> Sliver's Eclipse
>  by Ashrunel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Darkness Over Bridlewood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“T-Twilight, are you sure this is safe?”
“Of course, Spike. I’ve taken all the necessary precautions. Honestly, who do you think you’re talking to?”
“Yeah, yeah, good point,” the baby dragon replied. “I’m still gonna stand over here though.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and giggled as Spike scrambled across the room to stand near the door. “Whatever you say, Spike.”
The Princess of Friendship lit her horn, casting a lavender aura that illuminated the room. They were in the Restricted Section of the Canterlot Library. Spike sighed, watching as Twilight worked. It had been about four months since she had taken over ruling Equestria from Celestia and Luna. So far she was handling it well, but still stressed over the tiniest of details. Spike laughed to himself. Twilight had grown so much ever since she had been sent to Ponyville to learn about friendship all those years ago, but some things about her would never change, most notably her tendency for “Twilighting.”
A loud noise jarred him back to reality. He looked over to see that Twilight had set a large tome down on one of the wooden tables that were sitting around the room. 
“Jeez, thanks for making me nearly jump out of my skin,” Spike said.
“Sorry, Spike,” Twilight said sheepishly. “But this tome contains the spell I need.”
Spike mumbled something under his breath as Twilight flipped through the pages with her magic, muttering to herself as she did so. “Sliver, Sliver, S, S, S…aha!” Having found the right page, Twilight scanned the text intensely, reading aloud to herself. “The origins of the Sliver of Darkness are shrouded in mystery. It is a powerful artifact from ancient Equestria that is imbued with a dark, malevolent, and above all, corruptive, power. Any creature who comes into contact with the Sliver becomes a prisoner of their own mind, as the Sliver will construct an ‘anti’ version of themselves; opposite qualities, personality, demeanor, worldviews, everything. This new personality will assume full control of the host’s body. Numerous physical changes have been noted to occur as well. There is no known cure for something that has been corrupted by the Sliver. The only possible solution that our mages have come up with is a powerful containment spell, meant to keep anything and everything from ever coming into contact with the Sliver again. However, even though such a spell has been attempted numerous times, none have been powerful enough to cast it. I pray that someone, anyone, reading this at any time in the future can find a way…a way to seal this dark power away for good. I’ve included the transcript for the spell below.”
The alicorn finished reading. She glanced up at Spike to see him shivering in place. “Spike? What’s wrong?”
The dragon tried to stop his shaking to no avail. “S-sorry Twilight, it’s just…that Sliver thing gives me the heebie-jeebies, even just the description of it.”
“I understand why you’re afraid, Spike,” Twilight reassured her adoptive brother, “but I’m confident that I can cast this spell effectively.”
“If you say so…” Spike said warily. 
Twilight activated her magic once again, bringing a small chest over from the top shelf of one of the bookshelves. She floated it down to rest on the table in front of her, and slowly but surely opened the lid. At once, the room seemed to get darker, and shadowy tendrils resembling smoke rose up out of the chest. Twilight activated her magic once more, lifting the Sliver of Darkness out of the chest and up into the air. All the air seemed to leave the room, and Twilight instantly felt nauseous. She glanced over at Spike, and could tell that he was feeling the same way, as he was doubled over on the ground, shaking uncontrollably. She had to act fast. Glancing down at the spell written in the tome, she closed her eyes and recited the incantation. 
“Darkest night, blacker still, let your power be rendered nil. Succumb now to magic’s bright light, and thus your evil shall bear no might!” At the last word, she drew all the magical power she could summon into her horn, attempting to cast the containment spell around the Sliver. A blinding white light engulfed the room, forcing both Twilight and Spike to shut their eyes. A loud, high-pitched ringing sounded in their ears, and it grew louder and louder until it was almost painful. And then, everything suddenly went quiet. The light disappeared, and silence and darkness were all that remained. 
Slowly, Twilight opened her eyes. All of the torches and even the fireplace had been blown out. The only source of light came from a small, glowing, pure-white sphere that contained the Sliver of Darkness, its black tendrils trying to no avail to break free of the magical prison. 
“Spike!” Twilight uttered in an excited whisper. “Spike! I think it worked!”
Spike groaned from across the room, rubbing his head. “I knew I should’ve stayed upstairs. Oh, my head.” He groggily got up and walked over to stand beside Twilight, gazing up at the now-contained Sliver.
“I knew you could do it, Twilight.” he said, reaching up a claw to pat her on the leg. 
“Thanks, Spike,” Twilight said. “That was pretty intense. I haven’t had to produce that much magic by myself in one go in a long time.” 
“Well, it was definitely worth it,” the baby dragon mused. “Where are you gonna keep it now?”
“Down here,” Twilight said. “Even though it’s rendered harmless now, I still don’t want anypony getting near it. It’ll be safe down here; you and I are the only ones who know how to get in, or that this room even exists to begin with.”
“Good point,” Spike said, nodding his head in agreement.
Twilight returned her gaze to stare intently at the dark artifact. “As far as I’m concerned, the Sliver of Darkness will never corrupt anypony else…ever again.”






	GENERATIONS LATER






Chaos had utterly consumed Bridlewood.
Countless unicorns scurried through the undergrowth at breakneck speed, running in all different directions. And each one of them was screaming. The ground shook now and again, knocking some of the ponies off their feet here and there.
It was all Izzy could do to not lose her mind.
“Hey! Please everypony, calm down! Everything will be alright! Just please all proceed out of the forest in a single-file line, preferably sorted alphabetically, and please make sure to, um…oh, who am I kidding? EVERYPONY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” She screamed and threw herself into the chaos, running around like a maniac as well. 
Hovering above the scene, Pipp saw this and rolled her eyes exasperatedly. Leave it to Izzy to do something like that in a situation like this.
“PIPP, MOVE!” She was suddenly tackled out of the air by a white blur. They both hit the ground hard. Right where Pipp had previously been hovering, a massive boulder careened by, slamming into the ground and knocking several trees over. Thankfully, nopony had been in the path of the boulder except Pipp.
Groaning in pain, the pair of pegasi rose to their hooves. “Thanks for the save, Zipp,” Pipp said gratefully. 
“Yeah, yeah, just be more aware of your surroundings next time!” Zipp said exasperatedly as she spread her wings and shot into the sky once more. 
Pipp looked over to see Hitch and Misty attempting to round up the woodland creatures and usher them out of harm’s way. It seemed to be working, at least a little bit. The animals were definitely following directions better than the ponies, that was for sure. Pipp looked skyward after Zipp, wishing she could help. Zipp eclipsed her by an order of magnitude when it came to speed and strength. She would only get in the way. Still, she hated standing around and doing nothing. She had to do something, anything.
Zipp did a barrel roll in midair, dodging another boulder that was lobbed at her with enough force to topple a building. Zipp increased her speed to its maximum, winding up a punch as she careened straight at the foe that was currently tearing Bridlewood asunder. She was going so fast that the air around her began to warp and distort her vision. In an instant, she made contact with the Ursa Minor, putting all of her strength into a punch, but all it did was knock the massive bear back a few meters. Stunned at how little of an effect her attack had had, Zipp merely hovered in midair for a moment, flabbergasted. Suddenly, a massive claw grabbed her. She yelped in pain and shock, struggling to break free, but it was too late. The Ursa Minor wound up and lobbed Zipp away, sending her careening down into the forest below. She crashed through countless branches and even a few trees before skidding to a halt on the forest floor. She groaned in pain. She could definitely tell that one of her legs and maybe a few ribs were broken. How she had managed to survive at all was beyond her. It must be her intense pegasus durability that she had built up over the years. She knew that if it weren’t for that, she would be dead. 
“Zipp! Are you alright?!” Pipp cried, rushing to her sister’s side.
Zipp groaned in pain again. “I’ll be alright, Pipp. Just a few broken bones. Nothing I can’t handle.”
“A few?!” Pipp cried. “You need to stay here and not move. If you get hurt any more, you could…you could…” she choked back a sob and turned away.
“No, Pipp,” Zipp said, fighting through the pain to struggle to her feet. “I’m the only one who can stop this thing. It’s the truth,” she said quickly to counter Pipp’s expression. “You aren’t fast or strong enough, Misty and Izzy can’t produce enough magic to do anything substantial to a creature of that size, and no vines that Hitch could produce with his earth pony magic could hold that thing down.” She groaned again. “If only Sunny didn’t have to stay behind at Canterlogic to study that artifact she found, she could’ve come with us to the Night Market like we planned. She would’ve been here. Why today, of all days? We could really use her alicorn powers right now!” She sighed. “I have to keep trying to beat that oversized teddy bear, for all our sakes.”
“But what can you do?!” Pipp cried. “If you take another attack from the Ursa like that one, you won’t survive!”
Zipp grinned. “Then I guess I’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen.” She groaned in pain again, looking towards the sky. “What I need…is more speed.”
With that, she took off into the air again, flying straight up. She flapped her wings harder, fighting through the intense pain, going higher and higher, higher than she had ever flown before. She broke through the upper layer of clouds, and kept going. She had to get as high as she could without passing out from lack of oxygen or the cold. She kept flying up for what seemed like an eternity before the sky grew a shade of indigo. She was high enough now. Looking down, she saw the land of Equestria sprawling out beneath her. Directly below her was Bridlewood, and far, far in the distance, she could just make out the mountain that Zephyr Heights sat upon. Farther still, a glimmer of blue shone where the land met the sea. She knew that Maretime Bay was there. Sunny was there. 
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She could admire the view later. Right now, she had to focus. Turning down, she wound up and shot as fast as she could straight down, once again ignoring the intense pain that shot through her body. Now, she had gravity on her side, and she knew that with this amount of distance between her and the ground, she could reach a speed fast enough to deliver a devastating blow to the Ursa. She had to hurry. The lives of everypony in Bridlewood were on the line. The air around her began to warp as it had before. She flew downward, faster and faster still. She broke through the upper layer of clouds. The purple trees of Bridlewood were growing larger and larger. She flapped her wings harder, flying as fast as she possibly could. And yet, she still had to go faster. Using the force of gravity to aid her, she shut her eyes and screamed as she rocketed through the air. She felt a strange pressure around her muzzle, and opened her eyes. The air was warping even further, and little streaks of color were flying by here and there. The air began to warp more, and the color grew brighter and more intense. As she broke through the lower layer of clouds, she spotted the form of the Ursa Minor below, still rampaging through the forest. Zipp screamed, aiming straight for it, when she was suddenly propelled forward by a massive burst of speed. An ear-splitting boom shook the world, and she careened straight into the Ursa’s chest. She was traveling so fast that she went right through its body, feeling no resistance, before pulling up at the last second and arcing back up into the sky at breakneck speed.
Pipp, Hitch, Izzy, and Misty, as well as all the other ponies, stopped what they were doing at once and looked towards the sky as an ear-splitting boom sounded from above. A massive ring of vibrant color shot out from a central point, radiating outwards with an almost concussive force. A streak of rainbow light shot right through the Ursa Minor before arcing back up into the sky, trailing a rainbow streak behind it the whole time.
The Ursa Minor stood there for a few moments, shaking, before it uttered a final defiant roar and collapsed to the ground, dead.
For what seemed like an eternity, nopony moved. Then, Izzy broke the silence.
“What…the…hay…JUST HAPPENED?!” She exclaimed.
“DidyouguysseethathowthatstreakoflightproducedthatHUGEringoflightandenergyandthenitjustwentWHAMrightthroughthatmeanoldUrsahegotwhatwascomingtohimyeshedidbythewayhasanyoneseenZipp?” Izzy sucked in a lungful of air at this last remark, looking around at each of her friends, eagerly awaiting an answer.
“Uh, Izzy…” Hitch said, “I don’t think anypony here can even begin to understand what you just said.”
“You can say that again,” a strained voice from above said. The group all looked up to see Zipp descending towards them, clutching her left foreleg.
“Zipp!” Pipp exclaimed. “Are you alright?!”
Zipp reached the ground, collapsing in a heap. “Y-yeah…just…just dandy…” she trailed off before passing out. 
“Zipp!” Pipp cried again. “Quick, we have to do something!” 
“Bring her to the Crystal Tea Room!” Misty spoke up. “Some of the tea blends that my dad has there have healing properties! I know it’s not much, but it’s something!”
“No,” Pipp said. “We need to take her to the Royal Infirmary in Zephyr Heights, right now. The doctors there are the best, and they’re well-versed in treating pegasi specifically.”
“That’s a good idea,” a voice from behind them spoke up. The group turned to see Alphabittle. “As much as I’d like to treat you all to some of my tea, your friend needs a real doctor.”
“Dad!” Misty cried, running to him and hugging her father. “I’m so happy you’re alright!”
“I am, and so is all of Bridlewood, thanks to the efforts of you ponies,” Alphabittle replied, hugging his daughter back.
Misty broke away. “Well…it was mostly due to her,” she said sadly, looking at the unconscious pegasus on the ground. She turned back to her dad, opening her mouth to say something.
“Go,” Alphabittle said reassuringly. “I’ll take care of things here. We all owe you ponies an unpayable debt. Go, take care of your friend.” 
Misty embraced her dad once more before turning and levitating Zipp in her magic with the help of Izzy. The ragtag group then scrambled off to where they had landed the Mare Stream. Miraculously, it hadn’t been damaged in the battle with the Ursa. In a few moments, they were all piled inside and on their way to Zephyr Heights. As the flying motorhome rose out of the chaos that had consumed Bridlewood, the group of friends couldn’t help but shudder at the sheer destruction that had ensued. Vast swaths of trees were knocked down, crushed by the massive boulders that the Ursa had lobbed. Parts of the forest were completely unrecognizable. For a while, none of them spoke.
“How…why…is an Ursa back in Equestria?” Hitch spoke up, breaking the silence.
“Beats me,” Izzy said. “When I was a filly, though, I was told stories about Ursas. Apparently the Ursa Minor is only the baby version of the species.”
“Only…the…baby?!” Pipp squeaked.
Izzy nodded. “It was said that Ursas were bad omens. Bringers of back luck, that sort of thing. As far as I was concerned, they were only an ancient myth. But now, seeing one here…” she shuddered, her face taking on an uncharacteristically serious expression.
“But what could happen?” Misty spoke up. “We beat Opaline, we beat Allura…that was weeks ago…what else could be out there?”
The four ponies shuddered collectively as the thought raced through their minds.

	. . .

The Mare Stream touched down atop its landing pad outside the Crystal Brighthouse. Night had fallen hours ago, and Izzy, Pipp, Hitch, and Misty had just returned from Zephyr Heights. When they had arrived, the doctors had rushed Zipp off to the Royal Infirmary right away. The four friends had pleaded to stay by her side, but the doctors had insisted that she needed to be left alone for the time being so they could treat her properly. Reluctantly, the four friends decided to return to Maretime Bay for the night and get some sleep. They all agreed that they would go back to check on Zipp first thing in the morning.
As they exited the Mare Stream, Pipp groaned. “Ugh, I’m exhausted.” The others mumbled their agreement. As they made their way to the front doors of the Brighthouse, a strange pulse suddenly emanated through the air. 
“What the hay was that?” Hitch said, looking around.
“Look!” Izzy said, pointing her hoof upwards. “I think it came from the Unity Crystals!”
The group looked up, and sure enough, the Unity Crystals were glowing with a strange light. Another magical pulse emanated from them.
“Why do you suppose they’re doing that?” Misty asked timidly.
“I don’t know,” Hitch said grimly, “but it can’t mean anything good.”
The pulse sounded again.
“Hey, does anypony feel like that was faster this time?” Izzy said quizzically.
The pulse sounded again.
“It definitely was! I’m not going crazy! At least not today,” Izzy remarked.
The pulse sounded again.
“It’s getting faster…but why?” Pipp wondered.
“Maybe…it’s a warning beacon?” Misty squeaked. “As in, something…is coming?”
At this revelation, the group of four instantly turned around, all on guard. Hitch scanned the surrounding area intensely, but could see nothing in the darkness except for the distant lights of Maretime Bay.
The pulse sounded again. And again. And again. And again. It was now firing off in rapid succession, almost like a heartbeat during a workout. And it was only getting faster.
“Everypony be on guard!” Hitch yelled. He planted his feet on the ground, ready to use his earth pony magic if need be. Izzy and Misty lit up their horns, and Pipp flared her wings, assuming a defensive position.
Suddenly, the pulses stopped. Misty gulped. Beads of sweat plastered Hitch’s forehead. All the four ponies could hear were their breaths and heartbeats in their ears. Everything else was silent. Nothing moved. Nothing at all.
And then something did.
> Tragic Mirth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jazz Hooves breathed a sigh of relief as the last customer of the day sauntered out of Mane Melody. It had been a hectic day, and with Pipp gone on a trip to Bridlewood, her and Rocky Riff were the only two left to run the beauty salon. Pipp had recently launched a new line of mane stylizing creams and sprays, and they were all the rage. Jazz couldn’t remember when the last day Mane Melody wasn’t filled to the brim with customers was. Still, there were bright sides to this kind of popularity. Business was booming, and with all the extra revenue they were raking in, Pipp had talked to them about potentially expanding Mane Melody in order to be able to service more customers at a time. Jazz had remarked that there were still only three of them working there, but Pipp had insisted that they would figure out a way to manage. 
She turned to Rocky, who had sat on the floor, looking equally exhausted. “Man, that was some day, huh?” He said, turning to look at Jazz. “I must’ve styled 60 manes today, easily.”
“You can say that again,” Jazz replied, sitting on the floor as well.
“Man, that was some day, huh?” Rocky said teasingly. Jazz looked over at him in exasperation but couldn’t hold back a smile for long.
“See? Told you I’m funny.” Rocky said, a smug grin plastering his face.
“Sometimes,” Jazz assured him. “Sometimes.”
Suddenly, a distant boom sounded, and a wave of dark energy tore its way through Mane Melody, shattering the front windows of the store. Jazz and Rocky were knocked backwards onto the ground, and a ringing filled their ears as they struggled to get up, dazed and confused.
“What…in the hay…was that?” Jazz gasped.
“I…have no…idea…” Rocky heaved, massaging his head. “It sounded like it came from the direction of Canterlogic.”
Racing out of Mane Melody, being careful to avoid the broken glass shards, Jazz and Rocky soon found themselves on the streets of Maretime Bay, joined by dozens of other ponies who had come outside to see what had caused the concussive blast.
Lit by the dying rays of the setting sun was a massive hole in the side of Canterlogic. Dark smoke-like wisps poured out from it. 
“I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” Jazz gasped. “What the hay happened?!”
“Don’t know, but we need to go help!” Rocky exclaimed, spreading his wings and quickly lifting into the sky before shooting straight for Canterlogic.
“Hey! No fair!” Jazz yelled after him, before she turned and ran at breakneck speed through the streets of Maretime Bay, desperately trying to keep up with Rocky. As an earth pony, she was fast on the ground, faster than a pegasus or unicorn could run. Rocky wasn’t the fastest flier, at least not compared to someone like Zipp, so they reached Canterlogic at roughly the same time, Jazz just a few moments behind Rocky.
“In lighter circumstances, I would say that you owed me a smoothie from Sunny’s stand for that race loss,” Rocky remarked slyly.
“Rocky! Not now!” Jazz berated, before they both turned to the smoking hole in the side of Canterlogic. The dark tendrils had grown larger and somehow even darker.
“Is that…magic?” Jazz breathed warily.
“Dark magic, by the looks of it,” Rocky said grimly. “But we have to investigate. If anypony is still alive inside, we need to get them out.”
Jazz nodded grimly and the two of them made their way across the rubble and into the darkness of Canterlogic. It was darker than night inside, the strange black magic obscuring almost everything. Jazz lost sight of Rocky even though he was right in front of her.
“Rocky? Rocky!” She hissed in a scared whisper. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah,” she heard Rocky reply. “Just stick by me and follow the sound of my voice.”
“Do you even know where we’re going?” Jazz inquired hastily. “There’s no way we’ll be able to find the source of this magic if we can’t see even two hooves in front of us!”
“Hello?” Rocky called out. “Hello, is anypony there? It’s Jazz and Rocky, we’re here to help! Can anypony hear me? Hello?!”
As if on cue, all the dark magic seemingly was sucked away from them, towards a central point, almost like water draining down a sink. Jazz and Rocky stopped, blinking, their eyes adjusting to the flashing emergency lights that cast everything in a red glow every few seconds before it was once again shrouded in darkness.
“What the hay? Where did it all go?” Jazz whispered. She had never been more frightened in her life, and she could tell from the way Rocky was holding himself that he felt the same way.
“I…I don’t know,” Rocky breathed. He opened his mouth to call out again when suddenly a dark tendril manifested from seemingly nowhere and impaled Rocky through the chest. He gagged, coughing up a black liquid that didn’t look like blood. Or maybe Jazz just couldn’t tell in the hazy darkness. Either way, she shrieked at the top of her lungs, but before she could run to his side, an identical dark tendril impaled her as well. She gagged as a nauseating feeling of darkness instantly overpowered all her senses. It was horrible, pungent, and she was drowning, falling into a black abyss, losing herself, who she was, who she would be…and then there was only…darkness.

. . .

Out of the black night, a dark winged creature shot straight towards Hitch, leg outstretched in preparation for a devastating kick. He didn’t even have time to react, and the kick hit him square in the jaw, sending him flying backwards before he landed hard on the ground.
“HITCH!” Misty screamed, but suddenly she was tackled by another dark shape and thrown to the ground in a maneuver that Pipp didn’t recognize. Whatever it was, it left Misty twitching and immobile on the ground. Angrily, Pipp moved to lunge at the attacker, but was sideswiped by the same dark figure that had attacked Hitch. A hard blow hit the side of her head, and she saw stars as she was sent flying into the dirt. Meanwhile, Izzy had managed to reach Misty’s assailant with surprising speed, and attempted to grab the figure in her magic. However, before the magic could take hold, the figure grabbed Izzy by the horn and flipped her over before kicking her squarely in the stomach. Izzy gasped as all the wind was knocked out of her, before another blow sent her spiraling to the ground, gasping for air and hardly able to move.
From the moment Hitch had been attacked to the moment Izzy had been subdued, not fifteen seconds had passed. The pair of dark assailants had taken them out with such efficiency and ferocity that they hadn’t even gotten the chance to fight back.
Groaning, Hitch groggily looked up to get a good look at their attackers. He was in no shape to fight, but he could at least try and identify who they were. The figures were now close enough to the Brighthouse to be illuminated by its light, and what Hitch saw made his blood run cold. 
Standing before him were two ponies, one pegasus and one earth pony. However, that was where the similarities to normal ponies stopped. Both of their coats and hooves were a pure midnight black. The pegasus, who appeared to be a stallion, had bright red hair swept back in a pompadour style, and the earth pony, seemingly a mare, had bright blue hair tied to one side in a ponytail. The eyes of the stallion were glowing a bright red, and the mare’s a glowing bright blue. And they were staring directly at him. 
“Jazz?! Rocky?!” Pipp cried out in confusion and panic. “What…what the hay happened to you?”
The dark Rocky threw back his head and let out a sickening laugh that was wholly unnatural and evil, before turning and approaching Pipp. His eyes burned with a malevolent glee that made Hitch’s blood run cold. “Sorry Pipp, Rocky isn’t home right now. But I am! Mirth is the name! Want me to take a message for Rocky-Rock though? Not that he’d be able to hear it…he’s safely locked away…in here…” He tapped his head with his hoof, snickering gleefully.
“M-Mirth? What?!” Pipp stammered out. She frantically turned to Jazz. “Jazz? Jazz! Jazz please, you’ve gotta snap out of it! It’s me, Pipp, remember?!”
The dark Jazz didn’t approach Pipp as the one called Mirth had, but instead regarded her from afar with a cold, almost melancholy gaze. “The one you call ‘Jazz’ has been locked away in my mind. A sad fate for her, really. Not that I care. But you may call me Tragedy.” 
“What the hay?! ‘Mirth’ and ‘Tragedy’?! What kinda silly names are those?! Are you guys in a stupid acting troupe or something?!” Izzy called out angrily. 
Mirth alighted his wings and shot towards Izzy, stopping just short of her, their faces inches apart. The usually-excited unicorn’s eyes were filled only with fear as she stared into the bright red, wickedly-gleeful pupils that Mirth possessed. “Aw, you really don’t like them? That’s just too bad!” He snickered before slamming his hoof into her face, causing her to snap backwards and into the ground. “Unfortunately for you, it doesn’t matter to us if you like our names or not! It’s who we are now, and there’s no changing that!”
“B-but, what happened to you?” Pipp breathed. “Why attack us like this?”
“Oh, that,” Tragedy spoke up solemnly. “We were given life anew by the Sliver of Darkness.”
Everypony’s blood ran cold at the mention of that name, save for Mirth and Tragedy, of course. “The S-S-Sliver of D-Darkness?” Misty stammered.
“Oh yeah, the Sliver of Darkness!” Mirth cackled, floating upside-down over to Misty, resting his head in his hooves behind him. “Y’know, dark artifact from ancient Equestria, ‘corrupts’ every creature it touches, mysteriously found earlier today by Sunny Starscout, blah, blah, blah, y’know?” He was now inches away from Misty’s face, an upside-down sadistic grin plastered across his face.
“Wait…found by Sunny?” Hitch questioned worriedly. Is that what she was studying today at Canterlogic?”
“Indeed,” Tragedy remarked coolly. “Always the naïve and curious fool, she brought the Sliver to Canterlogic for closer examination. She had found it on the beach of Maretime Bay, seemingly washed up from the sea. During her research, she discovered that the Sliver had been contained in a protective spell cast by none other than Twilight Sparkle many years ago.”
“Then…what happened to the spell? How did it get brok--” Izzy stopped dead, realizing.
“Opaline,” Misty breathed.
“What?” Pipp said, looking over at her. 
“O-Opaline,” Misty said again. “I bet when she cast that spell to remove all protective enchantments during our final battle with her, it also removed the one surrounding the Sliver. It makes sense, since Twilight’s protection spell around the Brighthouse was also destroyed.”
“Ding ding ding ding ding!!” Mirth blurted out, cackling. “Looks like we have a winner, folks! Yes, that narcissistic alicorn’s spell allowed the Sliver to be freed, and thank hoofness for it too, or else we would never have been born!” At this last remark, he returned to Tragedy’s side. 
“But…but why attack us?” Pipp asked. “You still haven’t explained that part!”
“Because…” Mirth began slyly.
“She ordered it,” Tragedy finished solemnly.
“She? What do you mean, ‘she’?” Hitch demanded angrily.
“Oh, I think you already know the answer to that, Hitchy-Witchy,” Mirth said, his crazed grin returning. He turned to Tragedy and they pressed their heads together. Upon doing so, a dark magical pulse was sent out into the air. Mirth turned back to the four defeated ponies.
“She’s coming,” he said gleefully.
“No…” Izzy breathed, “It can’t be…no, no, no, no, no!”
Izzy continued her series of “no’s” incessantly. The Unity Crystals flickered and grew so dim that they barely emitted any light. Hitch’s hair suddenly stood on end, and from the reactions of his friends, he could tell that the same thing was happening to them. He could feel a presence coming, a presence darker and more powerful than Mirth and Tragedy combined. Against his will, his eyes slowly looked to the heavens, and out of the gloom, descending like an angel of darkness, was her.

	Everypony’s eyes were glued to her as she descended silently through the blackness. All they could see apart from her dark form were her glowing orange alicorn horn and wings, as well as her glowing orange eyes...which regarded them all with unbridled…hatred.
> Daughter of Hatred
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Sunny!”
There was no answer.
“Sunny!”
Silence.
“Sunny, where are you?!”
After a few moments, an answer finally came, faintly and softly, but still there.
“I’m up here, dad!”
Argyle Starshine chuckled to himself. Of course she was; he should’ve figured that she would be upstairs at the top of their lighthouse. He had just gotten back from a day out running errands in Maretime Bay. All the other earth ponies still gave him dirty looks and avoided him like the plague, but at least they didn’t verbally berate him this time around. Argyle sighed. That was about the best he could ask for.
Pushing the solemn thoughts from his mind, he made his way up the stairs of the lighthouse to find Sunny sprawled out on the floor, reading one of the numerous books that were lying around the lighthouse. When she saw her dad, she instantly dropped what she was doing and ran over, literally throwing herself at him in a tight bear hug.
“Hi dad! I missed you! How was your day?” She said excitedly.
Argyle chuckled, hugging his daughter back. “Oh, you know, just another day in the ol’ Maretime Bay. Enough about me, though. What have you been up to, my Sunny-Bun?”
“Studying the Guardians of Friendship, just like you!” Sunny squealed excitedly.
“Oh-ho, were you now?” Argyle said proudly. It gave him such comfort and pride knowing that he was raising his daughter not on the false demonization of the other pony tribes that the rest of the earth ponies in Maretime Bay were subjected to, but instead on the real history of Equestria, and the values of friendship and harmony that were pioneered by the Guardians of Friendship all those years ago. Clearly, his work was paying off. He knew that Sunny would grow into a kind, intelligent and resourceful young mare that would hopefully pioneer a new age of friendship and harmony for all ponykind.
“What did you find out?” Argyle continued.
“Lots of it was what you already told me,” Sunny said, “about how Twilight Sparkle was sent to Ponyville to learn about friendship, and that’s where she met her best friends of all time! Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie! They brought the true magic of friendship and harmony to Equestria, and defeated so many evil villains over the years!”
“Very good!” Argyle exclaimed, picking Sunny up in his hooves and swinging her around before setting her down again. 
“But then, after Twilight was crowned Princess, something happened that caused all of the pony tribes to hate each other,” Sunny continued, her face falling. “That’s the part I don’t understand…what could possibly have happened to tear apart all the work that Twilight and her friends did?”
Argyle sighed sadly. “I wish I knew, Sunny-Bun. Whatever happened back then, it’s the reason that Equestria is the way it is today. I just hope that one day, us ponies can find a way to put aside our differences and get along just like the ponies of ancient Equestria did.”
“Me too!” Sunny exclaimed, nodding eagerly in agreement. She paused for a moment, a frown forming on her face. “I did have another question, though,” she said.
“Shoot, Sunny-Bun. What is it?”
Sunny looked up to her dad’s face, a sad look in her eyes. “All of the villains that the Guardians of Friendship defeated…what happened to them? Did any of them get…happy endings?”
Argyle breathed in deeply, pondering the question. “Well…I’m not entirely sure, Sunny-Bun. There were tales that Twilight and her friends managed to reform a few villains they had faced, like Discord, Starlight Glimmer, Tempest Shadow, and Sunset Shimmer, but as for the rest of them…King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow, the Storm King…they all either met their demise or were imprisoned for eternity.”
Sunny sniffled. “But…if they repented their actions, and really tried to make up for it…wouldn’t they deserve a happy ending just as much as anypony else?”
“Of course, Sunny. Of course they would. And Twilight and her friends offered their friendship numerous times to these foes, but each time, it was rejected. I suppose that some creatures can never change their evil ways, unfortunately.”
Sunny shrugged. “I guess so…” She looked up at Argyle. “Dad…do you think that one day I could become a hero like Twilight Sparkle?”
Argyle leaned down, nuzzling his daughter. “I know you will, my Sunny-Bun. You’re already well along your way there. I’m so optimistic about the future of Equestria, especially since you’ll be there, pioneering the magic of friendship, just like Twilight did all those generations ago. It will be difficult to get all these modern ponies to listen to you, but I know that you’ll find a way, somehow, even if it takes years. I may not be around to see it when it happens, but know that I will always be proud of you and love you more than anything else in the world.”
Sunny smiled, embracing her dad. “Thanks, dad.” She sighed contentedly. “Being a hero really does sound amazing.”

. . .

“SUNNY!”
The four voices called out in unison as their friend touched down on the grass in front of Mirth and Tragedy. She tucked her glowing wings away to her sides, regarding Hitch, Izzy, Misty, and Pipp with the same pure hatred as before. It burned in her eyes, almost more than the glowing orange color they now sported.
“Sunny?”
Even though the mare spoke in Sunny’s voice, the tone of pure loathing was wholly unnatural of their friend.
“You mean the weak, foolish little mare who wanted to ‘unite’ Equestria?” The dark Sunny scoffed. “I destroyed her. I am what remains.”
“And just who are you now?!” Izzy called out angrily.
“Izzy Moonbow,” the dark Sunny spat. “Your overly-cheerful demeanor has always made me sick. Prancing around, pretending like there’s nothing wrong with the world…it’s nothing more than pure, unbridled delusion.”
Izzy gasped, tears brimming in her eyes.
“Hey! Leave her alone!” Pipp exclaimed heatedly.
The dark Sunny turned to her. “Pipp Petals…the drama queen. Always concerned only with the material world, placing no value on things that should really matter to you and your ‘friends.’ How selfish can you be?” Pipp recoiled at these words, collapsing to the ground, defeated.
“Sunny! How could you say that to her?!” Hitch exclaimed.
“Ah…Hitch Trailblazer…the sheriff. The stallion who is nothing without his position of power. Does it give you pleasure, ordering ponies around like they’re nothing but your slaves?” She scoffed, regarding him with the same unbridled hatred.
“Sunny…I…” Hitch began, at a loss for words.
“Sunny! Please, just stop this!” Misty shouted. “You can fight this darkness! I know you can!”
Sunny turned to Misty. “Misty Brightdawn…the orphan who thinks that she finally found a place where she belongs…a family…” She scoffed. “You couldn’t be more wrong. They only took you in because they felt pity for such a pathetic creature. Make no mistake about that. You don’t belong here,” she spat, before turning away. Misty broke down in silent sobs, her whole body shuddering.
“That’s not true!” Izzy exclaimed. “Misty knows it isn’t! Sunny’s just trying to manipulate us! You know that, right Misty?!”
Misty shuddered even more violently, sobbing uncontrollably. “I…I…”
“I suppose it’s only fair that I introduce myself to you ponies as well,” the dark Sunny said nonchalantly. “You may call me…Eclipse.”
“Eclipse, Mirth and Tragedy, huh?!” Izzy shouted. “Those are the silliest names I’ve EVER HEARD! And my name’s ‘Izzy Moonbow!’”
Eclipse ignored her, instead alighting her wings and flying up to where the Unity Crystals sat atop the Crystal Brighthouse.
“Eclipse! What the hay are you doing?!” Hitch shouted after her.
Eclipse turned back to regard Hitch. “I’m going to do what Opaline failed to do…steal the power of the Unity Crystals for myself! My goal is much loftier and grander than hers ever was, though…foolish alicorn.” Eclipse laughed to herself.
“Eclipse…Sunny…please, you have to snap out of it!” Pipp shouted. “We’re all your friends, remember?! We united Equestria and restored magic to all ponykind! Don’t you remember that?!”
“Oh, I remember alright,” Eclipse spat. “I remember how I was stuck with four good-for-nothing ponies that only served to get in my way!”
“That’s…not true…” Pipp said, trailing off sadly.
Scoffing, Eclipse turned and once more began making her way up to the Unity Crystals. Reaching them, she alighted her horn and began to siphon the magic out of them.
“No! We have to stop her!” Hitch cried.
“But what can we do?!” Pipp squealed. “We’re in no shape to even stand up, let alone fight!”
Hitch pounded his hoof against his head. “Come on, come on, think, think, there has to be something we can do!”
Mirth cackled. “Sorry, Hitchy-Witchy, but the four of you can’t do anything to stop our glorious leader Eclipse!” He threw back his head, his laughter echoing across the dark bay.
“Three,” Tragedy said coolly.
Mirth stopped laughing, looking over at Tragedy, confused. “Huh? What do you mean? There’s four of them, idiot! Look, one, two, three…” Mirth gasped. “Wait, where’s the hyperactive unicorn?!”
Hitch, Misty and Pipp looked around wildly. It was true; Izzy was nowhere to be seen. 
“What the hay?!” Hitch exclaimed. “Where’d she go?!”
High above, Eclipse grinned. Just a few more moments, and the power of the Unity Crystals would be hers. 
“SUNNY STARSCOUT!”
Eclipse turned, confused. Where was that voice coming from? It sounded like…
In the blink of an eye, Izzy had moved from her spot on the ground to the base of the Brighthouse and climbed up the side of it with unnatural  speed. Now at the top, she launched herself off the edge and straight towards Eclipse, intending to tackle her out of the air and stop the power transfer.
Eclipse summoned a magical blade of darkness out of thin air. Right before Izzy reached her, she turned in the blink of an eye and skewered the blade straight through Izzy’s gut.
“IZZY!” Hitch, Misty and Pipp screamed out in unison.
Izzy coughed up a mouthful of blood, squealing in agony. Eclipse regarded her with a wicked smile.
“You really thought you could stop me with an attack like that? You’re more delusional than I thought.”
Chuckling wickedly, she evaporated the blade, causing Izzy to plummet straight towards the ground, now unconscious from the pain.
“IZZY!” Misty screamed, running towards her and just managing to catch her in her magic before she hit the ground. She collapsed on top of Izzy’s body, sobbing, perhaps in an attempt to shield her from any further harm. Hitch and Pipp could only stare in blind shock. Everything was spiraling out of control. What the hay were they supposed to do?! At this rate, Izzy would bleed out and Sunny would steal the power of the Unity Crystals…
Eclipse smirked at the defeated faces of her former friends before turning back around to the Crystals. “Now, where was I?”
As she charged up her horn to begin the power transfer again, she was suddenly bathed in a fierce onslaught of bright green fire. Screaming in pain, she was sent careening into the side of the Brighthouse, slamming into it before falling to the ground, smoking.
“What the?!” Mirth exclaimed, looking up to the sky. His eyes widened in fear and he threw himself to the side as Tragedy did the same in the opposite direction. Right where they had both been standing, another plume of green fire hit the ground, causing a green explosion.
Hitch, Pipp and Misty looked around wildly, trying to find the source of the fire. A massive dark shape flew by overhead before landing in front of them. Now illuminated by the Brighthouse, they could see that it was none other than…
“Spike!” Pipp exclaimed. “Thank hoofness you’re here! But--but how did you know?!”
Spike regarded her solemnly. “I’ll explain everything later. Right now, let me deal with these Sliver Puppets.”
The three could only nod in unison. Spike turned to see Mirth and Tragedy at Eclipse’s side, helping her to her hooves. She was still smoking and obviously in intense pain. Spike charged up his fire breath again, but before he could shoot it at the trio, Eclipse shot him a look of pure loathing before she ignited her horn and disappeared in a flash alongside Mirth and Tragedy.
Spike stopped charging up his fire breath. “They’re gone for now, but they’ll be back. Are you all alright?”
Hitch shook his head. “We are, but Izzy…she was stabbed by that evil version of Sunny.”
Spike quickly made his way over to where Izzy and Misty lay on the ground. “I can cauterize her wound, but she needs to get to a hospital quickly.” 
Hitch nodded in agreement. “We’ll take her to the Royal Infirmary in Zephyr Heights.”
“You…may want to turn away for this part,” Spike said solemnly. Hitch, Misty and Pipp nodded and reluctantly did so. They could hear Spike charging up his fire breath a little, and then the soft sound of flames, much softer than what he had used to attack Eclipse. 
Even so, Izzy’s scream rang through the night, echoing off the coast and traveling out across the dark waves of the sea.