Darker Days

My Little Pony:

Darker Days Arc

Warning: Dark
((Need I say more?))

My Little Pony:

The Lost Lands

Written & Edited by: Cor200

There is a land that lay in eternal night.
Its theft of memories impossible to fight.
Not even gods can remember their might.
This land of which I speak
Is a place dull and bleak.
Beware the Lost Lands.

Rainbow Dash stood up.

“Ugh...” she moaned. “Where am I... Who am I?...” She then wandered aimlessly in the dully-lit darkness.

The reaction of the others were the same as Rainbow Dash's. They had lost themselves; they had lost who they truly were. They needed somepony to help them remember; they needed somepony to remind them who they were.

Applejack approached the bush near the Everfree cautiously. It had taken her around an hour, but she had finally found the correct one. Slowly she crawled through the bush, and, to her surprise, found that she was outside that dreadful barrier.

“My friends must have..." She thought aloud, "I'll head to Canterlot and find out the truth.”

“Hewwo agun Spuk!” Scootaloo was eating another cupcake. She swallowed. “Can I help you?”

“I've actually came to help you,” Spike said entering the house.

“Help me?...” Scootaloo asked.

“Have you taken a look at Twilight's Orb?” Spike asked.

Scootaloo quickly rushed to the attic. There was a small cry.

Spike joined Scootaloo in the attic.

The Black Soul was cracking under the pressure of the Crystal Field that now lay over Equestria.

“Oh my Twilight!” Scootaloo said, “If they come back and see this, I'm screwed!”

“Don't worry. I have an idea. Will you trust me?” Spike said.

“Nothing worse could happen anyways...” Scootaloo drifted off to watch in blank horror as Spike sent purple flames to engulf the orb. To Scootaloo's relief and awe, the Black Soul was actually looking better when Spike finished.

“What in Dequestria was that?” Scootaloo asked.

“What in Equestria is Dequestria?” Spike asked.

“It was their idea for a new name for Equestria after they take it over,” Scootaloo shrugged, "said the old one had too much connection to the Princesses, and something about names and power and so on."

“Anyways, I used some dark flames to heal the orb. Did you not notice that my flame was purple and not the normal green?” Spike said, bringing the conversation back on topic.

Scootaloo nodded as if she understood, but she just couldn't be bothered.

“I'll come back once per day. I don't know how long I can stall this thing from shattering...” Spike trailed off.

“Twilight and the others won't have anything to return too...” Scootaloo finished.

“Anypony here?” Applejack asked, entering the throne room.

“Applejack, just the pony I wanted to see!” Celestia said, entering the room herself. She walked passed Applejack and sat down on her throne.

“A- ah am?” Applejack asked.

“Yes. I think you are the solution to this problem," Celestia answered, "You should be able to help your friends now that I banished them to the Lost Lands.”

“The what now?” Applejack asked.

“The Lost Lands are a place that if you lose your consciousness, you lose yourself. Your friends won't remember who they are. I can not leave Equestria myself and there are not enough guards to send away. I need your help. All you need to do is go there, tell your friends their name, and add 'you hate killing' or 'you don't kill' at the end. You'll find the Lands outside Equestria's borders.”

“You've lost me again Princess,” Applejack said.

“The Lost Lands take the souls away from those who lose consciousness there until another pony comes along and tells the soul what they are. Basically, the Lands let others manipulate the soul by whatever anypony tells them. If you tell your friends that they aren't killers, they'll never kill again.”

“Are you sure you want me to do this Princess?” Applejack asked, "you know Ah'm not the best at..."

“Of course, they're your friends,” Celestia said, "I believe you'd want them to return to normal more than anypony else."

“Where do I go?” Applejack asked.

Celestia pointed in towards the north. Applejack was off.

The lands are an eternal prison
To hold great powers that have risen.
Those trapped will always listen
To anything and everything they're told.
This is the perfect opportunity to mold.
Beware of the your words.

“What is this place?” Applejack said as she stared into the darkness. It was noon where she stood, but just in front of her was a sheer wall of night's darkness.

No light, other than the full moon's, can shine through these lands. It is a mystery to all.

She hesitated but then remembered, you need to save your friends.

Applejack took a step into the Lands, very cautiously. Nothing strange happened. Soon enough, she was walking through the dimly-lit lands in search of her friends.

Soon after she entered the Lands, she found herself walking through was a forest.

Applejack jumped when she heard something behind her say, “Who am I?... Where are we?...”

When Applejack turned around. Rainbow Dash stood behind her. Rainbow Dash looked drained.

"Rainbow Dash?” Applejack gasped.

“Who?...” Rainbow Dash asked.

Applejack remembered what Celestia had said; all she needed to say was Rainbow Dash's name and “you hate killing” and the whole problem would go away.

“Your name is Rainbow Dash and...” Applejack started.

It's part of them now; you need to decide whether to accept them or reject them, Scootaloo's voice echoed through Applejack's head. If Applejack said the last part, she'd change her friends and they would no longer be the same friends; who knew how different they may be if she said it. How much of them had been her friends because they kept these secrets?

The fate of Equestria laid in Applejack's hooves.

If Applejack said the three words, "you hate killing," everything would have turned back to normal and they'd have had a happy life, soon forgetting these darker days and moving on; Equestria would have continued on like as if there had never been an outbreak of insanity. Instead, Applejack lowered her head. She didn't want to force change upon her friend; she wouldn't lie to them.

“Rainbow... Dash...” Rainbow Dash murmured to herself.

There was a loud scream. Applejack looked up to see Rainbow Dash clutching her head.

Applejack ran over to Dash. “Are you alright? It's okay, your not alone.”

“Thanks,” Dash said, standing up. “Just a pain to have all of my memories flashing back into my head.”

“I'm glad you're okay,” Applejack said.

“Still,” Dash said, looking around. “Where are we?”

Applejack explained everything she knew about their current situation.

“That's quite interesting...” Dash said, "I see you stayed true in the end."

"Of course Ah did; y'all are my friends after all," Applejack smiled, unsure of what she had just done, "just don't expect me to kill people, alright?"

"Don't worry about it," Rainbow Dash grinned, then muttered to herself, "not that it'll matter once the truth's been told."

The two of them wondered the Lands until they came out of the forest and into a desert. Though it wasn't that long of a walk, it seemed much longer.

They noted a pink pony hopping around a cactus; she was jumping in a circle.

“Where am I? Who am I? Why am I? What am I? When am I? How am I? What am I? Who?” She hummed repeatedly as she hopped.

Dash stopped Pinkamena. “Your name is Pinkamena Diane Pie.”

“I know,” Pinkamena said, “But everypony else seems to be saying the other stuff. I think it's their natural language or something, so I decided to make a song out of it!”

“Pinkie, you never cease to amaze me,” Dash sighed.

Dash then explained to Pinkamena the situation they were in. Pinkamena was silent for an abnormal length of time for her.

“Does that mean anypony?” Pinkamena asked. “I can change anypony?”

“I guess?” Rainbow Dash said, unsure.

“Great!” Pinkamena hopped off into the forest again.

“I don't know the outcome,” Applejack said, “but I'm not sure it'll end well if we don't...”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash ran after Pinkamena, but soon they lost her. They walked in the direction they thought she had hopped when they heard a voice. It was Rarity.

Meanwhile, Pinkamena was merrily hopping along. She stopped once she reached an abandoned cabin. She opened the door and entered. There was a chair and a table in the center of the cabin.

“Who what!” Pinkamena called.

From the shadows in a corner of the room came slight movement. Soon, Queen Chrysalis came out. Her neck was chained to the wall.

“How!” Pinkamena said.

“... Master?...” Chrysalis asked. She was speaking as if she were dazed and she didn't look like she was doing so well

“Your name is Chrys. You are the Elements' pet!” Pinkamena clopped her hooves.

Dash suddenly appeared in the door, "Pinkie, I think her soul was already reformed..."

Pinkamena turned around in shock, “Dashie?”

Rainbow Dash passed Pinkamena and said, "yes, Chrys. I am your master. You will be coming with me now."

Pinkamena started to pout, “I wanted it to be a surprise to you! It was going to be a surprise.”

“You did surprise me, Pinkie,” Dash said, “and don't make that face.”

“Bu-” Pinkamena started, but was interrupted by a kiss from Dash. Dash had moved in for a hug and was thinking of going further than that, but was interrupted by a rubbing against her side. She looked over and found that Chrysalis was rubbing against her and Pinkamena.

“Right..." Dash blushed, "Now's not the time...”

Dash got off Pinkamena and released Chrys from her chains.

They walked out of the house to find Applejack and Rarity just coming out into the clearing. Dash explained the situation before they could react to Chrysalis.

It took them another few hours to find Fluttershy and Twilight.

Twilight was still unconscious when they found her; she had taken most of the damage from the blast when she threw up a forcefield to no avail.

As for Fluttershy, she was cowering in some place that made her next to invisible.

The lands and memories are not the only things Lost;
The sands of time are also Lost.
Isn't each hour more like a day when one is Lost?
Beware of Time.

It had been a week. Spike watched the Black Soul as it slowly cracked. It was completely covered in cracks and it was more like a miracle that it hadn't shattered yet.

He sighed, “Such a shame...”

Scootaloo was next to him with her face in her hooves. She was crying.

“Cheer up Scootaloo,” Spike said.

“I'm a failure!” Scootaloo sobbed, “I failed such a simple task! I can't do anything right!”

“You did the best you could,” Spike encouraged.

“Not only was I unable to save the Black Soul, but I lost Applejack! I'm an idiot! I should of died and been turned into Spectra!!!” There was no hope of Spike helping Scootaloo get over her sadness.

Spike sighed; he decided he'd watch Scootaloo to make sure she didn't do anything too rash, and it was a better thing to do than slowly go insane watching Twilight's precious orb crack and soon shatter.

Twilight stomped her hoof on the ground. The six ponies and one changeling stood in a V-formation and faced the shield that kept them from Equestria.
Rainbow Dash was grinning, “Sorry we delayed Celestia, but we weren't ready before; we were incomplete – a broken insanity – but no more! We're ready. The elements have gathered!”

“THE ELEMENTS HAVE GATHERED!” They all shouted together.

To be continued

Credits

A special thanks to:

Sergeant Sprinkles – Inspiring Pinkamena Diane Pie (with Cupcakes).
Aurora Dawn – Inspiring Rainbow Dash (with the Rainbow Factory).
Lil’ Mizz Jay – Inspiring Rarity (with Lil’ Miss Rarity).
Corrupted Discipline – Inspiring pet Chrys and the Lost Lands (with pinkamina-returns).

Extra special thanks to:

Mindless Gonzo