Chaos Reborn: The Corruption of Harmony

Chapter 8: Deep in a Plot Hole

Twilight galloped home as fast as she could. Rain poured over her as the night sky grew increasingly darker with every passing moment. The clouds above seemed to form and move on their own, blocking off the stars and moon.
“There has to be a book that can fix all of this.” She urgently spoke out loud to herself as she slammed open the door to the library and began spouting out orders to Spike.
“Spike, we need to find-!”
Twilight gasped as she was greeted with another horrifying sight, the remains of purple baby dragon lying sprawled upon the floor, his heart torn out.
“S-Spike! No…”
It was too much. Twilight vomited involuntarily from both shock and disgust. Lightning struck in the distance and in that instance of illumination, a dark figure appeared behind her.

“Twilight Sparkle?” The pony shrouded in shadows inquired.

Frightened and caught off guard, Twilight leapt into the air and quickly teleported to the other side of the room. Her horn emitted sparks as she took a defensive position and prepared for a fight.

“It’s ok, Twilight. I’m a friend.” A light brown, male earth pony, wearing a collar and red tie stepped into the light. His mane was a spiked back dark mocha, and his cutie mark sported the image of an hour glass.
“Do you remember me, Twilight?” He asked as he cautiously stepped towards her.

“Mr. Whooves?” She said, squinting to get a better look at him.
“W-what are you doing here?”
Twilight stepped back, not entirely trusting that he meant her no harm.

“Actually it’s Doctor Whooves, but that’s not important right now.”
He looked over to dead dragon on the floor and gasped.
"Oh my. Things must be much worse than I anticipated. I was sent by Princess Celestia. She contacted me, and informed me Equestria was in some sort of trouble. I was told to seek out you and your friends.”
He glanced once again at what was left of Spike.
“What…happened here?”

“Where’s the princess now?!” Twilight demanded, trying to feel out the situation.

“Trapped on the moon with Princess Luna, I’m afraid. I don’t have a lot of information as to what’s going on, but it’s obviously not safe for you here. We need to make out way to Canterlot and gather the Elements. I don’t have the ability to open the seal, but as the element of magic, you –”

“It won’t do any good.” Twilight cut him off, bowing her head in defeat.
“I’m the only one left… and we can’t use the Elements of Harmony without the rest of the girls.”

Dr. Whooves in turn lowered his head momentarily in respect for the dead.
“I see…Then it seems the situation is far worse than I predicted. We need to formulate a plan. Perhaps we could check the royal archives and find a solution to this bloody mess.”

It was a long shot, but it what all they had. Twilight nodded, accepting the new plan and they both departed.

“Time is of the essence, I'm afraid. You can explain what’s happened along the way.” Whooves said as the turned to the exit, and prepared to leave, stopping at the door to make sure Twilight was following.

She placed blanket over Spikes, body before catching up to The Doctor. "It started a few days ago with a strange letter from the princess..."

Meanwhile, back at Ponyville Hospital, Fluttershy was unconscious and in critical condition. The gentle pegasus was heavily bandaged from head to hoof. Tubes ran through her mouth and nose as machines fed air into her lungs. The door to her room opened slowly and Nurse Redheart stood at the threshold.
“Fluttershy’s right in here, Your Majesty. Normally we wouldn’t allow visitors after hours, but I’m glad to make an exception for you.”

Trollestia looked in, smiling evilly.
“Thank you, nurse. You have no idea how much help you’ve been. Your assistance deserves a reward. Perhaps, a vacation?”

“Why thank you, princess. You’re too kind…” Nurse Redheart shook her head.
“but I couldn’t. There are too many ponies that need me here.”

“But I insist. I know a place that’s just to die for.” Trollestia’s horn began to glow as she spoke.
“You’ll love it. I promise, once you get there, it’ll send you into orbit.”

With a flash Nurse Redheart was gone, and Trollestia stepped forward into Fluttershy’s room.
“As for you, Fluttershy…” Trollestia smiled down at the helpless pegasus.
“It looks like you’ve got something in your nose. Let me help you with that.”
Using her magic, she slowly removed the tubes out of Fluttershy’s nose and mouth.

The machines attached to her began to beep and sound their alarms, as Fluttershy opened up her eyes and tensed up from the shock to her system. Unable to move her body, all she could do was watch as Trollestia tauntingly waved to Fluttershy and whispered “Bye bye”.

Fluttershy tried desperately to do something…anything, but the best she could muster were a few jerky muscle spasms. She tried to scream, but was unable to even draw breath. The helpless pegasus’s eyes conveyed her desperation as she stared back at Trollestia, unable to move as she slowly suffocated to death. Using the last of her body’s oxygen in the panic, Fluttershy soon went limp, as the heart monitor next to her letting out a long, solid BEEEEEEEP.

Trollestia admired her handy work for a moment and left, closing the door behind her.
“Now that that’s over with, it’s time to prepare for our final party guest.” She said to herself, then teleported away.

Back at Sugarcube Corner, Rarity was waiting at the desk with a bored look on her face. She kept herself busy by slowly cutting across her hind leg with a knife. Suddenly there was a flash of light and the princess appeared before her. Startled, Rarity straightened herself up to attention as she dropped the knife and bowed before the princess.
“Your Highness! Welcome back.”

Trollestia scanned the room.
“Where is everypony?” she asked.

“Um, th-they’re waiting for you in the basement. Pinkamina will be overjoyed to see you’ve returned. She’s been waiting ever so patiently for your decision on what to do about Rainbow Dash.”

“And what of the other two?” Trollestia asked

“W-well Applejack has been dealt with, but I’m afraid Twilight got away.” Miss Rarity nervously explained, half expecting to be banished...or worse.

“It matters little.” The princess trotted past the terrified white unicorn, and descend down the stairs to the basement.
“Come now, we’ll take care of the Element of Magic later. I need everypony in the basement so we can start.”

Trollestia entered the room, Miss Rarity following behind. Applejack’s headless body hung from the ceiling. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were stripping the flesh and separating the components into buckets. Scootaloo drained the blood, as Sweetie Bot, who had turned her arm into some sort of circular blade, cut up the meat. Apple Bloom supervised over the two. She held a strip of flesh in her hoof, shaking it at the two of them and giving them orders before taking a bite. The three fillies stopped in their tracks when they saw the princess, and Apple Bloom hid the morsel of meat behind her back.

Pinkamina, who stood over the hollowed out corpse of her third Rainbow Dash, caught a glance of Trollestia in her peripherals and turned to her with fearful eyes.
“I- I’m sorry. I just couldn’t wait any longer.”
The pink, blood covered pony, tried to explain.

Trollestia replied, uncharacteristically calm and complacent.
“Oh Pinkamina…It’s alright. Just sew her back up. Playtime’s over.”

Pinkamina motioned over to Rarity for help, and they got to work stuffing and sewing up the remains of their former associate.
The princess's horn sparked and she brought forth copies of Applejack and Fluttershy. Applejack’s double looked out of place somehow, but the others couldn’t quite put their finger on it, save for the malicious smile on her face. Fluttershy’s double, however, sat on the ground with a blank look in her eyes, her tongue hanging out like an animal. Around her neck was a collar with a small gold tag engraved with the initials “FS”.

“Ok girls, let’s finish up the final preparations. Pack everything up. We’re moving the party to Canterlot. I need to get everything in order for our guest of honor by tomorrow night.” Trollestia commanded.

Applejack's double got to work packing, while the new Fluttershy walked over to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who had begun cleaning up the remains of the original Applejack. She sniffed briefly at Scootaloo’s back end, then hopped up and tried to mount the little pegasus, forcing Scootaloo to the ground under her weight. Scootaloo struggled for a moment, confused at first about what was going on, but quickly realized what was happening as she felt something unmistakably hard and warm press up against her. The little amber pegasus violently struggled to get away, but was outmatch by the weight of Futashy on top of her. The other two little fillies watched and laughed at her misfortune, as Scootaloo clenched her teeth in pain, desperately trying in vain to escape from being violated.

Trollestia saw this too and snickered as she exited the room.