Metroid Prime: Into Darknessby Metroid Tahnok PrimeChaptersEchoesTerrorShadowFearNightEmpireBeauty of AnnihilationEchoesThe powers of darkness are a more powerful force than all the toys magic or science can muster -Mindwipe In the depths of space, lies a planet, dominated primary by a race of equine like sentient lifeforms known as horses, or in a more common term "Ponies", but these are not your typical earth based labor work and riding ponies that are use for recreational purposes, the ponies are divided into four species, Earthbound, officially known as Earth ponies, the base species of the equine race, the Pegasi, the mythical winged graces of the skies, the Unicrons, the magic manipulating and most populated of the four, and finally their are the Alicrons, a mix of all three species, they posses the magical powers of the Unicorns, the flight abilities of the Pegasi, and the strength of a good, true heart of an Earth Pony this combination gave them longevity, it was not immortality though, that was reserved for the god creator of the universe. It was a very good history for one of the most prosperous countries of that planet, a kingdom called Equestria, where the title of royalty could be earned through the lessons of the force known as friendship, where the clouds must be worked in order for them the function, where an empire of shining Crystals reflects Love and happiness throughout the land, and if you happen to be chosen by the rulers of this magical land as a personal, faithful student, Equestria could be your country as well. But if you could look 7 light years to the left you would see a rouge planet without a sun at all, you would think that without sunlight this planet would have died out a long time ago. But the species that inhabited the unique world refused to let that happen and built devices of great design to regulate energy that sustained the rouge world. Not long ago this planet experienced a war that nearly destroyed the planet, but thanks the efforts a warrior claded in the armor of its bird like adoptive parents the planet was saved from certain doom and the natives began to repopulate to stable numbers. Breeding season had just come to pass in the everyday life of that peaceful race, raising their numbers to a good height, peace was all that seemed for the two worlds. But the former was about to endure the tragedy the latter had been delt, in the form a sole meteor. _____________________________________________________________ Celestia placed the book in a package and sealed it, she then had said package sent to ponyville via mailpony. The more they package moved from Canterlot the more happy Celestia became, this would be her students finale test after tomorrow Equestria would have a new princess. Luna joined her sister out on the balcony, the lunar alicorn resting beside her sibling. "Has it been sent?" Luna asked Celestia gave her sister a warm smile. "Yes" "Are you sure she is ready?" Luna asked "Only time will tell, if she uses all her friendship lesson and fixes the spell then she has proven that she is ready" "She has done much for this land, she deserves the title of royalty" Luna said "Yes, it has been a long time coming, but now she will fulfill her destiny" Celestia agreed. "Lets just hope all goes as planned" Celestia looked to the stars, nothing could go wring, everything was going to be just fine. The stars danced in the sky, to distant worlds they showed their beauty, up close their powerful orbited revolved the planets around them, Comets streaked the space zone, leaving the frozen trails, meteors floated aimlessly through the void in a limbo of endless nothingness. But one particular meteor was not bound by the forces of time and trajectory, this one steered itself, and for one specific reason. It was alive. It now traversed an interdimesonal plane that could only accessed via wormhole, it was a power that it and its kind shared, it emerged from the blue vortex and into the stary void of space again, it beheld its target, a blue sphere, standard in size,it was now in perfect alignment, the rock did not care if it hit a populated are all that matted was its purpose, all life on that planet would eventually submit anyway, or die trying. ______________________________________________ Darkness, that was all it saw, all it felt, but is was used to this, it had lived in a dark world its whole life, before that life ended. It remembered, a being with two legs, its right arm a weapon, its armor, bathed in light, had defeated no..destroyed him, crippled him, his life ended in a flash of pure light as he released the energy that held his world together. He had fallen, his kin would also share the same fate. Yet he could feel, he was on a level aware of his surroundings, was he dead? He was suppose to be. Yet he was here, in his palace, his home, intact and stable, not crumbling beneath his being. He was alive, he was now sure of it. The only question is...how? ___________________________________________ Twilight placed the book and the table, and she read the letter that came with it. "Dear Twilight Sparkle, the spell contained on the last page of this book is Star Swirl the Bearded's secret unfinished masterpiece" Twilight was interested at the reading of the first line. "He was never able to get it right, and thus abandoned it. I believe you are the only pony who can understand and rewrite it. Princess Celestia" Twilight set the book down, turned the book to the last page and read the spell "From one to another, another to one. A mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled" Nothing happened. "That doesn't make any sense. It doesn't even rhyme!" Twilight retired to her room, not hearing the magic working on the golden relics within the glass case. She layed on her bed and look to her window, she saw a shooting star pass by, normally somepony would make a wish upon it, but Twilight's life was content at the moment, she could ask for nothing more. _______________________________________________ The meteor entered the planets atmosphere. It streaked through the skies and into the open air, it was seconds from impact, upon landing its powers would work its way into the planet, converting it....corrupting it, that was its life purpose, its maker was only trying to preserve its species like any other race of beings, even if it came at the expense of other worlds, it did only what was best for its children. It was a few seconds from impact, it was now about to fulfill its mission, 3...2...1 Darkness. _________________________________________ The eye of Emperor Ing flared to life, for the first time in years he observed his surroundings, he expected to be in a circular room suspended in the air with blue phazon sticking to the walls. But this was not the case, the Emperor was in a rectangular room, stained glass windows displayed various creatures doing things that he was not able to understand. He looked down the hall and saw a group of moving dark puddles from, then sharp legged beings emerged from the puddles until 5 warrior Ing and several hunter Ing stood before the Hive ruler. "Emperor" they all bowed down in respect. Yes, it was true, he remembered, his name was Emperor Ing, he was alive, his subjects had survived. And they where ready to invade whatever world awaited them. TerrorI saw the light, by peering into the darkness -Gavla Twilight was about to walk through the doors of the ceremony hall, where she would receive her crown. She would never have guess that fixing a spell would earn her a set of wings and a position of power in Equestria. It was the most happiest moment of her life, nothing could go wrong, everything was going to be fine. _______________________________________________________________________ Emperor Ing looked through the small portal that gave him a view of the new world that beheld him, this place was filled with creatures not worth possessing, many of them lacked the special abilities his subjects craved, most of them used their unique powers for work, the equine or "ponie" variant known as unicorns all possessed horns that allowed levitation, but this was not worth his time, he wanted a powerful and worthy being to control. Using his extra sensory powers he scaned the entirety of the land known as "Equestria" after a while he then detected a mass of equines gathering at what appeared to be the capital city of the kingdom, he scanned the area, once again just mostly unicorns and their winged hornless counterparts, their where even some that held none of these features. He then turned his attention to what appeared to be the purpose of the gathering, that's when the power grew. Great magic emitted from four individuals called alicrons, raw power was coursing through these beings, the purple one appeared to be the center of attention, if this was so then she must be a powerful being out of the four that where with her. He now knew what to do. _______________________________________________________________________ A-Mos counted the luminoth eggs sacs that adored the breeding hall, a total count of over 100 eggs per chamber, which in total was more than 1,200. After the one called Samus had save their planet, Luminoth from all settlements where awoken from their hibernation pods and gathered at the great hall, where they all celebrated, for after 50 years of interdimensional fighting, they could live in peace, and with the help of the Galactic Federation that peace would last for a long time. He would be told tales by his father U-mos about how the human called Samus, savior of the Galaxy ventured into the darknesss and returned with the light of Aether, A-Mos only wish he could be a hero like Samus someday. Work in rebuilding the northern settlements where moving along smoothly, the Agon wastes they regrowing back to fertile lands, tree and grass rose from the ground, replacing the sand that had covered the plains, The Travus bogs where being drained of the water that had flooded the area, slowly but surely, the ground that the forest grew from would be dry again and free of the hostile water dwellers that lived in it. The Luminoth had regained control of the robotic sentries that guarded the Sanctuary Fortress, the city below would be put to use once again, and construction on the second Quadraix guardian had resumed In order to ensure that a disaster like this would never happen again the Lumonth began construction on a orbital cannon with material bought from the Galactic Federation whom trade had been established with. He wished he could have seen the look on the Ings face as they perished in their dark world, Samus had said that she watched some try to crawl through the portal as their universe collapsed, eventually the darklings that where in the light world died out or where hunted down and destroyed. Yet he couldn't shake this feeling that their was a still something left unresolved, like their where still a part of the Ing left, he had been reassured that they where extinct and gone forever. Yet, why did he still have this feeling? _____________________________________________________________________ How could he have failed? He never suspected that his plan would be foiled by a unicorn and her pet dragon, and to make matters worse he nearly died of the blast that destroyed his being, he was now nothing more than a mass of black fog. Having spent months pulling himself back together he made a decision then and their that he would strike Celestia and Luna at their castle, if he would die trying so be it, at least he would have caused some irreparable damage. But unfortunately a certain event fell on that day. King Sombra watched from a distance as the purple unicron known as Twilight Sparkle was crowned as Equestrias newest ruler. And he hated it with all his black unforgiving heart. The very idea, he was defeated while the hero was given more power, which was ironic to him, he diminished, while she ascended. And their was nothing he could do about it. _____________________________________________________________________ A squad of warrior Ing had a light stone placed where the portal would be generated, even though the creature was to be captured and possessed, she was to be captured alive, Emperor Ing waited for his troops to open the portal at the right moment, when she as away from the the safety of her guards, but the Ing also wanted the make their debut in style, in a way that the whole world would now, and what better way to do that than take away a princess in front of the eyes of hundreds of a adoring ponies. _________________________________________________________________________ Twilight Sparkle rod in the carriage that pulled her and after a while she jumped off and joined her friends in a runway that lead to a bridge where she planned to take off, this was perfect nothing could go wrong now. ______________________________________________________ The purple one now known as Twilight was a now away from most of the guard, if they wanted to strike, the time was now. "Open the portal" The Ing did as they where instructed and the gateway to a new world tore open like a book _____________________________________________________ This was it, Twilight was about to take off, she was about to fly for the very first time nothing could ruin this now, in fact she dared the universe to ruin this perfect moment. And of course, thats exactly what happened. Before Twilight could sore through the clouds a force blasted her and all of her friends back a few feet. The crowd of ponies gasped as their new princess fell on her feet, but they where more surprised at what sent her back. Twilight regain her sight and stood up to face whatever force knocked her down, she expected to see the changelings or maybe Discord still up to no good, but this wasn't even close to one of those things What stood before her was a purple portal, it crackled with energy that gave her a chilling feeling, a dark fog made up the center of its being, overall, the distortion did not look appealing. Celestia saw the event that had unfolded before her, she and Luna had never seen anything like it, but she knew deep down that Twiligh had to get away from it, so why wasn't she moving? Part of Twilight's mind told her to get the heck out of her, the other part told her to step in, like the rift beckoned her to venture into is mysterious gateway and take her to a place that would fill her with excitement and something completely new. She could her the voice Shining Armor and her friends telling her to get away as she stepped closer, but the her curiosity was winning, finally she came to her senses and tired to bolt away. But before she could do that, a long black wicked tentacle emerged from the tear in space, and lunged right at her. ShadowDarkness! My beautiful Darkness! -Kaos The tentacle lunged at Twilight wrapping itself around the princess waist, the appendage tightened its grip around the Alicorn and squeezed. "TWILIGHT!" Prince Shining Armor, brother of Twilight and captain of the royal guard was not going to let this event ruin his sisters coronation, nor was he gonna let this monster take her away to who knows where, he refused to let that happen. Twilight struggled to break free from the tentacles grasp, but any attempts to break free where futile, the attachment them began to pull Twilight in the portal, her friends friend to grab her, but they where to slow, even Rainbow Dash tried to reach for her friend before she was consumed by the portals void. _____________________________________________________ Twilight rolled over as she tumbled out of the white rift, her princess dress was slightly torn, but otherwise she was okay, she got up and looked at her surroundings, she was in Canterlot. Or at least...it looked like Canterlot. "Where... where am I?" The sky was a mix of purple and black, and littered across said sky was swirling patterns ofvery thin twisters. The landscape of the city look like it always did, but their where strange plants that appeared to have.....eyes? This was not Canterlot, it was a nightmare replica of the city, this was a place she could imagine Nightmare Moon ruling. Twilight looked at the buildings to see something her mind could not comprehend. Their where strange and drak creatures that stood on top of the structures that looked like spiders, the only distinct features about theirs bodies was the single eye with multiple piuples and they where screeching a unholy noise. "What are those things!?" she asked in vain Twilight backed up, she had to get out of her, but she was too frozen with fear to even move. She then then heard something like glass break that snapped her back into reality, the creatures then came down from their perch and came close, the more they came the more Twilight backed up. "Stay away from me!" she screamed Then she felt as though a shield had been lifted from her, and then she was in agony. Whatever was in the air was filling her lungs with a toxic pathogen, the fur on her skin burned as her dress burned faster, leaving it torn and trashed. She felt like it was the end, she was dying, the creatures then lunged at her, their sharp legs digging into her body. Just as it seems death was here to take her, she felt as those she was turning into air and then darkness took over. ____________________________________________________________________ "I'm going in after her!" Rainbow Dash declared The princesses, Shining Armor and the royal guard all stood with Twilight's friends at the still open dark portal. "Rainbow wait you have to think this through" Applejack said "You don't know whats in their!" "Yes I do, Twilight's in their!" "Rainbow Dash, I know about the current state were in but we can't just go in there until we know what's on the other side of that portal" Princess Celestia said "You got a better idea?!" Rainbow snapped back Before anypony could respond Rainbow made her decision. "I thought so" Rainbow Dash was about to plunge into the dark rift when a purple mass shot from the void. Rainbow Dash got on he feet and looked at what slammed into her. And to the surprise and joy of everypony it was Twilight. "Twilight!" they all said. The ponies gathered around their fallen friend, they where so shocked they didn't even notice the dark rift close silently. "What happened?" Rarity asked her alicorn friend Twilight's royal dress was torn and shredded, like somepony raped her. "Where is she? wheres my daughter!" A very concern mother and father pushed their way through the crowd and made their way to their alicorn offspring, the mother gasped and was nearly brought to tears (although she eventually did) when they saw the condition she was in. Twilight's eyes managed to open a bit, she heard numerous voices around, some familiar, others she couldn't tell, however because she was in a very weak state, she drifted back into unconsciousness, she could have sworn that the last thing she saw was the sky turning dark and purple, shifting between this color and the sunny appearance, the crackle of lighting sounded as she drifted off into sleep. _______________________________________________________________ Sombra watched as Twilight was taken away for medical attention, to him that looked like a better look for her. But he was more intrigued as to what did this to her, opening portals was a difficult spell, even for alicorns. But on thing was certain, whoever was one the other side of that portal was not friendly to Twilight Sparkle. He had to meet this pony.... or thing. FearFear feeds me as does destruction -Mag Mel Twilight opened her eyes, the pain was going down, that was a good thing for sure. She got up and looked at her surroundings, and found herself in a strange dark room, the floor seemed endless, without walls or exits. "Whats going on?" she asked in a whisper. She heard the faintest voice tingle her ears. "I-Is somepony there? Show yourself!" The whispers grew louder. Twilight charged her horn, just in case. A few seconds later, she spun around to find the owner of the voices. Then, she felt as though she stepped into something. She looked down at her feet and she saw a purple puddle. But the thing that scares her the most was that it was moving, almost as if it was alive. She screamed, hoping that somepony heard her. "What is that thing?!" she thought to herself. Suddenly, like a body raising from its grave, something started forming out of the puddle. Its head came out first, and then a... mane? Two wings sprouted out of the creature, followed by four hooves. It looked like Rainbow Dash, except it wasn't. This version looked much more evil and dark, like her best friend had been corrupted by some dark entity. "R-Rainbow?" Five more puddles appeared beside the evil clone, and formed more dark versions of her friends, even her number one assistant. Twilight was scared more than she ever has been in her life. Even more puddles appeared and each spawned a dark double of somepony Twilight knew, ranging from Princess Celestia, to Mayor Mare, Shining Armor to Cadence, they all were evil dark versions of themselves. Now Twilight was terrified, this couldn't be happening, what in the name of Tartarus was going on here?! She heard a voice start to speak in her mind. "Your world has sooo much light... Princessssss" the voice said. The clones stepped closer. "Stay away from me!" Twilight yelled out, but the darklings kept coming closer. "All of you will become a loyal servant to the darkness," the voice spoke again. The clones were only a few hooflengths from her now. "Which of your friends will join our army first? Your beloved brother? Your little dragon, or perhaps we shall take your precious Princess Celestia..." the voice was now taunting her, playing with her emotions. Twilight had a mix of feelings, from anger to fear. She didn't know what to think anymore. "The one called Luna already has a dark past... Perhaps we shall bring back that darkness?" Then another darkling pony formed from the puddle and shaped itself into Nightmare Moon, a pony she never hoped to see again."Eventually, even you will submit, Twilight Sparkle," the voice taunted once more. One final puddle formed, and from it sprang a evil version of Twilight. She couldn't hold back her fear anymore. Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs. ________________________________________________________________ Twilight awoke screaming from the dream she had expecienced, only to see her friends and family trying to calm her down. They succeeded eventually, and Twilight looked around to find that she was in the medical wing of the castle. Thank Celestia it was only a dream. ...Wasn't it? "Twilight! Whats wrong?! Are you okay?" Applejack asked her friend in her usual southern accent. Twilight remembered it all, only she wished she hadn't. Those images where burned into her brain, she remembered every second of that horrid nightmare as if it was the back of her hoof. "Twilight, its okay, you're safe now." Twilight looked up to see the warm smile of her brother. She always felt safe with him. "The portal is closed now," Luna stated. "Celestia scanned for traces of its energy, but they came up negative." Twilight was relieved that the dark rift was gone, but she was still on edge. "...Is there a problem, Twilight?" Luna asked. Knowing she could not hide it forever, Twilight spoke."I had a nightmare," she managed to utter. The group all looked at each other with concered faces, then back at Twilight."What was it about?" Celestia asked in a concerned voice. Twilight clamed down when she heard Celestia's voice. She knew she could trust her friends. "Are you sure you want to know?" Twilight asked. "Yes, this nightmare could be a result of the portal, and it could give us some clues about its purposes or even the creator." Luna said with a slight tint of nervousness to her voice. "Twilight, your safety is our number one concern. Please tell us about this dream you had," Celestia added. Reluctantly, Twilight explained the dream she saw from begining to end, describing every little detail of the scary nightmare. At first the ponies where taken back at this response, they could never imagine a dream like that, but here was Twilight, explaining it to them in great detail. "...That is a very strange dream indeed," Luna said. "But do you think this has anything to do with the thing that attacked Twilight?" Shining Armor asked to nopony in particular. "There might be. We do not know for sure. But Twilight, what did you see on the other side of that portal?" Celestia asked. Twilight described the dark version of Canterlot she was transported to, and the dark creatures that attacked her. This also surprised the ponies, and their fears began to rise. "A dark version of Canterlot?" Spike asked. "How is that even possible?" Princess Cadance asked. "It may be possible that Twilight was teleported to a different dimension," Celestia suggested, and immediately, all eyes were on her. "A... A different dimension?" Twilight asked. "There are different realms in this universe, we are not the only ones in this world. Some dimensions are friendly," Celestia said while looking at Twilight's torn royal dress. "others are not so friendly." After a few more hours Twilight was passed with a clean bill of health, she went outside where she was greeted a worried sick mother, and after a while she was given a her old castle room to stay at until this event could be resolved. Twilight's friends all tried to cheer her up by talking. "Don't worry Twilight. Celestia's trying to figure all this out as we speak." "The reasurring voice of her older brother made Twilight feel better. "I guess you're right, we should try to do something else for now..." "Ooh ohh, me me me! I have an idea! Lets play a game! How about darts?" Pinkie Pie said while pulling a target along with a few darts out of her hair. "Okay... I guess we can do that." Twilight tried to use her magic to life a couple of darts from Pinkie's hoof. ....Her magic wasn't working. "Wait... I can't use my magic..." Twilight again tried to lift the dart from Pinkie's hoof, but her magic failed again. "...Twilight? What's wrong?" Spike asked with concern clearly evident in his voice. Twilight looked at her friends. "I can't use my magic." NightIs it fear or courage that compels you fleshing? -Megatron The Guardian focused his new power to levitate a stone that was on the ground. This ability was barely used since the Luminoth would rather die then allowed themselves to be possessed. The Emperor had given him a new code name: Telekinesis Guardian. It was long, but fitting. He and a number of other Ing had received many abilities from the one called Twilight Sparkle, one Guardian had gained the ability to teleport great distances, another had the power to fire magical bursts from his horn, much stronger than his previous attack, while another could conjure objects and items, and the list kept growing with each ability stolen. The Emperor was satisfied that even though they had not been able to possess the princess, the abilities his warriors wielded more then made up for their loss. He now sat in his chambers waiting for word of when his army would begin their first conquest for this world. His soldiers had already informed him of a city to the far north of this land that held a great power. After some debate, the decision was made to invade that city. Now, all he had to do was wait for his warriors to get into position. __________________________________________________________________________________ The decision was made that Twilight and her friends would stay at the crystal empire for the time being, the Crystal Heart would protect any unwanted portal spells from being cast while within the Empire after a few enchantments. Twilight and her friends made their way down to the train station as the whistle signaled the engine's departure. Twilight sat in the safest passenger car possible, surrounded by her friends. She felt safe with them with her. "Who do you think is trying to get to Twilight?" Spike asked, trying to start a conversation. "Do you think it could be Sombra?" Rainbow Dash questioned, recalling the events that transpired. "It can't be. We defeated him, remember?" Applejack replied. As the ponies discussed who might be behind the attack on Twilight, she looked out the window and saw the Royal Sisters riding beside them in carriages of their own. Twilight was worried, and she had good reason why. A force they had never faced before was attacking them. She tried taking a nap, hopefully it would relieve her of some stress. She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off into sleep. _________________________________________________________________ Twilight found herself in a dark place yet again, she scanned the area for dark moving puddles, but thankfully she found none. But then the sound of hooves trotting echoed through the area. "Who's there!?" Twilight yelled. The purple alicorn turned around expecting to see another puddle, some monster, or something, but what she saw surprised her. Standing there was the Princess of the Night herself. "Princess Luna!" Twilight ran up to the lunar alicorn and hugged her. "What are you doing here?" Twilight asked. "My sister suggested that I enter your dreams to hopefully find the cause of your nightmares." "Well, it's a good thing you're here." Twilight led the Lunar Princess down the black void's path. "What was the thing that attacked you, an evil double if I recall correctly?" "Yeah, they were surrounding me, like they wanted my very being." "Well, let's see how they face off against the Princess of the Night for a change." As if on cue, the voice spoke to them again. "We'll see about that!" Luna turned to face the challenger. To her surprise and horror, it was Nightmare Moon. The dark alicorn persona gave a small chuckle. "No, you were destroyed by the Elements!" "Oh no they didn't. I survived, if only by a little. But now I'm much more than you think..." The void suddenly warped and distorted, then filled with purple and black. Luna found herself floating in the sky of what appeared to be a dark Equestria. She was baffled at what laid before her. "What is the meaning of this!?" Luna demanded of the Nightmare. The dark entity laughed again before speaking. "Oh Luna, you thought that by giving into your hatred and greed created only me? No, it created something much worse." The Nightmare gestured towards the dark land. "Because you so arrogantly gave into the darkness, it in term created a dark version of Equestria, along with a race of beings that are in term, entities of pure darkness, or in this case, the Ing." Luna was petrified in fear and disbelief. "No... This isn't true..." "Yes, your hatred and jealousy created all of this, and now its coming to bite you in the back." Nightmare Moon let out a sinister laugh as dark puddles formed themselves into claw shaped monsters with a single, big red eye. Luna had enough of this nonsense. "I don't believe you. This isn't real! You're lying!" The Princess shouted at Nightmare Moon. "Oh don't worry," Nightmare began. "Soon we shall be together again." The dark entity lunged itself at the Princess. While Twilight woke up shocked, it was Luna who was screaming this time around. ________________________________________________________ The Emperor was satisfied. He could literally taste the fear that these ponies emitted. It was fitting that the Luminoth had given them the name 'Ing.' In their language it meant 'Terror.' The Ing could feed off of the fear that comes from their foes. It gave them strength, and unlike the unwavering Luminoth warriors they had faced in battle, these ponies were full of fear, the very sight of something scary was enough to send an entire town into chaos. But the Emperor snapped out of his daydream when a Hunter addressed him. "Emperor." The one eye of the Emperor looked down on his subject. "Speak." "Do you think the ponies will believe the nightmare you gave them?" "I am certain." "And are you certain we can trust our new... Allies? They don't seem very trustworthy." The ruler of the Ing Hive knew what his Hunter meant. Shortly after they had arrived in this world, they met a race of shadow-like creatures who called themselves the 'Dark Forces.' Their leader who called himself Shadowfright (or Larry as some called him) had offered an alliance between their species. While it was true that both the Ing and these dark creatures possessed similar powers such as manipulating dreams, the Ing could easily possess them and take that power for themselves. But since they were unfamiliar with this new world, they needed a little assistance, in exchange for a base of operations. The Dark Forces would aid them in their conquest of Equestria. But only time would tell how long this alliance lasted. ________________________________________________________ The train had stopped as the royal carriage was set down, when Luna had awoken from her dream, she was so startled that they had to stop the ride so Luna could calm down and catch her breath. "It's okay, Luna." Celestia comforted her sister, the ponies were around the princesses as they tried to explain the situation. "You're okay, Luna. Just calm down." Luna started to regain her usual demeanor. After a few minutes of silence, she was acting somewhat normal. "What happened?" asked Rainbow. Luna looked at the group. "I took Celestia's advice to go into Twilight's dreams, try to figure out what was the cause of the nightmare." The princess paused for a second. "What did you see?" Celestia questioned. Luna and Twilight made eye contact. Not having experienced the dream, Twilight was slightly confused. She explained the dream she saw. Now everypony was even more worried than before. "Ing? I've never even heard that before." Celestia stated. "And Nightmare Moon? The last time we met her, we destroyed her with the Elements of Harmony." Twilight said. The situation was even more unstable than ever, the ponies now dealing with what appeared to be a whole new enemy. "Well, whatever it is, these Ing present a threat to Equestria. We have to get to the Crystal Empire so we can devise a plan. It's the most protected area we can get to right now." Before anypony could get back in their vehicles, another carriage descended from the sky. As it got closer to the group Twilight realized that the riders where royal gaurds from the Crystal Empire. The flying vehicle touched down on the earth, and a Gaurd stepped out of the carriage with a look of worry on his face. He ran up to the group, and they knew that this couldn't be any good. "Um... Shining? Whats wrong?" Twilight asked. Shining Army looked at his sister, then over to the Princesses. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Crystal Empire is under attack" Twilight's eyes widened. Now everything was definitely not going to be fine. Youtube Video EmpireI am Shadow -Makuta Teridax The Royal carriages and train raced to the distant northern city, it was of the utmost importance that the ponies get to the northern city of the Crystal Empire, for whoever controlled the Empire could reflect either love or hatred across Equestria. Then the snow storms started to disrupt their path. The pegasi tried effortlessly to ride though as the train carrying the ponies plowed through the snow. Twilight looked out the window as the empire's tower came into view. From what Shining Armor described, there had been multiple reports of portals opening and closing, and every time one would open a bolt of dark energy would strike an area of the city; the more they fired, the more violent and destructive they became. Thoughts began to rise in Twilight's mind, was Nightmare Moon really behind all this? Did Luna's envy really create a dark version of Equestria, and if so why attack now and not before Twilight was less powerful? Then another theory crept into Twilight's mind, sometime before the Crystal Empire was restored, a race of dark, shadowy creatures called the dark forces tried to attack Ponyville by possessing Rarity as the new Nightmare Moon. Luckily they where able to defeat their adversaries and free Rarity from the forces of evil, and the Dark Forces have not been seen since. But the recent attacks and the creatures that called themselves the 'Ing' did not resemble the Dark Forces in any way. So who was the one behind all this? Those thoughts where thrown away as the train came to a screeching halt. "We're here!" Pinkie Pie yelled. Twilight looked out the window. True to his word, the Empire was in bad shape. A dark cloud loomed over the Empire as dark portals opened and a bolt of dark energy flew from them demolishing a building or two. The Elements got out of the train, where they were eventually joined by the Princess and her brother. Celestia looked at the state of the Empire. Since her last visit it was a peaceful place, now it's erupting in chaos. A thought crept into her mind, and Twilight's eyes widened. "Shiny, wheres Cadence?" Her older brother gave his sister stern eyes, "She went ahead into the castle, she said she would and use her magic to enforce the Crystal Heart and try to lift the ponies' spirits in hope that the crystal heart would repel the attacks. "That went well," Rainbow said with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "So what's the plan?" Applejack asked. Celestia stepped forward looked at the empire. "Since the ponies are in fear, they cannot power the Crystal heart and repel these attacks. Our best shot is that we use the Elements of Harmony on the heart to charge it, which could hopefully repel these attacks." "Do you think it'll work?" Twilight asked. "It is the only option," Luna said. The guards bought forth a chest and Celestia used her magic to open it, and the Elements each floated over to their respective Bearer. "Okay girls, let's do this," Twilight said. Then they started off towards the chaos. _______________________________________________________________________ The Emperor watched as his soldiers fired dark bolts from portals and into the Empire. From what his new 'soldiers' told him, as long as the Crystal Ponies were in fear and doubt, the Crystal Heart that protected the Empire would fail and the Ing would be able to invade, but so far the Ing were limited to firing bolts of Matter-Antimatter. The ponies' fear was creating a dark cloud and blocking the sunlight. The cloud had to cover the entire city for the Ing to invade and finally posses the pitiful species that would oppose them. "Emperor." The Emperor Ing came back to reality and found himself before his adviser. "Yes?" "More creatures that we have possessed have been looking through the memories of the ponies and found information that is most promising." The Emperor nodded in acknowledgment. "Bring them in." The servant-class Ing gestured for the doors to be opened. And when they did, they reveled a bunch of shadowy creatures. Before they invaded Equestria, a group of Warriors went to the planet's moon and possessed the creatures there, and it turns out that they already had dark forms prior to the Ing's arrival, making them much easier to manipulate. Upon possession, they reverted back the their evil forms while becoming puppets of the Hive. "So how goes the storming, master?" a possessed Shadowfright asked. "It has commenced, my troops are striking fear into the hearts of these ponies, and if what you say is true, then once the Crystal Heart looses its power, then my troops will be able to invade and take over." "Indeed, the heart gets its power from the love of the Crystal Ponies, once it becomes powerless, the Empire will be vulnerable to attack," the Shadowfright said. Emperor Ing signaled his troops to begin the assault. "Emperor," a Warrior said. "What is it?" "The six who played a role in the Empire's rebirth are advancing with the Elements" "Let me see." A portal opened to reveal six mares running with their Elements to the center of the Empire. At first, the Ruler of the Ing was going to try and stop them, but a better idea popped into his mind. "What are your orders?" "Let them get to the center, and prepare a portal." ________________________________________________________________ Luna was almost certain that these attacks where the work of the dark forces, but for some reason the matter that kept attacking the city with was not familiar to her, almost like it was alien. But for now she had to deal with these impending shadow attacks. The Royal guard fought to protect the Princesses and the Elements of Harmony, but the shadow bolts were hindering their progress. Shining Armor watched as another pony was hit by a dark blast, putting him out of the fight, but another volley of dark bolts took out an entire squad of pegasi. "Keep going! We must protect the Princesses!" a squad commander shouted as he led his team to the heart of the empire. Just then, another portal opened in front of him, and he quickly raised a shield to protect himself from what ever came out. But instead of a shadow attack, a black and orange fog came out and floated towards him. Twilight watched as this fog 'attacked' the helpless royal guard and immediately something began to happen. His features, once white and regal turned black and fearsome, his tail turned a dark purple and Twilight could have sworn she saw black puddles forming at his hooves, but instead of leaking, the liquid was being absorbed by the guard. When the event was over, a nightmarish version of the bravo squad commander stood before his men. Luna looked in awe as this royal guard bore his yellow eyes at everypony, then made a weird noise and then just... disappeared. But for some strange reason, that reminded her of Nightmare Moon. When the dark guard somehow vanished from existence, the ponies were dumbfounded. "What was that all about?!" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight didn't know the answer, what ever happened to that poor guard must have been the work of whatever was behind these attacks. "We'll worry about that later, where almost to the Crystal Heart!" Wasting no time, the ponies sped towards the center of the empire dodging bolts and watching as more black fog entered the realm and attacked the ponies. Finally, they arrived at the center of the Empire where the Crystal Heart stood in its place. Twilight looked back, Celestia not far away gave the nod to use the Elements. "Go ahead. You know what to do." Wasting no time, Twilight activated the Elements, the rainbow magic swirling around the heart in a manner most peculiar. The Elements responded from the desire of their bearers and fired on the heart. ...Only for a very painful feedback to occur. The ponies where blown away by the power of the shockwave sending them all a few feet back. Twilight struggled to open her eyes as she saw another black puddle form around the Crystal heart. Twilight got up and tried to walk to it. Only to be stopped by Darkling Tentacles. The heart was consumed by darkness as a giant monster with a huge head looked down upon her; its tentacles lashing out everywhere. Beauty of AnnihilationI can fly like a bird not in the sky, which can always swim and can always dry. I say goodbye at night and morning hi. I'm part of you what am I. I follow and lead as you pass, dress yourself in black my darkness lasts. I flee the light but without the sun, your view of me would be gone. - Abracadavre ________________________________________________________________________ Darkness. That's all Twilight could see. Her head ached. As she opened her eyes, she saw that she was in a room that was brightly lit, and voices swarmed her ears. She was in pain for some reason, although she didn't know why. Then she looked down at herself, and that reason presented itself. Her body was covered in bandages and casts, while blood attempted to escape her veins staining her fur and casts. When she tried to move, pain greeted her body even more and she fell back into darkness once more. ________________________________________________________________________ Several hours earlier The Emperor Ing felt the energies of the Crystal Heart. It gave him strength and power. It was unlike anything he felt before. This would be a great contribution to his cause. Using his eye, he saw Royal Guards and ponies staring at him as if they had wet themselves. He witnessed a yellow pony with a pink mane cower in fear. This amused him. Using one of his Darkling Tentacles, he reached out and picked up the pony and brought it to his head, and the pony did the most natural thing when being held by a monster. It fainted. Since his prey usually screamed or tried to fight back, this was a new reaction to the Emperor. He didn't notice the blue blur coming at him. Rainbow Dash was trying to comprehend what was happening, first a bunch a black portals where attacking the Crystal Empire, and then a giant monster just ate the Crystal Heart. When she saw the monster holding Fluttershy she snapped back into reality. "Hey! Drop her, ugly!" Being Rainbow Dash, she did what any reckless daredevil did, charge head first into danger. At blinding speed, she struck a blow to the creature's tentacle causing it to drop her friend and carry her to safety. The ponies gathered around their friend and checked her condition. "She's gonna be alright," Twilight told the others. "Wait!" Spike said. "Where's her Element?" Twilight's expression changed when she noticed that Fluttershy's Element was missing from her neck. She looked at the creature and saw it holding the Element of Kindness in its grip. The Emperor had a small amount of knowledge about the Elements of Harmony, but he knew that they could lead to his defeat and a the delay of his plans, so that's why he removed it from the pony just before she was rescued by her companions. Then the ruler of the Ing felt something jam into this torso and he looked down to see that it was a spear. Shining Armor ordered his men to fire another volley of magic bolts at the monster. "Hey ugly!" The creature turned in his direction. "This is for hurting my sister!" a cannonball made of an explosive material shot forth at the beast and struck it dead on. At first Shining gave a smile of confidence, but that was before a bolt of dark matter shot back and struck him in the chest, sending him a few feet backward. "Shining!" the voice of his wife called her husband's name as she ran up to him, and Cadence began to care for him. Shining found the power to get back up. The Emperor watched as the pink pony began to care for the white one who dared attack him. Then that meant he would just have to keep them apart. Using his powers, he opened a portal behind him and grabbed the pink one. Shining watched as his wife was grabbed by the creature who attacked his sister. Both him and Twilight did what they thought was the most rational thing to do: run and fire everything they had at the creature's torso, but their attacks did nothing to the monster. Tired of the constant stream of bolts, the Ing ruler used the power of the Crystal Heart to erect a shield around him that slowly grew bigger. Not knowing if the creature could hear him over the force field, Shining Armor and Twilight shouted at the monster. "You put my wife down now!" Shining Armor screamed over fear that he may lose his wife to a monster. The Emperor Ing saw no purpose for holding the pink one hostage other then the fact the it amused him how these creatures fought for their loved ones. He opened a portal and sent her to the to the dark realm. Shining Armor watched as his wife disappeared through the portal to Celestia knows where, the captain ran up to the barrier and started to bang on the force field demanding to know what the evil being had done with his wife. Having had enough fun for one day, The Emperor activated the full extent of the Crystal Heart and literally blew everypony out of the Crystal Empire. Twilight met the full force of the blast. She and her friends where blown out of the Crystal Empire just as they had exiled the changelings from Canterlot. The ponies descended from the sky and plummeted towards the ground.
EchoesThe powers of darkness are a more powerful force than all the toys magic or science can muster -Mindwipe In the depths of space, lies a planet, dominated primary by a race of equine like sentient lifeforms known as horses, or in a more common term "Ponies", but these are not your typical earth based labor work and riding ponies that are use for recreational purposes, the ponies are divided into four species, Earthbound, officially known as Earth ponies, the base species of the equine race, the Pegasi, the mythical winged graces of the skies, the Unicrons, the magic manipulating and most populated of the four, and finally their are the Alicrons, a mix of all three species, they posses the magical powers of the Unicorns, the flight abilities of the Pegasi, and the strength of a good, true heart of an Earth Pony this combination gave them longevity, it was not immortality though, that was reserved for the god creator of the universe. It was a very good history for one of the most prosperous countries of that planet, a kingdom called Equestria, where the title of royalty could be earned through the lessons of the force known as friendship, where the clouds must be worked in order for them the function, where an empire of shining Crystals reflects Love and happiness throughout the land, and if you happen to be chosen by the rulers of this magical land as a personal, faithful student, Equestria could be your country as well. But if you could look 7 light years to the left you would see a rouge planet without a sun at all, you would think that without sunlight this planet would have died out a long time ago. But the species that inhabited the unique world refused to let that happen and built devices of great design to regulate energy that sustained the rouge world. Not long ago this planet experienced a war that nearly destroyed the planet, but thanks the efforts a warrior claded in the armor of its bird like adoptive parents the planet was saved from certain doom and the natives began to repopulate to stable numbers. Breeding season had just come to pass in the everyday life of that peaceful race, raising their numbers to a good height, peace was all that seemed for the two worlds. But the former was about to endure the tragedy the latter had been delt, in the form a sole meteor. _____________________________________________________________ Celestia placed the book in a package and sealed it, she then had said package sent to ponyville via mailpony. The more they package moved from Canterlot the more happy Celestia became, this would be her students finale test after tomorrow Equestria would have a new princess. Luna joined her sister out on the balcony, the lunar alicorn resting beside her sibling. "Has it been sent?" Luna asked Celestia gave her sister a warm smile. "Yes" "Are you sure she is ready?" Luna asked "Only time will tell, if she uses all her friendship lesson and fixes the spell then she has proven that she is ready" "She has done much for this land, she deserves the title of royalty" Luna said "Yes, it has been a long time coming, but now she will fulfill her destiny" Celestia agreed. "Lets just hope all goes as planned" Celestia looked to the stars, nothing could go wring, everything was going to be just fine. The stars danced in the sky, to distant worlds they showed their beauty, up close their powerful orbited revolved the planets around them, Comets streaked the space zone, leaving the frozen trails, meteors floated aimlessly through the void in a limbo of endless nothingness. But one particular meteor was not bound by the forces of time and trajectory, this one steered itself, and for one specific reason. It was alive. It now traversed an interdimesonal plane that could only accessed via wormhole, it was a power that it and its kind shared, it emerged from the blue vortex and into the stary void of space again, it beheld its target, a blue sphere, standard in size,it was now in perfect alignment, the rock did not care if it hit a populated are all that matted was its purpose, all life on that planet would eventually submit anyway, or die trying. ______________________________________________ Darkness, that was all it saw, all it felt, but is was used to this, it had lived in a dark world its whole life, before that life ended. It remembered, a being with two legs, its right arm a weapon, its armor, bathed in light, had defeated no..destroyed him, crippled him, his life ended in a flash of pure light as he released the energy that held his world together. He had fallen, his kin would also share the same fate. Yet he could feel, he was on a level aware of his surroundings, was he dead? He was suppose to be. Yet he was here, in his palace, his home, intact and stable, not crumbling beneath his being. He was alive, he was now sure of it. The only question is...how? ___________________________________________ Twilight placed the book and the table, and she read the letter that came with it. "Dear Twilight Sparkle, the spell contained on the last page of this book is Star Swirl the Bearded's secret unfinished masterpiece" Twilight was interested at the reading of the first line. "He was never able to get it right, and thus abandoned it. I believe you are the only pony who can understand and rewrite it. Princess Celestia" Twilight set the book down, turned the book to the last page and read the spell "From one to another, another to one. A mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled" Nothing happened. "That doesn't make any sense. It doesn't even rhyme!" Twilight retired to her room, not hearing the magic working on the golden relics within the glass case. She layed on her bed and look to her window, she saw a shooting star pass by, normally somepony would make a wish upon it, but Twilight's life was content at the moment, she could ask for nothing more. _______________________________________________ The meteor entered the planets atmosphere. It streaked through the skies and into the open air, it was seconds from impact, upon landing its powers would work its way into the planet, converting it....corrupting it, that was its life purpose, its maker was only trying to preserve its species like any other race of beings, even if it came at the expense of other worlds, it did only what was best for its children. It was a few seconds from impact, it was now about to fulfill its mission, 3...2...1 Darkness. _________________________________________ The eye of Emperor Ing flared to life, for the first time in years he observed his surroundings, he expected to be in a circular room suspended in the air with blue phazon sticking to the walls. But this was not the case, the Emperor was in a rectangular room, stained glass windows displayed various creatures doing things that he was not able to understand. He looked down the hall and saw a group of moving dark puddles from, then sharp legged beings emerged from the puddles until 5 warrior Ing and several hunter Ing stood before the Hive ruler. "Emperor" they all bowed down in respect. Yes, it was true, he remembered, his name was Emperor Ing, he was alive, his subjects had survived. And they where ready to invade whatever world awaited them.
TerrorI saw the light, by peering into the darkness -Gavla Twilight was about to walk through the doors of the ceremony hall, where she would receive her crown. She would never have guess that fixing a spell would earn her a set of wings and a position of power in Equestria. It was the most happiest moment of her life, nothing could go wrong, everything was going to be fine. _______________________________________________________________________ Emperor Ing looked through the small portal that gave him a view of the new world that beheld him, this place was filled with creatures not worth possessing, many of them lacked the special abilities his subjects craved, most of them used their unique powers for work, the equine or "ponie" variant known as unicorns all possessed horns that allowed levitation, but this was not worth his time, he wanted a powerful and worthy being to control. Using his extra sensory powers he scaned the entirety of the land known as "Equestria" after a while he then detected a mass of equines gathering at what appeared to be the capital city of the kingdom, he scanned the area, once again just mostly unicorns and their winged hornless counterparts, their where even some that held none of these features. He then turned his attention to what appeared to be the purpose of the gathering, that's when the power grew. Great magic emitted from four individuals called alicrons, raw power was coursing through these beings, the purple one appeared to be the center of attention, if this was so then she must be a powerful being out of the four that where with her. He now knew what to do. _______________________________________________________________________ A-Mos counted the luminoth eggs sacs that adored the breeding hall, a total count of over 100 eggs per chamber, which in total was more than 1,200. After the one called Samus had save their planet, Luminoth from all settlements where awoken from their hibernation pods and gathered at the great hall, where they all celebrated, for after 50 years of interdimensional fighting, they could live in peace, and with the help of the Galactic Federation that peace would last for a long time. He would be told tales by his father U-mos about how the human called Samus, savior of the Galaxy ventured into the darknesss and returned with the light of Aether, A-Mos only wish he could be a hero like Samus someday. Work in rebuilding the northern settlements where moving along smoothly, the Agon wastes they regrowing back to fertile lands, tree and grass rose from the ground, replacing the sand that had covered the plains, The Travus bogs where being drained of the water that had flooded the area, slowly but surely, the ground that the forest grew from would be dry again and free of the hostile water dwellers that lived in it. The Luminoth had regained control of the robotic sentries that guarded the Sanctuary Fortress, the city below would be put to use once again, and construction on the second Quadraix guardian had resumed In order to ensure that a disaster like this would never happen again the Lumonth began construction on a orbital cannon with material bought from the Galactic Federation whom trade had been established with. He wished he could have seen the look on the Ings face as they perished in their dark world, Samus had said that she watched some try to crawl through the portal as their universe collapsed, eventually the darklings that where in the light world died out or where hunted down and destroyed. Yet he couldn't shake this feeling that their was a still something left unresolved, like their where still a part of the Ing left, he had been reassured that they where extinct and gone forever. Yet, why did he still have this feeling? _____________________________________________________________________ How could he have failed? He never suspected that his plan would be foiled by a unicorn and her pet dragon, and to make matters worse he nearly died of the blast that destroyed his being, he was now nothing more than a mass of black fog. Having spent months pulling himself back together he made a decision then and their that he would strike Celestia and Luna at their castle, if he would die trying so be it, at least he would have caused some irreparable damage. But unfortunately a certain event fell on that day. King Sombra watched from a distance as the purple unicron known as Twilight Sparkle was crowned as Equestrias newest ruler. And he hated it with all his black unforgiving heart. The very idea, he was defeated while the hero was given more power, which was ironic to him, he diminished, while she ascended. And their was nothing he could do about it. _____________________________________________________________________ A squad of warrior Ing had a light stone placed where the portal would be generated, even though the creature was to be captured and possessed, she was to be captured alive, Emperor Ing waited for his troops to open the portal at the right moment, when she as away from the the safety of her guards, but the Ing also wanted the make their debut in style, in a way that the whole world would now, and what better way to do that than take away a princess in front of the eyes of hundreds of a adoring ponies. _________________________________________________________________________ Twilight Sparkle rod in the carriage that pulled her and after a while she jumped off and joined her friends in a runway that lead to a bridge where she planned to take off, this was perfect nothing could go wrong now. ______________________________________________________ The purple one now known as Twilight was a now away from most of the guard, if they wanted to strike, the time was now. "Open the portal" The Ing did as they where instructed and the gateway to a new world tore open like a book _____________________________________________________ This was it, Twilight was about to take off, she was about to fly for the very first time nothing could ruin this now, in fact she dared the universe to ruin this perfect moment. And of course, thats exactly what happened. Before Twilight could sore through the clouds a force blasted her and all of her friends back a few feet. The crowd of ponies gasped as their new princess fell on her feet, but they where more surprised at what sent her back. Twilight regain her sight and stood up to face whatever force knocked her down, she expected to see the changelings or maybe Discord still up to no good, but this wasn't even close to one of those things What stood before her was a purple portal, it crackled with energy that gave her a chilling feeling, a dark fog made up the center of its being, overall, the distortion did not look appealing. Celestia saw the event that had unfolded before her, she and Luna had never seen anything like it, but she knew deep down that Twiligh had to get away from it, so why wasn't she moving? Part of Twilight's mind told her to get the heck out of her, the other part told her to step in, like the rift beckoned her to venture into is mysterious gateway and take her to a place that would fill her with excitement and something completely new. She could her the voice Shining Armor and her friends telling her to get away as she stepped closer, but the her curiosity was winning, finally she came to her senses and tired to bolt away. But before she could do that, a long black wicked tentacle emerged from the tear in space, and lunged right at her.
ShadowDarkness! My beautiful Darkness! -Kaos The tentacle lunged at Twilight wrapping itself around the princess waist, the appendage tightened its grip around the Alicorn and squeezed. "TWILIGHT!" Prince Shining Armor, brother of Twilight and captain of the royal guard was not going to let this event ruin his sisters coronation, nor was he gonna let this monster take her away to who knows where, he refused to let that happen. Twilight struggled to break free from the tentacles grasp, but any attempts to break free where futile, the attachment them began to pull Twilight in the portal, her friends friend to grab her, but they where to slow, even Rainbow Dash tried to reach for her friend before she was consumed by the portals void. _____________________________________________________ Twilight rolled over as she tumbled out of the white rift, her princess dress was slightly torn, but otherwise she was okay, she got up and looked at her surroundings, she was in Canterlot. Or at least...it looked like Canterlot. "Where... where am I?" The sky was a mix of purple and black, and littered across said sky was swirling patterns ofvery thin twisters. The landscape of the city look like it always did, but their where strange plants that appeared to have.....eyes? This was not Canterlot, it was a nightmare replica of the city, this was a place she could imagine Nightmare Moon ruling. Twilight looked at the buildings to see something her mind could not comprehend. Their where strange and drak creatures that stood on top of the structures that looked like spiders, the only distinct features about theirs bodies was the single eye with multiple piuples and they where screeching a unholy noise. "What are those things!?" she asked in vain Twilight backed up, she had to get out of her, but she was too frozen with fear to even move. She then then heard something like glass break that snapped her back into reality, the creatures then came down from their perch and came close, the more they came the more Twilight backed up. "Stay away from me!" she screamed Then she felt as though a shield had been lifted from her, and then she was in agony. Whatever was in the air was filling her lungs with a toxic pathogen, the fur on her skin burned as her dress burned faster, leaving it torn and trashed. She felt like it was the end, she was dying, the creatures then lunged at her, their sharp legs digging into her body. Just as it seems death was here to take her, she felt as those she was turning into air and then darkness took over. ____________________________________________________________________ "I'm going in after her!" Rainbow Dash declared The princesses, Shining Armor and the royal guard all stood with Twilight's friends at the still open dark portal. "Rainbow wait you have to think this through" Applejack said "You don't know whats in their!" "Yes I do, Twilight's in their!" "Rainbow Dash, I know about the current state were in but we can't just go in there until we know what's on the other side of that portal" Princess Celestia said "You got a better idea?!" Rainbow snapped back Before anypony could respond Rainbow made her decision. "I thought so" Rainbow Dash was about to plunge into the dark rift when a purple mass shot from the void. Rainbow Dash got on he feet and looked at what slammed into her. And to the surprise and joy of everypony it was Twilight. "Twilight!" they all said. The ponies gathered around their fallen friend, they where so shocked they didn't even notice the dark rift close silently. "What happened?" Rarity asked her alicorn friend Twilight's royal dress was torn and shredded, like somepony raped her. "Where is she? wheres my daughter!" A very concern mother and father pushed their way through the crowd and made their way to their alicorn offspring, the mother gasped and was nearly brought to tears (although she eventually did) when they saw the condition she was in. Twilight's eyes managed to open a bit, she heard numerous voices around, some familiar, others she couldn't tell, however because she was in a very weak state, she drifted back into unconsciousness, she could have sworn that the last thing she saw was the sky turning dark and purple, shifting between this color and the sunny appearance, the crackle of lighting sounded as she drifted off into sleep. _______________________________________________________________ Sombra watched as Twilight was taken away for medical attention, to him that looked like a better look for her. But he was more intrigued as to what did this to her, opening portals was a difficult spell, even for alicorns. But on thing was certain, whoever was one the other side of that portal was not friendly to Twilight Sparkle. He had to meet this pony.... or thing.
FearFear feeds me as does destruction -Mag Mel Twilight opened her eyes, the pain was going down, that was a good thing for sure. She got up and looked at her surroundings, and found herself in a strange dark room, the floor seemed endless, without walls or exits. "Whats going on?" she asked in a whisper. She heard the faintest voice tingle her ears. "I-Is somepony there? Show yourself!" The whispers grew louder. Twilight charged her horn, just in case. A few seconds later, she spun around to find the owner of the voices. Then, she felt as though she stepped into something. She looked down at her feet and she saw a purple puddle. But the thing that scares her the most was that it was moving, almost as if it was alive. She screamed, hoping that somepony heard her. "What is that thing?!" she thought to herself. Suddenly, like a body raising from its grave, something started forming out of the puddle. Its head came out first, and then a... mane? Two wings sprouted out of the creature, followed by four hooves. It looked like Rainbow Dash, except it wasn't. This version looked much more evil and dark, like her best friend had been corrupted by some dark entity. "R-Rainbow?" Five more puddles appeared beside the evil clone, and formed more dark versions of her friends, even her number one assistant. Twilight was scared more than she ever has been in her life. Even more puddles appeared and each spawned a dark double of somepony Twilight knew, ranging from Princess Celestia, to Mayor Mare, Shining Armor to Cadence, they all were evil dark versions of themselves. Now Twilight was terrified, this couldn't be happening, what in the name of Tartarus was going on here?! She heard a voice start to speak in her mind. "Your world has sooo much light... Princessssss" the voice said. The clones stepped closer. "Stay away from me!" Twilight yelled out, but the darklings kept coming closer. "All of you will become a loyal servant to the darkness," the voice spoke again. The clones were only a few hooflengths from her now. "Which of your friends will join our army first? Your beloved brother? Your little dragon, or perhaps we shall take your precious Princess Celestia..." the voice was now taunting her, playing with her emotions. Twilight had a mix of feelings, from anger to fear. She didn't know what to think anymore. "The one called Luna already has a dark past... Perhaps we shall bring back that darkness?" Then another darkling pony formed from the puddle and shaped itself into Nightmare Moon, a pony she never hoped to see again."Eventually, even you will submit, Twilight Sparkle," the voice taunted once more. One final puddle formed, and from it sprang a evil version of Twilight. She couldn't hold back her fear anymore. Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs. ________________________________________________________________ Twilight awoke screaming from the dream she had expecienced, only to see her friends and family trying to calm her down. They succeeded eventually, and Twilight looked around to find that she was in the medical wing of the castle. Thank Celestia it was only a dream. ...Wasn't it? "Twilight! Whats wrong?! Are you okay?" Applejack asked her friend in her usual southern accent. Twilight remembered it all, only she wished she hadn't. Those images where burned into her brain, she remembered every second of that horrid nightmare as if it was the back of her hoof. "Twilight, its okay, you're safe now." Twilight looked up to see the warm smile of her brother. She always felt safe with him. "The portal is closed now," Luna stated. "Celestia scanned for traces of its energy, but they came up negative." Twilight was relieved that the dark rift was gone, but she was still on edge. "...Is there a problem, Twilight?" Luna asked. Knowing she could not hide it forever, Twilight spoke."I had a nightmare," she managed to utter. The group all looked at each other with concered faces, then back at Twilight."What was it about?" Celestia asked in a concerned voice. Twilight clamed down when she heard Celestia's voice. She knew she could trust her friends. "Are you sure you want to know?" Twilight asked. "Yes, this nightmare could be a result of the portal, and it could give us some clues about its purposes or even the creator." Luna said with a slight tint of nervousness to her voice. "Twilight, your safety is our number one concern. Please tell us about this dream you had," Celestia added. Reluctantly, Twilight explained the dream she saw from begining to end, describing every little detail of the scary nightmare. At first the ponies where taken back at this response, they could never imagine a dream like that, but here was Twilight, explaining it to them in great detail. "...That is a very strange dream indeed," Luna said. "But do you think this has anything to do with the thing that attacked Twilight?" Shining Armor asked to nopony in particular. "There might be. We do not know for sure. But Twilight, what did you see on the other side of that portal?" Celestia asked. Twilight described the dark version of Canterlot she was transported to, and the dark creatures that attacked her. This also surprised the ponies, and their fears began to rise. "A dark version of Canterlot?" Spike asked. "How is that even possible?" Princess Cadance asked. "It may be possible that Twilight was teleported to a different dimension," Celestia suggested, and immediately, all eyes were on her. "A... A different dimension?" Twilight asked. "There are different realms in this universe, we are not the only ones in this world. Some dimensions are friendly," Celestia said while looking at Twilight's torn royal dress. "others are not so friendly." After a few more hours Twilight was passed with a clean bill of health, she went outside where she was greeted a worried sick mother, and after a while she was given a her old castle room to stay at until this event could be resolved. Twilight's friends all tried to cheer her up by talking. "Don't worry Twilight. Celestia's trying to figure all this out as we speak." "The reasurring voice of her older brother made Twilight feel better. "I guess you're right, we should try to do something else for now..." "Ooh ohh, me me me! I have an idea! Lets play a game! How about darts?" Pinkie Pie said while pulling a target along with a few darts out of her hair. "Okay... I guess we can do that." Twilight tried to use her magic to life a couple of darts from Pinkie's hoof. ....Her magic wasn't working. "Wait... I can't use my magic..." Twilight again tried to lift the dart from Pinkie's hoof, but her magic failed again. "...Twilight? What's wrong?" Spike asked with concern clearly evident in his voice. Twilight looked at her friends. "I can't use my magic."
NightIs it fear or courage that compels you fleshing? -Megatron The Guardian focused his new power to levitate a stone that was on the ground. This ability was barely used since the Luminoth would rather die then allowed themselves to be possessed. The Emperor had given him a new code name: Telekinesis Guardian. It was long, but fitting. He and a number of other Ing had received many abilities from the one called Twilight Sparkle, one Guardian had gained the ability to teleport great distances, another had the power to fire magical bursts from his horn, much stronger than his previous attack, while another could conjure objects and items, and the list kept growing with each ability stolen. The Emperor was satisfied that even though they had not been able to possess the princess, the abilities his warriors wielded more then made up for their loss. He now sat in his chambers waiting for word of when his army would begin their first conquest for this world. His soldiers had already informed him of a city to the far north of this land that held a great power. After some debate, the decision was made to invade that city. Now, all he had to do was wait for his warriors to get into position. __________________________________________________________________________________ The decision was made that Twilight and her friends would stay at the crystal empire for the time being, the Crystal Heart would protect any unwanted portal spells from being cast while within the Empire after a few enchantments. Twilight and her friends made their way down to the train station as the whistle signaled the engine's departure. Twilight sat in the safest passenger car possible, surrounded by her friends. She felt safe with them with her. "Who do you think is trying to get to Twilight?" Spike asked, trying to start a conversation. "Do you think it could be Sombra?" Rainbow Dash questioned, recalling the events that transpired. "It can't be. We defeated him, remember?" Applejack replied. As the ponies discussed who might be behind the attack on Twilight, she looked out the window and saw the Royal Sisters riding beside them in carriages of their own. Twilight was worried, and she had good reason why. A force they had never faced before was attacking them. She tried taking a nap, hopefully it would relieve her of some stress. She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off into sleep. _________________________________________________________________ Twilight found herself in a dark place yet again, she scanned the area for dark moving puddles, but thankfully she found none. But then the sound of hooves trotting echoed through the area. "Who's there!?" Twilight yelled. The purple alicorn turned around expecting to see another puddle, some monster, or something, but what she saw surprised her. Standing there was the Princess of the Night herself. "Princess Luna!" Twilight ran up to the lunar alicorn and hugged her. "What are you doing here?" Twilight asked. "My sister suggested that I enter your dreams to hopefully find the cause of your nightmares." "Well, it's a good thing you're here." Twilight led the Lunar Princess down the black void's path. "What was the thing that attacked you, an evil double if I recall correctly?" "Yeah, they were surrounding me, like they wanted my very being." "Well, let's see how they face off against the Princess of the Night for a change." As if on cue, the voice spoke to them again. "We'll see about that!" Luna turned to face the challenger. To her surprise and horror, it was Nightmare Moon. The dark alicorn persona gave a small chuckle. "No, you were destroyed by the Elements!" "Oh no they didn't. I survived, if only by a little. But now I'm much more than you think..." The void suddenly warped and distorted, then filled with purple and black. Luna found herself floating in the sky of what appeared to be a dark Equestria. She was baffled at what laid before her. "What is the meaning of this!?" Luna demanded of the Nightmare. The dark entity laughed again before speaking. "Oh Luna, you thought that by giving into your hatred and greed created only me? No, it created something much worse." The Nightmare gestured towards the dark land. "Because you so arrogantly gave into the darkness, it in term created a dark version of Equestria, along with a race of beings that are in term, entities of pure darkness, or in this case, the Ing." Luna was petrified in fear and disbelief. "No... This isn't true..." "Yes, your hatred and jealousy created all of this, and now its coming to bite you in the back." Nightmare Moon let out a sinister laugh as dark puddles formed themselves into claw shaped monsters with a single, big red eye. Luna had enough of this nonsense. "I don't believe you. This isn't real! You're lying!" The Princess shouted at Nightmare Moon. "Oh don't worry," Nightmare began. "Soon we shall be together again." The dark entity lunged itself at the Princess. While Twilight woke up shocked, it was Luna who was screaming this time around. ________________________________________________________ The Emperor was satisfied. He could literally taste the fear that these ponies emitted. It was fitting that the Luminoth had given them the name 'Ing.' In their language it meant 'Terror.' The Ing could feed off of the fear that comes from their foes. It gave them strength, and unlike the unwavering Luminoth warriors they had faced in battle, these ponies were full of fear, the very sight of something scary was enough to send an entire town into chaos. But the Emperor snapped out of his daydream when a Hunter addressed him. "Emperor." The one eye of the Emperor looked down on his subject. "Speak." "Do you think the ponies will believe the nightmare you gave them?" "I am certain." "And are you certain we can trust our new... Allies? They don't seem very trustworthy." The ruler of the Ing Hive knew what his Hunter meant. Shortly after they had arrived in this world, they met a race of shadow-like creatures who called themselves the 'Dark Forces.' Their leader who called himself Shadowfright (or Larry as some called him) had offered an alliance between their species. While it was true that both the Ing and these dark creatures possessed similar powers such as manipulating dreams, the Ing could easily possess them and take that power for themselves. But since they were unfamiliar with this new world, they needed a little assistance, in exchange for a base of operations. The Dark Forces would aid them in their conquest of Equestria. But only time would tell how long this alliance lasted. ________________________________________________________ The train had stopped as the royal carriage was set down, when Luna had awoken from her dream, she was so startled that they had to stop the ride so Luna could calm down and catch her breath. "It's okay, Luna." Celestia comforted her sister, the ponies were around the princesses as they tried to explain the situation. "You're okay, Luna. Just calm down." Luna started to regain her usual demeanor. After a few minutes of silence, she was acting somewhat normal. "What happened?" asked Rainbow. Luna looked at the group. "I took Celestia's advice to go into Twilight's dreams, try to figure out what was the cause of the nightmare." The princess paused for a second. "What did you see?" Celestia questioned. Luna and Twilight made eye contact. Not having experienced the dream, Twilight was slightly confused. She explained the dream she saw. Now everypony was even more worried than before. "Ing? I've never even heard that before." Celestia stated. "And Nightmare Moon? The last time we met her, we destroyed her with the Elements of Harmony." Twilight said. The situation was even more unstable than ever, the ponies now dealing with what appeared to be a whole new enemy. "Well, whatever it is, these Ing present a threat to Equestria. We have to get to the Crystal Empire so we can devise a plan. It's the most protected area we can get to right now." Before anypony could get back in their vehicles, another carriage descended from the sky. As it got closer to the group Twilight realized that the riders where royal gaurds from the Crystal Empire. The flying vehicle touched down on the earth, and a Gaurd stepped out of the carriage with a look of worry on his face. He ran up to the group, and they knew that this couldn't be any good. "Um... Shining? Whats wrong?" Twilight asked. Shining Army looked at his sister, then over to the Princesses. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Crystal Empire is under attack" Twilight's eyes widened. Now everything was definitely not going to be fine. Youtube Video
EmpireI am Shadow -Makuta Teridax The Royal carriages and train raced to the distant northern city, it was of the utmost importance that the ponies get to the northern city of the Crystal Empire, for whoever controlled the Empire could reflect either love or hatred across Equestria. Then the snow storms started to disrupt their path. The pegasi tried effortlessly to ride though as the train carrying the ponies plowed through the snow. Twilight looked out the window as the empire's tower came into view. From what Shining Armor described, there had been multiple reports of portals opening and closing, and every time one would open a bolt of dark energy would strike an area of the city; the more they fired, the more violent and destructive they became. Thoughts began to rise in Twilight's mind, was Nightmare Moon really behind all this? Did Luna's envy really create a dark version of Equestria, and if so why attack now and not before Twilight was less powerful? Then another theory crept into Twilight's mind, sometime before the Crystal Empire was restored, a race of dark, shadowy creatures called the dark forces tried to attack Ponyville by possessing Rarity as the new Nightmare Moon. Luckily they where able to defeat their adversaries and free Rarity from the forces of evil, and the Dark Forces have not been seen since. But the recent attacks and the creatures that called themselves the 'Ing' did not resemble the Dark Forces in any way. So who was the one behind all this? Those thoughts where thrown away as the train came to a screeching halt. "We're here!" Pinkie Pie yelled. Twilight looked out the window. True to his word, the Empire was in bad shape. A dark cloud loomed over the Empire as dark portals opened and a bolt of dark energy flew from them demolishing a building or two. The Elements got out of the train, where they were eventually joined by the Princess and her brother. Celestia looked at the state of the Empire. Since her last visit it was a peaceful place, now it's erupting in chaos. A thought crept into her mind, and Twilight's eyes widened. "Shiny, wheres Cadence?" Her older brother gave his sister stern eyes, "She went ahead into the castle, she said she would and use her magic to enforce the Crystal Heart and try to lift the ponies' spirits in hope that the crystal heart would repel the attacks. "That went well," Rainbow said with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "So what's the plan?" Applejack asked. Celestia stepped forward looked at the empire. "Since the ponies are in fear, they cannot power the Crystal heart and repel these attacks. Our best shot is that we use the Elements of Harmony on the heart to charge it, which could hopefully repel these attacks." "Do you think it'll work?" Twilight asked. "It is the only option," Luna said. The guards bought forth a chest and Celestia used her magic to open it, and the Elements each floated over to their respective Bearer. "Okay girls, let's do this," Twilight said. Then they started off towards the chaos. _______________________________________________________________________ The Emperor watched as his soldiers fired dark bolts from portals and into the Empire. From what his new 'soldiers' told him, as long as the Crystal Ponies were in fear and doubt, the Crystal Heart that protected the Empire would fail and the Ing would be able to invade, but so far the Ing were limited to firing bolts of Matter-Antimatter. The ponies' fear was creating a dark cloud and blocking the sunlight. The cloud had to cover the entire city for the Ing to invade and finally posses the pitiful species that would oppose them. "Emperor." The Emperor Ing came back to reality and found himself before his adviser. "Yes?" "More creatures that we have possessed have been looking through the memories of the ponies and found information that is most promising." The Emperor nodded in acknowledgment. "Bring them in." The servant-class Ing gestured for the doors to be opened. And when they did, they reveled a bunch of shadowy creatures. Before they invaded Equestria, a group of Warriors went to the planet's moon and possessed the creatures there, and it turns out that they already had dark forms prior to the Ing's arrival, making them much easier to manipulate. Upon possession, they reverted back the their evil forms while becoming puppets of the Hive. "So how goes the storming, master?" a possessed Shadowfright asked. "It has commenced, my troops are striking fear into the hearts of these ponies, and if what you say is true, then once the Crystal Heart looses its power, then my troops will be able to invade and take over." "Indeed, the heart gets its power from the love of the Crystal Ponies, once it becomes powerless, the Empire will be vulnerable to attack," the Shadowfright said. Emperor Ing signaled his troops to begin the assault. "Emperor," a Warrior said. "What is it?" "The six who played a role in the Empire's rebirth are advancing with the Elements" "Let me see." A portal opened to reveal six mares running with their Elements to the center of the Empire. At first, the Ruler of the Ing was going to try and stop them, but a better idea popped into his mind. "What are your orders?" "Let them get to the center, and prepare a portal." ________________________________________________________________ Luna was almost certain that these attacks where the work of the dark forces, but for some reason the matter that kept attacking the city with was not familiar to her, almost like it was alien. But for now she had to deal with these impending shadow attacks. The Royal guard fought to protect the Princesses and the Elements of Harmony, but the shadow bolts were hindering their progress. Shining Armor watched as another pony was hit by a dark blast, putting him out of the fight, but another volley of dark bolts took out an entire squad of pegasi. "Keep going! We must protect the Princesses!" a squad commander shouted as he led his team to the heart of the empire. Just then, another portal opened in front of him, and he quickly raised a shield to protect himself from what ever came out. But instead of a shadow attack, a black and orange fog came out and floated towards him. Twilight watched as this fog 'attacked' the helpless royal guard and immediately something began to happen. His features, once white and regal turned black and fearsome, his tail turned a dark purple and Twilight could have sworn she saw black puddles forming at his hooves, but instead of leaking, the liquid was being absorbed by the guard. When the event was over, a nightmarish version of the bravo squad commander stood before his men. Luna looked in awe as this royal guard bore his yellow eyes at everypony, then made a weird noise and then just... disappeared. But for some strange reason, that reminded her of Nightmare Moon. When the dark guard somehow vanished from existence, the ponies were dumbfounded. "What was that all about?!" Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight didn't know the answer, what ever happened to that poor guard must have been the work of whatever was behind these attacks. "We'll worry about that later, where almost to the Crystal Heart!" Wasting no time, the ponies sped towards the center of the empire dodging bolts and watching as more black fog entered the realm and attacked the ponies. Finally, they arrived at the center of the Empire where the Crystal Heart stood in its place. Twilight looked back, Celestia not far away gave the nod to use the Elements. "Go ahead. You know what to do." Wasting no time, Twilight activated the Elements, the rainbow magic swirling around the heart in a manner most peculiar. The Elements responded from the desire of their bearers and fired on the heart. ...Only for a very painful feedback to occur. The ponies where blown away by the power of the shockwave sending them all a few feet back. Twilight struggled to open her eyes as she saw another black puddle form around the Crystal heart. Twilight got up and tried to walk to it. Only to be stopped by Darkling Tentacles. The heart was consumed by darkness as a giant monster with a huge head looked down upon her; its tentacles lashing out everywhere.
Beauty of AnnihilationI can fly like a bird not in the sky, which can always swim and can always dry. I say goodbye at night and morning hi. I'm part of you what am I. I follow and lead as you pass, dress yourself in black my darkness lasts. I flee the light but without the sun, your view of me would be gone. - Abracadavre ________________________________________________________________________ Darkness. That's all Twilight could see. Her head ached. As she opened her eyes, she saw that she was in a room that was brightly lit, and voices swarmed her ears. She was in pain for some reason, although she didn't know why. Then she looked down at herself, and that reason presented itself. Her body was covered in bandages and casts, while blood attempted to escape her veins staining her fur and casts. When she tried to move, pain greeted her body even more and she fell back into darkness once more. ________________________________________________________________________ Several hours earlier The Emperor Ing felt the energies of the Crystal Heart. It gave him strength and power. It was unlike anything he felt before. This would be a great contribution to his cause. Using his eye, he saw Royal Guards and ponies staring at him as if they had wet themselves. He witnessed a yellow pony with a pink mane cower in fear. This amused him. Using one of his Darkling Tentacles, he reached out and picked up the pony and brought it to his head, and the pony did the most natural thing when being held by a monster. It fainted. Since his prey usually screamed or tried to fight back, this was a new reaction to the Emperor. He didn't notice the blue blur coming at him. Rainbow Dash was trying to comprehend what was happening, first a bunch a black portals where attacking the Crystal Empire, and then a giant monster just ate the Crystal Heart. When she saw the monster holding Fluttershy she snapped back into reality. "Hey! Drop her, ugly!" Being Rainbow Dash, she did what any reckless daredevil did, charge head first into danger. At blinding speed, she struck a blow to the creature's tentacle causing it to drop her friend and carry her to safety. The ponies gathered around their friend and checked her condition. "She's gonna be alright," Twilight told the others. "Wait!" Spike said. "Where's her Element?" Twilight's expression changed when she noticed that Fluttershy's Element was missing from her neck. She looked at the creature and saw it holding the Element of Kindness in its grip. The Emperor had a small amount of knowledge about the Elements of Harmony, but he knew that they could lead to his defeat and a the delay of his plans, so that's why he removed it from the pony just before she was rescued by her companions. Then the ruler of the Ing felt something jam into this torso and he looked down to see that it was a spear. Shining Armor ordered his men to fire another volley of magic bolts at the monster. "Hey ugly!" The creature turned in his direction. "This is for hurting my sister!" a cannonball made of an explosive material shot forth at the beast and struck it dead on. At first Shining gave a smile of confidence, but that was before a bolt of dark matter shot back and struck him in the chest, sending him a few feet backward. "Shining!" the voice of his wife called her husband's name as she ran up to him, and Cadence began to care for him. Shining found the power to get back up. The Emperor watched as the pink pony began to care for the white one who dared attack him. Then that meant he would just have to keep them apart. Using his powers, he opened a portal behind him and grabbed the pink one. Shining watched as his wife was grabbed by the creature who attacked his sister. Both him and Twilight did what they thought was the most rational thing to do: run and fire everything they had at the creature's torso, but their attacks did nothing to the monster. Tired of the constant stream of bolts, the Ing ruler used the power of the Crystal Heart to erect a shield around him that slowly grew bigger. Not knowing if the creature could hear him over the force field, Shining Armor and Twilight shouted at the monster. "You put my wife down now!" Shining Armor screamed over fear that he may lose his wife to a monster. The Emperor Ing saw no purpose for holding the pink one hostage other then the fact the it amused him how these creatures fought for their loved ones. He opened a portal and sent her to the to the dark realm. Shining Armor watched as his wife disappeared through the portal to Celestia knows where, the captain ran up to the barrier and started to bang on the force field demanding to know what the evil being had done with his wife. Having had enough fun for one day, The Emperor activated the full extent of the Crystal Heart and literally blew everypony out of the Crystal Empire. Twilight met the full force of the blast. She and her friends where blown out of the Crystal Empire just as they had exiled the changelings from Canterlot. The ponies descended from the sky and plummeted towards the ground.
