Dark Hearts and Spirits

Dark-heart screamed in agony as the rainbow that the Elements of Harmony had fired crashed into him. His skin burnt and his flesh began to peel away as Dark-heart attempted to buff his power to stop the beam. Even after going full strength, Dark-heart was getting torn apart as the Elements lashed at his very soul. Dark-heart then realized with horror that his smoky form was beginning to break apart and be scattered to the winds.

"This can't be happening!" Dark-heart managed to scream as he was forced to the ground as his power drained. The red smoke that made up Dark-heart was beginning to disperse, slowly destroying his physical form. Like all gods, Dark-heart could not truly die but his consciousness could be utterly destroyed, thus turning him into nothing more than a natural phenomenon.

"Hold on girls, he's almost done" Twilight called out, smiling wearily while the rainbow continued to crush Dark-heart. His evil energy was powerful enough to keep him from going down instantly but it wouldn't be enough to save him. Hopefully, Discord would also be revived by the Elements. Twilight's satisfaction was only temporary as suddenly, a pink blast slammed into the small of her back. Twilight whipped around to see Trixie, barely standing but still ready to fire another blast.

"D-don't you dare" Trixie was able to cough out before falling over. Twilight gazed sympathetically at the fallen unicorn before turning up to full power and blasting Dark-heart with the full force of the Elements. The huge flash of light was seen for miles before being absorbed back into the Elements of Harmony. The Element bearers ceased to glow and landed on the ground softly.

"We, we did it" Fluttershy said. panting in exhaustion before sitting on her haunches.

"Hey, how come everything didn't get fixed Twi?" Rainbow questioned while pointing to the huge crater where Dark-heart had been. Twilight though about it briefly before answering.

"His residual magic is probably strong enough to...." Twilight began before trailing off, eyes wide in horror.

"What?" Rainbow questioned to the purple alicorn. Twilight's only response was to turn Rainbow around, causing the pegasus to gasp in horror for there, on top of a small bluff, was Dark-heart.

"Hehe, you almost got me" Dark-heart chuckled, his body shaking with exhaustion from the effort. The Elements had quite clearly had a noticable effect, reducing him to his mortal form, covering his body in bruises, cuts, and burns, burning away his mane and tail, and swelling one eye shut. "Almost, but not close enough" Dark-heart managed to cough, fully aware that his survival depended on a bluff. "Tell you what, since I'm a nice guy, I'll give you 3 days to prepare for me. One they're up, your planet is finished" Dark-heart laughed, sounding vastly better than he actually felt. A blue blur from the corner of his eye made Dark-heart nearly fall over simply from the gust it created and almost ruined the illusion. Luna landed next to the Bearers, scowled at Dark-heart, and then teleported away. Dark-heart felt all his remaining energy disappear and he fell to his knees, gasping for breath. His escape had been lucky to say the least. Dark-heart was sure he was doomed until he felt a small weakness in the Elements' spiritual net,  a weakness which allowed him to break free of the damaging blast just in time. The question was, who had caused the disturbance?

"Are you okay?" a voice called out from behind Dark-heart. Dark-heart turned to see his servant looking at him with concern.

"You saved me?" Dark-heart said as his brain finally connected the pieces.

"Yeah. I don't want to kill anypony, well except Twilight. Bad or not, you're still a pony....sort of" Trixie said with a tired smile before lifting Dark-heart up and placing him in a sitting position.

"You wouldn't have done that if you knew what's good for you" Dark-heart groaned, in awe at the fact that here was a servant who actually cared for him.

"Maybe that's the only difference between us" Trixie muttered, still shaken by Luna's invasion of her mind. Dark-heart scowled before sitting up, ignoring the pain that screamed through his body. He would not be held back by this small defeat. He would win, even if it took him 3 days.

Meanwhile, in Zecora's hut in the Everfree Forest, chaos was heard.

"Let me help Zecora!" Applebloom squeaked before tripping over a desk which caused Scootaloo to scream which caused Sweetie Belle to fire a burst of magic which hit Zecora's mouth.

"What have you done?! I cannot rhyme no more" Zecora spat, now sounding a bit like Babs Seed.

"Sorry Zecora" Scootaloo mumbled, red rising in her cheeks as the zebra fumed. Zecora finally gave a deep breath and headed for the back of her cottage.

"It's alright dawg, just let me fix it up to get off this buzz" Zecora said, her voice drifting even more from Sweetie's voice spell as she walked to her storage room. Scootaloo frowned at their mess before having another bright idea.

"Hey, we can become Cutie Mark Crusader Hut Cleaners" Scootaloo cried excitedly. The other two fillies giggled before leaping around the hut and putting everything back as it was, or at least, the way they thought it was. The Crusaders looked at their flanks in dejection as it was, once again, blank.

"It's not fair!" Sweetie whined as she slammed her flank against one of Zecora's cabinets. The cabinet jolted open and a book fell  upon the unicorn's head. Sweetie squeaked from the pain before looking over the book.

"What is it?" Applebloom questioned as she poked the laminated cover cautiously.

"A book, you dodo" Scootaloo laughed at the Earth Pony's expense. Applebloom scowled at the pegasus as she attempted to open the book.

"It's stuck" Applebloom grunted as the book simply resisted her efforts.

"Of course it is" a melancholy voice called out from nowhere, scaring the fillies. Applebloom looked all over the room, searching for the source of the voice.

"W-who's there?" Applebloom yelped as smoke began to come out of the book.

"I doesn't matter what my name is but if you must call me one, Spirit is fine" The voice mumbled, now sounding closer. "What matters, is what I can do. I could make you the fastest flyer in Equestria, the most beautiful pony to have ever lived, or even give you a cutie mark" the voice said, the smoke now forming into arms that dragged the fillies towards the book, "Simply open me, and all your dreams will come true" it said before the arms dissipated.

"Let's do it!" Sweetie squealed happily before leaping onto the book and attempting to open it. Like before, it failed.

"Use the key" Spirit murmured and a green key materialized from the key-hole.

"Wait, shouldn't we talk to Twilight or somepony else first?" Applebloom questioned, remembering Applejack's tails about the many evil artifacts that littered Equestria.

"No, they'll just take it away. Besides, Zecora never keeps anything dangerous in her hut" Scootaloo reasoned before spinning the key and opening the book. All three Crusaders weren't even able to scream as the book exploded and engulfed them in a sickly green light.