Chapters Zecora walked through the Everfree Forest nervously as twilight turned to night. While Zecora knew the forest well, she knew that being cautious,especially after nightfall, was prudent. The forest had many monsters that could kill a pony easily and most of them felt safer at night. Zecora would probably have waited until dawn were it not for the fact that the herb she wanted only bloomed at night. Zecora let out a sigh of relief as she came upon the field of moonlace. One of Luna's personal creations, it was a brilliant white that glowed softly in the dark. The herb was not only beautiful it also cured magic suppression, a disease where a unicorn, alicorn, pegasus, or earth pony had their magic suppressed and controlled so that it could not be used. Zecora was currently working on a variant for dragons to hopefully increase diplomatic relationships. Zecora had only plucked a few stalks from the ground and tossed them into her bag when she heard a voice calling. Zecora strained her ears to attempt to hear it more clearly but the voice was still unintelligible.
"Is anypony there? You are giving me a scare." Zecora said looking all around her for the voice. She saw a green glow on her right and decided that was where the voice came from. It was probably just a lost unicorn foal attempting to light up its horn Zecora thought. She walked over to the glow and suddenly the voice stopped. What was there was no unicorn foal, but a book. Zecora looked at the book with curiosity. It was a big, thick thing with leafy designs on every corner. There was also a small keyhole on the edge closest to the pages. But the most distinctive feature was the melancholy looking face on the cover. The face looked pensive as if it was posing for a picture. It glowed somewhat softer the closer Zecora got to it. Zecora felt like something was wrong but she shrugged those instincts off. After all it was just a book, what harm could it cause? Zecora did not believe in magic much like Twilight Sparkle. What unicorns, dragons, and other creatures used was a form of ki, life energy being condensed into external energy. A book having ki would be ridiculous. So while many ponies would have dismissed the book as cursed, Zecora picked it up without fear.What Zecora did not hear was the sinister chuckle after she picked it up. The chuckle was one of joy, not pure joy but mean-spirited joy
Luna's horn glowed as she lowered the Moon while her sister's horn glowed to raise the Sun.
Luna yawned before saying "I am taking my leave for the day Tia. Do you have anything planned for today?"
Celestia shook her head before answering "Luna you worry too much. You need your rest and I don't want you refusing to lower the Moon because of being tired" Celestia's last remark was accented with the smile that had earned her the nickname of "Trollestia".
"I seem to remember that when we played together you were the one who always wanted more" Luna retorted, a smile creeping up her face.
"Oh you can't bring that up Luna. That was two thousand five hundred years ago" Celestia complained
"Well you started it with referring to one thousand years ago" Luna laughed only to realize her mistake too late. She remembered those horrid years: The insane laughter of Discord, Sombra's final spell corrupting her, Chrysalis losing her mind after being cursed by Discord, Grogar's slave pens, The Smooze's murderous chant and worst of all Tirek's black magic. The demon centaur king was a master of alchemy and dark magic and had in fact sold his soul to something to give him this power. That "something" was still unknown to Luna and Celestia but they were confident in its destruction as all that belonged to Tirek was burned and demons needed hosts, at least to their knowledge. In fact the only relatively normal thing that had happened one thousand years ago was the imprisonment of a murderous earth pony who had killed eight royal guards before ending his slaughter spree. Like all the great heroes and villains, he was immortalized in stone so that he may serve as a reminder of evil.
"I'm sorry Tia, I wasn't thinking" Luna apologized. It was practically a secret pact between the sisters that referring to the blood shed one thousand years ago was in bad taste and in her fun Luna had forgotten.
"No it was my fault Luna, I made the joke first. I guess I do deserve that nickname" Celestia said looking somberly at the horizon. Luna couldn't stand it any more and dragged Celestia into her room. "Hey! Stop it Luna" Celestia laughed while Luna dragged her by the ear.
"You're going to drink some of my private stores of moonshine and celebrate a thousand years of peace and prosperity" Luna demanded. Celestia shrugged before taking her glass and clinking it with Luna's. "To a thousand years of peace and prosperity!"
As the dawn turned blood red one of the statues in the garden started to crack and shake. Limbs that had been stiff for eons cracked and popped as they twitched inside their stone prison. Vapor as red as the sun-rise steamed out of several holes in the statue while bits of stone fell to the ground. Mr. Greenhooves was petrified as one red leg popped free with a crack. By the time the red eyes opened, Mr. Greenhooves was screaming but still rooted to the spot. They fixated on him and, in a connection between hunter and prey, Mr. Greenhooves knew his life was over. More red mist flew through the dawn as Greenhooves' life ended. A laugh rang out over the royal gardens that morning, one so terrible that several gardeners apparently commited suicide after hearing it. The statue's heart pulseated a deep black. A darkheart!
Trixie screamed in fury as she pounded away at a picture of Twilight. She had been forced to beg before that ignorant foal! She, The Great and Powerful Trixie, forced to apologize to some weak wretch. Trixie's ego had been utterly decimated. Why was she weaker than Twilight? Trixie was of royal blood while Twilight was born of some third-class trash. Trixie had to be better, it was impossible for somepony to be stronger than her. It was just a fluke Trixie told herself even when she knew perfectly well the truth. The truth was that Trixie was afraid, afraid that she could be weaker than somepony and fearing there were more like Twilight. Trixie's inflated ego couldn't take the pain and so it convinced Trixie that she had to be better than Twilight. It was this blind hatred that led Trixie to buying the alicorn amulet. It turned out being the perfect excuse as well. All of those gullible foals believed that Trixie had been corrupted when in reality she was in total control and living out her dream of being the strongest. Trixie's screams of fury died into soft sobs when the picture was destroyed. Trixie was desperate to have a third chance at beating Twilight but the alicorn amulet was locked away and training would be below her. Unknown to Trixie, a shadow watched her anger with joy.
Trixie's tantrum was interrupted by a knock on the door of her apartment. It was a small apartment because she refused to take money from her family as that would imply weakness.
"Who is it?" Trixie spat angrily while she opened the door. The pony standing there was a handsome, red earth pony stallion with a mop of messy black hair. His cutie mark was a heart with smoke coming out of it.
" Cor-tenebris ego sum" he said in a voice not unlike that of a teenage foal. Trixie blinked in confusion. She had no clue what he had said. He seemed confused as well. "S reshitelnosh drazka Nastapva razvrazka Godini smireni Shte badat smeneni" he tried. Trixie still shook her head. He then launched into a cascade of different languages. "Već dugo planiramI sredstva ne biramI milju po milju Sve bliže sam cilju, Mé pečlivé plány A mé vyčkávání Sto let přemáhání Mi splní mé přání, Na jarenlang wachten, Met wraak in gedachten Komt nu het moment jah Dat ik word herkend jah, Planeándolo todo Con mucho cuidado A un lado me hacían Y no me querían" Trixie stopped him there, she could understand a bit of the last one.
"Hablo inglez" Trixie said slowly. The stallion nodded but before he could start again, Trixie asked "Not musically please?" The stallion grumbled but changed his tune.
"I've planning carefully all these years to finally reach the throne because they cast me out" he said, his eyes sparkling red like Trixie's did when she was with the alicorn amulet. "Bu I need help" he said, grinning voraciously as he did. Trixie could feel the power emanating from his body but still she felt unsure.
"What's your name?" Trixie asked, attempting to search his magical aura. What she found was an aura of pure evil, souls screaming out in pain and clawing at her. He caught her when she staggered from the magical back-lash.
"Dark-heart, the devourer of worlds is my name" he said happily, like they were at a picnic. Trixie could certainly believe that judging by the amount of souls trapped in his body. "Now I heard you want to take down a certain someone named Twilight Sparkle, yes?" he said, his aura starting to condense so it was visible to even the naked eye. "I could give you the power to kill her, you know" he said as he concentrated his power towards his hoof. Trixie thought things over in her head. While being stronger than Twilight would be great, taking help would be demeaning to her ego. Dark-heart noticed Trixie's reluctance and spiced up the deal. "All I'll do is unlock your hidden power" he lied for Trixie had no hidden power. Trixie's choice was now clear
"Do it now!" Trixie cried happily. Dark-heart coated his hoof in dark magic and slammed it to the floor. Trixie screamed in agony as a wave of fire hit her, burning her flesh and increasing her strength. Dark-heart smirked while Trixie's screams turned into grunts of satisfaction. Finally, when the transformation was over, Trixie didn't look very different but she felt a million times stronger. She did notice on thing different when she looked in the mirror. "What is this mark on my head?" Trixie questioned while looking at the insignia burned onto her forehead. It was a stylized "D" with the edges formed into hearts.
"It is a magical seal to keep the power from overwhelming your body as well as a way to let everypony know who you are" Dark-heart responded with a calm that only came from rehearsal. He had neglected to tell her that it was also a manual override of sorts should she go rogue. This was a the true test of her loyalty. He waited for her reaction to the new found power.
"What or who is first on our hit list" Trixie responded with a fanaticism better than Dark-heart could have hoped for.
"Discord" Dark-heart said while admiring her loyalty. She would be a useful friend when the time came. Dark-heart recognized his mistake and quickly rectified his thinking. To think of ponies as equals or, hell forbid, friends was against his very nature and reason for existing. To go against his destiny was to refute his power and so Dark-heart followed his divine purpose. This new pawn did not have the potential to be a physical threat, but an emotional one was quite possible.
The Elements of Harmony appeared in Discord's quarters with Trixie slung over Applejack's back. The draconequus had been drinking glass and offhandedly threw it out the window with a muffled bang when he saw the seven ponies appear.
"Ah, my friends. Won't you take a seat?" the spirit of chaos said, showing them to some chairs with eyes on the seats. The ponies stepped back and sat on the normal bed instead. "Well, what can I do for you? Surely Twilght wouldn't have come here if it wasn't important" Discord chuckled while lightly ruffling Twilight's hair in an attempt to rile the alicorn. Twilight growled but ignored Discord's jibe and let Fluttershy speak.
"It's nice to see your doing so well Discord." the buttery pegasus said good-naturedly. Discord laughed and hugged Fluttershy.
"Then it is a pleasure to us both" Discord said, letting go of Fluttershy as he did. "Let's cut down on chit-chat, shall we? I'm going to read your mind" the chaos lord said looking expectantly at Fluttershy. Fluttershy nodded and he touched her head briefly with his finger causing her eyes to swirl for about a second. Discord took his finger off and digested the new information while Fluttershy shook off the effects of the mind read.
"What did you get?" Fluttershy asked, still somewhat dizzy from the experience. Discord chuckled while pressing the back of his head like he was changing slides.
"Well, a blue unicorn named Trixie went crazy...Nice speech Twilight, I should have used that....Ow, that had to hurt" the spirit of chaos muttered while his eyes showed the images that he was seeing. Suddenly his eyes widened in horror and he fell to the ground, gasping for breath and stopping the images
"Discord!" Fluttershy yelped before rushing over to the draconequus and helping him up.
"No, you must go. He is already tracking you" Discord grunted. Before Fluttershy could voice the obvious "who is he" question, Trixie's eyes snapped open and she tossed down a small magic charge. "Shit!" Discord cursed as he turned the small flare into a coconut. Twilight was about to ask a question when she heard a horrible screech from behind their building.
"What was that?!" Twilight shrieked, now noticing the red haze forming on the horizon and the more screams echoing out through Canterlot.
"Dark-heart, the destroyer of worlds" Discord said and for the first time, Twilight saw Discord trembling with fear. "You know how I am the chaos incarnate, right? Well Dark-heart is destruction incarnated. His duty was to destroy planets so they could be returned to the universe and then shepherd the souls to Elysium. However, he enjoyed his job a bit too much and he went around destroying more planets than necessary and absorbing the souls of the populace. His M.O. was to make a deal with an inhabitant, granting them their greatest wish and then watching them squirm as he destroyed their world. He had no reason to do it other than fun. His reign stopped all of a sudden about 1,000 years ago." Discord relayed telepatically to save time before snapping his fingers and taking them out of his quarters.
"Lets get the Elements of Harmony girls!" Twilight yelled, attempting to keep her composure for the sake of the group. When Discord had relayed the psychic message, he also sent images of Dark-heart's job. The images were too horrible for Twilight to put in words and could best be described as hellish. The souls of billions, writhing in pain and being forced to be used as fuel for Dark-heart.
"Nope" a voice said mockingly. The statue gardens were still for a split second, even Discord and the mares froze. The calm was broken by a huge explosion and red smoke gathering together into the shape of a red earth pony with a messy black mane. His grin was way too big and stretched to the corners of his face, making him look like a corpse. Trixie teleported in a few seconds later, having been able to free herself in the confusion. "Get out of here, you're in the big leagues now" Dark-heart said to Trixie, his voice shaking with annoyance
"Hah! How bad can a chimera be?" Trixie laughed, tossing her mane out of her eyes and looking at Twilight haughtily. Trixie's question was answered when Discord let out a roar and began to truly show his power. A pink aura shot from him turning everything in the gardens into random colors and shapes, true chaos. Dark-heart merely looked unimpressed and with a flick of his hoof, the gardens were back to normal, albeit with a red haze.
"What a dumb idea Discord, wasting your time on theatrics" the demon chided, while clicking his tongue. "Oh but I see you got your friends out alright. How soft are you Discord?" the demon mocked, stepping around Discord threateningly.
"I could say the same for you, brat. You let your proxy go off just fine. Maybe she was your whore" Discord laughed at the younger immortal's expense.
"SHUT UP!!" Dark-heart screamed and charged forward crashing into Discord before leaping into the air to prepare a blast. To the ponies with enough nerve to watch they were nothing more than flashes of color across the sky and sonic booms as they exchanged blows across the sky. Dark-heart headbutted Discord only to receive a tail whip to the face, sending both parties to a halt to catch their breath. A bit of black blood dribbled from Dark-heart's lip causing Discord to smirk at the small victory. While Dark-heart was busy checking his own lip, Discord snapped his fingers to create a large gatling gun and started firing off explosive chocolate milks. Dark-heart scowled and flew upwards dodging most of the barrage, though a few explosions hit him and staggered him.
"To think I was afraid of you" Discord mocked before tossing away his gatling gun.
Dark-heart chuckled before muttering "You still should be". Dark-heart's body exploded and revealed his true form, a giant smokey cloud with the suffering of all the worlds he had destroyed reflected in the eyes of the cloud and magic bolts crackling around him. The only reason ponies in the crowd weren't dead was because Discord quickly formed a shield to protect them from Dark-heart's bolts. "Now, let the real fight begin" Dark-heart roared, his body's winds carrying the voice to every edge of Canterlot. Discord braced himself and shot out a monstrous balloon to eat Dark-heart. Dark-heart dodged it and fired his own beam at Discord. Discord slapped the beam away with a baseball bat before charging in for physical combat. The cloud was somewhat solid which made it possible for Discord to uppercut the demon. Dark-heart righted himself and slammed Discord into a statue with a psychic pulse.
"You and I both know that you're weak. I'm still standing" Discord laughed even as his body trembled from exertion. Dark-heart burst into giggles at the obvious bluff.
"What are you protecting? Your little mare friends?" Dark-heart said through giggles. Discord answered him with a blast of chaos magic to the face, turning part of the cloud into candy. Dark-heart quickly reformed and split into several copies then played pinball with Discord, each clone being a bumper. Discord was bounced back and forth a few times when Dark-heart stopped to mock Discord. "You know, I think you have-" Dark-heart began before being compressed into a stone and punted to the ground.
"Less talk, more rock" Discord panted, his body covered in bruises and his chest heaving. Dark-heart's revenge was swift and brutal. The cloud flew out of the crater, crashing it's bulk against Discord's sternum. Discord coughed up blood but Dark-heart didn't let up and formed two fists before crashing them into the small of Discord's back. Discord didn't get up this time. Dark-heart alighted down, back in the form of an earth pony, and started to beat down the god of chaos. A hoof smashed into Discord's face again and again, spatters of blood going everywhere.
"Discord!" Fluttershy yelped as she and the Elements of Harmony returned with not only the magical artifacts, but also Celestia and Luna. "Let him go or I'll...I'll" Fluttershy stammered, the adrenaline wearing off and taking bravery with it.
"You'll what? He's dead anyway" Dark-heart chuckled, lifting Discord by the neck into the air, "But I'm kind so I'll let you join him!" Dark-heart boomed, dropping Discord and firing a beam of red and black at the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy closed her eyes and waited for the end. What she heard instead was Dark-heart cackling and pained breaths in front of her. She opened her eyes in horror to see Discord, burnt and hurt, had taken the blast for her. The draconequus collapsed seconds later, his breathing becoming labored. Fluttershy rushed over to Discord's side and propped his head up, tears staining both their fur.
"Hehe....To think that the lord of chaos would fall protecting a pony... now that's a funny joke." Discord coughed. "To think it started off with me...trying to break apart friendship....and now I die for it"
"You won't die" Fluttershy said, her heart breaking as she realized that she was lying.
"Don't lie...even if I was cruel to you....you were the only one to treat....me with genuine kindness...Being your friend was the best thing that ever happened to me...Please don't die...friend" Discord managed to cough out before his head lolled back and his breathing stopped. The god of chaos had been slain by the destroyer
Fluttershy glared at the demon that had killed Discord with more hate than she had ever felt before. Her thoughts of ripping him apart were interrupted by Twilight.
"Girls! We'll have to charge the Elements for him. Pour all your emotions into it! Can you two distract him Princesses?" Twilight barked out, going into complete general mode. Celestia and Luna charged for Darkheart, lighting up their horns as they did.
"I won't even need my true form for this" Darkheart laughed before headbutting Celestia and smacking Luna away. Luna attempted to recover when a magical lightning bolt hit her in the back,
"You're not going anywhere" Trixie growled, finally having gotten back from hiding under a rock. Luna was shocked at the power behind the spell. She had heard Trixie was a weakling, not a powerful mage.
"I suppose Tia will have to fend for herself" Luna grunted before lighting down in front of Trixie. "You're a fool to have let Darkheart control you." Luna mocked as she saw the insignia on Trixie's head.
"He does not control Trixie!" Trixie screamed while firing a barrage of magical daggers at Luna. Luna put up a shield, hoping she could talk some sense into her.
"That's what the Nightmare said too. Honeyed words are nothing. Darkheart is corrupting you just like the Alicorn Amulet" Luna screamed, creating several illusions in an attempt to confuse the unstable unicorn.
"Trixie was not corrupted! Trixie has to be good at something, otherwise she's worthless" Trixie half sobbed, half yelled at the black diarch before blasting away the clones. Luna teleported behind Trixie, dodging the assault before going into the unicorn's mind. It was a mess to say the least. The most noticeable thing was a red haze, obviously Darkheart's seal, corrupting and warping the rest of the mind. Luna blasted through the smoke to find even more harsh barriers of pride and hatred.Worming her way through, she found memories of a pony with little power and even less love given to her. Born to an elite family, she was expected to be the best but no matter how she trained, she was never very powerful. She compensated by hiding behind a mask of pride and power while really only using smoke and mirrors in her acts. Then Luna saw that the few humble memories were being swallowed by Darkheart's seal and Trixie's own hatred.
Just before leaving the unicorn's mind, Luna shouted "Remember who you really are and stop living in denial!". When Luna exited the mind, Trixie was on the floor, alternating between crying and screaming death threats. Luna was reminded of a rabid dog lashing out at the world with no reason. "I hope you do well" Luna said right before she saw the distinctive bang of the Elements firing.
While Luna had been defeating Trixie, Celestia had been getting beaten down by Darkheart.
"How about I don't use my magic?" Darkheart laughed before rushing Celestia and rushing into a combo too fast to see. Celestia was banged back and forth as the demon slammed his hooves into her. Celestia managed to get the demon off her by blinding him with a blast of solar magic. While Darkheart was blinded, Celestia took advantage to beat down Darkheart with a kicking combo. Darkheart snarled with rage before blasting Celestia away with a bolt of magic.
"I thought you weren't going to use magic" Celestia taunted, attempting to hold the demon's attention as best she could. Darkheart chuckled before dusting himself off in an attempt to get his composure back.
"Well, I think I just need to kill you more creatively that's all" the demon said, pondering with a hoof to his chin. "Oh, I know. I'll drown the Sun" Darkheart said before zooming forward and headbutting the solar princess. Celestia stumbled back only to get smashed across the face by a red energy whip. "Let's find some water" Darkheart laughed before throwing down a huge red lightning bolt, leaving a giant crater and revealing an aquifer. "Into the water you go" Darkheart said before dunking the Princess's head in the water and whistling merrily. Celestia struggled to get back up but the demon's hold was firm and her lungs were starting to burn. "What was that? It's a bit hard to hear anything, well, besides "gurgle gurgle" Darkheart taunted shoving Celestia's head deeper. The water was suddenly getting pleasantly lukewarm. "Huh, I like this" Darkheart said, inching into the now steaming water. He regretted it almost instantly as the water boiled before completely burning away. "Ow! What in Tartarus?!" Darkheart spat as he leaped out of the crater.
"I won't die to a beast like you" Celestia snarled, her body glowing with the full brilliance of the hottest stars. Celestia was lit up in a blue aura as she screamed "I am Celestia! Queen of the Stars!" She rushed forward, her hoof covered in flame, before upper cutting the demon with all her might. Darkheart shrieked in pain as several teeth were knocked out. While internally Celestia was shocked that Darkheart even existed, externally she simply charged with a second punch. Darkheart recovered faster than she anticipated and flew upward dodging the second attack. It was now or never for Celestia. While Darkheart was in the awkward position, she fired a blast of magic with the power of a solar flare, screaming so as to channel all her power into it.
"What?! Noooooo!" Darkheart screamed, slamming his hoof forward in an attempt to hold the blast at bay. Celestia thrust even more power into the blast while Darkheart channeled energy into his hoof, slowly pushing the blast back. The stalemate was broken when the solar beam exploded, bathing the area in a harsh light as the ground shook from its power.
"Don't look at it!" Twilight screamed, averting her own eyes to avoid blindness.
"N-no" Celestia gasped as the smoke cleared. Darkheart was still simply floating there, somewhat banged up and with his hoof nearly burnt to a husk but very much alive. "Not even Discord would've survived that" Celestia sputtered, realizing that the demon really had been holding back and had powered up to survive the blast.
"How could she make me use more than half my power?" Darkheart snarled, glaring at his scorched hoof and watching as bits of blackened flesh fell off it. The beam was about to kill him when he brought out about 3 quarters of his demon power, as much as he could use without transforming. "That hurt" Darkheart said, his voice disturbingly calm as he alighted down. He then clenched the burnt hoof, ignoring the blood dripping off of it before screaming "IT HURT!!" Darkheart slammed Celestia back with a psychic pulse before stopping her flight with another energy whip. "IT HURT!!!!" Darkheart roared as he smashed Celestia back and forth while she was trapped in the energy whip. Eventually he dropped Celestia's broken body before snarling in her face "Where do you get the gall to hurt me?!"
"He, look behind you" Celestia chuckled, doing her best to keep the pain out of her voice. Darkheart turned around just in time to hear a massive bang as the Elements fired.
"OH SH-" Darkheart started before the rainbow beam slammed into him.
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.
Twilight slammed the ground with her hoof in anger as they popped out of hyper-space. Damn Trixie! if it hadn't been for her, Dark-Heart would have been dead. Twilight could feel her magic suppressors heating up as they struggled to contain her raging magic.
"Calm down Twilight, there is still hope" Luna said, grabbing Twilight and shaking her to snap her out of the rage. Twilight's magic continued to flare, causing the Mane 6 to shrink back in fear. Except for Fluttershy.
"I'm angry too but this won't solve anything!" Fluttershy screamed at Twilight while giving her the full force of the Stare. Twilight resisted her hold for a few seconds, before looking down and breathing like Cadence taught her. Twilight's breathing slowly calmed and her magic stopped flaring.
"Thank you, but we have no hope now. Dark-Heart took our best shot and it's doubtful he'll fall for the same trick again" Twilight said, increasing the seal on the magical locks as she did.
"No" Celestia managed to groan as she propped herself up. "Dark-Heart is cocky and foolish and he nearly died from my Solar Flare" Celestia managed to cough out, using up her strength just to talk. "Twilight, if you let all your magic out at once while he's off-guard, that might work" Celestia managed to groan before slipping back into unconsciousness.
"I can't control that, I'd kill you all first" Twilight said, a tear leaving her eye before sinking to the ground sadly.
"We may be able to help you, Princess" Luna said, investigating Twilight's magic with a scan spell. "You just need training to keep your power under control" the nocturnal diarch stated after her analysis.
"Yeah, I'm totally good at training" Rainbow gloated before giving Twilight a good-natured punch to the shoulder. Twilight smiled before steeling herself. Dark-Heart would no doubt be recovering, she would not waste this time on self-pity
"We've got 3 days, I suggest we start improving" Twilight declared, fire in her eyes.
Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom all looked up to see a smoky figure of a pony, lime green light shining behind her.
"Oh, it has been far too long since I've been let out. Now, what wish do you want?" the Spirit asked, popping it's neck and legs as it stretched.
"A Cutie Mark" Scootaloo squeaked without hesitation while the others nodded rapidly. The Spirit rolled her eyes at their youthful exuberance before opening its pages.
"Just say these words and your wish will come true" the Spirit mumbled from its more cramped position after being back in the book.
"Szkoda dla Cutie znaku" Sweetie Belle read quizzically before her flank burned with green light. A second later, there was a musical note on her flank, a scooter on Scootaloo's flank, and a hammer on Applebloom's flank.
"Now that that's done, you must take vengeance" the Spirit chuckled to the stunned fillies.
"Revenge?" Applebloom mumbled, still in a daze.
"Yes, on Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon" the Spirit laughed at the fillies. Slowly, the fillies began laughing with the book, a dark laugh that would have made many run in fright. "Not just them, but soon every pony in the world, for not helping you when you needed it" the Spirit managed to say between laughs. Eventually, Sweetie Belle stopped the laughter with a valid suggestion.
"When do we take them out?" Sweetie Belle questioned, horn glowing with dark green magic the same color as Spirit.
"How about we take them down in 3 days? That'll give us time to test out our Cutie Marks" Scootaloo suggested, grinning evilly in a way similar to Spirit.
"Agreed, we've got 3 days, better start improving" Applebloom smirked, not noticing how she looked almost exactly like Spirit in expression.
Dark-Heart sparred at the air, sweat running down his body. He had almost died last time from his lack of skill, it wouldn't happen again. The demon shot several punches at an imaginary foe before settling down for a rest. Dark-Heart sat, thinking hard about Trixie. She was more loyal than any other servant before but was that a good thing? Dark-Heart remembered Discord's mocking words about him loving her and how he had sent her away so she wouldn't get hurt in that fight. He told himself that it was just so he could keep a valuable servant but was that true? He looked at the wounds that still covered his body, remembering how he had felt when Trixie had saved his life. Such caring being shown to anyone, even him, went up against his goal to destroy all love and caring from the world. If that was the case, why did he feel good when she did that?
Trixie meanwhile, decided to meditate for the first time in her life, a common practice done by unicorns to focus magic. Trixie still struggled with what to do now. She had failed to beat Twilight again but Luna's mind invasion had shaken her opinion on whether or not to kill Twilight. Another question she needed to answer was what should she do with Dark-Heart? The demon had given her all of her new power but he'd also stricken her mind with thoughts of killing ponies. Even then, she had saved him. What was wrong with her?!
"Don't look so glum Trixie, we have 3 days to improve ourselves" Dark-Heart smirked as he practiced shooting off magic at the sky. Trixie shook herself and got out of meditation, her mind clear. She would defeat Twilight, but she would do it legitimately, not with help.
"I've got three days to train, best make use out of it" Trixie snarled before launching into a sparring match with Dark-Heart.
Twilight snarled as magic curled around her horn, lightning crackling around her. The problem wasn't the huge amount of magic being emitted, no, the problem was that too little magic was being emitted.
"Good, you're channeling your magic slowly" Celestia said, limping over to Twilight, having mostly recovered from her beating. Twilight grunted, a bolt of magic nearly hitting Celestia in the face. .
"Sorry, it's so hard channeling it this slowly" Twilight murmured as she got her magic back under control. A purple aura had surrounded her, crackling with bio-electricity. While Twilight struggled to let her magic out slowly, the rest of the Elements had been mixing potions with Luna.
"What is this lame potion about?" Rainbow questioned as she plucked off one of her feathers to join Applejack's hoof shaving, Rarity's horn shaving, Fluttershy's tail extensions, and Pinkie Pie's spit in a black cauldron.
"As brutish as that statement may have been, I must agree" Rarity said, looking disdainfully as the mixed up body parts began glowing red, blue, pink, orange, and purple. Luna chose to show not tell and blasted the ingredients with a bolt of blue magic. The ingredients turned into a thick smoke which entered the Element's lungs, giving them power.
"Woah. THIS IS GREAT!" Pinkie shrieked as she leaped around, feeling like she had the power of the Elements in her.
"It feels like I'm using the Elements" Applejack noted, moving her hoof slightly. Even the slight movement created a noticable gush of air.
"In a way you are. The Elements are now bonded to you and you can access their power without need for the necklaces. We never did this before because such a process is dangerous and would have killed many" Luna said soberly, her face stern.
"Y-you mean that could have killed us?!" Fluttershy whimpered, lowering her head.
"Yes, but we had no choice. Dark-Heart may be acting odd for now, but every planet he visits has been reduced to a wasteland of hatred and death" Celestia said, remembering what had happened to Discord's race. The draconequus were not native to Equestria, they had been forced there by an evil force that she now knew was Dark-Heart. Discord's father had been the avatar of chaos before him and had been torn to pieces by a monster made out of red smoke. While Discord had been able to inherit his father's position, no one had truly known what had laid waste to his planet until now.
"How come you don't use that potion on me?" Twilight hissed, her purple aura spiking outward as she unlocked more power.
"You have the crown of Magic, to bond it to you would create and effect similar to that of Sunset Shimmer, or "Sunset Satan" as you called her" Luna explained before returning to monitoring Twilight. "Now that you've surfaced all your power, lock it up again" Luna said with little mercy in her tone. Twilight gave an exasperated sigh and groaned in pain as she reabsorbed her power.
"That will surprise Dark-Heart" Twilight muttered as the clock struck twelve. It was time to face destiny and defeat Dark-Heart
Sweetie Belle slammed her hoof into Diamond Tiara's gut, laughing darkly. The pink filly gagged as the air was driven out of her and looked at Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle not only had a Cutie Mark now, but she was a full grown, pretty mare.
"I thought blank-flanks were worthless" Sweetie Belle growled before kicking Diamond on the side, knocking Diamond over again.
"They still are, you didn't even get that mark legitimately" Diamond coughed out, wiping the blood off her lip. While may thought her talent represented bratiness, it actually represented leadership and she knew that taunting the Cutie Mark Crusaders was the best way to distract them so Silver Spoon could escape.
"SHUT UP!" Scootaloo roared slapping Diamond across the face with her wing. Diamond's eyes leaked water and Scootaloo smirked. Her smirk disappeared as she realized that Diamond was laughing. "I just slapped you like a brat, what's so funny?" Scootaloo asked, abusing her new status as an adult.
"Hehe, nothing, just that even with fully developed wings, they're too weak to hurt me" Diamond Tiara said, getting up to shaky hooves. She was smacked back down by Applebloom, who then stepped on Diamond's leg with a hideous grin, breaking the limb. Diamond's howls of pain were ignored by the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they went off to find Silver Spoon.
"I-is that it?" a voice called from behind them. The Cutie Mark Crusaders's jaws dropped as they saw that Diamond had somehow gotten back up. "I said, is that it!" Diamond mocked, limping forward. She had to protect Silver Spoon from these monsters.
"How are you standing?!" Applebloom gawked, her eyes wide.
"That's simple. I earned my Cutie Mark, you're a trickster, a cheap copy. I am a leader as said by this crown on my flank and I WILL NOT LET YOU HURT MY FRIENDS!" Diamond screamed, every fiber of her being pointing hatred at the enchanted mares before her. Sweetie Belle stepped back, eyes full of horror. Was Diamond a ghost!?
"Enough time with her, we must head towards that flare" Spirit called, curled up within her book inside Scootaloo's saddle bag. Sure enough, there was a red flare in the town square of Ponyville. Diamond Tiara took the distraction as a chance to limp away with Silver Spoon, adrenaline failing her.
"Let's go" Applebloom said, her eyes flashing green. As the Cutie Mark Crusaders headed for the flare, the clock struck twelve.
Dark-Heart grinned as he shot up a red flare, calling to that purple alicorn and her friends to come to the town square. Their 3 days had passed, it was time for the grand finale. Trixie had disappeared, but who cared?
"I care" Dark-Heart muttered, feeling empty now that the blue mare had left. He shook the treasonous thoughts out of him and let his red aura flow freely, announcing his presence. At least if Trixie wasn't here, that meant that he wouldn't have to teleport her out. He should feel good that she left, shouldn't he? Dark-Heart groaned and cursed his conscience before flying to the battle field in the form of a red vulture
Storm clouds began gathering, darkness filling the sky. Lightning shot through it, providing occasional flashes of light. Dark-Heart stood at the center of it all, watching the clouds. They were his and slightly red tinted to prove it. It was why there was no rain. One way or another, this would be a dignified battle ground, not a mess of mud and mire. The demon sat down, letting the storms become autonomous.
"At least I don't have to worry about Trixie anymore" Dark-Heart said to no one in particular. "Her bargain has been completed anyway" Dark-Heart reasoned. "Still, she saved me once...why?" Dark-Heart muttered, his agitation causing a red and black aura to seep from him. Unlike Twilight's volatile, crackling violet aura, Dark-Heart's aura was red and black and collected in a fairly ordered orb around him. Destruction was the ultimate order, when there was nothing left, there was nothing to create chaos and thus, Dark-Heart's aura was calm and collected. While his aura was calm, the demon's mind was not. That damnable Trixie had bewitched his mind and haunted his thoughts. He couldn't even think straight anymore. Was this guilt?
"It matters not, she's long gone" Dark-Heart snarled, not even flinching as a lightning bolt crashed right next to him. "All love and caring will be destroyed and there will be no room for chaos. I will complete my destiny" Dark-Heart swore, gritting his teeth hard enough to draw blood. He had gotten caught off-guard in their first scuffle, due to being rusty. But now he was trained and strong. He had to win, he hadn't suffered humiliation from hubris just to lose!
"All will burn" Dark-Heart promised, his eyes aglitter with malice but his mind in another realm, far away.
Diamond Tiara whimpered as Silver Spoon pulled at her leg. Thankfully, the Cutie Mark Crusaders hadn't broken Diamond's leg, just dislocated it. Even so, the pain was making the filly cry. There was a muffled pop and Silver Spoon finally let go, panting.
"It's back in there" Silver Spoon confirmed to her friend. Diamond tested her leg and found that while it was sore, she could walk. "Now, let's bail before they come back" Silver Spoon. As the grey filly began sneaking off, she was stopped by a hoof on her shoulder.
"No, we will not run away" Diamond growled, getting to her hooves. "Not only did those blank flanks cheat their way to adulthood, they humiliated my pride. I will get revenge" Diamond growled, ignoring the throb in her wounded leg. She was of a higher breed than those losers, such a slight was unacceptable.
"How will we do that? They were pretty confident that they could take Twilight down" Silver Spoon reasoned, finding pride a foolish reason to help.
"That is another point, this is my home too. I'll be dead before I go down whimpering and hiding from those idiots" Diamond growled, grabbing her scuffed tiara. She pulled one of the diamonds from it and left a slash through the dirt. "Do what you want, I'll fight with my own diamonds if I have to" the pink earth hissed, slamming her good hoof into the ground. Silver Spoon stepped back from her friend. This was different from the normal stuff they did, Diamond was serious now. "Will you be remembered as a dying coward? Or will you fight those worthless defects with me?" Diamond asked with finality. Silver Spoon trembled but used her own special talent, digging up gems to pull out a sharp shard of mica.
"I'm in, they needed to be taught a lesson anyway" Silver Spoon said, grinning weakly. Diamond returned the gesture. "Still, by the time everything is over, everything will be burning" Silver Spoon muttered.
Spirit snarled from within the stuffy book. She was wishing she had picked some better hosts but it was too late now. If only those idiotic pawns would move faster instead of babbling among themselves!
"Did you see Diamond's face when I beat her down?" Scootaloo laughed, now even taller than Rainbow and taut with lean muscle. Spirit's magic had also improved their physical appearances, a fact which made the mares/fillies very happy.
"Still, it was kind of scary when Diamond got back up" Sweetie Belle shivered, looking slender but not sickly and having a rich, vibrant mane to go with it. Spirit rolled her eyes from within her book. These buffoons had been made uneasy by the pink filly resisting them, such a soft will! Still, they were moving along and soon Tirek, Spirit's creator, would be avenged. That childish imp, Dark-Heart, he had left Tirek in his moment of need, something which Spirit had been created for as a fail safe.
"Maybe, but let's forget about that. Spirit says that when we reach those red clouds, we'll get everything we've ever wished for" Applebloom muttered, her body a lean, runner's body with a ponytail. Spirit smiled slightly. At least the dirty mud pony had some sense. Truth be told, Spirit was little more than Tirek's consciousness uploaded into a book. Unfortunately that mean that Spirit's only goal was revenge due to being unable to evolve past the goal she had been given at creation. Once Dark-Heart was dead, Spirit would simply do whatever her master told her to.
"Stop your babbling, just say these words" Spirit snapped, sensing a huge power in the eye of the storm. Her hosts needed a buff in power if they were to have a chance. Spirit propped herself open to a page titled "100% Form".
"Nezaujíma ma o škode budem robiť pre seba a ostatné. Daj mi neobmedzenú moc, aby moja sila je v plnom potenciáli" Scootaloo read before all three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders bent over in pain. Applebloom's shoulders burst outward, growing muscle, Sweetie's neck thickened and bulged with veins, and Scootaloo's legs grew wider. After a few short seconds of agony, all three of Spirit's pawns looked like Saddle Rager in terms of physique.
"Everything will burn" Sweetie Belle laughed, her horn sparking green
Twilight Sparkle walked in a tight and elegant manner, not out of arrogance, but to control her power. She only had one shot at killing Dark-Heart. Lightning crackled next to her, casting a red glare on her purple fur.
"Rainbow, what is up with those clouds?" Twilight asked, turning to see her pegasus friend throwing punches at imaginary foes.
"Eh? Oh, they're not normal clouds, I can't move them" Rainbow said before returning to beating up her invisible foe. Twilight bit her lip, harder than she intended and felt the taste of blood in her mouth. She could see why Dark-Heart killed, blood tasted good. Twilight shook her head, clearing out those thoughts. Luna had warned her that with too much power, the mortal body and mind was often warped, which often resulted in mild insanity.
"Excuse me, what are you doing here?" a female voice called from Twilight's right. There was a cloaked mare, hood down to cover her face.
"We're going to kick some sense into Dark-Heart" Applejack boasted, stomping the ground hard enough to crack it. The mare winced but stepped forward.
"You don't have a chance, I should know. I was.....close to him, to cut a long story short" the cloaked mare said. sounding dejected.
"Then what do you propose we do? Roll over and die?" Rarity asked, giving the cloaked mare a piercing glare. The mare seemed to hesitate before answering.
"I can help you, I know ways around his trickery" the cloaked mare answered, denying Rarity's hunch.
"How do we know that can we trust you?" Fluttershy asked, nervousness causing her to shiver.
"We can't" Pinkie said cheerfully while bouncing by. Fluttershy gulped before screaming as a building next to her was set ablaze by a lightning bolt.
"Soon, this town will be in flames" Celestia moaned, still not in the best condition after her beating.
Much of Madness but More of Sin
Bones cracked and reformed as Dark-heart transformed into a large, red wyvern. Trixie had to step back to avoid being flattened by his tail. He snorted a gout of flame as his aura calmed down to a faint black and red glow.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get on" Dark-heart demanded to the stunned unicorn. Trixie shook her head to clear it before jumping onto her savior and, dare she lower herself to that level, friend. Dark-heart let out an ear-piercing screech without a care for subtlety and took to the air with one powerful snap of his wings. Trixie almost screamed but caught herself when she remembered that wyverns' have sensitive hearing. She didn't want to lose his favor after-all. A few pegasi royal guards flew out, spears at the ready. Dark-heart chuckled darkly before angling back. "You can take them" he ordered before going into a full-speed tackle at the guards. The guards lost their formation as they had expected the dragon to fly away and not actively fight. Before they could compensate for their mistake two head exploded with a pink glow. Trixie had taken care to only hit their heads and cause them a quick death and not a soul-drain like Dark-heart would do. The royal guards started retreating in a panicked and disorganized fashion because for all their training, they had never seen true combat. Dark-heart laughed madly before blasting a dart of fire into the group of guards. Before their ashes even fell to the ground Dark-heart burst into childish tittering. "Hihihi, they got fired! HAHA!" mocked before spreading his wings and continuing to Ponyville. Trixie felt herself chuckling along with the demon. He had made her feel more happy than she had been in weeks.
Twilight was enjoying a wonderful dream about world peace when Spike jumped on top of her. She almost yelled but caught herself when she saw Spike's terrified expression.
"T-trixie is back! She hurting ponies in the town square Twilight" he stuttered while shakes ran through his body uncontrollably. Twilight put a mild sleeping spell on Spike before charging up her horn and teleporting to the town square. What could've made Trixie relapse? As she popped out of hyper-space a body flew through the air with a hole punched through the abdomen.
"Yes, run foals as Trixie shows why she is the best!" Trixie cackled while abusing ponies all over the place with magical bolts, some fatal. Trixie is so intoxicated in her new found power that she doesn't notice the blur of orange until it slams slams into her and smacks her to the ground. Trixie attempts to charge up a spell but Applejack shows no mercy and starts using her earth pony strength to literally beat Trixie into the ground. Twilight was helping civilians to escape with her magic while Applejack beat down the blue unicorn. Applejack slammed her hooves against Trixie's face, each hit drawing blood and pain from the blue unicorn. Finally there was a loud pop as Trixie's jaw shattered from the punishment. Trixie, now with her jaw hanging limply and her eyes wide, attempted to crawl away and escape. Applejack interrupted her by leaping into the air and landing on Trixie's back with a horrific crunch. One might think this to be a mild punishment, however an earth pony weighs vastly more than one might think to hold their musculature. It is doubtful Trixie was thinking about that though since a huge glob of blood flew out of her mouth. Trixie staggered to her hooves only to fall to her knees and cough up more bloody phlegm. The showmare raised her head and saw the earth pony pulling back her hoof, ready to crush Trixie's skull. Applejack snarled with rage and prepared to finish off the pathetic creature when suddenly a magical aura grabbed her hoof.
"That's enough Applejack! You will not lower yourself to her level" Twilight screamed at the cow-pony. Applejack looked as if she had snapped out of a trance and froze. That was a mistake. Trixie somehow got to her hooves and blasted Applejack away with a blast of magic. Trixie then took a moment to cast a healing spell before grinning madly. The grin was hideous because even as she grinned, teeth were being replaced.
"Now that the warm-up is over, let's begin Princess" Trixie said with as much venom as she could muster. Twilight blocked a weak concussion blast before attempting to reason with Trixie.
"What is wrong with you? You were sorry" Twilight yelled before dropping her shield and throwing off a few blasts.
Trixe blocked them while screeching "You believed that load of pony feathers?! Groveling before you made Trixie sick to her stomach you low-class trash!" Trixie fired up an earth spell causing the ground to shoot up under Twilight. Twilight staggered from the blow before being blasted back psychically. "Trixie is now where she belongs: with everyone below!" Trixie shrieked before blasting Twilight with a barrage of torture spells. Trixie's laughter was the only thing Twilight could focus on to block out the pain. Trixie continued mocking Tilight even as Twilight screamed in agony. "Feel the pain of a thousand tortures course through your body Twilight Sparkle!" Trixie shrieked, her eyes wild with fury. Trixie grabbed Twilight in a magical hold and began to bend her in such a way that the alicorn would have her spine broken in minutes. Twilight writhed while her body was contorted forcefully and against her will. Finally, after a minute of pain, something inside Twilight snapped. A huge wave of magenta magic shot out from every pore in Twilight's body. Trixe then saw the full fury of Magic. Twilight floated in the air with her mane holding the vastness of space and her eyes being blank slates of magic. Then she spoke
"I have held back my entire life to not hurt someone" she said in a booming voice that would've made many paralyzed in fear. "You will never be on my level Trixie because your body would break apart from the strain" the voice said. "You are nothing to me and I could wipe you out with enough precision to make your head spin". Before Twilight could finish her monologue however, Trixie sent out a precision bolt of magic into Twilight's face.
"Don't get so cocky" Trixie chuckled while the smoke cleared. Trixie's grin turned into a frown when Twilight simply leaned her head forward without a scratch on her face.
"Is that it, weakling?" Twilight asked calmly. Trixe flew into a blind fury and fired off dozens of blasts from her horn toward Twilight. Twilight charged through the barrage and kicked Trixie into the air. Trixe righted herself in mid-air with a gravity spell and wondered why Twilight had stopped. Her question was answered when Rainbow Dash slammed into her at full speed and sent the unicorn towards the ground. Trixie screamed and flipped in the air before righting herself with a psychic pulse. Trixie attempted to charge up her horn to snipe the pegasus out of the air when she heard a whistle. The source of the sound was Pinkie Pie, waving happily at her while the party cannon's fuse burned. The cannon shot streamers and other party objects with enough force to send Trixie into the dirt. Trixie struggled to spit out the dirt that was clogging her throat when she felt a strong magic near her. Before she could ponder the source of it, Fluttershy head-butted her and let loose a barrage of punches into Trixie's abdomen, each leaving pock-marks that certainly cracked a few ribs.
Fluttershy leapt back before growling out "That was for hurting Angel". Trixie wasn't paying attention as her body and mind were both in survival mode. She couldn't be losing, she had gotten her power unlocked and so should be stronger than everypony! The last thing Trixie saw was a large boulder hovering above her. It was all she could do to not squeak in terror when it dropped onto her. Rarity huffed with exertion before letting the boulder off of Trixie. The elements of harmony gathered around the unconscious show-mare while Twilight reapplied the suppressor bands that held in her power. Ever since she had become an alicorn her power had become more volatile and so she wore bands similar in style to Celestia's only her's suppressed and controlled her power. The only reason Trixie wasn't dead was because her friends had taken care of Trixie for her. Twilight shuddered at what she had wanted to do to Trixie. It was worse than the stuff in the slanderous story, "Cupcakes". Twilight made herself a promise that from now on her training would focus on control over her emotions and power.
"You alright AJ?" Rainbow Dash questioned as Applejack got to her hooves. The cow-pony nodded before limping over to the circle the others were in. "What could have made Trixie do this?" the cyan pegasus questioned, looking at the devastation with sad eyes. The elements of harmony then leapt back as a spark of magic appeared on Trixie's forehead. Twilight shielded them with a bubble only to relax as she recognized the spell.
"It's alright, it's just a disguise spell wearing off" Twilight announced to her friends. Now they could figure out who had been imponyating Trixie. The hope left their faces as the only difference they could see was a stylized heart on her forehead. "Maybe she joined some cult?" Twilight said without much enthusiasim. She had hoped that they could be friends but obviously not.
"Discord knows a lot about this, maybe he can help" Fluttershy suggested nervously. Twilight scowled as she still didn't trust the draconequus but still she teleported them to Discord's quarters in Canterlot. Dark-heart looked on from the trees with satisfaction obvious even as a crow.
"Excellent job Trixie, you did everything you needed" Dark-heart complimented telepathically. It wouldn't hurt to make the unicorn think that he cared. While having Twilight defeat Trixie legitimately was not part of the plan, teleporting to Discord was. Dark-heart reached out with his demonic senses and found a teleporting signature in Canterlot. He smirked as his brain recorded the coordinates. Discord was dead!
