. I know the halls like the back of my hooves."
"Good! I'll distract her", Spike stood up and pointed himself with his thumb, "and you snatch the Crystal Heart."
"Wait! Are you all conscious that if it doesn't work, you're all going to get destroyed?!" Diamond Tiara objected, she was hysterical. The silent, serious looks they all gave to her, made more than evident that they weren't only conscious, but they were also prepared for it.
And so, they decided to put their plan into motion. As they marched back to the Palace, they were all sweating nervously, and their bodies were trembling. When they reached their destination, Diamond Tiara was shocked upon seeing the Palace turned upside down. They found the first obstacle in their plan, which was perfectly described by Spike.
"How the hay are we getting that enourmous thing there..." he said, pointing at the crystal, "...inside the small hole over there?", he then, pointed at the window of the tower from where they came from.
After several failed tries to get the crystal inside the palace, an idea striked Spike's head, like a pebble hitting him in the back of his head. He cleared his throat, he cracked the fingers of his hands, and finally took a deep breath, and finally blew his green fire at the huge crystal which started to disintegrate, consumed by the flames, and Cadance gasped despair.
"There! The crystal is now with Princess Celestia", said the dragon, "not bad for Twilight's pet, huh?"
"Oh, I see! Good thinking, Spike", Cadence sighed in relief, "but you should have told us what you had in mind!"
Princess Cadence teleported everyone back inside the dining room. For Trusty Link's relief, both princesses were still there, and to her surprise they were unharmed, however they were plain black and white now, and each one standing on opposite sides of the room and turning their backs at each other.
Shining Armor informed the princesses about their new plan, but their reaction was unimpressed or indifferent, it almost felt like disapproval. Princess Cadance lifted the crystal with her own spell of telekinesis with ease, "Wait for my signal, honey. And... don't do anything too dumb, ok?"
"Who? me?", responded, the unicorn, smiling, "don't worry, I'm just going to defy the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony who can pretty much rearrange the world and reality itself whenever he wants."
Cadence cleaned her eyes, and teleported to the Magic Court Chamber, where she immediately started focusing magic on her horn toward the crystal. Shining Armor and Spike walked out the west door of the dining room, and headed to the Throne Room, and Trusty Link was leaving from the east door. She stopped and turned to Diamond Tiara, "please, take care of the princesses, ok?".
Diamond Tiara nodded silently, and gazed upon Trusty Link leaving the room. It was the first time she ever met her, but she was haunted by the feeling that it could also be the last one.
Once in front of the Throne Room's door, the door opened before Shining Armor could put his hooves on it, as if it was inviting them in. The Throne Room was decorated as a forest, there were tall trees with rainbow colored leaves all over the place, and there were hippos hanging on the trees' branches like monkeys, and roaring like tigers. Spining around the thrones, there were a small sun with a smily face, and a small moon with a frowny one. Discord and Crystalis were seated on the throne, and Screwball was nowhere to be seen.
"Did you enjoy your little tour?" asked Discord, with that mocking smile on his face.
"You know?!", Shining Armor and Spike gasped in shock.
"I could have known, but I simply love surprises!", stated Discord, "so tell me... what do you have prepared for me?"
"I challenge you to a game!" said Shining Armor, "if I win, you'll admit defeat and leave Equestria forever!"
"Very well, but if I win, I stay forever, and I'll make you our personal assistant! Deal?"
Shining Armor hesitated for mere seconds, then, he gulped, and said, "deal."
"Wonderful!" Discord stood from the throne with a hop, and landed in front of the unicorn, "what game do you have in mind?"
"I can beat you in any game you want!" Shining Armor defied him. And Discord laughed like a maniac. He snapped his eagle fingers and Shining Armor shrank in size, his ears became round and big, and his front teeth grew up larger poking out from his mouth. His nose transformed into a black sphere, his hooves turned into small hands and feet, and his hairy tail transformed into a long hairless tail and thin like a wire. Shining Armor looked at himself, wondering what happened to him. He turned to Discord and saw that he had transformed into a big brown and fat cat.
"Oh... I get it now..." Shining Armor watched a cat that was ten times bigger than him, "I'm a mouse, right?"
"Let me give you a piece of advice", said Discord, after laughing once again, "never let your opponent pick the game!". Discord leaped onto Shining Armor, but the mouse quickly moved away by jumping backwards. Shining Armor quickly turned around and dashed away from Discord and toward the Throne Room's door.
"You have to admit that was funny", said Crystalis, laughing discreetly, and walked towards Spike, "so I suppose you're the one that's going to entertain me", she said, leaving the Crystal Heart unguarded on the throne,
A small door opened behind the thrones, and Trusty Link's face poked from it. She sneaked as quietly as she could to the throne, and the Crystal Heart was finally at the reach of her mouth, she slowly moved head closer to it, and just one inch away from it, a mysterious force pulled her and Spike from their tails, and they were both brought to the Crystal Queen, hanging upside down from their tails.
"But unlike Discord, I don't like surprises" she glared at the earth pony, "normally, I wouldn't care if you imprison Discord. But thanks to him, Molestia and Luna are powerless, and I rule over Equestria. I'll find a way to take care of Discord, later. Right now, I need those two former alicorns out of the way. I can't let you ruin everything now!"
"My queen!" a strange voice yelled from the door. Crystalis recognized the voice, she turned around, and watched a crystal pony standing there, panting.
"I know you", she smiled, "you were one of my changelings! How do you like being a crystal pony again?"
"Is this what it takes?", said the crystal pony, looking very disappointed, "is this the price to be a crystal pony again?"
"Whatever it takes to return my ponies to their former glory!", said Crystalis.
"What glory?! Look out there!", the crystal pony pointed with his hoof to a window, "They are crystal ponies, yes. But they are not glorious at all! I followed you not just because you were my queen! But because you wanted a better life!"
"We'll get our better life eventually! This is a just another step on the road!"
"Very well... I believe you, my queen" said the crystal pony, he stood adamant before his queen, "just answer me this question, and I'll follow you unconditionally. Is this the perfect day you had envisioned during all these years?"
Crystalis widened her eyes, and stood breathless. She dropped Spike and Trusty Link on the floor, as she moved her mouth looking for the words to answer the question. After a short moment of silence, only a few words came out from her mouth.
After a long trip to the Hayseed Swamps, Rarity, Moondancer and Lednik finally returned to Canterlot. Without any delay, they walked in the city and headed directly at the Palace, hoping to find the rest of the Ponies of Harmony there. Running through the main street, they all stopped amazed upon gazing from afar at the palace turned upside down, and around them, black and white colored ponies and dragons discusing and insulting each other. They noticed that there were no more changelings around, and the sudden population of crystal ponies, however, not even they were spared from Discord's influence.
"Wait", said Moondancer, she quickly turned around, and began inspecting the area. She closed her eyes, and began to feel the aura of Rarity behind her, and Lednik's who was resting on her head. Soon, she detected a dim blue aura, "show yourself!", she quickly opened her eyes to see its owner. It happened so fast, but she could clearly see a blue hoof throwing something at the floor, which made a small poof and created a dark blue cloud of dust.
"I see you have finally spotted me!", a loud and arrogant voice came out from the dustcloud. As the dust dissipated, it uncovered a blue unicorn with a light blue mane, she was wearing a dark blue cape and a blue pointy hat, both adorned with shiny stars made of sequin of yellow, purple and pink colors.
"No need to be ashamed," she claimed, very proudly, "for there is no better master of disguise than the GRRREA...."
"So, it's only you", Moondancer interrupted her, sighing in relief. She turned around and ignored the unicorn, "false alarm, it's nothing important, let's just go", she said to her companions.
"Nothing important? Hey! Come back here! How dare you?!", the unicorn quickly trotted to block their way, "don't tell me you were aware that you have been followed by the great and..."
"Yes, I knew", Moondancer interrupted again, "You've been following us since we stop to eat in Baltimare, maybe you were hiding, but I could feel your aura every time I blinked as annoying as a buzzing fly."
"Hah! That only proves your mediocrity, for I have been following you since you left Canterlot on your trip to the Hayseed Swamps!"
"But you were so cowardly to actually follow us inside the swamps", Moondancer midclosed her eyes, smiling, "the truth is, your aura is so weak that I paid little attention to it. I thought it was a lost parastripe, or even a breezy.
"How dare you mock the Great and Powerful Trixie like that?!" shouted the unicorn, very, very offended. "You..."
"The only great and powerful thing about you, is your mouth", Moondancer interrupted yet again, this time, laughing. At this point, Trixie was lost in a rage, there was absolutely nothing she hated more than being interrupted.
After a few seconds of rage, she calmed herself, "Trixie has no time to waste with a nopony like you", she said, and then directed her sight towards Rarity, "but you there, you are Sparkle's friend, right? Where is she? She and Trixie have unfinished business. We need to settle our magic duel."
"Sparkle? As in Twilight Sparkle?", Moondancer dropped on her back and bursted into laughter as if there were countless of little ants tickling her belly, "Oh, please! you're not serious, are you? You want to challenge Twilight to a magic duel? Ha ha ha ha! You wouldn't last longer than ten seconds in a duel against me! Let alone against Twilight! She would completely and utterly destroy you!"
"Laugh if you want, but you should know that Twilight has already fallen in defeat before the Great and Powerful Trixie in the past", informed Trixie. Moondancer stood up on her hooves with a jump, looking very serious, if not angry.
"Okay, it's not funny anymore", she slowly got closer to Trixie, their eyes met, "I've met Twilight since she was in first grade, and I am a witness that she has been the most talented unicorn who has learned under Princess Celestia's wing. I'd go as far as to say that she is the most powerful spellcaster in Equestria after the sister princesses. And just in case I didn't make myself quite clear, I'll tell you this. I feel an absolute respect towards Twilight, so I won't tolerate you spreading such a nasty lie like that."
"You don't trust the Great and Powerful Trixie?", Trixie smiled, and pointed at Rarity "you can try asking the unicorn behind you, she saw how I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, held a victory over Twilight Sparkle". Moondancer turned her attention to Rarity, expecting her to speak.
"Well... she did uhh... held a victory over Twilight", Rarity frowned, "but it was just because you were using an evil artifact to enhance your magic spells. In other words, you were cheating."
"Yeah... Trixie didn't mention it was a GLORIOUS victory," said Trixie, rolling her eyes, "nor that she feels any pride about it. But that's why I, The Great and Powerful Trixie has returned, to challenge Twilight Sparkle once again. Trixie is confident that she can win fair and square this time! She has trained hard, she spent decades in the libraries, studying new spells, AND CENTURIES ON THE FIELD MASTERING THOSE SPELLS!!"
"It has only been about thirty five years, Trixie", Rarity hoofpalmed.
"Most you point out every single meaningless detail?" Trixie responded, somehow annoyed, "just tell me where is Twilight Sparkle, and then you will..."
"I'm right here", another voice interrupted Trixie. The blue unicorn turned around, very anxious. When her eyes met Twilight's face standing before her, joy took over her whole body, and a big friendly smile took over her face. Everyone was glad that Twilight Sparkle was safe and sound.
"Twilight Sparkle, so you finally show up", Trixie taunted after realising tha she felt too much happiness for her rival's arrival, "you, me, here, duel, now!"
"Not this again", Twilight rolled her eyes, and Guardian Sword was next to her, prepared to defend Twilight, but Twilight kept speaking, "there is no point in having another duel, we have nothing to prove." Twilight walked pass by Trixie, to reunite with her friends. Trixie was left behind, and she looked down for a few seconds. Then, she quickly turned around.
"Of course! You, have nothing to prove!", Trixie shouted, very desperate and mad, "You have everything! Talent, skill, potential. It was so easy for you to have earned all that fame and glory! But others like me have to work really hard so our names can be remembered!"
"Easy?! You think it was easy?!" Twilight turned to Trixie, "I faced the most difficult exams! The most exhausting training regimes! Endless nights, consuming entire libraries! And making homeworks, which were so complex, that each one took years to be completed! No, Trixie! It hasn't been easy at all! I've also worked hard! I have nothing to prove, because I have been proving myself my whole life! It was thanks to my studies and my teachers who tested me, that I have all that fame and glory!"
"And what about me?", said Trixie. Twilight stood there, speechless. Shortly, Trixie spoke again, "I also want to prove myself, Twilight. Not to you, or anypony else, but to myself! To see if I really am a magician, or if I'm just the traveling fraud with the wagon."
Twilight stood silent for mere seconds, her eyes meeting with Trixie's, staring directly at her will and determination. She walked two steps forward, and she nodded, "very well, Trixie. Let's do it."
Trixie smiled, and jumped with a big hooray like a little filly. Then stepping forward, and spread her arms, "soon, Twilight Sparkle, you will regret to have agreed to this duel with the Grrrreat and Powerful Trrrixie!", she claimed as a few fireworks exploded behind her, like applauding her happiness. Twilight just rolled her eyes and also smiled.
"Since I lost the last duel, I shall go first this time, if you have no objections", Trixie took off her hat, revealing her horn, and placed on the floor between Twilight and herself. She opened her arms and legs, nailing them to the floor to keep herself in balance. She pointed her horn at the hat, closed her eyes, and lost herself in deep concentration. Her effort was so much that her arms and legs began to shake. Trixie's horn's magic aura started glowing around the hat as the winds began to blow stronger and stronger with each second, like giving birth to a storm was about to unleash.
The ponies witnessing Trixie perform her spell held themselves on to the ground with their hooves as their manes danced along the strong winds blowing around, summoned by Trixie's magic.
"Oh my stars! Trixie has really progressed over the years!", said Rarity, very impressed.
Soon, the winds began to calm, little by little, until everything returned to normal. Trixie, who was panting and sweating, looked up, and stared at Twilight, "watch... watch in awe", she said. Trixie lifted the hat from the floor, revealing a small brown rabbit underneath. Everypony stood silent with their mouths wide open, the rabbit just scratched behind it's right ear and hopped away as if nothing happened.
"well... maybe not that much...", Rarity corrected herself.
"I'd like to see you top that, Sparkle!"
Twilight let go of a sigh, she pointed her horn forward, and with no effort at all, a big flash blinded the crowd for an instant, and a huge, raging Ursa Minor was summoned, and roared at Trixie. The poor unicorn was bathed by the beast's saliva, and its breath uncombed Trixie's mane. Quickly, with another flash, the Ursa Minor disappeared. And Trixie stood in shock.
"Ok, you win", she said trembling, her mane and tail was spikey.
"Don't worry, Trixie. You did your best and that's what it counts", Twilight stood humbly before her rival, "I was worried for a second, the wind was a nice touch."
"Wind? What?"
After few moments, Twilight and Trixie shook their hooves. Twilight thought it would be a good idea to have Trixie joining them. Guardian Sword nodded without a question, but Rarity wasn't convinced, and Moondancer laughed as if Twilight was joking, but her fun was stopped when noticing that it was no joke. In the end, Lednik agreed with Twilight.
"Very well, if Twilight trusts your abilities, then, I will not object", said Rairity.
"No way!" Moondancer laughed nervously, "Twilight, she is... not bad, I admit it. But let's be honest here", she turned to Trixie, "if your horn was as sharp as your tongue you'd be a lot more help. But as you are, I think you would just get in our way."
"Moondancer, you feel an absolute respect towards Twilight", said Lednik, "those were your exact words. Does that respect not include her decisions too?"
Moondancer sighed, and then she spoke once again, "Yes, it does. In the end, I'm sure you know what you're doing, Twilight. Whatever you think it's best, I'm ok with it."
"You give me a lot more credit than I deserve, Moondancer", said Twilight, "and I appreciate all of your trust. Trixie, But the decision is not ours to make. Trixie, what do you say?"
"Your redhead friend is right, Twilight", Trixie frowned, "with all your powerful magic, what kind of help can I possibly be? I'll be just a pebble in your horseshoes."
"Actually, I don't expect any kind of help from you", Twilight responded, "the reason I want you to come, is because you may just prove something to yourself along the way. As I said, the choice is yours and yours alone."
"Alright, then", Trixie closed her eyes and nodded, she walked to Twilight's side, between her and Moondancer, "the Great and Powerful Trixie will gladly join your party. She will not just be in your way, she will also show YOU the way", she whipped Moondancer's nose with her tail.
"Twilight knows what she's doing, she always does", Moondancer mumbled to herself, walking beside her friends, very grumpy, "if I keep telling that to myself, maybe I'll believe it."
The main street traverses from the city's entrance, all the way to the Palace. It's a typical road used for parades and festivals by locals. After they added Trixie to their team, they finally reached the palace. The rest of the ponies of harmony were already there.
Lednik flew directly toward Fluttershy, she was seated holding a conversation with Quetzalcóatl and Skyclaw. She welcomed the Ice Dragon with a warm smile and her gentle voice, "Lednik, we're so glad to see you again", and Lednik smiled back.
Braeburn had come following Pinkie Pie, and Appplejack was yelling at him, "Braeburn! Ah'm warnin' you! Pinkie Pie'll not be your next victim, you sad excuse for a casanova! Are you listenin' to me?", but the stallion was not paying any attention to his cousin, he was too busy staring at Pinkie Pie hopping around along with Lickety Split, celebrating the reunion. Applejack, then, turned her attention to Spinwind, who was standing too close to Applebloom to her liking. She proceeded to yell at him too, but the pegasus stood still, very confused. Applejack didn't notice that it was her sister the one who got closer to Spinwind.
Rainbow Dash, Ditzy Doo and Scootaloo were waiting. Rainbow Dash was walking in circles, very anxious, and a silly argument that Scootaloo and Ditzy Doo were having was draining out her patience.
"Captain Rainbow Dash!" Guardian Sword rushed and saluted, firmly, like a statue, "mission accomplished. It is all Twilight's merit, though, I was just a bystander."
"Of course you were, Guardian, Twilight needs no bodyguard. But tell that to the General", said Rainbow Dash, she turned to Twilight, tapping the floor wih her hoof, "I thought I said, rendezvous at Canterlot's palace. Where the hay were you and what where you doing?"
"No, you didnt", Twilight pointed out, "you just grabbed Scootaloo and Ditzy Doo and left."
"Yes, I did! You just didn't listen!" Rainbow Dash stomped, "you think I'd forget my own orders?", she watched everypony around her, and they unanimously nodded their heads, even Trixie who had no idea what they were talking about.
"Err... didn't I make that order? Really? I'm at least twenty percent sure I did", Rainbow Dash backed off a little. Her friends were now unanimously shaking her heads, disagreeing with her. However, Trixie who was clueless, nodded hers.
"And what's she doing here?", asked Rainbow Dash when she noticed Trixie's present.
"Worry not", Trixie added, "the Great and Powerful Trixie will be assisting you, now. Twilight's idea."
"Ugh... I hope you know what you're doing", Rainbow Dash whispered to Twilight as Trixie walked among the silent and awkwards glances of Twilight's friends. The blue unicorn's confidence disappeared, she gulped and made a fake smile.
They spotted the window in the tallest tower was left open, so they used it to get inside the palace. Pinkie Pie was the first one, and as soon as she jumped in, she fell upwards, landing on her head against the palace's floor, she stood up and rubbed the back of her head. The rest jumped trhough the window more carefully to not suffer the same fate as her.
Standing in the old classroom, Twilight was overtaken by fascination, she started examining the bookshelves one by one, containing the urge to take one of the books and read it. Rainbow Dash also checked the bookshelves, but none of the texts caught her interest, they were apparently all about maigcal mumbo-jumbo.
After digressing for a few minutes, they left the room behind and walked downstairs. Soon, they started hearing noises echoing from the hallways below. Clearly they heard what sounded like a cat meowing, and the sound of glass breaking. They stared at each other for just one second, and then they rushed, following their ears.
Meanwhile, inside the dining room, Celestia and Luna were still yelling at each other, discussing on who was the better ruler, and poor Diamond Tiara was the one seated in the middle of the conflict.
"Everypony knows I am the good princess", claimed Celestia, "I infuse respect and joy. You, on the other hoof, only infuse fear and despair upon our subjects by shouting with the traditional royal Canterlot voice."
"That is entirely your fault!", responded Luna, "you said: Hey sis, you know, you should totally celebrate your return in ponyville, they would love to see you again, we totally still use the traditional Canterlot voice, they'll love it. That is the problem with you, you're always making some kind of silly joke. Nopony knows when you're talking seriously, you think your silly games are harmless but they only cause more and more problems. Well, I have news for you, sister, your jokes aren't funny."
Celestia gasped with her mouth wide open, that was the last straw, for she just heard the worst insult she has ever heard in her long, long life. Nopony says to princess Celestia that her jokes aren't funny, not even her own sister.
"You are just jealous!", said Celestia, "You've always been jealous of me! You turned into that monster because of it. I have the light of the sun, the sense of humor, the appreciation of Starswirl, and it was me the one the leaders choose. You were only dragged because you are my sister."
"Princess Celestia, please, stop!", Diamond Tiara stood up from her seat, she was furious, "do you think you're better just because you have more things than your sister? Do you think that bragging about it makes you any better? Princess I completely understand how you feel. That's why I can safely say that you are wrong!"
"Oh yes? And how would ou know that?"
"Since I was born, I was given everything I wanted, I had always more than anypony else. I thought I was superior, and I felt better when I made somepony feel inferior. But one day, my father lost it all, and I was forced to live in Sweet Apple Acres. There, I learned the most valuable lesson of my life. Something that I'm afraid you have forgotten. Discord made you forget."
"I alwasys treated Applebloom worse than hay, just because she had no cutie mark. I did my best to humiliate her in front of everypony, every time I could. Naturally, she wasn't comfortable with me around, but even so, she received me with open arms, she even offered me her room. I though she was going to laugh at me, that she was going to take revenge. That's what I thought, because I would have, if I would have been on her hooves. But not her, not good Applebloom. She treated me like an equal even though I didn't even have a place to stay. That was when our friendship was born, I remember what she said to me as if it was yesterday, It's not about how much you have, but about how much you have from other ponies. I know this are hard times for you. So you can have all my support."
At this moment, some memories flashed before Celestia's and Luna's eyes. Memories from hundreds of years before Nightmare Moon, and King Sombra. Memories from hundreds of years before they were princesses. The princesses were lost in a trance as they regained their original colors slowly from hooves to head. In the end, the memory of a regal voice, echoed in the back of their minds, it said, you have all my respect.
"My sister, Luna", said Princess Celestia, "I have been a terrible sister, please forgive me."
"There is nothing to forgive, Celestia", replied Luna, "once again, thanks to the younger one I can see clearly. Thank you, Diamond Tiara."
"Oh, don't mention it", Diamond Tiara was confused, but relieved that the princesses came back to normal for no apparent reason.
Then, Luna spoke again, "it's so embarrasing! we are the ones who should be dealing with Discord. We have wasted enough time already. We must go and do whatever we can to save Equestria!"
On the hallways, mouse Shining Armor was running for his life in a zigzag motion, avoiding cat leaps and claws, laser beams, fireballs, cannoballs and homing missiles. Out of nowhere, vases and porcelain tablewares spawned, so cat Discord could break them. The mouse turned right in the next corner, and Discord chased him, slipping on the red carpet on the floor. Shining Armor gained some advantage, he saw a door ahead and went under it.
Behind the door was the music room, there was a tuba on the floor, some drums and other percussions to the left, and a big wooden piano next the back wall. Without thinking, Shining Armor went inside the bass drum to hide himself from the cat. Cat Discord just crashed through the door, and carefully examined the room. Not realising that his tail was exposed, mouse Shining Armor began to shake.
Discord quietly approached the drums, and with a strong stomp from his front right paw, he pushed the bass drum's pedal. Shining Armor was sent flying and he fell inside the tuba like a basketball inside a basket. Discord quickly poked his paw inside the tuba's bell to catch the mouse, but Shining armor went deeper, out of the cat's reach. Upon finding nohing, Discord poked his face inside the tuba's bell, he spotted Shining Armor, who bit hin in the nose with his sharp teeth. Discord screamed in pain, taking his face out of the tuba, rubbing his nose, which was now turned red and throbbing. Then he picked the tuba, took a deep breath, and blew as hard as he could in the mouthpiece.
Once again, Shining Armor was sent flying, he landed on the piano and ran along the keyboards. Discord leaped to catch Shining Armor, but the mouse quickly jumped to the piano strings. Discord landed on the keyboard, and the resuliting chord stunned Shining Armor, Discord jumped from the piano's keys to the strings, and Shining Armor once again dodged jumping aside. The mouse moved the lid prop, and the lid fell on Discord's back. While Discord screamed in agony, Shining Armor luaghed, he was kind of having fun, even if his life was in great danger. Suddenly, Shining Armor heard a voice.
"Honey, are you ok?", it was Cadance's voice, "it's all ready, bring Discord to the Magic Court Chamber!"
Shining Armor fled to the hallways again, where he encountered his sister and her friends, "hey there, Twiley!", he said with a squeaky voice, "Uhh... can't talk right now", he quickly turned around and fled, "see you at the Magic Court Chamber!"
The ponies watched the mouse running away and right after him, they watched a cat chasing him. They all blinked twice in confussion, and proceeded to go behind them.
"Was that General Shining Armor, just now?", Guardian Sword asked.
Shining Armor went under the door to the Magic Court Chamber, the crystal was shining with a ligh blue aura over the center of the chamber. Princess Cadance was waiting patiently on a seat, on the left side of the leader's seat, her horn was aiming at the front door.
"He's on his way!", Shining Armor climbed the rounded table, and rushed to meet his wife, "Be ready!"
"Honey? What happened to you?" said Princess Cadance, staring curiously at the mouse, but then the front door opened, she quickly aimed, but she stopped when she saw Twilight and her friends entering the chamber.
"What is going on here?" asked Twilight as she and her friends walked in the chamber, Rarity was polite enough to close the door behind her and fix her mane after a long sprint.
"No time to explain!", yelled Shining Armor, "get away from the door! We got Discord right where we want him!"
The ponies did as they were commanded, and shortly after, the doors were opening again, Cadance aimed her horn again, but for a second time, she hesitated to shoot. Two alicorns and an earth earth pony walked in.
"Did you get him?", asked Luna, "Where is he? I want to see him!"
"Not yet, aunt Luna. Can you move please?", replied Cadance, "you might get caught, too!"
"Oh! Come on! Where is he? He was right behind me!", Shining Armor was getting impatient.
After a short while, the doors started opening again, and Princess Cadance, this time it has to be him!, she aimed her horn and shot a light beam without a second thought. The target was hit, and captured inside a light blue sphere of light that was little by little being absorbed by the crystal until the crystal completely swallowed the sphere of light. Everypony cheered and celebrated their victory, but it was short lived.
"What have you done?! Where is my queen?! What did you do to her?!", a crystal pony was hysterical, he was standing beside Trusty Link and Spike, who were so shocked that they could barely escape the spell.
"No way... I have made a terrible mistake", said Princess Cadance, "that was the Queen of Changelings, right?"
"Serves her right for backstabbing us!" claimed Luna.
"Well, it's funny, she had decided to help us, recently", said Spike looking nervous, he was rubbing his left arm with his right hand.
"Oh! That was the best spectacle I have ever seen!", Discord appeared laughing out loud, rubbing his belly, "I really thought you were going to shoot at Twilight! Did you really think I would be so easily fooled? I am the spirit of Disharmony! I am the one who fools here! Never forget that! That was a nice try, though, I'll give you that."
"I don't know what exactly is happening here", said Twilight, "but we got the Elements of Harmony, Discord! We won your dumb game!"
"Yes, I see you have bested me again", Discord looked down, and covered his eyes with his lion paw,"my fun is over! Oh, what a world! I guess I can't help but return to the old stone age. Do it fast, Twilight, end my sorrow once and for all!"
Twilight stepped in the front, and her friends stood in formation next to her, their respective elements stunningly shining on their necks as the spell was growing stronger. Discord spread his arms, exposing his chest, prepared to face the end of his silly little games. The winds began to blow as the six ponies slowly began to levitate. But suddenly, the spell stopped froze, and the elements lost their glow. The ponies of harmony fell on the floor, the tiara abandoned Twilight's head, and the necklaces also abandoned their owners. The spell was canceled.
"What now?!", Pinkie Pie shouted, "why do these things aren't working anymore?!"
"Perhaps Princess Celestia can explain", Discord laughed, he clearly knew this was going to happen.
"No... it can't be", Princess Celestia gulped while examining the elements, and then she took a closer look the ponies who wield them, she was, more than surprised, scared.
"Is there something wrong?", asked Twilight, as scared as Celestia was.
"The bond between you is twisted, it's not the same as it used to be. Just like Luna and me, you are no longer connected to the elements. You are not the Elements of Harmony anymore."
"What do you mean we are not the Elements of Harmony anymore?" Twilight backed down a couple steps, she was hyperventiating and freaking out.
"The harmony between you is broken", replied Luna, "the elements respond only to the spirits of harmony."
"Luna and I used to be the Elements of Harmony", Celestia's forhead began to sweat, she was falling into hopelessness, while she explained herself, "But day by day, our differences started to separate us. First we began by disagreeing in one thing or another. Then, we began to argue by every little thing. In the end, ponies all over Equestria didn't appreciate Luna's nights, so she turned into Nightmare Moon, but it wasn't all her fault. I could have searched for a better solution, I could have lent my ear. But I also got angry because Luna exposed herself to dark magic, I ended up using the Elements of Harmony against my own sister. And so, the harmony between us was broken."
Applejack picked up her necklace and took a closer look, waving it like trying to repair it, "well, we've had a couple o'fights, sure", she said, "and the harmony between us never broke before."
"It doesn't break just by any fight", said Luna, "it has to be something big, something that really spoils a friendship. Something like... battling against each other in a big epic war."
"So it is my fault", Fluttershy was discouraged, as usual hiding half of her face behind her long mane, "I suppose I was not part of the team after all. I didn't help the dragons get their home, and I only gave a chance to King Sombra to take over Equestria. My cause did nothing but bring misery upon both sides."
"You! Did you know this?!" Twilight yelled at Discord, "You cheated us! You set us on a game we couldn't win!"
"Uh... yes, thank you for noticing", the draconequus smiled and bowed to the ponies, "anypony else has something to add? No? Well, I hereby declare myself as the winner of the game! Thank you all for participating, it was a fun, yadda yadda yadda, and now if nopony has any objections, I'll claim my prize, Equestria will live in eternal chaos!"
The ponies were teleported out of the palace, which slowly returned to its original position, and the walls and towers started morphing to a twisted, rainbow colored castle, with lights flashing out of the windows. From the main entrance, a huge sign with Discord's face which said Welcome to Echaostria.
"That's it? did we lose?", said Pinkie. The others just looked down and stood silent. Finally, Twilight broke the silence.
"This is not happening..." she said, "without the Elements of Harmony, Discord is unstoppable, there is no hope."
Rarity, however, she gulped and fixed her mane. Then, she walked towards the main door of the castle.
"Maybe you're right", she said, "maybe it's hopeless. But if this is it, if this is the way Equestria is supposed to end, I don't want it to be because we were cheated like little fillies, I don't want it to be because I gave up and walked away. I want it to be because my cold, dead body is laying on the floor, uncapable of fighting anymore! Only then, I will accept that Discord has defeated us!"
"She's right!" General Shining Armor hopped on Princess Cadance's head and raised his funny, squeaky voice, "I feel embarrased that she is acting more like a stallion than I am! Captain Rainbow Dash, Guardian Sword, Spinwind, Crystal Pony and you too, Cowboy Pony! Are we stallions or are we mice?"
"Actually, the right term is cowpony."
"Uhh... General... I am a mare", said Rainbow Dash, "and you are a mouse, I mean no offense, sir. But right now, I'd appreciate more whatever Twilight decides and I'll follow her, no questions asked."
"Me too", said Applejack, and held Twilight's shoulder, "whatever you decide, you have my entire support. I wouldn't blame you if you decide to throw the towel."
Twilight stood silent, staring at the castle, after taking a deep breath, she looked back at her friends, "I would have given up a long time ago if you weren't always there beside me. My dear, good friends are my infinite source of strength. Let's do it! I'm not sure if we can win, but we will not let Discord have his way as long as we are breathing! Elements of Harmony or not, I promise I'll use all of my magic to stand against him and his daughter, and everything that tries to destroy the beautiful land I hold so dear. So please, lend me your friendship one last time, and give it our all!"
"YEAH!" All of Twilight's friends cheered as they marched inside the castle.
Meanwhile, inside the castle, Discord was seated in his throne, contemplating the crystal where Crystalis was imprisoned as if it was the main piece of an art gallery. "Screwball, come out, you can't hide from me", he called. The doors before him slowly opened, and the little filly walked in, crestfallen, she sat on the floor in front of her father.
"I'm sorry, daddy", she mumbled, "I lost... to all of them."
"My little darling, of course you lost. Those ponies are something else. They have defeated your father a few times in the past. Do you know why I made you a pony? It's because they're marvelous and beautiful creatures! You see, I used to rule this land with the dragons under my command, until one day, ponies came and attacked us, I thought they wouldn't be a match for my mighty dragons, imagine my surprise when I watched two little alicorn fillies defeat my huge Dragon General."
"Why did you not stop them?"
"Because they won this land fair and square, it was fascinating, and besides, they weren't that powerful, it wouldn't have been a fun game to play. I waited until they were much older and more experienced, but they weren't the ones that surprised me the most. Fluttershy was the only one to really fill my heart with her friendship, one by one, I befriended each one of them. The Spirit of Disharmony was living in harmony with the ponies. It still pains me that our friendship had a tragic end."
"If you really loved their friendship, then why did you end it, daddy?"
"I'm afraid I can only answer that question with a lie. We'll talk about that another day. For now, I think it's better off if we prepare ourselves to meet our guests. They are coming, and they're not happy. I know you'll do a great job. After today, I'm sure you'll know a valuable lesson that you will treasure for the rest of your life."
"Daddy... it's so strange to see you this serious", Screwball walked out the doors, leaving Discord alone with his thoughts, plotting his next game with his silly little smile, still contemplating the crystal.
The castle's corridors made loops and twists, and the walls were decorated by a display of paintings starring Dsicord's tricks and pranks, all those that included Twilight, her friends and the princesses as victims for his own fun. Some paintings were from the days when he betrayed the ponies, days that Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie remember with sorrow and anger. Walking up a spiral corridor of stairs, they found paintings with old and rotten wooden frames, they were from days that Twilight and her friends never witnessed, but Princesses Celestia and Luna could only stare at, with memories of fear and confussion.
After walking through the stairs, they walked through yet another corridor, and more paintings. This corridor, however looked normal, as if Discord didn't dare to disturb it. The paintings showed the days when Discord was an ally. The frames of the paintings were golden, and beautifully decorated with rubies and saphires, so differently placed than the paintings before, the ponies stared at them with sadness, as they kept silently walking.
Shortly after, the floor began to tremble, and stone by stone it began to crumble down to a dark chamber. The ponies crashed on a black chamber's floor, although the pegasi had the advantage to land softly. Rainbow Dash wasted no time to fly upwards, only to meet a solid roof with her face.
"Of course, no easy way out, why did I even bother?", she said rubbing her face with her hoof.
"Wait, where's Applebloom? Where are the crusaders?", Applejack startled, as she scanned the room with her sight, unable to find the younger ponies.
"Diamond Tiara is missing too!", Pinkie Pie added, "maybe they're behind that door?", she pointed to a big steel double doors firmly shut on the bottom of the chamber.
Meanwhile, in an unknown part of the castle, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Diamond Tiara landed on a big pink room. There were big dollhouses, several balls of blue, pink and red colors, toy soldiers marching on their own and dices rolling their numbers for no apparent reason. The crusaders looked for an exit, they spotted a red door behind them, but they also spotted the pink young pony with those twisted purple eyes. Diamond Tiara gasped in terror.
"Welcome to my playroom", said the young pony, with that evil smile of hers.
"S-Screwball, what're you up to, this time?", Sweetie Belle asked, as she stepped back, trying to stay as far as possible.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good", Screwball laughed, her eyes turned red, and immediately a mysterious force pushed Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle away. The chaos pony teleported right in front of Applebloom, she punched her in the face and Applebloom fell on her flank, and unable to react, she felt a hard weight on her throat.
"I feel like a teacher, leaving homework to her students", Screwball claimed as she stomped on Applebloom's neck, the pale yellow pony couldn't breath and her sight was turning blurry, "you! You have no idea of how much I longed for this moment! You will never speak garbage about me or my father ever again!"
Suddenly, Diamond Tiara snorted and charged at the chaos pony, connecting a hard headbutt on her flank and knocking her off to the floor. Applebloom coughed as she tried to regain her breath. "Thanks, Diamond", she said, as Diamond Tiara helped her up.
But Screwball was enraged, but Sweetie Belle stood between her and the earth ponies. The unicorn aimed her horn at Screwball and shot a slim light green beam. Standing still, Screwball summoned a small mirror and reflected the beam back at Sweetie Belle, and the unicorn was hit by her own spell, being knocked off, she fell right beside Diamond Tiara.
Scootaloo also charged at Screwball, she pushed herself with her wings, and tackled her at a high speed. Screwball received another headbutt from Scootaloo, and crashed agains the wall. Screwball stood up quickly, she tapped twice on the floor with her hoof, and a pink lasso appeared in a blink, which wrapped Scootallo's torso, disabling her wings. Then, she kicked the pegasus away, and knocked the rest of the ponies like bowling pins.
"Owww... sorry..." said Scootaloo, as she rubbed her head.
"To think you would put up a fight", Screwball panted, as she was coming closer, "but it's over", she said, her red eyes shone and a red aura surrounded the ponies. Screwball looked determined to end their lives, but she didn't. She stopped at the very moment. The red aura around Applebloom and her friends faded, and Screwball smile again. Just like that, she turned around. She was surprised to see that her father was watching from the door.
He was reading the strategy guide he gave to his daughter, "didn't you wait so much to kill Applejack's sister? It's all written here, Applebloom, not so strong, not so fast, really smart, extremely annoying. Extremely dangerous, attack to kill. Why did you stop?"
"Because I already won", Screwball smiled at him, "the game is over and that's it. I'm no one to decide who lives and who dies. If I let my anger drive me into revenge, the game stops being fun. We will play again someday, and hopefully, we'll have a more entertaining game."
"That is my daughter! I'm so proud! You have learned well from your father!", the chaos pony hopped on the draconequus head, and they both disappeared, leaving the ponies laying on the floor, exhausted and defeated, but more important alive and relieved.
"I don't know about you, but I was totally NOT having fun at all", Sweetie Belle said as she fixed her mane, and shook the dirt off her coat.
Meanwhile, Twilight and company stood in front of the steel doors,, Guardian Sword pushed as hard as he could, but the doors remained unmoved. Spinwind and Rainbow helped him push, then Applejack and even Rarity joined, but the doors didn't even budge, they all tired out their muscles and got no results.
Twilight inspected the door a bit closer, and found a legend scripted on a silver plate.
The only key to this door is inside your mind.
Use brute strength, and only failure, you will find.
"A'ight! This time we pull!", Applejack stated, after having rested a while.
"Wait", said Twilight, "let me try."
Applejack and Rainbow Dash burst out laughing, "YOU want to push the door!?", Rainbow Dash said between laughs, "yeah, right! Did you also read how to open locked doors?"
Twilight said nothing, she just aimed her horn at the doors, and casted telekinesis. Little by little, the doors began to move, just barely. The laughs of her friends turned into surprise and disbelief. But Twilight was also tiring herself, her legs began to tremble due to the effort she was doing, as she nailed her hooves to the ground to keep her balance.
"It's working!", said Moondancer, she quickly stood beside Twilight, she summoned five small, crimson orbs around herself which seemed to cast telekinesis alongside her and Twilight. The doors moved a bit quickier, and shortly after, Rarity joined them and the doors succumbed another bit. It wasn't until Trixie joined to help when the doors finally opened in their entirety.
Upon crossing through the doors, this would lock up again, leaving the party inside another chamber with another door on the other side, and a long, dark pit which prevented their progress. Not a problem for the pegasi, Rainbow Dash reached the other side without crashing against anything. She tried pushing, but of course, this door was also locked. On the door there was another silver plate with a legend scripted on it. She read it out loud.
Look up for the bridge to open this door,
the wingless ones, will only find the floor.
"Darn this mind games!", Rainbow Dash yelled she hit her head against the door.
"Maybe there's a switch hidden in the walls or in the floor", Twilight suggested, the pegasi inspected the walls, and as the legend claimed, the rest looked on the floor, and after a couple of minutes, there was still no bridge.
"Look up for the bridge, look up for a stupid bridge. Look up, look up, look up", Rainbow Dash began to lose her patience, and suddenly, the answer hit her, as if somepony had thrown a pebble at her nape, "That's it! Look up!", she found a group of clouds floating right under the ceiling by, literally, looking up. She smiled victorious, feeling a lot smarter, it was the very first mind game she had solved in her entire life.
"Buncha clouds, but ah don't see no bridge up there", said Applejack.
"Not yet", replied Rainbow Dash, she quickly flew to one of the clouds, and held it with her hooves, then, she moved it to place it right where the floor ended in front of the door. The rest looked confused. She returned for another cloud, and placed it next to the first cloud.
"Oh, now I get it", Fluttershy understood what Rainbow Dash was trying to do, and she helped her, Guardian Sword, Spinwind and Princess Cadance helped. They formed a bridge which crossed the abyss, by placing cloud after cloud. When Fluttershy placed the last cloud, the bridge turned from a cloud bridge, into a solid stone bridge, and the door on the other side opened by itself.
Once past the second doors, once again, they found themselves locked in yet another chamber. There were seven levers sticked to the walls, and yet another door blocking their way with another legend scripted on a plate.
Only those who can make tremble the field,
join your forces and this door will yield.
Guardian Sword pull with all his might one of the levers, but it was like trying to pull the whole castle down with his bare hooves. "Maybe there is a certain order?", he wondered, as he tried to pull all the levers one by one, but none of them moved. Twilight read the script over and over again, rehearsing the words in her mind, but the annswer didn't feel any closer.
It wasn't until Braeburn tried to pull a lever, when this one easily moved from its resting position, and a hard click sounded from behind the wall. He caught everyone's attention and shrugged, he then noticed that Pinkie Pie was also watching in admiration.
"Well, ah don't like to flaunt 'bout my strength", he showed off his arms, letting go of the lever, which immediately deactivated again. Pinkie Pie walked to him, stared at him really closely, and pushed him aside to try and pull the lever by herself. Once again the lever moved with relative ease. Pinkie Pie midclosed her eyes and stared at Braeburn with an unimpressed look.
"What did you do?!" Twilight quickly grabbed Pinkie Pie by her shoulders, as Guardian Sword tried to dessperately pull that same lever as hard as he could with no possitive results.
"I just pulled, see? No biggie."
"Join your forces! I got it! We must pull all the levers at the same time", claimed the crystal pony, he pulled another lever himself, and Applejack, Trusty Link, Braeburn and Pinkie Pie were also successful. However, only five out of seven levers could be pulled. The others tried hard, but the levers won't move.
"Please, let us try", asked Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, Rainbow Dash and the others quickly stepped aside, the princesses raised their long, regal arms and placed their hooves on a lever, they pulled gently, and the levers went down as if they were also obeying orders from the princesses.
The doors opened, a white light shone from beyond, and they all stood in front of it. Beyond this doors, there was the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony waiting for them, with powers to manipulate and disorganize reality as he wishes, virtually invincible. One by one, they all marched through, ready to defy Discord, this time, with their own powers.
The light door teleported the ponies once again to the throne room where Discord and Screwball were waiting for them. The Crusaders were also there, sitting on stands like a crowd of a sports event. Discord stood up from the throne, he smiled and snapped his eagle fingers. The doors behind the ponies locked, there was no turning back.
"This is your last chance to give us back our wings and horns", Celestia stood against the draconequus.
"But Celestia, I thought you missed your original form", Discord spread his arms, "don't you remember how easy your life was when you were just an earth pony? Back when you only wanted to have fun, and play around. You were so reckless and wild that it was your younger sister the one who had to look after you."
"Hold on, time out!" Applejack interrupted, raising her hoof, she turned to Princess Celestia "you were an Earth Pony?"
"Yes, we were", Celestia nodded, "It's been an eternity since I roamed freely on the green prairies with no worries to chain me. And I am grateful, Discord, because you let me sit in the background, freed me from the responsibility. But I am the princess, I have a huge responsiblity! It was I who decided to be a hero, I set this path upon myself, and I will stand behind that choice! I will protect my little ponies with my life!"
And without any warning nor plan nor strategy, Celestia just charged at him, she attacked with all her speed aiming her head at Discord's belly. The draconequus quickly moved to the left, dodging swiftly Celestia's attack. Then, he was relentlessly assaulted by Celestia's sister and their subjects. He dodged punches, charges and magic beams from all directions. He barely noticed that there was a small mouse biting his right ear.
Discord just raised his lion paw, and the castle lifted off from the ground. Clouds reunited above the throne room, and after a loud roaring thunder, and fireballs began to crash through the ceiling. Everyone could barely dodge the fireballs, Twilight, Moondancer and Princess Cadance joined their horns to summon a magic barrier. This was clearly what Discord wanted, their magic was busy forming a barrier strong enough to block the fireballs, he extended his eagle claw aiming at the them, and he casted a telekinetic spell. First he captured Moondancer, and Twilight was the second, but just before he could capture Princess Cadance, another unicorn jumped in between and was captured instead.
"What? who the hay are you?" Discord smiled and met face to face with the blue unicorn, "I think you got lost on your way home."
"Of course not!", responded Trixie, "the Great and Powerful Trixie is exactly where she wants to be!"
"Really? Wouldn't you preffer to stay hidden back there like you've been doing this whole time? Ask your friends around, being at my mercy is not a place anypony wants to be."
Trixie gulped, but while Discord was distracted, the giant crystal suddenly shattered behind him. The draconequus turned around and widened his eyes in surprise. He saw the crystal alicorn with glowing eyes, aiming his horn at him, and almost instantly, the alicorn shot a light blue beam at him, not even considering the safety of the captive ponies. Discord teleported aways as fast as he could, the light beam passed by and everypony jumped away from it. However, the beam was received by the three dragons who were unable to move quickly enough due to their small sizes.
"Skyclaw! Lednik! Quetzal!", Fluttershy screamed as she tried to approach and save them, but Rarity held her back. The three dragons fell on the floor with a light blue aura burning around their bodies.
"Phew, I was NOT expecting that", Discord reappeared behind the alicorn, panting, "and here I thought you were perfectly imprisoned, maybe the Crystal Empire's magic is not as cool as they say. How did you escaped?"
"I thought you liked surprises", the alicorn smiled at him, "I was not imprisoned, I just pretended. The crystal was perfect, but the spell requires a lot of magic. The caster was an alicorn, therefore her magic is powerful, but she is no spellcaster, her magic wasn't enough to create a strong enough prison."
"I also have a surprise for you", said Discord, and suddenly, the crystal blue color of the crystal queen began to fall apart, like pieces of ceramic, her horn began to twist, the feathers of her wings dropped one by one, leaving only her exoskeleton wings, she was left with her old black and hollow changeling body. The crystal pony suffered the same transformation alongside his queen.
The queen of Changelings looked at her own hooves, and smiled, "the princesses warned me this would happen. But you forget one important fact. I also am deceitful and treacherous."
Behind her, the three dragons woke up, and they began to increase their size. Surprised, the dragons contemplated each other as they recovered their old sizes. Fluttershy's weeping disappeared and passed straight up to joy as the three dragons roared proudly, and then, they turned their attention to a Discord that now looked so small to them.
Quetzalcóatl extended his wings and the strong winds began to blow. Protecting himself, Discord released the three unicorns, who quickly moved away. The second attack came from Lednik's he combined his magic with Quetzalcóatl's winds to bring a tempest of blizzard, that immobilized Discord. Finally, Skyclaw opened his mouth and shot a green burning flame at the Draconequus, who could only raised his arms to shield his face.
"Daddy..." Screwball looked worried, she was watching from the throne, as everypony cheered and celebrated that they finally connected a punch on Discord. Everypony except the sister princesses.
"That's not enough", said Princess Celestia, "We must find a way to seal him or we will never win."
"I'm glad you're aware of it, Celestia", Discord was covered in ashes and snow, he cleaned himself, he spread his arms, and a yellow orange aura started to glow around him, the earth began to tremble and the winds blew so strongly that not even Quetzalcóatl could control it. Discord's presence had suddenly become more imponent, and the enviroment around felt heavy and suffocant, like the whole world around them was against the ponies and the dragons.
After a short silence, Discord talked again.
"Hate and love, peace and war, light and darkness, good and evil. The world you have created is filled with opposites. Constant conflicts you have to face every single minute. Making decisions you don't want to make. What is wrong and what is right. It is an endless struggle, there are always two sides that fight for what they think is right, and not realising that they are just bringing a greater wrong. Mine is a world where there is nothing to fight for, where there are no wrongs and rights. Isn't it a wonderful world where hate and war does not exist? A world where you can live just for the sake of living? Where there is no evil to fight?"
"No hate and no war doesn't mean anything if there is no love and no peace either", Twilight responded, very adamant, her eyes began to glow as she kept talking, "our world is not perfect, and it certainly is not rainbows and sunshine! But at least it is a world where we can feel. That's why we keep fighting! We want to protect the beautiful world we believe in! Passion, joy, sorrow, pain, tears, all those amazing feelings are the pabulum of our lives!"
"Opposites create conflicts", Moondancer's eyes also began to glow, "and just as you said it IS a constant struggle, but opposites complement each other. There can be no light if there is no darkness! Love is more sweet because everypony has tasted the bitterness of hate. And wherever there is something wrong, there is also something that is right!"
And unexpectedly, Trixie joined them, her eyes were glowing as shiny as Twilight's and Moondancer, "I've dreamed of besting Twilight Sparkle, since the day I saw her tame an Ursa Minor. She is my rival as much as my role model. In a world where there is nothing to fight for, our entire lives would be a waste, everypony living in it would be just for decoration! A world like that has no purpose! A world like that should not exist!"
"You see, Discord", Twilight added, "our world is more beautiful than yours! It makes us experience all kinds of feelings and enriches our lives by making us improve ourselves. We love everything good about it! We love so much that we are willing to deal with everything bad with it, too. That is the true Harmony!"
The three unicorns where surrounded by a radiant pink light, and the symbol of a pink star with a crimson moon on its right and a blue moon on its left was portrayed on the floor where the unicorns were standing. Then, the pink light striked directly at Discord.
"No! Daddy!" Screwball jumped from the throne and approached Discord, trying to protect him. But Discord extended his eagle claw to her and pushed her away. The young pony could only stare at the draconequus being consumed by the light.
"Daddy... don't leave me... please..."
"Of course not, my little dolly... I'll stand by your side... as long as you keep making chaos."
The light shone intensely, blinding everyone present until it faded. In the end, nothing but a statue of Discord remained. Screwball watched it, he was left posing with his eagle claw extended, protecting his daughter from the newborn spell. The world around had returned to normal. Shining Armor returned to be the strong stallion he was. Celestia and Luna recovered her wings and horns. The castle was once again the proud palace where the princesses ruled, and the city of Canterlot returned to be the immense metropolis, capital of Equestria.
"You did it, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie jumped on Twilight's back, "that was exciting, and amazing, and crazy, how did you do it?!"
"I don't know... it just happened, but I didn't do it alone, we all did it."
They were all celebrating Discord's defeat, except for Screwball who leaned her face against the statue, weeping for the lost of her father.
"Why does it always end like this?", she said, "we were sure to win this time, but they always seem to find a way to make us lose. And of course, I ended up alone again. Why does it always end like this?"
"You don't have to be alone if you don't want to", Fluttershy talked to Screwball, "if you promise to be a good girl you can make a living in Equestria. Discord and I used to be good friends, I don't want you to be like him."
"She is right", said Princess Celestia, "Equestria is willing to accept any creature looking for a place to call home."
"I would die long before accepting such request!", Screwball turned around and glared with anger, "but that is not going to happen anytime soon! I will concede this time! But next time we meet, I'll be more powerful! And I'll bring you a world more chaotic and more twisted than this one! I swear it for my father!"
After that, Screwball disappeared, leaving only her propeller hat beside Discord's statue.
"Princess, did I hear you say any creature?", Fluttershy looked up to Princess Celestia, very confused.
"That's right, Fluttershy", Princess Celestia nodded and turned to the dragons, "it is more than evident that ponies and dragons can work together. I admit I was scared, and I'd be lying if I say I'm not anymore. But your valuable help against King Sombra and Discord will not go unrewarded. We'll find a way to make it happen."
Fluttershsy cheered as loud as Pinkie Pie, and at last, it seemed like peace had returned to Equestria. However, after a short celebration, the doors of the throne room opened. The Observer and five cloaked ponies walked in, and they looked rather happy, however, Celestia wasn't too excited to meet the emerald unicorn.
"Nice, nice, nice", said the cloaked unicorn, "I knew you could do it, Princess Celestia."
Celestia gasped in surprise. She clearly knew who this unicorn was, and she immediately bowed down to her, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't expect your visit!", she said, and the ponies took away their cloaks, finally revealing themselves.
"You are Starlight, the salespony we met in Hayseed Swamps!" Rarity pointed her hoof at the unicorn.
"And she is the pony I met in San Palomino desert!" Pinkie Pie also pointed at a light brown earth pony.
"I met that pegasus in the falls", Fluttershy pointed at the blue green pegasus who was just taking off her cloak.
"And she is the pegasus from the mountain, White Wind, is it?", Rainbow Dash recognized her, and the pegasus yawned as if she had just woken up.
"And she is the cookie pony from Foal Mountain! Somethin's fishy here" , said Applejack. The tall earth pony just waved at her.
"What's going on, Observer? What is the meaning of this?" Twilight demanded answers, but the unicorn remained silent.
"Princess Celestia, please! I am the one who should be bowing", said Starlight, bowing down to her, "I guess some introductions are required, yes?"
"Ahem... My name, I mean, my real name is not Starlight, it is Platinum, former Princess of Equestria, and one of the Three Leaders.
These are my two colleagues, the bad comedian, is Puddinghead, former Chancellor of the Farming Confederation.
And the sleepy one is Hurricane, former Commander of the Royal Guard.
And these are our assistants and advisors. The walking calculator is Smart Cookie. The grumpy one is Pansy. And of course, the egghead here is Clover the Clever, in the flesh."
Twilight and her friends watched in awe, and she and all of her friends dived to the floor, bowing to the Three Leaders and their assistants. The rulers of Equestria before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.
The surprise of meeting the legendary rulers before Princess Celestia took their breath away. As Twilight raised her head, her eyes met with The Observer's, who was silently smiling, Twilight humbly bowed her head again, even lower. Princess Celestia was blushing as Platinum and all of her companions, excepting Clover, were bowing to her.
"I see that your dragon friends have returned to their former selves", said Platinum as she raised her head, "I never expected that we would cross stares again with our old enemies, dragons."
"This time, however, fate has set us on the same side", resonded Skyclaw, "though I admit I only joined because one of you spared my life. I can tell that Querzalcóatl and Lednik had become good friends with some of you, and Princess Celestia has already accepted to share the land with us."
"Of course, of course. Speaking of wich, Princess Celestia", Platinum looked at her, and the princess gulped, as if she was being interrogated, "you have no more Elements of Harmony, not to mention you lost the kingdom to King Sombra, and a huge war just happened, all in less than a year. How are you going to explain this to the leaders of the world. They may think that Equestria is not as powerful as it once was."
"I am the only one to blame", responded the princess, looking very resigned.
"Yes, you are! I should have known better than to choose you as the princess!", Platinum raised her voice in an authoritative tone, and Celestia looked down while being scolded, "not only did you bring war to our land! You brought danger when you succumbed to King Sombra! And you let Discord take over too!"
Hurricane was the next one to talk, but she was more relaxed than Platinum, "don't forget that the Royal Guard has become an incompetent group of foals that can't even protect themselves, being the Royal Elites the only decent unit among their ranks, but it's still experimental, and consists only of pegasi."
"Your students might as well be your soldiers, since they're the ones who always end up saving the day", said Puddinghead in a tone of a joke, and laughing to herself.
"Shame after shame! You are a disgrace! A disappointment as a princess!", Platinum yelled at her.
"That's not true!" Twilight objected, Platinum turned her sight at her, surprised to be defied. Rarity almost faints of embarrasment.
"Heh, excuse me?" Platinum raised her brows and smiled, "I'm not used to this, so let's be clear on this one, ok? ARE YOU DEFYING ME?"
Twilight gulped and then she faced her adamantly, then she spoke again, "Princess Celestia is not a disgrace! She has successfuly ruled Equestria for more than a thousand years! It's been a rough walk, but peace has always prevailed! Unlike your rulership, when the three races were separated, you only brought sorrow and sadness!"
"You impertinent filly!", Pansy yelled in rage, completely offended, "get your facts straight! It was Princess Platinum the one who united the three races! Your judgement is based on the story you were told! A story that Princess Platinum commanded to say in the first place! She choose Celestia to become a princess! Thanks to her, Equestria exists! Celestia is just a mere shadow of what Princess Platinum really is!"
Twilight backed down in silence while everyone else watched, unable to respond anything. Platinum stared at the two princesses who were just looking down. This enraged her more, she growled to herself.
"Are you just going to stand there, saying nothing?", she said, "not even an excuse? not even an apology? Some princess you turned out to be! Look at that, your student was the one to speak and defend you! Or should I say AGAIN!"
And still, Princess Celestia stood silent.
"Just as I calculated", said Smart Cookie, "she has matured in body, but her confidence still fades when she is in presence of you. Everything you say to her will only hurt her more. I think it's time for you to reclaim the throne, miss Platinum."
"No, no, that would be a reward instead of a punishment", responded the unicorn, she turned her back to Celestia, and whispered to Clover's ear, "I didn't want it to come to this. But well, she's all yours. Destroy her."
Clover smiled and licked her lips, savoring the moment, "I told you, Celestia, that you were biting more than you could chew. I told you that you were too young and too naive to rule yourself, let alone a huge kingdom. I warned Princess Platinum that she was making a huge mistake by choosing you. I just KNEW it! I was the one who was right! I've been right for more than a thousand years that you wouldn't be a good princess! Look at the disaster you have brought! This is why I decided to leave Equestria! Princess Platinum is the one and only princess I will ever bow down to! She is a true princess! You are just a mistake waiting to be corrected!"
Her horn was bright and her eyes glowed with joy as she stomped on Celestia's pride. "Let's see you defend your kingdom from ME!", she claimed, she flew to the balcony, and aimed her horn at the sky. The clouds began parting, and a black hole started to form on the sky. Meteors and thunders srtriked the earth, the creatures habitating the land were invaded by fear, the remaining ponies and changelings locked themselves, and dragons began to fly away from Canterlot.
"What are you doing?!" Princess Celestia gazed upon Clover the Clever, "don't you know what will happen? Are you planning to destroy everything just because of me? You can't do that!"
"Can't I, Celestia?" Clover stated, "does that mean you think you can stop me?"
"What the hay is going on?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"The Wrath" replied Princess Luna, with a trembling voice, "everything and everyone will be destroyed, unless we can stop it. But there is only one way to do it, and only one pony who can do it."
Everyone stood silent, worried and sad. Trixie, however, was confused, "why? who is the only one?"
"The wielder of the Rainbow of Light" said Moondancer with a serious face. "I'll do it. It will be my pleasure and honor to..."
"No! No subject of mine will pay for my mistakes" said Celestia, "this is my fault alone. And I'll be the one to stop the Core of The Wrath. Last time I wasn't as powerful as I am now. But today, I won't let the catastrophe happen again!"
"You won't do it alone, then" responded Luna, "everything has been my fault as much as yours. We rule together, we made mistakes together, and even now, we'll fight The Wrath together."
"You can try and stop me, Celestia" taunted Clover, "but you can't protect your land by doing so."
The earth's shaking was getting stronger it felt as if the ground was going to open.
"You go, Princesses, I'll hold the earth with my bare hooves!" said Braeburn, he jumped out of the balcony and landed firmly on the palace's frontyard. The princesses lifted off and flew straight to the hole in the sky, while Braeburn nailed his hooves on the ground, slowing the shake of the earth. Soon, Applejack and her sister, Diamond Tiara, Trusty Link and all the earth ponies in Canterlot joined their hooves too in an attempt to stop the shaking. Even Lickety Split, the Observer's assistance.
Pinkie Pie stared at Braeburn with admiration, "I've never seen you so determined before" she said.
"A stallion has to keep his priorities. Protecting the land is the first one. And the second, protecting and making happy a lovely lady." replied Braeburn, making a goofy smile at her. Pinkie Pie blushed and giggled, she stood beside him and also nailed her hooves on the ground.
"They can't protect the land from the meteors!" shouted Sweetie Belle. One of the meteors was about to land on the earth ponies, but Spinwind flew, very quickly, and crashed the meteor to pieces with a punch from his right hoof.
"I am not an important hero", he claimed as he kept crashing all the meteors he could, "I am not Royal Elite material. I'm not even the fastest nor the strongest in my unit. But I am a Royal Guard! If my role is to sacrifice my life! So be it!"
"Hey, soldier! Your role is not to sacrifice your life" Raibow Dash joined him, along with Guardian Sword, Scootaloo, Ditzy Doo and Fluttershy, "your role is to make sure that others don't!"
"If somepony tries to block" Fluttershy set her eyes on a meteor, and she striked fiercely, "show them that you rock!"
Celestia and Luna passed through the hole, and everything was pitch black in there, only a red light glowing and beating like a huge heart. While flying, the sisters possitionated one next to the other, joined their horns, and began to cast a spell, but the thumping beating of the light tried to push them away, their spell was interrupted. "I'll stop it, and you cover me, sister" stated Luna, she restarted the spell by herself. and Celestia set herself between her sister and the light, she casted a barrier spell, covering her sister and herself.
Meanwhile, the earth was being held by earth ponies and changelings, the meteors were being intercepted by pegasi and dragons alike, yet the disaster was just getting worse and worse.
"I wonder if you can stop this too?" said Clover the Clever, her horn was glowing more intensely, and slowly, the blue of the sky seemed to get closer by each second.
"The... the sky is falling down!" shouted Trixie, running around in panic, "we're gonna get crushed!"
But Twilight, Moondancer and Shining Armor rushed and stood firmly on the balcony, they focused and closed their eyes, aiming their horns at the sky. The sky was covered by their magic auras, but it wasn't stopped at all, not even slowed down. Rarity and Sweetie Belle joined, but to no avail. Even Trixie and Princess Cadance helped them, as the color of the sky started to change, passing from a bright pink and turning into a violent fire red color, and the meteors shower became more violent for the pegasi to control, and the earth shook even harder that the earth ponies began to feel like they were stepping on lava.
"You know what's funny?" Queen Chrysalis stood next to Princess Cadance, "back then, my plan was to take your place as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. But in the end, it was you, who took my place as the Crystal Queen."
"I didn't take your place" replied Princess Cadance, she smiled during the effort of trying to stop the sky, "Crystal Ponies had not forgotten their previous queen. There is a whole month of festival in her honor every year, to celebrate the magnificent queen she was. I didn't know it was you, but I have no doubts either. Your Changelings fight so hard for you, and you fight so hard for them, too. You are still the queen every Crystal Pony admires."
Chrysalis smiled back, she fixed her mane pretending indifference, not realising that her cheeks were flushed. She also aimed her horn at the sky and joined forces with the ponies to try and stop it.
Inside the hole, Luna was struggling to stop the Core, but her magic was not enough. Both alicorns were aware of this, and they were also aware of the disaster going on the city. It was the seventh time they tried, Luna made a last effort to destroy the Core, but her spell was backfired by a big shockwave that also broke Celestia's barrier as if it was just a glass wall. Both alicorns felt exhausted, they could barely keep their flight due to tired wings and worn magic. Their eyelids were heavy, and the breath no longer filled their lungs, their stamina was running out.
"It's no use without the Rainbow of Light." said Luna, "Clover was always far more superior than us when it came to magic, and the gap between her and us is still there, and it's even wider than before."
"But we have to defeat her, somehow" said Celestia, "even if this is the will of Princess Platinum, we can't just give up. I refuse to let anything happen to my little ponies. We must achieve what we couldn't do in the past! We must stop the Wrath without the Rainbows, no one will be sacrificed this time. Let's use all our magic, sister. Hold nothing back!"
Luna's eyes and horn began to shine with a turquoise blue glow, and Celestia's with a golden one. Both alicorns joined their horns once again, they spread their wings and closed their eyes. From their horns, a black and white beam was shot straight toward the Core, which absorbed the spell and repelled it in the form of another shockwave. Both sisters were pushed by the shockwave, but they ignored it. The shockwave burned their bodies from skin to bone. The pain was unbearable and the effort was endless, the sky was still falling on Canterlot, the Core kept absorbing the spell, inflating like a balloon, until it finally bursted with an immense shockwave, more powerful than the ones before, like a wave from the sea pushing the intruders from the shore, Celestia and Luna were thrown out from the Wrath, and the hole in the sky slowly closed, never to be seen again.
On the city, everyone were cheering and stomping in joy. The sky slowly ascended to its original distance without a trace of any cosmic disaster, and the earth was calm again, Pinkie looked up to the sky where the hole was, she spotted two dots descending quickly, "look the princesses are coming and they look really, really excited!"
"Heh, yeah! Didn't know the princesses could fly that quickly", Applejack agreed.
"They're not flying! They're falling! Guardian Sword, let's go!" Rainbow Dash lifted off and Guardian Sword behind her. Rainbow Dash caught Princess Celestia on her back, and Guardian Sword caught Princess Luna, both princesses were exhausted, dazed and confused. Carefully to not hurt the princesses, the pegasi landed on the Palace's front garden.
"Holy hay! You actually did it!" said The Observer, walking toward the princesses as if nothing happened, not a single drop of sweat, not even a trace of tiredness, but there was definitely a tone of surprise in her voice.
"Celestia, for the first time in your ancient life... at last, you have bested me... but I wouldn't get used to it if I were you."
"Just why?" Twilight confronted The Observer, "I know you broke your bonds with Equestria, but is that reason enough to try and destroy it? why even the three leaders are ok with this?"
Platinum reached the scene from the throne room, with a smile of satisfaction. She approached Twilight, very imposingly. "Because I wanted to see how the princesses would do against an opponent they couldn't defeat. If we wanted to destroy Equestria, Clover would have just done exactly that in a mere blink, and you wouldn't even have had a chance to realise what happened. But in order to push Celestia and Luna to their limits, a real risk was necessary."
"But what if we had failed?" said Celestia with a mere panting, she could barely raise her sight to meet Platinum's face.
"You didn't" Platinum smiled at her.
"But what if...?" insisted Celestia.
"You didn't, Celestia" Platinum palmed Celestia's back, and the alicorn felt a small pain, "with this test, not only you proved that I made the right call when I choose you as the new princess, but you also proved that you have grown stronger, just as your love for other ponies. And your subjects, they're just as willing to give their lives for you, the same way you would do for them."
"That's a one sided deal, if you ask me", added Puddinghead, laughing to herself, as she usually does with her own jokes.
Then the sky turned dark, and from the heavens, a couple of mysterious entities landed before the ponies. One of them was a tall figure wearing a brown worn out cloak, his posture was calm and peaceful. The other one, was shorter than the first, a woman with long golden hair, her country clothes and the red ribbon around her hair were easily recognized by Fluttershy.
"Megan!" the pale yellow pegasus gasped in joy, she went closer to her, but she was immediately intimidated by the man next to the young woman.
"No, no, no!" Platinum yelled in anger at the man, "you're not supossed to be here, you have NO reason to be here! We did nothing wrong! We checked and double checked the rules! I'm sure, certain, POSITIVE that we broke none of them!"
"Is that a way to greet an old friend, Platinum?" said the man, as calm as a tree standing on top of a hill. His deep voice revealed an ancient age, even older than the cloak which Rarity couldn't even look at.
"Who are you? What's goin' on?" asked Applejack's, very confused.
"I am known only as The Judge" said the man, "I am the one who watches the universe and its inhabitants, and I make sure all beings follow the Rules, or face the consequences. I can see everything that is, and everything that has been."
"Ohhh! Can you see everything that will be, as well?" Pinkie jumped with excitement.
"Of course not, Pinkie Pie" he responded, "no creature can, that's the main reason I am watching and judging in the first place. If I could see who is going to break the rules in the future, I could prevent such events."
"What's the big deal with the rules?" Trixie seemed annoyed, "I mean, there's nothing wrong in breaking small rules once and a while, right?"
"I represent this rules!" the Judge lost his calm and turned into a raging storm of authority, "if you disrespect the rules, then you disrespect ME! An universe cannot exist without the rules, and the world cannot exist without an universe! The rules keep the balance of the universe! If there is a creature that breaks a rule, then that creature is breaking the balance, and so, a punishment must be served as retribution."
"How can you break the rules of the universe?" Twilight wondered, as confused as the others, "who on earth can be capable of such a thing, and how bad can a punishment be?"
"Behold..." the Judge waved his arm presenting Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and the leaders as well as their assistants, and even Megan, "they are living proof of what kind of punishment awaits when the rules are broken."
"Rarity..." Platinum was the first to speak, "I said I took a wrong decision, I wanted to outsmart the laws of the universe, and so I did. I dragged my friends and the sisters to my plan of conquering Equestria from the dragons, and we used the magic of Harmony without the Elements, so we simulated the Elements by catching their essence in some rounded stones."
"But it was wrong" added the Observer, "the Elements of Harmony is not just the essence, it's a spirit that must be alive, a group of creatures that truly represent each element. For this foul, the princesses and us were punished by the Judge. We were punished with eternal life."
"Eternal life? Is that a bad thing?" questioned Rarity, "I mean, I would be grateful if I could be young and glamourous forever."
"At first it wasn't so bad" stated Pansy, "our lives went on as if nothing happened, and the years passed by, until you finally realise that your musician neighbor died of elderly a few days ago, she was a very dear friend of mine, and she was fifty-three years older than me."
The Observer sobbed as the tears began to drop from her eyes, "and you see everypony around you taking their last breath. Friends, family... even the pony you loved. As our lives grew longer, time lost importance... we didn't care anymore. We all found a way to deal with our punishment. Puddinghead, Smart Cookie, Pansy and I banished ourselves from civilization, from everything. Princess Platinum sells away everything that reminds her to her royal life. And Hurricane is always asleep, avoiding all the deaths around her. We all wanted to be left behind, we wanted to pretend that our lives have ended. But Princess Platinum, she always finds a way to come back, she convinces us to do the right thing. She is the only pony that has earned my eternal loyalty."
"What a terrible price to pay" Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hoof, feeling pity for the mares, "so this was the punishment Megan was talking about, for using the Rainbow of Light with no darkness. Isn't there a way to undo their punishment just like yours, Megan?"
"I'm afraid not" responded the Judge, "if I can summarize the graveness of their foul, they fooled the nature of a spell by creating artificial casters. To put it in more common terms, they tried to bake a cake using tea leaves instead of sugar."
"That's WRONG!!!" Pinkie Pie seemed really disturbed.
"My punishment was different, it was conditional" said Megan, "when you used the Rainbows of Light and Darkness, my punishment was settled. Now I'm just the spirit of a dead woman, but even like this, I found a way to help you. Since I am dead, I can contact the spirits of the dead, but it's up to them if they want to help or not. Pinkie Pie, I called for your grandma, and she was happy to be able to talk to you, even if it was through dreams."
"So it WAS Granny Pie!" Pinkie Pie hopped with joy, "I knew she was watching over me!"
"And Twilight" continued Megan, "I called for the real Flash Sentry. He didn't even talk to me, he just rushed to your aid. I'm glad that everything turned out well."
"Flash..." Twilight looked down for a bit, "thank you, Megan. I really, really needed that. But your intervention makes me scared, Judge. Why are you here? Did we broke a rule? are you here to punish us, too?"
"No, Twilight Sparkle" said the Judge, "I show myself because you deserve to know the truth. You would have found out about my existence sooner or later. The rules are clear, I must reveal myself to those who are involved with the balance of the universe. However, I'm not on your side nor I am your enemy, if you find yourself in fatal danger, I am forbidden to intervene in the course of history, I won't provide any help. And if you ever break a single rule, even the smallest one of them, you will wish you had never met me."
"How are we involved in the balance of the universe?" asked Rarity.
The Judge returned to a humble form as he responded, "Platinum and her friends are the main responsibles for the creation and misuse of the Elements of Harmony. Now that you have met them, you are now part of all this mess, wether you like it or not. However no rules were broken this time, Platinum. I hope this was the result of careful planning, and not just a foal's luck."
"How dare you? how dare you?" yelled Platinum.
The judge laughed and slowly began to fade, "It is time now, Megan, our job here is done. Farewell ponies, I hope you understand the importance of the rules. Maybe we'll meet again, and if we do, let's hope it's a casual meeting, and not a business one."
"Bye-bye, everypony!" Megan waved her hand, she was fading too.
"Wait! I still have more questions!" Twilight tried to stop him, but Megan and the Judge returned to the heavens without a warning. The sky cleared again, and around them, the creatures were still celebrating as if nothing happened.
"Let it go, Twilight" the Observer palmed her back, "knowledge can be a curse as much as a bliss. Somethings are better left unknown."
"Cheer up, everypony" Moondancer noticed the mysterious faces of her friends, "we did it! We saved the day! And all just happened to be a test for the princesses, which by the way, they passed! You know what this calls for?"
Pinkie Pie gasped in excitement, she met Moondancer with a great smile as they both took a deep breath, and then shouted as loud as their combined voices echoed through all the corners of Canterlot.
Music, balloons, drinks, food and smiles all over Canterlot. Everypony was dancing and laughing, ponies and dragons alike. The recent war seemed like a disagreement which was long forgotten by both factions. Pinkie Pie and Moondancer were dancing as Twilight tasted the sweet snacks from a table, until a light yellow earth pony approached her. Twilight noticed her presence, not too glad to see her, but she talked to her just by mere courtesy.
"Twilight Sparkle, you know that I don't like you" said the earth pony, "but that doesn't mean I don't respect you or your relationship with Princess Celestia. You're a hero to all of us, and I thank you for risking your life for us yet another time. But we're not any closer to become friends and don't expect any kindness coming from me."
"That's perfectly clear to me from the very first day we met, Trusty Link" replied Twilight, "I don't need kindness from you, and you are the last pony I would like to add in my friend list. But I respect you too. At least, Princess Celestia has a sincere pony next to her that can still consider as a friend. You're always with her, maybe that's why I despise you. Or maybe you're just there kissing Princess Celestia's tail."
"How dare you?!" Trusty was very offended, "you were the one who always tried to get her attention, always showing off! You're jealous because I got to be her friend because I understand her problems and I listen to her, not because I could do some silly tricks with a horn."
Then Princess Celestia appeared from behind the two mares, she was very happy and excited, "How wonderful!" she said, "my star student and my most trusted mare are having a pleasant conversation! My two best friends, also becoming best friends! Isn't that right my little ponies?"
Twilight and Trusty Link both turned around with the most fake smile they made in their lives, "Sure, princess!" they said, pretending excitement, as they stared at each other with a tremendous hate hidden by their fake smiles. Once Princess Celestia left, they both took a deep breath, as if they came out to the surface after being drowning underwater.
Princess Celestia spotted Platinum from among the crowd and walked to her, very nervously "what do you think of my decision? About sharing Equestria with the dragons? Do you think it's a good idea? What if I'm making another mistake?" asked the princess, but Platinum showed no signs of worry, she was too busy contemplating the party.
"I think it's going to be a disaster" she said, "but you are the princess, not me. My opinion is not important. And even if it's a mistake, I know you'll find a way to fix it. You've been doing that for more than a thousand years."
The party extended until Luna raised the moon, and ponies still had energy to drink and dance, Rainow Dash and two officers of the Royal Elite offered a helmet to Ditzy Doo, but she rejected putting on her head a postmare hat and walked away. Scootaloo quickly exposed her head to receive the same helmet, but Rainbow Dash smiled at her and just palmed her on the head "not yet, squirt", she said.
On the dance floor, Pinkie Pie was dancing while Braeburn contemplated her. He rehearsed in his mind the perfect way to ask her out on a date in which, of course, he would get the girl as he always do. To his right, Applejack was yelling at him in a language he could not understand. To his left, Moondancer was drinking a cup, but she was just a witness of the events.
"What's that all about?" asked the unicorn.
"Braeburn is kind of a Cassanova" replied Applejack, "he sees a girl, he gets her, I dunno how. I tried to warn him 'bout Pinkie, though. He'll learn his lesson the hard way."
Braeburn fixed his hat, and approached Pinkie Pie, while holding a drink, "hey there! I never told ya how attractive ya're, Pinkie" he said, shaking his golden mane, and showing off his shiny green eyes, "I also love parties, I think we're a perfect match?"
"Why thank you" the pink pony replied with a smooth smile, she met face to face with him, their mouths almost touched, "I know of a place where we can go on our first date."
"Really? where is that?" Braeburn was getting anxious, and his heart beating fast, he'd never been so nervous while flirting with a mare.
"Only in your dreams, loser!" Pinkie Pie took the drink from him, and used it to give him a bath. The poor stallion returned to his cousin side, soaked in strawberry juice as Pinkie walked away from him somewhat offended.
Chrysalis and her changelings observed the party from the distance, but shortly, Princess Celestia approached her and offered her hoof in signal of friendship, but the Queen of Changelings turned her back on her, "we had common enemies this time" she said, "but next time, I will definitely get my perfect day", she lifted off and left Canterlot with the swarm of changelings behind her.
"Wait, we never got your name" Rarity stopped the one changeling that helped them as a crystal pony.
"Changelings have no names, but as a crystal pony, my name was Night Lamp" said the changeling, and he quickly flew behind his queen.
The party went on until the creatures had no more energy to drink or dance, Twilight and her friends reunited at the throne room with the princesses after a well deserved rest from their long adventure, but now their paths must be separated once again.
Moondancer finally earned Twilight's friendship, a feat she couldn't achieve in the past. She feels happy, but also different, as if something changed inside her. The sister princesses noticed her uneasy reaction, "what's wrong, my little pony?" asked Princess Celestia, "aren't you happy that peace has finally returned to Equestria?"
"It's not that, princess" said Moondancer, she touched her own chest, "it's just that... I feel like I'm not the same, as if I'm a different pony. Do you understand me, princess? Have you ever felt like you have left behind an older version of yourself?"
"Of course, Moondancer" said Celestia, "it's a very important stage of your formation."
"I'd be surprised if you wouldn't feel that way, Moondancer" said Princess Luna, standing next to her sister, "this is like the fifth version of myself. You feel this abrupt change because you've grown up faster than you've ever done before. Take a deep breath, and feel it inside you. You have grown stronger. Up until now, you had only grown up through practice and study. But this time, you had to grow up to survive, you learned things not through study, but through experience. You never fought a dragon before, right? And you never found yourself devoured by darkness, and finding your way out. Do you know what I mean?"
"I think I do. I've never really tested my strength before" Moondancer stared at Twilight from afar, she was sharing laughs with her friends, "I pushed myself into my books to try and get as strong as her, but everytime I progressed a step forward, she progressed three steps more. But now, I feel like I actually cut some distance between us. So this is how she does it, if I want to be better, I have to work harder, put my life on the line if I need to. Princess Celestia, I'm ready to move on to the next level. I learned a new way of magic along this adventure, the only magic she never studied... I want to study the dark magic."
"The path is dangerous, Moondancer" Princess Celestia tried to reason with her, "you may put yourself and all the ones you love in danger. And if anything goes wrong..."
"I understand the risks and I am willing to take them" said Moondancer, very serious "but please, Princess, if I lose control, even for a little while, promise me that you'll take any means to stop it. Please, promise me that you won't let me turn into Queen Moondancer."
"It's a very hard promise, Moondancer" Princess Celestia looked down, "and I'm not sure I am the most qualified to teach you Dark Magic, but my sister can, if you accept her as your new teacher."
Moondancer nodded silently, and Princess Luna stepped up, "very well, then" she said, "but I warn you, I am not like my sister. I am a very strict teacher, and I CAN promise you that I will destroy you on the spot, if you ever dare to think about the mere idea of defying me!"
Guardian Sword returned to the Royal Elite headquarters, but not before the pegasus had a private talk with certain unicorn, with Rarity behind him, supporting him. "This... this is is not good bye, right?" he said.
"Of course not" responded Twilight, "I hope we meet again sometime, and I hope that next time our lives won't be in danger."
"Yeah, I'm more than just your bodyguard, right?" said Guardian Sword, he turned his sight to Rarity expecting for her approval, and Rarity was nodding and waving her hoof in signal to move on, "I am your friend, right? Just friends", the pegasus grinned awkwardly and turned to Rarity once again, but this time the white unicorn was hoofpalming.
"Yes... just... friends" said Twilight, with a trace of let down in her eyes. Next was an awkward silence, Guardian Sword didn't know what to do, so he proceeded to turn around and leave, but Twilight stopped him before he lifted off, Guardian Sword turned to see her, and the unicorn gave him a small friendly kiss on his cheek, "thank you for risking your life for me" she said. The pegasus' face turned red as an apple and quickly turned around and lifted off.
"I didn't know you had that way with stallions, Twilight" said Rarity, as both unicorns watched him leave.
"Me neither" said Twilight, her face was red as well, "I was waiting for him to say something, but he didn't. Then I thought what the hay?, the stallion doesn't always have to take the initiative, right?"
"Of course not, darling. Besides, he has a handsome face and a tight flank, right? He is the whole package."
"Yes..." said Twilight very innocently, then she realised what she just agreed with, "What!? No, it's not that! Shut up! Shut up!" said Twilight as she chased Rarity, who was clearly just having fun at the expense of Twilight.
After a while, Trixie appeared with her old wagon, which has gone through countless reparations, "Well it's time for the Great and Powerful Trixie to leave. My fans are excited to hear how I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, defeated the dangerous Discord in an epic and mysterious magic battle, in which of course, I emerged victorious!"
"Sure! I noticed your heroics and feats as you laid on the floor hiding behind your hooves" taunted Applejack.
"I know I'm not as impressive as I claim" Trixie turned surprisingly serious, everypony listened attentively, "but I was part of that incredible spell with Twilight and redhead. I proved something. There is powerful magic inside me. When the time is right, and when I really need to, my powerful magic will wake up. I'm going for some adventures. and get some real feats and experiences! Next time you hear a story about the Great and Powerful Trixie, it will be a true story!"
"That's great, Trixie. But what's the wagon for?" asked Twilight.
"This wagon and I go way back, you know. It's my home" responded Trixie, "maybe someday I'll share the story behind this wagon and me. Trixie doesn't really like that story, mostly because she is not victorious in that one. It's... kind of a sad story. But that's in the past! And Trixie only aims for the future! So long, my future fans! We'll meet again! Once I became famous and glorious!"
Trixie left following the trails of the train, always walking with her trusty wagon behind her, the ponies watched her go, and shrink over the distance, until she was completely gone.
After a few hours, Rarity and Pinkie Pie shook their hooves, and their faces filled with excitement. Both mares approached Quetzalcóatl and Lednik, both dragons were very confused.
"Ahem, Lednik, Quetzal. We have a proposal for you two, if we may" Rarity spoked, with a very regal tone in her voice.
"You may, Rarity, as long as it does not hurt us" said Quetzal.
"Have you ever considered a modeling career?" asked Rarity.
"Modeling, you said?" Lednik was very confused, "does that mean we have to wear strange costumes and outfits?"
"Don't worry, Lednik! You won't even notice" said Pinkie Pie, excited as usual, "and you'll become the center of attention among dragons and ponies alike!"
"You say that because I am blind" said Lednik, who was very unconvinced.
"My, darling! Of course not!" Rarity played an act of surprise, but none of the dragons believed it, "well, maybe so, but... we're talking about a golden oportunity here! Just think of this, the very first business alliance between ponies and dragons!" however, the dragons were still not convinced.
"We'll have cookies! And balloons! And also jewels!" Pinkie added, and when she mentioned the last word, both dragons couldn't help but to agree their terms, hoping that they would not regret it later.
Spinwind was preparing to leave unnoticed, back to his post in Canterlot Palace, but he was spotted by Applebloom. He took off his helmet, he stared at her and sighed as he walked pass her. "I'm sorry, I already have a special somepony. And I really want to see her. I can't wait to hold her hoof once again. I still want to be her hero" he said.
"You saved mah life, back in Foal Mountain" responded Applebloom, "and you protected us from those meteors during the Wrath. It might be an everyday thing to you. But to me, it was the most special thing a stallion has done for me. You are MY hero. I wish you the best to you 'n Serena... she's lucky, y'know?"
The stallion put on his helmet again, walked two steps away, and said one last thing before he left, "I can't be your hero if I break your heart. Your hero is out there, you just haven't meet him yet."
Scootaloo slowly approached Ditzy Doo, who was too busy eating a muffing, the orange pegasus was looking embarased, "Derpy, uhh... I mean, Ditzy!" she said, very apologetic, "I'm sorry for being so mean to you, I didn't know you were such an awesome flyer."
"It's ok, I'm still the clumsy and funny mailmare I've always been" said Ditzy Doo, "I'm not an awesome flyer, I just did what was needed. It's hard to explain, but I was just..."
"Following your instincts, right?" added Scootaloo, "That's what it takes to be an awesome flyer, Ditzy. Rainbow Dash taught me that. I promise you that from now, I will never call you names or laugh at you. You have my respect."
"You can call me Derpy" Ditzy Doo smiled at her as she munched another piece of the muffin.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy sat next to each other in a park bench. Rainbow Dash was a bit down, but Fluttershy was smiling, very satisfied with the outcome, "say, Dash... do you think I have an evil mind?" she asked, all of a sudden.
"What? Why do you ask me that?" Rainbow Dash jumped from the bench in surprise.
"We went completely opposite sides" explained Fluttershy, "I started a war, I outsmarted King Sombra, I even faced the punches that used to protect me when I was a filly. Maybe I'm the one who brings chaos upon Equestria. Maybe I spent too much time wih Discord."
"Heh, you changed a lot since you left Ponyville" said Rainbow Dash with teary eyes, "all of us did, but you did a complete one-eighty. But there are three things about you that will never change. First, your love for other creatures. Second, you fight for what is right, even if that makes you the bad guy. And lastly, the fact that I totally beat your tail back in the Badlands!", the rainbow pegasus started laughing out loud.
"Oh that? I let you win because I know how much you hate losing" Fluttershy laughed along.
"You're leaving again, huh?" Rainbow Dash stopped laughing and began to drop some tears "to look for that coward pony, right? I never approved him, but you don't care that, do you?" Fluttershy just smiled at her friend.
"I need to go..." said Fluttershy, "first, it was Scout Flag, then Discord, and now Foskiá... all the ones who leave me tell me that I should forget them, that is the only way to forgive those who deserve no forgiveness. It always leads to that! Forget and forgive! I'm sick of it! I undertook this journey by of my own choice! I will forgive, but I don't want to forget!"
The pale yellow pegasus left Canterlot just the way she left Ponyville, silently as her friends watched her leave, disappearing among the trees of the forest. But when she left the first time, they didn't know if they would see their friend again. This time they are certain that Fluttershy will come back home even braver and stronger.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were aboard the Sky Wanderer, Applebloom had recently made some final adjustments in the control room, still she was feeling a bit better after working on her master piece. Scootaloo was leaning against the ship's helm, still gazing at the direction where Rainbow Dash left, daydreaming of the day where she will be a hero just like her.
Applejack, Ditzy Doo and the Cutie Mark Crusaders decided to return to Ponyville. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and the two Dragons of Wind and Ice decided to stay in Canterlot to start their new business. Rainbow Dash and Guardian Sword returned to the Royal Elite Headquarters. Moondancer left to prepare for her next study. Trixie began to wander across Equesria once again.
Princess Platinum and her friends bowed down to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna one last time and left walking away from the city's main door, "it was fun, it was fun" said the regal unicorn, and Smart Cookie behind her began to laugh.
"It was fun for you" she said, "you weren't the one with ninety-five-point-eighty-two percent of probability of death."
"And you bet everything you worked so hard to build on that four-point-eighteen percent" said Pansy, she was very surprised.
"What can I say?" said Platinum, "I always take some risks on my decisions, it adds some flavor to my endless life."
"Yes, but it subtracts some bits from your purse when we get together to play poker" laughed Puddinghead, and to her surprise, her friends laughed with her, she had finally made a good joke, except for Hurricane, she was falling asleep, barely conscious of where she was.
Everyone had decided what to do with their lives, except for one pony. Twilight thought that going back to Ponyville was not the answer, and she also thought that she wouldn't learn anything new staying in Canterlot. That's when the Observer and her assistant arrived, and talked to her.
"Ready to go home?" asked the tall unicorn.
"Not really..." said Twilight, "I'd love to go back to Ponyville, but I thinnk there's nothing left for me there. Maybe I should have stayed as a princess."
"I bet there's a place for a talented unicorn like yourself" suggested Lickety Split, "why don't you just stay and join the magic court?"
"Why don't you just shut up and get lost, Lickety Split?" said the Observer, a suggestion that looked more like a command.
"Yes, miss..." Lickety Split backed down, very ashamed.
"Come with me, Twilight Sparkle" added the Observer, "if is your wish to move on, to reach higher levels, if you are looking for more knowledge, then come with me. Be warned, though, for the path will be painful. If you're truly willing to sacrifice everything to break your limit. Then turn your back to heaven and follow me to hell."
Twilight turned around, and watched Princess Celestia and the Sky Wanderer was about to take off. Princess Celestia smiled at her and nodded.
"I'm sorry, princess" said Twilight, "Sweetie Belle, I guess you'll be keeping your job" she added, and Sweetie Belle cheered up, jumping happily all over the ship, "just keep in mind what happened to the last creature that destroyed the library!" warned Twilight, and now Sweetie Belle quieted down and gulped.
"I know you're taking the right decision, Twilight" added Princess Celestia, "I am no longer your teacher, and you will never find a new one better than the Observer herself. I just want you to promise that you won't become into somepony just like her, and that you will return one day."
"I promise, Princess" Twilight shed some tears, "and thank you for everything. Thanks to you I'm the pony I've became, and I wouldn't change anything. I wish you the best to you... and to your next most faithful student."
"Wait! I'm coming" yelled Spike from the Sky Wanderer, he jumped off, and approached Twilight, but he was stopped.
"No can do, young dragon" said the Observer, "see that pink silly pony over there?" she pointed at Lickety Split, and the earth pony was waving her hoof, "she is Twilight's new assistant, she doesn't need you anymore."
"Then what am I supposed to do now?" said Spike, "helping Twilight has been my whole life. It's the only thing I know."
Twilight hugged Spike, very dearly, and Spike hugged her back, "you were not my assistant, Spike. You were my friend. My family. But now, just as I must find my own way, you must find yours. You are free Spike, not tied to my wishes anymore. This moment couldn't be more perfect, for now the dragons and the ponies can finally live in harmony. It's your time to live your own life, Spike."
Spike nodded as he cleaned the tears from his eyes. He boarded the Sky Wanderer again, which took off, heading back to Ponyville. All the ponies waved at Twilight, wishing her the best of lucks.
"See ya 'round, partner" Applejack smiled at her friend, she was now the only one going back to Ponyville from the main six.
A few days passed. Twilight, Clover and Lickety Split were heading north, back to the Observatory, walking through a strong snowstorm. Twilight could barely see her nose before her eyes, but Lickety Split and Clover had no problem traveling the snowfield.
"Clover? Can I ask you something?" said Twilight, covering her eyes from the snow.
"Let's set some rules first" said Clover, "from now on, you'll refer to me as Master, Miss, or Teacher. You'll do what I say, when I say, and how I say. Are we clear? "
"Yes, master" said Twilight, "You are more powerful than Princess Celestia, right?"
"Yes" said the Observer, very proudly.
"Then you must know spells that I haven't even hear of, ways of magic that I don't even know they exist. What if my potential isn't as good as you think? What if I disappoint you?" asked Twilight.
"Don't worry about that, Twilight. I don't expect much from you" replied the Observer with an arrogant smile.
"Are you more powerful than Discord?" asked Twilight, yet again.
But the Observer held her answer, she was calculating, and after a short while she finally responded, "no... I'm more or less... I don't know, maybe seven or eight times less powerful than him. He could have stopped my Wrath spell by just sneezing, and I might be underestimating him."
"Then how could we defeat him with our bare magic?" said Twilight, "without the help of magic artifacts to enhance our power or to supress his, why were we able to best him? it was impossible for us to win! I'm still unclear of what happened."
"Harmony" explained the Observer, "you said it yourself. The harmony between you and those two unicorns mingled to create a new Harmony spell. Just like when I mingled my friendship with Pansy and Smart Cookie to create the Fire of Friendship, the spell we used to defeat Windigos. When magic is used for combat, it's like a weapon. It's not about who is more powerful, but about who uses it better. At that very moment, you and your friends used magic better than Discord."
"We're heeeere!" announced Lickety Split, while she dropped the keys to the observatory on the snow and she bent down to find them. The Observer casted a strange spell to open the main doors, she let Twilight get inside first, and then she entered herself. Lickety Split was about to enter the building too, but the doors were closed on her.
"Don't come in until you find those keys, it's the only copy we got!" commanded the Observer.
"Yes, miss..." said Lickety Split, she bent down again and continued her search on the snow.
"Welcome to your new home, Twilight" said the Observer, she lit the stove to and added some water to a small blue kettle and added some cocoa, then she led Twilight upstairs to a small room, with a wooden desk set on the bottom wall just below a window, the walls were covered by bookshelves, and on top of the bookshelf on the far right of the room, there was small white mattress with small white sheets and blankets.
"Is that my bed?" asked Twilight, very unsecure.
"Get some good time to relax" the Observer palmed Twilight's back, pushing her inside the room, "for it will be your last. We'll start your training tomorrow morning", then the tall unicorn left and closed the door behind her.
Twilight dropped her saddle bags on the wooden floor, she walked to the desk and passed her front hoof on top of it, as if she was caressing it. Then, she turned to the bookshelves and scanned the titles written on the spines of the books with intriguing eyes. One of the books caught her attention, it said Spells of Mail, she grabbed it and read the first spell. A tiny smile was drawn on her face, as she picked from one of her saddle bags a blank scroll, a feather, and a bottle of black ink. She put the scroll on the desk, and sat in front of it. The feather, dancing on the scroll, printed the three famous words that Twilight recalled with beloved nostalgia.
