Darkshard Chronicles

by sevenofeleven

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Sad, Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Mayor Mare, Adventure, Mr. Cake, Discord
Length: 6817

Purple crystals fall from the sky threatening all of Equestria.

Purple crystals fall from the sky threatening all of Equestria.

Published 2013-12-06 12:30:03 UTC
Last updated 2013-12-06 12:30:03 UTC

DarkShard Chronicles Chapter 1

DarkShard Chronicles Chapter 1

DarkShard Chronicles
Chapter 1

Twilight Sparkle woke up in bed cold and shivering. Where are my covers? She thought. She looked over the edge of her bed to the right, no covers there. On the left side the covers were lying on the floor. I must have kicked them off while I had that nightmare.

She could not remember any details about the nightmare other than there was a lot of running. A feeling of foreboding surfaced. Why? Golden sunlight streamed through the windows. Birds were singing. Seemed like a perfect morning. Twilight still felt that something bad was coming. Time to get up.

At two, Twilight was going to a picnic with her friends. That would be great. She missed them a lot. Maybe her feelings were related to the reason she was here?

When Twilight was in Canterlot she had spent a lot of time doing intensive magical research with the leaders of several mage groups. It was a dream come true. All sorts of different magics to study. The problem was she did not pace herself too well. That led to an embarrassing fainting spell before an important experiment. Mage leader, Bright Star had to order Twilight out of the lab and back to Ponyville.

A glance at the mirror showed a purple unicorn with tired deep set purple eyes. If Celestia could see how thin Twilight was, she would be really concerned. No, I will not give my mentor more to worry about. Twilight resolved to eat more.

While she was in the ecstasy of doing research a lot of things got neglected. A growl from her hungry stomach agreed with that thought.

Downstairs, Spike her purple and green dragon ward and friend was reading a book avidly. He looked up. Twilight could tell he was concerned.

"Are you OK?" Spike asked gingerly.

He knew about Twilight's moods.

"Yeah. Too bad I did not take you with me. Maybe I made a mistake there," Twilight admitted.

Spike would have warned her before she fainted.

"Do you want me to get you something?" Spike asked.

"Thats OK. I will get my own food. Did you eat yet?" Twilight questioned.

"No, I was reading the latest story from Stephen Fang. Cuddles is great! Its about a cute bunny that goes crazy. Then it goes on a killing spree," Spike said and smiled.

Twilight was not sure she was comfortable with Spike reading such gory books. He is a baby dragon after all. On the other hoof, the story did sound interesting. A bit of fiction might be good for her.

"Do you think that Fluttershy would like that story?" Twilight asked.

Spike burst out laughing. They laughed for a few minutes. Felt good to laugh like this.

"When you are finished, can I read that story?" Twilight asked.

"Sure. I finished the Whining. You can read it," Spike handed Twilight the book.

Twilight read the description. A young colt with a strange ability must protect his parents from a mysterious inn. Yeah, I am going to read this later today, she thought. Spike put a bookmark in his book. He went into the kitchen to fix something to eat for the both of them.

Several hours later, Twilight was still reading "The Whining". Poor Billy. Running into those ghost fillies is not good for his mental health.

"Come on Twilight! We are going to be late for the picnic!" Spike screamed.

He had been trying to get Twilight's attention for a few minutes.

"Sorry Spike, that book is really enthralling," Twilight said.

She helped Spike load the saddlebags and they went to the doorway. When Spike opened the door, bright sunshine warmed them. Twilight had missed some of that. The light faded away. A cold wind started to blow.

Twilight and Spike took some more steps out of the doorway. They looked up at the sky. Black clouds moved in over the town. Within the roiling masses, purple flashes could be seen. Spike wondered what was up with the weather. He had heard nothing from the pegasi. Rumbling and roaring could be heard. Then purple crystals started raining down from the clouds. Ponies began to shriek in panic!

"Quick, Spike, we need to go to the basement!" Twilight yelled over the noise of the impacting crystals.

She closed the door and cowered in the basement. A few seconds later there was a loud crash. Nobody wanted to go out to investigate. Even though they were underground, Spike and Twilight could still hear some of the impacts of the shards.

A few hours, really it was minutes later. Felt like hours though. Twilight cracked the door open. The crystals stopped falling. Some ponies were still yelling.

Twilight walked back into the library. Some books had fallen from the upper shelves. Spike sighed, more work to do. The ceiling was bulging. A tip of a purple crystal peeked out. She went upstairs to check out her room.

In the doorway was a small bunch of purple crystals. They emitted some sort of whine like a mosquito. It made Twilight's ears twitch. As she walked closer the whine got higher. The noise was getting on Twilight's nerves. Also the large crystal started to vibrate at a lower frequency. The sound could be felt in her bones. Not a pleasant feeling. Twilight retreated.

She thought about scanning them with her magic sense. A quick probe caused the crystals to hum louder. Anything more powerful would make things worse. All Twilight could get was the crystals were not from Equestria and it was not pony magic. Definitely not good or friendly magic either.

"Whats going on upstairs?" Spike asked.

He could hear the sounds. They made him nervous.

"I tried to get more information about the crystals and they did not like it," Twilight said.

"Spike, take a letter!" Twilight started.

"Wait, wait! I don't have a quill or paper," Spike said.

He carefully stepped around the crystals on the floor to get the writing supplies. Once he had quill and paper in claw he was ready.

"Dear Princess Celestia. I am sorry to report that strange purple crystals have landed all over Ponyville. I have done a preliminary examination of the crystals. They are not from any known branch of pony magic and are probably unsafe, maybe even dangerous. Please advise on what to do next," Twilight dictated.

Spike sent the letter with a puff of green flame.

"What should we do now?" Spike asked.

Twilight thought about that for a second. She had no idea what was going on outside but it may not be good to expose a baby dragon to awful things.

"Stay here. Stay away from the crystals. If Celestia replies, you could meet me either at SugarCube Corners or Rarity's dress boutique. I will come back here when I am done," Twilight advised Spike.

Twilight left while Spike watched the crystals in the middle of the library with growing concern.

Outside it was cold and quiet except for some screams in the distance. The sky was covered in gray clouds like a Fall day. All of the birds must have flown away. Some ponies had been impaled by the crystals and lay in pools of blood. Twilight was glad Spike did not travel with her. This was too gruesome.

Was that Golden Harvest over there? Twilight did not want to look closer.

All she had to do was keep her head down and just get to Rarity's.

Someone was crying inside. It sounded like Sweetie Belle. Twilight knocked on the door with her left fore hoof. Sweetie opened the door.

"She won't wake up! She won't wake up!" Sweetie kept saying that over and over.

Rarity was lying in a heap next to a wall. Blood was dribbling out of her nose and mouth. A purple crystal had crashed through the roof and was in the middle of the ground floor keening away. The noise made Twilight's teeth vibrate. She focused on Sweetie.

"We have to get Rarity outside away from this thing. Please help me carry her out," Twilight said.

Sweetie Belle nodded yes. Her horn glowed green and Rarity's hindquarters slowly levitated off of the ground. Twilight used her telekinesis to lift the rest and open the door. Rarity was carried outside and dropped on the ground. Sweetie Belle lost her concentration when Rarity kicked her by accident.

"Hey! Stop kicking me!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

Rarity opened her eyes. One pupil was still dilated while the other one was just a pinprick.

"Are you OK?" Twilight asked.

Sweetie Belle stood back and watched her sister warily.

"I am not sure. I remember trying to use my telekinesis on that horrible noisy purple gem and it attacked me," Rarity said.

She closed her eyes. Twilight could hear her breathe and see her chest move up and down. OK, Rarity just needs some rest. Sweetie Belle moved up and wrapped her fore hooves around Rarity.

"Twilight! Twilight! Yah gotta come quick!" Applebloom yelled.

Fluttershy hovered behind Applebloom.

"A bunch of these purple crystals have crashed on the farm and tore up most of the trees. Applejack is plum furious! You gotta come and help," Applebloom said with excitement.

Fluttershy carefully landed on the ground and looked at Rarity.

"Is she..." Fluttershy asked.

"I think she will be fine. Can you fly back and tell Applejack not to attack the crystals in any way? Rarity tried and got hurt. I have to check on Pinkie and the rest of the town," Twilight said.

"Yes," Fluttershy replied.

Applebloom was panting. The run had been a bit too much for her. Still she managed to scrape up some more energy.

"Ah can go back with you Fluttershy!" Applebloom said.

"No. I need you to do a task for me," Twilight said.

"What?" Applebloom said.

"Keep an eye on Sweetie Belle and Rarity while I go and..." Twilight was interrupted by Spike running up to the group.

"Twilight! Twilight! Celestia sent a reply!" Spike said.

He did not wait for Twilight to respond.

"Celestia said that all of Equestria has been hit by falling purple crystals. She suggests that ponies stay away from them," Spike said.

"What about Cloudsdale? Is it OK? Rainbow Dash was visiting there," Fluttershy asked.

Spike just shrugged. He had no idea.

"Fluttershy can you tell Applejack whats going on? Don't forget the warning," Twilight said.

Fluttershy flew off. It was good to look at dark gray clouds. She did not like looking at dead ponies. So many friends gone.

"Ah know, keep an eye on Sweetie Belle and Rarity," Applebloom said.

She turned and faced away from the street to watch her friends. What she had seen earlier made her wish this was all a bad dream. Wish it really was. Where is Scootaloo? Had not seen her today. Applebloom turned to look at Twilight.

"Twilight, have you seen Scootaloo?" Applebloom asked.

"No. If I see her I will send her to you," Twilight replied.

Spike followed Twilight further into town. He kept his eyes close to the ground or on Twilight's back. Some of the dead ponies that were lying in the street he recognized. What will happen to their bodies?

Foals were crying outside SugarCube Corners. Pinkie and the Cakes were trying to console them with no success. Pinkie's eyes lit up when she saw Twilight.

"Twilight! You are alright!" Pinkie gave Twilight a hug. After a minute she gave Spike one too.

"Is everyone OK?" Twilight asked.

The Cakes said yes. For some reason, Pound and Carrot stopped crying.

"I don't have time to answer more questions. I am going to talk to the Mayor. We might have to leave town. Please get ready," Twilight said.

Pinkie walked up to Twilight.

"My Pinkie sense is saying that something worse is going to happen," Pinkie said with concern clouding her normally happy face.

Twilight nodded yes in agreement.

"If you have any idea what will happen next, let me know," Twilight said.

Spike waved goodbye and they continued further into the stricken town.

The Mayor was camped out with her staff next to a hastily erected hospital tent. Her face brightened when Twilight appeared. The Mayor knew from previous experience that she could rely on Twilight to bring order out of chaos.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, I can use your help in getting things under control," The Mayor said.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"We need to move out of Ponyville, its not safe here. Celestia can't send help because things are bad all over Equestria," Twilight said.

The news was a bit disheartening to the Mayor but it was something that can be dealt with.

"I have some news for you Ms. Sparkle. Its more like a rumor but I guess it is better than nothing. Have heard a rumor that Cloudsdale has been destroyed or badly damaged," The Mayor said sadly.

Cloudsdale was where Rainbow Dash went last night. She was supposed to be at the picnic. Was Rainbow Dash alright? Twilight decided to worry about that later. Ponyville needs to be evacuated safely.

The Mayor sent an aide to get Nurse Redheart. When she arrived, they had a quick meeting. All the ponies would move out to the open area outside town.

"I wish we could do something for the dead. There are too many of our friends and family lying in the streets. What can we do with these bodies?" Nurse Redheart asked.

"Anypony who gets too close gets attacked so we will need to come up with a protection spell against the crystals. I will need more time to make one," Twilight said.

"I will tell my staff to spread the word we will meet at the Fairground area," The Mayor said.

"That is what they call that place?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, that is the official name," The Mayor replied.

For the next few hours, Twilight and Pinkie and some other ponies helped to clear the town. Twilight got to see the extent of the damage and it was pretty bad. Every building taller than one story had a crystal sticking out of it.

Twilight had limited time to think about the situation other than making sure that the evacuation was orderly. Night was falling when the last ponies in town were led out. The oncoming darkness added to Twilight's feeling of foreboding.

At the Fairground camp there was a happy reunion with Applejack and Fluttershy. Applejack brought food and her immediate family.

"Those darn noisy crystals drove me out of mah home and farm," Applejack complained.

"Sorry I am late. I overslept. I still feel like I need more sleep," Rarity said between yawns.

Her pupils were still mismatched but not as bad as before. Sweetie Belle stayed close to her and did not say anything.

"Rarity, you don't look so good. Are you sure you are OK?" Applejack asked with concern.

Rarity did not answer. She had fallen asleep.

"Ah found Scootaloo, she is in the hospital tent. Not sure what happened to her. She is sleeping now," Applebloom said to Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie gave a wan smile.

Twilight wished she had healer skills so she could help. Feeling powerless to help your friends is not good. Nurse Redheart said that most ponies that got zapped by the crystals basically went to sleep and did not wake up. She was not sure about Rarity.

Nopony had to worry about stumbling around in the darkness. The camp had plenty of light from spells and lamps. Good, if something comes they will see it. Plenty of unicorns knew some sort of light spell. No worries about food and water for now. Some ponies volunteered to watch the camp while others slept.

Finally Twilight had some time to rest. Her mind was filled with images of the long and stressful day. Equestria was under attack by some unknown enemy that was certain. Everything else was uncertain.

Twilight looked at the dark and abandoned town and wondered what sort of terrible things she will see tomorrow.

DarkShard Chronicles Chapter 3

DarkShard Chronicles Chapter 3

DarkShard Chronicles
Chapter 3

The flight from the Ponyville camp to the Canterlot Refugee camp took longer than expected. Instead of traveling in a straight line, they had to avoid towns that were taken over by the crystals.

Twilight Sparkle turned to Rainbow Dash and asked,"I know it might be hard for you but can you tell us what happened to Cloudsdale?"

Rainbow Dash looked away to hide her sorrow. So many friends gone.

"Yeah, sure," Rainbow replied.

"I was flying around town..." Rainbow started.

"Really?" Applejack asked.

"OK, I was taking a nap when I woke up. The air felt different. It felt like it was filled with sharp razors ready to cut me. Then the sky changed to a black purpley color. Purple gems or crystals flew out of the sky. Lots of ponies got hit by the crystals," Rainbow spoke softly.

She looked at Fluttershy. Fluttershy could see the tears form in Rainbow's eyes.

"I got cut but it was nothing. Most of the main buildings were messed up. The smaller ones lost their magic and fell from the sky. My home..." Rainbow said while tears filled her eyes.

For a while, they comforted Rainbow Dash while she cried. Twilight and Fluttershy also cried a bit.

It was mid afternoon when the carriage approached the Canterlot camp. Twilight looked out the window eagerly. Canterlot Castle had a strange purple glow around it. She could see crystals growing out of the towers of the castle.

"I hope Celestia and Luna had a better time with these crystals than I did," Rarity said.

"I don't think so since they are in the camp," Rainbow Dash said.

"What happened to drive the princesses out of their home for centuries?" Applejack asked.

Twilight did not have any answers, she saw how big the camp was.
So many ponies were driven out of their homes. The refugee camp stretched on for miles. Even at this distance, Twilight could see ponies lined up at different tents.

The carriage landed and the Mane Six disembarked. Several Royal Guards were there to escort them to the meeting area.

Will my research be useful? What happened to my brother? Those and other questions bounced around in Twilight's head. She did not notice the crowds of ponies living out of makeshift tents or how large the cemetery area was. Most of the camp was ignored until they were at the War Tent.

The War Tent is the place where the commanders and princesses plan strategies and manage the war effort. Twilight and her friends were handed off to another set of guards. A short trot later they were led into a large tent set up for meetings.

A large round table was in the middle of the tent. Twilight and her friends took the last six seats. Celestia and Luna stood up.

Celestia held up her right fore hoof for silence while Luna cast a spell. Her eyes shone white and her horn glowed blue.

Twilight recognized the spell, it had several layers to it. On the surface, no pony could hear what was said in the tent from outside. The other layers would prevent scrying and other ways of divination. Wonder why security was so tight? Twilight thought.

When she finished with the spell, Luna started the meeting. Celestia sat down.

"We are under attack by an unknown enemy. So far we have not been able to gain knowledge about our foe. We know that the undead ponies are summoned by the crystals. It is important that we destroy them as soon as possible," Luna said and bowed to the assembled ponies.

Celestia stood up and continued,"We have been able to create a spell that will destroy crystals. I would welcome Princess Twilight Sparkle's help in tuning the spell. Using the power of the Sun and Moon, the elements of Harmony and other powerful artifacts we will be able to remove these foul crystals from Equestria.

Of course such magics have their cost. The casters will be weakened for a while. The places that were cleansed will not be safe to reclaim for six months.

The Foe will not sit idly by while the spell is started, armies will be conjured up against us. It is a gamble. We hope to destroy the crystals all over Equestria before the assembled might of our foe crushes this camp," Celestia finished and sat down.

"What about the Crystal Empire?" Twilight asked.

She wondered about Shining Armor and Cadence.

Celestia looked sad for a second.

"I have sent messengers but so far none of them have returned. We are on our own here. If the enemy had taken over the Empire, we would know about it. My guess is that they are still fighting," Celestia said.

"Sister, we do not have a lot of time to prepare, the spell must be cast before the Sun leaves the sky," Luna said.

"You are correct. I will need to prepare..." Celestia said.

"I am sorry Princess Celestia but what about Dis..." Twilight started to ask.

Discord appeared in a puff of pink smoke. He conjured up small glasses of chocolate milk for each of the ponies at the table. Pinkie grabbed her glass and started drinking with a smile on her face.

"Well, I am touched that you are concerned about my fate," Discord said with a tired smile.

"The crystal destroying spell does not fit with my abilities and temperament but messing with the enemy is more interesting to me. You do know they are so deathly dull. Anyway, if its in my power, you will be protected while you do your spell," Discord said and disappeared.

"We have one hour to cover items before the ritual starts," Luna said and sat down.

Luna and Celestia both eyed their glasses of chocolate milk. Any glasses that were not touched faded away. Twilight wanted to try some but she was just too nervous to drink anything.

Before the ritual, Twilight shared her notes from Ponyville with several ponies. A few minutes before ritual Luna and Celestia left to do their Sun and Moon duties. The other ponies and princesses started the ritual.

The first step was scribing the area for the spell. Unicorns with special quills drew up the circular containment area. Then they drew up the flowing control shapes. When those were done, some princesses started sending magical power into the circle. Twilight and her friends watched with a lot of interest.

Some pony said,"The Moon has risen."

Silvery energy from the Moon formed an orb above the ritual circle.

Another pony said,"The Sun has almost set."

Golden energy covered the silvery orb but it did not become totally golden, silvery spots would appear and disappear. The amount of power coming off the orb was starting to affect the other ponies. The ones that did not have an artifact to use left.

Twilight did not need anyone to prompt her to use her Element of Harmony. She drew upon its power and floated off of the floor along with the other Elements. Then she aimed the power at the orb.

The orb shone so brightly that no pony could look on it. It was golden, silvery and now covered with a rainbow glow. The other magical artifacts were activated and used to add even more power.

While Twilight was in the rapture of being an Element of Harmony, she could See many things. Her Sight focused on the defenders of the camp and their foes.

Discord was bathed in a lavender glow and bleeding from a score of small cuts. The ground below him was soaked in blood. His eyes were still clear as he fought hundreds of the undead unicorns. A hundred would blow up but more would appear to continue fighting. He must have sensed Twilight because he looked right at her and gave her a wink before continuing the fight.

The Royal Guard and the regular soldiers were not doing so well. At least the heavy soldiers had armor but they were prime targets for the undead unicorns. Some pegasi had brought clouds and were making them fire lightning at the ground. That caused a lot of damage to the units behind the ones that were fighting.

Twilight could see that even though the defenders were fighting hard, the enemy just had too many units. She desperately hoped that they would delay the enemy long enough for the spell to work.

"Twilight focus, we need your power. Its almost time," Celestia said.

Twilight focused her Sight north to the Crystal Empire. She could see a purple dome, have to look deeper!

"Twilight focus, it is time!" Celestia said in a commanding voice.

Twilight focused on the spell. She could feel herself being drained of power. So hard to even think. Could feel her mind slowly fading to white.

While the ritual was being done, a small group of the enemy broke through the ranks of the defenders. They headed to the tent. Celestia and Luna had kept a few guards nearby in case of this situation. The small group of guards found themselves facing a much larger force.

Silverhoof gritted his teeth when he saw the attacking force.

"Make those hits count!" He yelled while firing magical blasts at the enemy.

Deep down, it seemed pretty hopeless. The undead outnumbered them five to one. Well, that just means more kills for me. Have to keep fighting until the ritual is complete.

The spell swept the furthest towns and cities clean first. Ponies that watched from a distance saw a pure white light strike and a flash. The ground would shake for a few minutes.

Ponyville Camp

Lyra used up her last blast of magic, she was ready to use her hooves to at least slow the advance of the enemy into the camp. Most of the fighters were down or in the hospital tent. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Applebloom and a few other ponies moved up to fight.

Applebloom ran out towards the undead ponies. She managed to give one a good kick. Scootaloo hovered in front of the zombie pony to distract it. Sweetie Belle tried to zap it with a spell but she did not have enough power. Another pony took advantage of the occupied enemy and took it down.

Just like that, there was bright flash in the distance. The ground shook. The bright lights in the heads of the undead unicorns went out. They fell like puppets with cut strings. The undead earth ponies were now dead. Lyra could not believe her eyes.

What had been a destroying wave of death was now just a bunch of dead rotting ponies. A ragged cheer arose from the throats of the defenders.

Canterlot Refugee Camp, War Tent

"Twilight are you awake?" Spike asked.

She opened one eye, it was just too much work to get the other one open.

"Did we win?" Twilight breathed out.

"Yeah, all of the undead ponies are dead. It was real close. Some of the undead got into this tent. We lost more ponies defending this tent. Twilight?" Spike asked.

Twilight thought about the victory and it seemed a bit hollow. Somepony or creature was behind this. We need to find out who. Any more thoughts were lost as she slipped back to sleep.

Northern Reaches

Far away in the frozen North well beyond where adventurous ponies tread stood a dark purple crystal tower. Deep in the tower sat it's mistress, the First Bringer of Silence.

She watched impassively as the view gems went dark as her crystals were being destroyed. The Noise on this world is resourceful but it is now more vulnerable. One of her view gems showed an undead pegasus. Purple filmy wings glowed along its sides.

In a voice colder than the frigid winds that swirl around her tower, she said, "Phase two begins soon,"

A voice colder that the distance between worlds replied,"Good."

DarkShard Chronicles Chapter 2

DarkShard Chronicles Chapter 2

DarkShard Chronicles
Chapter 2

Scavenging Ponyville and Attack.

Twilight slept fitfully. Lots of running and screaming was involved in her nightmares. She finally woke up still feeling tired.

Spike was up already.

"Are you OK?" Spike asked.

Twilight shook her head no. For a while they waited together as the sun rose.

A few birds chirped to greet the dawn. On a good day it would be a loud and noisy greeting. Now just a few brave birds dared to sing.

Stormwing, a male pegasus brought strange news. It seems like the bodies of the dead ponies were gone. That just fed Twilight's sense of foreboding.

The Mayor called a early breakfast meeting. Most of the more influential ponies attended.

"I have called this meeting because we need to make some hard decisions. First we need to share some info," The Mayor said.

"Um, most of the birds I have spoken with do not like it near Ponyville. They think that the air around the town is wrong," Fluttershy said and sat down.

"The corpses of the dead ponies are gone. Maybe we can come back?" Stormwind asked eagerly.

"My Pinkie sense is telling me something really bad is coming. Why is this stallion talking about moving back into town?" Pinkie Pie whispered to Twilight.

"Maybe because he does not have a horrid screaming crystal in his house," Rarity whispered back.

She was angry but also a bit confused.

Twilight agreed with Pinkie but she wanted to study the crystals some more.

"Well, Princess Twilight Sparkle, what do you think?" The Mayor asked.

A small but vocal group wanted to move back. The rest of the ponies were still trying to deal with their new surroundings and what happened to them earlier.

"I think we should move the camp. It is too close. Also we should get supplies from the town one more time," Twilight said.

It had come to this, now it was the "town" not Ponyville. Ponyville now did not feel like home for many ponies anymore.

She wanted to go back to her library and get some important books that would help with studying the crystals.

After some back and forwards with the ponies that wanted to move back, several teams were selected to return to Ponyville one last time.

Twilight, Spike, Rarity and Lyra would go to the Treehouse library. Twilight was not sure about Lyra. She seemed off somehow. Her bright eyes hid a personal darkness.

"Why do you want to come with us?" Spike asked.

"The crystals killed Bon Bon. If I had not been downstairs making hot cocoa, I could have been upstairs," Lyra said in a quiet voice.

She turned up the intensity of her bright golden gaze on Spike. He retreated.

Twilight hoped that Lyra would not cause trouble or get herself killed. Too many ponies have died already.

Nopony felt like talking. Everyone could feel the coldness move across their bodies like a sharp knife when they walked into town. It was not the cutting edge. No, it was the flat edge. Any second the threat could be made real.

Twilight used her telekinesis to open the door. She moved closer after a few minutes. So far no attack. They moved into the library near the doorway. The crystals started their warning whine.

The crystal in the ceiling was growing downwards while the small crystals on the floor had combined into one crystal that was growing upwards. Twilight gave Spike a list of books to get. Rarity and Twilight combined their magic to make a protective bluish purple shield so Spike can get the books without being attacked.

Lyra waited for the shield to go up and for Spike to start looking before she made her move.

"Dieeee!" Lyra yelled.

She fired a bunch of gold magic blasts at the crystals on the floor. The crystal in the ceiling started firing at Lyra but the shots were blocked by the shield. The crystals on the floor took a lot of damage from Lyra's attack.

Lyra moved to the crystals on the floor. She jumped up and down. Her hooves ground the crystals to a dark purple powder. Twilight made a mental note to get the powder before they left.

Once the crystals on the floor were no longer a threat, Lyra fired away at the one in the ceiling. The shots from the crystal in the ceiling were still being blocked. Rarity was starting to get tired from supporting the shield.

"Got 'em all! Lets go!" Spike yelled as he ran for the doorway with the needed books.

"Lyra! Lets go!" Twilight shouted.

Lyra fired a powerful blast that blew off a piece from the ceiling crystal. It seemed like she was beyond reason. Spittle flew from her mouth while she shouted unintelligible things.

Rarity used her telekinesis to grab the crystal powder and the blown off piece. They went into pouches in her saddlebags for later study. Twilight would probably get more out of it but Rarity wanted to check them out.

"Come on, Lyra dear. Do not kill yourself for revenge," Rarity entreated.

Lyra fired one more blast and ran for the door. When everyone was outside Twilight closed the door. She would miss her library tree house home. The tree was dying, yellow leaves were scattered all over the ground. Too bad. Twilight remembered many days reading in the tree's shade.

Rarity wanted help with her home but when she saw the crystals growing through the walls of the building, recovering her belongings did not seem to matter anymore.

They met Pinkie outside SugarCube Corners. Her face told the story. The crystals had tainted all of the foodstuffs inside. She did not want to bring back anything.

The other scavenger groups had better results. A lot of goods were sold from stalls not stores. Twilight and Pinkie's team helped to carry items. Everypony decided to leave quickly.

Ponyville was filled with the sound of galloping hooves one last time.

Later in the afternoon while the new supplies were being stored away and other ponies were preparing to move the camp, some of the pegasi guards shouted warnings.

Strange gray ponies were slowly walking towards the camp. Their unsteady gait and lusterless eyes screamed undead. It did not help that they had no coats just bare gray flesh. Behind them purple lights could be seen. Instead of horns, the tops of the undead unicorn's heads were missing. Purple flames danced where their horns should be.

The undead unicorns fired lavender blasts at the hovering pegasi. Most of the pegasi dodged the shots. The ones that did not fell to the ground dead trailing lavender smoke and flames. The undead earth ponies started moving faster towards camp.

Twilight could not believe what she saw. The sense of wrongness from the attacking undead army was overwhelming. A bunch of gold blasts hit the gray army. She saw Lyra at the front line destroying the undead with her magic. Twilight joined the fight. Applejack led the earth pony forces and they engaged the enemy with powerful blows from hooves.

Lyra howled and screamed while she blasted the enemy with golden blasts of magical energy from her horn. The gray ponies changed their strategy. Several of the corpse unicorns focused their shots on Lyra. So far they were missing. Twilight took advantage to use more powerful spells on the invaders. They went flying high in the air only to get smashed on the ground.

Besides their strength and magic, the undead could bite. They did not have regular pony teeth. Jagged pony teeth filled their mouths. Some ponies shied away from fighting when the undead started to snap at them.

After a few minutes the undead were destroyed, the last one was surrounded by a bunch of defenders until Rarity crushed it with a telekinetic blast.

Twilight was with Rarity when she took a sniff at her last conquest.

"Eww, now that is rank!" Rarity said with disgust.

Twilight took samples of the dark purple ichor from the undead.

The victory was not without consequences. Several ponies had been bitten and others killed.

"We need to burn the bodies and deal with this sticky icky stuff," Pinkie said.

She pointed to the pools of ichor on the ground.

"I don't like saying this but I think we should keep a close eye on the ponies that got bitten," Rarity suggested.

"Good ideas. Ah suggest that unicorns use their carry magic to move these dead pony thangs to a place where we can burn them. I will help with digging a hole for the ashes," Applejack said.

The ponies that died would be cremated and graves dug for the ashes. Twilight did not help. She wanted to study the samples she had before they moved the camp to its new location.

Several unicorns used fire spells to burn the ichor off the ground. Others helped with the cremation tasks. It was nighttime when they were finished with the battleground.

Morning came at the new camp. Twilight had stayed up all night to work with Lyra, Rarity and several other ponies. Pinkie Pie had been helpful too.

Twilight yawned, it had been a long session of study and experimentation but they now had more powerful spells to deal with the undead threat. She looked forward to a quick nap when Pinkie burst in.

"I found Dashie!" She said triumphantly.

Rainbow Dash walked in. She had a bunch of bandages all over her body.

"Rainbow Dash, you are OK!" Twilight said and walked over to her friend.

Twilight could see in Rainbow's eyes that she had been through a lot.

Rainbow managed a weak smile.

"I have to go back to the hospital tent soon. Do you have books for me to read? Maybe some Daring Do?" Rainbow asked.

"I could only get magical research books. Sorry," Twilight was almost overcome by sadness.

Her books and home were gone now.

"Hey, I understand," Rainbow Dash said.

"The crystals messed up Cloudsdale. The crystals just flew through the town and damaged a lot of buildings. You should see what they did to Canterlot," Rainbow said and winced.

Twilight helped Rainbow back to the hospital tent. Scootaloo was waiting outside, she had a bandage wrapped around her head. Once Rainbow was in bed resting, Twilight visited the other patients.

Nurse Redheart pulled Twilight aside.

"Ponies that get bitten by the undead have a fast moving gangrene that eventually kills them. The dead rise and try to attack the living," Redheart said and looked away.

She did not like having other ponies kill their undead friends.
The sounds of ponies getting their heads crushed still lingered in her ears.

"If you can spare the time, we could use someone to research spells to help out," Redheart entreated.

"I will see what I can do," Twilight replied.

She did not do too much research on healing magic but she knew more about the alien death magic. Maybe that could help out?

What did Rainbow say about Canterlot? Twilight had missed that. Was Celestia and Luna alright? She yawned again. Twilight went back to her tent.

"Are you OK, Twilight?" Spike asked when she showed up outside her tent.

"Somewhat. I still miss my home," Twilight said sadly.

"Yeah, me too," Spike replied.

"Spike, can you find out what happened to Canterlot?" Twilight asked.

"No problem I will find out. Get some sleep," Spike said with confidence.

Twilight slept for a while. When she woke up, there were several scrolls next to her. One of them was open. She started with the opened scroll. It was a personal letter from Princess Celestia. Was she ok?

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle: I am sorry that I could not contact you earlier with more information and advice. Many of the major towns in Equestria were attacked by the dark purple crystals. Canterlot Castle has been rendered unlivable. Canterlot has been abandoned to the enemy. Cloudsdale is not fit for any pegasi to live in. Tomorrow I will send a carriage for you and the other Elements of Harmony. When you arrive we can talk more at length. Your Mentor and friend Princess Celestia.

The letter seemed pretty terse but maybe there was a lot going on. Canterlot Castle and Canterlot abandoned? Wonder how many of her friends there survived?

The other scrolls were spell scrolls for fighting the crystals. Who ever made these scrolls used a different approach. Might be useful for later.

Twilight decided to finalize her projects and document her findings. They might need them in the Canterlot camp. What will she see when she reaches the Canterlot Refugee Camp?