Wrath of the Shadowking

by Waino1994

Rating: mature
Tags: Sad, Dark
Length: 2419

Equestria's peace is shattered when a ghost from the past returns, intent on taking the throne. As Twilight and her friends face the horrors of war, can their friendship hold strong enough to save Equestria from its greatest threat

The nation of Equestria has enjoyed an unprecedented state of peace and prosperity for a thousand years. War is all but unknown and the year is filled with celebrations and competitions. This all changes when a ghost from Equestria's past returns with an army, intent on taking the throne, joined by the nation's most ancient and dreaded enemy

Equestrian forces sent to fight are slaughtered without mercy, as their too ill-equipped and ill-trained to match the enemy's savagery and firepower. Soon Ponyville becomes the new front and as the mane 6 are drawn into the war, they must all start making decisions which could have dire consequences

As they come face to face with the horrors of war, will they still be able to use the Elements of Harmony or will the magic of friendship be another casualty

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-28 08:50:54 UTC

Chapter 1: Ominence

It all started one hot summer night, the hottest one in a while. Twilight struggled at first, the night heat making the covers quite uncomfortable. Just when she was about to fall asleep, a bright light appeared from beyond the Everfree forest. This was followed by a strong, howling wind that chilled Twilight to the bone, as dark clouds started to form over the Everfree forest. Now a foreboding feeling snuck into Twilight's stomach, preventing her from sleeping peacefully for the rest of the night. The next day nothing seemed out of the ordinary besides hushed whispers about the town and a sense of foreboding. That is until the soldiers started appearing.

It was only a few at first, but more came over the coming days. Most ponies seemed to be just putting it down to nerves, but Twilight suspected more. Each day more ponies went through, and the ones garrisoned in Ponyville looked increasingly worried. they seemed to be keeping a close eye on the Everfree forest. That place had always had a foul reputation, but the presence of soldiers made it almost like they expected something to happen.

"Are they preparing for...war??" Twilight Thought

Curious, Twilight walked up to one of the soldiers to find out what was going on

"Excuse me sir," Tapping one of the guards on the shoulder "What's going on?"

"Royal business, move along," He replied sternly

"If my town is under threat i believe its my right to know"

"Well it isn't, so move along"

"By who's orders"

"The princesses themselves, now I'll give you one last warning. Move along or we will arrest you"

The Guard was face to face with Twilight, staring coldly into her eyes. Unwilling to push the matter any further, Twilight quickly backed away and began trotting around Ponyville to find her friends. The first one Twilight found was Fluttershy, who seemed to trotting around with a sad look on her face.

"Hey Fluttershy what's going on, should you be practising with your birds" Twilight called

"Oh hi Twilight" Fluttershy responded "The birds are gone, they must have been scared off by that scary noise and light the other night"

"Don't you have other animals you can hang out with?"

"That's the thing Twilight, there all gone. About the only one left is Angel here" Fluttershy pointed to the white rabbit near her leg "Even he's a bit jumpy"

Angel took a quick look around, then continued hiding behind Fluttershy's leg

"Well anyway's, I'm going to visit AJ. do you wanna tag along? Twilight asked

"Oh sorry Twilight. I wish I could but I'm going to the spa with Rarity"

"It's ok Fluttershy. we'll catch up later or tomorrow sometime. you and Rarity have fun"

"Thanks Twilight, see you later"

With that they went their separate ways, and Twilight set of for Sweet Apple Acres. As Twilight walked through Ponyville she heard someone yell watch out, and turned to see pinkie pie as she crashed into Twilight.

"Oh sorry Twilight I didn't mean to hit you" Pinkie said, albeit a little more jumpy than usual

"Its ok Pinkie, " Twilight replied, getting up and dusting herself off "Just what are you doing anyway"

"I have the twitches again Twilight"

"So the sky is gonna start falling?" Twilight replied sarcastically

"No no that's when my tail is twitching, my knees were pinchy so something bad is gonna happen," Pinkie then grabbed Twilight's shoulders, pressing her face against Twilight's with big round eyes "You gotta be careful Twilight, the predictions are never wrong"

Twilight gently peeled Pinkie off her shoulders "Err...don't worry Pinkie i'll be fine"

Pinkie then ran off, hiding under buildings and scenery. Twilight left her to her nonsense and continued on to her destination. when Twilight reached Sweet Apple Acres she didn't see Applejack, but decided to investigate some noises in the Applefield. She found AJ Applebucking, but with less vigour than usual. Twilight decided to sneak up on Applejack so quickly snuck behind a nearby bush. After a few seconds of waiting Twilight jumped out, only to hear a scream and get a hoof in the face.

The next thing twilight saw was stars, as she awoke to Applejack shaking her and calling out her name.

"You alright Twilight, come on say something"

"I'm fine Applejack," Twilight replied, clutching her sore head

"I'm real sorry Twilight, just haven't been feeling myself lately and I'm kinda jumpy at the moment," Applejack replied "Still, glad your alright. though I'd done some good darn damage there for a moment"

"Have you been down to see Nurse Redheart?"

"I don't mean like that," Applejack replied "I just been having a bad feeling in me bones as of late, ever since that night"

"So I'm not the only one," Twilight replied, muttering a small sigh of relief "What do you think happened?"

"I dunno. My head tells me that it was just some freak weather or something and alot of folks down there are just a bit spooked." Applejack looked over the horizon with a worried look on her face "But my gut, its saying there's a storm coming. we'd all best batten down the hatches cause when it hits, it'll be bigger than anything we could imagine."

"well if there's anything coming I'm sure we'll be able to beat it," Twilight replied, trying to hide her discomfort "Even King Sombra was able to be taken down"

"I dunno Twilight. I have the feeling whatever happened that night has set in motion some events. some dark, terrible events, that ain't been seen for a mighty long time."

Combined with the missing animals and Pinkie's Twitches, Applejack's comments unnerved Twilight greatly. Twilight quickly changed the subject and conversed with Applejack while she continued to applebuck, stopping when Twilight noticed the sun start to go down. Twilight bade Applejack goodnight and quickly trotted off for home, having a sudden urge to find a book related to some sort of war. As soon as Twilight got home she immediately started tearing through her library, with Spike aiding her. after what seemed like hours of sorting through her library Twilight uttered a disappointing sigh and went to bed, while spike did the same. Just as Twilight did though, a dusty old tome caught her eye. Twilight quickly moved over, careful not to wake up Spike. The book was hidden away, so Twilight carefully used her magic to lift it out and put it down on the ground. as she did though, a mysterious note fell out. Twilight quickly scanned the message.

To the pony reading this, keep this book a secret. Princesses Luna and Celestia had these books destroyed in an attempt to rewrite history. while i understand their reasons why, as a historian it is my duty to present history as honest and truthfully as i can. here is the last truly accurate historical record, so keep it safe. As a wise pony once said, if we are to forget the past we are doomed to repeat it

-Aristrotle

Eagerly Twilight blew the dust off the front cover, revealing its title to be 'The Untold History of Equestria', and started rifling through the pages. The book was quite thick and Twilight was losing hope, until she got to a chapter called 'The Equestrian-Griffonian War'. After being raised in a peaceful nation like Equestria, hearing of this was surprising to say the least. Twilight looked through the pages with horror, just wondering how the ponies and griffins could do such terrible things to each other and a feeling of awe as she wondered just how Equestrians could have such courage during such dark times. Despite this she couldn't tear her eyes away and hungrily absorbed the information and images before her.

After Finishing the book Twilight snuggled up in bed, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't go to sleep. The images were still playing in her mind as she looked out her window, down on the peaceful Ponyville

"War," She thought to herself, a terrible knot forming in her stomach "Surely such a terrible thing could never happen here"

Twilight finally closed her eyes, and had the worst night in her life.

She instantly bolted upright, woken by the smell of smoke and the sound of screams. She scrambled clumsily out of bed and looked out her window, to see Ponyville engulfed in flames. Twilight just stood there for a few seconds, trying to formulate a plan. Unable to come up with anything on the spot, Twilight simply decided to recover her friends and get out of Ponyville. Twilight just noticed that Spike hadn't gotten up, and panicked as she saw his bed was empty

"Oh in the name of Celestia, where are you" She though to herself, as she ran all over her house searching

Suddenly the realisation hit her, Rarity. Twilight bolted out of her door, galloping as fast as she could to Carousel Boutique. The cacaphony of noise was now joined by blood-curdling shrieks as armour-clad griffins descended from the skies, slaying ponies left and right with a variety of weapons which Twilight remembered from the book. Some were armed with muskets, blasting bullet holes through whatever ponies they could hit, while others were impaling ponies with large javelins. Some were getting right into the fray, cutting down ponies with swords or tearing into them with their talons and beaks.

After a lengthy and terrifying run Twilight got to Carousel Boutique, only to gasp in fright as she found it engulfed in flames. She let out a terrified squeak as she feared the worst, but breathed with relief when she spotted Rarity and Spike out the front. They seemed to be still in shock as they were just standing there, but on closer inspection they seemed to be leaning over something.

"What are you doing, come on," Twilight yelled, swinging her head around to make sure the coast was clear of griffins "We don't have time for this, we need to find the others and go"

They did not respond, although Spike seemed to be trying to drag Rarity away

What is she doing, can't she see what is happening" Twilight thought, rushing over to help Spike

Twilight quickly reached Spike and got into position to help him, but stopped and gasped with horror as she saw what they were looking at.

Sweetie Bell was lying pale on the ground, with her throat torn out. Twilight couldn't even process what she just saw, but her adrenaline took over and she helped Spike get a traumatised Rarity up and moving. Twilight galloped as fast as she could, looking back every few seconds to make sure Rarity was still in tow. Everything seemed to be going well until she rounded a corner, at which point she heard a scream of fear. Twilight started crying as she saw Rarity had fallen behind her, a javelin impaling her to the ground. The scream she heard though was of Spike, who was now rushing to Rarity's aid and making a futile attempt to get the javelin out.

"Spike its no use, she's gone." The words were painful for Twilight to say "We need to get to the others"

"But Twilight, we cant just-"

"SPIKE GET HERE NOW, I CANT LOSE ANYONE ELSE!" Twilight screamed

She almost lost her breath at that point, she's never yelled at Spike like that.

Spike seemed to listen anyway. Taking one last teary look at Rarity, he then hopped on Twilight's back and they both set off for Sweet Apple Acres

When they got there, they had mixed feelings. One one hand the coast seemed to be clear, but on the other hand they already saw why. The bodies of Big Mac, Granny Smith, Applebloom and the rest of the apple family were strewn about the farm, bearing an array of gruesome wounds. Twilight had a small sigh of relief when she found Applejack to not be among the bodies. After searching for what seemed like an age, they heard a loud thud from inside the barn and the doors came crashing down. Twilight ran up to retrieve Applejack, but stopped dead in her tracks when she reached her. There was something disturbing about Applejack, something different. She looked the same besides from a few scratches and spots of dirt, but when Twilight looked into her eyes this was not the kind, loving, loyal Applejack that she knew and loved. There was no warmth or love, only hatred and sorrow.

"Come on Applejack, we've got to go" Twilight yelled

"We can't Twilight, we gotta kill em all" Applejack replied coldly, looking directly into Twilights eyes

"Kill," Twilight thought, reeling back with shock "how could she say such a thing

Twilight took a quick glance back at Ponyville before turning back around to face Applejack, but she was gone. Before she could even start wondering where Applejack went, Twilight heard a threatening neigh to her side and turned to see a black furred unicorn charging at her, covered in armour and wielding a wicked looking blade on each side. Twilight yelped when she felt someone push her over, realising it was Spike. She tried to call out to him but instinctively shut her mouth as she went tumbling down the hill, stopping when she smacked her head on a rock. Twilight tried to stand up but must have been hit pretty hard, as she was struggling to keep her eyes open. As she drifted into sleep she heard various voices

"I've killed them" Pinkie Pie said sadly

"No, what have i done?" Applejack gasped in disbelief

"Help me" Fluttershy blubbered

"Please come home soon" Rarity Wispered

The series of voices ended with a scream of pain, Twilight recognising it as that of Rainbow Dash

Twilight bolted upright, woken in a cold sweat. With the nightmare fresh in her mind she quickly woke up Spike and got him to write a letter to Princess Celestia

Dear Princess Celestia

Last night i had the most terrible nightmare, although it felt more real than that. What was most alarming is I have the same feeling from when Nightmare Moon was coming

Your faithful student Twilight Sparkle

Twilight watched as Spike's green flames went out the window, carrying the message to Cantalot. Twilight just hoped she was worrying over nothing, because if this was a vision Equestria would not be prepared for what is to come