The Reaper's Call

Chapters

The Longest Journey
In Death's Domain
Deathwish
Saving the Twilight
Truth Over Lies
Night In A Dark World- Intermission 1 (Backstory)
A Duel Of Darkness
The Moon That Shines Bright - Intermission 2 (Backstory)
The New World
Welcome to Eternity
Party Of Pain
The Fallen Prince
Prologue: A Poem
Fluttering Anger

The Longest Journey

“...my child...bearer of power...agent...of...death...” said a booming voice.

There was only silence in return.

“... did...you...complete...the task...I have assigned you?”

A hooded figure stepped out of the shadows, walking on four legs, the clip-clop of his hooves barely making a sound on the cobalt floor. Black robes covered his fit, slim body, and clouds of ash swirled around the mysterious pony. A tattered black hood covered his face, shrouding it in darkness, and a huge scythe hung from his back, its wicked blade adorned with runes and inscriptions. Two huge, pale eyes stared unblinking out of the hood, made of pure yellow light as bright as the sun yet carrying none of its warmth. Instead, only the cool touch of death and rest circled around the hooded stallion, and shadows twisted and warped around his eternally devastated body. He ripped off his hood, revealing his twisted face, a swirling cloud of ash that formed a semblance to a pony’s head but flickered in and out of shape, as if indecisive about whether to be a stallion, a mare, a filly, or an amorphous cloud of dust and debris. His eyes stood out from his ashen form, for they looked solid on the dust storm, and were static in their position in comparison to the rest of his face.

The cloaked pony walked to the end of the cobalt walkway, without uttering a single world. He waited for a while, watching the darkness move around him, until suddenly in the shadows before him, two pairs of glowing red eyes opened, staring at the pony. Wordlessly he reached into his robe, pulling out a chest adorned with gems and jewels, and upholstered with a rich royal blue. He reached his hoof (or cloud of ash in the shape of a hoof) towards the keyhole, and his walking appendage shape-shifted into something that resembled a key. He inserted this falsification of a key into the slot, turned it for a bit, and opened the chest.

The blood-red eyes watched the ashen pony take something out of the chest. They caught the glimmer of gold and gems shining in the pony’s ambient light. They watched the pony take six pieces of jewelry out of the extensively decorated box, before placing them on the cobalt walkway at the very edge of the platform. The eyes watched the jewels as they flickered with reflective light, the pony’s aura of light bouncing into the blood-red pupils. Then, slowly, a dark tendril extended from the shadows, and grasped the necklaces in a tight coil. The red eyes examined the jewels for a bit longer, the ashen pony motionless, as if waiting for a response from the creature that surely dwelled beyond the shadows at the platform’s edge.

“...so...you have brought them to me...well done... Reaper...”

“Thank you, my lord.” said the ashen pony, his voice as scattered and rough as the dust that made up his corporeal form.

“...and...now...I...think it’s time...I...fulfilled my...side...of the bargain.”

A roar echoed through the cavern. There were the sounds of an ancient maw being opened, and a spark of light as black dragon’s-fire burst forth from invisible points in the darkness. The ashen pony covered his face with his shapeless leg, the ash doing little to block the massive heat. Even from this distance, the pony could feel the fire on his amorphous form, feeling as if the radiant heat from the dragonfire alone was enough to burn him totally and completely, fully reduce him to nothingness and destroy his soul. For the black dragonflame of annihilation burned before him, and it covered the six pieces of jewelry whole. Golden metal became silver, silver melted into featureless grey iron. Intricate carvings completely disappeared, being replaced by long segments of plain silver metal. Once colorful and vibrant gems became devoid of color, turning a featureless white, before shifting to a monotone grey as they remained in the dragon’s flame. Deep laughter echoed around, two voices laughing at different intervals, one young, one old. They laughed as the dragon’s flame enveloped the gems whole, and with one last great puff of black fire, released the necklaces from the tendril’s crushing embrace and threw them haphazardly onto the cobalt walkway.

“...It...is...done... you...you...may leave...”

The ashen pony forged a horn out of ash on his flickering forehead, the horn itself twisting in on itself and fluctuating just as the rest of his body did. A black magical aura glowed around the horn, and the magic reached out to the necklaces, and picked them up off the floor. He carefully stored them in the chest, the color fading away from the royal blue container as the decimated pieces were placed inside. The ashen pony bowed to the red eyes, picked up his chest, turned and left, his ambient light illuminating the path in front of him as he walked down the cobalt pathway, as silent as can be. The red eyes watched the light as it moved, slowly at first, then faster as time passed. The blood-red pupils closed once the light was gone, and the true darkness returned.

Soon, the loud, echoing sound of deep breathing rippled through the chamber.

Saaroklir slept...

...and so did Celestia.

The princess of the sun snored away in her bed, the balcony doors open, the wind blowing through. The massive ceiling of the sky shone in on the bedchamber, the glass roof allowing a perfect view of countless points in the endless drape that covered the once-blue dome. Celestia lay in her bed below, the light of the sky shining on her. It did little to wake the tired princess, for her day had been long, filled with anticipation and fear. Her guards had all long gone, and only a veteran squadron stayed behind, captained by her nephew-in-law, Shining Armor. His footsteps clanked outside the golden door, the brawny unicorn pacing back and forth as he carefully watched the hallway that lead to the bedchamber. He clutched his spear tightly in his hoof, his attentive eyes squinting down the corridor. Eying a tiny black dot on the wall, he fired a pulse of lightning from his horn, elementary offensive magic that required little exertion to master. He zapped the fly with arcane electricity, a deadly accurate blast that sent the roasted corpse of the fly plummeting to the ground. He too, was jumpy and nervous, the heist that was discovered today affecting him deeply too.

For the Elements of Harmony had been pilfered, the very chest they were held in stolen from a locked room that only Celestia’s horn could open. Someone had nabbed them from under everypony’s nose, without so much as a sign as to where he went (or what he was). And this was why, when a cloaked pony appeared in the hallway and began walking towards the bedchamber, did Shining Armor lower his spear and shout “HALT!”

The cloaked pony did not stop, her cloak rippling as her powerful legs carried her along, cloth-muffled hoofsteps echoing across the hallway. A long, colorful scarf lay coiled around her neck, the bright reds and blues in direct contrast to the pony’s monotonous color scheme. Shining Armor lowed his horn, and sparks of lightning began to escape it.

The pony finally stopped, obviously intimidated by the electricity. Shining Armor raised his spear, but continued to point his horn at the mysterious pony, ready to zap her with his magical bug zapper should she get too close. Then he noticed her long, winding horn, her tattered grey cloak, her equally grey body, and the massive spear she carried on her back. The blade of the weapon was split in the middle, forming two distinct blades with a small gap in the middle. Vine-like growths wrapped around the blade, holding it to a long wooden handle made of black ebony, and a small red ball was wrapped in vines at the other end. Magical energy surged through the pony, and the force of the power was enough for Shining Armor to lose his concentration and accidentally discharge the arcane lightning.

zzZAp!

As Shining Armor held up his hoof and shouted in surprise, the grey unicorn did nothing but raise a hoof. She did not duck, nor attempt to move. Shining Armor watched as the electrical bolt redirected into her hoof, forming a tiny ball of swirling magic. She then simply tossed the ball over her shoulder, the blue sphere shrinking as it bounced about on the ground, until it finally disappeared.

Shining Armor breathed a sigh of relief. Behind the golden doors, the snores of the Princess began to grow louder, a sign of her entrance to the dream world. Twisting and turning sounds came from the bedroom, the princess thrashing about as she experienced her nightmare.

“Trying to electrocute me with a bug-zapping spell is a waste of my time.” said the grey unicorn at last, with a raspy, grandma-like voice.

“Huh?” said Shining Armor.

“No, nevermind. I was just wondering how a pony like you could be Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard, Canterlot division, when you cannot cast a simple bolt of Chain Lightning. Back in my day, they taught us how to fire offensive electricity in unicorn kindergarten.”

“I-I was never taught how.” said Shining Armor. “They don’t teach us how to cast offensive spells anymore. That bug zapper was just something I found in an old textbook in the Royal Library.”

“Pity. Remind me to teach you that sometime. Now step aside. I have business with the Princess.”

“The Princess is sleeping.” said Shining Armor in a more guard-like tone. “She is not to be disturbed while having rest.”

“Hahaha, oh, what fun! A pitiful excuse for a pitiful battlemage such as yourself. Hydrus should never have passed on his pacifist genes! Oh, Shining Armor, you remind me of my husband, Aries. Always pitiful excuses with him. Oh, just getting a sandwich, oh, just sharpening the family sword. Please. Why don’t you just tell me the truth and say the Elements were stolen and that Celestia is dealing with some stress?”

“Ho-how did you...” blubbered Shining Armor.

“What? Know your name? Or know that the Elements were stolen? Of course I know your name. We’re family, just you’re a huge bit further down the line. As for the Elements, well, I believe one of your guards... told me.. on the way here. You know that Flash Sentry. Talkative one, is he.”

“Remember your little speech about pitiful excuses?”

“Yi-ah-ha.” said the grey unicorn.

“You just made a few yourself.”

“Did I? We are family, Shining Armor. I’m surprised you didn’t recognize your thirty-three generations-old great-great grandma Candice.”

“Not about the family. Flash Sentry’s in Ponyville now. He’s isn’t here. The only ponies are the sniper mares on the rooftops and the... veterans... in the entrance...oh, now I’ve told you too much!”

“Oh, not to worry. I’m not here to kill anypony, mind you. Just to see my eldest daughter. And please. I’m your thirty-three generations-old great-great-grandma. At the very least call me Candice. You should treat your family members better, maybe bake a few cookies with that bug zapper instead of pointing it at someone.”

“You’re not my grandma.” said Shining Armor.

“Am too. I have the star of the Sparkles on my flank.”

“Really? Would you mind proving that?”

“You really want to see an old lady strip naked?”

“We usually go around in the buff, remember.”

“Heh... the indecent younger generations these days. Fine. So be it.”

The grey unicorn flung off her grey cloak, the staff flying away with it. The cloak revealed more of her gray, colorless skin, the monotonous skin sharing the same color as the cloak. She did not kick off her cloth hoofwraps, nor did she remove her scarf. Her mane, however, was pulled out of the cloak’s hood, revealing a navy blue and red mop of straight hair ending in a straight-cut bang above her forehead. Her tail carried the same color, and was styled much the same way, but shorter. Folded wings pressed tightly against her body, and they were barely noticeable when she was wearing her cloak. Her horn was longer than most, and a golden bracer gripped it, with no decoration save for a single sky-blue sapphire embedded in the center, facing the ceiling. She looked a lot like Twilight, just recolored and with...wings. She indeed carried the six-pointed Star of the Sparkle on her flank, but instead of being pink it was a bright yellow, flanked on both sides by white wings, with a shield behind it like Shining Armor’s. But it wasn’t the mane, nor her appearance, nor the mark that caught Shining Armor’s attention. It was the fact that when you stared into her bright lavender eyes, in her pupils you could see a faint pink star: the same star that Shining Armor, his sister, and his mother carried on their flanks. He had only seen the star in four other ponies’ eyes. The Princesses carried them, as did his wife, Cadence. And... and... her. The shapeshifter queen who had taken over his mind and tried to marry him. Never before had he seen the star in anypony else. The presence of the star in Candice’s eyes startled him.

“Wh-what... who... are you?”

“Queen Candice, at your service.” said the gray alicorn. She did a little bow.

“And what... exactly... do you want?”

“Seriously? Do we have to go through this again? All I want is to talk to my daughter, who needs no rest nor sleep! Now, my child, please take me to her. I am beginning to lose my patience.”

“Oh...um...okay...” responded Shining Armor. He turned around and opened the golden doors behind him. He stretched out a leg, pointing into the darkness that lay behind it.

“That’s a good lad.” said Candice. “Remind me to show you the Chain Lightning spell once I’m finished with the conversation.”

All Shining Armor could do was nod as the gray mare walked into the dark room, cloak and spear back on her.

Candice peered around the dark room, taking in the massive glass roof, the four-poster bed, the open balcony door. She quietly walked to the door, her hoofwraps keeping her absolutely silent. Not that she needed to be. Her daughter was an immortal god, remember, and missing a few minutes of sleep meant nothing to her. Not that she needed sleep, anyway. As Candice closed the balcony door, she heard somepony getting out of the bed behind her. She whipped around, unsheathing her spear and pointing the glowing red ball at the Princess of the Sun. But after Candice saw that it was indeed Celestia that stood before her, she dropped her spear onto the ground and held out her front legs as Celestia ran to her.

“Mother.” she said as her hooves wrapped around Candice’s neck.

“My eldest little pony.” said Candice.

The two alicorns held the embrace for a while longer before they separated.

“My daughter.” said Candice. “I am so happy to see you again. I thought... I thought I had...ended you.”

“Whatever do you mean?” responded Celestia.

“I... I’m sorry I have to tell you this now. I sincerely do. I... was at the wedding. I... almost... got married.”

“You... you were Chrysalis?”

“Yes. It was a similar name. It fit my corrupt form quite well. Too bad I couldn’t control myself after it attached to me. I... I didn’t know how to stop myself. I... grew... hooked on love... as ponies get hooked on a drug.”

“So... you were cured.”

“Yes. The love explosion. It blasted away the darkness when I landed. I defeated swathes of changelings and retrieved Bladecaster from my former inner sanctum.” Candice rubbed her spear affectionately. “But apologizing was only part of the reason I have woken you, my daughter. I am also here... to warn you.”

“Warn me? About what?”

“As you and I both know, the Elements were stolen.”

“Yes.” said Celestia. “Go on, mother.”

“Yes, yes child. Don’t push me. I know who stole them. In fact, I was a part of his plan. We allied together. I would help him steal the Elements with my changeling army, and he would cure me of the darkness. I’m still debating whether or not he kept his side of the bargain.”

“And? Who is this pony that has stolen the Elements of Harmony?”

“You may know him. You...you and your sister... did away with him... centuries ago.”

“You...you mean...”

“Yes. The Reaper. He has returned.”

“Galactica save us all.” said Celestia.

The stars themselves seemed to shimmer at the Princess of the Sun’s majestic voice...

Celestia turned around to face Shining Armor, who had been standing silently in the doorway.

“Send word to your sister.” she said. “And her friends. Tell them to meet me here now.”

Shining Armor nodded and ran off, ready to catch the Late, Late Train going anywhere.

When Celestia turned around, Candice was gone. The balcony doors were open again. Celestia turned her head up to the stars, her eyes open...

...and the Reaper could not see the stars, for his telescope was pointed elsewhere. He looked down the magnifying lens of his microscope, peering at one of the Elements of Harmony under its scrutinizing gaze. His ashen form did nothing to help his observation, and particles of dust kept getting on the lens. After brushing off the ash for the umpteenth time, the Reaper finally gave up and threw the microscope off the table it stood on. It disintegrated into ash and flew back into the vortex of dust that made up the only corporeal form of the Marcher of Death. He floated over to the mirror that hung on the wall, staring at his reflection even as ash covered the glass. He stared into his own eyes for a moment, before walking back to the table and picking up the Element. As he went to put it away, his ashen reflection stared back at him from the mirror, his dark black eyes watching himself open the chest and place the Element inside. Five other Elements twinkled inside, the Reaper’s ambient light reflecting off them before he shut the chest and they were bathed in darkness again. His cold black eyes stared as he floated to a corner where an upright coffin lay. As he lowered himself into the coffin, the black eyes in the mirror twinkled for just a second, and then lay still as the ash cloud stopped its movement, falling to the ground in a wave of dust. The shine of a tiny pink six-pointed star remained in the pupils that slowly faded from the mirror. Two round pieces of obsidian lay in the ash pile, two tiny pink stars etched onto their surface.

The Reaper’s ambient light went out, and everything lay silent.

Then, something happened. Hoofsteps, echoing from above. Somepony was near. A loud cloppity-clop filled the dark room, and the sound of a distinct Wild West accent accompanied it. A brash, condescending shout answered it. The obsidian moved in the ash pile, the stars turning to face the stone ceiling of the room. More hoofsteps came with more voices, each distinct and vibrant. One was peppy and bright, and was accompanied by rhythmic bangs. as a pony jumped up and down. Another was small and weak, barely able to be heard but still existent, and the corresponding hoofsteps equally silent. There was a large rustling sound, and the crisp, clean sound of unfolding fabric as a tent was set up. A jingle of bells accompanied the sound, and the scraping noise of something metallic scratching stone. A whining voice followed, complaining about some sort of “horrible disaster”. And then, a final, sixth sound. A logician's voice, it was smooth and swift, explaining and contradicting with every breath.

The ash pile began to quiver.

“Ah. So... I ... can start the party...”

In Death's Domain

Sleep. It was comforting after a long day trekking the Far North. The mountain range was always covered in snow, and the blizzard that had caught up with them today had been a real doozy. How bad was it? Well, Applejack and Rarity had snow even in their inner layers, and Rainbow had a bad frost burn on her left wing. Twilight herself had a real challenge getting the snow out of her bangs, the frost constantly freezing into ice and requiring an hour-long turn under Rarity’s porta-shower.

Now, the little purple unicorn snuggled up in her sleeping bag, the lavender fabric that covered her from head to toe keeping her warm and snug. No snow remained in her messy purple mane, and the soaking wet hair lay in large bunches across her pillow. A fire burned nearby, the cackling flame sending waves of heat towards her bag, cooking her hooves with just a slight heat, keeping them warm as the fearsome blizzard raged outside. The heat helped dry her saturated hair, the green fire, courtesy of Spike, removing the water from her purple mane.

A huge tent was set up in a corner of the cave, the brim of the structure just barely scraping the ceiling of the cave. Loud snoring came from within, the greatest problem of all dragons, especially little ones like Spike. The tent shook with every snore, but no one went to investigate, and no one moved. Three other sleeping bags were set up around the fire pit, the red flame rippling and warming the cave. An orange pony lay snuggled up in one, a wide-brimmed Wild-West style hat covering her messy blond hair. A ribbon lay nearby, as did a tin cup and a toothbrush. A long section of rope lay coiled up at the foot of the sleeping bag. Applejack snoozed peacefully, her chest rising and falling with every snore from the tent in perfect synchronization. Nearby lay another pony, curled up in a yellow sleeping bag. A few pictures lay nearby, one of a fluffy white bunny, another of a big hulking bear, and one that lay away from the others, closer to the sleeping bag. A picture of six ponies, smiling and holding up a golden trophy, each covered in mud and debris but each also beaming with happiness. Fluttershy loved remembering the old days, especially when they had won together, as a team. She lay silent in her bag, and small puffs of air, with the occasional squee, erupted from her nose. The third bag lay closer to the opening, and fidgeting around in a thrashing fit. The occupant still had her eyes closed, but her wings had ripped through the bag, and were spasmodically flapping about as her legs shook wildly and made as if galloping. Yes, Rainbow Dash was having a nightmare, and released quick, violent breaths that sent steam clouds into the surrounding air. The frost burn lay under a mess of white bandages and gauze, and even as she thrashed the bandage would not come off. Exposing the burn to the cold would only worsen it, and Fluttershy had been sure to tie it especially tight. Rainbow wouldn’t be flying with it on, but nopony, no, not even Spitfire could fly in this blizzard. At least Rainbow had the courage to try.

And so they slept...

Green dragon’s fire. A tent as big as a house. A frost-burn. How ingenious these ponies are. Pity they need to perish. They would have made great partners in crime.

The ash pile below the six ponies rose from the ground, forming the shape of the Reaper again. Quietly he opened the chest in the corner, taking out the six corrupt Elements of Harmony out. He stared at the silver jewelry for a moment more before reducing them to ash and integrating them into his own swirling body. He floated to a closet on the other side of the room, near the mirror. He opened with his magic, revealing a huge black scythe with black rune carved on the blade, and two smaller sickles with round, crescent-shaped blades. More black letters covered the blades of the sickles. He took everything in the closet, and held them in the ash cloud, turning them to dust and making them a part of himself. The larger ash cloud then floated to the surface of the ceiling, and spread out, each particle finding a tiny hole in the rock where it could squeeze through. The particles slowly began to rise upward through the rock, the form of the Reaper going on a little courtesy call. There were guests at his welcome mat, and he needed to attend to them.

The six ponies slept. Nopony noticed the ash grains coming out of the solid stone floor, nor they they notice the rotten, pungent smell of rotting corpses in the air. Nopony noticed the green fire turn red, or that the shadows began to move of their own accord. The ash particles all moved towards the fire, for at last the Reaper had his quarry in front of him, and he smiled as best he could (For he had no face. Not yet, at least.). The ash piled on top of each other, and formed the ashen body of the Reaper. He waved a hoof at the cave entrance, and a sheet of rock dropped over it, sealing off the entrance with a massive boom. At the same time, he raised another hoof to the ceiling, and the shadows obeyed. Dark tendrils wrapped around the ponies, ripping them out of their sleeping bags and tents. The ponies, suddenly awakened by the boom of the stone, could not react fast enough with their sleepy bodies as they were grasped by the vines of pure shadow. Tendrils held their limbs still, and another vine covered their mouths. The Reaper stood in the center of the room, standing over the fire as it changed again, this time from a red flame to a black one that gave off a heat that felt searing hot, even at his distance. Standing over the fire, the Reaper felt the heat of the black dragonfire of annihilation most of all, but ignored the feeling of darkness as he lowered himself to the rock floor and began to pace around the rocky floor.

“Ah, so nice of you to visit.” he said in his gravelly voice. “But, I wasn’t expecting guests.”

Twilight managed to spit out the tendril covering her mouth.

“-We... We aren’t visiting! We’ll be--” was all she was able to splutter before the tendril covered her mouth again.

“What’s that? You aren’t visiting? So you’re all trespassing, then. What’s that old saying... ah, yes. Get offa mah lawn, or something like that. No matter. It’s still a pleasure to see you all here. In fact, I won’t even accuse you of trespassing. So nice to see you all. Anyway, it’s time for the party. Wouldn’t want you all to miss that, would I?”

At the mention of the world “party”, Pinkie’s Pie’s eyes grew to three times their normal size.

“Oh, no. Not a fun party.” said the Reaper. He turned his obsidian eyes to look at the pink pony who was practically jumping out of the tendrils with excitement. “Not fun at all. At least not for you. People say that feeling the soul-burning heat of the Black Dragonfire of Annihilation is as fun as a party... with death. Well, we have our partygoers, and our dragon’s fire. All that’s left to make a great party is death.” Upon saying “death”, the Reaper held out his ashen hoof, and materialized his scythe in it. Ash from his body formed the wooden handle, stretching past the Reaper’s height. Dust condensed to form the blade, all eighteen inches of it, made from black metal and attached to the handle by several iron bands and strips of fabric, as well as a pony skull. The blade blade of the scythe glowed in the dragon flame’s light, reflecting the black glow into the ponies’ eyes.

“Now, that’s better. A proper Grim Reaper with a proper scythe. Skull included. Now, we need to make the party more like a party.” He clapped his hooves together, and the shadows listened, forming tendrils of pure darkness that hung from the ceiling like streamers. Dark globules rose from the ground, forming black balloons. Vines of shadow burst out of the ground, pulling the six ponies closer to the rock until they were standing, and more vines held them in place, only their heads exposed. Pools of shadow appeared below them, taking away their footing and removing the solid feel of the stone from their hooves, replacing it with the slippery consistency of a puddle of water.

“Oh, yes, I do recommend the shadow bath. So... killing! But, you all are missing something, aren’t you? You aren’t wearing any jewelry. Proper mares have to wear jewelry to every social occasion. As you don’t seem to have any of your own, I’ll let you borrow mine for the time being.

The Reaper held out his hooves again. Ash flowed from his body into his hooves, forming a ball of swirling dust. He shaped the ash until it became a cube, and it materialized into a chest. Twilight widened her eyes as she saw the chest. It was the chest that contained the Elements, the very chest that Celestia had told her was stolen.

“Oh. What’s the matter? Is this yours?” The Reaper waved the corrupt Element of Magic in front of Twilight. “Well, I rightfully stole it. It’s mine. You should consider yourself lucky I’m letting you borrow this.” The Reaper tossed the Element to Twilight, who tried to duck. She ducked for nothing, for just as it was about to hit her head a dark tendril caught it and held it next to her head. The tendrils did the same for the other ponies, who, despite their best efforts, could not break the crushing grip the vines held them in.

“Now, I’ll be needing a pair of hands. Let’s see, hmmm... Ah! Right. Stand back, I’ll be going full Reaper now. At least my Pure Form has hands. I’ll need those...”

The Reaper raised both his front hooves to the ceiling. He reared, standing on his hind legs, but instead of falling forward again, he remained static, unmoving, as the ash began to condense.

“I remember this was much easier with an actual body.” he said.

The ash stopped moving as it began to pack on itself, forming a solid sphere of ash that rose into the air. It slowly turned black, the grey of the ash slowly being covered in a shadow devoid of all light. The opaque black ball soared through the air until it stopped right on top of the black fire, and slowly the ball itself absorbed the black flame, putting out the fire in the pit and lighting itself with the black fire.

When the flame covered every inch of the sphere, it burst outwards, sending hot ash all over the six ponies. What stepped out was nothing like the ash cloud that had made it.

A huge biped, it stood on two legs, and towered over the ponies. Tattered black robes hung over it, and golden embossment embellished the fabric. Black armor covered his top half, with glowing runes covering it*. A black hood covered it’s head, or where its head would logically be, and huge skeletal wings jutted out of it’s back. Two thick, muscular arms jutted out of the sides of his armor, and they bent twice, once about halfway and another near the end, where the arm ended in two hands, with five skeletal fingers each. One hand grasped the huge scythe the Reaper had been holding, expect now at least three times as big, and the other held a black fireball in its open palm, the flame as dark and foreboding as it was when it burned in the fire pit. The hooded biped walked over to Twilight, stared at her for a while, the darkness behind the hood penetrating into Twilight’s very soul, before moving to her left and staring at Applejack.

“So it begins. You all will fall, and you will carry me on my journey. Nidhogg, First Dragon of Chaos, hear my plea. Turn these ponies to the opposite of who they are, and destroy who they will be.”

As if in response, a roar echoed through the cavern.

The Reaper stepped closer to Applejack. The orange earth pony started shaking, struggling against the restraints that held her back.

The tendril holding the Element of Honesty released its burden. Instead of clattering to the floor, however, the necklace stayed hovering in the air. The Reaper placed his scythe on his back, the huge blade scraping the stone floor. He then took the Element in his free hand, and began to rub the black flame over it. The Element caught fire, the black gem on a silver clasp burning with the black flame. He looked at Applejack for a minute longer before he forcefully placed the necklace around her neck.

Applejack screamed as the flame crept up her skin.

“Your honesty will be a lie, without a sliver of truth.”

The Reaper turned his head, ignoring the burning pony and turning to Fluttershy. He snapped his fingers in front of her, and her eyes rolled up to the back of her head. He took her Element, and lit it with the black flame, the fire scalding the silver metal. He clasped it around her neck.

“ Your kindness will flee, and you anger will be unleashed.”

Applejack began to sink into the ground, her hooves disappearing into the black pool below her. She struggled violently, but the tendrils gripped her tightly, refusing to allow her to escape.

The Reaper ignored her cries as he moved on to Pinkie Pie. He did the same to her, forcing her to wear the burning and corrupt necklace that bore her cutie mark on its gem. He clasped the silver necklace around her pink neck, the Element burning into her skin.

Pinkie screamed as the flame crept up her skin.

“Your laughter will be silenced, to be replaced with roars of pain.”

He left Pinkie to struggle against the fire. Fluttershy’s limp body began to descend into the black pool, the tendrils slowly pulling the unconscious pegasus into the black void. The Reaper walked away from the pink earth pony and turned to Rainbow Dash next to her.

He grabbed her rainbow-colored hair, and placed his face extremely close to her’s. He breathed cold air onto her, the freezing cold breath blowing back Rainbow’s head. She held her breath as the putrid scent of death washed over her. For the first time in many seasons, Rainbow held fear in her heart.

The Reaper sealed the clasp of her Element over her neck.

Rainbow screamed as the black fire engulfed her.

“Your loyalty is a ruse, with betrayal at every turn.”

As he walked towards Rarity, Pinkie began to sink into the black pool.

Twilight was powerless to stop the Reaper from breathing on Rarity. The dressmaker shook her head violently, trying to get the freezing cold breath somewhere else. The Reaper burned her element as she struggled to cope with the putrid stink.

He fastened the necklace around her neck.

Rarity screamed.

“Your generosity will be stolen, and avarice will rise to take its power.”

Rainbow began to sink.

Twilight gulped as the Reaper walked in front of her. Wordlessly he began to burn her Element, but as she watched, instead of placing it on her head, he held out his palms, and the black flame extinguished from his hands. He summoned his sickles, and Twilight watched as the two wickedly curved blades materialized in his hands, the ash used to make them turning seamlessly into black metal. He laid the sharp blade of one sickle on her right cheek, and scraped downwards, leaving a long, bleeding red line down her face. He did the same to her left one as Twilight whimpered in pain. Finally, he snapped his fingers at Rarity, causing her to start sinking. He grabbed the tiara that was the Element of Magic: the dragonfire that burned on it blacker than any other. He reached to place it on her head...

And Twilight reacted. She fired a magic bolt at the crown as it landed on her forehead, and the black dragonfire split into two parts, one black, one blue. The Reaper stood back as the blue flame spread over Twilight’s left side.

Twilight screamed, although only her right side was burning. Her left felt calm and serene, but just as she was about to fire another magic blast to end the Reaper, he brought his scythe down on her head.

Twilight saw nothing.

“Your magic is darkness, built to feast on the living.” said the Reaper.

The purple unicorn’s head lolled to the side, the cut on her forehead as black as night. A Shadow Wound graced her head, and as she sunk into the ground it began to expand. The Reaper ignored her as she sank into the pool, and soon enough he was surrounded by six pools of pure darkness. He clenched his fists, and then spread them out. Energy flowed from the pools, in streams of orange, yellow, pink, blue, white, and purple. The Reaper felt their power enter him, before falling to his knees as he began to transform. His bipedal Death Form began solid black before a red tint surrounded the edges of his vision and he reverted into the shape of a pony.

He stood. The ground felt strangely solid. He stared at his hoof. It was... solid. A solid black hoof met him face-to-face. He turned his head, feeling the muscles and bones that, just a second ago, did not exist. He opened his wings, feeling the skeletal appendages spread for the first time in millennia. The Reaper summoned his mirror, his solid horn glowing as the mirror rose from the ground.

He stared at himself in the glass.

He was no longer an ash cloud.

He was... a pony.

“It is time. Time... for my revenge.”

Deathwish

For the first time in several centuries, the Reaper felt the pitter-patter of rain on his back. Before, the water from the sky had simply passed straight through his ashen body. Now the raindrops stained his black cloak and wet his spread-out, skeletal wings. The water ran down the blade of his scythe and dripped onto the ground at the sharp tip. The rain felt good to him. It certainly was better than the freezing-cold snow that had fallen on him while in the mountains. But now, as an ocean fell on the dirt landscape, the Reaper turned his head to gaze at the mountains behind him, the white, snow-capped spires that covered the border between mainland Equestria and the Far North. There were paths and passageways between the mountain borders, a result of increased trade between ponies and the caribou of the North, but the Reaper had avoided the roads. He would rather prefer walking on the cold stone than the cobbled highways, and anyway, it wasn’t his body he was tiring out. His body had been reduced to ash, ash that flowed through the veins of his new body like blood. The newer body was far more supple (and corporeal) than his ashen cloud. It was comparable to a tank: an outer shell protecting the fragile occupants.

Now, as he walked on the road, two ponies climbed out of a booth. A toll stop. They wore the armor of a Canterlot Royal Guard, and carried long spears, which they pointed at the Reaper threateningly. The black alicorn sighed and rolled his eyes. There was one more thing about tanks that the Reaper could compare to. Not only did they protect their occupants, but they could return fire with great and terrible force. And so the Reaper unsheathed his massive scythe, holding it in his front hooves, and with a great swing unleashed a massive wave of shadow that blew back the two guards. They screamed as newly-inflicted Shadow Wounds formed on their skin, slowing growing larger and larger as the Reaper trotted past them. By the time the shadow had fully enveloped the two ponies, the Reaper was long gone. Their formerly bright eyes turned a dark shade of red as, suddenly and without warning, the two guards lost their corporeality and burst into two black puddles that stained the road.

The Reaper looked up as he walked, eying a distant mountain. The spire stood in the middle of a massive stretch of plains, and a huge forest stood nearby, surrounding the side of the mountain the Reaper could not see. A huge golden castle jutted out of the side, the massive fortress gleaming in the rain, emitting a bright light despite the lack of it all around. judging from eyesight alone, the Reaper guessed it was only a day’s walk away, and he continued to walk, the road in front of him long and winding, the grass and the dirt around him soaked with rain water.

The black alicorn stepped onto the train platform. Surrounding him were ponies of all shapes and sizes, a blue one here, a green one there. Nopony noticed the Reaper, for he looked like just another pony, wearing a black cloak to protect himself from the rain. He had hidden his scythe, turning it to ash, and folded his skeletal wings under the cloak, pressed tightly against his body. All he appeared to be was a tall black unicorn, waiting for the seven ‘o clock train to Canterlot.

As the train arrived, the Reaper pushed into the carriage with all the other commuters, accidentally spilling a few drinks here and there and causing a few ponies to drop their donuts. A splash of coffee landed on his cloak but evaporated instantly upon contact. He did not even turn to acknowledge the apologizing mare as he pushed towards the front. He swept past the other commuters as his sickles materialized next to him, under his cloak. He pulled open the door at the end of the carriage and stared at the locomotive that was just about to pull out.

The conductor pulled the horn, signalling the train’s departure. Neither he nor the engineer noticed the tall black unicorn that stood only a few feet from them. Neither he nor the engineer noticed the unicorn pull out two wickedly sharp curved blades from under his cloak. And yes, they failed to notice anything as they lost their heads to the sickle’s viciously sharp edge.

The Reaper placed his head in the intercom system and began to speak.

“Attention all passengers. This is your conductor speaking. There has been a bomb threat at the next station. In accordance with policy, we will be bypassing that station and heading directly to Canterlot. I apologize for any... trouble... this has caused.”

He reached out then with his magic, and switched the train from the right track into the center one, and increased the speed of the locomotive. He pressed a button on the dashboard in front of him, and the signs on the sides of the train updated, stating that the train was an express transport. They wizzed past the next station, to the commuters’ surprise, as the crowds of ponies on the deck scratched their heads and raised their eyebrows.

The Reaper ignored the ponies as the train dashed onto the bridge connecting the plains with Canterlot. The train sped forward on the rickety wooden bridge, and the ancient mahogany creaked as the wheels roared over iron rails. On the other rail, a pink locomotive with strange-looking carriages (that looked like ice cream sundaes) passed by the speeding black commuter engine. The Reaper ignored the fact that the other train held a black alicorn mare with a billowing blue mane.

Yes, Luna was riding the Friendship Express, and she was scared. In her hooves she held a letter, written in an ugly scrawl and burnt. It was from Spike. The little dragon stood next to her, a bandage over his left shoulder and his right arm in a cast. Cuts and burns covered his back, but there was no sign of a Shadow Wound, unlike what the letter said. Luna was setting out to investigate, in the hopes that she would find her friends. Shining Armor stood next to her, his face stiff but his heart contorted with worry. Twilight was missing, and if what Spike said was true, she was also likely to be dead.

The Reaper guided the locomotive into Canterlot Station, but instead of pulling the brakes, he simply cast a spell on himself. His black body burst into a cloud of mist as he dove out of the locomotive, watching the black train speed on until it crashed into the buffer stop. It blasted through it and smashed out onto the platform behind it, running over a few ponies before it exploded. The Reaper collected himself before diving into the crowd, re-forming his corporeality and seamlessly blending in again as just another tall unicorn, surprised by the crash. He turned and left the station as guards rushed in, trying to pull out the commuters who, just a second before, had been fine and dandy.

The Reaper disintegrated his sickles back into ash, and re-absorbed them into himself. He began walking towards the castle at the edge of town, his black hooves silently clattering on the cobblestones as guards and ambulance carriages rushed past him towards the station. Overhead, a massive white airship with the red cross of an emergency transport floated by, carrying doctors and nurses to the crash site. Several carriages sped by with The Canterlot Sun painted on their sides, and one drove straight at the Reaper, the motor running full blast. The driver panicked and let go of the steering wheel, but the Reaper simply stared him down. As the news carriage was about to hit the Reaper, a fuel valve in its engine burst, the liquid sugar fuel spraying everywhere... and a spark from the exposed spark plug ignited it. The carriage exploded in front of the Reaper, sending a blast of heat over the black alicorn. It burned him, but just as quickly did the burns melt from his skin. Being bathed in black dragon’s fire has its benefits, such as being almost completely resistant to fire, except for the black variety. The explosion washed over the Reaper, who collapsed into a pile of ash and swept himself away. He reformed again in the growing crowd, and narrowly missed stepping on a baby pony as he materialized. He stared the baby’s cold, soulless eyes for a moment before taking a lollipop out of his cloak and tossing it to the infant. He returned to his march, another ambulance whizzing past him.

At the gate of the castle, the two sentries asked the Reaper for identification. The Reaper responded by laying a hoof on their shoulders, and whispering. The two guards began to age uncontrollably, their young and smooth faces overtaken by the old, the wrinkled, and finally the ashen. The Reape sucked up their ashes, the dust entering his body to join the rest of the ash in his circulation. He laid another hoof on the castle gate, and it too dissolved into a fine grey powder. He stepped onto the cobblestone pathway, his black hooves making small dust clouds on the stones. He lowered his head, the ponies around him paying little to no attention to him. He used his magic to see beyond his eyes, and noticed the sniper ponies on the roof of the castle, two earth ponies wearing a strange, bulky contraption on their backs. Two more guards stood vigil at the actual castle door, and six guards were drilling in the courtyard. The Reaper bypassed the guards and walked around the castle, towards the ajar door of the kitchens. He walked inside, materializing a pot containing vegetables and strapping it to his back. The chefs didn’t even bat an eye as the Reaper strode through the kitchens, nearly getting knocked over by a maid. He did not turn his head, or even respond when the maid apologized. All he did was continue to walk. He left the pot of vegetables near the door to the grand hall, and started to make his way up the stairs. On the way he passed by a guard, who stopped him. The guard asked him for I.D, and the Reaper pulled out a bag of letters from under his cloak. After giving the guard two bits made from ash, the Reaper stepped fully up the stairs and opened the golden door at the top. The two guards there turned and asked for I.D. They both got a scythe to the face.

The Reaper stared at the white alicorn at the end of the long hallway, sitting on a throne. He unlatched the mailbag, which disintegrated into ash the moment it touched the floor. He held his huge scythe in his hoof, and, for the first time since exiting the cave, said something.

“Hello, dear sister.”

Celestia was having a bad day. First, Twilight’s dragon familiar shows up at the castle burnt and injured, and demands the help of the Princesses to save his friend. Second, Luna insisted on going with him and Shining Armor, and Celestia had to agree. Thirdly, she had just received word that a commuter train crashed in Canterlot Station. She was just about to go and help when somepony opened the doors to her throne room and decapitated her guards. With a massive scythe.

Celestia gasped as the pony spoke to her.

“Hello, dear sister.”

The maids and butlers cowered under the tables as the black-cloaked pony cantered into the room, the huge scythe dragging behind him. He turned to stare at the door, and waved his hoof at it. The golden doors shut at once, slamming into the doorframe with a loud boom. The black pony swished his blade around a few times, spinning the long pole weapon before turning back to Celestia and opening his mouth again.

“What? Surprised to see your brother again? Or were you just scared? Did something frighten you? Maybe... maybe that train crash? I know that explosion was loud. Big explosions tend to scare little girls.”

“I am not a little girl.” said the Princess of the Sun. “And I don’t want to know what you’re doing here. You are a traitor to your people, and I put you down centuries ago. You should be banished to a form without essence!”

“Oh, my. I had forgotten just how...pushy... you were. Forgive me if I have figured out the combination to the door lock. I was bound to figure it out someday. Unlike you, I have been quite busy. Seeing as I don’t have a student to order around, I took the liberty of taking your jewelry and ... polishing... them.”

“You? You stole the Elements of Harmony?”

“Forgive me if my memory is not the brightest. I don’t remember what these necklaces were called back in my day. All I remember is that you locked me up with them, and now I have them. Oh, it seems you’re in a spot of bother, my dear sister. I have your Elements. If you want them back, you’re going to have to give me some sort of ...compensation.”

“I refuse to hand over anything to somepony who abused his power and his Marcherhood to rain death and destruction onto his own people! Hand over the Elements now and I will make sure you suffer an easy punishment.”

“Hahaha, I remember now. You were always this pushy. Right then, since you want the Elements so badly,” The Reaper materialized the chest out of ash. He opened it with his magic and floated the six corrupt Elements out. “Come get them.”

“W-what did you do to the Elements?!” shouted Celestia.

“Oh, you know. I was polishing them. Black dragon’s flame really does get all the stains out. But it also ...burns... the gold. My apologizes if they aren’t...what you expected.”

“You...how...how did?”

“What? Find black dragonfire? Oh, you shouldn’t have asked. See, its very simple.” The Reaper materialized a few long drapes out of ash and hung them over the windows blocking out the light. He raised his hoof, then brought it down onto the ground. The torches and candles that lit up the room went out simultaneously, leaving Celestia and the Reaper’s ambient light the only sources of light in the room. The Reaper clapped his hooves, and a projector and movie screen appeared out of thin air. He clapped his hooves again, and a horrifying image of a two-headed dragon breathing black flame appeared on the screen.

“This is Saaroklir. You remember Saaroklir, right? Big, ugly, yadda yadda. Anyhoo, Our mother, Candice, locked him up.” The picture transitioned to an image of the dark cave with the cobalt walkway. “As she did not possess the Blade of Harmony, nor did she ever find six Guardians to activate the Harmonic Singularity, she could not kill him. She sealed him away, and I found him. He offered me power, and I accepted. All because of a certain little sister hating her brother so much she ripped the flesh from his bones and ground his remains in ash. Ash, that now flows in the veins of my new body like blood. Ash, that will soon flow in yours, once my plan is complete.”

“What? Y-you want to steal my body?”

“Of course. I can’t just use this ratty patchwork jigsaw puzzle of a body, now can I? Especially if its made of little mares. Fragile things. I’m sure your white body would be mure more ...reliable... than the bodies of your faithful student and her five best friends.”

Celestia was appalled. Not only had the Reaper stolen the Elements, but he had also stolen the bodies of Twilight and her friends. And now he wanted to possess hers... for what purpose?

“Let them go!” she shouted. “Let them go or face the wrath of the sun!”

“Hahaha, what a nuisance. A stubborn little sister who simply wants her toys back from her big brother. And she’s threatening to punch her brother with her tiny little fist as if that’s going help her win. Haha. Pathetic.”

“No. I will not stand you here any longer. You are to leave now, either in one piece or as a roasted piece of seared flesh!”

Four crystals rose out of hidden chambers in the walls. Celestia willed them out, and the blue crystals complied, sparking with energy as they climbed out of their containers. Each crystal sparked with arcane lightning, arcing bolts of it between each other. Celestia focused her magical energy into her horn, producing a torrent of electrical energy that focused into a ball at the tip of her horn.

“Remember, Reaper, that Mother is on my side. She warned me about your return. She taught me her spell. And now I will finish you.”

The Reaper opened his eyes wide as golden bars rose out of the ground beneath him, trapping him in a prison of gold. Celestia lowered her horn at him, and, by releasing her concentration, fired the bolt of arcane lighting straight at the black alicorn.

The Chain Lighting energized the golden prison, then bounced into the crystals on the walls. The lightning arced across the room multiple times, growing in velocity until all four of the crystals were glowing a bright blue. The golden cage then suddenly disappeared, and four bolts of million-volt lighting cascaded into the Reaper.

Just before the lightning impacted his patchwork body, the Reaper disintegrated into dust. To any outside viewer, it would seem as it the Reaper was disintegrated by the lightning, and reduced to a pile of ash in the middle of the floor. At least, Celestia thought so. She ordered the maids to collect dustpans and brooms and to clean up the absolutely huge pile of ash that covered the center of the room. She turned her head to walk back up to her throne, and picked up a quill. As she turned around, she saw that the ash pile had promptly disappeared. She looked around expecting the butler to say something, but all she got as a response was the tight grip of eight thick tendrils of darkness.

The Reaper re-formed in front of the Princess. He did not say anything this time, only staring at her with cold, dark eyes. He spread his hooves, and called forth his twin sickles, the curved blades ringing as they extended. He stepped closer to his struggling sister, who tried and failed to free herself from the chains that wrapped around her legs, chest, and neck, keeping her head exposed. The Reaper then stood still, and collapsed into ash again, forming a ball of dust in the air. Slowly the ball turned as black as night, and then the humanoid Death Form of the Reaper burst out, spraying red-hot ash over Celestia and the ground around them. The hooded figure held his scythe out, and with careful precision cut open the Princess of the Sun’s right cheek as she whimpered in pain. He held out his empty hand, and summoned the black dragonflame, before casting away his massive scythe and pulling out a sickle. Using the smaller weapon, he slashed open her other cheek, ignoring her cries of pain and fear. He drew a finger along the cut, letting the blood leak onto his skeletal hand before rubbing the black flame on the sickle, the runes glowing bright red as he did so. Celestia watched as he finished igniting the blade, the black fire burning on the crescent. He held the sickle three inches from her neck, before suddenly raising it into the air and bringing the blade down on Celestia’s clean white forehead.

The Princess of the Sun screamed as a Shadow Wound formed on her head. She began to hyperventilate as the dark wound grew larger. The Reaper grabbed the cutting wound using his hands, ignoring Celestia’s screams and cries for mercy as he ripped open the wound, revealing the red flesh beneath. He turned himself to ash once more, his weapons clattering to the ground, and with a flash of darkness poured himself into the gaping wound in Celestia’s forehead. Her blood ran out of her mouth, the bright red liquid being forced out of her as the darkness took her over and blackened her white skin. Her lavender eyes became dark red, and lines of orange light cracked and broke her now dark skin. Her mane burst into red flame, and so did her hooves, lighting on fire as the Reaper drove the soul of Celestia out of her body and took it for himself. The soul tried to flee through the ceiling, but the Reaper, in Celestia’s body, glanced up at the translucent ghost, and with a mighty breath inhaled the Princess of the Sun’s spirit and sent her deep within his bowels.

Solar Flare laughed a deep, thrashing laugh as she picked up the Reaper’s weapons.

Saving the Twilight

Bound to me forever, a servant to my soul.

Magic is nothing, only tricks for show.

There is no magic, no blessing, no light at your horn.

There is only power.

And Darkness is true power.

Your Magic is Darkness, built to destroy.

And so you are bound, a mere slave to a greater power.

Rise, Twilight, Breaker of Worlds!

Twilight saw nothing.

She felt nothing

She WAS nothing. No body, no mind, no anything. All that remained was her splintered consciousness as she drifted in nothingness.

Something had stolen everything from her. Her magic, her body, and her mind were all in someone else’s possession. No amount of friendship would save her now. There were no Elements to save, no friends to make, nothing to fight. All that was left was a broken body floating in an empty void, devoid of everything, anything, to help her struggle.

Or maybe not nearly everything.

She remembered something...just before she fell. When the Reaper had placed the tiara on her head... something...something had happened. She...she had blasted the tiara with her magic...and...and...

The black fire on the tiara...had burned blue before the Reaper placed it on her head. But only half of it. The other half...remained as black...as night...

...

The cool caress of sleep embraced Twilight in its arms.

...

Something stirred in the darkness...

...

Something solid pressed against Twilight’s back.

...

A cool wind blew over her face, the air rushing over her and sending ripples coursing through her mane.

...

Something moved near Twilight.The sound of a hoof tapping echoed across the void.

...

There was nothing...

And then Twilight opened her eyes. She bolted upright, the adrenaline still flowing in her veins. She looked around for a bit, searching for the black form of the Reaper, or anything that may have threatened her. But there was nothing. Nothing. No hills, no plants, no, not even a tumbleweed rolled across the blank canvas. She tapped the ground, but it was as hard as stone, but without any feel to it. A blank texture on a huge expanse of paper. She saw the same whiteness for as long as she could see, the sky and the land blending together in a white globe that surrounded Twilight, enclosing her in a featureless prison without so much as a drop of color. The bright white burned her eyes, and Twilight found it hard to see. But she squinted anyway, trying to make out the small details. But there were none. She began to walk backwards, intimidated by the colorless landscape, and didn’t react for a few seconds when she bumped against something.

“Aaak!” the thing said.

Twilight flipped around, her nerves acting on impulse and twisting the purple unicorn 180 degrees to meet the mysterious talking object. But when she landed, her vision burning from all the white, a strange sight met her weary eyes. For it was a pony, her horn long and straight, that Twilight had pushed. She met the stranger’s lavender eyes, which, strangely, looked the same color as her coat. In the stranger’s irises, there was a tiny pink star: a six-pointed one that matched her cutie mark to the dot.

Twilight scrutinized the stranger more. Her mane and tail were styled like hers, with the same flat bangs.. Her body structure was the same, just a bit taller and stronger. Her horn’s curl matched Twilight’s to the exact degree: 15.7%. A golden ring wrapped around the base of her horn, lacking any decoration save for a small sky-blue sapphire. The bracer aside, the gray mare looked almost exactly like Twilight. All that could differentiate the stranger from the purple unicorn was the fact that the stranger lacked any color. Save for her eyes and mane, her entire body was a monotone shade of gray. Her cloak and hood did little to add color to her drab body.

The mysterious stranger raised a hoof to her head, ruffling her navy blue hair. Red highlights ran through the follicles, in exact match to Twilight’s pink ones through her dark purple mane. She raised a hoof, strips of cloth coating it. The stranger then cocked her head when Twilight simply stared at her hoof.

“Oh, the younger generation these days. So... impolite.” she said in a grandmotherly tone. “You should know better as to refuse your thirty generations plus great-great-great-grandmother’s outstretched hoof.”

“Uh...” said Twilight. “Um...pardon me?”

“Really? You need pardoning? For what crime? You haven’t done anything wrong, have you?”

“Uh...no...”

“Well, then, you should shake your thirty generations plus great-great-great-grandmother’s hoof before she grows tired and has to lean on her cane.” She gestured to her bladed staff, a thin and straight bundle of vines that grasped a metal blade in one end and a glowing red ball in the other.

Twilight gingerly took the mare’s hand, her face breaking into a nervous smile.

“That’s the spirit, Twilight. Marchers like us have to get to know each other. Being immortal means you’re going to have to make a few immortal friends.”

“Yes. I did. You’re a Marcher. You’re supposed to be immortal.” and when Twilight made a confused face in response, the Mare sighed and said. “Look. You’re immortal. You will not age past your prime. You are a Marcher. M-A-R-C-H-E-R. At least, I think that’s how its spelled... anyway, you should have known this centuries ago... oh, wait, no. I’m getting confuddled again. You... you are Twilight Sparkle, right?”

Twilight shook her head yes.

“Twilight... what? What’s your middle name?”

“I... don’t think I-”

“Right. You’re the nameless one. The other Twilight I know is an alicorn. But then, she’s dead. She’s the Marcher... or are you? My old head is being spazzy again. Uh... give me a second.”

Twilight watched her discolored doppelganger concentrate, her youthful face contorting in deep thought. Suddenly, flashes of light sparked around the gray mare. A pulse of magic flew through the air, the rippling blast whipping her hair around her face and blowing back her tail. The mare rose into the air as her magic focused, pure energy taking a corporeal form around her as she glowed bright white, shooting off beams of bright light. One of those beams hit Twilight, and her vision was gone in a flash of light, only to be replaced with a strange image: a colossal black dragon, with craggy, scaly skin and antlers adorning his head, black flame bursting out of his mouth. The vision lasted for only a second, but it was enough to blow Twilight back, her mouth agape. The mare rose higher in the air, the featureless ground receiving bad burns from the lucent beams that spread everywhere. The strange gray pony’s cloak was blown clean off, and her spear lay on the ground. Scratch marks covered her skin, and dried red blood coated the worst of the wounds. Her mane rippled with magical energy, as did her tail, giving her a Celestia-like appearance, with the same elongated muzzle and legs. A pair of huge wings sprouted from her back, spread wide, wide enough that some of the beams reflected off them and onto the white ground.

Another beam hit Twilight before she could see more. Her vision was once again destroyed, only to be replaced with another: A massive dragon stood before her, its two heads gazing at her hungrily. One head was frost-white, while the other was a cracked black, red lines carving up its face like streams of lava. Again, the vision only lasted a second, but just before it ended Twilight saw something out of the corner of her eye. There was a pony in front of her. The same Gray Mare that stood shining in front of her stood with her spear drawn, ready to slay a dragon. Twilight gasped as a third beam hit her and snatched her away again.

Now, she was in a strange room. A house of cards stood on her left, and the ground was checkered with pink and black. The floor was uneven. Rather, it constantly moved, like a solid ocean. Pink clouds rained brown cola rain down on the strange landscape, and long-legged rabbits roller-skated by. In the center of the strange world was a throne, and upon it sat Discord. Two ponies stood in front of him, one shining white, the other as black as night. Just before the vision ended, Twilight saw the ponies burst into light and darkness, and two bipedal things stood where they stood.

A fourth beam hit Twilight, the beam cluster starting to lessen as the gray alicorn began to descend. This time, she saw the huge dual-headed dragon from before, but this time lacking any color but a translucent black. Something fought it, the sound of sword on carapace rang across the black landscape. When she squinted, Twilight could just make out the warrior that beat back the dragon. She gasped.

An angel. The stuff of legend. The harbingers of life itself. A winged creature that stood on two legs, with magical armor that prevented all damage. Their hands grasped spectral swords, although the one this angel held was anything but ghostly. Her wings were spread wide, and mystical power radiated from her. Even through the illusion, Twilight could feel her power. Strangely, it felt familiar. It felt... like... Twilight gasped as the Angel turned her head towards her.

The power she was feeling was her own. She had seen her own eyes in the angel’s omnipresent gaze.

The vision ended, and Twilight crumpled to the ground.

The Gray Mare had recovered from her explosion of power, her mane no longer rippling with the arcane. She stared at the crumpled form of Twilight in front of her, her heart rapidly transitioning from exhaustion to fear and then to concern. She shook the purple unicorn several times, before punching her a few times with her wrapped hoof. Twilight would not awaken. The Mare knew she had been hit by her beams, and the concern leaked through her face. She tried everything, from magical defibrillation to CPR. As she sent her own breath down Twilight’s throat, she knew this was all in vain. No amount of conventional healing would bring the purple unicorn back. She needed to wake her...with power.

The Mare held up her hoof, creating six sparks of purple magic. They spun around for a bit before congregating, forming a piece of metal shaped like a “N”. It was adorned with glowing red runes, and the two ends of the metal were sharpened like blades. The Mare took the object in her hoof, and with her magic levitated it over the prone form of Twilight.

“And so the Chosen has fallen. Destiny Link, remove this from her destiny. Let her March again!” she said.

The “N” rapidly bent into a straight line, the blades at opposite ends. The runes glowed bright blue now, and with a final burst of magic, the Mare plunged the blade into Twilight’s chest.

The purple unicorn disappeared in a flash of light.

The mare lifted her head from the place where Twilight had stood. She stared at where the horizon would be, if the world wasn’t featureless. There, coming towards her, was an electrical storm, bolts of lightning scorching the ground below it. She stared at it for a few seconds more before she too blinked away, her magic flaring and then poofing away in a flash of light, taking her with it.

In the distance, something roared.

Twilight slept...

The threadbare blanket that covered her was ratty and torn, and filled with holes. The mattress she slept upon was dirty and lumpy, with mold and fungi growing on the surface.

Her breath made little steam clouds as she tossed and turned. A thin metal blade stuck out of her chest, the runes that were etched into the iron glowing a soft blue. Her hair was messy, and her tail was matted and bushy. A thin layer of dust coated the purple unicorn.

With a long groan, Twilight opened her bloodshot eyes. She breathed hard as she sat up in bed. She held one hoof against her heart, ignoring the blade that pierced it. Her heartbeat pounded against her hoof, and she relaxed as the bright morning sun surged through the open window. She jumped out of bed, but as soon as she did she was met with a horrific sight: her library. The condition of it was horrible. Tomes lay everywhere, gathering dust, and ripped pages lay shrewn across the floor. The wood of the hollow tree lay rotten and cracking, and mushrooms grew everywhere. The only good thing that Twilight could make out was the massively increased amount of books in the library, not only completely filling up the shelves but standing in tall stacks and rough piles everywhere. But when she picked one up, it wasn’t one she recognized. The black cover was ripped and ancient, and it contained no readable text, only page after page of indecipherable ancient unicorn runes. She carefully laid the book down on a stack, and at was then that the blade that lay stuck in her chest began to ache. She looked down, and indeed, the blade was still lodged in her chest. She tried to pull it out, but it was stuck fast. As she began to panic, the blade simply disintegrated, sparkling into dust. When it was gone, the wound on her chest had disappeared, as if it was never there in the first place. With the blade gone, Twilight suddenly felt a surge of lethargy rush over her, her stamina rapidly draining. She clutched her chest as a wave of pain surged over her, and her heart beat rapidly and without end. She screamed in pain as blood came out of her eyes, leaked out of her nose, and dribbled down her mouth.

In the Gray Mare’s words, what had just happened was the Destiny Link doing its job. It had cut off a section of Twilight’s Life Thread, and has extinguished it. The fire that Twilight felt in her veins was none other than her body’s attempt to repair the Thread, by mending the broken parts with the nutrients in her blood. The blood that surged out her face contained the dematerialized dust of the portion of the Thread the Link had severed. It was nothing to worry about. At least, if you could take the pain. Twilight could do neither, the Mare observed.

When the blood rush finally ended, there was a sizeable puddle of scarlet blood on the cracked and warped floor, and Twilight was shuddering with fear. She gazed at the pool of fluid, and hyperventilation began to take over. She rapidly turned her head as the library spun around her, and was only able to contain the shock by slamming her head against the fungi-covered wall. As the world stopped spinning around her, she grasped her heart again, and found relief in the fact that it was beating normally. She looked around again at the library, ignoring the rapidly shrinking pool of blood, and searched for something that caught her attention. Something did.

A canyon of books, so to speak, opened between a massive stack. Huge grimoires smashed to the ground, some as large as Twilight, while others larger than what Twilight remembered the library to be. Fortunately, she was uninjured when a book the size of her fell three feet from her tail. A second book nearly took off her head, with the size and shape of a small boulder. The pages and cover were cut that way. She entered the massive gorge, the endless piles of books around her growing taller and taller as she walked down the narrow path.

At the end of the path, she came upon a spectacular sight. Books upon books piled high into the sky, forming a sphere with walls made of nothing but tomes upon tomes of ancient and forbidden knowledge. Twilight’s horn-light could barely illuminate the sphere, but at least she could see. At the center of the room was a small wooden desk, and a pony worked frantically at it, several books open and floating around her. Ten sparks of light illuminated the desk, and the pony writing there took no heed of Twilight’s pitiful light as she crept closer. The armor the pony wore reflected the light of the orbs, and several times they blinded Twilight as she stared right into the light.

When Twilight was only a few feet away from the pony, it looked up from its work.

Twilight gasped. Twilight gasped.*

Twilight looked at herself, writing at a wooden desk in the middle of a room made entirely of books as if that was a normal, everyday occurrence.

“Uh...hello?” she nervously said.

“Oh look. It’s myself. How convenient. I needed a maid to clean up after me, and my good self should fulfill that role nicely.” said Twilight’s doppelganger.

The doppelganger pushed herself back from the desk, her armor gleaming in the light. But just as quickly, it was extinguished.

“Bright side, meet dark side.” said the Anti-Twilight in the darkness.

Twilight quickly ignited her own light, the ball of brightness burning at her horn. It was useless against the dark, as the Anti-Twilight whispered an incantation, and Twilight felt her magic fizzle out and die, and her voice was suddenly removed as the silence took her over.

“Be quiet while I figure out how to end you properly.”

Twilight tried her spell again, but she made nothing. It was true: the silence had become one with her. No sound would escape Twilight: her breath, her voice, her hoofsteps were all silenced. As Twilight galloped around without a sound, she saw a flash of light in the corner of the room. The Anti-Twilight was reading again, searching the walls for the right book. She levitated herself into the air, her magic pulling hundreds of tomes off the walls and throwing them to the ground. After several minutes of searching and several curses as sections of the book wall fell to the ground, the Anti-Twilight finally found the book she had been looking for. She held the black book in front of her, and uttered a few words in an ancient pony tongue. She waited for a few seconds. A few minutes. A few hours seemed to pass before she was tackled from behind by the real Twilight, her light shining bright once more. The Anti-Twilight had accidentally purged the silence from Twilight, and now she was open to her full attack.

Twilight focused her magic, releasing concussive blasts at her doppelganger. She barely dodged the pink bolts, the explosions breaking apart the book wall. More books lay behind them, but, as the explosions burned more and more books, the end of the wall finally appeared. The brown earth that lay beyond the books was hard and cracked, but as the concussion blasts flew wildly around, they blasted huge holes in the earth. One blast broke open the ceiling, and a slab of cobblestone fell onto the floor. A shaft of light shone in, and the dark retreated from its heat.

The Anti-Twilight fired bolts of magic back at the real Twilight, the blasts creating great explosions of arcane fire. The black flame set piles of books alight, the smoke from the flames rising up and out of the hole. The two unicorns traded arcane projectiles, pink concussion blasts soaring past the Anti-Twilight and the real Twilight dodging her doppelganger’s arcane fireballs. The duel continued, tearing down the library and the spherical room, until a huge hole had formed in the ceiling and the ground was covered with the remains of millions of books, burnt, broken, and destroyed. The two unicorns stared each other down, their lavender eyes locked on their own lavender eyes. Both had worn themselves out, both had fully expended their magic reserves. They stood panting, grabbing at traces of breath that still remained. Both had been silenced numerous times, both had felt the sting of a concussive blast, or burned by arcane fire. The light poured in from the hole in the roof, creating a vast pillar of light that encompassed the two ponies and shone on them brightly.

Twilight was done fighting. Her stamina was completely spent; her magical energy reserves were bone-dry. She couldn’t even cast a simple levitation spell if she wanted to. Her doppelganger was equally tired, but she wasn’t done. She was muttering under her breath, or what little of it remained. The darkness began to move as she spoke, and the tired Twilight could not believe her eyes as the dark began to intrude upon the light, blocking it out and forming thick, coiled vines of pure shadow. The chains of dark grabbed Twilight, holding her in place as her tired doppelganger pointer her hoof at her, barely able to hold it afolt. The darkness began to cover the hole over, the wall of shadow blocking out the light except for a single tiny speck in the very center of the room.

The Anti-Twilight trotted slowly over to her bound self, the real Twilight struggling to break the bonds that held her. They were strong, but malleable, unlike the restraints the Reaper had used. Twilight could still struggle. The Anti-Twilight stood in front of her true self, her bloodshot eyes staring into her own bloodshot eyes.

“And...now...” she panted. “You... and I... will...”

The Anti-Twilight barely was able to finish her sentence before a massive lightning bolt hit her square on the head. The electrical blast shook the Anti-Twilight, causing her to convulse and shake as a million volts of concentrated electricity rippled through her body. Twilight watched as the chains that gripped her recede into the blackness... or what was left of it. The shadows burned away as her alter ego burned, and as the lightning razed her so too did the light raze the dark. The ceiling completely collapsed, and the full force of the sun burst in as the lightning intensified, the Anti-Twilight burning with blue fire as the electricity coursed through her body, burning everything and anything inside.

The Anti-Twilight was able to finish her sentence.

“Join....” she croaked.

A blast of light finished off the Anti-Twilight, the electrical current breaking as a mighty beam dropped on the doppelganger and tore the life from her body. The limp body of the Anti-Twilight fell to the ground. A stormcloud flew overhead, and rain began to fall on the battlefield, the water running across the burnt books and putting out the small flames. Lightning burst from the clouds, but none of them hit Twilight. A strong scent of death reeked in the air. It took little guesswork to realize that the clouds were made of ash. The way they constantly moved and turned, the reeking smell, the off-gray of the clouds all pointed to dust. And, just as promptly as they appeared, they were gone. The sun shone through the hole yet again.

Twilight stared at her own dead body as it began to disintegrate with black fire. Suddenly, a burst of energy flew from the body and connected with Twilight. She felt energy returning to her as the soul of her doppelganger became hers, and her own fragmented soul became whole. Light bathed the unicorn as her injuries went to nought, and when the energy tether finally stopped, Twilight, for the first time since she woke, felt normal.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight turned to see the ethereal form of Princess Celestia standing behind her. Her transparent body showed few of her colors, and her mane did not ripple with the same energy. Twilight gasped as she saw the massive slash wound on her forehead, dividing her face in half.

“P-p-princess?” she stammered. “Wha...what are you...”

“What am I doing here? I died. At least, my body did. I no longer inhabit my body, as you too so not. The Reaper. He has returned, just as Candice foretold. He has taken my body and turned it into a perversion of its former self. He wants... he wants to purge the world. We exist because he allows it, and we will end because he demands it. It takes all my willpower to make this ethereal form to speak to you, Twilight. This conversation will have to be brief.

“I can’t talk for long” she said. “So I will have to do some explaining. We are in the Reaper. We exist in his body and spirit. Right now we inhabit his brain, and by destroying the Book Room, you have causing him a raging headache. Well done.”

“In order to stop him,” said Celestia, with Twilight eagerly listening, “we must open something called the Black Gate. It is where the Reaper opened me.” she stroked the black wound on her forehead. “you must reopen the gate, and in reality the wound. It will not be easy. The Reaper will try to stop you at every turn. Do not let him. Reunite the Elements... And free us from this vile world."

Twilight was blown off her feet as the image of Celestia burst into light, returning to the yellow globe that hung over them. Twilight could only watch as the sun grew smaller, until the only light that remained was her own brilliant glow. She walked away, back towards her tree, but then she tripped over something in the road. Gingerly getting up, Twilight turned around to see what it was.

The restored Element of Magic lay on the ground before her, pristine gold holding her pink jewel. Twilight reached down to pick it up, but it floated out of her hands, and landed on her forehead. Twilight felt the extra weight of her crown, as she floated into the air as majestic wings of pure energy sprouted on her back. She flapped her mighty appendages as he horn grew, her mane lengthened, then rippled with energy as she floated into the air. Her heart welled up with happiness as the newborn alicorn flew past the clouds, her luster wearing off as her lavender legs grew longer, her height increased. Twilight flew free among the sky as the wind blew, but it blew with her, lifting her higher and strengthening her flaps as she soared. Twilight let out a round of joyous laughter was she flew.

“Twilight the Pure, your destiny is clear. Rescue your friends from the Reaper, and save all of Equestria from his iron fist. Your power is pure, your courage fierce, and you will live to see Equestria right. Your destiny is here, Twilight Sparkle. Let nothing stop you.”

Twilight shrank back to her regular size as she landed. Her wings at her side, she started to walk. The stars twinkled in the sky as she walked, the winds at her back, pushing her along, supporting her march. She walked as the clouds turned white and the sky became clear. She walked as grass of the plains rippled with light as the moon rose. She marched on, her destiny clear.

She marched into the very essence of the Reaper itself.

Truth Over Lies

Bound to me forever, a slave to my will,

One has fled, and the light shine brighter

But no honest truth has ever prevailed.

For truth only is trouble, much better to lie,

For when you lie, the light is trapped inside.

And the light blinds.

Your Honesty is a Lie, without the slightest sliver of Truth...

And so you are bound, a servant to a greater will.

Rise, Applejack, Destroyer of Truth!

Twilight walked patiently, her mane blowing in the wind. Death and decay surrounded the winged unicorn, and it was her glowing wings that cast a light across the endless fields of apple trees, dying in the black sky. Thunder rippled across seas of storm as the lavender unicorn walked on, the dark forest illuminated by her wings’ bright aura. She marched, a beacon of light in a void of shadow.

The road shimmered as she walked over it. Clouds of ash swirled overhead as lightning struck a lone tree in the middle of the orchard. Black fire burst from the conflagration as dying apples fell, their burning forms reducing to ash as they touched the ground, igniting the fields with spiteful, colorless flame. Twilight avoided the dark flames, even as they lipped her her hooves without heat, but with unbearable cold. Tears come to Twilight’s eyes as flames licked her legs, sending shooting cold into her small frame, burning her very heart with despair. The sobbing unicorn ran through the flames, burning her legs on the freeing fire as they drew every last mournful moment from the deepest reaches of her heart, playing endless loops of her life as she cried black fire rippling across the orchards. She saw death come to her, and beckon. Spirits ran past the unicorn as death took them all, slung them in bags over his shoulder, as walked away, farther and farther, even as she ran after him, magic bolts zipping over his shoulders and frying his black cloak. She saw her family, saw her friends, her mentor, everypony she loved and cared for stolen away as death marched on, the cries of voiceless spirits filling the night air. Twilight screamed as dark fire danced around her, forcing the mare to replay doom and destruction until at last, thunder broke the sky and rain crashed down, sizzling the black fire with golden tears. Twilight looked up at the sky as the rain fell, cleansing the land, blowing away the dark as she rose, dirt falling from her legs and golden rain dripping off her mane. She saw light in the distance, a tiny spark, no bigger than a pinhead, as it sparkled for a second, and then was gone. Pulling herself from the dirt, Twilight walked on, as golden rain washed the darkness away, and bright stars filled the night sky.

Twilight marched.

Flickers of light sparked across the road as Twilight walked. She glanced at them as they moved, like the unblinking eye of some shadow animal. They followed the lavender unicorn around as she walked, endlessly staring at Twilight, challenging her, forcing sweat from her mane and shivers from her body. The dark rippled with light as they stood, silent sentinels to the unicorn's dark path. The road beneath her became rickety and bumpy as she went, dark tendrils seeping across the black road, then disappearing as fast as they came. The brown of the dirt faded into pure black as clouds appeared overhead, blocking out the moonlight that had, once before, illuminated the lonely road that Twilight tread upon. Thunder cracked overhead, and rain fell in torrents, soaking the dirt road and filling it with myriad puddles of all kinds, splashing wildly as Twilight galloped, her mane soaked with rain and sweat. Lighting sparked once again as the storm poured harder, puddles turning into lakes, the road becoming a river. Twilight spread her shining wings, stretched muscles that were not there, opened feathers that did not exist. She left the confines of the ground as the rain covered the land, turning the dark road into a single, huge lake as Twilight flew. She broke the clouds once more, the rain and sweat falling from her hair and into the storm below. The moon shined on her, bathing the flying unicorn in silver light. Twilight flew past the edge of the storm, angry lighting frying the endless orchards of apple trees below her. She flew on, leaving the tempest behind her as she soared, her eyes focused on a sight in the distance.

A castle, its towers casting long shadows as moonlight flickered off the silver rooftops, stood where she gazed, the only building for miles in the endless orchards of dying trees. Power rippled around the castle, adding to its glow, a beacon of light in a sea of darkness. But then Twilight saw flickers of light bounce around the castle, slide through the seemingly strong walls and flitting through the roofs. Twilight saw trails of magic flowing into the castle, silver light entwined with pure darkness. The castle grew as magic entered the stones, enlarging them, recreating them, and dividing them. Twilight gasped as she saw the image of the castle disrupted, shattered like glass. One of the magical trails had stopped flowing, and the castle collapsed before her very eyes. Angry voices entered Twilight's ears from thousands of feet below her as a magic stream reentered the castle, repairing the catastrophic damage that, once before, had seemed beyond repair. Twilight shook her head, wrought with disbelief as the castle returned to its original state, shimmering in the night as if made my magic.

Magic...

Twilight gasped as her brain finally was able to process the astounding feat.

The castle was an illusion, nothing more. A mirage, a trick of the light. The sheer size of the castle She flew down to look at the marvel, but as she flew near it a sudden burst of wind blew her towards the citadel. She tensed up as the stone wall came closer and closer. Twilight shut her eyes as the wall neared her head. She braced for the impact, but no impact ever came. Instead she only felt the zzip of a magic field as she flew through the thick stone walls, unharmed and without even a scratch. She flew around the massive castle, flying through fake walls and disrupting the captivating illusions around her. Mirages flickered out and disappeared as she flew through them, the magic holding the images weakening, the complex framework of the images fizzling out in small puffs of yellow light. Twilight flew, her heart soaring as her wings carried her higher and higher, until she soared above the disintegrating castle, showers of sparks raining down upon the ground below. She dived, the wind warping around her head, the rain evaporating into steam as she fell, gaining speed beyond her wildest dreams. Air curved around the unicorn, forming a barrier of oxygen that became smaller and smaller as she descended, until it fit neatly over her body, encasing her in flowing air. She dived through the castle, its damaged framework falling into showers of sparks. Power burst through the castle, detonating the delicate framework into a million pieces as it flickered, and finally, lapsed out of existence with a single puff of sparks.

Twilight grinned in the sky, as she felt her tailwind catch up to her, a sudden blast of air that sent her flying. Instead of letting herself be pushed around by the wind, however, she rode it, circling around the cratered earth where the illusion once stood. Brown earth hung below her, storm clouds echoed around her. She flew into the clouds, her wings holding her body against the winds as lighting bolts echoed into her body, yet she wasn’t burned. Impervious to the relentless assault, Twilight flew into the sky, past the clouds, past the stars, past the sun and the moon. She saw her world around her, her Celestia and her Luna, high above the earth where she had been held captive all her life.

And just like that, her dream was over.

Her wings of magic splintered, shattering into a million pieces as their own framework was decimated, broken with exertion. Without her wings to hold her, Twilight fell, her voice releasing a shrill scream as she plummeted through the atmosphere, feeling the wrath of a thousand burning needles stabbing into her back. She would die here, of her own accord, she was sure of it. She closed her eyes as the heat rose to unbearable temperatures, scalding her body and burning into her very soul. She closed her eyes as heat enveloped her face, accepting death once more.

This is it, she thought.

But as the atmosphere passed, and she entered free-fall, Twilight found herself once again. Opening her eyes, she rolled around onto her stomach, her legs spread wide as she tried to slow her fall. Gravity called her, but Twilight refused. Her mission was too important, her life worth too much to die. She fell, unaware her body wasn’t even scorched, without a single indicator that she had fallen through the atmosphere. Air rushed past the unicorn, who, just a moment ago, was floating along merrily, her wings spread wide. Now she plummeted, the earth calling her closer. She stared death in the face, and as she saw the dying apple trees and the shadows rising, she thought again,

Why do I have to die?

But as she hit the ground, she felt nothing. No pain, no impact. Just the pattering of rain as the tempest began to rage again, sending lightning into the ground. Twilight pulled herself off the dirt as rain soaked her again, covering her in a sheet of water. But as Twilight checked herself for injury, she could not feel the rain. In fact, her legs and body felt dry, her mane perfectly stupple. She felt the ground, her hood pawing the rough dirt. Even as rain fell upon the land, the dirt felt perfectly dry, rejecting the rain against all odds. Twilight looked around her, and saw rain gushing down the trees, but the branches did not bend, and no leaves came down with it. She touched the tree, and sure enough, her hoof went through the bark, disrupting the tree’s magical structure as it disintegrated, an illusion, as simple apparition that fell to the smallest of attacks. A lie, perfect in form, but shapeless in structure.

A lie, and nothing more...

Thunder boomed overhead as the ground churned. The ground around Twilight shook,, as fissures opened, cracks formed, and the once-pristine dirt gave way to a chasm of gargantuan proportions. Twilight saw the land twist, as a vortex of dirt rose around a pillar of light, a massive stretch of energy that cascaded with lighting and thunder. A single, powerful element sparked at the epicenter of the vortex, pulsing with light and power. Even at this distance, Twilight could just make out the shape of the object. A pony stood in the vortex, shifting the ground as thunder roared and lightning flashed, and the endless orchards of apple trees began fading into the earth.

Twilight walked closer.

The pony stood now, rearing onto its hind legs. A hat flew off the pony’s head, funneling into the vortex that sucked in the ground, the sky, even Twilight. Blond hair fluttered on the pony’s head as ribbon broke, turning the pony’s once beautiful ponytail into a thousand wild strands of hair that engorged into a halo around the pony’s face, flapping around in the heavy wind as even air was pulled into the vortex.

Twilight came closer.

Light from the vortex illuminated the pony’s orange coat, her green eyes shining in light as a horn sat upon her head, glowing with black energy as countless amounts of objects were sucked in, collapsing as the whirlpool grew larger and larger. Twilight could just make out the pony’s cutie mark, obscured by her wild hair and by the vortex’s shining aura as it endlessly destroyed the earth, eating away the ground and sky.

Twilight gasped.

Applejack.

Twilight jumped, as the tiny piece of ground she stood collapsed. Without her wings, she could only manage a small leap, and was left hanging from a branch. She saw the empty gloom of the vortex beneath her, the empty, bottomless pit that was sucking in the world she used to stand on. A black hole, turned rampant by power beyond imagination. She used all the muscles in her legs, pain and weariness welling in her soul as she climbed, slowly at first, then with power and strength as more branches appeared, grabbing onto them with her hooves and horn as she reached farther up the tree. she swirled around the primal Applejack, her new horn burning with dark energy as the vortex ate the countryside, taking with it countless amounts of apple trees and dirt.

Applejack’s causing this, thought Twilight. She must be under the Reaper’s control. That horn she has, it looks like Chrysalis’ horn, all bent up like that. It must be a false horn! She’s using the Reaper’s power to destroy her world! She’s going to die if I don’t do something. Think, Twilight, where in the books does it tell you how to deal with these situations? Hmm Hmm, Ahh! If I just had more time, I could...

Twilight felt the impact against her body. A startlingly powerful impact for a such a small object. She was sent flying, and as she fell she saw the vortex collapse, dirt and sky and apple trees pouring out of the bottomless abyss and forming land. She felt gravity pull on her as she and Applejack plummeted towards the ground.

With such an awesome impact, Twilight’s mind shattered, her brains desynchronized as she struggled to get up. Applejack paced around her, the false horn releasing sparks of lightning as dirt entered the sphere around them, reforming the ground. Twilight shook her head, struggling to clear her vision, but just as she began to see clearly, two hooves hit her skull, sending her flying. The Anti-Applejack stared at her through green eyes, her irises shattered, her blond hair laying in tangles around her broken face. Twilight struggled to rise.

“FoOl! I wAs AlL-pOwErFuL! BuT yOu! YoU hAd To CoMe AnD rUiN mE! RuIn My PeRfEcT wOrLd! I wAs QuEeN! I wAs PoWeRfUl! I rUlEd AlL oF EqUeStRiA! BuT yOu RuInEd Me! YoU rUiNeD mY vIsIoN!”

Twilight’s foggy eyes cleared little as the Anti-Applejack ranted on. She heard the corrupt voice of the apple bucker, her own southern accent mixing with the dreaded tone of something far more sinister. As she spoke, her own southern accent was pushed off, unevenly mixing with the harsh tone of her other voice. Voice clashed on voice as they struggled for dominance, both voices reaching fever pitch as the screamed at Twilight.

“My LaNd! It’S gOnE! i DiD sO mUcH fOr It! I gReW aCrEs Of ApPlEs HeRe! ThEy WeRe HaPpY! tHeY lIvEd FrEe! BuT yOu CaMe AnD sToLe ThAt! YoU sToLe PeAcE fRoM mY sUbJeCts!”

“They were never your subjects.”

“WhAt?!”

“They were nothing at all.”

“WhAt ArE yOu SaYiNg, FoOl?!”

“Your world now is a lie, Applejack. A lie that the Reaper forced you to tell.”

“Twi’, its that you?”

“Applejack!”

“No. I aM nOt ApPlEjAck. I aM...”

“No! I won’t let you steal AJ from me! Let her go! You stole her, and you trapped her in this world full of lies! You turned her into a lie! Let. Her. Go!”

“So be it.”

A voice rang out from the darkness of the void. Twilight turned as the Reaper’s visage appeared overhead, forming itself out of tendrils of pure blackness that shone with darkness. Beams of darkness focused on Applejack, covering her with with blackness and shadow as the false horn started to move, rising out of the pony’s head. Applejack’s body convulsed as light burst from her body, her mouth and eyes shining with power as the false horn rose, the tendrils of shadow binding it to Applejack’s forehead breaking, the darkness corroding as pure shadow came with it, opening a dark fissure on the pony’s forehead. Shadow spilled out of the opening, pouring onto the still-forming ground as Applejack screamed, her eyes blood-shot as agony spilled from the pony’s mouth. She writhed on the ground as rivers of black flowed out of her head, Twilight casting healing spell after healing spell, expending what little energy she had left. Applejack lay rigid as the last of the darkness poured out, the wound on her head closing as she lay still.

The pool of blackness swirled. Dark tendrils burst out of the pool as the darkness solidified, forming a monster beyond all of Twilight’s imagination. Three legs supported a rigid frame as bladed tentacles formed in the front, reaching for Twilight. The monster stepped out of the pool, the false horn laying on its head, covered with pure darkness as magic bolts shot out of it, burning Twilight. The Tripod roared with anger, unleashing a swarm of blades towards Twilight as she ducked. Blades impacted all around Twilight, and scratches appeared on her body, leaking blood. She ducked a second strike, as more cuts riddled her body and black fire froze her in place. Shivering and bleeding profusely, Twilight watched as the monster raised its blades in the air, ready to end her life for all eternity. She closed her eyes as the blades came crashing down.

This really is it...

The last thing that Twilight heard before she died was: “It’s all just... a ... lie...”

...

I’m still here?

What the?

Twilight opened her eyes. The Tripod was still there, hacking away at her with its blades. But instead of eviscerating her as they should, the blades of the monster whooshed through the air, passing right through her unharmed body. The beast roared in confusion as it stopped its useless attack, the purple unicorn narrowing her eyes at the Tripod. It stared back at her with compound eyes, backing up as Twilight stared it down.

“You do not rule me, monster.” said Twilight. “You’re just one big, fat lie.”

“You tried to kill me, but you can’t. Because a lie like you,” Twilight pressed her hoof against the monster’s great underbelly. It froze in place as Twilight pressed harder, the rough skin tearing apart as she forced her hoof into the great beast, releasing the darkness inside of it. The beast screamed with animal fury as it collapsed like a deflating balloon, its very substance pouring out of it tiny wound as Twilight pushed with all her might, crashing through the great beast and throwing it back as sparks flew from its body, as the darkness burned in the presence of the light. Twilight’s wings flared out as she grabbed the beast’s heart.

“A lie like you may look big and strong, but inside, there is nothing. Not even a single spark of truth.”

Twilight pulled the beast’s heart out from its body. There was no scream. The mighty beast crumpled to the ground as it disintegrated, its ash blown away by the rising wind. Twilight held the beast’s heart in her hand, covered in dark blood. She glanced at the organ, but to her surprise it did not live. There was no biological mess in her hoof. Only...metal.

The Element of Honesty was gripped tightly in her hoof. Blood dripped off of the artefact as Twilight felt her energy enter it. Light flowed from her hoof into the necklace, causing the ancient relic to glow with pure energy.Tarnished silver became polished gold, cold iron was replaced with shining bronze. The crystal in the center glowed with energy as the dark flowed out of it, replacing the colorless gem with an bright red one in the shape of an apple.

Twilight ran to the prone form of her friend, unconscious on the ground, her coat dirty, her wounds leaking blood. Twilight placed the purified relic around Applejack’s neck, carefully avoiding the burns and the cuts that plagued the damaged pony. Light shone around Applejack as the she rose into the air, energy surrounding the pony in a bright vortex that shone brighter than the sun. Twilight covered her eyes as Applejack opened hers, the light around her dissipating as her wounds were stitched together, her eyes returning to their regular bright green. Applejack looked around her as the cosmos shifted together, but was surprised from behind as Twilight jumped on her friend, embracing her with a tight hug that choked the revived pony.

“Woah there, Twily. You don’ want me to die again now, do ya? Cuz I sure don’ wanna.” But even as she rejected Twilight’s hug, she held it, smiling at last.

The ethereal form of Celestia walked up beside the embracing ponies. She watched them for awhile, not making a sound as they parted. Twilight turned towards the spirit as Applejack watched, her Element glowing with pure energy.

“Well done, Twilight Sparkle. You have done a great deed today. With one element freed, the Reaper’s grasp on us grows ever weaker. I stand taller now against his will, my body regaining its former power. We will soon be able to fight and defeat the Reaper once and for all. Twilight the Pure, remember your power. Unite the Elements and destroy the Reaper. Soon, my faithful student, we will be free once more.”

The ground shook as a white disk appeared on the ground. Celestia’s form flickered as the disk expanded, now large enough to fit two ponies. Twilight climbed on, as did Applejack, and they both watched as the ethereal form of Celestia faded below them, as they disappeared again into the Reaper itself.

The two ponies flew, the wind at their back, the sun in front of them as time itself stopped for their passing. The white disk illuminated the dark tunnel that they flew in, shining on black walls and shadowy ramparts as they soared, towards a bright star in the night.

Deeper into the Reaper, they went.

Night In A Dark World- Intermission 1 (Backstory)

From the personal journal of Princess Luna, the year 2037, four years after Saaroklir’s defeat.

Dear Diary,

Sister has done on and on about how much she misses mother. Surprisingly, I miss her too, even when she never really was a family mare. The castle just doesn't seem as pretty now that she’s gone. I’m surprised she lived as long as she said. 400 years. I never would have believed it... If I wasn’t an immortal. My role as a Marcher still eludes me. Tia and I are, by father’s standards, “arn’t stong ‘nuff ta fight death.” He always says that in his loud and booming voice. “ya ain’t goo’ ‘nuff.” I’m surprised to feel that I’ll probably miss him too when he’s gone.

Candice. That was her name. If only Mother was as immortal as I was. Then we could be together. Forever.

Tia keeps bossing me around. It’s quite annoying when she keeps instructing me to do her chores. Says the pony who’s mane is still static and not rippling with magic like mine.

Candice had submitted to the rite of passage.

First, she severed her Life Thread, taking her own life thirty years ahead of schedule.

Secondly, she attracted the attention of Lyralex, the Angel of Destiny. The purple-cloaked angel had not been happy, but with the offering Candice made of a body to inhabit and a way to see the world, Lyralex accepted.

Third, in her ghostly form, she convinced the angel to give her Destiny’s life thread, and bond with her body. She carefully wove her own thread, connecting the endlessly long string of Destiny to her own. Lyralex gave her Bladecaster, both a spear and a staff, capable of cutting anything and fixing everything. Using her new tool, she glued together the Thread, at the cost of her sanity, for the magic needed to do so was strong, and Candice wasn’t yet strong enough to wield it.

Finally, she rose with the dawn again, as a Marcher and as Queen Chrysalis, having accepted the changling taint in her insanity.

The Reaper enjoyed the taste of death.

He swung his scythe back and forth, the massive black blade cleaving a pony in two. Flames burned all around him, and blood soaked his ripped robes. A red aura covered his vision, and pure, unfiltered rage flowed through his body. He swung again, decapitating a guard and slashing open another’s stomach.

Rain poured down as the Reaper stuck his blade in another pony, screaming and begging for her life. The Reaper would have none of it.

A pony darted out of his vision. He turned his black head, baring his massive skeletal wings. With a blast of magic, he threw a huge black fireball at the house the pony ran into, laughing as the dark tendrils reduced the structure to ash.

As the pony cringed, the Reaper raised his scythe, plunging it into the black earth. The pony removed his hooves from around his eyes, surprised at the act of mercy. The Reaper held out his hoof, as if to offer a truce. But when the pony grasped it, black fire lept out of the black alicorn, engulfing the pony and reducing him to a pile of dust. The last thing the pony felt was pain. Pure pain from black dragon’s fire.

The Reaper said nothing as he placed his scythe back on his back, watching as the rain washed away the blood.

From the diary of one Bee Keeper, the year 2045, twelve years after Saaroklir’s defeat.

He came for us. He took them. He took her. Why does he have to be so cruel? He already completed his mission. The Republic is no more. Poema has been ousted. And murdered. WHy does he have to turn his blade on us? WHY?

[The rest of the journal is unintelligible. It seems to have been burned with fire, specifically dragon’s fire. The exact type is uncertain, although simply from the damage it appears to be the Black Dragonfire of Annihilation.]

From the orders of the Royal Equestrian Army, the year 2045, twelve years after Saaroklir’s defeat.

To Colonel Swift Strike of the 107th Support Battalion,

Please redirect your battalion to Cloudsdale immediately. We need support if our army is to take on the Reaper. The ten thousand warriors we have simply won’t cut it, no pun intended. We need your archers and your cannons here immediately.

Double time it, soldier. The Reaper is one sick bastard. We don’t know when or where he will strike next. Encamp your battalion at the Garrison by 0600 tomorrow morning. That’s an order, colonel.

Signed,

Major General Sharp Eye

The Reaper stood defiant in the the wake of bodies.

Thousands upon thousands of ponies lay in front of him. Each and every one lacked any movement. The scent of blood filled the air, and vultures circled overhead with the black clouds. A whole legion, once ten thousand strong, now all stood in front of him, dead and gone. His scythe was covered with the liquid of life, and the screams of his victims still rang in his ears.

No matter. They would not stop his mission, no matter what they threw at him. No cannonballs, bullets, swords or knives could stop his bloodlust. Nothing would.

The Reaper turned tail and walked away, leaving the pile of death to be picked apart by the carrion birds.

Several tents lay nearby, tattered flags still hanging from their poles.

The 107th Support Battalion was no more. The Cloudsdale Defence Battalion was no more. The Royal Equestrian 7th Legion, containing more than ten thousand brave ponies...had been completely annihilated.

A bolt of lightning cracked overhead, and a heavy rain began to fall, soaking the mountain of decay.

From the orders of the Royal Equestrian Army, the year 2045, twelve years after Saaroklir’s defeat.

Dear Colonel Thunder Wave,

The Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Legions are already assembled at Canterlot. The princesses are ready. We need the First Legion of Equestria, now.

The Reaper is to make an appearance. Apparently he wants to make peace. Nopony wants to trust him. Everypony wishes for his early demise.

Your elite troops are needed at the Sea of Plains now. That’s an order. Double time it.

Major General Sharp Eye

Another sacrifice. This time, it was a bit more interesting.

Four legions had fell upon him today. That peace talk he was supposed to have was rudely interrupted. He had seen his siblings for about five seconds before armed ponies burst through the tent door and demanded his surrender. Celestia and Luna were just about to open their mouths, the next thing he knew a spear was pointed at his flank.

Now, the guards who had tried to apprehend him writhed on the ground as Shadow Wounds crept up their skin and burnt their very souls.

The Reaper watched as the rain began to pour again, this time to rinse the ground clean and make way for new plants. The farmers who worked this land would have a bountiful harvest next year, for the blood that soaked the soil contained many useful nutrients for vegetative life...like the guards.

When their comrades-in-arms had all gone down, the Reaper had forced them to fight each other until the strongest five remained. Those five were thrown onto the ground, shadow bursting from fresh cuts.

Another slaughterfest. The Reaper was getting tired of this.

There were no survivors. No survivors...expect the five that still screamed.

The Reaper walked away.

Celestia and Luna had finally caught sight of the dark alicorn, calmly trotting a major road. They watched from the air as he turned his blade on anypony that dared to stare in his eyes, and the havoc that resulted. But as the two ponies flew with their wings spread wide, neither found fear in their hearts.

Each carried a saddlebag, with their cutie mark as the latch. Inside the bags were six artefacts of great power: the ultimate achievement of their parents, Aries and Candice.

The Elements of Harmony lay snug in the canvas, waiting to be unleashed.

As the Reaper approached a small lake, the alicorns decided to strike. They both touched a metal bracer on their horns, a tiny jewel glowing for a fraction of a second before coating their horns and part of their head in steel-hard, reflective crystal. Celestia’s glowing bright pink, while Luna’s was an azure blue. Silently they flew down to the Reaper, and without a sound they landed behind him as he gazed out onto the lake.

“How nice of you to visit your older brother.” said the black alicorn as hooves hit dirt.

Celestia and Luna turned to look at each other as the Reaper turned around.

“What? Surprised I knew you were coming? Hahaha....fools.” He drew his scythe from his back, holding it aloft with his magic. “There are other things that I know of...such as the fact that you want me gone. I don’t want to go. Especially by the orders of my younger sisters.”

“You had your chance.” said Celestia.

“And your soldiers ruined it.” replied the Reaper.

“No. Not then. A long time ago, when your destiny was complete.” said Luna.

“My destiny is not complete. It is far from it. And if you want to stop me,” he said, spinning his scythe. “You’re going to have to end me. Walk away. Live another day. Heed the advice of your brother.”

“No. You are a threat to all ponykind. You must be stopped.” said both alicorn princesses simultaneously.

“Then I have no choice but to sentence you to an early grave. Prepare to die.”

The Reaper raised his scythe, a dark purple glow forming around the blade. Like a horn, the black metal focused the alicorn’s power, creating a massive sphere of energy at its tip. Roaring with anger, the Reaper pointed the scythe at his siblings, sending a black energy beam directly at the princesses.

Celestia and Luna nodded at each other, before firing two energy bolts, one yellow, one blue that met each other in midair and converged into a bigger, stronger, red sphere. Pumping more and more magic into the ball, the alicorn princesses unleashed their own energy beam, that hit the Reaper’s in midair.

Sensing a defeat, the Reaper pushed harder for a split second, then released his beam, jumping to avoid the red one. He landed on all fours, still spinning his scythe. The princesses dropped their channeling, and raised their horns to the sky. They charged the Reaper with haste, focusing all their magic into increasing their speed.

The Reaper met Celestia’s charge with his blade, but was powerless to stop Luna from plunging her horn into the side of his chest. He had reacted too slow, and failed to evade her quick strike. Dark black liquid poured from the wound, and with a shock the Reaper realized it was his own blood.

Celestia unleashed a blast of pure light at the black alicorn, tearing the scythe from his grip and throwing him into the lake. Luna followed with a bolt of lightning, electrifying the water and electrocuting the Reaper. A blast of electricity flowed through his body as the liquid drowned out his screams.

Fighting to stay aloft, the Reaper summoned the shadows to his aid. Tendrils of darkness plucked him out for the waves, holding him above the water. He raised his hoof, and sent a blast of dark mist at Celestia. The coil of darkness hit her horn, shattering the crystal overlayer and cracking her bracer. As Celestia stared dumbfounded at her broken weapon, Luna tried her electrical blast again, arcing another bolt at the Reaper.

Smiling, he held up his hoof, catching the lightning and forming it into a ball. Carefully, he allowed the shadows to leak into it, turning the bright blue sphere into a dark black one. This he tossed after Luna, and it shattered her Crystal Horn as well.

With the royal sisters disarmed and damaged, there was nothing to stop the Reaper from ending their very lives. He raised both hooves to the sky as black clouds gathered above him, the water that surrounded him turning thick, like mud. He sent a wave of darkness over the ground, petrifying trees and burning the grass. The ground and water blended together as everything around him became a black vortex of absolute darkness.

“You’re both going to enjoy Hell very, very much.” said the Reaper.

“No.”

The Reaper was taken aback by the princesses’ defiance.

“What? What did you say?”

“We said, NO!” shouted both alicorn princesses. They spread their wings, taking to the skies. The Reaper yelled after them, pointing his hoof towards the two flyers. Huge tendrils of darkness rose out of the black abyss that was the ground, and reached after the alicorns, trying to grab them.

Celestia and Luna nodded at each other, and magically opened their saddlebags.

The Reaper saw the flash of light as six unremarkable jewels floated out of the bags. Under the princess’ control, the gems began to spin around them, forming two concentric rings that surrounded the alicorns. A blast of light burst from them as the jewels spun so fast they became invisible, and the dark tendrils retreated to the ground. The Reaper cursed his siblings loudly, but the princesses were unaffected by his shout. Instead, they turned so they faced the ground where their brother stood, and closed their eyes.

The Elements stopped their movement, forming a pentagon with five gems on the outside and a single purple gem shaped like a six-pointer star in the center. Beams of colored light shot from the outer jewels into the central one, and they glowed with pure light as a rainbow-colored beam shot out of the star. The Reaper saw the blast coming and fired a jet out pure darkness against it, meeting the rainbow mid-flight.

Energy burst from the collision as the princesses met the Reaper in a massive energy clash. The epicenter of the two beams glowed bright yellow, constantly shifting as the duelists focused more and more power into their respective attack. At first, the dark jet of the Reaper managed to hold a successful defence, but after several minutes of deadlocked battle, the black alicorn’s magical reserves were almost completely gone. With the endless power of the Elements at their disposal, the princesses were able to push the epicenter closer to the Reaper, and as his power failed him, covered the black alicorn with the rainbow beam.

The bright light of the Elemental Convergence shattered the Reaper. As he took the full force of the blast, he felt his skin begin to peel off. He felt his coat turning into ash. The massive attack that cascaded down upon him was finally too much for him to bear, and with a final scream of pain the Reaper dissolved into nothingness, his flesh and bones turning into a fine, gray powder.

From the personal Journal of Princess Luna, the year 2046, thirteen years after the defeat of Saaroklir.

We’ve done it.

I never thought I’d say this, but we did it. We were strong enough to break death. The Elements aided us greatly. After a terrifying energy clash, we finally succeeded in destroying his corporeal form. Tia and I sealed his ashes into a metal urn and bound it with magic chains. I personally placed the urn in a stone cave, then we both brought the mountainside down on top of it. We won’t be seeing our older brother anytime soon, that’s for sure. May he rest forever in a tomb of his own creation.

Libra is freaking out again over her new boyfriend. Mother and father’s only biological daughter is freaking out over a love hat will last maybe a few months at best. Then again, that Shining Sword is cute. Maybe I’ll check him out when they break up.

Anyway, I just glad the Reaper is gone. I never would have expected such a brutish figure to be my older brother. Tia says she didn’t know either until Mother just straight up told us. Funny how being a fellow Marcher like us entitles you to kill and aid whomever you wish and never, ever be punished by it. Its almost like...being a god.

I feel so empty when Mother is gone. Tia has all the responsibility, and I’m stuck with nothing. but a pitiful moon and nopony to play with when they’re all asleep. At least Mother makes me feel worth something. Tia just overshadows me.

Celestia was woken from her sleep by a loud shout. Fearing for the worse, she galloped to her sister’s chamber, only to find her bed empty and the window ajar. Running to the open shutters, she saw her sister fly away into the night.

“LUNA!!!!” she shouted after her. “LUNA!!!!!! COME BACK!!!”

The alicorn that flew with the winds did little to heed her screams.

“LUNA!!!!!”

Celestia’s tears mixed with her sister’s on the carpeted floor.

From the orders of the Royal Equestrian Army, the year 2050, and the beginning of the Lunar Rebellion.

To Colonel Thunder of the 24th Pegasi Flight division,

Double your search, Colonel. The Princess wants her sister found before anything bad happens. Make all your stallions run double shifts. I don’t care what it takes. We need the Princess of the Night, and we need her now.

We have a lead that says to search in the Dark Forests to the east of Las Pegasus. Put more flyers there, Colonel. The nation is depending on you.

Signed,

Major General Storm Strike

From a charcoal rubbing of a runestone found outside the Dark Forest,

Abandon all hope, all who enter,

For your love and your hate feed us,

and we will become you, and take your place.

And the Nightmares fester here, because here is where it began,

And dreams and time will stop, and the darkness will reign again.

From the personal journal of Princess Luna, the year 2050, and the beginning of the Lunar Rebellion.

I hate Tia so much. I hate her sun and I hate her light. I wish it was gone forever.

I’m going to find mother. She knows what to do.

Even a crazy mare is better than her.

A Duel Of Darkness

Light.

The tunnel Twilight trotted through was finally at its end. Gone were the narrow passageways, the stalagmites, the endless drip of water from the ceiling above. For as Twilight walked out of the darkness, the sun shone on her, brighter than she had ever seen before. A cool breeze blew on the grass, sending a spray of mildew cascading across the field. Applejack and Fluttershy ran ahead of Twilight, the sun drying their moist coats, the acidic residue that still clung to parts of their skin.

Twilight rubbed her tummy in worry, feeling for a scar that wasn’t there.

Just a few short minutes ago a blade had been ran through her chest. Acid poured down her throat. She was on the brink of death, her heart failing, her insides dissolving. And yet, somehow, she was saved. A blinding flash of light had sparked in front of Twilight as she coughed up the chemicals. She felt her own soul joining with another, someone who she remembered, someone who took Twilight’s body under her control and used it to devastate the foul creature that had corrupted Fluttershy. She held the staff again, its blade ringing with power as she unleashed devastation on the plant, her eyes burning with anger. But at last, the plant was dead, and the staff knocked from her hoof as her possessor left her. Twilight fled darkness, fled from anger that tore itself apart in one frenzied moment as mountains of stone fell upon the plant’s corpse.

And now she stood in a perfect world, the sun shining, the breeze cool.

Below her, she saw Applejack and Fluttershy scream in surprise. The sound of hooves galloping and small squeals of delight echoed from the valley she overlooked. Twilight squinted, perceiving the environment clearly, without a smudge of black until she saw it. A black pony, blue mane glittering with stars, her wings spread out as an orange pony and a yellow pegasus embraced the dark form. Twilight stared in confusion for another minute, then gasped in horror.

Luna was inside the Reaper.

Twilight galloped down the hill, her hoof still aching from the fallen stone. But her mind was set, and curiosity and courage fueled her motions, each stride perfectly carrying onto the next. She saw Luna raise her head in laughter as Applejack dived into a nearby lake, a huge splash riding over Fluttershy and the princess of the night, soaking them both. Wind coursed through her mane, sending ripples of movement down the long hair as she ran, the hill carrying her movements. Laughter rang across the hillside as the Princess watched the two ponies splash each other with cool water.

Twilight saw the Princess turn her head, attracted by the sound for her hooves thundering on dirt.

“HALT! WHO GOES THERE!?” projected a Royal Canterlot voice. “OH WAit, tis’ the savior herself, Miss Twilight Sparkle. Thou art powerful indeed, having saved two of thou friends from this monstrous evil we stand in this very moment.”

Luna lowered her volume as Twilight approached, her speed remaining constant, her horn lowered, the wind rushing over her head as she charged.

“What has come over thou?” said the Princess of the Night.

Twilight leapt, her body soaring in the air as she tackled Luna. But instead of hurling her to the ground, Twilight wrapped her arms around Luna’s neck, her head burrowed in the princess’ long mane. Her bear hug may have not been the mightiest, but Twilight still hung on, her victim making no movement to end the embrace. Rather, Luna grasped the purple unicorn around the chest, her own loving embrace squeezing the air out of Twilight’s lungs.

“Thou knowest, if this embrace continues one of us will run out of air and suffocate to a second demise.”

Twilight, after what seemed like eternity, finally let go of the dark alicorn’s neck. Her legs left long depressions on Luna, but the Princess of the Night didn’t seem to mind. Her navy-blue eyes gleamed in the morning sun, her wet coat drying off from the mighty splash. Applejack and Fluttershy swam in the pond, their once-dirty coats cleaning off in the cool water, the acid and the gunk falling off their tired bodies.

“It is soooo good to see you again, Princess Luna.”

“Oh, but Twilight, the pleased one is not thyself, it is we!”

“I see you’re still having a little trouble adjusting. I could help you out, we seem to-”

“すみません、私は何かを中断するのですか？してください、昔の侍に彼の残りを与える.”

Twilight and Luna both raised their eyebrows in suspicion. They looked around, startled at the strange and foreign sound that just a second before had trampled right through their conversation. They both laid eyes on a tall figure, who had, just before, blended perfectly with the forests, his straw hat covering his face. Worn and weathered armor covered the mysterious pony as it slowly walked towards them.

“Eh, les âmes de nos jours, ils n'ont aucune maîtrise de la langue. S'il vous plaît, parlez-vous français? Si oui, pourriez-vous s'il vous plaît me dire pourquoi un vieux samouraï suis si brutalement perturbée par le bruit?”

The armored pony spoke again, this time in a strange and flowing dialect that neither Luna nor Twilight was able to comprehend. All the pony received in response was a raised eyebrow and a cold glare from a princess of the night.Twilight turned towards the mysterious pony, her confused brain running at full speed, neurons sending thousands of electrical impulses per second, slowly deciphering the strange language the pony spoke.

“Um, Mr, uh, pony?” eked out Twilight. “I have no clue as to what you’re saying. Do you know the language I’m speaking? You know what I’m saying, right?”

“Ahh... Hoofas. Back in war times, they not call it Hoofas. They just speak it.”

“So you understand me!”

“Yes. I do. Now speak and tell why you are here. Why you disturb me?”

Twilight recoiled back at the hostile gesture. She felt sweat beading on her brow, heat rising from her cheeks. Luna turned to the purple unicorn, making a small gesture with her hoof, pointing at the warrior pony, Twilight shook her head, stroking her mane with her hoof, wiping away the sweat.

“I- um... well... I- uh, escaped from certain death... and, well, I...”

“So, you come down the spine too?”

“Huh? You mean the really long plant-thingy with uh... Fluttershy in the center?”

“Yes. The plant that grows inside the Reaper. I saw the column fall. What you do to break it?”

“I- uh... slashed open the uh... control node?”

“What? How? My own blade cannot even puncture the baka. How did you?”

“Oh, that. Uh... um...”

Twilight was raining sweat. Discomfort and disarray overcame the unicorn as the armored pony stood right in front of her, the straw hat still covering his face. She guessed the pony was one of the Umas, a race of pony that lived on a peninsula to the south of Equestria, although they weren’t as peculiar or scary as the one that stood before her. The Umas were technologically advanced, their gadgets easing life for all ponies that managed to get their hands on one of their machines. But the pony that stood before her was in contrast to everything the Umas were, except perhaps the strong accent the pony possessed. He wore armor similar to ancient Uma knights, known as samurai in the Uma language. Two sheaths hung over his back, the rusty blades of two swords poking out of the torn and cracked scabbards. His straw hat was frayed and dirty, and dust settled in a fine layer over his armor. Twilight looked down for only a second, but enough time to look at his hooves. Tattered sleeves just barely hid white bone, and the hoof exposed was cracked and battered. The samurai, noticing Twilight’s subtle gaze, raised his head, revealing his grotesque face.

Twilight recoiled back in fear.

The samurai pony possessed no eyes. Or a nose. or even a face. His head was but a skull, shadowed over by his straw hat. The skull lay endlessly grinning as the pony removed the straw hat, letting the bright sun shine on his bones.

“Now you know me, pony. My apologies for scaring. I cannot modify my appearance, unlike when I was young. You know why I am here. I am part of Reaper, as you, as your friends are, as this princess alicorn is. I died long ago, not like you, who died recently. But stay here, and soon you will become a skeleton like I. You must flee.”

“Bu-but there’s no way out?”

“Young one, I am very old. I have seen Reaper, in and out. I know subtle things that the Reaper does not. There is a way out.”

“Y-you mean the Black Gate?”

Fluttershy and Applejack, drawn by the escalating argument, ran out of the pond, shaking themselves dry and trotted towards the commotion. Luna shhhed them as they came close, pulling them beside her as the samurai and Twilight continued their tirade.

“True. I believe the Gray Mare told this to you?” said the samurai. “She passed it on to me as well. I... I have been there. I have tried to open it.”

“And? What happened?”

“It was tightly locked. One could open the Gate by powerful magic, I suppose. But I am not capable of magic, and your Princess’s power could not open it. I do not know ”

“Wait, what? You brought Luna to the Black Gate? I thought Luna’s magic is the second best in the world!”

“Child, the magic that binds the Black Gate is beyond your comprehension. It is made with pure darkness, like the one that has once before bound your Princess of the Night. No one could hope to open it without magic like the one used to purify her. The chains of darkness would forever be broken, and you can walk the world of the living again. But where are we to find magic like that? Tell me, young one. How can we muster such a great power that it could banish the darkness forever?”

“I- I know! The Elements of Harmony! We used them to purify Luna back when I just came to Ponyville! It was powerful enough to stop Nightmare Moon, maybe it could open the Black Gate!”

“And just where do you think you’re going with this? Your artefacts do not exist here! They are trapped in the real world with the real Reaper!”

“I don’t think so. I think I can get the Elements to appear here. When I purified myself and Applejack, the Elements appeared to us. I found Fluttershy’s Element in the corpse of that plant. Maybe, somehow we’ll be able to get the other Elements from my other friends, and use them.”

“If your plan works, I will be forever in your debt. I have longed for the real sun every day of my life, now you let me see it again. I cannot make words to express my gratitude.”

Twilight beamed at the skeletal samurai.

“But mind you, if your plan fails...”

“You are all doomed.”

Twilight looked around, surprised by the interjecting voice. A shadow had fallen, dark clouds moved overhead to block out the sun. A harsh wind blew across the land, rustling the grass and ripping the leaves off trees. The samurai stared straight ahead, his skeletal gaze unwavering, having no eyelids to blink.

“So nice you you to share your plan with us, Twilight. You’ve made my job much easier.”

A thunderbolt hit the ground. Twilight and Luna were thrown off their feet, blasted away by the force of the blast. The samurai stood firm, unaffected by the blast. His right hood reached behind him and drew his blade, all 28 inches of rusted, corroded metal. He held the sword in front of him, ready to fight the world.

“Haha... your pitiful sword again? Puh-leaze. I could break that thing in half if I wanted to. Too bad it’s not you I want this time.”

“Go! There is a mirror inside my house!” The samurai gestured at a nearby traditional Umalan building. “That mirror is a transporter. It will let you go past this world. GO! I will hold her off.”

The thunderbolt struck again, in the exact same spot. This time, a pony rode the blast to the ground, a cloak obscuring her skin, white as death and cold as ice.

“GO!” the samurai shouted. Twilight took one final look at the skeletal samurai as she turned tail and sprinted for the house, her friends and Luna trailing behind.

“If you want their lives too, you must defeat me first.”

“Hahaha, killing an old, undead samurai with a broken sword will be fun. A true duel of darkness, the Reaper’s enforcer girl versus an undead moron with a brain full of rot!”

Twilight looked back at the samurai as Applejack kicked in the door to the house. The mirror lay inside, glowing with energy. Applejack jumped through the portal, followed by Fluttershy. Luna hang back, her mane blown astray by the winds. The audible clang of iron on steel rang through the air, as Twilight saw the samurai cross swords with an apparition of ash and steel, wielding a sword as black as night. Twilight looked back upon Luna, her heart heavy as she stepped away from the portal.

I-I’ve only known him for a few minutes, but I feel like I need to help him out. I ne-

“Twilight Sparkle! Thou must leave now! Thou hast no time to waste! Hurry, before the portal closes!”

True enough, the portal in the mirror was getting smaller and smaller, Twilight looked back upon the battle between darkness and darkness. She made a move to run, but before she could Luna grabbed her around the flank and threw her into the portal, the gate closing behind her. Luna looked at the mirror, a portal no longer, and ran to assist the samurai.

Twilight fell through the darkness.

She saw the light of the portal close as Luna disappeared once more.

Twilight screamed as gravity rose to claim her.

Luan wept silently as she roared, armor fusing to her chest, red veins popping in her eyes as the blackness wove itself around her, strengthening her and vitalizing her. Her mane stretched out to full length, her eyes turning pitch black as she reared.

Nightmare Moon charged into the melee, the sound of iron on steel still cutting the air.

The skeletal samurai drew his katana. The old and pockmarked blade was covered in rust, with holes in the steel and rips in the handle. Yet despite the blade’s age, it was as sharp as an icy wind, able to cleave the air itself with its long and harsh swings. He held the long sword in front of him, pointing the blade at the cloud of ash and dust swirling in front of him. Sharp laughter cut through the air as the cloud condensed, fine particles of ash forming a tangible body. Where a cloud of dust once swirled now stood a mare, her skin white as death, her mane gray and frayed. Yellow eyes peeked out from under her hood as she drew her own blade, a massive black sword that twisted at the bottom to form a handle, and separated upwards of that to form two blades with a gap in the middle, reconnecting at the tip. A black ball was grasped in the sword’s pommel, and darkness dripped out of it. She swung the sword over her head a few times, the massive blade slicing through the air, whooshing with the cries of a thousand lost souls. A magical aura built around the blade, as black as night itself, and the samurai saw the light around him dying, the trees turning an ashen white, the grass becoming brown and brittle, and the once-bright sun encased in a red aura, blocking out the light. The mare laughed.

“Hahahahahaha! Foolish one. You should have saved your own bones instead of their fresh ones. I never liked consuming flesh anyway. You will make a perfect meal for my soul, haha.”

“I will not submit, security program! Today, you return to your master with shame on your back! Hand me back my sword and you will not flee in pieces!”

“What, give you back your sword? Puh-leez. No way. Purifier is mine. And when it is mine, you’re going to have to fight me to get it.”

“So... Be... It.”

The samurai swung his blade, the rusted sword cleaving through the air. The mare blocked it effortlessly, a flash of sparks accompanying the parry. She swung at the samurai, her sword arcing over her head. The samurai held up his own sword, but instead of stopping the strike, the katana let the black blade slide down its pockmarked surface, catching the black sword in a groove. The samurai twisted his blade, pulling the black sword away from the mare. The ebony sword clattered away, its huge weight shaking the ground with every bounce it took. The samurai held the point of his blade to his opponent’s head, slowly raised it above his head, and gripped it with both front hooves. His swung, but only cut through air as the mare jumped to the side at the last minute, narrowly dodging a swing that would have surely decapitated her. She grabbed her sword again, and the two warrior fell upon each other again, sparks flying as steel met ebony, mortal metal facing the black steel.

“I...am...Locust...” said the bushi. “and...I...will...win.”

“Don’t think like that.” said the mare. “I’ll crush you like a bug, like the locust you are.”

They crossed swords again and again, sending sparks flying everywhere. Locust swung his blade in a diagonal uppercut, the sword meeting the ebony blade in midair. Both warriors cut at each other, parrying and dodging slashes, cutting the ground with missed cuts. The mare charged at the samurai with the blade pointed down, and lunged towards the skeletal warrior. The blade narrowly missed the samurai, cutting a tiny notch in one of his bones. Black marrow leaked out of the bone, dripping like freshly spilled blood. Locust tipped his straw hat, and charged towards the mare, readying a powerful jumping slash. The mare gracefully leapt out of the way as the powerful swing impacted the ground, sending dirt and grass in all directions. The mare readied a massive downwards cut, her sword lifted in the air. The samurai rolled away just as the blade came down, lodging the ebony sword in the dirt. The mare desperately tried to dislodge the massive blade, using all four hooves to try and pull the sword out of the ground. The samurai simply stared at the mare with nothing, for his eyes had long since died. He then charged the mare, just as she pulled the blade out of the ground. She managed to parry the katana just in time, more sparks blasting from both blades. They crossed swords again, mortal steel meeting corrupt ebony for the third time.

“You are a fool if you think you will win.” said Locust through gritted teeth. He pushed his blade further, one hoof on the handle, the other pressed against the blade itself.

“Don’t count on it.”

The mare pushed downwards, lodging the samurai’s katana in the ground. She bucked him away with her back hooves, the powerful impact blasting the samurai against the earth. She pulled his sword from the ground, her stark-white hoof gripping the frayed and broken handle of the katana. She paced in front of the samurai, as he slowly tried to stand, still dizzy from the heavy impact. The mare swung both swords in wide circles, and raised both blades over her head. She swung downwards.

Whoosh!

Nightmare Moon jumped in front of the blades. She met the blades with horn and magic, her horn meeting the ebony sword with a clang, her magic catching and throwing the samurai’s katana into the ground. The mare recoiling back, dropping her ebony sword as Nightmare Moon stood before her, horn lowered, her wispy mane stretching out behind her. Nightmare Moon charged towards the mare, ready to impale her through with her horn. The mare jumped away, picking up her blade, dodging the quick and powerful charge. Nightmare Moon crossed blades with the mare, her own long and sharp horn meeting the black metal. Flakes of the horn floated down to the ground as she slashed and stabbed, knocking away the sword and puncturing the mare’s skin many times. Magic bolts burned and seared the mare, and arcane lighting coursed over her body as Nightmare Moon laughed. She stabbed the mare through the chest with her horn, impaling the mare on her magical instrument. Black blood ran down the mare, soaking Nightmare Moon’s helmet, dark liquid dripping into her eyes. She tossed the mare aside, the pony choking on her blood as it flowed out of the gaping hole in the base of her neck. Nightmare Moon rippled with magic, the combat over, her silver armor flaking off like leaves in autumn, restoring the Princess of the Night to her former form. The samurai looked on from afar, his eyeholes watching, unblinking as Luna retrieved his katana. She brought it over to the dying mare, gripping the long sword with her magic. He watched, still kneeling in the dirt, as Luna turned the blade around, the point facing the mare’s wide, tearing eyes. Luna closed her own blue eyes as she brought the blade down, the point of the sword penetrating through her skull, entering the ground on the other side. The white mare convulsed several times, her eyes wide, then suddenly lay still.

The bushi walked towards Luna. He laid a hand on his sword, wordlessly pulling the blade out of the white mare. Her colorless skin glowed with a green light as the blade left her lifeless body, data lines and endless streams of ones and zeros exposed to the night air. They separated from each other, green light pulsing off the meaningless numbers as they drifted off, disintegrating the mare’s body. A small piece of rolled-up paper fell from inside her cloak. Locust picked it up and placed it inside his own armor. He then turned towards the green light behind him. Luna and the samurai watched the data stream fly off, forming a pillar into the sky.

“See. A security program, and nothing more. A conjoining of data and memory, given a physical form to fight inside the Reaper.” said the samurai at last.

He picked up the ebony blade from where it lay on the ground. As he grasped it, a wave of yellow light shot down the steel blade. Blue runes appeared on the metal as the ebony rotted away, to be replaced with gleaming steel. The samurai held Purifier in his hands, and swung the heavy blade around a bit, watching as the sword gleamed in the new light. He checked the pommel of the sword, and, as expected, the small black ball that lay gripped by the metal disintegrated into ash. The program had hidden the True Light. Locust sighed, if a skeleton could sigh, and turned back to Luna.

“Come then, Princess of the Night. We must go to where your friends have gone to. Our enemy is vanquished, for now. And I...have to find something.”

The samurai walked towards the lake’s edge.

A cold wind blew over the lake. Wind reached out over the dead trees as the samurai raised both his hands to the sky. Luna watched as yellow energy flowed from the bushi, forming a ball of pure light that the bushi held in his hand, tossing it about. He then walked back, his hoof gripping the yellow ball, before throwing the ball across the lake. An explosion formed where the ball landed.

Luna felt her coat prickle up as the wind blew harder.

The ground began to shake.

The samurai pulled out his sword.

“Watashi wa anata o shōkan shite iru yō ni, anata gata wa, shōkyū shinakereba naranai. Watashi no fune wa, watashi no yūjin, watashinoie wa, watashi wa nigeru koto o kono sekai kara watashi o kite, jisan. Watashi no doragon'u~ingu, detekuru!” said Locust in his native Umalan language.

The water in the middle of the lake began to simmer.

“Watashi no doragon'u~ingu,detekuru!” shouted the bushi.

The water began to boil. Pieces of wood and cloth began to rise to the surface. A torn and tattered sail broke the surface.

“DETEKURU!!!!!!”

The water parted as a whole ship dragged itself from the grimy depths. Seaweed and kelp covered the boat, and its sail was torn and ragged. Splintered wood covered the massive hull, and at the bow a rusted metal dragon stood , its wings spread wide, its mouth open, a massive hollow tube sticking out of its gaping maw. It sailed quickly towards the shore. Yellow energy gripped the broken vessel, plugging up holes, patching the sails, cleaning the dragon at the bow. The once-broken vessel arrived at the shore looking brand-new, the damage nonexistent, shipshape and bristol fashion.

“Welcome aboard, Princess Luna, to my humble ship, the Dragonwing.”

A gangplank fell onto the ground from on board. Locust helped Luna step on board his mighty vessel. She passed the polished bronze dragon, it’s face forever trapped in a visage of anger and power. She saw the crew of the ship, skeletal ponies surrounded by yellow energy fixing everything on board, hammers and sewing needles wielded by the undead. She saw yellow light surrounding a prone skeleton, lifting the dead pony to his feet. He started to work with the others, picking up a hammer and pounding nails into a new plank. The bushi and Luna stepped towards the ship’s wheel, newly fixed and polished. Two skeletal sailors bowed to the bushi, and stepped back, allowing the skeletal samurai to grasp the wheel. As he did, Luna saw yellow energy once again flowing from the samurai’s hooves, entering the wheel and the planks where he stood. An Umalan letter formed on the sail, outlined in yellow light.

“風”

“Kaze. In your tongue, it simply means wind. Nothing more. Nothing less. Wind will hold strong when all else is nought. Wind will run when all else has stopped. Wind, my dear Princess, will take us to our destiny.”

“Dragonwing, FORWARD! To the Endless Ocean!”

Luna watched as the character glowed. True enough, a strong wind blew, pushing the ship away from land. The ship grew in speed, its sails filling with air, the water below them becoming little more than a blur as the ship sailed away from the land.

The sun rose in the distance.

The Moon That Shines Bright - Intermission 2 (Backstory)

“So, young one, why have you come to my domain?”

The young Luna stared at the horrific mess before her. A unicorn, her horn twisted, her hooves full of holes. Insect wings jutted out of her shoulders, and green eyes shone behind wispy gray hair. Sharp teeth jutted out of her dirty mouth, and her breath desperately needed a good brushing.

“I said, young alicorn, why do you come here?” said Queen Chrysalis.

“I-I-I...” stuttered Luna. “I wish t-to...”

“Have revenge?”

“...”

“Of course. I should have known this from the start. You have fled your sister. You want revenge on her for overshadowing your night. You want...you want... you what the dark to reign forever.

“Y-yes... I-I do.”

“Well then! Come, young one. The Shapeshifter Queen knows all sort of evil things, perfect for extracting revenge on one so cruel as your sister.”

Chrysalis disappeared into the marsh. beckoning for Luna to follower her. The princess of the Night carefully stepped through the swamp, her silver shoes covered in mud, the stanky air frizzing her blue hair. She stepped over massive branches and tried to ignore the putrid stank that hung around constantly. Hundreds of thousands of bright green sacs lay scattered around them, and countless changelings, with their contorted black skin and pupiless eyes tended to them. Luna watched the beast lather mud on the bags of fluid. One burst, releasing a tiny changeling that fell into the hands of two waiting drones. Chrysalis said nothing as her brood came into life. She simply ignored the two drones as they carried the spawn away.

Finally, they reached a clearing, the massive jungle trees exposing a stone circle to the night sky. Six small torches burned in the blackness, the purple flame illuminating the stone structure. Long lines were carved in the rock, and they connected the torches to each other, forming a large hexagram. A small circle stood in the middle of the star, connecting the flat inner parts together. Chrysalis stepped onto the stone pedestal, her horn lighting up as she summoned a small blue light, fully brightening the clearing. Behind her, the sordid shape of the Princess of the Night crawled out of the swamps. Luna was covered in mud, and her hair stank of weeds and pond scum. He was on the verge of vomiting, and her face glowed a sickly green as she tried to hold in her bile. Chrysalis laughed as she turned to look at the alicorn princess, her light blue eyes dancing in the purple flames..

“We have arrived, sweet child. Stand in that circle, and I will begin the ritual.” said the Queen. “You will have your revenge yet.” When Luna stared at the circle worryingly, the shapeshifter queen snorted and said “Well, go on then. Don’t you want pure, sweet revenge?”

“I-I do.”

“Then stand in the inner circle! You aren’t getting anywhere chattering in your regal hooves, are you?”

Luna slowly stepped out of the mud. She shook violently, sweat forming on her forehead, her whole body shaking as adrenaline flowed through her veins. Cautiously she stepped into the hexagram, and with trembling hooves made her way to the central circle, where she stood nervously, glancing around as if something might jump out of the woods and attack.

“Haha, So it begins.”

The Queen’s twisted horn glowed a sickly green. The purple flames burst out of the torches, igniting the hexagram with arcane fire. Luna watched as crystals slowly burst out of the ground, rising out of the grooves in the stone. The flames leapt onto the crystals, burning them with power. When Luna touched one, she immediately recoiled back, for the purple fire was not hot, but as cold as the grave. The crystals rose higher out of the ground, until they made a barrier around Luna, preventing any means of escape. Luna felt her magic being neutralized as the purple flames burned around her, sapping away her strength and crushing her resolve.

“My son, the dark one. Hear my plea! A young one has come home to their mother. She wants nothing more than her brother’s dark power. Bring it to your sister!” shouted Chrysalis.

Luna watched as the crystals started to move. The circle started to get smaller. Black shadows floated in the crystal, flickering in and out of view. Luna paced about her hooves pressing against the green crystals, her magic refusing to comply, her power draining.

“No! I don’t want this! Please! Let me out!”

“HAHAHA! Too late, Princess of the Night. The darkness will find you yet. Come forth, my son. Give your power to your poor sister.”

Luna saw the shadows exit the crystals. A black cloud of darkness floated in front of Luna, her crystal prison growing smaller and smaller by the second. She galloped as far away from the cloud as she could, screaming and crying, pushing back against the crystal walls, ignoring the burning cold of the flame. She whimpered as the cloud danced around her nostrils, and she could not prevent herself from inhaling them. She screamed as the dark gas flowed down her windpipe, burning her insides with unbearable cold.

“Dear son, please. Gift your poor and abused sister with power beyond her imagination! Your other sister forgot to give her a Heart’s Warming Eve present, and she wants payback! See to it that she gets what she deserves!”

...

The crystals closed on Luna.

...

Shadow gas entered Luna’s lungs.

...

Black dots appeared on her eyes.

...

Luna screamed.

“So be it.”

The Reaper raised his ashen hand to the skies as a bolt of lightning hit the hexagonal crystal pyramid.

Inside, something was changing. Luna had gone dark. Chrysalis could still see the silhouette of the Princess of the Night contained within the crystals, but her shining radiance had been blotted out. No more was she as bright as the moon...

For she would be as dark as the night.

The crystals shattered as the Nightmare Force found a new master. The power of Chaos swelled within the broken body of Luna merging her spirit with the Force, twisting her Life Thread into strange and awkward angles.

What stepped out of the crystal pyramid still looked like Luna. She had her appearance, wore the same jewlery, had the same face. Her mane rippled with magic as it used to, and mud still clung to her skin.

But her eyes. Her eyes had changed greatly. For instead of her normal bright blue pupils, there lay only a pure black iris, with a small white crescent moon superimposed on the darkness.

The Nightmare Force was in her now. And nothing would stop her from attaining her vengeance.

The Night would reign forever. Nightmare Moon hath decreed it so.

Youtube Video

The Battle to last a century... happens on YouTube.

(Try and omit Twilight from that scene.)

It was a horrendous millenium on the moon. Luna was forced to survive 1000 years of thirst and starvation, and wished for death each and every day. But no darkness would take her. No Reaper would come for her. She was beyond their reach, in a world countless miles away. No gravity held her down, no enemies stood in her way. There was nothing on the moon that could stop her. There was nothing that could server her Life Thread early. Her Marcherhood kept her breathing, despite the lack of oxygen, and the Nightmare Force fueled her desire for vengeance. No amount of meditation, relaxation, or pacification could stop the Mare in the Moon, and she raged on her own, letting loose her anger in violent meteor showers that burned through Equestria’s atmosphere. Never did any cosmic rocks go through, for the atmosphere was too thick, and the heat of the thermosphere too hot.

She had been banished. There was enough time to think. 1000 years is plenty of time to contemplate and to recover. But Luna would have none of it. She let her anger thrive for 999 years, and on the dawn of the 1000th she was fuming with pure, unspent rage. So when a ghost of a pony woke her up on the lunar sunrise of the first day of the year, Luna was ready for a good pounding. She grabbed asteroids from the skies nearby, and smashed them onto the mysterious pony. She blasted him with azure energy beams from her horn. She tore open the rock beneath his feet, and buried him in a mountain of stone. And yet, when it was all said and done, the spectre stood unharmed, his translucent blue body surrounded by a glowing energy shield.

“You should try harder to damage a spirit. Especially if that spirit is your great-great grandfather Sarvis Sparkle.” said the ghost. “A master of magic am I, and the power that I wield shadows yours in comparison.”

Luna was taken aback by the pony’s statement. She remembered her mother, Candice, telling her about her great-great-grandfather Sarvis, and about how he was buried on the moon, but she never anticipated the stories would be true.

“I see now that your sister has banished you. It was...late on my part. However, I am more than willing to aid you in your return. You see, in order to have true harmony there must always be a little chaos. A bit of discord to balance out the order. No one likes a perfectly structured society, as does nopony enjoys total anarchy. But if you combine the two...” he waved his hoof, and two meteors collided with each other in midair. “You get perfect balance.” The rubble from the crash reformed itself into a set of scales.

Luna was amazed. In all her years on the moon she had never made two asteroids collide, much less reconfigure their shape. Sarvis’s little display of power made her instantly trust him. His eyes locked with hers, and the tiny pink star in their pupils reflected off each other.

“And now, we begin our first lesson...”

Her lessons look six months. Six long months of pain and torture, of endless cramming and ceaseless practice. Sarvis pushed both Luna and the Nightmare Force to their very limits, unlocking secret powers she didn’t even know she had. She gained the ability to dreamwalk, the power to make herself invisible at will, the knowledge to create illusions of herself. Yet, those were petty achievements compared to her ultimate one. The strength to shed her pony body and become something totally different.

Just like the Reaper and his Pure Death transformation, Luna mastered the inner workings of her Marcherhood, turning into a fearsome warrior with the power to march between worlds. Her face became obscured, hidden behind a mask of pure darkness. Tattered robes hung from her body, and heavy, shapeless armor covered her torso. She stood on two legs, and wielded a long staff in her two hands. Coils of pure shadow surrounded the Dark Form, blackening everything that came close. Finally, after a millennia of rage and anger, Luna was ready to take revenge. On the day of the summer solstice, Sarvis decided she was ready. The moon was to move over the sun, causing a partial eclipse in certain areas of Equestria. Using his powers, Sarvis would turn that into a full lunar eclipse that covered all of Equestria, perfect for Luna to dive down to the world and extant her vengeance.

Of course, not all perfect plans go well. As the shadow of the eclipse covered the land, Luna’s Dark Form plunged back to earth from the rocky satellite. She created a force shield when the atmosphere began to burn her humanoid body, but the shield did not hold as long as Sarvis expected. The heat of the atmosphere burned up her Dark Form, but thankfully her pony form was released unscathed into the troposphere. With her magic reserves full, she searched for Celestia’s presence.

Ponyville. A small, backcountry town close to Canterlot. That was where Celestia hid. They were having the annual Summer Sun celebration. Pity that their sun had been smothered by the moon.

Please, watch the first episode (dailymotion)

(There was no YouTube link, sorry.)

The New World

Darkness...

Twilight could feel the darkness around her, like a tangible being. She waved her hoof, the blackness around her moving from her touch. The stagnant air sat unmoving, thick with particles that Twilight could not see. She rubbed her head, feeling the new bruises on her cheeks. Coughing brought up a few drops of salty water, dripped down her chin and onto the wooden floor. Twilight felt herself bob up and down, slowly, steadily, almost like she was on board a ship. She could still see nothing, the darkness enveloping her. She shuddered as bad memories of her time in the pod flowed back to her, the branches poking in her skin, the vines holding her down, the vicious .green liquid covering her head to toe, filling her lungs, her stomach, her mouth...

I’ve been spending too long in the black, she thought...

...She leapt into the Mirror. The solid surface of the artefact pulsed in front of her, rippling like water. She broke the surface of the Mirror, the portal behind her closing. She felt an invisible hook latch on to the back of her neck, then, suddenly she was thrown through space, the power of the Mirror pulling her through the bowels of the Reaper. The Mirror’s power was great, towing the purple unicorn past many worlds, each trapped in the Reaper’s mind and body. Chains defined the borders of each, wrapped tight around the multiverse. Bound by their chains, Twilight saw ponies in the worlds, farming, sailing, selling. Porcelain pagodas towered in one world, siege towers and catapults firing stones in another, and pure darkness in another, without even a spark of light. Chains bound them all, creating magical barriers that forever separated the multiverse into its hundreds of compartments.Twilight saw one world squeezed into nothingness, bursting into a flash of light as the chains tightened too far. She saw the ruins of the spine, the rocks still falling down the massive chasm. Chains bound this world too, wrapping around the pillar like strangler plant around a massive oak tree.

The power of the Mirror pulled her further, entering the spine, lifting her upwards. She dodged hundreds of falling boulders, the rocks getting bigger and bigger as she flew towards the light at the very top of the spine. The bright light grew larger and larger, enveloping her whole field of vision. She felt warm sunlight and a cool sea breeze ripple over her body, a great relief from the darkness ever present in the rest of the Reaper. Water started to drip around her, the liquid falling beneath her in an endless fall towards nothingness. Twilight turned her head upwards, her once light-sheathed vision suddenly disrupted by a huge torrent of water rushing towards her face. She curled up, her hooves clutching her shoulders, her legs folded up into her chest. She expected water to become her world at any moment, to cover her and cleanse her. Yet no water came. Her dirty mane refused to become wet. Twilight opened her eyes, uncurling as she saw the torrent of water cascade around her, avoiding the purple unicorn as if she held an invisible umbrella. She still felt herself moving, the power of the Mirror still pulling her along, but it was starting to slow.

The din of the water slowly began to recede, as the blue liquid was slowly becoming green. Twilight saw fish in the water, rapidly swimming around as they fell, the tyrannical wave pushing them down towards the abyss. Plants floated in the murky water, small tendrils of kelp and algae mixing with seaweed and coral. Some of them broke out of the water, leaping towards Twilight before the grip of gravity stole them away and they too plummeted to their doom. The pull of the Mirror grew weaker now, slowing them down significantly as the abyss shrunk below her, the rocks and corals of the seafloor sprouting around her. She rose out of the sea, her body encased in a brilliant white sheathe, created by the Mirror to protect her from the Reaper. A maelstrom surged around her, the mighty whirlpool sunkig in anything and everything that came near. Two huge sailing ships, each with many sails and carrying many cannons.. Twilight watched in horror as one ship, with a flag as black as night, a skull over two crossed swords embellishing the cloth was sucked into the whirlpool. To her surprise, the second ship followed suit, entering the maelstrom. Explosions rocked the waves as the cannons that covered the ships’ sides let loose massive blasts, followed by huge clouds of smoke. Wood splintered, sails burned as the ships let loose another volley, the crack of the guns echoing across the waves. Suddenly, the whirlpool stopped, the hole from which Twilight had spawned disappeared. The drainage effect suddenly ceased, sending the two ships beneath the waves. Their masts barely broke the surface of the water. Wood planks were scattered everywhere, crates and barrels bobbing on the surface of the sea. There were no screams.

A third ship appeared over the horizon as the magical barrier around Twilight suddenly dissipated. The tug of the Mirror let her go, a hundred feet above the ocean’s surface. The water suddenly had a desire to hug Twilight, the forces of gravity pulling the destined acquaintances closer and closer. Falling had never been Twilight’s fear, but this, this was beyond fear. Her heart screamed, as did her mouth, her eyes, her face, her whole body let loose a convulging scream as water enveloped her fully, the salty taste of seawater filling her mouth.

She closed her eyes, the darkness enveloping her whole as her back broke the surface, turning her around. Her nose barely stuck out of the water. The waves held the unconscious unicorn up, floating motionlessly in the water as the sun rose in the distance. Storm clouds drifted away, the howling winds receding to a simple breeze. In the distance, a ship sailed towards the wreck, its masts tall, its sails fully unfurled. A black flag fluttered on top of the tallest mast, a skeletal pegasus adorning the cloth. The faint noise of rowdy singing could be heard, the sound of cups clattering against other cups, the clang clang clang of swords crossing over each other.

Twilight fell...

...

“Oi! You there! Wake the ‘ell up, lassie. You’va ben’ sleepn’ fer som’ time, though’t maybe I’ll hafta throw some rum on ya!”

Twilight rubbed her eyes as the darkness was broken. A door was thrown open in front of her, letting in the harsh sunlight. She crawled back into the room, her back bumping against the many empty barrels that littered the room.

“Ya know lassie, I ain’t gonna ‘urt ya. Now jus’ com’ whit me and we can awl go an’ see the cap’n. The cap’n wonts ta see ya. Don’ wont no scallywag jus’ jumpn’ no this here ship now.”

The other pony walked into the room. He wore a bandanna over his head, covering the top of his mane. Leather armor covered a dirty collared white shirt. Brown wings poked out of his back, through thin slits in his clothes. A huge belt held his trousers in place, and hanging from the leather band was a curved sword and several small wooden things, each holding a metal tube in place. The pegasus wore an eyepatch over his left eye, and red beads adorned his dreadlocked hair. He held a cup in his right hoof. He took a long swig from the cup before without so much as a smirk lifted Twilight up and threw her across his back.

“Com’on den, lassie. We’re gonna see de Cap’n. Oi. Lassie. Ya look beat. Ya wont some rum to clear up yur blow-hole there?”

The pegasus held up his cup. Twilight stared at the contents. A heavy smell of nutmeg drifted out of the container. Bubbles frothed on the dark brown beverage, carrying the smell into Twilight’s nostrils and into her lungs.

Smells like heaven.

Twilight fell off the pegasus’s shoulders. She still felt bruised, but with the pegasus’s help, was able to manage a wobbly stand. The pegasus handed her his cup, and Twilight took a nervous sip, unsure of the contents of the liquid.

She then grasped her throat as liquid fire ran down her esophagus, burning her stomach and her intestines. She hacked away, desperately trying to regurgitate the fluid, her insides burning, her mouth breaking, the pegasus slamming her back with his hoof. Other ponies ran across the ship’s deck, one carrying a large bowl of water. They held the writing Twilight down as the pony with the bowl poured cold, clean water down her throat, cleansing the fires that burned her.

Twilight gasped as the rum was flushed away by the water. She sat on the deck, gasping, her cheeks red with exhaustion. She rubbed her tummy, the once burning sensation now replaced by ice-cold liquid. The pegasus helped her up, signaling the bowl-holder to fetch more water. He put his hoof over her shoulder, carefully picking her up as she drank more water from the bowl.

“I’va neva seen somepony be so reactiv’ ta rum befo’. ‘Irst time drinkn’?” said the pegasus.

Twilight slowly nodded her head. She still hadn’t said a world since coming aboard, and now, her mouth hurt too much to even stick out her tongue. She let the pegasus lead her to the stern of the ship, where a burly unicorn wearing a huge, draping cloak held the wheel. The pegasus let her go as the unicorn turned around, a pipe sticking out of his mouth. A long, grizzled beard drooped down from his chin, and black hair struggled to break out of his tri-corne hat. A longbow and a quiver of arrows lay sling over his back, the brown wood blending into his dirty, pocket-covered cloak. The unicorn held out his huge hoof, motioning for Twilight to take it. She gingerly shook the unicorn’s hoof, her small hoof lost in the unicorn’s paw.

“Well, th’n, methinks its time ta introduce maself. I’m Cap’n McGregor, an’ its a pleasure meetn’ the lassie ah saved from the shipwreck. Welcome aboard de Tornado, finest ship of ‘er class in the Endless Sea! Tell me, lassie, whut’s yur name? I can’t jus call ya lassie all the time, ya know.”

The captain spread his mouth open in a wide grin, showing his teeth, yellow and chipped. But despite his broken countenance, the captain’s eyes glowed with happiness, something that Twilight had almost forgotten shine she was incorporated into the Reaper. She returned the captain’s friendly smile. Her mouth was burnt, her tongue deadened. And yet she opened her mouth wide, her brilliantly white teeth in contrast to everything surrounding her.

“M-my name, is Twilight Sparkle, Captain McGregor.”

“Oh, please, missus Sparkle, call me Flint. Its been a long time since I rescued anyone, migh’ as wel’ take yah along for the tour! We are ‘eading to Eternity now, we’ll set ya down there. I see you don’t like rum much, so I get ya hooked up wit some water fer now. Now, where are ‘dem smokes. Kerry, ya wont sum? I got a few Jacksons in ‘ere somewhere.”

The captain waved his hoof, silver chains and bracelets jangling on his ankles as a pirate ran off, holding a water bowl. He watched the pirate fetch water, his other hoof searching the many pockets on his coat. Waves shook the ship, rocking it back and forth as the captain finally seemed to find what he was looking for. A look of pure delight came over the captain’s face as he produced a few green cigars. He offered one to the pegasus, and to Twilight, who politely declined. The captain shrugged his head, as if indifferent to Twilight’s refusal, before igniting his horn and causing the end of the cigar to burst into flame. He lit the pegasus’ cigar, then they both proceeded to take a long, deep breath of smoke, blowing rings of the gray fog as the pirate came back with water as a few dried apple slices. He set the food next to Twilight before running back to the deck.

The captain blew a few more smoke rings as he watched Twilight eat. True to that, Twilight felt absolutely famished. Adrenaline and energy can only keep one’s belly full for such a long time, and Twilight was finally off the massive energy rush from her near-death experiences. Pieces of apple suck to her face, water splashed everywhere as she ate, and ate. Flint and the pegasus watched the purple unicorn eat and laughed, their hearty chuckles caressing the whole ship. The captain raised his cigar, and the entire ship raised their mugs and their pipes. A pony produced an accordion from under a table, and another pulled out a battered lute. Captain Flint himself pulled a fiddle out from his coat, and unslung his longbow from his back. He placed the bow over the strings, pucking a loud note from the center one. The accordion followed suit, as did the lute. In just a few seconds, Twilight found herself surrounded by music as the entire ship matched the musical note.

OHHHH,

Pull in the sails, rig up the bales.

Haul in the anchor.

Push off from the dock and we’re off

To a world of adventure.

No marines gonna stop us

No soldiers to shoot us down

No privateers to break our gears

No king to rule us all.

Ain’t got no rules ain’t got no vision

Just so I could go,

And sail the world in its entirety

No one gon’ stop me now

Cause I’m a pirate, part of the crew

On the Tornado, sailing proud!

On the Tornado sailing proud!

OHHHHHH,

One day I am gonna go

Back to Eternity,

To spend the gold and jewels ho!

That I stole from Her Majesty.

One day a galleon

Big and terrible goat.

So we swept aside and raised the tide

And blasted them all away,

With broadside and a blade!

Tally ho and block away!

Twilight clapped, the clop clop clop of her hooves echoing over the expanse of sea. The captain gave a small bow as the rest of the ship cheered. They lifted their mugs into the air before returning to the song, singing about broadsides and galleons as they pulled in rope and hoisted barrels of rum across the deck. The wind blew directly behind them, the ship sailing along the waves, the bow breaking the water, releasing clouds of white surf hat washed over the ship’s wooden hull. Twilight stood by the captain, watching the pirate crew work and play, drinking vile drinks and chewing hay and apples. The captain puffed a few on his cigar, sending smoke rings into the air.

The sun set.

The stars shone bright over Twilight, millions of tiny white points sparkling in the sky. Twilight stared up at the shining sky in awe, her mouth agape. Back home, the light pollution from Canterlot blocked out the sky, leaving only a few stars, like Polaris, visible in the sky. Captain Flint watched Twilight gape at the sky, then reached into his coat. He tapped Twilight’s shoulder, breaking her stalwart gaze. He handed her a strange instrument, a telescope-like object fastened onto a metal triangle. Twilight turned the object in her hooves a few times, her quizzical look revealing her lack of knowledge about the tool.

“Well, ya don’t seem ta know much about using a sextant, do ya, Twi? ‘Ere, I’ll show ya. You jus’ put this side of da telescope to yer eye here, and yal find Polaris wit’ yer other eye. Go on, give it a try.”

Twilight peered through the telescope. Her vision narrowed, but the stars she could see suddenly were magnificently detailed. She could see the massive flash of a solar flare on a star far in the sky. She saw binary patterns, observed two stars orbiting each other. Her tongue lolled out as she gazed through the sextant to the heavens above. The Captain looked up himself, his old eyes finding Polaris, the North Star. He bowed his head, crossed his right hoof over his chest.

“What it that?!”

The captain looked up. Twilight was looking horizontally now, no longer looking towards the sky. The sextant pointed towards a thin, gray pillar on the horizon, no bigger than a pin. The captain narrowed his own eyes, trying to see the tiny speck in the black sky.

“Spyglass, sir?”

“Yes, thank ye, Kerry.”

The captain extended his spyglass. Sure enough, he saw the steamship, clear as day. A single stack, side-paddler. It still had sails. He could just discern the flag on the ship’s stern: Three blue lozenge diamonds rippled with the night air, on a brilliant white flag. He saw the other ship begin to turn, the paddles pounding the water.

The captain folded his spyglass.

“Twi, it’s time fer bed now. Why don’t you go below deck wit’ Kerry ‘ere and git settled in now?”

“Why now? The sun just set! I still want to look at the star-”

“Enough of that now, You go and git yerself a good night’s sleep now, We’ll see Eternity in the morn’. Cap’n Flint’s gotta work now.”

Twilight, still screaming in protest, was dragging below deck by Kerry the pegasus.

The captain yelled to his men.

“BATTLESTATIONS!”

Twilight awoke to the sound of cannon fire and splintering wood.

The next thing she knew, a black ball whizzed past her head and ripped her door of its hinges.

She instantly flung off her covers, before her canvas hammock flipped over and she was roughly deposited onto the ground. She rubbed her head, feeling the red bulge that just formed. She peered out the hole that had formed in the wall, and found herself face-to-face with the barrel of a cannon.

BOOM!

Twilight jumped away from the hole as a hail of grapeshot rang against the wood. Small holes appeared in the hull, and a few bullets scraped against her skin. Red lines appeared where metal whizzed by, the burning pain fully raised Twilight from her tired stupor. She dashed out of the splintered door, to be faced with an empty bottom deck.

Sweat dripping down her brow, she climbed the rickety stairs to the top deck.

What she saw widened her eyes and brought a mighty gasp from her mouth.

Kerry stood on the deck, a sword in his mouth. Next to him, several unicorns wearing red uniforms held long rifles at the pegasus. Nearby, a pirate swung an axe at more uniformed ponies, breaking a sword and cutting open a neck. Smoke billowed over the deck, and Kerry spun quickly, grabbing a nearby redcoat before the ponies opened fire, their muskets releasing a viscous cloud of smoke. Metal balls entered the redcoat Kerry held in front of him, causing the uniformed pony to convulse before he lay still, blood leaking out of his mouth. Kerry then charged forward, his sword raised. He managed to slay two of his attackers, both with precision cuts to the neck, before one caught him in the side with a bayonet and the other nearly behead the pegasus.

Twilight jumped at the marine as they were about to end Kerry’s life with a pistol. Her magic threw the gun out of the marine’s hoof, and she crashed into the uniformed pony, knocking him over. Kerry spun quickly, releasing himself from the second marine’s grasp and sticking him with his saber. More cannons rang out as pirates fired shot at point-blank range, blasting massive holes in the steamship’s side. Pirates jumped from one ship to another, swinging from ropes, or simply using pegasi wings. Kerry grabbed Twilight around the middle, handing her a long steel rapier before flying over to the disabled steamship.

Captain Flint fired both pistols at once, releasing a cloud of smoke with each shot. The second barrel of his gun released its deadly cargo, a lead bullet leaving each double-barreled pistol and entering marine flesh. Holstering his guns, he pulled out a huge scimitar, the curved blade sharp on both sides and gleaming with fresh polish. It hungered to dirtify itself once more, to cover the newly sharpened and polished steel with newly spilled blood. Captain Flint held his sword high, grasping it with tendrils of magic, encasing his blade in a blood-red glow.

The scimitar sang as Flint charged, the blade cleaving through heads, necks, legs, spilling blood and staining the deck of the steamship red. Blood spurted over the captain, coloring his cloak and his beard.

He saw the rest of the pirates jump onto the steamship, Kerry carrying their purple passenger. The captain took the moment to light a cigar, the smoke entering his ancient lungs, the smell soaking his beard. Marines poured out of the steamship, their muskets held high, swords and pistols drawn. The captain blew a single smoke ring at the marines, watching it as the sailors watched him. Then, without warning, the captain unleashed his magic, making the smoke ring explode like a bomb, splintering the ship’s deck and blowing away the marines. Many were thrown overboard, just as many were thrown against the hardwood planks that made up the ship. The captain puffed on his cigar as the rest of the pirates galloped towards him. He grasped his shoulder, fresh blood pouring from a new wound. He felt around inside the wound, ignoring the shooting pain that surfaced, and pulled out a lead bullet. He flicked the bullet away before heading for the stern.

The captain of the steamship pranced about, frantically looking for a way out. He drew his sword, but it was quickly slapped away by Flint’s scimitar. The sharp tip of the sword hovered inches in front of the steamship captain’s well-groomed goatee, the smoke from Flint’s cigar blowing in his face.

“So, ya found us. Don’ suppose you’d mind us tak’n sum of yer loot now? The Tornado’s a hungry ship, ya know. Won’ want her goin’ hungry now, don’t we.”

“Yes, Yes, sure, take everything, I don’t need it anymore.” squeaked out the captain.

“We both know dat’s not wut I really wont. Tell me. You know wut the Queen’s doin’ this time?”

“I c-c-can’t tell you! I-I-I don’t know!”

“So ye wont ta play a game then? Does be’in run on a sword soun’ fun to ya?”

Flint pointed the curved blade closer to the steamship captain’s neck. Twilight tried to run forward, to stop the brutal attack, but Kerry held her back, his powerful hooves gripping Twilight’s tired limbs.

“F-f-fine, I’ll tell you, Ok? P-please don’t kill me. The Queen wants to attack your fort. E-e-eternity, right? She wants to blast it apart. I-I-I-I’m just a scout, you know. A nobody!”

“Well, that wasn’t so hard, wosn’t it now” said Flint. “But look. If de Queen find out you’ve been babbling her secrets to pirates, she won’t be too ‘appy, won’t she?”

“N-no, sir.”

“So I’ll give ya a lift. But jus’ ta make sure, you ain’t gonna be talk’n fer a while now.”

“What? No! Y-y-you can-”

The captain was cut short as Flint sliced his scimitar into the captain’s mouth. A wide gash appeared on the pony’s face, his tongue flicking out of his mouth and bouncing into the waters below.

“Doc, git di guy patched up. Com’on boys, lets go an’ tear the ship apart.”

Twilight watched the captain as he walked away from the tongue-less pony, his mouth still bleeding. A fat pirate in white galloped up to him, wrapping white bandages around the fresh wound. Blood poured onto the tape, staining them a dark red. The fluid seeped onto the doctor’s legs, but he didn’t seem to care. He worked briskly, wrapping the bandages around the massive wound until it finally stopped its relentless torrent. He then picked up the pony and threw him into the Tornado, hitting the deck with a massive thund.

Twilight stepped back over to the pirate ship as the other pirates dragged huge chests out of the steamship’s hold.

The stars twinkled overhead.

Welcome to Eternity

Twilight saw the pirate fort long before many of the pirates did. White limestone walls jutted out of a green island, the specks and brown smudges that were buildings surrounding the stone fortification. Black dots sat on the white walls, and brown shapes walked on top of them. Many ships sat in harbor, their sails jutting into the sky. Tiny galleys sped around, helping huge battleships maneuver into small docks. Smoke rose over the island, smokestacks releasing black clouds into the sky. The strong scent of nutmeg entered Twilight’s nostrils, drifting over the sea. Kerry had told her that Eternity was a huge rum producer, and the smell could be caught for miles around. Kerry was the only person she talked to on board, ignoring the Captain and the rest of the crew. She had barely spoke during the rest of their journey, still appalled by the Captain’s show of cruelty. The tongue-less pony still stank up the hold, heavy chains binding the steamship captain.

She peered through the spyglass she had found. Eternity’s white walls towered over the town, its cannons and its soldiers casting a watchful eye on the island’s inhabitants.

The wind blew strong behind them. Galleys row up alongside them, throwing ropes on board. Twilight watched as the galleys pulled them into the harbor, passing pirate ships of all shapes and sizes. Small frigates and brigs lay moored next to war junks and battleships. She saw cargo being loaded, pirates sharing a smoke and a bottle of rum, ponies wearing very short dresses waving fans at muscular pirates. She folded up her spyglass as she disembarked, ignoring Captain Flint’s protest that she at least take Kerry with her. She wanted nothing to do with the Tornado or it’s crew anymore, and she ran off into the bustling city, overshadowed by the fortress with its whitewashed walls of stone.

Twilight trotted along the docks, watching the workers load heavy boxes on huge ships. Pirates stood about, drinking and smoking, hitting on mares or pulling them into buildings. Several bumped mugs of rum, the nutmeg smell coursing through the town. Several of them whistled at Twilight, their mugs held high. Many beckoned at her or tried to grab her shoulders. She shrugged all of them off. One particularly nasty-looking one jumped in front of her, flexing his muscles as his friends cheered him on, bottles of alcohol bumping and clinking against each other. Twilight rolled her eyes at the brawny pony, and turned away, the pirate shaking his head as his friends laughed and called him dirty names.

She walked away from the pirate-infested docks, working her way to the center of the town. The streets were still filled with pirates, but these were immaculately dressed, their fancy clothes in direct contrast to the dirty and sleazy docks. Many of them wore swords in plain view, and their belts were adored with pistols of every size and shape. They eyed Twilight disapprovingly, their eyes flicking between her and the docks, every move motioning her back towards the seaside. She looked past the pirates and mixed in with the huge crowd of townsfolk. She passed ponies carrying heavy boxes, ponies in stands selling everything imaginable, ponies sweating in forges, pounding red-hot metal with hammers. Spokesponies raised bounty letters and read the names, pirates cheering or jeering as they compared the price on their heads.

Her throat aching, Twilight stepped into an inn, a small wood building with a thatched straw roof. A sign in front promised warm beds and cold rum for everyone. Inside, a fire burned in a huge fireplace, casting a bright glow over the hall. The unicorn bartender tossed ponies their rum, serving-girls running around with hay, roasted apples, and fried fish. Twilight savored the smell of the fish, a nice change from the endless aroma of nutmeg that hung over the entire town. She surveyed the tables, the browns and the black blending in as pirates upon pirates stood at each table, drinking and eating with gusto. Then, in the corner, she saw a shock of pink hair, attached to a yellow pegasus with three butterflies decorating her flank.

Fluttershy nearly jumped out of her skin as Twilight hugged her from behind. Applejack laughed over her drink, the apple cider fizzing away in her wooden cup. She called over the waitress and ordered two more, tossing several gold coins at her. She tipped her cowpony hat back before she too hugged Twilight.

“It’s so good ta see ya again, sugarcube. We sure missed ya. Fluttershy ‘ere kept wantin’ to go an’ look for ya, but she keeps on git’n scared. Ah’m so glad y’all finally ‘ere.”

The serving-mare came back with their cider, the warm beverage smelling strongly of apples. The sweet smell drifted into Twilight’s nose, blocking out the nutmeg cloud. She inhaled deeply, the freshly-brewed cider reminding her of home. She took a long gulp, warm liquid flowing down her throat.

Mmmm... Just like Applejack’s home-brewed cider...

The three ponies polished off their drinks, the serving-mares bringing more warm mugs of hot cider to their table. A pirate pulled out a small lute from his pack, and played a quiet song, serenading the tavern with the soft music. His hooves slid over the instrument, the strings vibrating in perfect unison. Twilight and her friends watched the pirate play, mesmerized by the music as more cider was brought and food was served.

The next moment, huge ice crystals burst through the wall. Cannon fire was heard from far away, and the tavern collapsed as cannonballs smashed into the frozen wall. Crystals shattered in huge swathes, a particularly large shard impaling the musician through the chest. Twilight dove under the table, ice crystals bouncing over her head. Applejack held Fluttershy close, the yellow pegasus vibrating in her shoes, nearly shaking Applejack’s hat off. Twilight heard more cannon fire, this time from much closer. Eternity’s cannons boomed, the shells sailing over the tavern and towards the ocean. Explosions rang off far away, Eternity’s shells having found their mark, and the attacker returning fire. Cannonballs rained down on the taven, breaking massive holes in the ceiling and blasting apart the floor. Twilight looked at her two friends, her face set. She refused to show her fear.

“We have to get out of here!”

In her cabin on board the Carousel, Rarity stood in a mud bath, her attendants running warm, clean water through the faucet. Cucumber covered her eyes, and a towel held her hair in place. She breathed a heavy sigh, relaxation coursing over her and bringing her to sleep. She reached for a candy on the golden dish next to her, wanting a small snack, but it wasn’t there. Suddenly, the once calm Rarity suddenly burst into a rage, jumping out of the golden bath and onto the jewel-encrusted deck that surrounded the mud-filled pool. Golden specks fell off her as she climbed out, the gold powder that adorned the mud shining in the crystal-refracted light. She toweled off quickly, throwing the dirty towel into the pool before ripping off the seaweed and jewel-covered wrappings that she wore and shouted to the attendants to find her candy bowl. Rarity paced around the pool deck, her hooves treading on the rubies and sapphires that covered the golden floor. She felt a gentle shake as the Carousel fired its main guns, the 17-inch monstrosities on the alpha turret firing in sync with the massive 20-inchers on the beta turret. She imagined the high-explosive shells arcing across the air, carrying their destructive payload all the way to the pirate’s pitiful lair.

Her attendants came back into the room. One of them was carrying her candy bowl, her head bowed. Chocolate stains covered the bowl, and a heap of empty wrappers lay in the center. Rarity carefully eyed the serving-mare, her sharp blue eyes scanning the black-clad pegasus holding the bowl.

“And wwwwwhere exactly did you find this?” she asked.

“I-I-in m-my room, Your Majesty.”

“And wwwwhy was it in your room?”

“B-b-because, I-I-I t-oo-ok it...”

“And wwwwhy did you take it?”

“I-I-I needed to f-f-feed m-my so-”

“ENOUGH! You stole something from me! You know how much that bowl costs! Your entire salary for a lifetime won’t be able to purchase something as precious as that bowl! And not only did you steal the bowl, you also chose to empty its contents! Those chocolates were finely crafted by Sergio Tallmare, the best chocolatier in the Ocean! And you fed those chocolates to a mere colt! How dare you! You’ve ruined my bowl, removed my chocolates, what are you going to do next?”

“U-u-um, r-remove the stains f-from the bowl?”

“You FOOL! That bowl is made of PURE GOLD! How can you scrub PURE GOLD with some dish soap? You have to be kidding me! You buy me a new bowl, right now! I need a golden bowl to eat chocolate from, and your stupidity and your brutishness have ended it! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?”

“I-I promise t-to ge-”

“AND WHERE WILL YOU GET ONE?” Rarity’s screams were fever pitch now. The other serving-mares covered their ears, the screams piercing the walls and breaking the windows.

“WHERE?”

“I-I-I-I d-d-d-don’t kn-n-n-n-now...”

“ENOUGH! FIRE HER THROUGH THE CANNON. SHE’LL FIND ONE IN DEATH!”

“No! Wait! Please! You can’t!”

“Of course I can, dearie. I’M THE QUEEN OF THE OCEAN, AND I CAN DO WHAT I WANT!”

Rarity turned away from the mare as the other attendants grabbed her, he feeble struggle useless against the mighty strength of Rarity’s bodyguards. They dragged the serving-mare out of the room, her hooves scraping against the floor, taking quite a few gems with her. Rarity turned her head, her chin held high, her eyes closed. She released a gust of air as more attendants entered the room, carrying her royal dress over their backs. They helped her into it, the gem-encrusted fabric sliding gracefully over her smooth white shoulders. She replaced her crown on her head, the golden headdress gleaming in the magical light. Gems on her clothes reflected light in all directions as she let her attendants lead her out of her room on onto the Carousel’s main deck.

Huge paddles pounded the waves. Three tall smokestacks belched white steam into the air, the steam engines working at maximum capacity to maintain the Carousel’s top cruising speed of 18 knots. Rarity carefully tread across the wooden deck, her attendants using brooms to clean the dust and oil-covered wood that made up the upper deck. Gunners at gatling gun saluted the Queen, Marines stood at attention, and the Deck Commander lifted his hoof to his forehead, sweating as he did so. Rarity approached the overweight Commander, her hoof extended. The Commander bent down to kiss it. He then gestured with his hoof towards the beta turret. They both motionlessly watched as the serving-mare was propelled from the leftmost gun, not making a single sound as she flew towards the pirate fortress that stood in the distance.

“I have carried out your orders, Your Majesty.”

“Yes, yes, I can see that, Commander. At ease.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“How long until we can set hoof on that dirty little island the pirates call safe?” said Rarity, brushing her hair with her hoof. The dirt and steam that covered the Carousel’s upper deck was doing wonders to her hair, making it frizzled and stand on end. Another hour in the mud bath later, she thought.

“About twenty minutes at our current speed, ma’am.”

“Good. If you will, please get the Aurora Cannon ready. I would like to have some fun today.”

The Commander saluted again, then turned around as Rarity resumed her march to the front of the ship. He shouted orders to the sailors, the white-clothed marines hastily dragging heavy boxes towards the bow of the Carousel. Rarity walked past the second engine, the noisy contraption thundering in her ears. She watched the pirate fortress in the distance. The navy fleet’s cannons pounded the stone walls, explosive shells blasting away huge chunks of limestone. She heard the cracking of enemy cannon fire as the quad guns on shore fired at her fleet. She turned around and watched as a group of uniformed unicorns gathered in between the first and second engines, shooting a beam of magical energy towards a gold and silver pillar that rose as high as the smokestacks. Magic flowed out of the top of the pillar, creating a blue bubble of pure energy that encased the entirety of the Carousel. The cannon balls from the shore harmlessly bounced off the shield, making huge splashes as they fell into the water below. Rarity continued her march as the unicorns powered down their shield, the alpha turret firing as soon as they stopped, with the beta turret following two seconds later.

The sailors had finished setting up a curious contraption at the bow of the ship by the time Rarity made it there. A bronze cannon rested on top of a tripod, a huge blue crystal attached to the rear of the gun. A telescope lay wielded on the side of the weapon, and cables ran from the crystal into the deck of the ship, where massive steam turbines pumped, generating the power required to run six paddlewheels and four huge rotating turrets. Rarity walked up to the cannon, her right eye peeking into the telescope. Her hoof rested on a trigger assembly below the telescope, a steel ring attached to a cord that ran into the bronze gun. She sighted a building using the telescope, the lines crossing over the shack’s straw roof. With a pull of the cord, the cannon fired, projecting a stream of rainbow-colored light at the hut. Ice crystals formed over the building, freezing at over as Rarity held the trigger down, the rainbow laser turning the shack into a building-sized popsicle. She moved the cannon around, the laser freezing everything it touched, collapsing buildings as their supports suddenly became as fragile as ice. The Aurora Cannon ran over the mighty stone walls, the beam freezing the limestone barricade with absolute impunity. Seconds later, the alpha turret behind her fired, the explosive shells flying through the air...

...And Twilight saw the shells slam into the ice-covered wall. The once-formidable fortress fell to the tiny barrage as the ice-weakened limestone shattered into a million pieces. Twilight grabbed Fluttershy’s hair, ignoring her protests as limestone chunks fell on them, explosive shells blasted inns and taverns and the non-stop beam of the Aurora Cannon turning the once-bustling town of Eternity into an ice-covered, crater-marked wasteland. Applejack led Twilight through a maze of alleyways, narrowly dodging falling debris. Burning logs fell on them, Applejack barely having enough time to lift them out of the way for Twilight and Fluttershy to get through. They jumped out of the way as the freeze beam swept in front of them, turning the alleyway into a frozen canyon. Applejack ran forward, slipping on the ice, cutting herself on the sharp crystals. She burst into a inn, surprisingly intact despite the carnage that exploded around them. Twilight followed suit, dashing with Fluttershy into the building as an explosive shell blew away a patch of ground near her, throwing dirt over her purple coat. Twilight slammed the door behind her, panting as she turned around to face Applejack.

Wait. Where’s -

“Hold it right there.”

Twilight saw herself face-to-face with twelve gun barrels. The ponies that held them where grim-faced, their eyes showing no emotion. They rested their hooves on the triggers. Twilight saw more soldiers pummeling Applejack with the butts of their guns, the orange earth pony screaming in pain as they stuffed a dirty cloth in her mouth and tied her up. Through the open door, Twilight saw a huge line of uniformed soldiers, their rifles on their shoulders. The cannon fire had stopped, and she now heard the pop-pop-pop of gunfire as the marines took personal warfare on the island’s inhabitants.

“You’re coming with us.”

Twilight could only look as the marines stuffed her mouth with a rag. They clamped a metal clasp onto her horn, and tied coarse, heavy ropes around her ankles. With a heavy hoist, they managed to lift her onto a soldier’s back, and the troops threw the hogtied ponies outside, where more soldiers promptly threw them into a wooden wagon. The gunfire around them did not cease, the endless pop-pop-pop of the rifles echoing through the wagon. Twilight looked at Applejack, her hat missing. The earth pony was out cold, a huge bruise welling up on the side of her head. Fluttershy also looked hurt, the bruising that covered her head and body was intense. The soldiers had grabbed and beaten Fluttershy behind her back as he was surrounding by barrels.

The thundering of the cart finally stopped as Twilight and her friends were brutally pulled out. Uniformed marines stood at attention as an overweight pegasus stepped off a huge triple-masted sailing ship. Twilight found herself surrounded by pirates, hogtied just like her. The marines fastened heavy chains around their ankles as they cut the ropes off, taking Twilight from one form of bondage to another. At least she was able to walk, dragging the limp form of Applejack behind her as they were rushed on board the ship. The overweight pegasus lit his pipe, watching with wide eyes as Twilight stepped below deck, the light blotted out. She noticed that few pirates had followed her, and then suddenly heard the pop-pop-pop of the rifles, louder this time. She covered her face in horror as the marines massacred the pirate prisoners in their chains, bullets riddling their bodies.

The marines threw Twilight into a small, damp cell, the straw tuft on the floor the only furniture. She rubbed her head in a daze as one of the marines came in and blasted her out of the world with his rifle, the wooden butt of the gun hitting her square in the face.

....

...

Party Of Pain

Bound to me forever, a slave to my will.

Three are released, their souls will run free.

But they know they cannot escape me.

For you, my slave, you will end them here,

Who can run with a broken leg, a cracked skull?

A blade in the gut, a sword to the head,

And they will cower in fear instead.

Laughter is gone, Screaming of Pain,

Rise Pinkamena Pie, Torturer of Souls!

And so you are bound, a warrior to a greater cause.

Twilight’s head still spun when she woke. Black stops flited in and out of her blurry vision. She felt blood running from a fresh wound on her cheek, and bruises covering almost the entirety of her body. Stiff as a scarecrow, Twilight tried to move, only to find that her legs were tied down. Her forward legs were hung above her head, and her rear ones were stretched out below her. She felt movement, as if she was on a ship, and she smelled the salt air through an open window. Gone was the nutmeg, gone was the cider. What replaced them could only be described as horrific as Twilight’s vision eked back into existence. Her eyes widened as she saw the brutal contraptions that surrounded her.

Torture devices of all kinds littered the small room. Racks and pulleys mixed with blades and saws. Buckets of blood filled up a whole wall, the metallic smell entering Twilight’s nostrils, blocking out the sea air. She herself was tied up to a stretcher, a brutal device that was designed to pull and stretch a subject until he could move no more, then rip his legs from his body. The victim would feel excruciating pain during the process, and Twilight tried to scream, her mouth blocked off by the dirty rag. She shook around in the machine, the ropes and chains jangling about as she struggled to remove herself from the device. The door slowly creaked open, but Twilight could not hear it, the rattling of the chains too loud. A hooded pony entered the chamber, a shock of pink hair obscured by the black cloth. Twilight ignored the other pony as she picked up the blades that lay on a table in the center of the room. She carefully selected a sword, running her hoof over each blade in turn, testing each for sharpness. Finally, the hooded pony chose a serrated saw, the insanely sharp blade gleaming the light that poured from the window. Without a word, the pony shut it. Darkness instantly filled the room, the only light coming from the tiny candle that lay next to Twilight’s machine.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

Twilight heard the other voice come out from behind the hood. She stopped struggling for a moment, her eyes carefully staring at the saw in the pony’s hoof. The pony ran the blade against her hoof a few times more, satisfied at the red blood that leaked out of the wound. She licked the fluid away before waking up to a lever next to Twilight’s machine.

“So, another pirate girl who needs reconditioning. Perfect. That yellow one already took up too much of my time. Such a small one, she is. Wouldn’t want to kill her with it, if you catch my drift, haha. You, on the other hand, you look strong. Good. I can have a little more fun with you. My saws itch for blood.”

She pulled the lever towards her. Twilight felt a jolt, then the rusted cranking sound of a thousand gears working in tandem. The ropes that held her legs taunt tightened, and she felt herself being stretched out. She tried to scream, the rag in her mouth blocking out any noise she tried to make with it.

“Oh, poor thing wants to scream. Good. The other prisoners can enjoy the sound of your bloodcurler.”

The hooded pony ripped out the rag from Twilight’s mouth. She released her scream, penetrating through the walls of the ship as it grew stronger with every inch she was stretched out. Bones popped, joints flew out of their sockets. She screamed. Her throat grew hoarse, and her lungs went numb with pain as her ribs splintered, but she did not stop. Pain shot through her body, overloading her nerves and dulling her vision.

The hooded pony pulled on the lever. The ropes suddenly went slack, Twilight’s dislocated bones popping back in with such force that she could not restrain herself from screaming again, her chest burning, her ribs broken. The pain would not stop. The fire would not cease. She screamed, and screamed as the hooded pony prepared to heat a metal brand, lighting a fire using a match and a few clumps of hay. Twilight watched as the hooded pony placed the brand in the fire, the metal glowing red-hot. She lifted it out when it burned brightly and turned towards Twilight.

Twilight screamed as the brand landed against her cutie mark, the metal searing through her skin, burning her right to the bone. She felt her skin roast, the purple hair lighting and burning, the once-lavender skin turning a jet black as her cutie mark was blotted out by the brand. The torturer proceeded to stick the brand into the fire again, and then press the hot metal against her other flank.

“Well, you sure are a screamer. The other prisoners will love you.”

Twilight lay gasping on the stretcher.

The torturess picked up the saw from the ground. Twilight watched as she held the sharp blade to her horn, the serrated edge landing against the base of the horn. She screamed in pain as the pony began to saw, the fragile structure of the horn breaking apart as nerves were severed, blood vessels bursted, and a red hole appeared on Twilight’s head where her horn once stood.

She watched her magic fall off her forehead and land on the ground below. The golden ring that wrapped tightly around the base of her horn lay coiled as always. The tourturess tried to pull it off, but failing in making it budge even a millimeter. Finally, with sweat in her eyes and blood running from her lip, she finally decided to stop.

“Well, that’s enough for today, sweetie. You can go back to your cell now.”

Blood dripped down Twilight’s face.

Two guards came through the door to escort her.

The Fallen Prince

Some days, when the torturess goes easy on me, when the chef makes edible food, when I can open my port-hole and stare at the sea, I can remember what it was like to be alive. I remember my mother, my Aunt, the real sun in the sky. I remember him. Blueblood. He should be given a royal title for what he did to me. Blueblood the Traitor. It has a nice ring to it. I should have left him back in Equestria. I should have listened to Candice that he was untrustworthy. Oh, who am I kidding? He was a 22-year old blank flank. I couldn’t help but bring him along. I wanted to help my younger brother out. But how could I have known he would be my undoing? That he would learn dark magics, that he would learn the secrets of death? That he would rip the mark from my side and banish me to a premature grave? How can I express my misery as I was pulled into the darkness and the shadows? Blueblood needs to pay for his crimes, crimes that I could have prevented.

I don’t know what time is anymore. I feel like I have lived a century, yet I do not age a day. My hair does not grow white, nor do wrinkles adorn my countenance. The scenery outside the ship is always the same, and I grow weary being stuck in a floating dungeon, the victim of a crazy torturess in employment of a greedy queen. If only I knew how to escape. If only I could feel Blueblood’s flesh against my twin swords as I cut him to ribbons. I cannot ever make peace with the traitor that stole everything from me.

They are coming back. I must go.

Novus closed his diary as hoofsteps approached. The white alicorn stuffed the journal into a large pile of hay that served as his bed. He ran a hoof through his black hair. Two uniformed marines appeared, dragging his cellmate, a purple horn-less unicorn, back behind bars. Novus watched silently as the guards deposited the unicorn onto the hard wooden floor, slamming the gate behind them. The unicorn rubbed her stump with her hoof, feeling the remains of her magical focuser. Novus had tried his best to patch her up. A bandage was slung over her stump, as was over her left eye. He had applied ointment to her cuts, and wrapped her bruises with salve. The guards didn’t mind. They ripped the bandages off every time she went back to pain, taking with it scar tissue and scabs that had barely formed on her wounds. Through all this Novus watched as his cellmate slowly deteriorated, her once merely dejected attitude rapidly becoming bitter and mocking, rage building up inside the little purple unicorn. She refused all food, the only nutrients she ever got was when the tourturess force-fed her whatever slop the chef made today, covered in boiling-hot spicy sauce. She would laugh as the unicorn screamed, her mouth burning with both piquancy and pure heat, and would throw her back into the cell for Novus to fix.

Slowly, but surely, Novus would find out smatterings of his cellmate’s life. She was Celestia’s student in the real world, and had defeated Discord, the dragon of chaos by freezing him into a statue of stone. She would not tell Novus her name, nor would she speak of who she knew. Every so often, however, she would throw herself against the cell door as marines dragged a pony to the torture chamber. Novus observed who she charged at, and soon discerned that an orange earth pony with long, straw-yellow hair and a yellow pegasus with wide, tearful eyes and a pink, rolling mane were her friends. He carefully wrote all this down in his journal, careful to keep the book and the nub of a pencil he used to write hidden from the guards. He knew these kinds of security programs: tough, brawny, and low on brainpower, not like the more advanced ones that crewed Her Majesty’s ships and fought her wars. He had touched one on occasion, and found that they were made out of endless streams of ones and zeros, a security program, and not truly alive. The torturess, on the other hand, she was solid. Once, when Novus had kicked her, she only fell back. There were no ones or zeros, no endless lines of an indecipherable code. Only a shock of fluffy pink hair that flew out from under her hood as she fell back. He would try to explain all this to his cell-mate, but she would not listen, only rubbing her stump or rolling up into a ball, tears rolling down her face.

Once a week, the guards would let all the prisoners into the water to swim. They would deploy a huge net first, so the prisoners couldn’t swim away. Snipers still stood on the deck, their rifles at the ready. Once a week, Novus would meet with several other prisoners and discuss mutiny. They would talk for the entire exercise period, the guards ignoring them, only firing a warning shot or two when they got too close to the net. Slowly, over the course of a few days, Novus hatched an escape plan. Six other ponies agreed to try it: A burly, strong hulk of a unicorn, an orange pegasus with an eye-patch, a green earth pony with scars over his left eye, a thin, tiny, malnourished pegasus, a white unicorn with two-tone blue hair and deep blue eyes, and the orange earth pony that seemed to be friends with his cell-mate. He had learned her name, and the orange pony was glad to tell him his cell-mate’s name. Applejack told Novus about their adventures together, about how Twilight, his cell-mate, rescued her from an illusion world, about how they both rescued the yellow pegasus Fluttershy from the spine of the Reaper. Eventually, Novus was able to befriend a message parrot, and wrote to an old friend of the burly, mustached unicorn. Captain McGregor himself personally wrote the letter, giving the wet paper to Novus to send by parrot. He watched the bird fly away as the sun set, confident that the friend would arrive in time.

With the plans ready and the phases all set, finally Novus decided to begin his heist. It was a black night, and the cellblock was snoring away on their haystacks. Novus sat on his hay, watching his cell mate silently cry before he prodded her with his magic.

“Twilight.” said Novus.

Twilight turned from where she was lying, supported by the haystack. “Huh? H-h-how did-”

“Applejack told me.”

“H-h-how did y-”

“Swim time.”

“Oh. Okay.” She turned back around, and buried her face in the hay.

“Twilight.”

“What?” She turned around again, her eyes bloodshot and red. Novus looked at her with his pale blue ones, free of any red veins crisscrossing across the whites.

“I know how we can be free.”

“Be free of what?”

“This prison that we call home.”

“How are we ever going to get out of here? The doors are locked. The ship’s in the middle of the ocean. What are we going to do, swim forever?”

Novus reached into the haystack and pulled out a wax key. The lump of white candlestick was molded into a perfect copy of the cell key, Novus having memorized the design from the countless openings and closings of the door that he had experienced. He looked around, seeing the two guards asleep at their stations. He fiddled with the key, the wax having dried after endless days of being left outside dangling on a string, the sun baking the wax and hardening it. He looked again, confident that both guards were asleep,

“Never mind that now, Twilight. We can get out of here right here, right now. No more pain. No more torture.”

And with that, Novus reached around the bars. He stuck the key into the lock, and to Twilight’s surprise, unlocked the rusty gate. The door swung out, creaking on its joints. Again, to Twilight’s surprise, the guards did not hear the squeaking of the door. Novus silently crept out, magic muffling his movements as he silently slipped the keyring out of the guard’s hoof. He crept to the nearest cell, and unlocked it. He went to the next one, and unlocked it. Slowly but surely, Novus unlocked every cell in the block, waking the prisoners and shhhing them. Twilight watched in awe as the alicorn released the prisoners, and then, without a warning, he shouted.

“PRISON BREAK!”

I will have my revenge on you yet, Prince Blueblood.

Prologue: A Poem

Long ago, before your time,

I ruled the world, my king at my side.

Peace and prosperity were the norm,

Nopony was sad, gone, forlorn.

Our armies were great, powerful indeed,

To beat back the darkness, the evil in seed.

For once, long ago, in brightest of day

There was a grave fright, a tragedy, a shadow in light,

For a dragon, old and wise, and a dragon, young and small,

Did combine their power, their will, their all.

And so was born Saaroklir, Dragon of Chaos,

Agent of Shadow, Agent of Deceit,

Agent of Discord, Agent of Defeat.

His armies rose strong, dragons upon drakes,

Breathing green fire, did wyverns in their wake.

The armies of Chaos descended on our land

And as they fought, harmony together in one band,

Was the mighty dragon Chaos sealed away in his tomb,

And crowds of ponies sang “Defeated Chaos in his womb!”

For he was just a spark, A part of the flame,

Engorged on his power, he turned away,

From harmony and peace, from great empire,

Just so he could climb out of his mire,

And so we killed him, absorbed his soul,

and sent him to Tatarus, bound to the shoals,

For when salt water licks his wounds,

Pain beyond pain will seep and will loom.

But when pain become memory, anger becomes rage,

And agony creates rage, beyond any courage,

For the spirit of Chaos needs no flame.

Just darkness, primal and strong,

Can bring about a war, an evil beyond

Our great empire ceased to be,

As Chaos possessed the small and the weak.

Old stallions became young, foals became wise,

And fire rained forever, forever from the sky,

The spirit of chaos would once again rise.

Civil war destroyed our land, our people, our unity,

And tore apart feelings, kindness, dignity.

So the king and I, with great remorse,

Abandoned our empire to the fires of discord.

And we fled, far to the south,

Where a great forest stood, vigilant, without sound.

We stepped into the grove, thick as can be,

For at last we knew of a way to be free.

The Tree we saw, bright and gold,

Cast apart from the shadow, the darkness untold.

And so with hammer, with anvil and steel,

A pinch of our power, a bit of our Seal,

And a pinch of ashes, from my dear father,

Cadmin the Brave, Cadmin the Leader,

Cadmin the Bold, and Cadmin the Farther.

Gave the body life, beyond life and death,

And he took the weapon we forged from sleep’s caress.

Scythe in hand, black robes unfold,

The Reaper came forth, from the untold,

And wings came forth, black wing of pure shadow,

A bright spark on his head, and out came his horn,

For he had become the first Alicorn.

And with his Scythe and with his gibbet

Did he go out to collect his debt.

“10000 souls of mortal ones, bound to Chaos’s will,

And only then shall I be still,

For darkness has fallen, descended upon thou,

And the only way to stop it is to bow,

To my power, and to my blade,

And I shall purify them, the light I will raise”

10000 souls he brought to me, 10000 mortal ponies,

10000 soul of innocent ones, 10000 victims of cruelty,

and with his power and might scythe,

Did the Reaper destroy and block out the light.

So we fled again, to that forest unbridled,

Traveling with hammer, with anvil, with little,

For we took the bark of the that tree, the golden metal wood,

and forged a powerful means to do good.

Harmony will be restored, Harmony will return,

For the Elements will do so, so we learned,

But we could not wield them, powerful as we are,

For we were responsible for darkness that runs.

Like blood and like blade, we folded our hand,

Thought never to see the light again.

But destiny is brave, and destiny is bold,

This time it came is the hands of the cold.

And Destiny brought forth an idea, a thought, so silly,

For who was more pure than a just born filly?

And the king and I, weak from the Pox

Did pour ourselves into the the chains, the locks,

And we forged life once again, deep in the grove,

The Tree of Harmony glowing bright as we toiled in the smoke.

Silver and gold, blood and toil,

Did we give to create our daughters, forever loyal.

One of the sun, and one of the moon,

Did the two Alicorns come, shining new.

Immortal they were, Invulnerable they would be,

For the sun and moon were their destiny.

They would not die, they would not end

Until the sky itself would die and would bend.

And so our princesses walked forth unto shadow,

While we stood back and died, in the midst of our marrow

For our own souls were part of their being,

and we sacrificed ourselves for them to be living.

----------------------------------------------------------

Ah, so little ones, our tale begins anew,

For the Reaper is gone, his spirit diffuse.

Centuries ago the Princesses locked him away,

The Elements of Harmony leading the way.

In the darkest cave, in the dark of the night,

Did the iron coffin of the Reaper lay tonight.

Filled with his ashes, his fragmented soul,

did the Reaper lay, his body cold.

For centuries and millennia did the Reaper lay still,

As he renewed his strength, his anger, his will.

One day he broke free, escaped his iron tomb,

A ghost of ashes, incorporeal, unburdened by mortality,

did the Reaper move, quickly and swiftly,

For I was to meet my son once again,

But I was not Fair Queen Candice in her dress and gown,

But Queen Chrysalis, corrupted and down,

as my power returned, my soul restored,

a false horn became mine, a symbol of my girth

For I had become Queen of a race so large,

It swelled with races, mixture, collage.

It was not two races, it was not three,

For the shapeshifters were me, and I am thee,

Not the Gray Mare but a spirit, evil as can be.

And I met my dark son in the field,

I told him my story, my prowess, my yield,

About my corruption, my destiny, my collapse,

My Powers, my energy, my spirit of chaos,

and the alicorns responsible for my betrayal, my loss.

We hatched a plan, a gamble, a risk,

To destroy the one that would bring both of us in.

I taught him my power, my ability, my skill,

So he could capture one that I feel

Could change the world forever, powerful indeed,

and so came the wrath of the dark princessee.

For Nightmare Moon was powerful, a beacon of the dark,

Feared was she then, even by the sun, a mark

a stain on her power, a stain on her robe,

A stain that would once again be her despote

For the Elements of Harmony were used that day,

And Nightmare Moon returned to her previous state.

The Reaper was angry, his rage uncontrolled,

for he had been burned by the power of the untold.

The Elements had corrupted him, turned him bright,

But as darkness set in, I showed him the light.

“Steal the Elements, away from their gates,

And let their own heroes be their ultimate fate.”

And on that day, on that unpleasant night,

Did I try to marry Shining Armor the Right.

Disguised I was, and disguised I shall be,

For my Changelings were ready to aid me.

And in the time of chaos, in the moment of strife,

Did I see the Reaper’s form, gliding slowing in the sun

A cloud of ash flying, slow but steady run.

And in his hand he held them, the Elements I made

To corrupt and destroy, he would always portray.

and he fled away, and I righted by the light.

No longer did I care, no longer did I stand,

For my corruption was broken by love, of all the land,

A love so bright it destroyed my very soul,

And as the Gray Mare I left my empire to go,

far across the countryside, far across the sea,

To advise those I cared for about fate and the unseen

And those who run away, those that will flee,

those that struggle, those who cannot see,

Shall face the true wrath of their destiny.

Fluttering Anger

Bound to me forever, a slave to my will.

Two are now free, to roam my mind,

Now only anger can defeat them, not lies.

Anger gives you strength, rage quells the terror,

To defeat your enemy, to destroy your fear,

Rage will provide, when all else is nought.

Your Kindness is consumed, your Anger festers.

And so you are bound, a serf in my land.

Rise, Fluttershy, Servant of Anger!

The first thing Twilight felt when she jumped off the disk was the softness of the earth. The squishy green earth cushioned her fall as the disk disappeared, stranding Twilight and Applejack in a whole new world. Green pigment clung to her coat as she sat up, her head revolving as she looked around. Behind her, she heard the squiish of Applejack hitting the ground, the newly revived pony still shaking her head as small splashes of darkness dribbled out from her ears. She looked back at Applejack, who gave her a thumbs-up as she pulled herself off the earth, the green pigment staining her coat and hooves. Twilight grinned at Applejack’s furious attempt to remove the stains, coloring herself with the sticky green ooze as she spit over her hooves and arms, rubbing the coloration so hard that hair began to fall off her legs. Twilight returned to observing the grand room as Applejack tried to clean herself.

The ground they stood upon was only one of several, twisting and looping throughout the room, leaves and branches jutting out of the green tubes at odd angles. Below, the green tubes disappeared forever downwards, reaching into an abyss so deep Twilight could only see the darkness at the end. The pipe they stood on entered a nearby wall, separating into many smaller, brown roots at the wall, the roots holding the massive structure in place. Many other tubes were similar, huge green pipes attached to the walls with hundreds of thin brown roots, while countless others entwined the the middle of the chamber, forming a huge pillar that rose into the light above them, and went deep into the abyss below them. More and more tubes conjoined with the pillar as it went downwards, thickening the massive structure. Twilight walked down the green tube, towards the central pillar, with the now-clean Applejack trotting along behind her. Tripping over a branch, Twilight saw tiny leaves on the surface of the branch, sickle-shaped and sharp, cutting Twilight’s legs as she had fell. Applejack reached her hoof out to her friend as she bucked the branch, breaking it in two and sending the stick down into the abyss. They watched it fall, bouncing off several pipes and hitting the brown walls. Then, suddenly, air rushed through the room as was could only be described as a shout vibrated through the room, shaking the pipe that the ponies stood upon. Branches sprouted out of the green tube as Twilight struggled to regain her balance, confused by the sudden outburst. Leaves grew on the branched, the sickle-shaped leaves slowing taking form as Twilight helped Applejack up. Boomerang-sized leaves launched from the branches, flying at the unicorn. Twilight ducked just in time as a huge green blade wizzed above her, cutting another tube as it slowly disintegrated, brown overtaking the green as it fell. Twilight looked at the branches, praying for her life as she narrowly dodged another blade, cutting her leg as it flew by. Leaves flew at the ponies, spilling their blood as they dodged blade after blade, no noticing the massive lacerations the blades carelessly left in the tube’s structure. Twilight, buffeted by the endless stream of razor-sharp leaves, ran towards the brown roots on the other side of the pipe, as boomerangs whizzed above her head, cutting her new bangs as she pulled on the roots, heaving with all her might as a torrent of blades came at her. Twilight stared as a leaf blade entered the wall three inches from her nose, servering the roots. Applejack ran to Twilight as she dodged the leaf storm, the blades seamlessly cutting through the brown growth. The tube shook as the roots broke, releasing the green superstructure from the wall. Angry sounds came from the abyss as gusts of wind blasted Twilight and Applejack, breaking the pipe and turning their once-stupple ground into a slide into hell. Twilight tried to spread her wings, but the shining limbs never came, and her attempts to grab a branch were met with pain, as every branch she reached for stung her hooves with razor-sharp blades. The two ponies fell as their branch collapsed, its connection gone. Wind shot past the ponies as they fell down the bottomless pit, narrowly avoiding the green tubes as they plunged.

Twilight screamed as Applejack disappeared from beside her, a long grey branch grabbing her from below and pulling her into one of the green tubes. Twilight watched as the branch pulled Applejack into the tube, her shrill scream blocked as the tube bubbled for a bit, they lay still. Twilight cringed as she saw another grey branch come towards her, dead branches and leaves hanging off the massive appendage. It wrapped itself around Twilight, the nubs of dead branches poking into her skin as her fall stopped. She felt her air expelled completely as the appendage gripped her chest tightly, far too tightly to allow her more than a small gulp of air. Twilight’s front leg felt broken by the impact, and her tired body was too exhausted to resist as the appendage retreated into a tube, taking Twilight with it.

Her screams were drowned out, her breath bubbling as viscous green liquid entered her lungs, filled her cheat. Her face turned dark red, her eyes squeezing shut as she filtered out every last piece of oxygen in her lungs, holding her breath as gallons of the liquid wound their way up her nose, into her mouth, soaking through her eyes. Twilight felt the world go black as she squeezed out the last drop of oxygen in her breath, releasing pure carbon dioxide through her mouth. Unbreathable bubbles fled from her mouth and rushed down the tube with her, the green sludge carrying them along. Twilight struggled to find more oxygen, but her lungs were filled with the liquid, and her nose would not breathe. Her body went into shock, lurching spasmodically and making jerking movements as oxygen left her body, her brain burning, her lungs full and yet empty...

So this is how I’ll die...

Twilight closed her eyes.

...

I...

I’m...

I’m... still...here...

Twilight opened her eyes.

Green liquid still surrounded the purple unicorn, soaking into her skin and her mane. Roots held Twilight down, and from her newly opened eyes came shock. She was sealed in some sort of pod, a biological growth on the side of a green tube. She exhaled, and bubbles seeped out of her nose and mouth, but when she tried to inhale, she swallowed more of the green liquid. The liquid filled her lungs, but to her surprise, death did not come to visit her again. Instead she felt her brain gasping in relief as oxygen returned to the fragile organ. Blood began to flow again as she stretched what she could, the roots that held her down were too strong for Twilight to break. She felt the roots digging into her ankles, but they did not sting. She felt branches poking into her sides, but they did not hurt. Instead she felt nothing, her nerves dulled, anesthesia flowing into her veins, covering her body in the buzzing sensation of a cut off circulation. Electricity flowed through her skin, entering her insides and scorching her organs. And yet despite the frenzied pulses of power that shot through her veins, Twilight remained still. The anesthesia made her drowsy, her brain unable to comprehend her surroundings as the soft lull of sleep took her over, her eyes closing as darkness clouded her vision and she drifted away.

...

The cool caress of sleep embraced Twilight in its arms.

...

A soothing wind blew over Twilight’s mane. It rippled in the air, purple hair whipping across Twilight’s serene face.

...

A sound cracked across the plains. Tha-thump-Shing.Tha-thump-Shing. A red light glowed across the empty landscape, illuminating the featureless plains. Tha-thump-Shing.Tha-thump-Shing.

...

Twilight slept.

...

The sound became louder, the wind grew soft. Tha-thump-Shing.Tha-thump-Shing. A featureless gray pony, her head covered by a gray hood that matched her coat walked up to Twilight’s sleeping body. She limped along, a massive spear in her hoof, used as a walking stick as it cut into the ground. Tha-thump-Shing.Tha-thump-Shing. The spear was made of wood, a curling congregation of branches that wound around each other, holding a huge blade on one side, the branches curling over the shining iron, and a crimson ball in the other, glowing with energy.

The gray pony stepped next to Twilight. She stuck her spear into the ground, her hood obscuring blank features as she carefully prodded the lavender unicorn with her hoof.

...

...ughhh....

Twilight turned in her sleep. Her face contorted, her body tensed up, unhappy at the disturbance. But the disturbance was enough to keep her awake, and Twilight found that she could not return to oblivion. She forced herself to open her eyes, her vision clouded by sleep, her eyelids heavy and her mane in a huge mess...

...Wonder how Rarity would think of me now...

She lifted her tired head, every muscle in her neck sore with sleep, her eyelids still drooping as she groggily looked around. She rubbed her eyes, her legs crying out at every movement, her bloodshot pupils blinking as her once-clouded vision cleared, to reveal a featureless landscape, without life, without weather, without color. The ground she sat on was brilliant white, without even a stain on the clean blank surface. She looked around a bit more, but she felt weights on her eyelids again, and with a tired yawn she stood up.

She stretched her muscles, releasing rust-covered joints and damaged ligaments from immobility. She whipped her tail, shaking off dust and dirt from her grimy tuft. She forced her eyes open, the lethargy that once held them down dissipating as her muscles burned with activity. She opened her purple eyes fully, taking in the featureless landscape. Nothing. No hills, no plants, no, not even a tumbleweed rolled across the blank canvas. She tapped the ground, but it was as hard as stone, but without any feel to it. A blank texture on a huge expanse of paper. She saw the same whiteness for as long as she could see, the sky and the land blending together in a white globe that surrounded Twilight, enclosing her in a featureless prison that seemed impossible to exist.

“Ah, so you’re awake.”

Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned around. The owner of the voice stood tall, a gray pony wearing a hood that matched her coat. A huge spear stood by her side, the blade of which was embedded into the colorless ground. Twilight’s eyes snapped into focus, pushing away the burning feeling of the white landscape, looking only at the gray pony who stood before her.

“Oh, it’s you again.” said Twilight.

“Yes, Twilight. Your ancestor comes to haunt you once more. In fact, I believe you’re in...a spot of trouble. As for help, I’ll be happy to provide it. Just say my name.”

“What...exactly is your name? I never got it the last time we spoke.”

“Ah, my child, that is for you to decide. I am simply here. I am no one unless you give me a name. I have been called many names over my long life. Fate. Serendipity. Destiny. But you, need a true name to call others by, a name that will pop out from the rest. Call me, if you will, by my true name, a name that I have never property used in centuries. Candice. Queen Candice.”

The gray pony lifted her hoof, the gray leg that supported it as featureless as the surrounding landscape. Twilight gingerly reached to shake it, and as she grabbed it, her eyes glowed with power as light entered her body, her very soul bathed in light as she saw.

Just before her senses dulled, Twilight heard Candice say “Let’s hope this doesn’t half-kill her like last time.”

Countless images flew my her eyes. The same gray mare, much younger, with color in her coat and mane stood next to a majestic golden pegasus, on a throne that looked much like Princess Celestia’s royal seat. They spoke to someone, a cloaked alicorn with blank wings and a black horn, carrying a huge scythe on his shoulder. From what Twilight could see, they were angry at the dark alicorn. The two ponies opened their mouths, shouting at the dark figure. But the alicorn did not react. He simply lifted his scythe. But before he could slash, the two ponies disappeared in a flash of light.

‘Long ago, Twilight Sparkle, I faced an enemy that you too have fought.” said the grey pony. Twilight heard her voice, plain and simple, but she still saw the images flying into her eyes.

“Chaos. A mighty dragon named Saaroklir was made from the unity of two dragons of opposite temperament. One old and wise, the other young and imaginative. One of fire, the other of frost. Together their power grew, forming Chaos. They grasped the black flame, and unleashed it upon the world. I fought back. I defeated Chaos, and trapped him forever in his prison.”

Images of a battle between a huge, two-headed dragon and a tiny unicorn flashed by Twilight’s eyes. She saw the figure of the unicorn launch huge bolts of lightning at the mighty dragon, before dodging streams of fire and ice that surged out of the dragon’s mouths. The breath burned the unicorn, her cloak rippling with flame as she threw it off, her gray mane fluttering in the howling wind. She lifted her horn, rippling with primal energy, but instead of casting her magic, she raised a huge spear. Twilight could have sworn that that same spear lay just a few inches from her, embedded into the ground. The unicorn propelled the sky towards the sky, lighting rippling from the massive blade, swirling the clouds above and causing lightning to crack the sky. The dragon roared as a massive hole opened in the ground below it, lighting shattering the ice they stood upon, the dual-headed beat screaming as it plummeted into the chasm.

“He was gone, or so I thought. Chaos would return, and he would be our doom. He possessed the small and the weak, gathering their strength until all of Equestria was battened down in a mighty civil war. Never did he show his face, always using the populace to his advantage. We could not defeat him, not when he was unable to be touched.”

Twilight saw fires burning a forest, tents blazing, the shadow of a nearby city engulfed in inferno. Inside the burning forest, the flashes and explosions cast shadows of unicorns hurling magic utilizing ancient and dark offensive spells that burned and seared, froze and entangled. Pegasi waved swords, howling battle cries as they charged armored legions, their shields interlocked as sword strikes bounced off the tortoise. Armored ponies fired arrows towards the crowd of unicorns as scantily-armed earth ponies charged the legion with pickaxes and pitchforks, their agricultural tools helpless against the silver blades and iron spears of the legions. Twilight saw the legion kill thousands of helpless peasants, and in the midst of the melee, a dark, cloaked alicorn swinging a scythe larger than he was, cleaving the helpless workers in two as ponies screamed for mercy, for mother and for water, and for death.

“We were losing our war. Day after day more soldiers left the army, more pegasi left the air force. And day after day the rebels grew stronger, enraged by the evil Saaroklir. They clashed with our legions, burned our homes and our forests. I did the only thing I could. To stop the rebellion, we created the Reaper. ”

The regal unicorn and the majestic pegasus worked in darkness. Sparks flew as hammer met steel, light met darkness. The fire of a forge burned brightly as they bent and shaped, enchanted and cursed. An alicorn took shape in the darkness, illuminated by the huge flames of the forge as the King and Queen of Equestria pounded metal and shaped shadow. The unicorn weaved a black cloak, her color draining out of her body as she wove, her bright eyes becoming dim as she pumped her very essence into her work, her soul merging with the cloth. The pegasus pounded on a huge blade, working diligently to strap the massive curved cutter on the end of a long wooden pole. They etched magical symbols on the metal alicorn, bolt together wings and a horn, legs and a tail. They draped the cloak on the black body, leaned the massive scythe against his metal shoulder. The unicorn lifted a clay pot, covered with arcane symbols as the lid was taken off, and a massive trail of ashes entered a hole on the front of the metal alicorn. Slowly, the rivets melted, the seams collapsed as the metal moved. Once-false eyes blinked with life, shedding tears of liquid that rolled down the alicorn’s face. Dark wings flapped as the alicorn moved around, holding the massive scythe as if it were but a stick. He stood in front of the two ponies, breathing in the air, stretching living muscles that were, once before made of metal. The Reaper bowed before the ponies, his head touching the ground.

“What will you have me do?”

“The Reaper killed us all. He slaughtered countless towns of countryfolk, once even exterminating an entire city. His scythe ran red with blood every day, and he was feared through the land. Innocents were killed without mercy, rebels were treated the same. Everyone was a target in his lustful eyes, and the Reaper killed with indifference. The King and I stood vigil at our palace, the visits from our “son” becoming more and more insane every day as the Reaper endlessly slew, endlessly ended the lives of countless individuals. The power of death itself entwines the Reaper’s soul, and as long as death exists, so will he. He is a Marcher, like you and I. He was the seventh one in the great prophecy. And he...brought death to our land.

We hatched a desperate plan. The King and I returned to the forge of death’s creation, in the dark forest you know now as the Everfree one. An ancient tree lies in its center, a shining beacon in a world of darkness. Its bark is pure gold, its leaves silver, and gems are its roots. We forged the Elements of Harmony on that day, taking the essence of the tree and the essence of our souls to create something, anything that could stop the Reaper.

But once we finished the construction, we ourselves could not use the mighty artefacts. We had broken harmony by creating the Reaper, a force of chaos and destruction, a malevolent being that existed to kill. So we created more in his likeness. Your princesses, Twilight Sparkle. They were of our creation.”

Twilight watched as the King and Queen constructed at the forge. Metal statues of the Princesses stood in the middle of the clearing, lifeless sculptures of metal without even a single spark of life.. Celestia stood tall, her white metal body covered in magical etchings as the King bolted on her wings. Luna stood diligently by her side, the Queen welding her metal mane on to her bare head. The princesses took shape as the royals diligently constructed, their color and their age draining away. Wrinkles formed on the King’s once regal head, and the Queen’s once beautiful mane lost its vibrant sheen and turned gray as a cloudy sky.

When the sculptures of metal were finally complete, the royals stood in front of their metal children. The Queen unstopped a bottle, shining bright with solar dust, and the king did the same, in his hands a bowl filled with moonstones. Magic rippled through the grove as the dust and stones rose out of their containers, and entered the metal forms of the two princesses. Metal became skin, fabric became hair, a once-dormant horn rippled with magical energy as Celestia and Luna came to life, born out of metal and fabric, now living beings of blood and flesh. The King and Queen brought forth a massive chest, their old and paltry forms struggling to lift the container. Setting the box down in front of the Princesses, they opened the chest. The Elements of Harmony glowed bright inside.

“With the Elements in the hands of my daughters, I had no reason to exist. I sacrificed my power and my soul to spark their life, to kindle a flame that would never die, for they were connected to the sun and moon, as the Reaper was to death itself. As long as their celestial bodies would exist, so would they. And as they aged, so would they. My daughters destroyed the Reaper’s body, sealed him in a cave inside a dark mountain, bound by chains of light and by tendrils of shadow. His ashes were all that was left, his spirit fragmented, his person gone. They thought he would stay there forever. They were wrong.”

“Twilight Sparkle, You have a perilous journey ahead of you. But Destiny has decided that you will take it. You will live, for this is not where you will die, my child. There exists other games to play, other people to save.”

“As for help, I will most certainly be able to provide it. Take this.” She reached up to her horn, and unstrapped the golden bracer. She handed it to Twilight, the smooth golden surface reflecting the crimson ball’s light. Once it landed in her hoof, it shrunk in size until it was little more than a golden ring, and with great haste floated out of her hoof and around her horn, sliding down the appendage until it fastened securely at the base. The mare then cocked her head to the side, as if trying to remember something. Then, her eyes opened fully and she reached into her cloak. She pulled out a large scroll, bound by a piece of red ribbon.

“Here,” she said, giving the scroll to Twilight. “Give this scroll to your brother. I promised him something and I need to give it to him.”

“Oh, and before I forget, here.” She handed Twilight her spear. “This is the only thing that can cut the Spine’s vines and thorns. I should know. It cuts through practically everything. You...also need it to... unlock something I put up. Here. Just take it. Be careful with it. Bladecaster does not differentiate who it cuts... or who it destroys.”

Twilight’s heart thumped with fear. Her brain wrote huge checklists of questions as the Gray Mare handed her the mighty spear. Twilight looked at the blade with fear, her mind racing as questions overflowed it, pouring down the sides, desperate to exit her mouth. She grabbed the mighty spear with her magic, her brain bursting with unanswered ponderings as the gray mare disappeared into darkness, the white space around her filling with blackness as Twilight lost herself in the shadow. She dropped the spear, her heart racing as the dark closed around her, her body felt like she was being twisted apart, and then,...

Everything went dark.

...

Twi!

Twi! Are you awright?

...huh?...

“Twi! Twilight Sparkle! It’s me, Applejack!”

Twilight rose from the hard ground. She felt roots escaping her body, exiting places they they never should have been in, felt branches unraveling around her ankles as the whoosh of a stick cut through the air. A loud, nasty schhlick rang in Twilight’s ears as a something was cut a few feet away from her head.

“Get up Twi’! ‘Ere, ‘old onta this spear here.”

Applejack lifted the damaged Twilight onto her shoulder. She handed the huge spear to Twilight, using the weapon as a crutch to help her stand walk. Applejack gingerly adjusted the spear, moving it around until it was snug under Twilight’s front left leg. She heaved Twilight up, the dazed purple unicorn still trying to recover from the strange and debilitating dream she experienced only seconds earlier. The two ponies walked along, limping away from the bio-pods that just minutes before had held them captive. Periodically Applejack would slash at a root i the ground with the mighty spear, cleaving through the plant like a hot knife through butter. Eventually, Twilight released herself from Applejack, and began to canter. Energy returned to Twilight as the spear glowed, the red ball at one end ignited with red flame. The two ponies looked at the darkness around them, the brown walls of the cave surrounded them, once covered in shadow, now lit by arcane fire. The ponies looked up, the massive column of green tubes ending just above them, stretching up for as far as Twilight could see. Twilight waved around the staff, revealing a small passageway just big enough for Applejack to fit through. The two ponies helped each other up as they squeezed through the gaps, crawling up a small, cramped tunnel. The staff lit the way with its arcane beacon, shrinking in Twilight’s hoof so it could fit through the tiny passageway. The two ponies climbed up and out of the hole, and the staff reverted to its original size, the blade gleaming as Twilight flipped it around. The red ball neared the ground as the spearhead swung forward. Holding the weapon in her hoof, she turned to observe the dim room. A hole overhead let a tiny bit of light inside, the green tube still above them, spiraling forever into the sky. In front of the ponies lay a massive black door, with a massive padlock positioned in the center of the dark entrance, held up by four black chains. The keyhole on the padlock was unique: it almost completely matched the spear that Twilight held tight next to her.

This must be the lock Candice put up, Twilight thought.

“Well, uh, Twi? Wha’ should we do? Maybe we should put your spearstaff thingamajigger in that keyhole. It looks like it may fit. I’m bettin’ that there’s one of our friends in there. We best go an’ save ‘er.”

Twilight nodded. Sweat trickled down her brow as she let the staff go, inserting it into the keyhole. The staff disappeared into the black door.

There was silence.

Twilight and Applejack stared anticipatingly at the black door.

...

...whirrr...

...whirrrr...whirrr...CLANK...WHIRRRWHIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRR

The sound of millions of mechanical gears echoed through the room as one of the massive black chains holding the lock fell. The lock tilted to the side as the chain came crashing to the ground.

CLANK!

WHIRRRRRRIRRRIRRIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

The door yelled angrily as another chain came crashing down.

CLANK!

Twilight jumped out of the way as the third chain came crashing down. Heat escaped through tiny vents in the door as the gears and motors spun at dizzying rates, filling the room with the mind-bending noise of gears grinding against gear, motors buzzing and cranks spinning with such fury that sparks flew out of the door.

CLANK!

The final chain fell from the door, narrowly missing Applejack. The orange pony kicked the black chain as it lay still, the door’s ornately crafted padlock falling off. With one last hisss of steam, the door rolled to the side.

Inside the black door was what could only be described as a monstrosity.

Twilight gasped as the horrible beast loomed above her.

A massive brown lump stood in the center of its chamber, pulsing like a massive heart.. Massive roots extended from the thing, stretching across the chamber and burrowing into the ground, smaller roots erupting out of the larger ones. More roots held up the biological construct, elevating it over the two ponies. Huge tubes circled overhead, filled with a dark brown fluid that constantly moved around, feeding into the giant brown lump that stood silent in the center of the room. The chamber reeked of waste and of death, and the corpses of countless woodland animals littered the huge room, all in various stages of decay. The brown lump pulsed with great vigor, sending great tufts of brown liquid into the chamber. At the center of the lump was a small pony, lashed to the biological mess by four gray, decaying branches, holding her spread-eagled. Her wings were spread out, and countless other small branches pierced her skin, pumping an endless stream of brown chemical into her bruised and battered body.

Fluttershy cried out in pain as the chemicals began pouring out of her ears, her eyes, her nose, any opening hey could find. Brown fluid burned the yellow pegasus’ body, leaving horrible scars all over her legs and wings. Twilight reeled back as more chemical began pouring out of Fluttershy, soaking the ground around her with chemical burns. The brown fluid sprayed everywhere, burning the ground and the roots, the rock and the soil. A drop got on Applejack, and she yelped as it left a tiny burn on her right flank.

“Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!”

And, as suddenly as it came, the chemical stream stilled. Fluttershy gasped for air as the branches resumed their endless pumping, and the brown lump behind her continued to pulse. Twilight and Applejack slowly walked up to the damaged Fluttershy, careful to avoid the puddles of the chocolate-brown acid that lay around the biological mess. Twilight gingerly climbed up the roots, slipping a few times on the bigger, rounder ones. With a boost from Applejack, she was finally able to climb onto the platform of roots, eye-to-eye with the corrupted and damaged pegasus.

“F-fluttershy? You there?”

“T-t-twilight... You c-c-c-came... to help m-m-m-me? Oh, I’m s-so happy, I could just SCREAM!”

Fluttershy let out a massive roar as the ground shook beneath Twilight. Applejack shouted for Twilight as roots erupted out of the ground, grabbing both ponies and lifting them into the air.

“YOU! YOU ABANDONED ME HERE! YOU LEFT ME TO DIE! YOU RAN OFF WITH YOUR OTHER FRIENDS AND LEFT ME TO BURN! LOOK AT ME! ACID RUNS THROUGH MY VEINS, CHEMICALS RIP THROUGH MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE! I CAN NEVER FORGIVE YOU! YOU!DIE!”

Fluttershy roared with primal anger as she threw Twilight around like a ragdoll. She slammed the lavender unicorn into the ground, gripping her tightly in her roots, smashing her into the stone, the dirt, her other roots. Chemicals poured over Twilight, burning her and scalding her wounds. Fluttershy laughed as Twilight burned in her hand. Chemicals dripped from Twilight as she sprayed brown fluid into Twilight’s mouth, burning her tongue and destroying her stomach. Fire raged through Twilight as Fluttershy brought anger down upon her, ripping Twilight apart as the root ran a branch straight through Twilight’s chest, sending the chemicals that had invaded her stomach flying away. With a casual flick of the root, the enraged Fluttershy flung Twilight away. She brought four more roots to bear on Twilight’s barely breathing form as she struggled to cough up the chemicals, her digestive tract too damaged to feel anything. Twilight struggled away, even as the frenzied roots came closer, the product of Fluttershy’s newfound rage ready to end her journey here, once and for all.

“You have a perilous journey ahead of you. But Destiny has decided that you will take it. You will live, for this is not where you will die, my child.”

Twilight heard voices speak as she closed her eyes, the chemicals rapidly turning her into mush.

She felt her lungs disintegrate, her stomach dissolve, her heart and her soul melting.

But Destiny would not let her die.

A needle-sharp pain pierced her heart. A Destiny Link. Blood poured out of her face once again, but this time Twilight was ready. She shrugged off the fluid, letting the red liquid fall to the ground. Acid followed it, pouring out of her sweat pores like rain during squall season. Her wounds healed themselves, needles of light repairing tears in her body like Rarity fixing tears in clothes. She felt her organs returning, lungs filling up a spot that, just a moment before, had been covered with chocolate-brown toxin. The spear clattered in front of her as Twilight was set down, the light fading away as her injuries disappeared, her life miraculously restored. She picked up the staff, and held the blade close to her. The Destiny Link dissolved into ash as she closed her eyes, then opened them wide.

“YOU! YOU INSOLENT FOOL!”

Twilight narrowed her eyes.

“Showtime.” she said.

Twilight jumped, swinging the mighty spear. Roots reached for her, but Twilight cut them down, the spear’s mighty blade cleaving through the plants without any resistance. She landing, and ran towards the plant node, the spear’s blade dragging behind her, cutting the ground and the roots as she ran.

“NO! YOU NEED TO DIE! CREATURES! KILL HER!”

The corpses of the animals sat up off the ground. Zombie tigers leapt at Twilight as zombie rabbits and zombie squirrels ran at her, claws bared, fangs locked, fists raised. Twilight smiled.

She swung the mighty staff, unleashing a wave of arcane fire that blasted back the zombie horde, reducing them to ashes in an instant. The powerful blade cut neat rows across a zombie bear’s chest as Twilight rushed forward, cutting down waves of zombies, the blade singing with energy as countless undead fell to her staff.

She stepped in front of Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus thrashing against her bonds.

Twilight raised her blade, anger in her eyes. Fluttershy screamed as the biological mess released her, chemical tubes breaking and roots dissolving into dust as the shivering yellow pegasus back against the brown lump.

Applejack grabbed Twilight’s shoulders, her hooves pulling as hard as she could. But Twilight couldn’t see. She only saw Fluttershy in front of her, weak, alone, tired. She swung her blade...

And Destiny stopped her. Another Link came shooting out of nowhere, piercing her skin. But no blood came this time. Only a strong feeling of... restraint.

Twilight missed the yellow pegasus by a hair, cleaving into the brown lump itself. A fanatical array of cuts followed, as Applejack hurried Fluttershy out of the way. The staff sung loudly as its crimson blade burned with arcane fire, cutting and burning the massive plant, covering its deprecated surface with thousands of deep cuts before finally ending the plant with a single, powerful thrust.

The plant screamed in anger. Without a voice, it yelled as vibrations riddled the room, the brown node falling from the roots, shriveling into tufts of ash. A golden necklace fell from the corpse of the plant, rolling near Twilight. The Element of Kindness glowed in her hand, purified from the darkness that once bound it. But just as Twilight was about to throw the Element to Applejack, a loud BOOM struck the room. Twilight looked up to see cracks forming on the ceiling, the roots that held it dissolving to dust. Twilight jumped towards the other two ponies as the ceiling collapsed, the roots that once held it up breaking apart. Rock fell from far above, cracking and breaking the stone floor, making huge craters. Twilight felt the staff knocked from her hand as a stone hit her hoof. Stinging with pain, Twilight cradled her hoof, blowing on it, rubbing the appendage carefully. But just as she felt pain dissolve, more rocks smashed against the stone floor. She saw Applejack just barely dodge a massive boulder, Fluttershy closely following the orange pony. A stone nearly fell on Twilight as she smartly rolled out of the way, looking up at the torrent of stone. The entire cave was collapsing under the strain of its own weight, a hailstorm of rock barreling down on the three ponies that ran around below, narrowly dodging falling boulders.

No time to talk.

Twilight ran.

An opening in the rock formed as a root dissolved. The three ponies rushed to the newly opened cave as the cave collapsed on itself, the roots that once held it together dying and turning into ash. Twilight pushed the other two into the cave before jumping in herself, just avoiding a massive rock that sealed off the cave.

“Is everypony okay?” said Twilight.

“Shhh, Fluttershy. It’s gonna be O.K” said Applejack.

Twilight heard the yellow pegasus whimper in the dark. She reached for the staff, but it had gone. Damnit! I must have left it in the cave when I killed that thing.

Twilight, tired as she was, tried to muster a light from her horn. At first it was weak and dim, but a few seconds of concentration was all Twilight needed, and her light shone bright, illuminating the tunnel. She looked down the winding path, her horn’s light unable to reach the end. But her eagle eyes looked closely, and she saw the faintest, tiniest glimmer of light.

She turned to her friends.

“It’s O.K Fluttershy, I’m O.K. I promise.”

“R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-really, Tt-t-t-twi? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to try and hurt you or anything, I-i-i just...”

“I know, Fluttershy. I know.”

The two friends embraced, Twilight wiping the salty tears of Fluttershy’s bloodshot green eyes. She placed the Element of Kindness around Fluttershy’s neck, the pink butterfly on the necklace glowing with energy. Fluttershy wept on Twilight’s shoulder, her sobs slowly dying out as her eyes dried, leaving only the loud sniffles. Fluttershy managed a weak grin, tears still leaking out of her eyes.

“Someday, we’ll get out of here. I promise.”

Twilight helped the sniffling pegasus onto her feet. Fluttershy still sniffled a bit, but at last she stopped.

“C’mon guys! I think there’s something at the end of this tunnel!” yelled Applejack.

“Let’s go!” yelled Fluttershy, as loud as she could. The yellow pegasus galloped down the tunnel, her hoofsteps dying away as Twilight followed her.

Into the light again, she thought.