Chapters Equestria present day:
The storm grew more wild as a small caravan of Ponies trudged through the ever dampening forest. This forest was Once home to the two princesses that ruled Equestria, now it was a graveyard, a memorial of a great life was now ended, fore this was the sight of where nightmare moon had returned to earth and destroyed the elements of harmony.
The caravan progression had started to slow as the mud thickened, occasionally one of the Ponies would look up as if hoping for a break in the rain to no success. A Pegasus flew over head scanning the ground for danger. This pegasus was one of the last in a dying breed, his name was Rift Walker. That of course was not his real name, for his real name was Storm Rift.
Storm flew through the storm dodging lightning and hail... ' Hail well this can't get any... Never mind I don't want to jinks use' Storm thought to him self as he dived to avoid a slash of lightning. They where approaching the safe house, one of a threw left where the ponies that weren't corrupted of dead could escape to. A small hut built into a tree was coming into view, Storm landed ahead of the others.
"Halt who goes there?" came a voice from the tree ahead. "It is I Rift Walker" Storm replied in his strongest voice. "C..Captain is that really you? Thank celestia that you are safe" the voice said sounding suddenly a lot like a fillie. A small pony came out of the tree, she flicked her red mane out of her face and kicked her back hooves in excitement .
"Applebloom? what the buck have I told you about leaving the safe house?" Storm yelled at her. Apple bloom looked down at the ground as tears began to collect in her eyes. Storm cursed him self for yelling at her, " Applebloom I...I'm sorry, it's just that it's not safe for you to be out side on your own". She didn't look up at him but nodded her head in a way that said 'I under stand but I hate it'.
Storm picked her up and throw her on his back, she was crying but she gave a little giggle when she went in the air. "All right everypony let's get everything inside now" Storm called to the others. "The councils wait for you inside" Applebloom whispered in his ear, "Ok lets go see them".
They walked through the door set in the front of a large tree trunk.
The war of the eclipse was the hardest time for every one. It started after Nightmare moon destroyed the elements of harmony, and where not just talking about the stone orbs. After that she flew to canters or and confronted Celestria no one was sure what happened but before we new Nightmare moon was on the thrown and ordering her soldiers, the royal guards, to go to cloudsdale and tear it from the heavens.
Most of the Pegasus population was there it started as everypony being confused as the guards started pushing house towards the ground. When they set fire to the town hole then all hell broke loose, Pegasus started fighting the guards tearing at there wings, ripping feathers out. Ponies started falling out of the sky left, right and centre, the Wonderbolts lead the other pegasi in counter attacks. The battle only lasted a few hours.
The battle was lost when when Nightmare Moon turned up and used here magic to strip the Pegasus of there wings. All the Pegasus that weren't there where lucky for the spell did not reach out of city where saved from falling to there deaths. After that the unicorns sided with nightmare moon out of terror of there lives. The Earth ponies where subjugated to being the slaves of those who possessed magic.
During the time that followed the oppression became even worse, Ponyville was transformed into a factory that was used to refine gems that where brought in from the mines, up in the mountains. Day in, day out, cart after cart was delivered for sorting then sent back to the mine. The breaks were short and your pay was spoiled apples and mouldy carrots. If you were lucky you would be chosen to be a servant of a unicorn family, the food was not much better but at least you had a roof over your head.
This change to every thing destroyed the spirits of the ponies. Some where willing to fight back, using guerilla tactics to confuse and deplete the number of royal guards. This just increased the level of anger of "Queen" Nightmare Moon, new restrictions where enforced and rebels where hunted to the ends of the world. Which brings it all back to this night of a caravane of Ponies hiding in Everfree forest.
Storm aproched the tree's door but turned left before the stairs, turning instead to look at a wooden barrel. He tapped on it three times which was answered with a question. "If a tree falls in the forest and no pony is around to here it who does?" Storm thought about this for a few seconds before replying "Zecora does". A grinding of large locks sounded from the tree and the door was pushed open to reville three Unicorns wearing armour. The unicorns walked out the doorway to help unload the caravanes as Storm hurried inside to find the council.
Applebloom jumped of Storms back and headed for a Zebra skulking around a large cauldron. Storm did not have time to stop and talk he had a report to make. As he headed further into the hut he saew ponies from all across Equestria where hiding out here right under the "Queen's" nose. Storm worked his way sliding past ponies looking for spots to sit or finding lost family and friends. Eventually making his way to a secluded room in which held a small round table, placed on it was maps and lists of patrols of the Royal guards and there orders.
Three other ponies where busy arguing to notice Storm walking towards them. The first one was an elderly green pony with an apple pie cutie mark. It was Granny Smith and she appeared to be arguing with a young dragon who was taking note of everything that was being said. "Now ya listin here young whiper snapper' Granny Smith was saying brandishing her cane 'We can just act rashly, we should bunker down and wait for this to blow". Spike replied back angrily "Are you listening to your self we can't hide in here and wait for this to blow over we have to act no..." 'WHACK' Granny Smith had just hit Spike in between his legs with her cane.
"HEY Granny Smith please reframe from desexing Spike" Storm called out before taking his place next to the fourth member who was a gray Pegasus with blond hair who was looking very upset to what was going on. "All right Derpy?" Storm said quietly to her, "Better now that we're here" she said absent mindedly. Storm turned back to the others "Ok has every one come up with a plan for what we should do next?", Granny smith step forward "I recon we wait for..." "this to blow over" said Spike cockedly before being slammed between the legs again. "Granny!" Derpy yelled "What? Whiper snapper deserved it, he should respect his elders".
Storm sighed "OK.." 'calm down he told him self' "Derpy do you have a plan?" Derpy shock her before looking upset again. "that's ok, what about you Spike?" Storm turned back to where Spike was standing, well clawing his way into a standing position. "umm why there was some books of Twilghts..." everypony stop talking, they all stared at each other Granny, Spike and Derpy all had look like they where going to cry. They had all lost family and friends when the Elements of Harmony where destroyed it had all left fresh wounds. "go on Spike" Storm said holding back all his emotions trying to pass of as the Captain they needed. "O..ok.. She had so..some b.b.books that mentioned a spell that could open portals through time for certain amounts of time.
The decision came down to a choice between: Packing up shop and moving further into the forest to where most of the dangerous creatures lived, in hopes that they would stop the guards from stumbling into there hideout. Or ponynap a couple of unicorns and using them to open a portal into the past so that a pony could ensure that the elements of harmony would win the battle. Either way it was most likely going to cost someone there life.
Spike and Storm had voted on the portal while Granny smith choose the hide option. Derpy could not decide, "Well you can't stay here Derpy" said Spike "sooner or later they are going to find use". "Well we can't just go ponynaping anyone we like" Derpy snapped, some what out of character to her normal demeanour.'Calm down' Storm said to himself starting to lose his temper with all the arguing.
Finally Storm came up with a compromise "Ok everypony stop talking" Storm called out at last. They all stopped and looked to him, "I have come up with a compromise". Storm braced himself for torrents of retorts from the others, "Alright we are going to pack up and move...". Spike made a noise as though he was going to interrupt but one glare from Granny Smith made him hold his tongue.
"... But those who want to fight will be going with me to Canterlot, there is no guaranty that you will becoming back and I will only being tacking a few of you." Storm was now saying in front of the other ponies. There had been minimum squabbling about the plan but no pony was comfortable with the fact that those going on the mission where not coming back.
In the end only three ponies where going (not including Spike). There was Storm as team leader, Zacora who was bringing sleeping potions and knockout gases for use on the guards. Spike was going because of his knowledge of the layout of Canterlot. And then there was Derpy, despite Storms wishes, she was coming alone because she was not comfortable with the fact that she might just lose what ever friends and family she had left.
They headed out as soon as the storm was over, during this trip Storm and Derpy would not be able to fly there due to the other two, but also for personal safety. They where taking a shorter route through the forest which meant they would be traveling a lot more slowly to avoid any guards. Storm decided to take the opportunity to try and change Derpy's mind about coming.
"Please Derpy think about this ok, I know your worried about what might happen, but if we succeed with this then I will be back in no time and life will be better then it was before".
Derpy turned to Storm looking angrier then he had ever seen her, "Its not the plan I'm worried about" Derpy yelled at him. She broke down into tears, Storm decided not to press the matter.
They reached the edge of the Everfree forest, they moved to a small cottage placed just out of sight of the main road. Spike kept first watch as they rested up, unfortunately no pony could sleep from fear of what might happen. Zacora decided to brew up a potion that would keep them alert, Derpy was still not talking to Storm but she seemed to have calmed down.
Storm was about to relive Spike of watch duty when he caught Zacora staring at him then staring at Derpy then back to him as if putting two and two together. Her eyes widened the longer she stared at Derpy before braking out into a giant grin. Storm gave Zacora a warning glare telling her 'Don't you dare say anything to anyponie'. She nodded but looked depressed about not being able to do anything.
The next "day" they moved on down the dusty road towards the Ponyville train station. Storm and Derpy were forced to fold and tie there wings to there bodies and ware raged old clocks. Spike spirit was diminished by having to travel on all fours and tied to a short leash. Zacora just threw her hood and acted like she was an old crone.
Their fall back storie for them being there would be that Storm and Derpy where servants of a unicorn family that had been sent to find an old family friend that was arriving in town that was delivering a dragon. They walked slowly through the remnants of Ponyville that was packed with starving and homeless ponies.
They had been walking for a few minutes when suddenly some pony had grabbed one of Derpy's back legs. Derpy panicked and let out a cry before lashing out with her free hoof, there was a yelp of pain as a homeless pony was smashed back into a guard on patrol. Time seemed to have freeze for what felt like hours as the guard got back to his hooves. The guard rounded on the homeless pony, "The blond one kicked me" they heard the pony cry.
The guard turned towards them and strolled over. "Is it true that you kick that scum into me?" the guard growled in Derpy's face, she began to stutter a reply when Storm stepped in front of her. "No it was me I kicked this filth because he grabbed this mare with no warning, I accept full punishment" Storm said standing up to his full height. The guard directed Storm to stand side on to a large brick wall before using they full force of his buck into Storms side propelling the Pegasus into the brick work with enough force to snap a tree in half.
Storm struggled to rise to his feet feeling as though several of his ribs where broken, he shrugged of the helpful hooves being offered to help him up. The guard smirked and walked away, Storm would have just loved to beat the hay out of him. They continued on to the train station, Storm limping on one side, he guessed the damage had been more server then what he thought.
By the time they reached the station Storm was being held up by Derpy. It had taken some time to work out how they where going to secure tickets for the ride, in the end they hade nicked four of a group of important looking Pegasus. They boarded the train and found an empty carriage with a bed. Derpy helped Storm onto the bed and Zecora started to mix some herbs together.
"Is this meant to fix my ribs?" Storm asked before gauging at the smell it produced. Zacora shock her head "It does not act like a med, it just makes you rest your sleepy head". Storms head began to swim as he learnt just how tired he was, as he slipped into the dream world he saw Zacora pull out operating equipment.
Zacora started by making a large incision starting under Storms left front leg to his midsection. Derpy started to make whimpering noises as blood seeped from the cut, Zecora directed her to leave and get some sleep. Zacora returned to the job at hoof, she retrieved a large tool that she used to open the cut. She carefully set to work spreading the muscle that covered the broken ribs.
As she found the ribs she noticed one had been dislodged and relocated itself into Storms left shoulder. She worked tirelessly to try and revert most of the damage but she was no doctor. She jumped when Storm had a muscle spasm, in the end though all she could do was fix the broken ribs and remove the one from his shoulder. She finally closed the cut and wiped her brow. Zacora knew Storm might not be able to run like he used to but at lest he would not be in pain for the rest of his life.
Derpy returned some time later and Zecora decided to check her over to see if anything was wrong. As she started the check up Storm started to steer from his drug induced sleep. Derpy went and sat down next to him, Zacora decided to give them some room. She set down her bag of tools and went to see how Spike was doing.
Storm was standing in a field staring towards a small village. It was very peaceful out in that field, Storm was staring up at the clouds. He was starting to fell sleepy when there was a massive shudder and two giant walls where erected. The walls stretched out as far as the eye can see, set in each wall where large wooden doors, one black and the other brown. Storm started walking towards the brown door when he started to fell a pull towards the black one.
The black door burst open and standing on the other side was Derpy laughing and waving to him. He started walking towards Derpy when the brown door opened and standing there was Derpy crying. The crying Derpy appeared to be trying to do something but to no success. Storm stopped and stared in confusion they both appeared to be Derpy but they where both very different.
Derpy stared down at Storm, he seemed to slip back into unconsciousness. She started to panic should she go get Zacora? She decided not to because Zacora needed her sleep. She started nudging Storm with her front hooves "Storm? Please wake up please". Storm was muttering something that Derpy could not quit make out, "Please Storm come back to me I don't think I can do this with out you".
Storm had to decided which Derpy he was going to, on one side there was the Derpy who was happy and appeared to be living a blissful life compared to the rest of the corrupt world. And then there was the Derpy who's life was miserable still trying to do something that Storm could not see. Storm steeped toward the crying Derpy, there was a scream from behind Storm.
Storm whirled around in time to see the happy Derpy transform into Nightmare Moon who was growing to an enormous size. Storm turned and ran towards Derpy, he suddenly gasped as his left front leg gave way. Even with three legs he still managed to reached her, he reached the great brown doors and got through before they slammed shut behind him. He slowly approached Derpy taking care not to startle her. "Derpy are you ok?" he asked coming up behind hear, all he got was an answering sob. As he stood next to her he saw what she was holding.
A small dead filly, Derpy was holding a small dead pony in her hooves. Storm panicked "Derpy... What happened?". This time Derpy turned to him with cold black dead eyes. "You happened" she screamed at him, blood began to pour from her eyes. Storm stood his ground but felt like he was having his soul sucked from him.
He stepped forward and Derpy set the filly on the ground, "Derpy who is that?" Storm asked. Derpy stood up and turned to him "Why don't you look" she hissed in a snake like tone. Storm edged forward and bent down to have a closer look. The young filly was a Pegasus and its pelt was a greyish-blue color, it's hair was the color of yellow-green parchment. Storm stumbled back.
Derpy decided to go and get Zacora. Zacora started to frantically mix herbs together in an attempt to bring Storm back out of his nightmare. Derpy was starting to get really stressed out, suddenly she felt sick to the stomach and hurried over to the window before throwing up. Zacora glanced up and ordered Derpy to leave the room after she had empty her stomach on the Equestrian country side.
Derpy obeyed and left Zacora to her work. Derpy stumbled into the other compartment holding her stomach, she sat down and balled her heart out. She thought of all the family she had lost in her life, her brother, her mother and father. She thought to her self of the first time she had meet Storm.
It had been a cloudy day Derpy had been flying around trying to help Rainbow Dash clear the sky. In the end however Dash had decided that Derpy should just sit down and let the others handle the work. She was sitting there watching the others when a dark blue Pegasus sat down next to her. She looked at this stranger wondering where he could have been from, she had never seen him before.
The strange Stallion, who could have been close to the same age as her, stood up and waved Rainbow Dash over. Rainbow Dash had apparently had never seen him before either because she greeted him with a rather rude "Who the Hell are you?". The stranger did not introduce himself, a very strange pony Derpy thought to herself, another strange thing about this Stallion was his cutie mark.
His cutie mark was a green lightning bolt under a blue lightning bolt. "Ain't my fault" the stranger said to Dash "The Princess wants some lightning bolts for her student to study". "What kind of Idiot studies lightning bolts?" Dash replied losing patients. He steeped forward as if challenging Dash to argue "I just have my assignment and your meant to leave me alone or do we have to take this up with Celestria her self?".
That seemed to shut Rainbow Dash up. Every pony started to go with the flow and slowly made there way back to there homes. Derpy had decided to stay and watch, the stranger unfolded his great midnight blue wings and shot up into the air with out a backwards glance. He climbed higher into the air then he started to flying in a clockwise direction, he seemed to be pulling all the clouds into one big one. Derpy decided she wanted to get a better view. She got up and flew up a few feet just so that she was level with this stranger.
The stranger did not seem to notice Derpy however and started to spin the black cloud as if getting it to throw up. It took less then a minute for the cloud to produce a flash of light followed by distinctive rumbling. It was not long before Derpy realised that she was suddenly flying in the centre of an oncoming light show. She panicked and tried to fly away from the storm but every time she tried one way a bolt would come down and block her path.
She was really starting to panic when the dark blue Pegasus came flying towards her. He flew straight for her and pulled her towards the ground just as another bolt missed her. They fell to the ground hard, bouncing off each other. They finally came to a stop, knocking heads hard, Derpy was the first to recover.
She staggered to her feet, feeling embarrassed, she glanced towards the stranger. He rolled over onto his stomach and winced felling a fresh scar on his left check. He glanced over to see how the grey Pegasus was. They stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter. The stranger held out his hoof "The names Storm", " Nice to meet you" Derpy said shaking the offered hoof "my names Derpy".
This was getting to much for Storm to handle, "Derpy when? What? I... I don't understand". Derpy's body had begun to twist and stretch as she became more snake like. Storm tried to step back, but every time he tried he got closer to the corpse. Derpy's head hovered next to Storms. "This is what happens when you Change the past" she hissed moving from one ear to the other. "When you leave you change lives, you'll change events, ponies who were never meant to be born vanish." her head got closer, her lips touching storm right ear.
Storm became entranced by her words, " Think about what will happen, do you think she will remember you, do you think she would still love you, do you think....". The hissing started to fade, Storm looked around, every thing began to fade. He struggled to make out the last words being hissed to him but failed to. Storm started to fell his lungs fill with something, he started drowning in this new force that was pressing into him.
Zacora breathed into Storms mouth again before pushing down on his chest, 1, 2, 3, breath. Again and again she repeated the step for what felt like the thousandth time. Storms eyes snapped open, he flipped o to his side and proceeded to gasp for air and cough up mucus.
Zacora backed off smiling at a job well done. Storm caught his breath, "DAME IT" he shouted, Zacora jumped. Storm leaped off the bed and immediately regretted it as his front leg collapsed under him. "BUCK", his temper was flaring and Zacora appeared to be the target.
Derpy looked up at the sound of shouting, she wiped the tears from her eyes and head toward the commotion. She entered the compartment and was startled at what she saw.
Storm had Zacora backed into a corner and was shouting at her about something she had done. Derpy made a small peep which got Storms attention, he turned to her Derpy flinched as he rushed at her.
Storm grasped Derpy in an desperate embrace. Derpy was taken aback as Storm broke down into a flood of tears. He had not cried, in Derpy's knowledge, since they had received news of his mothers death. He just sat there holding onto her crying and crying. Derpy patted his back, "Storm what's going on?" she asked hugging him, "I just wanted to make things right, I don't want to hurt you" he replied through sobs.
Storm refused to say anything ales about his time in Limbo he just kept sticking close to Derpy. The conductor sounded the speakers, "We will be arriving in Canterlot in three minutes". They set about waking up Spike and collecting there belongings, as the train came to a stop the companions snuck out the back so as to avoid coming across any guards.
They moved through the deserted streets of Canterlot. The only ponies they came across where some slaves cleaning the street or guards on patrol. It was creepy walking through a city that used to bustle with activity twenty four hours a day. The journey was quick maybe a bit too quick.
Before they knew it they where standing at the castle gates. There was not a sole to be seen, Storm did not like this at all. "Where do you think every pony is?" asked Spike who kept glancing over his shoulder. They made there way through the royal gardens, keeping eyes and ears open to any rustled. They where about have way towards a set of large wooden doors.
The doors slowly opened they scattered, Storm limbed his way into a nearby bush, Derpy jumped into a tree, Zacora dived at a shrub and Spike crawled under a rock.Six ponies dressed in dark purple robes stalked out into the garden. Storm watched as they moved towards a large stone fountain. He decided to get a closer look, keeping low in the bush he moved with stealth honed from years of creeping past guards.
The Six figures came to a stop and stood in a semicircle around the fountain, Storm crept closer. A small figure suddenly popped into existence right in front of the fountain. Storm squinted his eyes against the darkness hoping to make out the new figure, he almost wished he hadn't. Applebloom step forward into the light, the Six ponies bowed and there hoods slipped off.
Secrets amongst the leaves
Storm only just managed to stifle a gasp as he saw who one of the Six where. A pony with a dull rainbow coloured main and tail, Rainbow Dash was the name Derpy had called her. He was studying her closely, there was something different about her. Dash turned side on as Applebloom walked towards the wooden doors.
Storm saw what was different about her, Dash was missing her chest which had been replaced with a clock work mechanism that was sporting a tube full of blood that was pumping up and down. Storm felt sick to the stomach, he looked around at the others. There was a pale yellow Pegasus with pink hair that had had her eyes torn out and eye lids sown shut.
Applebloom smiled at her creations; theses pitiful ponies that had tried to stop Nightmare moons return to earth. She stared at the individual's, first was Twilight Sparkle she had been modified so that her horn had been removed and her mind had been broken due to shock therapy. Then there was Rarity, her horn was still in place but it was connected to two live tesla coils which rippled with electricity.
Pinkie pie looked depressed her hair was straight and her knees trembled, Applebloom had taken no chances and had taken Pinkies bottom jaw and tongue. Apple Jack was next, Applebloom had not been kind to her big sister. AJ was unchanged in her mental form, she was basically her old self. Except AJ's rear legs had been sliced to the bone, they reeked of rotten meat, seeing that the legs had not been cleaned. AJ had also been wired up to a drill system.
If Apple Jack made a whimper or a noise of any form the drills would push into her flank and spin with a slow motion would tear through her skin and eventually go to the bone. Applebloom walked up to her sister and bucked her in the face. Apple Jack stifled a cry but it was to late, the drills started whirling. Applebloom walked away as her sister began to scream in pain, Fluttershy whimpered.
Storm had seen enough, he moved his body so he could crawl back to the others. He had gone a meter before he heard a small snapping noise. His damaged leg suddenly was overcome with the felling of being bitten by hundreds of ants. A gasp escaped his mouth before he could stop it. Applebloom turned towards Storm's hiding place, "some pony's is spying on use" she hissed. She flicked her head towards Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash leaped into a nearby bush. Storm was scrambling as fast as he could to get back to the others. He was suddenly smashed into the ground, he flipped himself onto his back to see his attacker and was staring right into Dashes eyes. She stared into his soul and Storm saw the frightened, scared Pegasus stuck inside a mutilated body. She bit into Storms hind leg a started to drag him out of the bush.
Storm panicked and lashed out with his broken leg. Bad idea, his leg snagged on one of the exposed gears and started pulling it into the rest. Storm struggled to pull himself free but Dash kept forcing him closer. His leg made contact with the mesh of gears, he let out a shout that was then drowned out by an ear perishing scream. Storm looked to Rainbow Dash, his leg had stopped being sucked in up to its knee. Dash was screaming, Storm ws taken aback he thought she would be the last pony to scream.
Storm took his chance and wretched what was left of his leg out of Rainbow Dashes gears. He heard hoof steps quickly approaching his hiding place. He wanted to help Rainbow Dash, maybe put her out of her misery, instead he grabbed a stick and jammed it in her gears, trying to make it look like she speared herself by accident. Storm scurried away, the bush behind him was torn apart as the others discovered Dashes body.
Applebloom was furious as she stared down at the lifeless body of her favourite creation. She turned to her other monstrosities, "take the body to my tower" she ordered. Apple Jack and Rarity hefted the body on to Twilights back. The progression made there way back inside the castle. Applebloom turned to take one last look out at the garden, "something's not right here" she said to herself.
Storm made his way towards the hiding spots of the others he thought of what he had seen. 'Applebloom? How could innocent little Applebloom do that?' He thought to himself almost colliding with a stationary Pegasus. Storm stumbled back grimacing from the pain of his dead leg. He opened his eyes and looked at the Pegasus, he jumped back and promptly feel over. Storm was staring Nightmare moon right in the eyes, no, no it wasn't her it was Derpy, Derpy looking down at him in concern.
"Storm, are you alright?" Derpy asked before seeing what was left of his leg, "What did you do to your hoof?". Storm remember what had become of his leg, he jumped up and shouted "BUCK". Derpy looked at him, with her slightly crossed eyes, with a look of concern. "Storm what happened?" Derpy asked again as she helped him to where the others where waiting.
"It's nothing Derpy, I'm ok, really it's fine" Storm replied, wincing as the exposed nerves brushed against the grass. Derpy glared at him, "It's not nothing, look at yourself your a mess" she nodded to his leg. Storm bit back a reply, he did not want to tell her what had happened to her old friend, but he knew it was not right to keep secrets from her. "Derpy... I.. I saw" "Storm! What the hay happened?" said Spike, coming out from behind a statue of an old Stallion with a flowing beard.
Storm was glad for the interruption even if it was from his time with Derpy. "Nothing's wrong with it Spike it's just broken". "Broken? Look at it Storm your missing your hoof" Spike replied. Storm looked at his leg and noticed that Spike was right, apart from having his leg turned into a mess up to his knee, his hoof was cut off from the ankle. 'For the love of Celestria some pony put me out of my misery'.
Zacora bandaged up Storm ruined leg, she tutted as she worked think to herself about how long it would be before she had to perform a funeral for this pony. Storm stretched his leg when Zacora was finished. They started towards the castle again, they opened the large wooden doors. They noise of the opening doors in the silents of the night was almost deafening.
The main hall was completely deserted. They group made there way through the desolate hall. 'Some pony should really clean this place up' Derpy thought to herself as she looked around. The curtains had been torn down, so that the room could be bathed with the eternal light of the moon. Vines had started to grow up and down the support pillars, giving of an old ruin look.
Nothing stirred as they made their way down corridor after corridor. They where looking for some sign of unicorn inhabitants, but there was nothing, not a single thing. Their mission appeared to have failed, all their work, their risk and sacrifices. Storm wrestled with the fact that he had lead them here, here to where their enemy's may be laying in wait. A idea hit Storm with the force of a train.
There was still two unicorns living here, but where?. Another thought hit Storm, if they where to look for these unicorns it would involve him telling the others about what had happened to their friends. He stopped, the others looked at him. "Storm, you OK?" asked Spike looking around nervously. "No Spike, no I'm not" Storm replied taking in a breath "there's something I have to tell all of you".
The door into Celestia's room was thrown open, two ponies walked in and deposited a third on an operation table. Applebloom entered and ordered her "pets" to patrol the castle.
She set about removing Rainbow dashes chest. Almost all of the gears where damaged and covered in blood. Applebloom wiped away what was left of the smashed tube that had been used as a mock heart.
She reached into Dashes corpse and felt around for any loose gears or springs. Her hoof brushed against something soft and wet. She scooped the strange object out into the dull light, that's was produced by flickering torches. She set her find down for closer examination.
"A hoof?" Applebloom exclaimed out loud. A sense of familiarity washed over her. A darkness clawed itself to the front of her mind. 'You know who this belongs to, don't you" the darkness hissed, almost excitedly. "Y..yes master" she replied shacking at the darkness's happiness. The darkness felt her fear, it used the opportunity to creep through the rest of her body. It slid over her muscles and seeped into her veins.
Applebloom began to spasm rapidly, she tried to breath. Her mouth would not respond, she head began to spin and her surroundings went dark. The darkness raced through It's slaves body searching for memories or hints of how she knew this stallion who had slipped through his grasp. It found a sliver of memory, it was only a small part but it was enough.
The memory was of an apple farm. The farm was in ruins, all the apple trees where bent and gnarled. The grounds was dried and cracked, two ponies stood staring at a patch of muddy earth. Applebloom was there next to an elderly green pony. "What's this my little flower?" the Darkness asked, Applebloom whimpered back "It's Big Mackintosh's funeral".
The Darkness continued to watch the more for a few more moments before moving on.
It moved on to a second memory. This one was set in the Apple orchard, before it was dead. Applebloom was sitting under a tree looking out at a rising sun. An orange mare came and sat beside her, Applebloom moved closer to her sister. The darkness spat at the pair, as they hugged. "Love?" it hissed at Applebloom "What love did you show your sister when you tortured her", it started laughing as Applebloom stammered for an explanation.