Chapters "Princess Luna."
The regal blue mare, her mane shining like a mass of stars, turned around to face her tall white sister.
"It has come to my attention that ever since I have made my most prized pupil, Twilight Sparkle, into a princess, the stars are shifting farther away from their rightful places each night. Would you happen to know why?"
"I have seen this, too, but I do not know what it means, although i do know that it is disrupting my raising of the moon each night. The stars seem to block my magic from raising the moon. Every night, my magic gets weaker trying to raise it."
Celestia took a quick glace at the stars shining above. "I can help you with that, but recently I have remembered something I read a long time ago in Canterlot's official archives. It is about the five alicorns prophesied to be created. As I recall, Star Swirl the Bearded uncovered an ancient relic that prophesied the coming of these five alicorns. He decoded it, and found that it was a prophecy telling of the coming of five alicorns. We are the first two alicorns, then Cadence from the Crystal Empire, then Twilight, who I recently made. But the fifth alicorn has not been found yet. And I recall something else about the stars aligning at a certain position, one that has never been seen before. Luna-do you know what this means?"
"Yes...The stars are forming a shape to signal the coming of the fifth alicorn!"
"You cannot be more correct, my sister."
"Hey, Celestia...how about we do some reading in our bedroom? Like old times?"
"Yeah. And I know just what we should read..."
The two sisters walked down the brightly lit corridor to the Canterlot Archives ahead.
As they met the locked door leading to the archives, Celestia swiftly slided her horn into the round lock, opening it with a loud click.
Soon, the two sisters had scoured the entire room with a complicated searching spell, and unrolled the scroll they were looking for. "This is definitely it," said Celestia, enveloping it in a golden glow, of a color similar to that of her shining golden armor.
The two sisters headed back, Celestia levitating the the scroll open in the air while Luna read out loud.
"But before Star Swirl was able to finish decoding the entire relic, he died-whoa. It has an actual photo of the relic here."
"Wait, that part-about him dying before he finished decoding it? That's so weird...I never heard of that before."
"I know-they didn't read that to us when we were little. But-oh my gosh! The photo's taped onto the scroll with aincent alicorn tape! "
Celestia fixed her eyes on the scroll, wondering if Luna had left out anything or had read it wrong. "That didn't happen!" said Celestia. "He decoded the whole relic! It's not like the Canterlot ponies of the castle say. It's not the story we hear all the time."
"It's not the story we were raised to believe in," said Luna. "If that's what you mean, you are completely correct."
Celestia made a face. "Decode the rest of the relic? No way!"
"But it's written in Old Pony, you can read most of that, right?"
"No. That isn't Old Pony..it's an even older version of the pony language, using symbols for each word!"
"Hey, I think i know what each symbol means...The creepy red eye means evil, the horn and wing mean alicorn, and the bottle of liquid...I don't know. But I think I can decode it with your help."
Celestia frowned. "Yeah, fine."
Back in the two sisters' bedroom, the twosome of mares sat down, comfortably pushing themselves into the tangled blankets of Celestia's bed. "Now, where to start?" Luna questioned. "At the top," said the white mare, her horn glowing and gently sliding off her princess armor. "Two sisters, night and day. One Alicorn to represent the Crystal Kingdom. An Alicorn not born, but one made. And one to be a mystery. That's the part we know, right? So, I think it ends here, because the magnifying glass looks like 'mystery.' " The regal princess of the sun jabbed at a carving of a magnifying glass on the photo of the relic.
Luna took the scroll, enveloping it in a sparkling dark blue aura, similar to that of the night sky. "I think I know this whole sentence," she said confidently, holding it up close to herself. "The stars will align, like never seen before, That will signal the coming of the evil fifth alicorn."
"So...the fifth alicorn was changed by hatred, and she had a blank flank," said Luna. "That means she's probably a foal." Celestia made a face. "I don't think a foal can change herself. She or he wouldn't even be able to crate a tiny spark using her or his own horn."
"So...you are suggesting that this pony might be an adult? Because that's entirely impossible, unless a spell was cast on her. And that way, the spell would have to be renewed every day, or she would be able to have a cutie mark.."
"The next sentence is in another language," said Luna. "And I don't know it."
"Hey, you know how we just decoded that part?" said Luna. I think that was perhaps our destiny..but it is not our destiny to read the next part. Perhaps somepony else should read it.."
Princess Celestia magically levitated the best of her quills from her quill box, immediately scribbling down what they had decoded. She ended with who they were and how they had decoded it.
Meanwhile, below the stars, in the busy city of Manehattan, stood a pony. An unicorn.
Her name was Raspberry Dapple, and she sat, lonely, on the street, shunned by all ponies who passed by. She knew nothing of friendship, nothing of happiness, and even nothing of the joy of recieving your cutie mark. She knew not of the warm glow that filled your flank as you fulfilled your destiny. She had no idea of what it was like to be like the other inhabitants of Manehattan. Her jealousy bubbled up in her heart every single day, watching the happy ponies pass by with young fillies and colts. As they walked past her, she felt the sting of jealousy rush through her body with growing pain, not physical, but mental.
She sat, shrouded in the loneliness of her life, ponies staring at her as they walked by. The moonlight cast her long shadow onto the tall building behind her.
And she swore she would get her cutie mark, one way or the other. Other ponies stared at her, and she would stare right back in hatred, longing for revenge on those who laughed at her.
She went back to her tiny home for the day, pulling out her day's findings and scattering them on the table. She saw nothing of value but a few coins. Enough to buy her dinner for tommorow. She piled the rest into the bin, sighing as she walked into her lab. She decided to stay there for the rest of the day. Her potion was almost working out; she could feel it. She just had to add the very last ingredient. The one that would change her, when she drunk it, into one of the most powerful beings of Equestria, and undoubtedly gain her her very own cutie mark.
She had been hurt a thousand times, but she would hurt those who had hurt her a million times.
Celestia sensed the stars aligning, and Luna sensed it even more.
"The fifth alicorn is coming. And we're not ready yet."
Author's Note
This is my first chapter, and i hope you like it. :)
The Ascension
Raspberry Dapple tiptoed lightly into the corridor that led to Princess Luna's bedroom. She edged into the half-open door, activating her DNA gathering spell. "Finally," whispered the violet unicorn, grinning quite maniacally. "Just one bit of princess DNA..and my potion will be ready..." She peeked into the door that looked into the bathroom. It was open just a crack, and she could hear the sound of the shower pouring water onto the dark blue princess inside. Raspberry Dapple smiled, her horn starting to charge up as she gathered all the DNA in the entire room-at least, that which belonged to the princess of the night. Soon she was done, in a matter of a few seconds; after all, she had been practicing this spell for a long time. The DNA was safely sealed inside a bottle, which was tucked tightly into Raspberry Dapple's black cloak, inside a abnormally deep pocket sewn in by the finest of tailors. After all, she did not want to risk losing the DNA at all.
When she got back home, she immediately levitated the bottle out of her pocket and slipped into her lab. In excitement, she galloped in and knocked over a few test tubes, which, thankfully for her, were empty. She used the best of her magic to safely place most of the DNA in her potion, which immediately began to dissolve into a gray-blueish color.
Raspberry Dapple efficiently jabbed a wooden cork into the opening of the potion, safely sealing the contents inside. She stared down at the bizarre mixture of dark color in the bottle, and grinned.
Raspberry Dapple uncorked the potion, and tipped it softly into her mouth. The potion immediately coated her tongue, with a bitter flavor that made the violet mare jump as she tasted the first drop. Ignoring the horrible taste and instead thinking about the power she would soon have, she gulped down the potion in seconds and immediately felt a bolt of pain strike through her body and rage through her veins as her entire body stretched and grew into that of one of the most powerful ponies possible. Her bones morphed and became longer and wider. Her horn lengthened and became that of a regal princess's in a short time, and strong, large wings sprouted out of her midsection, soon at full size.
A blue, glowing fire suddenly enveloped her, and strands of fire shot out from her legs. Then, just as sudden as it had come, the fire dissapeared, leaving the blue fire still trailing out from her legs, where her princess armor should be. Raspberry Dapple opened a nearby cupboard, levitating a black bag out of it. She opened the bag and pulled out a set of artificial princess armor, its realistic-looking gold glinting in the moonlight. She gently pulled the set onto her hooves, the fire faltering for a second, then steadily burning once again. She then magically levitated some neck armor out of the bag and gently placed it onto her neck. A perfect fit, now that she was an Alicorn.
She looked down at her own skin. It was now slightly red, and completely rid of the violet color she used to have. Her mane was now straight, sleek and black, with the same hairstyle, but no longer with the dark purple floppy hair she had before she had drunk the potion.
Raspberry Dapple grinned as she stared at her own reflection in the shining mirror. She then took a glance at her cutie mark, sighing when she saw no mark on her flank. "Maybe I'll get it later," she murmured. "Meanwhile, I have something to attend to."
The alicorn strided toward the door, swinging it open effortlessly with her magic and walking outside. To her surprise, she didn't get any of the surprised looks from ponies as she thought she would. She made her way through the normal nighttime crowds of ponies and toward the train station. "Two tickets, please," she said.
"To Canterlot. And make it snappy; I want to get there quick."
Princess Celestia surrounded one of her quills in a golden magical aura, bringing it toward her to write an urgent letter."Dear Applejack..." she started off, the white feather quill dancing across he scroll as fast as the white princess could muster.
Soon the long-maned mare had sent her letter, hoping the pegasus carrying it would arrive at Applejack's as quickly as possible.
In Ponyville...
Applejack sat on Apple Bloom's foal-sized bed, as she ended her bedtime story with a quick smile. "And Glass Diamond lived happily ever after, in her new cottage home."
Dear Applejack,
It has come to my attention that Star Swirl's prophecy that he decoded (enclosed) is coming true (well, the last part, as the first four have already been fulfilled by those whose destiny is to be a part of them. However, as you can see, the fifth part describes an Alicorn who is obviously dangerous and must be dealt with immediately. As the Canterlot Archives say, Star Swirl died before he could decode the entire relic that he discovered; however, me and my sister Princess Luna have attempted and succeeded in decoding another part (there is still more left that we could not decode.) The part we have decoded says that, to put it simply, an evil Alicorn is ascending, and that the time of his or her ascension will be when the stars align in a way never seen before. The stars have properly aligned as the carved image on the relic depicts. This is the reason we are sending this letter to you; we believe that you, Twilight and her other friends can help us fight this alicorn that is seemingly determined to destroy us. You must immediately gather your friends and come to Canterlot. A magical barrier has been formed, along with a second, even stronger barrier. To get through, simply just hold, wear or touch the Elements of Harmony in any way and you will enter. Keep the Elements on you at all times during the journey, but hidden; there is no knowing what will happen to them if other ponies can freely see them. Be EXTREMELY SURE to bring the Elements with you inside the barrier!! If it is left outside, any pony who touches it will be able to enter effortlessly. Gather your friends immediately, and bring anything you can, there is no telling what may happen to items left inside your house. It is best that you bring your family, too. Come as fast as you can and bring as much mediums of protection as possible.
Be safe, Princess Celestia
Applejack set the letter down and woke up Apple Bloom. "Apple Bloom, we have to go," she said.
The six ponies, with their families, were soon stopping at Canterlot. They didn't notice, though, they all had their eyes fixed on a strange red Alicorn with a sleek, long black mane sitting in the very back, as stuffed into the corner as possible.
"Me, I'm going straight to hide in the bedrooms with Fluttershy," said Rarity. "Matters like this simply can't be disregarded."
"See ya at the castle," said Applejack. "Y'all can watch us from out the window, if y'all are even brave enough ta."
The five ponies departed quickly.
Rainbow Dash flew lightly out the window, and Applejack jumped out after. "More convenient than going through the crowd," Rainbow insisted. To her surprise, the red Alicorn jumped out the window right after her.
"Quick, let's go!" said Twilight.
Raspberry Dapple leaped out the window with one sleek jump. It was definitely faster than having to move through a crowd of staring ponies, like that rainbow mare had said. Pretty smart. But she would be crushed like the others anyway, smashed under the ruins of Canterlot Castle like all the rest...She, Raspberry Dapple herself, would demolish the entire building with one small spark of flame. She could already see the magical barriers up ahead, encasing the castle in a thick protection.
Did they know about her? Or was it just a coincidence? She decided to find out. She strode easily toward the castle, intending to burn it all down.
As she walked closer, she began to see the level of protection she would be up against; for a few seconds, it seemed as if it weren't really worth it at the moment. Then she shook that thought off and began walking again.
Raspberry Dapple stopped right in front of the long path leading up to the bridge that led to the castle entrance, and eventually, into the giant structure itself. An invisibility spell..perfect for sneaking in. She just had to wait...
Rainbow Dash led the threesome of ponies right in front of her, and watched, stunned, as she was covered with, it seemed, something that made her invisible.
"Actually, let's walk in calmly, like those tourists on the path."
"Yeah! We could pretend ta be tourists," said Applejack excitedly. "Yeah, and snap pictures of the castle like we're real tourists. Then we dash in unexpectedly," said Twilight.
The threesome gave a silent, mutual nod of agreement, then headed in.
Hmm. That blue pony seems to be a tourist. What's that purple companion of hers doing, snapping pictures of everything..and that orange pony with the apple cutie mark and freckles, she's fumbling around with something in her pocket. Looks like gold..and an orange crystal?
Raspberry Dapple sat, looking for something interesting. Some pony who was going to enter the castle. Some unexpected royalty, perhaps?
She sighed as the blue pony and her two friends sat down right in front of the barrier, the purple unicorn still snapping pictures of everything in sight.
Then she saw it. They each pulled a set of gold jewelry out of a bag-and the orange one, a necklace out of her pocket-and the barrier opened. She flew towards the barrier, but screeched to a stop in the air as it closed behind them. They looked behind their backs, grinning, it seemed, at where she used to be standing. She growled deeply in her lungs. They knew who she was, and she had been following her. Following her, all along..She was so angry she dashed ahead and hit the barrier, her invisibility spell instantly disappearing as she made contact with the barrier. The ponies inside were startled as they saw her. She couldn't hear them, but she knew that they were pointing. Pointing at her. And they were scared...
She grinned, because the idea of making ponies be scared of her..
She just liked it.
Raspberry Dapple looked at the terrified mass of unicorns inside and stomped her hoof hard on the ground. "Allow me to enter the barrier!" she yelled loudly as a gust of wind blew towards the castle, shaking the first barrier with full force. If Raspberry Dapple could scare the unicorns inside at first sight, then she could easily get them to let her in by force.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash galloped into the throne room, where Celestia was giving commands to ponies and constantly reinforcing the second and first barriers with her horn tirelessly. "Princess," said Rainbow, almost out of breath. "the fifth alicorn. We've seen her. She was on the train with us."
The white princess sat up. "As long as you're safe and that you did not give away any personal information about yourself that she could have possibly heard, then my only concern is that she is now inside Canterlot, possibly thinking of a way to get inside the barrier. Fortunately, we have unicorns stationed behind each barrier, ready to attack if their barrier breaks, and a handful of pegasi ready to fly out from the watchtowers when the second barrier breaks down."
"I'll tell the guards to stop letting ponies in until further notice," said Celestia. She walked up to the window, sliding it open and looking down at the scene below. She studied the red and black mare in front of the barrier for a while, then turned back to Rainbow. "Are you sure? Seems that she's trying another way to get in now."
Raspberry Dapple was now bucking the barrier with all her might, then flying as far as she could and slamming into it with all her wingpower; as the guards and unicorns had refused and started to shoot beams at her through the barriers. However, she had easily dodged them and slammed into the barrier so hard that the unicorns immediately went back to reinforcing the barrier with all their strength.
Celestia stood up once again from her jewel-encrusted throne and walked over to the door. "Rainbow, I need you to join your two friends waiting in the hall while I go show that alicorn that she won't be getting in here without a fight," said Celestia. Rainbow gave a nod of agreement, immediately trotting out into the hall as Celestia swung open the door using her hooves. Rainbow looked questioningly at her armored hooves, and Celestia smiled. "Don't want to waste any of my magic," she said, as she trotted out into the hall, the two doors slamming closed behind her.
"Listen, guys," said Rainbow. "Celestia needs us out there. We have to go fight that alicorn away."
Princess Celestia was glad she had made Twilight an Cadence alicorns. She had foreseen further trouble in Equestria, but none as horrible as this. Even though the red mare hadn't made her way through the first barrier yet, she could feel the unicorns behind it struggling to keep it there. Any moment, and their magic would give way, allowing the black-maned mare to smash her way through in a matter of a few seconds. And when she made her way to the castle, she would destroy the entire building effortlessly.
Princess Celestia ran forward, trying to help reinforce the first barrier, but the last of the unicorns' magic had already flown out of their horns. The red mare grinned and took the chance to give the barrier a strong kick, the entire magical barrier breaking down and falling down onto the bridge, to disappear at first contact with solid ground. The red mare laughed, her horn startng to glow, and Celestia, suddenly feeling a bolt of pain ripple through her body, fell to the ground. The unicorns behind the second barrier were terrified, scattered and for a moment, let the barrier remain alone. Taking the chance, the fifth alicorn levitated the unicorns behind the barrier up into the air, and hurled them towards the castle. Having gotten rid of them, she leaped at the barrier and pummeled it with all her might, one last strong blow at the barrier knocking it down.
Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack, levitated in the air by the red alicorn, screamed loudly and began trying to get out of her magical grasp. However, even Twilight's magic, Applejack's strong legs and Rainbow's wingpower Raspberry Dapple had no trouble controlling them. They huddled together as the evil mare brought them closer to her, lifting them up to examine the Elements on them. "You wield the Elements of Harmony," she said, looking closely at the ancient but beautiful designs etched into the gold of Twilight's crown. "But you are only three. Where are the others, may I ask?"
Raspberry Dapple lifted them even higher up, up into the sky. "Then I'll just have to find them myself!" she yelled up into the clouds, and suddenly let them drop out of the sky, landing on the hard ground. She could not risk the Elements of Harmony destroying her one chance to become noticed. To become one of the most powerful beings possible, to overthrow the princesses and finally take a spot on the throne. She would not let a simple bunch of normal ponies mar her path to the ultimate power.
The alicorn made her way into the castle, throwing ponies aside as she did so. Just then, a blur of blue landed with a loud thump right in front of her, blocking the entrance. "Princess Luna?" Raspberry Dapple stepped back. Princess Luna, with a stomp of her hoof against the ground, charged at the new alicorn and immediately pressed her down, her horn ready to strike the red mare against her face and send her running. However, with one last burst of energy Raspberry Dapple pinned the princess of the night to the ground, and easily hurled her toward the castle with her magic.
As Luna hit the walls of the strong, hard castle, she suddenly experienced a magic shift, something that often occurred in alicorns when they were shocked for even a tiny moment. It made alicorns' magic shift around and do spells by themselves for a short time. The night sky suddenly sprung up and the moon with it. Everything became dark as Luna regained her balance and tried to undo the spell she had done. However, before she could do so, she was enveloped in a red magical aura and immediately lifted into the air.
Just as suddenly as last time, Luna was flying through the air, unable to gain control of her own body, and as she hit the castle walls everything became black, and she fainted.
Having gotten rid of Luna, she walked into the entrance of the castle. She needed to destroy the Elements of Harmony before she could do anything right. But it was not long before she felt a warm feeling on her flank, when she stepped into the throne room. She spun around, startled, and realized what was happening.
She was recieving a cutie mark.
She almost jumped up and screamed in joy. When the white glow finally died down from her flank, she could see her cutie mark-a moon engulfed in flames. She assumed it was because of her defeating Luna, but she had yet to understand what it truly meant as a part of Star Swirl's prophecy. As she marveled in joy at her new cutie mark, she stepped further into the throne room, even though she had not intended to originally do so. It was clear that she should take Luna's throne; for the fact that she had been obviously defeated.
She took her place on the blue throne, using her own magic to form that of Celestia's into a regal statue of herself. Her horn glowed with a red aura as she magically wiped Luna's cutie mark from her throne and in its place, inserted her own cutie mark. Now all she needed to do was steal one of the Elements so that she would not have them stand in her way. Though it looked as if the three ponies were only regular ones, if they wielded the Elements then they must play a huge part in the fate of Equestria.
Raspberry Dapple stepped silently out of the throne room, sealing the door shut behind her with her magic. She did not want any of the princesses interfering with her new throne, or the white statue beside it.
She made her way through the complicated maze of corridors easily, with a magical map to guide her. She stopped in front of where the six ponies had to be staying since it was the only one that said "Occupied By Special Guests. Do Not Enter Whatsoever." She pulled on the door with her hoof. It was tightly locked, and by the looks of it, also boarded up. She could hear nothing inside.
Raspberry Dapple commenced a simple destroying spell, and blasted through the door, only to see that the room was entirely empty, and was left just the way any unoccupied room should be. She then used a simple searching spell, and easily discovered that the ponies inside were hiding. However, she was not able to find their location as she met a magical barricade when she started scanning one half of the room; and an even larger set of barricades in a small spot near the bed. She strode into the room, walking into the half of the room that was protected.
She searched under various spaces with no luck, but when she heard a loud clang in the wall, she knew exactly where they were. She took a few steps toward the wall, and began slicing through it with a magically summoned knife.
Pinkie had just toppled over the purple saddle bag that contained the Elements and a few pots and pans. The sound had evidently informed the intruder of where they were. "it's all your fault!!" whispered Rarity as she edged to the other side of the wall. Fortunately, the magical knife the intruder had summoned was just slicing into the wall's outside.
"Whoever's in there, you had better come out or I'll burn you to death," called the taunting voice outside. "It's her!" said Rarity, terrified. "The fifth alicorn!!"
At hearing this, Fluttershy gave a loud shriek and leaped toward the door that led out of the wall, immediately opening it with a loud creak and tumbling out onto the ground.
The red alicorn whipped around, grinned and began advancing towards the horrified butterscotch mare.
The yellow mare was instantly enveloped in Raspberry Dapple's magic. "Where is your Element of harmony?" asked the mare, levitating Fluttershy in the air. "i-i-in my..m-my saddlebag.." Fluttershy managed to stutter.
That was all Raspberry Dapple needed to hear. She dropped Fluttershy, who immediately ran off, no longer interested in the ponies inside the wall, but in the saddlebag that they had. In no time, she had sliced a giant circle in the wall and levitated the saddlebag out before the ponies could prevent her from doing so. She then ran into the maze of halls again, teleporting her and the saddlebag into the throne room. She looked beside her at the half-open saddlebag, and grinned. Plopping herself down on the throne, she ripped open the saddlebag to reveal the three Elements she was looking for. She immediately stashed them away under her throne, out of anypony's reach.
She then began pondering something. If she were to take over the throne of Equestria, the name Raspberry Dapple simply wouldn't do for herself. She thought of her new name, one that would make ponies shudder as they heard it and make them bow down to her. Her old name was no longer of use to her. She threw it away and began thinking of a new one.
She had changed her mind about burning the castle. Instead, she would take the entire castle for herself. Make it her own, and turn all the other cities into places of suffering. Instead of the castle, she would scorch and ravage the rest of Equestria. She would soon see the flames of her anger lick at the very houses of ponies. Especially Manehattan. Manehattan would pay for what they had done. Manehattan would be the very first to go. The very first to burn down, and the very first to become a singed land of scalded bricks and metal, smoking in the gusts of wind that blew through the city-or what was left of it,anyway, the remains of the city covered with the evidence of her anger. It would not be long until the ponies of Manehattan paid for what they had done.
She had just thought of the perfect new name for herself. Night Flare. Yes, Night Flare. It would be a wonderful, but at the same time unspeakably frightful name. Night Flare.
Her horn glowed and the red magical aura shot out from her horn and reached through the windows, pulling her through the window on her left to land down in front of countless ponies.
"Ponies," she said, addressing the crowd to let them know of her new power over them all. "As we all know, the princesses have been defeated, all of them. And that leaves me to rule over you all. Bow down to me!"
(will finish later)
(will finish later, it's my bedtime)
