King Sombra was in pieces- literally in pieces. He floated through the blank nothingness, torn from his body, torn from his very soul. But he was not dead. He was in terrible agony, but far from dead. Slowly, painfully, he was healing in the nothingness, slowly becoming whole again. In the meantime, however, all he could do was wait while his last moments in the Crystal Empire flashed through his disembodied mind. He was
riding the crystal up towards the spire of other black crystals that the little dragon was frantically scrambling down, clutching the Crystal Heart. Sombra willed the wave of crystal he was riding to go faster.
The little dragon suddenly fell off the tower of crystal and he let go of the Crystal Heart. The Crystal Heart fell right towards King Sombra, who licked his lips in anticipation-
A streak of pink- the princess- suddenly shot through the sky, grabbing the Heart and the dragon before King Sombra could, and she flew back to the ground with them.
For a few moments, King Sombra was confused, but then he saw the Crystal Heart back in its spot at the center of the Empire and all the crystal ponies were bowing before it.
"What? No! Stop!" King Sombra shouted.
There was suddenly a bright flash of light, brilliant white, blasting Sombra's black crystals to pieces. King Sombra looked in disbelief at himself as his body began to crack apart, bright light shining through the cracks. He had time for a scream, then he was blown into a thousand pieces and hurled into nothingness-
But now, he was almost ready to return once again, for revenge.
***
Princess Celestia was staring out the window of the throne room when Princess Luna walked in. Celestia did not turn around.
"You needed me, sister?" Luna asked.
"Yes," Celestia said, finally turning. "I've detected a disturbance. And I'm sure you have, too."
"I've felt it, too, sister, but I don't understand. What is it?"
Turning back to the window, Celestia spoke in a grim voice.
"He's coming back."
Luna gasped.
"But how, sister? The king is dead!"
Celestia shook her head.
"Gone for awhile, but certainly not dead."
"But he exploded, and everypony in the Crystal Empire was a witness!"
"Demonic souls like King Sombra's aren't killed that easily, I'm afraid."
"Will your student be able to stop him again?"
"I have faith in Princess Twilight. Remember, she helped us reunite, she's stopped Chrysalis, King Sombra one time, and she's even traveled to another world to retrieve her element while stopping Sunset Shimmer."
"And the Crystal Empire? Will the king attempt to take over the empire again?"
"I don't think so," Celestia said. "At least, not at first. Now that they have their Crystal Heart back, it would be too well protected."
"Then what do you think he's going to try when he returns?"
"I don't know," Celestia said, staring out the window again. "I just don't know."
***
Twilight Sparkle was awakened in the middle of the night in her library in Ponyville by the sound of a huge explosion downstairs. She sat up suddenly in bed and fell right out of it, landing right on top if Spike and nearly breaking her wing.
"Ow!" Spike said in a groggy, yet surprised voice, waking up. "Twilight, what in Ponyville-"
"Spike, be quiet!" Twilight hissed, standing up as the lights turned on downstairs. "Somepony's in the library!"
Spike shut up and they walked to the edge of the second floor and looked down into the library. Twilight gasped in surprise. There was indeed a pony on the first floor of the library and although her face was turned away, Twilight recognized her instantly.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie would like Twilight Sparkle to show herself!" the pony on the first floor called. "Trixie would like a rematch with Twilight Sparkle in another duel!"
"Trixie!" Twilight shouted. "What the hay are you doing here?"
Trixie turned her head to gaze up at Twilight and Spike, and Twilight gasped again. Trixie's eyes were glowing green and wisps of purple vapor trailed from them. Twilight had seen this before- when Princess Celestia was telling her about the Crystal Empire and showing her what King Sombra could do- it was dark magic, and Trixie looked like she couldn't control it. She was being possessed by something.
Possessed-Trixie suddenly spoke in a deeper and more guttural voice.
"I am almost full again. It's almost time for me to return!"
With those words, possessed-Trixie shot a spell from her horn- a black jet of energy. It missed Twilight and Spike by mere inches and blasted a smoking crater in the ceiling. Trixie wasn't herself. She was possessed, and aiming to kill.
"Stay upstairs, Spike," Twilight ordered, and then teleported downstairs into the library.
Twilight didn't waste time with words; she instantly shot a spell at possessed-Trixie right when the other unicorn shot a spell at Twilight. The two spells hit each other in midair and exploded with a loud BANG and a flash of bright light.
Twilight and possessed-Trixie were both flung away from the shock of the blast. Possessed-Trixie smashed into a wall and Twilight was hurled into a bookshelf.
Twilight got up, using her wings to brush books off herself, right as possessed-Trixie also got up. Twilight shot a spell at her opponent which completely missed and hit the window by the door instead, causing it to explode outwards, and shower the street outside with shards of broken glass.
Possessed-Trixie shot a spell back at Twilight but her spell also missed, exploding against the wall in a shower of splintered wood.
Before either unicorn could make another move, four of Twilight's royal guards- all unicorns- ran in through the opening where the front door had once stood. Possessed-Trixie shot one of them with a spell, sending him back out the front door and into the street. Another guard shot a spell at possessed-Trixie who blocked it back at him and sent him crashing into the wall. Possessed-Trixie then used her magic and made a heavy book crash into another guard's face, knocking him out, and sent the remaining guard into a bookshelf with another spell.
Possessed-Trixie turned to face Twilight, but the alicorn had already sent a spell at her opponent and it was too late. Possessed-Trixie smashed into the wall behind her, hard, and she fell to the ground.
As Twilight walked towards her fallen enemy, Trixie opened her eyes, which were no longer glowing green.
"N- no," Trixie whispered, looking around, realizing what had happened, and shrinking back as Twilight came closer. "I didn't mean to- It's not my fault-"
Twilight extended a hoof to help Trixie get up.
"It wasn't your fault," Twilight told her. "You weren't yourself."
Trixie looked in disbelief at Twilight's extended hoof, then, with great reluctance, she accepted the help up.
***
Rainbow Dash was already awake that morning when she heard someone land on the balcony of her cloud house. Rainbow was about to call and ask who it was but then she heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, lame-bow Dash, I just decided to pop by and see if you've decided to be cool again."
Rainbow's eyes narrowed.
"Gilda," she muttered. "What is she doing here now?"
Rainbow flew up to her balcony and sure enough, Gilda was there. Her head was turned away from Rainbow.
"Gilda!" Rainbow said angrily. "What the hay are you doing here?"
Gilda turned to face Rainbow, and the pegasus stepped back in surprise. The gryphon's eyes were glowing green, and purple vapor trailed from them.
"Hey Dash, got enough gas to race me to that cloud?" possessed-Gilda asked.
Rainbow flew at possessed-Gilda, knocking her off the balcony. Rainbow landed again and looked over the balcony, and saw the gryphon flying away. Rainbow's eyes narrowed. She didn't know what had just happened but she knew it wasn't good.
***
Princess Celestia looked up as Twilight Sparkle flew down and landed in front of her on one of the towers of Canterlot Castle.
"I came as soon as I read your letter, princess," Twilight said. "I also had something happen to me this morning that I believe relates to everything you said in your letter."
"What was that?" Celestia asked, looking slightly alarmed.
"A pony broke into my library this morning. She tried to kill me. It looked like she was being possessed by something powerful and evil. She's fine now," Twilight said, remembering how quickly Trixie had gone back to her usual annoying self.
"Did the pony say anything when she was possessed?"
"Well... she sounded normal at first. She was possessed, but she sounded normal. But when she spoke again, her voice was deeper and more menacing. She said I am almost full again. It's almost time for me to return."
"What about your guards?" Celestia asked. "Did they come to your aid? Are they all right?"
"The only thing hurt about them is their pride," Twilight said with a smile, remembering how indignant all four guards had been when they had recovered from being bashed around by Trixie.
Twilight suddenly thought of something else.
"Princess? If King Sombra is indeed returning, shouldn't we be getting prepared as soon as possible?"
"I have been getting prepared, Twilight," Celestia said grimly. "I've been having the royal guards train twice as hard, and I have a powerful protection spell that can be activated at a moment's notice."
Twilight thought of something else.
"Princess, do you really think it was King Sombra who possessed the pony that attacked me?"
"I am sure of it," Celestia said. "Just because Sombra hasn't returned in full form yet doesn't make him any less powerful."
"Do you think King Sombra will really try to take over all of Equestria? I mean, I know he's really powerful, but he's only one unicorn. Wouldn't he need an army to take over and control Equestria?"
"King Sombra took over the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago by himself, and the empire is one of Equestria's most powerful protected locations. I believe Sombra could take over part of Equestria, but he would need an army to take over and control the rest."
"But King Sombra doesn't have an army, and my friends and I have the Elements of Harmony. Couldn't we just stop Sombra with the Elements?"
Princess Celestia sighed.
"Princess Twilight, you do indeed have the Elements of Harmony, which could stop Sombra. However, I'm afraid you're wrong about him having no army. As powerful as King Sombra is, he doesn't need to be here in his full form to gather an army."
"So that's... bad then?"
Celestia nodded.
"But isn't there anything we can do? Can't we find King Sombra's army before he comes back?"
Celestia shook her head.
"It would use up valuable resources that we'll need when Sombra actually returns. I'm afraid the best thing we can do is wait for now, and get prepared."
***
The thing that wasn't Apple Bloom ran towards Sweet Apple Acres as fast as it could that afternoon.
The thing that wasn't Apple Bloom was a changeling. The real Apple Bloom was off somewhere with her friends. The changeling's job was to get a pony called Applejack and lead her to the edge of the Everfree Forest. The changeling didn't know what was supposed to happen after that. It was just following orders that the Dark Pony had given to it in a dream.
Fake Apple Bloom reached the farm. Nearby, a pony, Applejack, was bucking apple trees. Fake Apple Bloom ran over to her.
"Apple Bloom, what are ya doin' home so early?" Applejack asked, seeing her. "Ah thought you would stlll be with yer friends."
Fake Apple Bloom ignored Applejack's question.
"Sis! Ya gotta come see this!" Fake Apple Bloom said.
"Apple Bloom, ah'm busy!" Applejack said, sounding annoyed.
"Aw, come on, sis, it'll only take a second or two!"
"Fine," Applejack said. "But make it quick!"
The two took off, Apple Bloom leading the way.
The changeling led Applejack to the spot it had been shown in the dream, at the edge of the Everfree Forest.
"Um... what exactly am ah supposed to be lookin at?" Applejack asked.
"Ah don't know," Fake Apple Bloom answered honestly.
"Apple Bloom, this ain't funny! You just wait til ah tell Big Macintosh on you-"
"You lookin for me, sis?" a familiar voice said behind Applejack.
"Big Mac!" Applejack said, turning around. "Apple Bloom's been-"
Applejack stopped in the middle of her sentence as she saw Big Mac. The pony's eyes were glowing green and purple vapor trailed from them.
Next to Possessed Big Mac was a creature that Applejack recognized as Gilda the gryphon.
Applejack turned quickly and saw that Apple Bloom, or the thing she had believed to be Apple Bloom, had disappeared. Applejack turned back to Possessed Big Mac and Possessed Gilda.
"So ah suppose ah was just led into a trap?" Applejack asked.
"You lame ponies are too easy to trick," Possessed Gilda said.
"Eeyup," Possessed Big Mac agreed.
***
Twilight got back to Ponyville late that afternoon. As she walked through the town back to her library, Pinkie Pie suddenly bounced in front of her.
"Hi Twilight!" Pinkie said. "Wanna try one of these cupcakes I made today?"
Twilight looked inside the box that Pinkie was carrying. Inside were twelve cupcakes. They had sky-blue frosting and rainbow-colored sprinkles on them.
"Um... I'd love to, Pinkie, but I have to get back to my library to do some research. It's urgent."
A pony stepped up behind Pinkie.
"Um... Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked.
Pinkie turned around.
"Oh, hi, Fluttershy!" Pinkie said. "Watcha need?"
"Oh... I was just wondering if you've seen Rainbow. I haven't seen her all day," Fluttershy said quietly.
"I haven't seen her all day either!" Pinkie said. "Oh, but do you want to try a cupcake? I added a dash of my special ingredient to them!"
"Oh... no thanks," Fluttershy said.
A pony suddenly flew out of the sky and landed next to Pinkie.
"Twilight! I've been looking for you all day!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Oh, there you are, Rainbow!" Pinkie said. "Wanna try a cupcake?"
"Definitely," the pegasus said, taking one from the box.
She bit into the cupcake. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight watched as Rainbow's face turned red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and finally purple. Rainbow's eyes widened and she began coughing as she swallowed the bit of cupcake.
"Pinkie! These cupcakes are spicy!"
"Well, duh!" Pinkie said, laughing. "I added a dash of rainbow to the cupcakes, silly! What did you think the sprinkles were made out of?"
Twilight rolled her eyes and turned to Rainbow.
"What was it you needed to tell me?"
***
Twilight and Rainbow Dash exchanged stories while Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie listened. Afterwards, Twilight told them what she had learned from Princess Celestia.
"Do... do you really think he's returning, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
"Princess Celestia is positive that King Sombra is returning... so yes, I think he is."
"I'm not worried about King Sombra returning," Rainbow Dash said confidently. "If he does, I can totally take him on."
"Oh, really?" Twilight said, glaring at Rainbow. "From what I heard, you didn't attempt to stop him at the Crystal Empire- but what do I know? After all, I was at the top of a tower, stuck in an enchanted cage of black crystal."
"I- uh- I knew the Crystal Heart would arrive in time to stop him!" Rainbow answered defensively.
Twilight rolled her eyes and started to reply, but just then, they all saw Apple Bloom running up the street, and she stopped in front of the four friends.
"Ah need yer help, y'all!" the filly said in a frantic voice.
"Apple Bloom, what's wrong?" Twilight asked with concern in her voice.
"It's Applejack! She's missin'! And Big Macintosh can't seem to remember where he was earlier today!"
Twilight and her three friends exchanged looks.
"We have to go find Applejack."
"So y'all will help me?" Apple Bloom asked hopefully.
"Of course we will, sweetie," Twilight said in a comforting voice. "We'll go look right now. But you better get home. It's nearly dark out."
"If y'all are gonna look for Applejack, ya better take Winona with you. She'll be a big help findin' her."
"Wait... we're looking for Applejack now? When it's almost dark out?" Fluttershy asked in a nervous voice.
"Of course!" Twilight said, like it should have been obvious. "There's no time to lose!"
"Come on, y'all!" Apple Bloom said. "I'll take y'all to my place so ya can pick up Winona!"
***
Before the ponies went to Sweet Apple Acres, they went to pick up Rarity. At first, she was annoyed ("Honestly, haven't you ever heard of beauty sleep?") but after the situation was explained to her, she gladly went along after tucking Sweetie Belle into bed.
By the time all of them got to Sweet Apple Acres, Princess Luna had already raised the moon and it was full dark out.
As they walked onto the farm, Winona ran over to greet them, giving two happy barks.
"All right, y'all, ya take Winona and she'll sniff out Applejack's trail. Ah got to get inside, it's past mah bedtime, and after what happened today, Granny Smith'll be worried sick."
Apple Bloom walked towards her house where the lights were still on in the windows.
"Winona," Twilight said, turning to the dog, "Applejack is missing. Can you find her most recent trail?"
Winona answered with a bark and nod, and she lowered her nose to the ground and began sniffing. After a moment, she took off towards the exit of the farm, still sniffing.
Twilight and her friends followed Winona off the farm, around Ponyville, past several cottages, and finally stopped at the edge of the Everfree Forest.
"Applejack's somewhere in... there? In the Everfree forest?" Fluttershy asked in a scared voice. Winona barked and nodded.
"I can't go in there!" Rarity cried. "It's off the trail! I'll get all messy!"
"I can't believe you guys," Rainbow said. "Come on, Winona, let's go get Applejack."
Winona led the way into the forest with Rainbow flying a few feet in the air behind her.
Twilight looked at the others.
"Well, let's go, I guess," she said.
"Let's not," Fluttershy replied in a tiny voice, but nopony heard her.
***
Winona led the five ponies deeper and deeper into the forest, Twilight's lit horn lighting the way. They all heard the sounds of creatures that didn't sound very friendly, but they thankfully didn't run into any.
The deeper they went into the forest, the thicker the trees and bushes became, and the more Rarity complained.
After about a half hour, Winona stopped.
"Are we there yet?" Fluttershy whispered.
"I think so," Twilight said. "Look!"
Ten feet to the left of the group, nearly hidden by the huge trees and the dark of the night, was the biggest, oldest house Twilight had ever seen. It looked more like a small castle.
"Is Applejack in that house?" Twilight asked Winona. The dog gave a happy bark and nod in reply.
"It looks... dangerous," Fluttershy said quietly.
"Well, we're going in there to get Applejack," Rainbow said. "But... if you're too scared to go inside, I guess you can wait out here for us. In the middle of the Everfree Forest. When it's dark out."
"Ok, ok, I'll go with you!" Fluttershy squeaked.
The five friends and Winona began to walk through the bushes towards the front of the house. They were going to get Applejack.
***
Possessed Gilda looked out one of the windows on the fourth story of the old house, watched the group of ponies approach the house. Twilight Sparkle was leading, her horn lit to light up the dark. approach the house.
Gilda didn't know how those ponies had found out where their kidnapped friend was, but she still smiled. There was a few surprises waiting for them in the house... and once those ponies entered, Possessed Gilda would make sure they never left alive.
Author's Note
This is the first chapter of a long story that I'm writing, I hope you're enjoying it so far!
Chapter 2: Demons in the Dark
As Sweetie Belle heard the front door close downstairs in the Boutique as Rarity went off with her friends, she was curled up in bed in her dark bedroom, the Boutique suddenly dead silent. Usually, Rarity stayed up for awhile, working, but not tonight. Tonight, she had to go somewhere.
Sweetie thought for a moment. She hadn't been able to hear what Rarity and her friends were talking about, but their voices had sounded worried... What had happened that had caused Rarity's friends to get her at this time in the evening? Sweetie wasn't sure, but she knew Rarity would be back soon... She fluffed up her pillow a bit more, laid her head to rest on it, and quickly fell asleep.
***
Sometime during the night, Sweetie Belle awoke with a loud gasp, shaking and sweating. She had just had a bad dream. She couldn't remember what it had been about, as the details were already fading, but she knew it had been bad. Very bad.
Sweetie got out of her bed, and carefully maneuvered through the dark to her bedroom door. She opened it and peeked out. The hallway was covered in gloom, and the Boutique was still as silent as a grave.
Carefully trotting down the hall, Sweetie made it to Rarity's room. She pushed the door open, peeked in, and stopped. Even in the dark, Sweetie could make out Rarity's perfectly made bed. Sweetie panicked a little at first, but calmed down when she remembered Rarity had gone out earlier in the evening... but wouldn't she be back by now? Sweetie wasn't sure, as she had no way of checking the time, but convinced herself that Rarity was just busy and she would be back in awhile.
Sweetie was heading back to her bedroom, but stopped, remembering the last time she was asleep, she had had a terrible dream, and suddenly didn't feel like going back to bed. She instead went downstairs into the kitchen, turned on the light, grabbed a cup in one hoof, went over to the sink and filled it with water. She sat down at the table, still shivering slightly, an aftereffect of her nightmare, and slowly drank her water, trying to get her nerves under control. After awhile, she finally began to feel drowsy and calm once again, but didn't feel like going back upstairs. She leaned her head against the table... I'll rest just for a minute, she thought to herself...
***
Sweetie suddenly sat up in the dark, awoken by a noise. At first, she was completely disoriented, and she had no idea where she was, and suddenly realized she was still sitting at the kitchen table. The second thing she realized was that her face was all wet; while she had been asleep, she had accidentally spilled the rest of her water, and her face had been right in the puddle. The third thing she realized... was that the kitchen light was off. And she had remembered turning it on when she had came downstairs.
Perhaps the light went out, Sweetie thought, but making her way to the switch in the dark, she saw that the light hadn't gone out by itself, someone had turned it off.
"Oh, Rarity's finally back!" Sweetie said out loud happily. She quickly raced upstairs to Rarity's bedroom, turned on the light... and stopped, confused. Rarity's bed was still empty. She was not back yet.
"Rarity?" Sweetie called to the empty bedroom, confused. No answer.
Just as Sweetie was wondering what was going on, the light in Rarity's bedroom went out- all by itself. Scared now, Sweetie quickly backed out into the dark hallway, in time to see a shapeless shadow, darker than all the others, moving along the wall towards her.
Sweetie backed away from the shadow as it got closer, she being too scared to scream. Suddenly, as the shadow on the wall reached the area where Sweetie was, two glowing red eyes, narrowed to slits, opened on the shadow.
"Sweetie Belle," the shadow hissed in an echoing, whispery voice that made Sweetie's blood run cold.
Upon hearing the voice, Sweetie Belle finally found her voice and she screamed, and ran past the demonic shadow, down the dark hallway, but the shadows swirled, and suddenly the hallway stretched, stretched on and on, and there was no way Sweetie could make it to the staircase. Nevertheless, she kept running through the gloom, but the staircase moved farther away as the hallway stretched on endlessly, and was lost to the darkness, and all the while, demonic laughter, cold, whispering, and still yet very loud echoed all around the terrified filly.
Sweetie stopped running, panting, sweating, and out of breath, but a dark black shape was rising up in front of her, a dark shadow with demonic red eyes, and a curved red horn atop it's shapeless head...
Sweetie screamed, turned around, and ran back in another direction, but the hallway stretched again, so far that the end of the hall was lost in total darkness, and Sweetie was running through the gloom, terrified, jumping away from dark shadows that peeled from the wall and reached out at her in claw-like forms.
Suddenly, the world seemed to snap back into reality for a moment, and the nightmarish hall was once again just a normal dark hall- and Sweetie Belle was standing right next to the staircase that led to the downstairs part of the Boutique. Without a second thought, the little filly tore down the staircase as fast as her legs would carry her, but suddenly, a mass of shadows was rising up behind her, laughing in an echoing, guttural, demonic voice, and the staircase stretched, stretched on and on, going downwards for infinity into the never-ending darkness-
Sweetie Belle cried out as she went sprawling across the floor at the foot of the staircase and looked around in the gloom. Everything appeared to be back to normal, until she saw the pairs of glowing green dots trailing purple vapor floating in the darkness, coming from the work room and floating towards her.
As the filly, already driven half-crazy with terror, looked on, she realized that the glowing dots were actually eyes, and the demonic eyes were on the pony mannequins that Rarity used to help design dresses.
Sweetie Belle froze for a moment, and then ran into the dark kitchen, her legs feeling like they weighed a thousand pounds, but the fridge door burst open and a wave of shadows, complete with glowing, glaring eyes spilled out.
Sweetie faintly heard screaming, but wasn't aware that she was the one doing it. All she was focused on was getting out of the kitchen, which she did very quickly as the shadows followed her, back into the dark front room of Carousal Boutique. The demonic mannequins had disappeared, a fact Sweetie vaguely noticed as she ran through the dark, towards the front door, almost to the safety of outside-
All by themselves, the lights flashed on in the front room, and at the exact same time, the mass of shadows following Sweetie flung out a claw which slashed into the side of the filly's neck. Sweetie fell and blood spurted from the wound, standing out shockingly bright red against her snow-white coat, and began to puddle on the floor.
As Sweetie began to lose consciousness, the front door of Carousal Boutique was flung open, and the filly was vaguely aware of a shape moving towards her.
"Help me..." Sweetie murmured, and then she blacked out.
