Veil of Twilightby QT-MarkChaptersFinal Thoughts - PrologueThe Twisted Road Ahead - Chapter 1Twilight's Shadows - Chapter 2Fire and Night - Chapter 3Daisies and Poison Joke - Chapter 4The Element of Compassion - Chapter 5Final Thoughts - PrologueJournal Entry #26 I just simply do not know what went wrong. I just wish it hadn’t come to this. We’re all prepared to attack and bring Celestia and Luna back to the thrones. Tomorrow is the day we fight to restore balance to the world. I hope it won't all be in vain. This also may be my last chance to express how I feel, before I am likely to meet my dismay. I write this last piece for my little Spikey Wikey. I may not have shown it lately, but I love you, Spike. And if I come back alive, I promise to show you how much I care. I feel terrible for not being able to say much more, but that’s about all. I have to gather my strength before we face Twilight. Sincerely with much love, ~Rarity Journal Entry #12 Gosh, I haven’t written much. But sitting here knowing I face death tomorrow morning makes me wanna say what might be my last few words. I just can’t understand what happened. Why did it have to be Twilight? We were such good pals and suddenly, this happens. I wish we didn’t have to do what we’re about to do. I hate this feeling of betrayal, and I wish things were just back to normal. Hard to believe all this happened within six years. The blood of a snake on our hooves, on my hooves, but a snake with puppy dog eyes. I honestly believe Twilight wasn’t always like this, even when we became the Elements of Harmony. Nah, I believe something changed her. But that makes me think… What in the hay was it that changed her? -Applejack Journal Entry #56 I know I write a lot, but this may be the last time I do, so I want it to mean something. I feel as dull as when I was on the rock farm. Under Twilight’s reign there are no parties, there is no fun, and there is no smiling. Except this time I don’t think Dashie’s Sonic Rainboom is going to fix it. And my roasted sweets haven’t made anypony happy either. I don’t blame them, though. Baking treats over a camp fire just isn’t the same. Day in, and day out, I just want to go back to the days where I was partying with my friends. Everyday, I just want to throw a party, but parties aren't the most important thing right now. Survival and restoring harmony is. We’re about all that’s left of the rebel groups. All the others have been taken and only Celestia knows what terrible things Twilight does to them. I’m hoping we’ll be able to bring the old Twilight back and not have to ... you know. Twilight, why’d you have to go and be a big mean meany pants? -Pinkamina Pie- Journal Entry #31 I hope I’m ready for this. We’ve all been through so much, including myself, and we’ve all gotten so much stronger, but this is Twilight Sparkle we’ve talking about! She’s the most powerful mare in all of Equestria. I get this feeling like she’d disintegrate us upon entry of the palace. Oh, I’m so nervous. I just don’t know if I can do this! But I must. I must stand by my friends while we restore harmony, even if it means to take the life of one of my closest friends. We are the Elements of Harmony, and we may not have the Element of Magic by our side, but I’m certain if we believe in our friendship, we can pull through. Oh, I hope we won’t have to result to taking her life. ~Fluttershy~ Journal Entry #18 Twilight, what is wrong with you!? Why are you doing this? What did Equestria ever do to you, huh? We loved you Twilight, but that was before we found out you were some sort of blood-crazed psycho! Look at me, telling you off in a journal. I guess I’m just upset that one of the best friends I ever had turned on me. All I really know is loyalty to my friends, and it shocks me when one of my friends turns and plans to dissect us for science. You’re the only one that ever stayed up late reading Daring-Do with me. I wish those days would come back. Twilight Sparkle, I will do everything in my power to turn you back to normal. I can’t, I won’t kill you. Rainbow Dash Journal Entry #14 This is it, the moment of my revenge. I am likely to die... Again, but as long as I can get a majority of my revenge, I will be satisfied. The mistake that Twilight made was energizing me with her magical essence. I am a new and more powerful mare, and a changed one too. I understand now, what it's like to be loved, to have a family. These friends of mine: Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, they're my family, and I love them. I'm so grateful to have them as my friends. I will do my best for them for tomorrow's fight. I will do my best to make sure my life meant something. Don't worry, Twilight, we're coming to make you better. We will change you back to good! ♥ Trixie ♥ Journal Entry #134 Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow, the entire world will be under my reign. All the delicious sacrifices I've made for our civilization to push into a new era, all the blood I've tasted. All the power. Soon, Equestria will spread across the entire planet under my reign, and I will own it all. I cannot be stopped now. Our civilization will be in a new era of highly advanced technologies, and highly advanced spells. Tomorrow will be a glorious day to remember, when Equestria is thrown into an era of absolute dominance. All my hard work, finally being paid off. I can hardly believe the moment is finally upon us. ~Twilight Sparkle~ The Twisted Road Ahead - Chapter 1Twilight Sparkle awoke from her deep, sinister slumber. The morning had slipped in past the ominous clouds created by industrialization and peeked in through the palace window of her room. Twilight groggily sat up on the edge of her bed. She had forgotten about the differences, and the wondrous benefits, of her new body. She was still the same lavender colored, horned pony, but rather than four hooves, she had two back hooves, each connected to a long leg, and two hands, each connected to an arm. She still had her tail and fur, but she was no longer four-legged. It was the effect of her more recent spell, and she had forgotten that she could balance easily on two legs now. Twilight constructed an amplification device, to radiate this spell across Equestria constantly. All the ponies within the radius of it suffered an agonizing transformation. Twilight Sparkle worked virtually endlessly on a device that could amplify the spell and spread it across the entire globe, but every time she thought she had the answer, it only became only more puzzling. It was all part of her sinister plans, though, and she was nearly to the part where she would be so powerful that she could not be stopped. Time was running out. Twilight Sparkle studied her hands. This was her way of increasing production speed. Rather than gather all the unicorns and never have the chance to conduct research on them, she decided to make everything easier for all the ponies. She also didn't think about it, but as a side-effect of this spell, all the affected ponies suddenly felt more civilized by wearing clothing while in public. Twilight didn't think about it as she was the same way. Perhaps it was just the nature of the spell. The purple mare looked out her window and saw the slaves working. She did not laugh nor did she cry. She was blank and emotionless. She had come a long way, and after six long years of hearing the cries, pleas, and screams of dying ponies – ponies dying by her hands, or actually, hooves at the time – she finally had Equestria, and soon the world, in her control. Twilight walked over to the window and touched her hand to it, watching the workers carry rocks, lumber, metal, dig holes, mine for gems, or other ridiculous tasks she had assigned them. She sighed gently and turned away. Why was she doing this? Why had she put so much effort into this? She never truly understood why herself, but she knew she craved to kill and watch ponies suffer, along with her desire for scientific research. These reasons seemed insane to her, but she didn't care. She loved it. Twilight walked over to her wardrobe, and opened it. She was only wearing a simple night dress at the time and needed a change for work that day. The wardrobe contained only three outfits. They were all regal and made for a true queen like Twilight. One outfit was a large lavender dress. It was sparkling and laced with diamonds recently mined from Hearth’s Warming Cove. She thought about that dress, but shook her head. “Too frilly. I don’t even know why I own this dress,” Twilight said pushing it to the side. The second outfit was another dress and, yet again, a shade of purple. It was a darker shade this time, and had a necklace bejeweled with many amethyst gems. The dress itself was shimmering as though it were made from diamonds. Twilight smirked, as it reminded her of Princess Celestia and Luna’s hair. “That reminds me…” Twilight grabbed the third outfit, which was a dark purple, seemingly black corset lined with amethyst and crested with a large, brilliant amethyst. The bottom of the dress was simply a skirt concealing her underwear, connected by a belt crested with an amethyst. At the edge of the skirt were dark purple stockings, covered in black chainmail. The stockings and chainmail were visibly cut off at the knee by gleaming boots, made of pure steel. The boots were braced at the top and bottom edge, with shiny, silver rims, while in between was a thinner-looking metal with the matching dark purple color. The boots covered her hooves entirely. The boots were matched with a pair of gauntlets of the same pattern and material that went up to her elbow, but designed and cut so that she could bend her arms. Under the gauntlets were long gloves that stretched up just before her shoulder, made of the same cloth as the stockings on her legs. Along with this ensemble was a regal cloak. She got the idea for this cloak from Trixie. The cloak was long and ended at her knee, and was held together at her neck with a diamond-shaped amethyst. The cloak also had a hood and matched the rest of the outfit in color. Twilight dressed herself with the intricate dress. This was her favorite outfit to wear even though she felt she needed a change in style. She felt like a true queen wearing it, though. She could handle herself and her own battles, and that’s what a true ruler was in her eyes. But to her, she wasn’t a true ruler. She was going to be the ruler of the entire world, in control of all the power. She planned to control everything, and in her mind, she wasn’t just causing suffering, which she didn’t mind, she was hurtling civilization into era after era of technological expansion. She realized that maybe her psychotic plans were possibly quite beneficial to the world, which made her feel special in some way. Either way, she didn’t care. As long as she got her taste of fresh blood and eased her craving to kill, she was satisfied. Twilight made her way to the dungeons deep within the palace. She exited her room and entered a narrow hallway. She took a left to a staircase going down to another floor. She made her way down to the next floor into another hallway. She walked a while down the hallway and went through a door to her right. Inside was a virtually empty room except for an ominous stairwell in the corner. She made her way down the stairwell, her metal boots clanking against the metal stairs. After a long descent into the darkness, Twilight finally came into a large room. Two cages sat on the other side, covered in chains and locks. Two tall ponies each sat in their own cage. One with a white coat and a mane and tail striped in the colors blue, green, and pink, shimmering as though it were made of light. The other had a dark blue coat with a mane and tail just like the white pony’s, only purple and sparkling. They both were hanging from their arms by steel chains while covered in pads and tubes. The tubes ran up into the walls, as though leading somewhere. Auras covered the tubes and seemed to be siphoning up through them. As Twilight entered the room with a smile on her face, the two weakly looked up at her. “Wakey wakey.” Twilight said, walking closer. “How are my two favorite ponies today?” “Y- You’re a m-monster, Twilight Sparkle,” said the white pony. She struggled to lift her head. “Now now, Princess, no need to be so insulting.” Twilight said, smirking and gripping the white pony’s jaw and lifting her head to look her in the eye. "Why won't you just die already, Celestia?" The white alicorn glared at Twilight, but quickly pulled her head away and removed her gaze. "You act so high and mighty," Twilight said condescendingly, "as though you rule Equestria or something." "Y-you are such a cowardice mare, Twilight Sparkle." The dark blue pony told Twilight. She was just as weak and helpless as Celestia. The purple pony went over to the dark blue one and got in her face. "I am no coward. I can fight my own battles, but I am far too busy with my research." She began. "If I could just tie ponies up without a fight and do what should be done, I wouldn't have to knock them out. Things aren't that easy, Luna." Luna struggled to get free as if she was wanting to kill Twilight right there, but she was too weak, and even at full strength she wouldn't be able to break free. "We will stop you." She said with the last of her breath. "Stupid pony. Nopony can stop me now." Twilight told them as she left the room without another word. ~~~~~~ Pinkie Pie gasped as she awoke. Her heart was pounding, and her breathing was heavy. “It… It was only a dream,” Pinkie Pie’s breathing settled as she looked around. The others were still sound asleep. She rubbed her head and glanced up at a window. The dawn was just beginning to crack, so she decided it would be pointless to go back to sleep. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had made camp inside a large abandoned storage building. The windows were mostly boarded up, with slight cracks in between the planks for light to pass through. The interior was an absolute wreck. Smashed wooden crates scattered the rooms, debris of useless scraps in a miniature land-slide pouring from them. There were large, dusty piles of metal scraps that lay under what looked liked the remains of a rusty, metal staircase. The floor was once tiled, but the tiles were broken or torn away, and miscellaneous trash such as paper, candy wrappers, and plastic bags were scattered everywhere. Beside Pinkie was Rainbow Dash and Rarity on either side of her. Applejack decided to lay over by a stack of crates, and Fluttershy was close to Rarity (She never liked sleeping alone). The five ponies, known as The Elements, had their bags by them at all times, along with their armor or outfits. It was always important to be well equipped during these times for the chances of being attacked were close to very great. Pinkie sat up and became immediately vigilant. She had not easily forgotten the monstrosity they had just finished overcoming. An overwhelming search golem. Their defeating it proved to them that they had become strong beyond their imagination. The golem stood at least three stories tall. It was made entirely out of thick steel and enchanted by Twilight Sparkle, of course. It was designed to search and capture rebels and bring them to the Twilight immediately. Yes, Pinkie remembered it too well. The fact that they aren’t on a table, breathless, is unfathomable. Pinkie was wearing a normal tank top and underwear. She slept in her armor once, and swore she’d never do that again. It was very light armor, but very uncomfortable if worn to sleep. It was made from sky-diamond, a type of rare, refined gem found in clouds, made when pure rain is crystallized. The material is very light, if not weightless, but very durable and even flexible. It is a very valuable material and extremely difficult to forge into armor but Pinkie managed to get an entire outfit of it. It looked as though it were made of pure light. It was a very bright outfit, and it gleamed to any speck of light that touched it. The armor itself, covered the torso and pelvic area, acting as a sort of dress and ending at mid-thigh. Near the edge of the dress were leggings made of the same material and intricately cut to look appealing, as well as being beneficial for movement, and improving agility. The leggings ended near the knee, where small boots made of the crystallized material covered her hooves. The boots matched the rest of the outfit in color. They didn’t cover her hooves entirely, but ended right above the edge of them. The back ends of each boot had three slits on both sides. Her gloves had a similar design; each glove had three slits on the top and bottom of them. She wore a necklace made of sky-diamond cut in the shape of a balloon. The necklace was thick, and looked like her element of harmony, only it was more of a replica than the real thing. Pinkie Pie played with her balloon-shaped necklace for a bit, sighing as she sat there. She looked up at a window with several planks missing, to look up at the sky. The sky was an ominous orange and red color. All the industrialization has polluted the sky, and left it looking hideous. Rainbow Dash woke up shortly after Pinkie put on her gear. “Oh, morning, Pink.” Rainbow Dash said through a drawn out yawn. She also had a necklace, made of an entirely different material known as Angel-gold. The necklace's gem was in the shape of a lightning bolt. “How long you been awake?” “Oh, not very long. About fifteen minutes.” Pinkie replied. She grabbed a dagger with a blade made of sky-diamond. The blade was cut flawlessly, with no rough edges on any spot of it. The hilt was made out of a metal called cloud-steel, a material of the most brilliant ivory. It is as durable as steel, but as smooth as a cloud. The hilt formed an intricate design. “Should we wake up the others? It’s almost morning.” Dash asked Pinkie while rubbing the back of her own head. She sat up and groaned and mumbled to herself. “It seems like we pick a worse place to set up camp every stop. Ugh.” “No, I think we should let them rest for a while longer. That golem did quite a number on us.” Pinkie looked back at Rainbow Dash, pointing at the blood-stained bandages covering her arms and legs. In fact, almost her whole body was covered in bandage wrappings. Rainbow Dash finally noticed the burning pain in various places all over her body as she remembered the bandages. She was the one usually taking all the damage. She cringed and clutched her right arm. That was the arm that took the most damage; a long gash from her shoulder to midway of her forearm. “Take it easy, Dashie. You’re lucky to be alive. You need your rest.” Pinkie said crawling over to her. “Nnng, no way, I can still, nng… Fight.” Rainbow Dash struggled to get up. Pinkie only laid her back down. “You’ll only make it worse. We have plenty of time before we have to face Twilight, and you should rest while you can,” Pinkie told Rainbow comfortingly. Rainbow Dash complied, and laid back down. ~~~~~~ It was several hours later before Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack awoke. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had been making up random conversations in the meantime. They hadn’t sat down and really seriously talked in a long time. It had been years since their last serious conversation. Applejack rolled over and yawned. The orange pony was almost completely naked, save a pair of panties. She was the kind of pony that never really cared. She was too boyish to care, really; however, she immediately began covering up her half-nude body with her outfit: A simple outfit made entirely of leather, nothing special. The only thing of interest was the shiny, red necklace she wore made of Pegasus-fire, a gem found commonly in Equestria's low-altitude cloud cities. Her necklace's gem was in the shape of an apple. Fluttershy raised up from a deep slumber, bracing herself with one arm. She yawned, which sounded more like a tiny squeak behind the hushed, rushing breath. Her gleaming, butterfly-shaped necklace shook around a little on her neck from movement as she stretched. She eventually reached over and shook Rarity, who was awake, but trying to sneak in a few more winks. “Come on, Rarity,” a gentle voice left the yellow mare’s lips, “we need to get ready for today. We aren’t too far from the palace, now.” “Hmph, what’s a girl got to do to get her beauty sleep?” Rarity groaned in response, rolling over and turning her back to Fluttershy. Fluttershy sat there and pouted. Rarity suddenly felt a heavy amount of weight pushing down on her waist. She began to flail as she noticed Applejack, suited in her leathery outfit, sitting innocently on her. “Applejack!? What the…? Get off me!” Rarity managed to squirm free and push herself away. “Don’t need to be focusin’ on no beauty sleep, Rarity.” Applejack elicited a confident chuckle. “We’re rebels on a mission to save Equestria AND the world from eternal darkness and sufferin'. And yer gonna tell me beauty sleep is more important?” Rarity got to her hooves and walked over to Applejack, a diamond-shaped gem on a golden necklace beamed in a ray of light, “Nopony ever said I can’t be deadly AND fabulous at the same time, dear Applejack.” “Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean ya need to be killin’ time with yer beauty sleep and all that. We don’t have time fer catchin’ a few more hours of sleep. It’s mornin’ and we have to constantly be on the move. There’s no way we could survive another one of them golem things, especially with RD in the condition she’s in, right now.” Applejack lectured. Rarity sighed, “I suppose you’re right. We do need to find another place soon. Pinkie and I should also go look for supplies while you guys pack up.” Pinkie’s ear twitched to her name being called. She got up and left Rainbow Dash to rest a little while longer, walking over to Rarity, “I don’t know, Rarity. We’ve pretty much cleaned out this whole area. But maybe one last little sweep wouldn’t hurt.” Rarity began gearing up. Her outfit was very simple. Simply a black brassiere made of a jet-black leather, but designed for appealing looks. For the bottom half, she wore only tight underwear and shadow-steel for leggings. The leggings were made thickly, but shadow-steel was synthetically forged for the assassin type; to be light as a feather and thick as the earth's crust. The leggings ended right before the edge of the bottom of her hooves. On her forearms she wore shadow-steel bracers; however, the bracers did not match. The one on her left arm was entirely black, and mainly just a plain bracer for support. The one on her right arm was black as well, but had silver braces on either end of them. In between the braces were thin razors. Rarity occasionally used the razors for close quarters. Usually, she never had to face an enemy head on, though. “Alright, Pinkie and I will be right back. Make sure Rainbow Dash is rested enough to travel with us. And don’t forget to properly pack the blankets this time! The last time I opened my satchel, it was atrocious!” With that, Pinkie Pie and Rarity exited the main door into the outside. “Yeesh, bossy much?” Applejack announced. “Fluttershy, get suited. We need to take point and be vigilant in case any Searchers come lookin’ fer us.” “Hmph. Bossy much?” Fluttershy giggled trying her best to mimic Applejack’s accent. She did a gesture with her hand, as if to assure it was only a tease. She picked up her armor, made of Thorn-mail and Mithril-weed, rare elements of Equestria, found only in the heart of the Everfree, and she properly put it on. She sometimes had to wriggle around to get the armor to adjust and fit right. Fluttershy’s armor was very tranquil for it was in the style of nature. It was made entirely of thick and incredibly strong wood. The names Thorn-mail and Mithril-weed simply imply the sturdiness and durability this plant-life holds. Fluttershy comes to believe that it’s the armor that allows her to communicate with the planet so clearly. While the other ponies tell her she’s just gifted, Fluttershy believes the armor is actually enchanted and infused with part of the soul of nature. Fluttershy was also the only pony of the group that did not have a weapon. She had no need for one. If she ever needed a weapon, she could call upon the animals of the wilds; however, in a desolate world, where there is hardly any life, her druidic powers deal mostly with controlling the nature solely around her, including frenzied creatures of the wastelands and what little plant life could possibly survive under the haze of industrialization. ~~~~~~ Pinkie and Rarity scouted around the vicinity. The area was abandoned, with many broken down or boarded up buildings. Pinkie scouted ahead as usual, leaving Rarity in the dust. She waved back at Rarity, who was dragging herself along the way. “Ugh, this is dreadful. This heat, this dust, the pollution. It’s just simply not good for my comple–" Rarity was cut short by Pinkie’s sudden appearance in front of her. “Rarity, I found this building I haven’t scouted yet, but I need your help to get in. The wall is just barely too high for me to get up over, and I'm going to see if there is a way in through the roof. I need you to give me a boost.” Pinkie Pie explained. Rarity acted as though she wasn’t listening, but unfortunately, she was, and understood entirely. The sound of Pinkie Pie's voice, especially when being heard in an incredibly long sentence or two, was sometimes very agitating for Rarity, and perhaps most anyone who heard her speak. The two picked up the pace and made it to the building Pinkie had described. It was a large building, at least four stories high. It was run-down and looked like it had been there longer than either of them were born. Rarity felt she could tap her hoof against it and the whole place come crashing down. Pinkie stood back a great distance then suddenly began sprinting toward the wall, as she neared the wall, the slits in the back of her boots hummed and shone with a purple light. She continued sprinting until she found herself running up the wall. Pinkie was rushing at an incredible speed up this ninety degree angle of a wall. And as she claimed before, Pinkie just made it before the edge before the humming ceased, the purple light faded to black, and she was forced to jump and back flip off the wall, landing with a heavy thud on the ground. “See? I just need a slight boost to make it. Think you can give me a push?” Pinkie asked Rarity. “At the speed you’re traveling? I can try, but I cannot promise success, Pinkie Pie.” Rarity replied with a shrug. Pinkie stood from a distance once more, Rarity standing nearly pressed against the wall. Pinkie began her sprint once more, the boots humming and the slits lighting purple as before, as well. Pinkie neared the wall, Rarity getting ready. Pinkie Pie reached the wall, and with almost flawless timing, Rarity planted both her hands on Pinkie’s rump and gave a hard push, eliciting a loud grunt of struggle from giving her all. Pinkie’s legs blurred as the boots carried her up the wall once more, the humming flickered and she tried as hard as she could to reach the edge. She extended her arm as the edge came so close to reach. Finally, the humming ceased again, but Pinkie gave one final pushed off the wall, pushing her upward just enough so she could grab the edge and pull herself up. “Woohoo! It worked, Rarity, it worked!” Pinkie yelled down to her when she finally got to her hooves. “I’ll remove the boards on the door down there and let you in, kay?” “Alright, Pinkie Pie, but do hurry! We’ve lost enough time as it is and this heat is absolutely killing me!” Rarity replied in an equally loud voice. She saw Pinkie give a nod and disappear over the edge of the building. Pinkie saw a hole in the roof leading down into the top floor of the building. It was just large enough for her to fit through. The pink pony looked down through the hole to see a dark interior. "I hope my weight won't cause me to fall through the floor." She told herself as she made her way down through the hole. ~~~~~~ The inside of this unexplored house was eerie. More so than the down-trodden storage building where they made camp. There was barely a ray of light to be found and every step, no matter how hard she tried to muffle it, made a loud creak that echoed and bounced along the walls like she’d just kicked a large rubber ball as hard as she could. She made her way downstairs, noting the different little items she passed that she could see. She didn’t really see anything of interest, but made it her top priority to let Rarity in. It’s a strict rule amongst the five to never be alone for too long, and the creepiness Pinkie Pie was sensing from this building was telling her she needed to get back together with Rarity very soon. She made it to the second floor. The constant fog of shadows made it hard to get around and was a huge reason why she couldn’t find anything interesting. Pinkie happened across the next stairway down. She went to descend down the staircase, when a sudden rhythmic beat caught her attention. Beneath her hooves she could feel a sort of quake. But this quake felt like a heartbeat in the floor, in the house itself even. Pinkie made no hesitation and hurried to the bottom floor. As she predicted, the main door was boarded up. She unsheathed her dagger and gripped it tightly. The shiny, glass-like blade radiantly shone a bright purple. With two swift, simple strokes of her arm, the blade cut right through the planks, as though it simply phased through them. Before Pinkie Pie could even open the doors, Rarity swung open the doors and strutted in as if the sound of the planks breaking and falling were her cues to make a dramatic entrance. “Ah, thank you, Pinkie Pie!” Rarity said after trotting in like a diva. “Shall we begin looking?” “I don’t know, Rarity… I felt something earlier. While I was on the second floor, I felt a trembling, like a heartbeat, but I could feel it in the floorboards. Maybe it’s best if we just go ahead and leave while we can.” Pinkie replied a little paranoid. Pinkie Pie was always the more paranoid one. She was the group’s key savior, and the group ALWAYS respected her senses. “Nonsense, Pinkie. We already went through the trouble of getting here. We should at least browse a little.” Or not. Rarity began to look around, moving deeper into the house. “Rarity,” Pinkie groaned out to her, “this is a really really really bad idea.” Pinkie Pie felt shocked that Rarity wasn’t trusting in her senses. This was a first, and she was wondering why Rarity was acting like this. “Oh please, Pinkie. We took down that massive golem, didn’t we? I'm sure we can handle whatever creature in the shadows might be– YIIIEEEEEE! Mouse! MOUSE! Kill it. KILL IT!” Rarity squealed in a high pitched voice. Suddenly, before Pinkie Pie could realize, Rarity had clung to her in fear of the tiny rodent. “…But you’re afraid of a mouse? Look, Rarity, just because we just barely managed to take down a top notch search unit golem, doesn’t mean we’re invincible. We seriously need to go!” Pinkie tried once more with a little more seriousness behind her voice. “Fine, okay, we’ll go.” Rarity agreed, finally. The two began walking toward the main door, but before they could get to it, it slammed shut on its own. “You will not leave alive.” A voice from nowhere seemed to scream quietly, as if speaking loudly in a whisper. Rarity and Pinkie Pie immediately stood back to back and readied their weapons. “Who’s there?” Rarity called out. “I,” a creature said emerging from the shadows, “am Never-Et.” The creature was entirely black with radiant ivory specks for eyes. It seemed to be made entirely of a black fire, but it was only a form of shadow that shifted in the way fire does. "I was created as a living shadow. I am the heart of the darkness." “W-well, what do you want with us?” Pinkie asked turning to him. “I am a creation of Lady Sparkle’s, and I have come to return you to my Lady. Now, comply or be terminated.” The black figure began to disappear into the shadows it seemed to be birthed from. “Pinkie,” Rarity turned her head and whispered, “he’s a shadow shifter. I know how these things work. I use a lot of the same tricks. Let me handle most of the fighting, okay?” “Okay, Rarity. Just be careful.” Pinkie said nodding. “Come on out, you big blotch. You can't take us!” Rarity called out. And with that boast, the entire house lost all color, all light. Before Rarity could react, she saw two tall figures walking toward them from the shadows. To her surprise, two exact copies of herself and Pinkie Pie emerged. “Uhh, Rarity, was this part of your plan?” Pinkie leaned over and asked her. “Not at all, Pinkie. Not at all.” Rarity replied. The two copies stood before Rarity and Pinkie, silent, ready to strike. The tension was heavy, and they all waited to see which one would strike first. Twilight's Shadows - Chapter 2The copies of Rarity and Pinkie Pie seemed motionless, just as the real Rarity and Pinkie were. Whenever Pinkie or Rarity moved, the copies seemed to adjust and shift exactly the same. “This… May be an interesting fight.” Rarity whispered over to Pinkie. They were both adamant and vigilant. Pinkie Pie could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead from the tension. “Well, come on, Never-Et make your move.” Pinkie shouted toward the copies. The Pinkie copy stood there for a moment before unsheathing her dagger, an exact replica of Pinkie Pie’s own sky-diamond dagger. “Why don’t you make your move? Think you can keep up with us?” The Pinkie Pie copy replied with a confident tone. “Ha! I should be asking that question to you!” The real Pinkie Pie asked. “I’m just asking, because you seem to have put on a few pounds. Must be those cupcakes.” The Pinkie clone giggled. “What?! I am not FAT! Wait a minute, you’re a copy of me! We weigh the same!” The real Pinkie fired back, getting agitated. She looked over at Rarity, “Am I this agitating?” “Pinkie Pie. Focus. Stop quarreling with yourself. They're trying to distract us.” Rarity replied with her own agitation. She looked over at her pink friend. Pinkie Pie really knew how to turn a serious moment silly. Rarity turned her attention to the Pinkie Pie clone in front of them. She looked around, “Hey, where’d the Rarity copy go?” “Rarity, to your left!” Pinkie shouted out to her. Rarity’s head jolted to the left to see her clone coming at her with unimaginable alacrity, daggers in hand and aimed for her torso. Rarity barely had any time to throw up her own dagger to dodge eminent death. She couldn’t avoid the other dagger though. She felt a sharp pain as a blade created a tiny fissure up the side of her thigh. She screamed out in pain and fell to her knee as her leg burned. “Rarity! Are you okay?” Pinkie said trying to comfort her friend “Y-yeah… I’m fine. It’s… Just a scratch.” Rarity assured Pinkie, trying to hide the fact that she now had a large chasm down her leg. The Rarity copy faded back into sight beside the Pinkie Pie clone, as she laughed. “You should really pay more attention.” giggled the copy of Rarity, “It doesn’t surprise me that a complacent moron like yourself wouldn’t be able to hold her own, even against herself.” Rarity stood in shock as the words soaked in. She squinted her eyes and rage began to take over. “Oh, it. Is. ON.” Rarity was suddenly in front of her clone, both daggers in full swing. The clone only smirked and easily pulled its own daggers up to defend itself. She laughed at Rarity, “I know all your moves, inside and out.” “How is that even possible? H-how can Never-Et become two things he knows nothing about?” The mortified Rarity replied. “Don’t think too much about it. It might hurt your self-absorbed little head.” The clone snickered and gave a hard kick to Rarity’s gut, knocking the breath out of her and pushing her to the ground. She hit the ground with a bit of a thud, the heavy impact reigniting the fire in her thigh. She let out a groan. “Alright, new plan,” Rarity got to her hooves and leaned over to Pinkie Pie, “we should attack together. I wasn’t expecting this shadow shifter to be… special.” “Alright,” the pink pony replied, “well, how should we attack? It almost seems like we’re much slower than they are.” “Just keep them busy. Make them cautious. I’m going to fade into the shadows and find out where Never-Et is hiding.” Rarity tried to keep her voice as quiet as possible, but felt it was in vain, for if Never-Et were every shadow, then he could perceive everything that a shadow consumed; the inside of the house entirely unlit. Rarity looked as if she dissolved. She phased into nothing. This elicited a slight smirked from the clones. Pinkie Pie gripped her weapon and rushed toward the Rarity clone. The clone confidently laughed and was suddenly behind her. A smile swept across Pinkie Pie’s face and she threw her dagger behind her, the dagger piercing the clone’s torso, blood now dripping from it. The clone gasped and swung her arm around, hoping to return the damage. Pinkie, with swift coordination, pulled the dagger and jumped backwards over the clone’s head. Without further hesitation, Pinkie Pie began sprinting toward her own clone, while the Rarity clone tried to recover. Pinkie Pie went to strike at her clone, but stopped a few feet before her and jumped back. Pinkie Pie’s tail started swishing and twitching. The clone stood there dumbfounded but began laughing at the pink pony. To Pinkie’s surprise, Rarity came bolting from the ceiling, shortly after, onto the pink clone and landed two precise strikes, both seemingly evenly in her chest. Rarity jumped off back into the air and faded into the shadows once more. The two clones both got to their hooves, drenched with blood. “I think it’s time w-we try something else.” the Pinkie Pie clone said to her companion. She nodded and they both dissolved into the shadows. Pinkie Pie was ready for anything. “Aiiieeee!!” Rarity went flying through the air and landed right on Pinkie. She wasn’t exactly ready for that. They both laid there disoriented for a moment before a second Rarity came out of the shadows with her daggers in front of her. The first Rarity threw her arm up and blocked the dagger with the bracer. The pressure against her arm was rather painful, and she felt like the blade would slice straight through the bracer and her wrist any minute. The defending pony swung her blade around, causing the assailing Rarity to jump backward. Both Rarities got steady on their hooves. Pinkie Pie got up too and stood beside the Rarity closest to her, thinking it was her friend. “Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?” The white pony across from her asked shocked. “That’s the clone Rarity!” “What?! No, she’s the clone!” The Rarity beside Pinkie accused. Pinkie took a look at the Rarities. She first looked at their left thigh, the one that was cut by the clone. Both Rarities had the same gash up their thigh. They were now identical. Pinkie Pie was now completely confused. She had no idea which one was the real one. “Pinkie Pie, it’s me. I’m the real Rarity!” The Rarity across the room struck a pose like a diva. “I do not pose like that!” The Rarity beside Pinkie Pie yelled. “Pinkie, I’m the real one. I’m the real Rarity.” Pinkie Pie gripped her own head, her fingers threaded through her mane. She was thinking about the situation, under great pressure. She had a thought, and she felt brilliant. She looked around and saw two windows on either side of the room, but they were hard to see. The silhouette is all she went by. “Rarities,” Pinkie Pie told them, “stand by the windows on either side of the room.” The two white ponies looked and picked a window to stand by. The Rarity beside Pinkie stood by a window to her left, and the Rarity across from Pinkie stood by a window to her right. Pinkie stood in the middle between them. She focused for a moment and her boots hummed. The purple color filled the slits in the back, and within a blink, the boards covering the windows fell to pieces, revealing the outside light. The Rarity to Pinkie Pie’s left was unscathed. The Rarity to her right jumped back into the shadows. “Augh! It’s time to stop this little game!” The clone shouted at Pinkie Pie. It faded back into the darkness, leaving Pinkie and Rarity cautious. “Whew, thank Celestia you had that brilliant idea. I think we just found ourselves a weakness!” The white pony exclaimed walking over to Pinkie, whom was still in the shadows. Pinkie Pie went to reply, but was met with a sudden sharp dagger in her shoulder. “You will be returned to Lady Sparkle dead or alive!” The voice of Never-Et spoke. His sinister voice haunted the ponies’ minds. The deep, ghostly voice, almost like low, yet gruffly whispers. Rarity held up Pinkie Pie so she wouldn’t fall. As Rarity embraced Pinkie, she felt a streak of pain across her back, followed by a warm substance trickling down it as well. She screamed out in pain as they both fell to their knees. “We… We have to get b-back into the light. We can’t s-stay in the shadows or that monster will kill us.” Rarity told Pinkie. Pinkie Pie nodded her head as to acquiesce. “We r-really need to get out of here.” Pinkie finally said. The two limped toward the light, holding each other for support. Pinkie gasped again as a piercing slash came across her back. Rarity followed sharply as her left leg was sliced again. They were almost to the curtain of light, a savior of their lives, but were put to a stop when they both felt it. A penetration of their skin, of their torso. They both fell to the floor. Pinkie Pie’s vision was growing dark. Rarity felt like stone. They lied there, gasping for breath, as they felt the blades that pierced their bodies dissolve into the shadows, and felt them being dragged into the veil of darkness by their ankles. They could not speak due to shock. They could barely breathe. And they surely believed they were stronger than this, but obviously to them, not against themselves. As they were being pulled into the drapes of malevolent darkness, Pinkie Pie finally managed to squeak out a few words, “Rarity…” “Y-yes… p-p-Pinkie?” Rarity barely managed to say. “I always th-thought of y-y-you as m-my big s-sister… A sister I n-never had… And… I just w-wanted to say… I l-love you…” Pinkie said under fading breath. Rarity gave a weak smile, a smile covered in her own blood. They were both leaking large amounts of blood and some tears. The two ponies were at the edge of the darkness. They pulled each other close with the last of their strength, embracing each other, awaiting the darkness to be eternity. Pinkie started giving hushed sobs, and Rarity nuzzled her. This was it. Their so-called skill put to waste. The two closed their eyes. Suddenly, the doors flung open, almost off their hinges. Three Cloud-steel-tipped arrows followed after a carpet of light roared into the house. The light caused the shadows to release Pinkie and Rarity, who were still embracing each other. Applejack and Fluttershy entered the room. Fluttershy hurriedly ran over to the two severely injured ponies. “Oh my, Applejack. They’re in critical condition. We have to get them out of here.” The yellow pony stated in shock. “Oh no, they’ve passed out from so much blood loss. Applejack.” “Ah know, Ah know. Fluttershy, can you drag ‘em out while I get yer back?” Applejack asked her. “I… I can try, but you know I’m not very strong.” The pegasus replied. “Do it fer yer friends,” The orange pony told her, pulling two arrows from her leather quiver and drawing them across her bow made of ever-gloss. She aimed it at the darkness, waiting for whatever kind of monster might unveil. Fluttershy struggled but managed to start dragging her friends toward the door. “This… Would be easier… If we had… Twilight on our side!” Fluttershy said under heavy breaths. For a weak pegasus, even dragging two ponies is straining work. She wasn’t used to carrying more than a bunny or two. That is, until industrialization probably poisoned them all. Fluttershy could probably never forgive Twilight for that. “Stay focused, Fluttershy, yer doin’ great.” Applejack told her. “Eep!” The yellow pony’s legs were wrapped in shadows, which caused her to fall. Applejack began firing arrows in the darkness. Nothing seemed to work. The arrows only seemed to whip through the foggy shadows. Applejack was a workhorse. She got things done, and she always stayed prepared for the unexpected, including unexpected events like this. She anticipated her normal attacks to fail and knew she'd need to change tactics. The earth pony smiled, reaching into a satchel on her belt, pulling out a few tiny spherical devices made of a silver metal. They were just big enough for her to fit three in one hand. A fuse came out of the silver spheres. She smirked and lit all three using a match she pulled with them. Applejack threw one into the back of the room where it was darkest. She threw the second to her left against the wall, and the third to the right by the window. Within seconds, the three detonated, creating new holes in the walls. The holes led to the outside, letting more light pour into the house. The shadows that were wrapped around Fluttershy dissolved, and she got to her hooves as quickly as she possibly could. “AGHHH!” Never-Et’s echoing, ghostly voice screamed out. The shadow creature’s true form, rushed upstairs. “C’mon, Fluttershy. We need to get the hay outta here!” Applejack yelled as she rushed over to the pegasus and began helping her drag their friends. As they neared the door, the building began to shake and collapse. “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!” Fluttershy repeated. Support beams of the building began to fall. “YOU WILL NOT LEAVE!” Never-Et’s haunting voice rung again. “Hurry!” Applejack shouted. “I’m trying!” Fluttershy squeaked through a slight sob. The two put all their effort into saving their friend’s and their own lives. As they reached the doorway, the building began to crumble and break like a house of cards. They embraced their pony friends and jumped out into the warm sunlight. They just narrowly avoided death. “We… We made it.” Applejack said, breathing heavily. “We should really get back to Rainbow Dash in case one of those… things is there too!” Fluttershy suggested. “Good idea, sugarcube.” Applejack agreed, taking Pinkie Pie in her arms and carrying her. “Ya got Rarity, Fluttershy?” “Yeah, I think so.” Fluttershy nodded her head. ~~~~~~ Rainbow Dash sat alone in the storage building while Applejack and Fluttershy went off to look for Rarity and Pinkie Pie. She sighed, feeling useless at the moment. She couldn’t fight, and felt like she could, but wasn’t allowed to. “I really want to go fight too, but these stupid injuries keep me from it.” Rainbow sighed again as her body began to ache. “Ow.” She looked over at her satchel, a blue bag with her cutie mark stitched onto it. She unclasped the latch, and opened her satchel. Inside she pulled out one of her favorite books, amongst other things like a deck of cards, a canteen, and a sharpening stone for her swords. This book she loved so much was actually the book that made her like reading more. It was a book that one of her closest friends showed her: “Daring-Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone.” She had already read it, but she decided to read it again anyway. Rainbow Dash opened the book, and began quietly reading aloud the words across the pages. ~~~~~~ Twilight Sparkle sat in her room on her bed, reading over some test results. She had been particularly busy the past few weeks with experiments. She didn’t know why, but she felt compelled to speed up the process, and by doing so, she had been running on little sleep, but she didn’t care. Her thirst for death and blood was more overwhelming than a good rest. Twilight looked over at a nightstand beside her. A little locket reflected the fire of the lamplight that sat beside it. Twilight Sparkle sighed. She remembered what happened. None of these things were her fault, but she couldn’t stop herself. Yes, it's what happened to her so long ago. She remembered those events so vividly... ~~~~~~ Twilight Sparkle was a normal mare, just like any other, and was loved by many friends, respected as well. She had a lavender coat, beautiful violet eyes, the sweetest voice, and most importantly, she was hooved, she was a pony, she was herself. It was a sunny day, bright, warm, and cheerful. She was sitting in her room, studying like she always did. Spike was downstairs sorting the shelves as Twilight requested, and she herself was comfortably lazing on her bed. There came a knock on her door. She hadn’t been expecting anyone. “Spiiiike! Could you please get that for me?” Twilight called down to him. “I’m on it, Twi!” The little purple dragon replied. He opened the door, watching as a wall-eyed pony with a blonde mane, grey coat, and gentle smile dropped a little package and turned to fly away. “It’s a package!” Spike called back up to Twilight, waving goodbye to ditzy pegasus. “Bring it up, please?” Twilight looked down at him from her bed and gave a goofy grin. “Alright, fine. But only ‘cause you said please.” Spike chuckled and carried the package upstairs. When he got up to her room he handed her the package: a brown, cardboard box about the size of Twilight’s head. Twilight looked at the top where all the addressing was. “Hey, this is a package from my mother.” “I wonder what it is.” Spike curiously said. “Hm, well, we’re about to find out.” Twilight answered, opening the box eagerly. The box was mostly filled with packing peanuts. Laying on the mass of Styrofoam pellets was a letter, hoof-written by Twilight’s mother. She recognized this. “Your father and I are growing old, and we believe it’s time for you to be in possession of the Sparkle family heirloom. Our family has passed down this sacred heirloom for generations, for longer than a thousand years. We hope you like it, and please take good care of it, so that you may pass it down to a filly of your own one day. We love you very much.” ~Love, Mom~ Twilight reached further into the box and felt it. She felt the cold metal the necklace was made of. She pulled out the heirloom with her hooves and gasped. “Oh… Oh my goodness. It… It’s beautiful!” Twilight exclaimed, shocked at the gleaming radiance it gave off. It surprised her that an heirloom that had been passed down for so long looked so untouched by time. It shone with flawlessness, and was virtually unscathed. It had no scratches, no dents, no markings of damage. It was an amulet with a golden chain. The chain gleamed when the light touched it. The amulet itself was a flawlessly cut, diamond-shaped amethyst, placed in a gold-rimmed socket. On the back of the socket was engraved “Sparkle”. “I… I can’t believe it! I’m in possession of the family heirloom!” Twilight was overjoyed. She held the necklace up to her face and nuzzled it before lifting it with her magic and wrapping the chain around her neck. She played with the amethyst a bit. She suddenly didn’t feel right. She flinched and rubbed her head. “Twi? You okay?” Spike asked confused. Twilight nodded her head and smiled. “Yeah, I feel fine, Spike.” She replied calmly. “I feel sleepy though. I think I’ll go to bed early.” “Okay, well, sleep well.” Spike smiled and gave her a blanket. ~~~~~~ A wicked smile swept across Twilight Sparkle's tear-covered face. “Nightveil Sparkle…” she murmured to herself. It was clear. Something was terribly wrong, and this wasn’t Twilight. She unclasped the mechanism that held her cloak around her neck, the diamond-shaped amethyst. She held it under the lamplight, and read the back. “Sparkle.” She whispered as she glanced over the engraving. She got up out of her bed. It was late and she was tired, but she had to take care of something that she had been putting off. “All of my friends are gone; they’ve probably been taken by the creatures of the industrial wasteland; although, there is much news of their survival from a lot of workers.” Twilight went around her bed. There was a bookcase with several books packed together. She pulled a blue, green, and purple book in order. The bookcase slid open, revealing a dark and eerie passage. Twilight went down into the darkness and disappeared behind the curtains of shadows. The bookcase slid back into place, perfectly covering the passage. When Twilight got to the end of the passage, there were tables with leather straps, tables with metal braces, machines giving of random sequences of lights and sounds, and the smell of rotting corpses covered in chemical scents. She went over to a table and opened a drawer. Inside were several miscellaneous things, but Twilight picked out what she needed at the time: six plastic, transparent bags, sealed to protect the contents inside. The bags were labeled with individual names on each bag: Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Trixie. Twilight laid the bags out on a table with a few beakers, test tubes, burners, and other tools used for chemistry. “Time to begin,” Twilight told herself, “and put what I’ve learned about life to the test.” ~~~~~~ “Ya’ll okay?” Pinkie Pie heard the pleasant accent of Applejack’s. It sounded like she was talking from the other side of thick glass, though. “C’mon now, you two. We’ve wasted a lot of time fixin’ ya’ll up, and we’re runnin’ late.” Rarity groaned and sat up, struggling to brace herself, through the pain. “W-what happened? We…We’re alive?” “Course ya are. Yer lucky ya made enough commotion fer the whole town to hear.” Applejack snickered. “And with that, we need to get the hay outta dodge before any other monsters show up.” Pinkie began to open her eyes, giving a silent groan. She looked over at Rarity, who she thought was Rainbow Dash for a moment, because she was wrapped in bandages. In fact, Rainbow Dash was floating above them as well. Her wings gave strong, heavy strokes against the air, keeping her afloat. She was suited in heavy steel armor; it was unbelievable that her wings could support all that weight. The armor was a glimmering smoky black. It was plated and layered, and it looked as though it would take something massive to even create a scratch or dent. Her torso, legs, and hooves were covered in the blackened metal. Her hands up to her wrists were protected by a pair of gauntlets of the same material but left her fingers exposed. The designs on the armor looked regal, yet ancient, and therefore very intricate. The plates of armor were lined with golden trimming, and on the left side of the breastplate was Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark glossed over to help protect it from being scratched off. “Aww yeah! Feels so good to be free again!” Rainbow announced audaciously. “Take it easy there on the wings, Rainbow,” Applejack told her, “you haven’t fully recovered yet.” “Yeah, yeah, I know, I will be!” Rainbow reassured. “Can ya’ll walk?” Applejack looked over to the two ponies on the ground, just recovering from the beating of their lives. “Now I know we just took down a giant metal statue and all, but we took it down together, when we were at our strongest. Did ya forget how hard you were slammed into that wall, Rarity?” Rarity blushed a little, and looked away. “Uhhh, well, maybe I forgot, you know because I was hit so hard, and everything.” “Ya ain’t playin’ innocent with me. Yer not invincible, Rarity.” Applejack got a little more serious. Rarity only looked down. She felt responsible for the injuries she caused Pinkie Pie. “I… I’m sorry Applejack. I’m sorry, Pinkie. I guess I let my sense of honor get the best of me. That shadow shifter was right. I’m just a selfish, complacent pony.” “Now, Rarity, nopony said that,” Applejack bent down to comfort her, “Ah just simply said that you shouldn’t go tryin’ to play the hero.” “Yeah, that’s my job!” Rainbow Dash flew up to them and struck a heroic pose. Rainbow suddenly stopped posing when she noticed Rarity and Applejack giving an unimpressed glare. “Now’s not the time, Rainbow.” Applejack told her. “Anyhoo, ya ready to go, Pinkie? Can ya walk walk?” Pinkie nodded and stood up, groaning as pain struck a heavy chord in her body. “Y-yeah. I can walk.” “Alright, then. Let’s go, ya’ll.” Applejack told the group. After much time wasted, the five finally got back out into the nothing, on their way to the palace. They now have to make up for lost time; the sooner they get to the palace and end the suffering, the better. The five ponies were on a critical mission, as they’ve been before, to restore harmony, and under Twilight’s reign balance is lost entirely. They had enough time to make it to the palace, as long as the road was smooth, and if there were few obstacles. Their hope was to be there within a few weeks, before Twilight gathers the power to control everything with only a finger. And Twilight was working endlessly to achieve that. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy… All five ponies delving into unknown darkness, into more sinister hatred than they could imagine. They hoped it was going to be simple. But nopony can foresee the future… ~~~~~~ Twilight Sparkle gave a long-awaited exhale. She was successful. She looked at the liquid-filled tubes that lined up evenly. Six tubes. “My creations. My beloved creations!” Twilight excitedly shouted at the tubes. Within the tubes were ponies with wires and pads connected to them. The advanced technology and magic allowed her accomplishments at great speeds. “Look at what we’ve accomplished! Look at where we’ve come.” Twilight seemed to speak in a different voice. “It… It’s so beautiful. We can accomplish anything. We are unstoppable.” Twilight stated to herself as though having a conversation with a figment of her own imagination. The ponies in the tubes were not just ordinary ponies. They were Twilight’s friends. They floated in the liquid, lifeless bodies, replicas of her closest friends. Now, she had the help of her friends, and it would make conquering the planet so much easier for her. Twilight Sparkle took and inserted a piece of glass into a machine that seemed to be connected to the tubes. A malevolent grin spread across Twilight’s face as she pulled a switch, the machine activating and lighting up the tubes. “I can’t have any heroes trying to stop me within my own palace. So I have to make them like me!” Twilight snickered. The first tube lit up, the liquid becoming purple. First was Rainbow Dash. Next Applejack, then Pinkie Pie, then Fluttershy, and Rarity. As the process finished on Rarity, the machine malfunctioned before it began on Trixie. “Huh? What happened? Blast this machine!” Twilight turned off the machine, and opened the slot where she inserted the piece of glass. Perhaps I ran out of the gene. Let me get another sample.” Twilight went over to her desk, retrieving another sample of her synthetic genetics. She walked back over to her machine and replaced the original sample. She turned the machine on again, Trixie’s tube going through the process. It eventually lit up purple, like the rest, except this time it was lighter purple, but Twilight didn’t notice. “Get some sleep, my friends, we have a big day tomorrow.” Twilight told the sleeping ponies as she crossed the passage once more, retreating into her room. The machines died down, the life support for the ponies excluded, and darkness shrouded the room and all was silent. Hours passed and night was far from over. Ominous shadows curtained every inch of the palace. But there was a sudden rustling in the lab. Trixie’s tube flickered with light. Hers was the only one that lit up. Trixie was inside, awake and wriggling around. She had pulled all the wires and pads off. She pushed against the glass hoping to find an opening, but it was solid. “Mmmf.” Trixie choked, trying to get air, but there was only water. She began banging her fists on the glass. She was hitting it as hard as she could. She continued hitting the glass with her fists, and eventually cracked it. Seeing that she was making progress, she started hitting harder and faster. She started feeling lightheaded from using so much energy to free herself from her cylindrical prison. She used as much force as she could and finally broke the glass. The water poured out, and she inhaled a copious amount of breath. Trixie looked around. She was drenched, her blue coat was darker. She was completely nude, but that wasn’t the key issue at the moment. Her main concern was wondering where she was and what was going on. “Where am I?” Trixie whispered under her breath. “Wait.” She paused and began remember: She was on an operating table, one of the first test subjects. She couldn’t move. She was strapped down. Twilight stepped from the shadows with a table covered in blood and knives, beakers with chemicals, and surgical tools. Blood was drawn, incisions in her skin were made, and she screamed and pleaded with every inch of her fiber, but the pain never ceased. Trixie died that night. Trixie had to escape; she had to get out, but how? She looked around and found an air duct in the back behind some machines. Maybe she could get out through the air duct. She walked over to the duct and tore away the cover. She had to hurry before Twilight noticed her attempt to escape. Trixie really hoped that Twilight hadn’t heard the glass break. This possibility only made her work faster to escape. Trixie crawled through the dark tunnels of the vent. They winded around and sometimes made her think she was just going in circles. She had no idea where exactly she was going, in fact, but she didn’t care. She remembered the pain and agony she suffered through as Twilight stood over her, pouring acids over her body, ripping her flesh off, horrific things that made her sick just thinking about it. These memories seemed to take her body and just drive it away. She had no idea how she was alive, but she didn’t think about it; she was breathing and that was good enough for her. Trixie came across several openings to fall through, but she wanted one that was outside of the palace or at least close to an exit. She crawled for a while, looking around for an opening to the outside, but instead she was met with a dead end. “Of course.” Trixie sighed and whispered sarcastically. She silently removed the covering over an opening by the dead end. She peeked her head through first, looking around for guards or traps. The area was clear. It was a dark storage closet, and a large one at that. Trixie dropped down landing as softly as she could, but still making a clop noise when she landed. She began to sweat and bit her bottom lip, hoping there was nobody around to pursue her. She was frozen for a few minutes, just waiting for someone to catch her, but no one came. She exhaled in relief, standing up straight. She took a look around, observing the area. “Hmm… What could I use to help me escape?” Trixie asked herself as quietly as possible. Most of the items in the room were useless to her, though. There were mostly ingredients for recipes. Large brown bags of flour packed in corners by crates labeled “spices”, and shelves of pots and pans lined up across the room. Trixie realized that this room could possibly expose her. It’s dark and if she trips and falls on a shelf, the pots and pans impacting on the floor would be a loud enough alarm to expose her and probably have her killed. Trixie did her best to keep her hooves from making too loud of noise. She wormed around the shelves, sweat beads dripping from her forehead and cheeks. She made sure her hooves were nowhere near any objects that could make loud noises. Luckily for her, the door wasn’t too far from where she had landed. She crept over to the door, sighing with relief as her heart calmed from exhilaration. Trixie cracked the door as silently as possible, peeking around. There was nobody around. “Excellent. Maybe this will be easy.” She gave a sweet smile and crept out the door, trotting along the hallway and hoping for an exit. The hallway was long and narrow, almost like an eerie hallway from a nightmare where you run as fast as you can, but the hallway just keeps stretching for eternity. Trixie went left, to the closest corner. She was draped in shadows which made it harder for her to be seen. She used this to her advantage and peeked her head around the corner. “No guards? This is getting to be too easy.” Trixie said, becoming more cautious than before. “I don’t care. The faster I can get out of here, the better.” Trixie carefully walked down the hallway, checking doors and looking for easier ways out; however she had no luck. All the doors led into other rooms that just went deeper into the palace. She was walking along the hallway, using the walls for direction, when she suddenly saw a light coming around the corner at the end. “Uh oh.” Trixie said with a low tone, while checking the doors. Inside the closest door to her was a bedroom. She definitely didn’t want to go into any bedrooms. She decided to backtrack and went back into the storage room she came out of earlier. She went inside and pushed the door almost closed, leaving a tiny crack for her to see through without being noticed. Her heart was pounding as the light turned the corner. When the light passed, she got a glimpse of a shadowy figure holding a lantern, except it wasn’t holding the lantern; the lantern was connected to its arm. Trixie opened the door as quietly as possible, looking around and seeing the creature disappear along with the light. “Hmm, maybe I should actually follow it.” Trixie thought. She could tail it and find an exit, using its lantern for light. She realized that the creature had gone down a set of stairs onto another floor. She looked around and found the light going down another eerie hallway. Trixie followed it, but didn’t test its senses and kept a great distance between them. It turned down another staircase, an odd place for a staircase actually: cutting right out of the middle of the hallway in between two bedroom doors. Trixie paid no mind and followed it anyway. She had been following this thing for a while now, almost fifteen minutes, and it seemed to just be leading her nowhere. She was looking for an exit, not trying to get lost inside a palace taking up an eighth of Equestria! Finally it stopped and turned around, but didn’t move forward. It just sat there as though it just now noticed it was being followed this whole time. Trixie froze and backed away a great bit, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. She turned around and realized she was backing straight into another one. She about screamed, but bit her tongue. She saw a door, and understood that she had to hide behind that door. It was her only option. Trixie opened the door as quickly, yet quietly as possible. “Maybe I need to stay out of the halls. Or at least not stay in them for too long.” She whispered under her breath. She didn’t know what the creatures were doing on the other side of that door, but she didn’t dare check to find out. She assumed she was safe for the moment in that room, so she stayed there for a while. It was a bedroom and black as a void. Trixie squinted and tried to see if there were any ponies sleeping in the beds, but couldn’t tell, and decided it would be best not to risk causing any noise, so she sat there against the door thinking. But it was almost pointless to think. She had no idea how to get out and no idea which doors led where. She had no maps, so this escape was going to be unimaginably difficult, but very time consuming. Trixie sat in the dark for nearly an hour, silent, naked, cold, and tired. She wanted to be somewhere safe, where she could sleep without worry, eat without limits, and be warm with given blankets or even clothing, but instead, she was stuck planning on what she might could possibly do to get out. Trixie hadn’t heard any movement in the beds and figured it was okay to crawl around and have a look at the place. The darkness made it more difficult, but over the hour of being surrounded by it, her eyes adjusted and it was somewhat easier than before. She noticed beds and nightstands, a window in the back, and chests at the ends of the beds to act as containers for personal belongings. “Think, Trixie, think,” she told herself, “maybe the window? Maybe we’re not too high up.” She crawled over to the window, past the beds. Now that she was closer she could get a better look and verified that there was a pony sleeping in one of the beds. Trixie flattened her ears and made sure it was imperative she remain as silent as imaginably possible. She peeked through the window. Outside, it was gloomy, even for the night. The moon seemed to mock the existing inhabitants of the planet, being so safe up in the sky like an unscathed pearl while the ponies suffered horrific and wicked deaths. Trixie looked down, her heart sunk, “Of course.” She thought to herself. She had to be on one of the highest floors possible. Looking down, there were jagged rocks scattered across a rushing and crashing pool of water. It seemed to wildly attack the bottom of the palace as if trying to knock the entire building over. It made Trixie sick just imagining an attempt at climbing down. Trixie sighed quietly and noticed that there was one bed open. She checked the chests to see if they were just gone, but the chest was empty. The pony sleeping was alone, and Trixie had a bed to herself. She quietly climbed into the empty bed and wrapped herself in the blanket. The velvet-like blanket was soft and she felt warm. She tried to cover her entire body. Maybe she could wake up early and get back in the vents before the other pony awakes. Trixie closed her eyes and continued to think about ways she could free herself from this place before being caught. She smiled slightly, for this may be the last good feeling she feels for a long time, so she savored it. She savored the warmth of a blanket in a cozy bed because that’s all she wanted for the time being. Trixie rolled over onto her side and drifted off to sleep. Fire and Night - Chapter 3Trixie groaned as she felt a nudge against her side. “Pst. Hey. Get up.” A voice in her mind echoed. “Hey, I’m not kidding! It’s morning!” Trixie’s eyes shot open, and she yelped as she jumped to the other side of the bed, furthest from a caramel-colored stallion that was standing over her, dressed in a white t-shirt and boxers. She began to breathe heavily, knowing for certain she had been caught. She had intended to wake up a little earlier, but her body must have been more exhausted than she thought. “Whoa, calm down, there, I’m not going to hurt you.” The tall pony looked Trixie over, analyzing her nude body. He gave an insignificant smirk. “You must be a new recruit sent to bunk with me.” Trixie sat there, calmer than before, staring up at the stallion and unaware of her nakedness. “A bit shy, eh? My name is Vanilla Delights, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Recruit.” Vanilla held out his hand. Trixie leaned forward a little, still looking up at the stallion. “M… My name is Trixie. I… I’m not a recruit, actually.” Vanilla tilted his head and smiled. “Trixie. Cute name.” “Thank you.” Trixie sat up in the bed. She glanced around the room as the two became quiet for a brief moment. She didn’t have much time to examine it when it was dark and she was in a rush to escape. Quickly, the blue unicorn turned her attention to her new roommate's eyes. Bright ocean blue and as calm as a soothing lake, they were. Trixie felt one with the tides just looking at them. Vanilla nodded. “So, you’re not a recruit. Then you must be an escapee.” “Well, yes, I don’t know exactly where I am,” Trixie lied, making it sound more dramatic, “and I’m trying to get out of this awful place.” Vanilla paused and struck a serious face. “You’re very lucky. Had you told anypony else, you’d likely be carried off right about now to be dissected alive; however, I, too, am trying to escape. I need to unite with my family out in the Industrial Wasteland.” He looked out his window to the orange and pink dawn, barely visible through the curtain of clouds created by industrial smoke and pollution. The horizon was covered in ruins of small villages, villages of no inhabitants anymore. The plane in which she lived now was virtually desolate of free organic beings, only machines or mutant mistakes created by Twilight Sparkle. “Well, maybe you could take me with you?” Trixie pleaded Vanilla shook his head. “You will be leaving first and without me. But don’t worry for me, I’ll be following shortly after you make it out.” Trixie looked down and bundled up in the blankets, realizing she had been naked this whole time, but covering up nonchalantly. “But, why not? Why will you wait so long?” Vanilla sighed and smiled. “Let me explain: Lady Twilight is a sick a mare. She has absolutely no love or care for any life but her own. She aims to control everything and advance technology and magic at an incredible rate by sacrificing everything that is morally just and precious to us as sane ponies. And being the organized pony she is, she keeps tabs on everypony, and when their number comes up, she abducts them and uses them as live specimens for research and testing. Every test she does just results in agony and death.” The cream-toned stallion explained, hanging his head and sighing softly. “Nopony knows when their number comes up. Well, nopony but me. On the day my number comes up, Lady Twilight will let her guard down to catch me sleeping, but I’ll be out through the front door by the time she enters my room.” Trixie smiled and propped her head up with her balled up hand. She was impressed at how much this pony had put into this plan, and the fact that he would be willing to help her escape. “Thank you, Vanilla. Be careful when you go to escape… Please.” Vanilla gave a warm grin and walked over to his wardrobe. “I’m going down to get some breakfast, you hungry?” “A little.” Trixie nodded, perking up at the mention of food. “Well, you’re going to need to stay hidden while I’m not in the room. I happen to have a little hidden room that you can hide in. I hope you don’t mind.” The tall stallion told her as he took off his shirt. Trixie looked over at the half-nude stallion, his beefy arms and wide torso implying how strong his abdomen and chest is. She blushed, hoping he’d turn around, but he reached in and pulled out a black shirt, putting it on. Trixie sighed and felt a bit disappointed. “Maybe one day.” She thought. She, then, turned her attention back to the original statement directed to her. “I don’t mind at all. If it means to keep me safe, then I’ll do whatever it takes.” The blue unicorn assured. “Good. I don’t want you getting hurt. Lady Twilight’s personal guards search our rooms randomly, once a month or so.” Vanilla explained. “They know who the recruits are, and who are not. Luckily, you won't be here for longer than a few days, hopefully.” “But, this place is huge,” Trixie began, watching as Vanilla Delights finished covering himself in thin armor, as if it were armor that was equipped under thicker armor, “These guards must be computers to keep up with all the residents.” “You’re partly right.” The stallion began to explain as he walked over to the wall. “They’re organic computers created by Lady Twilight. They analyze our DNA upon recruitment so that they memorize who we are.” Trixie sat there and listened. She seemed to enjoy listening to Vanilla rather than debate with him. It was something about his voice that enticed her. It was calm and mellow, but sharp enough to keep her attention. She watched as Vanilla Delights pressed in a part of the wall by his wardrobe, making a part of the wall near the floor slide over to the side and reveal a small vault-like space with a vent on one of the walls that apparently acted as a ventilation system. It was definitely big enough for Trixie to fit in, but if she knew that if she stayed there too long she’d get cramps in several places. “Don’t worry, I won’t be gone long. Just try not to make a lot of noise.” Vanilla chuckled. “Also, feel free to rummage through my wardrobes and drawers for clothes. I’m sure I have something that will fit you; although, you’re so much smaller than me so…” “Oh don’t worry about that,” Trixie interrupted him, “I have a spell that will make the clothes fit perfectly.” Vanilla smiled. “Well, I hope you don’t mind the colo-…” “Oh I have a spell for that too…” Trixie grinned widely. Vanilla began to feel defeated, now. He elicited a small giggle. “Just get in the box.” Trixie giggled back and got up, walking over to the stallion’s wardrobe. She scrounged around and found some large, drab shirts of a stained ivory. The color made her cringe, but she figured it wasn’t Vanilla’s choice of what color they could wear. She took a baggy shirt and some men’s boxers. Vanilla couldn’t help himself but to study Trixie’s naked body. Several times did he have fantasies in just the short time he’s known her. It was all in the fact that she was there before him, without a single piece of clothing on her; however, those fantasies were swiftly washed away by the truth: She’ll have escaped by the time he even gets the chance to make a single move, and after that, he’ll probably never even see her again. Trixie casually put the clothes on. She struggled to keep them on long enough to use the spell. She held onto the boxers and shirt with each hand as her horn lit up a blue, sparkling aura. The clothes began to shrink and shape nicely around her body. Trixie smiled at the success of her spell. “Nice job, now hurry up and get inside the box thing. I’m starving.” Vanilla smiled and chuckled softly. “Okay okay, Mister Bossy.” Trixie giggled and climbed into the small room. She positioned herself as comfortably as she could and looked up at Vanilla. “Okay, we’re good. See you in a bit?” “See you in a bit.” The armored stallion smiled and pressed the space in the wall again. The wall slid in and Trixie relaxed as the light began to fade. The wall-door placed perfectly back with the rest of the wall and a black veil prevented Trixie from seeing anything. ~~~~~~ Rarity groaned as the five walked onward through rolling dust clouds. Applejack was supporting her weight some. “Uggh! Ah feel like Ah’m carin’ fer a bunch’a foals! Would ya please stop whinin’ Rarity?” Applejack snapped as she rubbed her head. “But my leg hurts!” Rarity groaned again. Her leg was wrapped from above her knee all the way up her thigh as far it could be wrapped. “Ah know yer leg hurts! We all know, Rarity. At least Pinkie’s trying to bounce around.” Applejack pointed back to Pinkie who was skipping around as bubbly as usual. “It doesn’t hurt that bad. You get used to it after a while!” Pinkie hopped up beside Rarity, who didn’t look too pleased with the pink pony. “Her leg wasn’t nearly cut off.” Rarity said, gritting her teeth as she pointed to her bandaged leg. “Ya both took sharp spears to the chest. Yer both lucky to be alive.” Applejack reminded Rarity. “Hmph. You know, there’s mean, and there’s just plain rude.” Rarity turned her head away. Applejack grew a furious expression. “Ya know, there’s fussy, an’ there’s just plain gettin’ on mah nerves!” Rarity grumbled and just held her breath. They had been walking for hours and the constant pressure Rarity was putting on her leg was killing her. Pinkie Pie hoped beside Rainbow Dash, who was up in front with Fluttershy. “Hey, guys, what’re you up to?” “Talking about whatever we can to drown out their annoying fighting.” Dash pointed back to the orange and white ponies behind her who had just found something new to argue about. “Oh you know they can’t help it. This whole situation has us a little on edge, but we just have to remain calm and stick together. We’re The Elements after all, the most renowned rebellion group in all of Equestria. “I know, but these occasional quarrels are nerve-wrecking!” Rainbow Dash turned to Pinkie and explained. “We need to be discussing tactics and plans for how we’re going to defeat Twilight.” “Well, um, do you think we should stop and make camp soon?” Fluttershy started up. “I mean, it’ll be dark soon, but if we keep going in this same direction, we’ll come across Ponyville… Or what’s left of Ponyville I mean.” Rainbow Dash looked over at Fluttershy with a silent stare. Her eyes were filled with shock, and a chill echoed up her entire body. “Y-yeah, let’s book it to Ponyville.” “I agree with Dashie. We can survive a few minutes in the dark.” Pinkie nodded and agreed. “Hey! You two back there!” Dash shouted back at Rarity and Applejack who immediately stopped arguing and turned their attention to Rainbow Dash. “We’re going to stay out a little later so we can get to Ponyville for the night. You two cool with that?” The two ponies nodded in agreement then went back to quarreling. Dash sighed and shook her head. She looked over and noticed Pinkie was much drabber than before. She was dragging along now, rather than bouncing like she was a few minutes ago. “I was just thinking about Twilight… I really miss her. We wouldn’t have such a difficult time getting around or killing these creatures if she was on our side… Of course, if she was on our side, we wouldn’t have to travel across Equestria or kill creatures at all.” Pinkie sighed and held her arm. “I know, Pinkie. We all want our friend back, and by Celestia we will.” Dash said to Pinkie, patting her on the shoulder. “I really hope so, Dashie.” Pinkie replied softly. Rainbow Dash noticed that ever since Twilight became the sadistic mare she is now, Pinkie’s mane and tail have been straight, even when she’s been happy. She had always wondered why her hair was so straight, because it’s only ever straight when she’s really upset or depressed. But Pinkie had just shown Rainbow why, even though Pinkie has been bubbly and beaming after the industrialization, her mane and tail were still flat. Pinkie had lost one of her closest friends, and she was masking the deepest, most agonizing scar her heart had. She hadn’t been truly happy, she had been masking her pain with fake bubbliness so she didn’t bring the rest down to her level of depression. “Pinkie… We’ll fix this, I promise, and we’ll bring back your happiness.” Rainbow told Pinkie in her thoughts. If only Pinkie Pie could have heard her, though. “Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie spoke out to her but didn’t look at her. “Yes, Pink?” Rainbow Dash looked over at her pink friend. “Thank you for being my friend.” Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment, but smiled and wrapped an arm around Pinkie Pie. “Come ‘ere. You know you’re my best friend, and I love you, right?” Pinkie smiled weakly and looked over at Rainbow. “Yes, I know. And I love you too. You’re such a great friend” “And the coolest.” Rainbow Dash grinned and nudged Pinkie with her shoulder. “Definitely the coolest.” Pinkie Pie giggled. ~~~~~~ Ponyville was particularly quiet that day. The usual chatter and clamor of ponies was rather small, and shops were getting little business. It was that rare day that the purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle got to laze in the grassy fields and read in the warm sun. She could send Spike off to run some silly, mundane errands for her while she vacationed on Rainbow Bridge Mountain, one of her favorite places to relax and watch stars. On these rare, quiet days, however, she’d trot off to that cliff and read some books that she wanted to read, but never could due to being a busy mare. Twilight was standing by a table in the main lobby, packing her satchel with books. She had an impatient grin upon her face, and an expression clearly indicating that she can’t wait to relax. The Sparkle family heirloom dangled from her neck, and bit of light in room gleaming off it. “Spike?” Twilight called out. “Yeah, Twilight?” The dragon’s voice replied from another room. “I made a list of things I need for you to do while I go out to Rainbow Bridge Mountain.” Twilight explained as she finished putting all the books she wanted into her bags “Aww, you’re going to Rainbow Bridge without me?” Spike complained. “Well, I need someone to finish those errands, and you’re my number one assistant.” Twilight told the baby dragon. “Alright, fine, I do it for you, Twi.” Spike agreed. “Thank you, Spike. The list on my bed.” Twilight called back to him. “I’ll see you in a while!” Twilight headed out of her library, shutting the door behind her. Twilight was about halfway to her destination, trotting along happily. The sun was warm on her lavender coat, the breeze was soothing, and the sky was beautiful. Twilight suddenly felt a pulse inside her, an odd, abnormal pulse from nowhere. She paid no mind to it, but suddenly felt strange. It wasn’t pain and it wasn’t uncomfortable, just strange. She heard a whisper in her ear shortly after. “We are invincible…” “Huh? Who said that?” Twilight looked around, but only heard the whispers of the rolling breeze. She shook her head and continued onward to Rainbow Bridge. “Together, we can take Equestria…” Twilight stopped again and looked around. “Alright, I know somepony’s there. Who’s there?” Only the rustling of leaves replied. She was alone. Twilight shivered and just began down the road. The strange feeling she had had gone away, and she no longer heard the voice for the rest of her trip to the cliff. The rest of the way to Rainbow Bridge, two strange compound words struck a chord in her head: Skyfire and Nightveil. It was as though something was shouting those words into her head every second that went by. Twilight didn’t care though. She just wanted stretch out on the soft grass and read her books. When the purple mare got to the cliff, she raced over by the edge and lied down. She opened her satchel and grabbed the first book she saw. It was titled ‘Flames of the Twilight’. Twilight always wanted to read this particular book, mostly because her name was in the title. The eager pony opened the book and began reading, soaking in the intriguing story, and retaining every word and letter. ~~~~~~ Twilight lied in her bed with a book in her hand, using her magic to turn the pages. She was on the last page of the book. “The dark cloud had unveiled the village and the two heroes stood victorious. Finally, after so many years of agony and suffering, the two stallions vanquished the monster of the twilight that had lit the sky on fire and brought darkness across the land. And in the midst of hopelessness, they triumphed and laughed at the face of death. Peace reigned across Equestria once more.” Twilight closed the book and set it aside. The doors timely creaked open and a pony wearing armor of a dark amethyst color lined and bordered with silver walked into Twilight’s room. “My Lady, your presence is needed in the throne room.” The guardspony bowed and announced to her. “Very well, I will be there shortly.” Twilight replied casually. Twilight got out of bed and grabbed her normal regal outfit. She looked outside and noticed it was almost dark. What could be so important at this hour? She sighed as the guard exited the room. She dressed herself in the shining outfit and left her room. She made her way to the throne room slowly and casually. Twilight eventually came into a wide open room with white walls and a gleaming white floor. The floor was so clean it was like a mirror, and walls were spotless, stainless. She looked over to the throne, her throne, and saw ragged, filthy, dirt-covered stallion. His coat was white, and he had blonde hair. He was wearing tattered and worn pants and a shirt; it looked like he had been wearing the same clothes for months, years even. “What is the situation here?” Twilight called to him. Two guards stood on either side of the white stallion. “W-we seek guidance, Lady Sparkle. I work the Dreamruby Caverns.” The pony explained. “We seem to have m-mined everything from the cave and I have come to ask where we should go now. The slave drivers only tell us to keep mining, but there is nothing left to mine for.” “You are certain?” Twilight inquired. “Y-yes, my Lady. We have mined every inch of the caverns and can no longer find any minerals.” He told her, quivering. “Hm. Guards, send somepony of a higher status to tell those slave drivers to move the slaves at Dreamruby Caverns somewhere else.” Twilight commanded one of the guards beside her. “Th-thank you, Lady Sparkle.” The stallion began to make his way out of the palace. The guards around Twilight also made their way to do as she commanded. “Wait.” Twilight stopped him. “You seem familiar… What is your name?” “M-my name?” He turned toward her. “My name is Blueblood.” “Aha! I knew I recognized you. Prince Blueblood.” Twilight blinked from existence and appeared in front of him to greet him. “I remember you from the Grand Galloping Gala some time ago.” “I… I’m surprised you remember me.” Blueblood replied cautiously. “It was the most memorable night ever, I never forgot anything or anypony.” Twilight told him with a smile. “You know, you could be of some extra use to me.” “Oh? H…how so?” The white stallion asked. “You could help me around the palace, but you could be essential to my most recent and important experiment yet.” Blueblood hesitated and didn’t move. He was frozen in place. He was scared to answer. “I… I don’t…” Twilight’s smile became a wicked grin as she stepped closer to him. “You don’t exactly have a choice in that. No matter what you say, you’re mine.” Blueblood immediately turned and sprinted for the door as fast as he could, but as he approached the door, strips of shadows stretched from Twilight. The shadows crawled toward Blueblood and wrapped around his hooves, bringing him to the floor. The shadowy tentacles dragged him toward Twilight. “No! Please! Let me go! Don’t do this, please!” Blueblood pleaded and screamed. “You are essential to me, and I have no choice.” Twilight continued to grin wickedly as the shadows brought him back to her. As Blueblood neared her, the shadows began to wrap around them both, engulfing them in darkness. When the shadows dissipated, the two were gone from the throne room. ~~~~~~ “Well there it is.” Applejack spoke aloud in the cold night. “Twilight’s Library.” The five had arrived at Ponyville. The entire village was torn and several buildings had been burned and broken down, or boarded up. The first building of note they came across was Twilight’s library. It was barely touched, almost unscathed. “Look at this place. All this damage…” Fluttershy squeaked. “I hope my cottage is still where I left it.” “We can check on that tomorrow morning, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash calmly told her. “For now, we need to just find some shelter and get some sleep. We’re just a few days away from the palace now.” “How ‘bout Twilight’s library? It seems perfectly sturdy.” Applejack suggested. “I like that idea. Besides, it’s right there.” Rainbow Dash giggled and agreed. The five made their way to the giant tree, studying the ghost town that Ponyville was, now. They got inside the dark, trashy library. Books were scattered all around the floors, most of them burned. The books that weren’t burned had pages ripped up or torn out. “D-do you think it’s s-safe to make a f-fire in here?” Fluttershy asked flattening her ears at the eerie darkness. “It’ll be alright if we keep it small, and open a window or something.” Rainbow Dash replied. “If we keep it away from any other part of the tree, it won’t burn down the whole place down.” Pinkie began working to pick up the books and setting them aside, saving a few of them to help start the fire. Occasionally she’d find a book that had only minor damage or none at all. She made sure to keep those books in her bag to read later. The five laid out some metal plates on the floor that they had found along the way. They formed a large space big enough for a campfire. Pinkie laid out the ruined books in a circle and tossed in some twigs she found on some of the branches in the library. The five stood there a moment. “…We need Spike.” Rainbow said, breaking the silence. “Anypony got any matches?” Applejack asked. Pinkie perked up. “Oh wait, I have a lighter.” “A what, now?” Applejack asked, scratching her head. “A lighter. You remember that little village we stopped by right before we fought that big golem, and that rebel group we met there? Well, one of them gave me this doo-hickey and called it a ‘lighter’. You just pressed down this button here,” Pinkie demonstrated by pressing down a button on a small device, a small flame eliciting from an opening of the device, “And voila! We have fire.” The other four stared in amazement. “What the- How’d ya do that?” Applejack inquired, amazed by the sudden conjuring of fire. “I’m not sure, exactly. All I know is that a little container of fuel is met with a spark at the nozzle of the device, causing fire.” Pinkie explained. Applejack and Rainbow Dash glanced over at each other, and then back to Pinkie Pie. “You know, Pinkie Pie is a lot smarter when her hair is straight.” Rainbow whispered to Applejack. “Yeah, Ah’ve noticed. It must be because her head isn’t clouded with bubbly nonsense.” Applejack whispered back. “You and I both know we like her bubbly nonsense. It’s what makes Pinkie Pie… Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow Dash replied back to her. Applejack nodded. “Well, Pinkie Pie, let’s get this fire a’goin’. It’s startin’ to get a might chilly in here.” “Okie dokie lokie.” Pinkie said cheerfully. She sparked the fire and lit the books and sticks ablaze, a small fire igniting into larger one, providing warmth for the ponies. Rainbow Dash looked around the lit room. It was so eerie yet it felt safe too. It felt like the only sanctuary they had left, even though she knew that no matter where they were, things wouldn’t change if they just sat around, and Twilight’s minions would find them. “Hey, ya’ll remember when Rainbow Dash tried to sneak back into the hospital fer a book?” Applejack chuckled. Rainbow Dash blushed but giggled anyway. “Hey, that book awesome! Don’t make fun of me! Remember when me painted all the apples in Applejack’s orchard, Pinkie Pie? That was such a funny prank!” “Yeah, I remember that!” Pinkie Pie began laughing. “It’s been so long though.” “Don’t worry, Pinkie Pie.” Rarity said. “We’ll fix everything. We’re going to pull through, you’ll see.” She and the others sat down by the fire. They sat in a circle of complete silence. The only sounds heard were the crackles and pops of the fire. “Well, I’m going to sleep, guys.” Rainbow Dash said already out of her armor and in t-shirt and pants. “Good night, everypony” “Yeah, Ah think I’m gonna hit the hay too.” Applejack announced with a yawn. “Me too.” Fluttershy gently said. “As am I.” Rarity said with the rest. “Well, I’m going to stay up for a while.” Pinkie Pie told them. “Well, Alright, just don’t wander off, ya hear?” Applejack told her. “Remember that we never fight alone, and if yer out there by yerself, you could get ambushed by one o’ Twilight’s creatures.” “I understand. I’ll be okay.” Pinkie assured Applejack. “If I do go outside, I’ll probably just stay by the door.” The four ponies were asleep. Pinkie Pie was the only one awake. She was sitting on Twilight’s bed, staring out her window. The moon was barely visible through the chemically laced clouds. She sighed and stretched out on the bed. When she did, she looked down into the lobby at Rarity who was sleeping on the hardwood floor by the dying fire. “Rarity needs this bed more than I do.” Pinkie thought to herself. She quietly snuck downstairs and walked over to Rarity. Rarity was sound asleep, giving tiny, lady-like snores. Pinkie swung her hands down by her sides, her gloves lighting up a sort of purplish aura. She reached her hands under Rarity, who groaned as Pinkie did so, and lifted her up. She began to carry Rarity, who was still asleep somehow. Pinkie was a little wobbly carrying someone who was about her own size. She went back up the stairs, carefully making sure not hit Rarity’s head on the wall or anything. She stepped up beside the bed and laid Rarity on the bed. “You’re a bit heavier than you look.” Pinkie whispered under her breath. Rarity groaned and rolled over. As Pinkie went back downstairs, Rarity smiled and slightly opened an eye, looking around. She wrapped herself in a blanket she had been carrying with her when Pinkie carried her, closed her eye, and drifted back to sleep. Pinkie lied down where Rarity had been sleeping and curled up into a ball. She watched the fire dance and play as it slowly died out. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re just a fire in the dead of night.” Pinkie whispered to herself. “We dance around and have fun, but the night’s darkness will eventually consume us; we’ll die out and our light will fade.” Pinkie sighed, sat up, and left the library, quietly closing the door behind her. She walked outside into the quiet, dry night and started down the trash-covered street. Pinkie wanted to visit a place she hadn’t seen in years. A place she called home. A place called Sugarcube Corner. Daisies and Poison Joke - Chapter 4“Pinkamina, my sweet filly,” the elderly mare said, “why are you crying?” “Because everything is so scary!” The little pink filly replied with teary eyes. “What’s so scary? What has been scaring you?” The older pony questioned. “The monsters! Under my bed, my closet, outside my window… They’re everywhere.” The flat-maned pony responded with a soft sob. “Shh, come here. It’s okay. It’s okay.” The elder calmed. “You don’t have to be afraid of them.” “I… I don’t?” Pinkie hiccupped. “No, of course not. All you have to do is stand up above those monsters and giggle! You can make all your fears fade away if you just laugh at them.” The elderly mare explained. Pinkie smiled a little and giggled. “So, a-all I have to d-do is laugh and the scary monsters will go away?” “Of course, Pinkamina. It’s as simple as that, dear.” Pinkie giggled and wrapped her arms around the elderly pony. “Thanks Grammy Pie. I promise to laugh every time I feel scared.” “That’s my filly. Now, why don’t you dry those eyes and come downstairs and get some supper?” Grammy suggested. Pinkie nodded with a bright smile on her face. “Mhm! I’m really hungry.” The pink filly and the elderly mare both descended down a staircase, into the living room to meet the rest of the family. ~~~~~~ Sunshine crept into the once brightly colored room. A room of pink and yellow, but dulled by age. The paint was peeling and the wooden floors were creaky and old. A worn bed sat by a window with its shutters closed tight and boarded up. There were only a few cracks, but the cracks were wide enough for light to enter the room. Pinkie gave a slight groan as she pushed herself away from the hardwood floor. She looked around the room, especially focusing on the bed. “Nng, why didn’t I sleep on the bed?” Pinkie questioned herself. She got up and walked over to the bed, which had a large hole in it. “Oh, right, that’s why.” Pinkie analyzed what her room had become. It was dank, messy, and looked as though it could all fall apart at a quake. She looked at her hooves and sighed. Her colorful and bright room was just a dusty old memory in a dark world now. Pinkie Pie clenched her fists as a tear fell from her eyes. She quickly walked over to her closet and opened it. It was empty inside except for a safe in the back that was seemingly untouched by time. It was smooth and shiny, and was so black that it was impossible to see unless you knew it was there and could focus on it. There was a combination knob on the front of it. Pinkie grabbed hold of it and turned the knob. She turned left and stopped on fifteen, turned right and landed on thirty-two, then back left and stopped on zero. It clicked, and the door opened, revealing only a small, light blue, crescent-shape gem placed in a golden, crescent-shaped socket. Pinkie swiftly took the medallion and clenched it in her fist. She got up on her hooves and made her way out of her room. She started down the stairs and stopped before got to the bottom. She looked over and saw that the shop had been just as trashed and dulled as her room. She couldn’t see it well last night when it was dark, but now that there was a little sunlight, she could see the horror of the damage that this era dealt. The pink pony opened the door of the sweet shop carefully. She peeked outside. The dust devils and rolling clouds of smoke were the only things in motion to be seen. Pinkie Pie left the shop, the strap of her satchel thrown over her opposite shoulder, the medallion placed safely inside it. Pinkie shifted her eyes back and forth, looking for the others, making sure they weren’t around. She didn’t worry, though. It was still too early for any of them to be up. They didn’t wake up until noon, and it was far from noon. Pinkie Pie hurriedly started down a path out of town. Her hooves kicked up dust as she trotted away. She glanced behind her, an expression of despair upon her face. “I’m sorry, girls… But somepony has to finish this quest, and I’m the one that was chosen to.” Pinkie mumbled to herself as she turned and continued down the path, further, deeper into the rolling clouds of dust, and far away from Ponyville. ~~~~~~ “So, why are you helping me, exactly?” Trixie asked the caramel stallion while stuffing her face with a piece of toast and an apple. “I mean, not that I’m not appreciative…” Vanilla smiled and took a drink of apple cider. “Well, because we share the same motives. It’s an awful place under some psychotic mare’s control, and we want to leave. I figured that was reason enough.” He took another sip. The blue pony giggled and took a sip of her own cider. “Well, it’s very nice of you to help me.” Trixie wiped the crumbs from her mouth and lied back in her bed. She turned her head to look out the window. It was a beautiful morning. A true rarity. Trixie watched the wicked, dusty clouds dash through the sky, dissolving and washing away like ocean waves. She had forgotten what true natural beauty was; it had been destroyed under industrialization. Vanilla sighed and looked at the wall by his bed, facing away from Trixie. “Things aren’t like they used to be. I remember when oceans, lakes, and ponds were crystal blue and even common see around Equestria… Well, for lakes and ponds I mean. I remember when trees were lively, bright, colorful. All these machines, and factories, and abominations… This entire industrialized era has virtually crushed happiness and hope.” Trixie wanted to go to him and take him in her arms immediately. She wanted nuzzle him and tell that there will always be hope. She wanted to give him happiness in some way, but maybe she was thinking this too fast. She doesn’t know anything about this stallion, really. How can she throw herself into his arms? For all she knew, this colt was just going to betray her and set up a fake escape plan for him to earn a big reward for her death. But something felt safer about him. It felt safer being with him, than it did being out in the halls alone. She felt like she could trust him, and she was going to take that trust as far as she could. “You up for a game of Pegasus Feathers?” Vanilla smiled and held up a deck of cards. “I don’t think I’ve ever played that game before.” The blue mare replied, setting a cup of cider on the nightstand by her bed. “It’s simple. Here, I’ll explain along the game.” The stallion replied. The two ponies sat on the edge of their beds on either side of a small table Vanilla had set up. Trixie held six cards in her hand, as did Vanilla. “Alright, so here’s how it works. We each have six cards maximum,” Vanilla explained, “and, like in most card games, you draw a card after you play one. Alright, so now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to explain the actual rules.” He giggled. “Alright.” Trixie said as she stared at the cards in her hands. “Okay, so, this game is originally intended as a joke game. So, it’s pretty easy. The player that goes first lays down their highest card. In this game, Aces are one, so King is highest, and the Joker is like a reset button. Here, I’ll go first.” Vanilla laid down a seven of clubs. “Now the next player, you, lays down the lowest card they have.” “O-okay.” Trixie laid down a two of hearts. “Now what?” “Okay, so now, we have to lay down one card in between that range. We can only play cards between two and seven. You can either play a single card in between that range, or play two card of the same suit to add together to get in that range, or two cards of a different suit, to subtract to get in that range.” Vanilla continued. “Right, I think I got it. Do we only draw one card?” Trixie asked. “You draw until you have six again. The objective of this game is to get more points than the other. It’s basically based on math. You want to play higher cards within the range. Single cards are how many points you get, like playing a four gets you four points. Playing a two and three of the same suit doesn’t get you five points, however. Between two cards, if they’re of the same suit, you count the difference between those two cards as points. The difference between two and three is one, so you’d get one point. Now if you play two cards of a different suit, you do add the two cards together. In this case, a two and three of a different suit would get you five points, but the difference of two and three is one, so you wouldn’t make it in the range, and wouldn’t get the points.” The stallion finished and looked up at Trixie, who seemed to understand a little. Trixie was never good at math since she focused all her attention on being a show stopper. She looked up at Vanilla Delights and nodded. “Okay, is that it?” “Pretty much.” The caramel pony nodded back and laid down a four of diamonds. “Four for me.” He said, smiling. “In between the range, hm?” Trixie reminded herself with that question, and then placed a King of spades and a seven of hearts. She grinned smugly. “Now, I’m not that good mathematics, but I think that’s twenty points for me, right?” Trixie giggled and looked at Vanilla’s shocked face. “Yeah, twenty points. Hah, beginners luck, I say.” Vanilla claimed as he laid down an eight of clubs and a four of hearts. “Sixteen points total.” “So, why do they call this game ‘Pegasus Feathers’?” Trixie asked as she played a card, drawing another one. The stallion chuckled. “Interested in a little history, eh?” He played two more cards and drew. “Well, most ponies now a days just claim that it’s because the rules of the game are a load of pegasus feathers. But, good ol’ Vanilla, here, knows the real reason.” He laughed. Trixie giggled and played her cards. “Well, I do enjoy a little bit history.” “Well, there were three pegasi that were known as the Plumeshine Brothers. They had the softest, most beautifully preened feathers in all of Equestria. One day a pegasus with beautiful, golden feathers boasted that his feathers were much more breath-taking than the Plumeshine Brothers’,” Vanilla told Trixie as he laid down his card, “and challenged them to a race. He claimed that his feathers were not only beautiful, but could carry him through the wind faster than any other pegasus in Equestria. He also claimed that the Plumeshine Brothers’ feathers were just for show and nothing more. The eldest brother of the three scoffed at the stallion’s ignorance and accepted his challenge. “The youngest brother went first. They were to race from Canterlot to Cloudsdale and back. Whoever made it back first was the victor. The checkered flag was brought down and the two bolted out of sight within seconds. A few minutes later, the golden-feathered pony had made it back and left the youngest Plumeshine brother in the dust. The next oldest brother stepped up. The golden-feathered pony smirked and they dashed off, disappearing behind the clouds faster than in the last race. But, again, the golden-feathered stallion came back first. With this second victory, the eldest brother stepped up next. He asked the golden-feather pony if he needed to catch his breath. He assured him that he would lose, but the golden-feathered pony just scoffed at the Plumeshine brother’s boast and shook his head. With the drop of the flag, they were gone. “The eldest brother and the golden-feathered pony were side by side, and Cloudsdale was coming into view quickly. But before they even got there, the golden-feathered pony had mounted the Plumeshine brother, and began ripping his feathers out swiftly. As they got into Cloudsdale, the Plumeshine brother didn’t have enough feathers to fly and he crashed into the clouds. Before he crashed, the golden-feathered pony jumped off and went to fly away, but the elder brother had appeared in front of his. The Plumeshine brother was breathing heavily from using so much strength to keep him afloat, but it was just enough time for him to take hold of the golden-feathered pony. He pulled him back to the clouds and pushed him into them. He sat in his back and took the base of one of his wings in his mouth. Without hesitation, he twisted his head and snapped the wing, breaking it and ensuring he couldn’t fly. He quickly took the other wing and broke it as well, and with both of them broken he ripped all his feathers out. He took them back down to Canterlot, along with his brothers, leaving the defeated pony, with two broken, useless wings, in pain and agony. “After the Plumeshine Brothers’ victory, they went back to their home in Canterlot. They wanted to celebrate their victory, and so they came up with this game with cards and used the golden feathers to bet. The one with the most points at the end of each game gets all the feathers that were bet. They decided to call this game Pegasus Feathers. Not everypony plays with bets though, like how you and I are playing. We’re just playing for points and fun. But, anyway, that’s how Pegasus Feathers came to be.” Vanilla finished and looked at Trixie, who was smiling and watching him, as if intently listening. “My, what an interesting story. But, do you realize that you’ve lost?” Trixie snickered as she played two cards. “One hundred twenty-four points total.” Vanilla looked up at her, and then at the cards. “Hey, no fair, I wasn’t focused!” He chuckled and stood up. “I call a rematch.” Trixie stood up and crashed down on the bed. “I call sleep.” She said, giggling. “We can play again tomorrow.” “But it’s morning.” Vanilla laughed. “How can you always be tired?” “Well, there’s not a whole lot to do around here, and besides, I need my strength for when I escape.” Trixie smiled and rolled over. “Alright, well, maybe it is a good idea that we don’t sleep at the same time, so that I can throw you in the secret room if guards come around.” The caramel stallion snickered and began picking up the cards, pilling them in a neat stack. Trixie smirked. “Throw me? You’re a nice pony, aren’t you?” Vanilla jumped into Trixie’s bed and lied back, making Trixie roll back over. “Yeah, I’m quite the charmer, you know.” “Pff, yeah, a charmer. You’re something alright.” Trixie said. “Yep. I’m gonna lay here and watch the door for you, Lazy Plot.” “Yeah, whatever,” Trixie giggled, “just wake me up in an hour.” “Alright, sleep well…” ~~~~~~ “Applejack, wake up! I can’t find Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash said, violently shaking Applejack awake. “Calm down, calm down, Ah’m awake!” Applejack dizzily replied. “Uhm, girls…” Fluttershy spoke up. “We need to find Pinkie Pie, AJ! We’re weaker without everypony together.” Rainbow yelled. “Ya think Ah don’t know that?” Applejack replied. “Girls…” Fluttershy tried again. “Where could she have gone? You know what? That’s it, I’m going to go find her.” Rainbow Dash told her. “Not without the rest of us, ya ain’t.” Applejack assured her. “Uhm…” Fluttershy walked over to them, trying to get their attention. “Well, we can’t just stand around all day! She could be dying out there! Or already dead!” The blue pony began to raise her voice. “You’ll be dead too if ya rush into this like an idiot!” Applejack matched Rainbow’s volume. “GIRLS!” Fluttershy spoke up. The other two ceased their fighting and turned to Fluttershy. “We need to go find Pinkie Pie, and, yes, together, but Rarity is missing too. So, instead of fighting, we need to pack up our things and get going. Understood?” Rainbow Dash and Applejack nodded and began stuffing their satchels with their belongings. Rainbow threw the strap of her bag around her shoulder while Applejack tightened the belt with her smaller satchels on it and throwing her backpack strap over her shoulders. “So Rarity is missing, too?” Rainbow Dash asked. Fluttershy nodded. “I wonder where she could have gone. Maybe after Pinkie? But why would Rarity go alone?” “Who knows, but we need to find them, and fast.” Applejack said heading for the door. “Ah sure hope they’re alright.” ~~~~~~ Pinkie Pie walked endlessly through the dust and sand of Equestria. She seemed to walking through an endless wasteland, but she had no fear of death, for she was almost near her destination. Pinkie thought of several funny jokes and moments of her life, keeping her giggling along the way. It was her only weapon against death. She made her way over a hill of dust and saw what she had been looking for. The Everfree Heartlands. The Everfree Forest was destroyed by the hazardous pollution of industrialization, but the Heartlands were unscathed. Nobody knew why, but Pinkie knew. She knew how the Everfree worked. It was virtually built upon magic entirely, and the source of life of magic came from the Everfree Heartland. Before her was a lush, beautiful forest. She could even see a crystal pool of water from where she was standing. She spoke no words, but began to slide down the other side of dust mound to run toward the Everfree. She ran up to the edge, her hooves right before the wet grass. With hesitation, she touched her hoof the green plant life. She flattened her hoof and smiled wide. It had been so long since she felt the soft feeling of grass under her hooves. She stopped for a moment to enjoy the feeling, but didn’t waste too must time. She made her way into the large forest, being reminded of the scent of life around her. The emerald green leaves met with the shine of light reflecting from the surface of them from the precipitation. Pinkie looked around the forest and smiled. She hadn’t been this happy in so long. And she realized that it was the death of almost all life in Equestria that had caused her happiness to diminish. Pinkie wanted to just stay here forever, but she had a job to do, and she felt that we weren’t getting anywhere wasting nights going from town to town as they worm their way into the palace. But she had a different task… “Pinkamina,” Grammy Pie whispered to the pink filly, “I want you to have this.” The elder mare opened a small jewelry box that lay in between the two. She pulled out a crescent-shaped medallion, a blue crescent-shaped gem placed in a gold crescent-shaped socket. “What is it?” Pinkie asked staring at its captivating beauty. “This is a one-of-a-kind treasure, my dear. You cannot tell anypony of its existence. Do you promise?” Grammy Pie asked her. “Oh, oh, I’ll make up a special promise just for you. I cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie smiled and did a cute motion of her crossing her heart, pretending to fly, and shoving in object into her eye. The elderly pony giggled. “Okay, okay, as long as you promise. But, you can never break that promise. It’s a special promise, okay?” “Okay, Grammy.” Pinkie leaned in and smiled. “Okay… This is known as an Element of Harmony. It was one of the six Elements of Harmony created by Princess Celestia to banish Nightmare Moon.” Grammy explained. “But, Grammy, isn’t that just an old mare’s tale?” Pinkie tilted her head and inquired. “Well, yes, of course it is, but I’m only telling you the story that follows this beautiful medallion.” Grammy smiled and pushed it over to the pink filly. “As you know, there are only five known Elements of Harmony: Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty. The sixth is a mystery. But this one is a lost Element known as the Element of Compassion.” “What does that mean, Grammy Pie?” Pinkie asked holding the medallion to her chest with her hooves. “It’s a type of care for others.” Grammy told Pinkie. “I want you to hold onto it, okay? It’s very special.” The elderly mare looked into the filly’s eyes. “You will know when the time is right to use it.” Pinkie looked ahead into the forest. It was endless as far as her eyes could see. It was very pleasing, though, being in an environment that provided fresh air and comfort. She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. “I could stay here forever…” Pinkie focused and the magic in her armor took effect. Suddenly she took off, running at impossible speeds. She weaved through the forest, dodging and evading trees and large rocks. Then she saw it. The heart of the Everfree. The magic that created the lush forestry and kep it alive. Pinkie immediately started to slow down, stopping before a pedestal. The pedestal came up to Pinkie’s chest, and on it was a ball made of a light blue crystal material, the same color as the medallion. Pinkie reached into her bag and pulled out the crescent-shaped medallion. She held it in her hand tightly as it started to glow brightly. She looked at the crystal ball on the pedestal, then back at the medallion. “This is it. With her, we will take back Equestria and return everything to normal.” The pink pony said as she extended her arm toward the sphere. But before she could touch the medallion to the crystal ball, she felt a sharp sting in her side. She clenched the medallion as tightly as she could but the pain caused her to drop it right beside her as she landed. “I thought I might find you here, Pinkie Pie.” Said a terrifyingly familiar voice. Pinkie froze immediately, a horrifying chill echoing throughout her body. She pushed herself up and turned, and just as she thought, a lavender unicorn wearing a wicked smile came traipsing up to her, dressed in her usual regal outfit. “Twi-Twilight…” Pinkie could barely say through her fear. How could Twilight have found her? Why was she here? Shouldn’t she be at the palace? All these thoughts raced through her mind, and she was wishing she was just having a terrible nightmare or even a hallucination. “Yes, it’s me. I missed you, Pinkie.” Twilight told the pink pony. She stood over Pinkie Pie, casting a shivering shadow over her. Pinkie looked up into Twilight’s sinister, violet, eyes. “H-how could you have possibly known t-to find me here?” “My, we haven’t gotten much smarter since we last saw each other, have we?” Twilight laughed. “My beautiful creations live and populate in this very forest. They are harmless, but they alert me when somepony is lurking around, looking for food or water because it’s the only place full of life left in Equestria.” The purple pony reached down and picked up the crescent-shaped medallion. “I actually came for this, Pinkie.” Pinkie cringed and reached for it. Twilight smirked. “No, I didn’t come to kill you. As a matter of fact, I want you alive, and I want you to go back to the others. I want to fight all of you at the same time.” “Twilight…” Pinkie wanted to say something but couldn’t think of anything proper to say. Twilight seemed to flinch and change for a moment. “Pinkie Pie,” she said with tears forming in her eyes, looking deep into her friend’s eyes, “I’m so sorry… Please forgive me.” Pinkie’s mouthed dropped slightly, tears forming in her eyes now. “Twi-Twilight… I…” She stopped. Twilight gasped and fell to her knees revealing a white pony with a purple mane behind her. Twilight dropped the medallion. “Rarity?” Pinkie got up to her hooves. Twilight staggered to get to her hooves as well. “Come on, Pinkie, we don’t have time to stand around.” Rarity shouted at her friend. “But I have to do something, it won’t take long, I promise. Just keep Twilight busy for a moment.” Pinkie told Rarity. “Pinkie Pie! Augh, alright, but please hurry!” Rarity said. As Twilight tried to stand up, her head dizzy and a new cut in her back, leaking blood, Rarity pushed Twilight back down. Pinkie quickly grabbed the medallion off the ground and held it to the crystal ball on the pedestal. Twilight’s eyes glowed a bright white as she turned and became infuriated. Her horn glowed a purple aura and she teleported over to Pinkie. Pinkie Pie turned and a struck a horrified face. Rarity appeared from the shadows behind Twilight and pushed her away. “Please hurry, Pinkie!” “Just a few more seconds, Rarity.” Pinkie continued to press the medallion to the crystal ball, the auras and lights around them gleaming brighter and brighter. Twilight held her hands down low, palms out, and as before Rarity could get close enough to Twilight to strike her, her hooves had been frozen to the ground. “Pinkie Pie, darling, I’m a bit stuck so, now would be a good time to stop messing around!” As Rarity said that, the ground shook, and a bright and large tower of light shot from the orb and into the sky. The light pushed punched a hole in the clouds, and made a gigantic area of the sky crystal blue and bright again. “Okay, we can leave now!” “You think you can hide from me? You can’t even escape from me! I control the darkness! I can see everything!” Twilight explained to them. Thump thump thump! Twilight gasped and fell to her knees. Three arrows were lodged into her back. Rarity and Pinkie looked up to see Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash off in the distance. Applejack had her bow held out in front of her. “C’mon ya’ll. Now is the time to get the hay out of here. Now!” Applejack called out to them. “Let’s go, hurry.” Pinkie said, looking over to Rarity. Rarity nodded and they ran toward the others. “So why did you run away?” Rarity said as they made their way to the other three. “I didn’t… I was completing a mission. Fulfilling a secret destiny.” Pinkie assured Rarity as she started to breathe heavier. “A secret destiny?” Rarity asked confused. “I’ll explain when we’re not running from death itself.” Pinkie giggled. They ran for the edge as fast as they could, not looking or caring where they stepped, as long as they could get away from Twilight. They weren’t ready to face her just yet. ~~~~~~ “So you ran all the out into the heart of the Everfree forest, by yourself to recharge this medallion?” Rarity asked, making sure that’s what had been said. “Yes,” Pinkie said, “and when I was a little filly, my Grammy Pie told me that that medallion is the seventh Element of Harmony, the lost element. “The seventh element?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Well, what does it represent?” “Compassion.” Pinkie answered. “It’s the Element of Compassion. It was a prototype element created as a test.” “Then how do you have it?” Rainbow inquired. “It was thrown away and abandoned. Time had stolen it away, but a few generations ago, someone dug it up and pawned it off, thinking it was a useless piece of jewelry. The pony who bought it was my grandmother.” The pink pony explained. “Fate works in strange ways.” Fluttershy squeaked. “Yeah, if my grandmother hadn’t passed this down to me, we wouldn’t be able to find the pony that this element belongs to.” Pinkie told them. “So, the pony this belongs to is still alive!?” Rainbow Dash asked excitedly. “Apparently so,” Pinkie said, “but it’s so supposed to show us where they are. It just keeps pulsing this light blue glow like it’s searching, like it knows that the spirit of Compassion is still alive. If they were dead, the medallion would have broken or turn black or lose color or something like that.” “Well maybe it’s because the area that they’re in is caged by a magical barrier or somewhere there is large amounts of magical energy.” Rarity theorized. “Well, if that’s the case, then that means they’re in or near the palace. Twilight is the only one with that much energy to prevent an Element of Harmony from doing a task.” Applejack said. “So what should we do?” Pinkie asked. “Should we go looked for her?” “No,” Rainbow Dash said, “we should jump from safehouse to safehouse until that thing shows us where that pony is.” “But if they’re near Twilight or a slave of hers, they might die before we even get to them.” Rarity said. “She’s right ya’ll. We need to double our speed and try to get to the palace even faster.” “Uhm, I-I have a request.” Fluttershy said with her gentle voice. “There’s a sacred spot in the Everfree Heartlands that we can go to. I’d really like to be around some lively nature, if that’s okay.” “And you know for certain that we’ll be safe there?” Rarity asked. “Oh, yes, um, I used to go there all the time with Angel. It’s the purest most sacred place and repels anything truly evil.” The yellow pegasus told them. “Twilight and her monsters wouldn’t be able to touch us.” “Wait a moment.” Rarity said emphasizing the word ‘wait’. “Exactly how big is this area of protection?” “Well, it’s, um, about the size of two of this room in radius.” Fluttershy explained, stretching out her arms. “Well, then we should head that way, and then straight to the palace.” Applejack told everyone, looking over at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow nodded when she looked back to Applejack. The five gathered their things and left the library, heading out in the direction of the Everfree. ~~~~~~ It was dark, the moon was shining through the hole in the clouds and through the leaves. Twilight gasped at she pulled out the last arrow from her back with her magic. She quickly used her magic to heal the wounds as she looked up at the moon. She sat against the pedestal, a tear forming and running down her face. “I believe in you. All of you.” Twilight mumbled to herself as she looked down at the necklace she was wearing. “I know you can stop this…” Twilight cried softly as a purple aura surrounded her, and a flash of light followed. She was gone from the Everfree. The Element of Compassion - Chapter 5Vanilla entered the dark room, looking around and trying to see. The room was empty but for the furniture. Trixie’s bed was messy as always. The caramel pony rolled his eyes and smiled. He walked over by his wardrobe and pressed in a part of the wall, revealing the compartment that held Trixie. The wall shifted and slid out of the way, revealing a blue, sleeping unicorn. “Pff, you’re always asleep.” Vanilla whispered. Trixie curled up and rolled over, facing away from the stallion. Trixie groaned and mumbled, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” Vanilla paused and sat down by the hole, listening to her. “I thought I would help, and I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.” A tear formed in Trixie’s eye. “I’m so sorry.” ~~~~~~ “You’re such a disgrace, Trixie! You’re so pathetic! You never listen and you always mess everything up!” Yelled a tall light blue pony. “But, I was just trying to help!” A little blue filly replied with fear and teary eyes. “Help? You’re just a filly, Trixie!” The light blue stallion snapped. “I had it under control! If you hadn’t come along, nopony would be dead!” “But I… I…” Trixie sobbed. “No! No more. I’m tired of hearing your voice! I better not see you tomorrow morning… If you’re still here when I wake up, I’ll do to you what you did to all those ponies… I’ll kill you.” “But, Daddy! Please, I didn’t mean…” Trixie tried to reason with her father, but before she could even finish her sentence, the stallion was inside the house. Trixie broke down and cried for what seemed like an eternity. Where will she go? What will she do? All she knew was that it was true. She just killed about twenty innocent ponies, all because she interfered with her father’s work. Trixie went inside and gathered her things, what few things she had. A hoof-stitched cape and magician’s hat that her mother made for her not too long ago before she was brutally murdered… by her own daughter. Trixie winced as she picked up these items. She had always been a reject, a worthless pony that always messed everything up, and this time, she messed up worse than ever. She only ever made ponies miserable; maybe it was for the best that she left forever. It’s not like nopony would care anyway. Trixie grabbed the last most important thing she could think of: A necklace her mother gave her when she was younger. She put it on along with the hat and cape, which were a little too big for her, but she figured she’d grow into them. The blue filly left the house, the town, and even Manehattan forever. ~~~~~~ Trixie found a nice place to stay for a while: Under a dank, trashy bridge. She sighed as she sat down under it. The sun was setting, and she was getting tired and hungry, but it seemed to her that she was going to bed hungry tonight. Trixie lied down and went to go to sleep, but was suddenly surprised by the voice of another pony atop the bridge. “Nightly book sale! I have books and scrolls of all sorts!” The voice called into the dusk. Trixie heard several hoofsteps trotting up to the bridge. She was curious and instead of trying to ignoring it, she got to her hooves and went up to the top. An earth pony with a gray coat and black hair was standing by a cart of books. There were only about five or six ponies browsing her collection of books so Trixie decided to explore too. She’d need something to keep her busy so maybe a book will help her through. Trixie trotted up to the stand and looked at all the books. Adventure books, romance novels, scary tales, fantasy stories, and myths. Trixie smiled and excitedly browsed through all the books. “My, you look to be an avid reader.” The gray mare said with a smile. Trixie focused her attention on the pony talking to her. “By the excitement in your browsing, I’d say you enjoy a good book.” Trixie hesitated to reply. She wasn’t used to talking to anypony but her parents and was a little shy. “W-well… I… I don’t read a whole lot, because I n-never owned any books ‘afore.” The filly unicorn replied. “B-but I’ve always wanted to learn.” The grey pony gasped. “You don’t know how to read? What a crime! I have an idea. Why don’t you stay right here with me, and when everypony is gone I will teach you how to read.” She told Trixie. “And I don’t care how long it takes, I will make sure you are reading and speaking at expert levels! You can come with me on my travels while you learn too.” Trixie’s face lit up. She had never been shown this amount of kindness before. She nearly exploded with pure glee. “Wow, really?!” Trixie gasped. “That’s the kindest most sweetest thing anypony has ever done for me!” The book keeper bowed and smiled, her long, black mane hanging over her bright, green eyes for a moment before being swept away with her hoof. “Anything to increase one’s love for reading, my sweet filly.” A few minutes passed as Trixie continued to browse the collection of book before her. She kept going back to one particular book: “Magic Tricks for Beginners.” It seemed like an interesting book because she had always wanted to learn how to use magic, being a unicorn, but never could get it to work for her. Just like everything else, it just made everyone else miserable or exploded in her face. Trixie picked up the book in her mouth, carrying it over to the gray mare. The gray mare looked it over. “Ah! A wondrous book for aspiring magicians.” She said picking it up with her hooves. “I assume this is the book you’re wanting?” Trixie nodded and looked up at the older pony with bright and beaming eyes. She glanced back at the book. The book had a pony wearing a cape and hat much like Trixie’s, except the pony wearing them had a white coat. Trixie looked back up at the gray mare and said, “Miss Book Keeper, can I stay with you?” The filly became sad suddenly. “I don’t have a home anymore.” The gray mare became serious suddenly as well. She smiled soon after, though. “Well, of course you can stay with me. I said so earlier didn’t I” She told Trixie, giving a sweet grin. “My name is Textbook Pages.” Trixie gleamed with joy and nearly shouted her next statement, but controlled it and said, “I’m Trixie. Thank you so much for letting me stay with you. You’re the nicest pony I’ve ever met.” “Well,” started the gray earth pony, “you’re a special pony, I think. And judging by your story I’d say you deserve a little compassion.” ~~~~~~ “Trixie.” Vanilla’s voice called. “Hey, Trixie, wake up.” Trixie woke up violently, wiping the tears away immediately, as if knowing she was crying in her sleep. “Huh? What? What’s going on?” Trixie groggily asked. “Tonight’s the night.” The caramel pony said as he smiled. “The night? For what?” Trixie inquired, still half-asleep. “The night you make your great escape.” Vanilla Delights told her. “You ready to go? I found a vent that leads to the water processing department. And there, you will find a pipe that leads to the outside.” Trixie started to wake up. She climbed out of the hole in the wall and stretched. “Sounds simple enough.” “You think that, but there are Shadow Watchers all over out there.” Vanilla reassured her. “Shadow Watchers?” Trixie repeated with more of an upward inflexion. “Yes. Just stay out of the darker shadows and you’ll be fine. As soon as you get the chance, run as fast as you can and don’t stop until the palace is out of sight, okay?” The pony turned and faced away from Trixie, taking off his shirt to replace it with a cleaner one. Trixie looked over in his direction, and noticed something she hadn’t noticed before, something very peculiar: Two scars in his back going down his shoulder blades. They were evenly spaced apart, too perfectly to be stabs from blades. Trixie hesitated, but after a few silent seconds, she said, “Yeah, okay. I should be fine.” She decided not to ask him where the scars came from, but only pondered it further. “Alright, you’re going to have to step out into the hallways with me, so just stay as close to me as you possibly can.” The stallion ordered. Trixie nodded and changed clothes. “Oh, and you may keep those clothes. My gift.” Trixie looked down at her hooves, but looked back up and smiled. “Heh, thanks, Vanilla.” “No problem.” He told her. “You ready?” The tall caramel pony asked. Trixie nodded, and Vanilla opened the door slightly. The hallway was just as eerie as Trixie remembered it last time. Vanilla headed out the door and Trixie followed closely. The two did their best to run as silently as possible throughout the halls. They trotted along a seemingly endless hallway, avoiding the searching lights that cut them off or came their way. Soon, they turned down another hallway. They passed several doors along the way, and Trixie observed them, to see if anything caught her eye from pure curiosity. “Here.” Vanilla said, pointing to a vent by a door. He quickly, and silently, opened the vent door, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a piece of parchment with scribbles on it. “I also drew a map for you.” A light turned the corner in the distance, coming their way. “Quickly, go!” He whispered. “You’ll know where to go; the map explains everything.” Trixie looked into his eyes as though lost in thought. “I’ll miss you.” She told him. The light drew nearer, and Trixie climbed into the crawlspace. Vanilla closed the vent door and waved at Trixie. “Good luck.” He whispered before he ran off. The light followed just seconds after he left. Being from her angle, Trixie got the chance to see the creature holding the light: A large, black, blob-like creature with glistening tentacles and several arms in places they don’t belong. An absolute abomination. Trixie cringed as her eyes grew wide. “Why in Equestria would anypony make something like that?!” Trixie whispered loudly to herself. She shook her head and began crawling down the vent a good ways before opening the poorly drawn map Vanilla made. She studied it for a while before rolling it back up and crawling further. Judging by the map, she had a long ways to go before she even got to her first destination. Trixie crawled through twists and turns, the metal labyrinth frustrating her more. She knew she was going in the right directions, but the length of these vents just made her question the size of the palace even more. The blue pony made a turn and opened the map. She grinned as she realized she had arrived had the vent she needed to climb out of. She looked around for the vent door and saw it just ahead. She was relieved that it was on the side of the vent this time, meaning she would be able crawl out simply. Trixie opened the door and looked out the vent, realizing she was wrong. She looked down to see a large fall. She was also surprised to see that the room was empty. It was also very dark, which worried Trixie. She’d come to realize that every bit of security Twilight has is focused on the shadows. “This could either be really good, or really bad.” Trixie said shaking her head. Trixie closed her eyes and her horn lit up. She jumped from the vent, falling to a severe injury or two, but before she hit the ground, a gust of wind swept up from nowhere and immediately broke her fall. She planted her hooves safely on the ground. “They don’t call me ‘Great and Powerful’ for nothing.” She giggled, mocking gravity itself. It was dark which prevented her from seeing much, but in this room were several crates in corners and large generator-looking machines. She assumed that the large generators were like motors for the processing of water. They seemed to be silent though, as though no water is being filtered and cleaned. She sat down in a corner, by some crates, as though to hide from anything that might be nearby to pursue her. The blue pony unraveled the map sketch and looked around the room. She glanced down at the map and then back at her environment. She noticed a large hole in the floor covered by a steel plate over in the corner opposite her. Trixie looked around to make sure it was safe before dashing off to the marehole. Once beside it, she lifted it up with her magic, straining to exert enough strength to move it aside. She slid it across the floor to reduce the amount of noise it made. The unicorn breathed heavily and climbed down the ladder of the hole, using her magic to conjure some light. She made sure to cover up the hole as she planted her hooves on damper ground. She focused her attention on her new surroundings which seemed to be a dark, dank sewer passage. “Really, Vanilla?” Trixie sighed and opened her map once more. There were two ways to go from here. Left or right. Opposite of the ladder was just a wall, and she was only standing on a small sidewalk of the filthy sewage street between her and the brick barrier. The map pointed Trixie to go right once facing the wall, opposite of the ladder. The eager pony began trotting down the path, staying alert and cautious but picking up the pace. She was tired of living amidst the danger and just wanted to get somewhere safer. The sound of Trixie’s hoofsteps echoed along the walls. Even with the light from her horn illuminating the area around her, the darkness was so thick that couldn’t see very far. Trixie continued down the path anyway, occasionally checking her map to see where she should go next. The path she was on already, though, just seemed to go on endlessly. Trixie sighed and an agitated expression swept across her face. “Hmph. I break out of a tube to avoid drowning, bunk with a super good-looking stallion for four days, and walk forever so my hooves can fall off. If I weren’t in danger of getting caught, I would scream right now.” She told herself. The blue unicorn sighed but soon saw a turn. She was finally getting somewhere again. And even better, she could see a dim light in the next tunnel. She hurriedly turned onto the next path, crossing a small bridge over the sewage water that just continued to flow into a grate. Trixie made her way further into the tunnel, being alert and cautious. As she got around the corner she suddenly covered her mouth and stepped back. The light was coming from one of the tentacle monsters she saw earlier in the palace. This one, however, was blocking her path to freedom. What should she do? How could she possibly get passed it? It took up nearly the entire space of the passage way. The creature did not move. It remained stationary, giving the occasional flick of the tentacles and a heavy grunt. Trixie tried to think of a spell she might know to slip passed it or distract it, but nothing came to mind. She was virtually trapped at this point. Even if she could figure a way back into that vent, she couldn’t remember for the life of her how to get back to Vanilla’s room. Then it clicked. ‘The life of her.’ Maybe those creatures will report back to Twilight when they’ve captured someone trying to escape. It was worth a shot. The creature gave another intense grunt as Trixie started to focus. Her horn lit up brightly and a mirage of her began sprinting down the tunnel and just slipping by the beast. When the mirage passed the fiend, it took off after her, giving Trixie a quick moment to check over her map. The exit was just through that passage. She was almost free. Trixie sprinted toward the door and rolled up the map as she ran as fast as she could. Before she even made it through, she could see the ground. Her face lit up with excitement, she could taste the freedom already. She almost made it through. Out of the sewers, away from the palace, but as she passed the edge where the pipe and ground meet she felt something grab her legs. Her eyes widened and she gasped as she fell face first onto the ground. What she felt around her legs were tentacles. “No!” Trixie screamed. She suddenly started being dragged back into the darkness, away from the moonlit field ahead. So close to freedom. The blue pony started to sob as she was being pulled further into the veil of shadows. In the moment of panic there was no time for her to think of a spell that could free her from the monster’s grasp. It was over. She was caught. She was going to die by Twilight’s hands again. The unicorn dug her hands into the concrete flooring, hoping to stall the inevitable, but all was in vain. She wasn’t slowing down the process at all. And as the darkness began to take her vision, she heard a blood-curdling screech from the creature, which was only inches behind her. The tentacles released and Trixie scrambled to her hooves. A caramel-colored stallion with black, shifting wings had cut the monster in half. The pony seemed familiar, but he had wings that looked as though they were made of shadows, and the way the wings shifted resembled fire. The pony was shirtless and wearing white linen pants. He held a long sword of a regal design but was as black as the shadow wings he had. The sword gave off pieces of itself, like little shreds of paper when burned and released back into the air. Trixie stepped back from him and hesitated. He turned and faced her. The unicorn gasped and pointed at him. “V…V-Vanilla?! But, the wings, and the sword! The incredible creature killing!?” Trixie couldn’t gather her words as fast as she could process her thoughts. Vanilla chuckled, his voice sounding deeper now suddenly. “I’ve been lying to you, Trixie. My name isn’t Vanilla Delights. It’s Shadow Feather.” He looked more serious suddenly, turning and stepping toward Trixie. His irises were a gleaming and radiant red. They seemed to be ablaze with flames rather than soothed with ocean. “But… Why would you lie to me about this?” Trixie inquired, backing away closer to the edge. Shadow Feather only smirked, continuing to walk toward the blue unicorn. “Because… I didn’t want you to know who I really was. I didn’t want you to know that I was a pegasus. That I was once beautiful. I wanted to change for the better. But it seems my old ways just keep coming back.” He smiled and licked his lips as he began walking faster toward Trixie. “Old ways? W-what are you talking about?” Trixie’s heart started to pound as she neared the exit of the pipe. “Why, my thirst for victory. For companionship. For blood.” Shadow gave a wicked grin as he continued toward her. Trixie’s eyes grew wider and she turned to run, but he was there, in front of her. “Let me go, Vanilla! I thought you were helping me escape!” She said as tears formed in her eyes. “Oh, no, you’re not going anywhere. Alive or dead, your body will be mine to do whatever I please.” He stepped up and stroked his hand across her face. “Now cooperate and come back home so we can have a nice night together or die and have me enjoy it all alone.” The unicorn’s heart pounded in her throat, she was on the verge of bursting into tears. “Why, Vanilla? Why would you?” She cried to him. He only laughed. “Why not? I want inside you, and that’s reason enough for me. And I will get inside you, whether you have a head or not.” Trixie bit her lip and glanced out behind him. She had no choice. She closed her eyes and looked down at her hooves. “I’ll go with you.” A tear escaped her eyes. The caramel stallion chuckled. “Keep your eyes closed, and don’t move anything. I’ll move it for you.” Trixie tried to suppress her sobs. She kept her eyes closed as she was ordered and felt his hand on her chin. She started to tremble. What exactly was he going to do to her? Was he bluffing and just going to kill her right there anyway? Suddenly, she felt the most serene and pleasant filling she had ever felt. She felt his hand reaching into her chest. His hand had phased into her, and it felt as if he was connecting with her very soul. But it didn’t hurt at all. Instead she felt relaxed. Was he killing her in a peaceful way? No, this was something else. He was giving her something. But what was it? “Don’t say anything. Don’t open your eyes. Just trust me…” Shadow told her. Suddenly his dark and shadowy wings began to blossom into golden feathers. A bright aura surrounded the two as Shadow did his work. Dark purple energy wrapped around the stallion, shredding his clothes off and revealing his cutie mark: A dark purple crescent moon with a silhouette of a winged tombstone. Trixie started to feel like she was going to lose consciousness. She began breathing a little heavier. Her body felt weak and she now felt like he was stealing her energy, but at the same time giving her power. The light lasted for a long time but Shadow’s wings finally rejuvenated and gleamed with a bright golden color. He pulled his hand from Trixie’s chest who nearly collapsed to the floor. “There, the trade is done. I’m myself again!” Shadow cheered. His cheering was suddenly ended with Trixie sudden sobbing. “Oh, Trixie, I’m sorry, I was only playing around…” “Vanilla?! Why would scare me like that? I thought I was going to die.” The unicorn screamed at him. She was trembling but didn’t notice the sudden increase in power through her fear. “Oh, come on Trixie, I was just dramatically teasing you. I’m sorry, but, I needed to do that.” The caramel pony told her. Trixie’s sobs lightened. “Wh-why?” She choked. “Because I was told that if I showed true compassion to somepony, I would get my wings back. By giving up virtually all of my shadow powers to you, I showed that I care for you enough to give you something special to me.” Shadow explained. “Lost your wings, but how’d you…” Trixie gasped and suddenly remembered the story Vanilla told her. “Wait… You mean you’re the pony that lost that race and tried to win by cheating?” Shadow looked at his hooves and hesitated before nodding. “Yeah… That’s me… And I’m not proud of it either. That was hundreds of years ago though.” The unicorn tilted her head and looked at him. “Hundreds of years? How are you still alive?” Trixie asked him. He replied with a chuckle and said, “A long time ago I had a spell cast on me that made me pretty much immortal with the downfall that I am cursed with these dark shadow demons that grant me unholy powers. With these demons comes great evil, hence my behavior during that race.” “But, didn’t you just give me those shadow powers?” Trixie asked him, her eyes widening. “Yes, the powers, not the demons.” He assured her. “The demons fed off that power, and now that it’s all gone, they will perish, and my original age will begin where it left off.” The blue pony was confused but did suddenly feel the dark energy coursing through her. It was dark, but it wasn’t evil. “So, what can I do with these new powers?” “Well, I’ll leave most of it for you to discover,” Shadow chuckled as he began to explain, “but two of my favorite particular spells are the shadow wings and shadow sword. Just think about them. The energy will do the rest. Knowing how to cast the spell will come natural.” “So, I can use those shadow wings to help me escape right?” Trixie asked, making sure. Shadow nodded. “But, these shadow spells only work in the dark, and are especially strong at night time. They are powered by darkness.” Shadow walked up to Trixie and hugged her tightly. “I need to go. You’re on your own from here on out. Please, try not to die.” The unicorn looked him in the eyes and smiled. “Heh, with these new powers, I’m sure it’ll be a lot harder to take me down.” Shadow smiled, a pool of shadows reaching up from the ground, taking hold of him and eventually engulfing him in darkness. When the shadows vanished, so did he. Trixie concentrated, the shadows shifting around her. She focused on her back and thought of flying; more so dreamed of flying. In seconds, wings made of the shadowy fire formed and stemmed from her back. Her mind was taking control and guiding her to her new dark side. “This energy. It’s so serene.” Trixie closed her eyes and walked to the end of the pipe, taking in the moonlight hidden partially by the toxic clouds. For some reason, the moonlight felt more tranquil than ever before. Perhaps the shadow powers were the reason for that. The unicorn opened her eyes and looked to the moon. She spread her shadowy wings and took to the sky. The wind stroked its soothing invisible hands across her cheeks and swept her mane away. Her eyes became engulfed with smoky shadows and suddenly, she was piercing the wind at incredible alacrity. She noticed that she was also faced with flying shadow monsters. She should have known it wouldn’t be simple even with wings, but she knows now that with this new power, this will be much easier than before. Trixie quickly stopped. She remembered back to what Vanilla said before. Watch out for the darker shadows. As long as she avoided the darkest shadows, she should be okay. The unicorn dashed off again, weaving and dodging shadows. She was making very quick movements and was certain it was enough to get her caught, but no creatures came after her. This made it obvious that the creatures can only see as far as their light expands. Trixie was surprised that the palace was large and even the amount of guards in the radius. She was certain she had flown several hundred hooves away, but there were still guards. What didn’t Twilight Sparkle control? She began flying even faster, straining and trying to get beyond the barriers of harm. She looked over and saw there was a shadow monster flying on a collision course with her. She dove down and pulled back up, making it passed the creature. When she looked back, it looked to be an avian of some sort, but made entirely of the fiery shadows. It had bright red eyes and shifted constantly, looking as though it was having a difficult time maintaining its current form. “I’m beginning to wonder if the creatures are even created. They seem to be from somewhere.” Trixie pondered to herself. She focused harder on the way out, trying to fly even faster but instead, shadows began to wrap around her. She didn’t realize this and just continued flying. Before she had a chance to understand what happened she had crashed into a large sand mound. “What the hay?” She said, digging her head out of the sand. Trixie looked behind her and saw the palace off in this distance. She beamed and jumped up and down. She was speechless. The unicorn turned and made her way over the sand mound, trying to brush the sand out of her mane with her hand. Trixie flew on slowly for a while. She looked around for civilization, but all she found for miles was dust and ruin. Trixie started to feel dejected. Morning was breaking and she was about to lose her powers for the day. She was also starving and thirsty from all the exerted energy. “So, this is what Twilight’s done?” Trixie said as a tear dropped from her eyes. Everything was gone. Equestria was a desolate dustbowl and, thankfully, Trixie was ‘asleep’ for the majority of the destruction. The blue pony continued walking through the warming sand and dust. For miles it looked to be a desert, but this didn’t stop Trixie. She was determined to take her freedom as long as could take it. ~~~~~~ The sun was beaming hot, and Trixie hadn’t gotten anywhere. There was no sign of civilization and she was feeling weak. Her vision became hazy, and her legs became wobbly. She came to the reality of the situation and realized she was likely to die out here where not a single soul would ever even be able to find her. The blue pony panted and breathed heavily. But she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Something that she wasn’t sure how she missed. She turned and saw a huge forest. A dense, moist, and shady forest. She turned slowly and weakly. “Must get to forest… Must… Get… To…” Trixie made it halfway to the jungle-like environment before collapsing. She no longer had the strength to make it the rest of the way, and it was so close. She only needed to walk a bit further, but she couldn’t move. Her body was like cement; connected to the sand around her. She closed her eyes and lost consciousness. ~~~~~~ “Miss Textbook Pages?” Trixie called quietly. It was night time and moonlight crept into the bedroom. The grey-coated mare rolled over with a gentle smile and rubbed her eyes with her hooves. “Yes, Trixie? What is it?” Trixie gave sad, sorrowful eyes. “I had a really bad dream,” the blue filly said, “may I please sleep with you tonight?” Textbook smiled sweeter and took the small pony into her hooves and cuddled up beside her. “Aww, Trixie, you cute little filly, you know don’t have to ask. Of course you can sleep with me tonight. Whatever it is that scared you, I’ll be here all night to protect you.” Trixie nuzzled into the earth pony’s neck and smiled. She wrapped her front legs around Textbook, and she did the same to Trixie. The grey pony pulled the sheets over them both, and they giggled. “You know, Trixie,” Textbook said quietly, “you are the cutest, kindest, and most loving pony I’ve ever met. I’m glad to call you my daughter.” Trixie kissed the mare’s cheek and closed her eyes. “And I’m glad to call you my mama.” The filly replied. “I love you, Mama.” Textbook’s heart melted with love. ‘Mama.’ She held that title as though her life depended on it. “I love you too, Trixie.” ~~~~~~ “Oh my, do you think she’s still alive?” A gentle, hushed, female voice asked. “We need to get her back to safety.” A charming and regal female voice replied. “We’ll carry her together.” The gentle voice offered.
Final Thoughts - PrologueJournal Entry #26 I just simply do not know what went wrong. I just wish it hadn’t come to this. We’re all prepared to attack and bring Celestia and Luna back to the thrones. Tomorrow is the day we fight to restore balance to the world. I hope it won't all be in vain. This also may be my last chance to express how I feel, before I am likely to meet my dismay. I write this last piece for my little Spikey Wikey. I may not have shown it lately, but I love you, Spike. And if I come back alive, I promise to show you how much I care. I feel terrible for not being able to say much more, but that’s about all. I have to gather my strength before we face Twilight. Sincerely with much love, ~Rarity Journal Entry #12 Gosh, I haven’t written much. But sitting here knowing I face death tomorrow morning makes me wanna say what might be my last few words. I just can’t understand what happened. Why did it have to be Twilight? We were such good pals and suddenly, this happens. I wish we didn’t have to do what we’re about to do. I hate this feeling of betrayal, and I wish things were just back to normal. Hard to believe all this happened within six years. The blood of a snake on our hooves, on my hooves, but a snake with puppy dog eyes. I honestly believe Twilight wasn’t always like this, even when we became the Elements of Harmony. Nah, I believe something changed her. But that makes me think… What in the hay was it that changed her? -Applejack Journal Entry #56 I know I write a lot, but this may be the last time I do, so I want it to mean something. I feel as dull as when I was on the rock farm. Under Twilight’s reign there are no parties, there is no fun, and there is no smiling. Except this time I don’t think Dashie’s Sonic Rainboom is going to fix it. And my roasted sweets haven’t made anypony happy either. I don’t blame them, though. Baking treats over a camp fire just isn’t the same. Day in, and day out, I just want to go back to the days where I was partying with my friends. Everyday, I just want to throw a party, but parties aren't the most important thing right now. Survival and restoring harmony is. We’re about all that’s left of the rebel groups. All the others have been taken and only Celestia knows what terrible things Twilight does to them. I’m hoping we’ll be able to bring the old Twilight back and not have to ... you know. Twilight, why’d you have to go and be a big mean meany pants? -Pinkamina Pie- Journal Entry #31 I hope I’m ready for this. We’ve all been through so much, including myself, and we’ve all gotten so much stronger, but this is Twilight Sparkle we’ve talking about! She’s the most powerful mare in all of Equestria. I get this feeling like she’d disintegrate us upon entry of the palace. Oh, I’m so nervous. I just don’t know if I can do this! But I must. I must stand by my friends while we restore harmony, even if it means to take the life of one of my closest friends. We are the Elements of Harmony, and we may not have the Element of Magic by our side, but I’m certain if we believe in our friendship, we can pull through. Oh, I hope we won’t have to result to taking her life. ~Fluttershy~ Journal Entry #18 Twilight, what is wrong with you!? Why are you doing this? What did Equestria ever do to you, huh? We loved you Twilight, but that was before we found out you were some sort of blood-crazed psycho! Look at me, telling you off in a journal. I guess I’m just upset that one of the best friends I ever had turned on me. All I really know is loyalty to my friends, and it shocks me when one of my friends turns and plans to dissect us for science. You’re the only one that ever stayed up late reading Daring-Do with me. I wish those days would come back. Twilight Sparkle, I will do everything in my power to turn you back to normal. I can’t, I won’t kill you. Rainbow Dash Journal Entry #14 This is it, the moment of my revenge. I am likely to die... Again, but as long as I can get a majority of my revenge, I will be satisfied. The mistake that Twilight made was energizing me with her magical essence. I am a new and more powerful mare, and a changed one too. I understand now, what it's like to be loved, to have a family. These friends of mine: Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, they're my family, and I love them. I'm so grateful to have them as my friends. I will do my best for them for tomorrow's fight. I will do my best to make sure my life meant something. Don't worry, Twilight, we're coming to make you better. We will change you back to good! ♥ Trixie ♥ Journal Entry #134 Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow, the entire world will be under my reign. All the delicious sacrifices I've made for our civilization to push into a new era, all the blood I've tasted. All the power. Soon, Equestria will spread across the entire planet under my reign, and I will own it all. I cannot be stopped now. Our civilization will be in a new era of highly advanced technologies, and highly advanced spells. Tomorrow will be a glorious day to remember, when Equestria is thrown into an era of absolute dominance. All my hard work, finally being paid off. I can hardly believe the moment is finally upon us. ~Twilight Sparkle~
The Twisted Road Ahead - Chapter 1Twilight Sparkle awoke from her deep, sinister slumber. The morning had slipped in past the ominous clouds created by industrialization and peeked in through the palace window of her room. Twilight groggily sat up on the edge of her bed. She had forgotten about the differences, and the wondrous benefits, of her new body. She was still the same lavender colored, horned pony, but rather than four hooves, she had two back hooves, each connected to a long leg, and two hands, each connected to an arm. She still had her tail and fur, but she was no longer four-legged. It was the effect of her more recent spell, and she had forgotten that she could balance easily on two legs now. Twilight constructed an amplification device, to radiate this spell across Equestria constantly. All the ponies within the radius of it suffered an agonizing transformation. Twilight Sparkle worked virtually endlessly on a device that could amplify the spell and spread it across the entire globe, but every time she thought she had the answer, it only became only more puzzling. It was all part of her sinister plans, though, and she was nearly to the part where she would be so powerful that she could not be stopped. Time was running out. Twilight Sparkle studied her hands. This was her way of increasing production speed. Rather than gather all the unicorns and never have the chance to conduct research on them, she decided to make everything easier for all the ponies. She also didn't think about it, but as a side-effect of this spell, all the affected ponies suddenly felt more civilized by wearing clothing while in public. Twilight didn't think about it as she was the same way. Perhaps it was just the nature of the spell. The purple mare looked out her window and saw the slaves working. She did not laugh nor did she cry. She was blank and emotionless. She had come a long way, and after six long years of hearing the cries, pleas, and screams of dying ponies – ponies dying by her hands, or actually, hooves at the time – she finally had Equestria, and soon the world, in her control. Twilight walked over to the window and touched her hand to it, watching the workers carry rocks, lumber, metal, dig holes, mine for gems, or other ridiculous tasks she had assigned them. She sighed gently and turned away. Why was she doing this? Why had she put so much effort into this? She never truly understood why herself, but she knew she craved to kill and watch ponies suffer, along with her desire for scientific research. These reasons seemed insane to her, but she didn't care. She loved it. Twilight walked over to her wardrobe, and opened it. She was only wearing a simple night dress at the time and needed a change for work that day. The wardrobe contained only three outfits. They were all regal and made for a true queen like Twilight. One outfit was a large lavender dress. It was sparkling and laced with diamonds recently mined from Hearth’s Warming Cove. She thought about that dress, but shook her head. “Too frilly. I don’t even know why I own this dress,” Twilight said pushing it to the side. The second outfit was another dress and, yet again, a shade of purple. It was a darker shade this time, and had a necklace bejeweled with many amethyst gems. The dress itself was shimmering as though it were made from diamonds. Twilight smirked, as it reminded her of Princess Celestia and Luna’s hair. “That reminds me…” Twilight grabbed the third outfit, which was a dark purple, seemingly black corset lined with amethyst and crested with a large, brilliant amethyst. The bottom of the dress was simply a skirt concealing her underwear, connected by a belt crested with an amethyst. At the edge of the skirt were dark purple stockings, covered in black chainmail. The stockings and chainmail were visibly cut off at the knee by gleaming boots, made of pure steel. The boots were braced at the top and bottom edge, with shiny, silver rims, while in between was a thinner-looking metal with the matching dark purple color. The boots covered her hooves entirely. The boots were matched with a pair of gauntlets of the same pattern and material that went up to her elbow, but designed and cut so that she could bend her arms. Under the gauntlets were long gloves that stretched up just before her shoulder, made of the same cloth as the stockings on her legs. Along with this ensemble was a regal cloak. She got the idea for this cloak from Trixie. The cloak was long and ended at her knee, and was held together at her neck with a diamond-shaped amethyst. The cloak also had a hood and matched the rest of the outfit in color. Twilight dressed herself with the intricate dress. This was her favorite outfit to wear even though she felt she needed a change in style. She felt like a true queen wearing it, though. She could handle herself and her own battles, and that’s what a true ruler was in her eyes. But to her, she wasn’t a true ruler. She was going to be the ruler of the entire world, in control of all the power. She planned to control everything, and in her mind, she wasn’t just causing suffering, which she didn’t mind, she was hurtling civilization into era after era of technological expansion. She realized that maybe her psychotic plans were possibly quite beneficial to the world, which made her feel special in some way. Either way, she didn’t care. As long as she got her taste of fresh blood and eased her craving to kill, she was satisfied. Twilight made her way to the dungeons deep within the palace. She exited her room and entered a narrow hallway. She took a left to a staircase going down to another floor. She made her way down to the next floor into another hallway. She walked a while down the hallway and went through a door to her right. Inside was a virtually empty room except for an ominous stairwell in the corner. She made her way down the stairwell, her metal boots clanking against the metal stairs. After a long descent into the darkness, Twilight finally came into a large room. Two cages sat on the other side, covered in chains and locks. Two tall ponies each sat in their own cage. One with a white coat and a mane and tail striped in the colors blue, green, and pink, shimmering as though it were made of light. The other had a dark blue coat with a mane and tail just like the white pony’s, only purple and sparkling. They both were hanging from their arms by steel chains while covered in pads and tubes. The tubes ran up into the walls, as though leading somewhere. Auras covered the tubes and seemed to be siphoning up through them. As Twilight entered the room with a smile on her face, the two weakly looked up at her. “Wakey wakey.” Twilight said, walking closer. “How are my two favorite ponies today?” “Y- You’re a m-monster, Twilight Sparkle,” said the white pony. She struggled to lift her head. “Now now, Princess, no need to be so insulting.” Twilight said, smirking and gripping the white pony’s jaw and lifting her head to look her in the eye. "Why won't you just die already, Celestia?" The white alicorn glared at Twilight, but quickly pulled her head away and removed her gaze. "You act so high and mighty," Twilight said condescendingly, "as though you rule Equestria or something." "Y-you are such a cowardice mare, Twilight Sparkle." The dark blue pony told Twilight. She was just as weak and helpless as Celestia. The purple pony went over to the dark blue one and got in her face. "I am no coward. I can fight my own battles, but I am far too busy with my research." She began. "If I could just tie ponies up without a fight and do what should be done, I wouldn't have to knock them out. Things aren't that easy, Luna." Luna struggled to get free as if she was wanting to kill Twilight right there, but she was too weak, and even at full strength she wouldn't be able to break free. "We will stop you." She said with the last of her breath. "Stupid pony. Nopony can stop me now." Twilight told them as she left the room without another word. ~~~~~~ Pinkie Pie gasped as she awoke. Her heart was pounding, and her breathing was heavy. “It… It was only a dream,” Pinkie Pie’s breathing settled as she looked around. The others were still sound asleep. She rubbed her head and glanced up at a window. The dawn was just beginning to crack, so she decided it would be pointless to go back to sleep. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had made camp inside a large abandoned storage building. The windows were mostly boarded up, with slight cracks in between the planks for light to pass through. The interior was an absolute wreck. Smashed wooden crates scattered the rooms, debris of useless scraps in a miniature land-slide pouring from them. There were large, dusty piles of metal scraps that lay under what looked liked the remains of a rusty, metal staircase. The floor was once tiled, but the tiles were broken or torn away, and miscellaneous trash such as paper, candy wrappers, and plastic bags were scattered everywhere. Beside Pinkie was Rainbow Dash and Rarity on either side of her. Applejack decided to lay over by a stack of crates, and Fluttershy was close to Rarity (She never liked sleeping alone). The five ponies, known as The Elements, had their bags by them at all times, along with their armor or outfits. It was always important to be well equipped during these times for the chances of being attacked were close to very great. Pinkie sat up and became immediately vigilant. She had not easily forgotten the monstrosity they had just finished overcoming. An overwhelming search golem. Their defeating it proved to them that they had become strong beyond their imagination. The golem stood at least three stories tall. It was made entirely out of thick steel and enchanted by Twilight Sparkle, of course. It was designed to search and capture rebels and bring them to the Twilight immediately. Yes, Pinkie remembered it too well. The fact that they aren’t on a table, breathless, is unfathomable. Pinkie was wearing a normal tank top and underwear. She slept in her armor once, and swore she’d never do that again. It was very light armor, but very uncomfortable if worn to sleep. It was made from sky-diamond, a type of rare, refined gem found in clouds, made when pure rain is crystallized. The material is very light, if not weightless, but very durable and even flexible. It is a very valuable material and extremely difficult to forge into armor but Pinkie managed to get an entire outfit of it. It looked as though it were made of pure light. It was a very bright outfit, and it gleamed to any speck of light that touched it. The armor itself, covered the torso and pelvic area, acting as a sort of dress and ending at mid-thigh. Near the edge of the dress were leggings made of the same material and intricately cut to look appealing, as well as being beneficial for movement, and improving agility. The leggings ended near the knee, where small boots made of the crystallized material covered her hooves. The boots matched the rest of the outfit in color. They didn’t cover her hooves entirely, but ended right above the edge of them. The back ends of each boot had three slits on both sides. Her gloves had a similar design; each glove had three slits on the top and bottom of them. She wore a necklace made of sky-diamond cut in the shape of a balloon. The necklace was thick, and looked like her element of harmony, only it was more of a replica than the real thing. Pinkie Pie played with her balloon-shaped necklace for a bit, sighing as she sat there. She looked up at a window with several planks missing, to look up at the sky. The sky was an ominous orange and red color. All the industrialization has polluted the sky, and left it looking hideous. Rainbow Dash woke up shortly after Pinkie put on her gear. “Oh, morning, Pink.” Rainbow Dash said through a drawn out yawn. She also had a necklace, made of an entirely different material known as Angel-gold. The necklace's gem was in the shape of a lightning bolt. “How long you been awake?” “Oh, not very long. About fifteen minutes.” Pinkie replied. She grabbed a dagger with a blade made of sky-diamond. The blade was cut flawlessly, with no rough edges on any spot of it. The hilt was made out of a metal called cloud-steel, a material of the most brilliant ivory. It is as durable as steel, but as smooth as a cloud. The hilt formed an intricate design. “Should we wake up the others? It’s almost morning.” Dash asked Pinkie while rubbing the back of her own head. She sat up and groaned and mumbled to herself. “It seems like we pick a worse place to set up camp every stop. Ugh.” “No, I think we should let them rest for a while longer. That golem did quite a number on us.” Pinkie looked back at Rainbow Dash, pointing at the blood-stained bandages covering her arms and legs. In fact, almost her whole body was covered in bandage wrappings. Rainbow Dash finally noticed the burning pain in various places all over her body as she remembered the bandages. She was the one usually taking all the damage. She cringed and clutched her right arm. That was the arm that took the most damage; a long gash from her shoulder to midway of her forearm. “Take it easy, Dashie. You’re lucky to be alive. You need your rest.” Pinkie said crawling over to her. “Nnng, no way, I can still, nng… Fight.” Rainbow Dash struggled to get up. Pinkie only laid her back down. “You’ll only make it worse. We have plenty of time before we have to face Twilight, and you should rest while you can,” Pinkie told Rainbow comfortingly. Rainbow Dash complied, and laid back down. ~~~~~~ It was several hours later before Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack awoke. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had been making up random conversations in the meantime. They hadn’t sat down and really seriously talked in a long time. It had been years since their last serious conversation. Applejack rolled over and yawned. The orange pony was almost completely naked, save a pair of panties. She was the kind of pony that never really cared. She was too boyish to care, really; however, she immediately began covering up her half-nude body with her outfit: A simple outfit made entirely of leather, nothing special. The only thing of interest was the shiny, red necklace she wore made of Pegasus-fire, a gem found commonly in Equestria's low-altitude cloud cities. Her necklace's gem was in the shape of an apple. Fluttershy raised up from a deep slumber, bracing herself with one arm. She yawned, which sounded more like a tiny squeak behind the hushed, rushing breath. Her gleaming, butterfly-shaped necklace shook around a little on her neck from movement as she stretched. She eventually reached over and shook Rarity, who was awake, but trying to sneak in a few more winks. “Come on, Rarity,” a gentle voice left the yellow mare’s lips, “we need to get ready for today. We aren’t too far from the palace, now.” “Hmph, what’s a girl got to do to get her beauty sleep?” Rarity groaned in response, rolling over and turning her back to Fluttershy. Fluttershy sat there and pouted. Rarity suddenly felt a heavy amount of weight pushing down on her waist. She began to flail as she noticed Applejack, suited in her leathery outfit, sitting innocently on her. “Applejack!? What the…? Get off me!” Rarity managed to squirm free and push herself away. “Don’t need to be focusin’ on no beauty sleep, Rarity.” Applejack elicited a confident chuckle. “We’re rebels on a mission to save Equestria AND the world from eternal darkness and sufferin'. And yer gonna tell me beauty sleep is more important?” Rarity got to her hooves and walked over to Applejack, a diamond-shaped gem on a golden necklace beamed in a ray of light, “Nopony ever said I can’t be deadly AND fabulous at the same time, dear Applejack.” “Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean ya need to be killin’ time with yer beauty sleep and all that. We don’t have time fer catchin’ a few more hours of sleep. It’s mornin’ and we have to constantly be on the move. There’s no way we could survive another one of them golem things, especially with RD in the condition she’s in, right now.” Applejack lectured. Rarity sighed, “I suppose you’re right. We do need to find another place soon. Pinkie and I should also go look for supplies while you guys pack up.” Pinkie’s ear twitched to her name being called. She got up and left Rainbow Dash to rest a little while longer, walking over to Rarity, “I don’t know, Rarity. We’ve pretty much cleaned out this whole area. But maybe one last little sweep wouldn’t hurt.” Rarity began gearing up. Her outfit was very simple. Simply a black brassiere made of a jet-black leather, but designed for appealing looks. For the bottom half, she wore only tight underwear and shadow-steel for leggings. The leggings were made thickly, but shadow-steel was synthetically forged for the assassin type; to be light as a feather and thick as the earth's crust. The leggings ended right before the edge of the bottom of her hooves. On her forearms she wore shadow-steel bracers; however, the bracers did not match. The one on her left arm was entirely black, and mainly just a plain bracer for support. The one on her right arm was black as well, but had silver braces on either end of them. In between the braces were thin razors. Rarity occasionally used the razors for close quarters. Usually, she never had to face an enemy head on, though. “Alright, Pinkie and I will be right back. Make sure Rainbow Dash is rested enough to travel with us. And don’t forget to properly pack the blankets this time! The last time I opened my satchel, it was atrocious!” With that, Pinkie Pie and Rarity exited the main door into the outside. “Yeesh, bossy much?” Applejack announced. “Fluttershy, get suited. We need to take point and be vigilant in case any Searchers come lookin’ fer us.” “Hmph. Bossy much?” Fluttershy giggled trying her best to mimic Applejack’s accent. She did a gesture with her hand, as if to assure it was only a tease. She picked up her armor, made of Thorn-mail and Mithril-weed, rare elements of Equestria, found only in the heart of the Everfree, and she properly put it on. She sometimes had to wriggle around to get the armor to adjust and fit right. Fluttershy’s armor was very tranquil for it was in the style of nature. It was made entirely of thick and incredibly strong wood. The names Thorn-mail and Mithril-weed simply imply the sturdiness and durability this plant-life holds. Fluttershy comes to believe that it’s the armor that allows her to communicate with the planet so clearly. While the other ponies tell her she’s just gifted, Fluttershy believes the armor is actually enchanted and infused with part of the soul of nature. Fluttershy was also the only pony of the group that did not have a weapon. She had no need for one. If she ever needed a weapon, she could call upon the animals of the wilds; however, in a desolate world, where there is hardly any life, her druidic powers deal mostly with controlling the nature solely around her, including frenzied creatures of the wastelands and what little plant life could possibly survive under the haze of industrialization. ~~~~~~ Pinkie and Rarity scouted around the vicinity. The area was abandoned, with many broken down or boarded up buildings. Pinkie scouted ahead as usual, leaving Rarity in the dust. She waved back at Rarity, who was dragging herself along the way. “Ugh, this is dreadful. This heat, this dust, the pollution. It’s just simply not good for my comple–" Rarity was cut short by Pinkie’s sudden appearance in front of her. “Rarity, I found this building I haven’t scouted yet, but I need your help to get in. The wall is just barely too high for me to get up over, and I'm going to see if there is a way in through the roof. I need you to give me a boost.” Pinkie Pie explained. Rarity acted as though she wasn’t listening, but unfortunately, she was, and understood entirely. The sound of Pinkie Pie's voice, especially when being heard in an incredibly long sentence or two, was sometimes very agitating for Rarity, and perhaps most anyone who heard her speak. The two picked up the pace and made it to the building Pinkie had described. It was a large building, at least four stories high. It was run-down and looked like it had been there longer than either of them were born. Rarity felt she could tap her hoof against it and the whole place come crashing down. Pinkie stood back a great distance then suddenly began sprinting toward the wall, as she neared the wall, the slits in the back of her boots hummed and shone with a purple light. She continued sprinting until she found herself running up the wall. Pinkie was rushing at an incredible speed up this ninety degree angle of a wall. And as she claimed before, Pinkie just made it before the edge before the humming ceased, the purple light faded to black, and she was forced to jump and back flip off the wall, landing with a heavy thud on the ground. “See? I just need a slight boost to make it. Think you can give me a push?” Pinkie asked Rarity. “At the speed you’re traveling? I can try, but I cannot promise success, Pinkie Pie.” Rarity replied with a shrug. Pinkie stood from a distance once more, Rarity standing nearly pressed against the wall. Pinkie began her sprint once more, the boots humming and the slits lighting purple as before, as well. Pinkie neared the wall, Rarity getting ready. Pinkie Pie reached the wall, and with almost flawless timing, Rarity planted both her hands on Pinkie’s rump and gave a hard push, eliciting a loud grunt of struggle from giving her all. Pinkie’s legs blurred as the boots carried her up the wall once more, the humming flickered and she tried as hard as she could to reach the edge. She extended her arm as the edge came so close to reach. Finally, the humming ceased again, but Pinkie gave one final pushed off the wall, pushing her upward just enough so she could grab the edge and pull herself up. “Woohoo! It worked, Rarity, it worked!” Pinkie yelled down to her when she finally got to her hooves. “I’ll remove the boards on the door down there and let you in, kay?” “Alright, Pinkie Pie, but do hurry! We’ve lost enough time as it is and this heat is absolutely killing me!” Rarity replied in an equally loud voice. She saw Pinkie give a nod and disappear over the edge of the building. Pinkie saw a hole in the roof leading down into the top floor of the building. It was just large enough for her to fit through. The pink pony looked down through the hole to see a dark interior. "I hope my weight won't cause me to fall through the floor." She told herself as she made her way down through the hole. ~~~~~~ The inside of this unexplored house was eerie. More so than the down-trodden storage building where they made camp. There was barely a ray of light to be found and every step, no matter how hard she tried to muffle it, made a loud creak that echoed and bounced along the walls like she’d just kicked a large rubber ball as hard as she could. She made her way downstairs, noting the different little items she passed that she could see. She didn’t really see anything of interest, but made it her top priority to let Rarity in. It’s a strict rule amongst the five to never be alone for too long, and the creepiness Pinkie Pie was sensing from this building was telling her she needed to get back together with Rarity very soon. She made it to the second floor. The constant fog of shadows made it hard to get around and was a huge reason why she couldn’t find anything interesting. Pinkie happened across the next stairway down. She went to descend down the staircase, when a sudden rhythmic beat caught her attention. Beneath her hooves she could feel a sort of quake. But this quake felt like a heartbeat in the floor, in the house itself even. Pinkie made no hesitation and hurried to the bottom floor. As she predicted, the main door was boarded up. She unsheathed her dagger and gripped it tightly. The shiny, glass-like blade radiantly shone a bright purple. With two swift, simple strokes of her arm, the blade cut right through the planks, as though it simply phased through them. Before Pinkie Pie could even open the doors, Rarity swung open the doors and strutted in as if the sound of the planks breaking and falling were her cues to make a dramatic entrance. “Ah, thank you, Pinkie Pie!” Rarity said after trotting in like a diva. “Shall we begin looking?” “I don’t know, Rarity… I felt something earlier. While I was on the second floor, I felt a trembling, like a heartbeat, but I could feel it in the floorboards. Maybe it’s best if we just go ahead and leave while we can.” Pinkie replied a little paranoid. Pinkie Pie was always the more paranoid one. She was the group’s key savior, and the group ALWAYS respected her senses. “Nonsense, Pinkie. We already went through the trouble of getting here. We should at least browse a little.” Or not. Rarity began to look around, moving deeper into the house. “Rarity,” Pinkie groaned out to her, “this is a really really really bad idea.” Pinkie Pie felt shocked that Rarity wasn’t trusting in her senses. This was a first, and she was wondering why Rarity was acting like this. “Oh please, Pinkie. We took down that massive golem, didn’t we? I'm sure we can handle whatever creature in the shadows might be– YIIIEEEEEE! Mouse! MOUSE! Kill it. KILL IT!” Rarity squealed in a high pitched voice. Suddenly, before Pinkie Pie could realize, Rarity had clung to her in fear of the tiny rodent. “…But you’re afraid of a mouse? Look, Rarity, just because we just barely managed to take down a top notch search unit golem, doesn’t mean we’re invincible. We seriously need to go!” Pinkie tried once more with a little more seriousness behind her voice. “Fine, okay, we’ll go.” Rarity agreed, finally. The two began walking toward the main door, but before they could get to it, it slammed shut on its own. “You will not leave alive.” A voice from nowhere seemed to scream quietly, as if speaking loudly in a whisper. Rarity and Pinkie Pie immediately stood back to back and readied their weapons. “Who’s there?” Rarity called out. “I,” a creature said emerging from the shadows, “am Never-Et.” The creature was entirely black with radiant ivory specks for eyes. It seemed to be made entirely of a black fire, but it was only a form of shadow that shifted in the way fire does. "I was created as a living shadow. I am the heart of the darkness." “W-well, what do you want with us?” Pinkie asked turning to him. “I am a creation of Lady Sparkle’s, and I have come to return you to my Lady. Now, comply or be terminated.” The black figure began to disappear into the shadows it seemed to be birthed from. “Pinkie,” Rarity turned her head and whispered, “he’s a shadow shifter. I know how these things work. I use a lot of the same tricks. Let me handle most of the fighting, okay?” “Okay, Rarity. Just be careful.” Pinkie said nodding. “Come on out, you big blotch. You can't take us!” Rarity called out. And with that boast, the entire house lost all color, all light. Before Rarity could react, she saw two tall figures walking toward them from the shadows. To her surprise, two exact copies of herself and Pinkie Pie emerged. “Uhh, Rarity, was this part of your plan?” Pinkie leaned over and asked her. “Not at all, Pinkie. Not at all.” Rarity replied. The two copies stood before Rarity and Pinkie, silent, ready to strike. The tension was heavy, and they all waited to see which one would strike first.
Twilight's Shadows - Chapter 2The copies of Rarity and Pinkie Pie seemed motionless, just as the real Rarity and Pinkie were. Whenever Pinkie or Rarity moved, the copies seemed to adjust and shift exactly the same. “This… May be an interesting fight.” Rarity whispered over to Pinkie. They were both adamant and vigilant. Pinkie Pie could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead from the tension. “Well, come on, Never-Et make your move.” Pinkie shouted toward the copies. The Pinkie copy stood there for a moment before unsheathing her dagger, an exact replica of Pinkie Pie’s own sky-diamond dagger. “Why don’t you make your move? Think you can keep up with us?” The Pinkie Pie copy replied with a confident tone. “Ha! I should be asking that question to you!” The real Pinkie Pie asked. “I’m just asking, because you seem to have put on a few pounds. Must be those cupcakes.” The Pinkie clone giggled. “What?! I am not FAT! Wait a minute, you’re a copy of me! We weigh the same!” The real Pinkie fired back, getting agitated. She looked over at Rarity, “Am I this agitating?” “Pinkie Pie. Focus. Stop quarreling with yourself. They're trying to distract us.” Rarity replied with her own agitation. She looked over at her pink friend. Pinkie Pie really knew how to turn a serious moment silly. Rarity turned her attention to the Pinkie Pie clone in front of them. She looked around, “Hey, where’d the Rarity copy go?” “Rarity, to your left!” Pinkie shouted out to her. Rarity’s head jolted to the left to see her clone coming at her with unimaginable alacrity, daggers in hand and aimed for her torso. Rarity barely had any time to throw up her own dagger to dodge eminent death. She couldn’t avoid the other dagger though. She felt a sharp pain as a blade created a tiny fissure up the side of her thigh. She screamed out in pain and fell to her knee as her leg burned. “Rarity! Are you okay?” Pinkie said trying to comfort her friend “Y-yeah… I’m fine. It’s… Just a scratch.” Rarity assured Pinkie, trying to hide the fact that she now had a large chasm down her leg. The Rarity copy faded back into sight beside the Pinkie Pie clone, as she laughed. “You should really pay more attention.” giggled the copy of Rarity, “It doesn’t surprise me that a complacent moron like yourself wouldn’t be able to hold her own, even against herself.” Rarity stood in shock as the words soaked in. She squinted her eyes and rage began to take over. “Oh, it. Is. ON.” Rarity was suddenly in front of her clone, both daggers in full swing. The clone only smirked and easily pulled its own daggers up to defend itself. She laughed at Rarity, “I know all your moves, inside and out.” “How is that even possible? H-how can Never-Et become two things he knows nothing about?” The mortified Rarity replied. “Don’t think too much about it. It might hurt your self-absorbed little head.” The clone snickered and gave a hard kick to Rarity’s gut, knocking the breath out of her and pushing her to the ground. She hit the ground with a bit of a thud, the heavy impact reigniting the fire in her thigh. She let out a groan. “Alright, new plan,” Rarity got to her hooves and leaned over to Pinkie Pie, “we should attack together. I wasn’t expecting this shadow shifter to be… special.” “Alright,” the pink pony replied, “well, how should we attack? It almost seems like we’re much slower than they are.” “Just keep them busy. Make them cautious. I’m going to fade into the shadows and find out where Never-Et is hiding.” Rarity tried to keep her voice as quiet as possible, but felt it was in vain, for if Never-Et were every shadow, then he could perceive everything that a shadow consumed; the inside of the house entirely unlit. Rarity looked as if she dissolved. She phased into nothing. This elicited a slight smirked from the clones. Pinkie Pie gripped her weapon and rushed toward the Rarity clone. The clone confidently laughed and was suddenly behind her. A smile swept across Pinkie Pie’s face and she threw her dagger behind her, the dagger piercing the clone’s torso, blood now dripping from it. The clone gasped and swung her arm around, hoping to return the damage. Pinkie, with swift coordination, pulled the dagger and jumped backwards over the clone’s head. Without further hesitation, Pinkie Pie began sprinting toward her own clone, while the Rarity clone tried to recover. Pinkie Pie went to strike at her clone, but stopped a few feet before her and jumped back. Pinkie Pie’s tail started swishing and twitching. The clone stood there dumbfounded but began laughing at the pink pony. To Pinkie’s surprise, Rarity came bolting from the ceiling, shortly after, onto the pink clone and landed two precise strikes, both seemingly evenly in her chest. Rarity jumped off back into the air and faded into the shadows once more. The two clones both got to their hooves, drenched with blood. “I think it’s time w-we try something else.” the Pinkie Pie clone said to her companion. She nodded and they both dissolved into the shadows. Pinkie Pie was ready for anything. “Aiiieeee!!” Rarity went flying through the air and landed right on Pinkie. She wasn’t exactly ready for that. They both laid there disoriented for a moment before a second Rarity came out of the shadows with her daggers in front of her. The first Rarity threw her arm up and blocked the dagger with the bracer. The pressure against her arm was rather painful, and she felt like the blade would slice straight through the bracer and her wrist any minute. The defending pony swung her blade around, causing the assailing Rarity to jump backward. Both Rarities got steady on their hooves. Pinkie Pie got up too and stood beside the Rarity closest to her, thinking it was her friend. “Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?” The white pony across from her asked shocked. “That’s the clone Rarity!” “What?! No, she’s the clone!” The Rarity beside Pinkie accused. Pinkie took a look at the Rarities. She first looked at their left thigh, the one that was cut by the clone. Both Rarities had the same gash up their thigh. They were now identical. Pinkie Pie was now completely confused. She had no idea which one was the real one. “Pinkie Pie, it’s me. I’m the real Rarity!” The Rarity across the room struck a pose like a diva. “I do not pose like that!” The Rarity beside Pinkie Pie yelled. “Pinkie, I’m the real one. I’m the real Rarity.” Pinkie Pie gripped her own head, her fingers threaded through her mane. She was thinking about the situation, under great pressure. She had a thought, and she felt brilliant. She looked around and saw two windows on either side of the room, but they were hard to see. The silhouette is all she went by. “Rarities,” Pinkie Pie told them, “stand by the windows on either side of the room.” The two white ponies looked and picked a window to stand by. The Rarity beside Pinkie stood by a window to her left, and the Rarity across from Pinkie stood by a window to her right. Pinkie stood in the middle between them. She focused for a moment and her boots hummed. The purple color filled the slits in the back, and within a blink, the boards covering the windows fell to pieces, revealing the outside light. The Rarity to Pinkie Pie’s left was unscathed. The Rarity to her right jumped back into the shadows. “Augh! It’s time to stop this little game!” The clone shouted at Pinkie Pie. It faded back into the darkness, leaving Pinkie and Rarity cautious. “Whew, thank Celestia you had that brilliant idea. I think we just found ourselves a weakness!” The white pony exclaimed walking over to Pinkie, whom was still in the shadows. Pinkie Pie went to reply, but was met with a sudden sharp dagger in her shoulder. “You will be returned to Lady Sparkle dead or alive!” The voice of Never-Et spoke. His sinister voice haunted the ponies’ minds. The deep, ghostly voice, almost like low, yet gruffly whispers. Rarity held up Pinkie Pie so she wouldn’t fall. As Rarity embraced Pinkie, she felt a streak of pain across her back, followed by a warm substance trickling down it as well. She screamed out in pain as they both fell to their knees. “We… We have to get b-back into the light. We can’t s-stay in the shadows or that monster will kill us.” Rarity told Pinkie. Pinkie Pie nodded her head as to acquiesce. “We r-really need to get out of here.” Pinkie finally said. The two limped toward the light, holding each other for support. Pinkie gasped again as a piercing slash came across her back. Rarity followed sharply as her left leg was sliced again. They were almost to the curtain of light, a savior of their lives, but were put to a stop when they both felt it. A penetration of their skin, of their torso. They both fell to the floor. Pinkie Pie’s vision was growing dark. Rarity felt like stone. They lied there, gasping for breath, as they felt the blades that pierced their bodies dissolve into the shadows, and felt them being dragged into the veil of darkness by their ankles. They could not speak due to shock. They could barely breathe. And they surely believed they were stronger than this, but obviously to them, not against themselves. As they were being pulled into the drapes of malevolent darkness, Pinkie Pie finally managed to squeak out a few words, “Rarity…” “Y-yes… p-p-Pinkie?” Rarity barely managed to say. “I always th-thought of y-y-you as m-my big s-sister… A sister I n-never had… And… I just w-wanted to say… I l-love you…” Pinkie said under fading breath. Rarity gave a weak smile, a smile covered in her own blood. They were both leaking large amounts of blood and some tears. The two ponies were at the edge of the darkness. They pulled each other close with the last of their strength, embracing each other, awaiting the darkness to be eternity. Pinkie started giving hushed sobs, and Rarity nuzzled her. This was it. Their so-called skill put to waste. The two closed their eyes. Suddenly, the doors flung open, almost off their hinges. Three Cloud-steel-tipped arrows followed after a carpet of light roared into the house. The light caused the shadows to release Pinkie and Rarity, who were still embracing each other. Applejack and Fluttershy entered the room. Fluttershy hurriedly ran over to the two severely injured ponies. “Oh my, Applejack. They’re in critical condition. We have to get them out of here.” The yellow pony stated in shock. “Oh no, they’ve passed out from so much blood loss. Applejack.” “Ah know, Ah know. Fluttershy, can you drag ‘em out while I get yer back?” Applejack asked her. “I… I can try, but you know I’m not very strong.” The pegasus replied. “Do it fer yer friends,” The orange pony told her, pulling two arrows from her leather quiver and drawing them across her bow made of ever-gloss. She aimed it at the darkness, waiting for whatever kind of monster might unveil. Fluttershy struggled but managed to start dragging her friends toward the door. “This… Would be easier… If we had… Twilight on our side!” Fluttershy said under heavy breaths. For a weak pegasus, even dragging two ponies is straining work. She wasn’t used to carrying more than a bunny or two. That is, until industrialization probably poisoned them all. Fluttershy could probably never forgive Twilight for that. “Stay focused, Fluttershy, yer doin’ great.” Applejack told her. “Eep!” The yellow pony’s legs were wrapped in shadows, which caused her to fall. Applejack began firing arrows in the darkness. Nothing seemed to work. The arrows only seemed to whip through the foggy shadows. Applejack was a workhorse. She got things done, and she always stayed prepared for the unexpected, including unexpected events like this. She anticipated her normal attacks to fail and knew she'd need to change tactics. The earth pony smiled, reaching into a satchel on her belt, pulling out a few tiny spherical devices made of a silver metal. They were just big enough for her to fit three in one hand. A fuse came out of the silver spheres. She smirked and lit all three using a match she pulled with them. Applejack threw one into the back of the room where it was darkest. She threw the second to her left against the wall, and the third to the right by the window. Within seconds, the three detonated, creating new holes in the walls. The holes led to the outside, letting more light pour into the house. The shadows that were wrapped around Fluttershy dissolved, and she got to her hooves as quickly as she possibly could. “AGHHH!” Never-Et’s echoing, ghostly voice screamed out. The shadow creature’s true form, rushed upstairs. “C’mon, Fluttershy. We need to get the hay outta here!” Applejack yelled as she rushed over to the pegasus and began helping her drag their friends. As they neared the door, the building began to shake and collapse. “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!” Fluttershy repeated. Support beams of the building began to fall. “YOU WILL NOT LEAVE!” Never-Et’s haunting voice rung again. “Hurry!” Applejack shouted. “I’m trying!” Fluttershy squeaked through a slight sob. The two put all their effort into saving their friend’s and their own lives. As they reached the doorway, the building began to crumble and break like a house of cards. They embraced their pony friends and jumped out into the warm sunlight. They just narrowly avoided death. “We… We made it.” Applejack said, breathing heavily. “We should really get back to Rainbow Dash in case one of those… things is there too!” Fluttershy suggested. “Good idea, sugarcube.” Applejack agreed, taking Pinkie Pie in her arms and carrying her. “Ya got Rarity, Fluttershy?” “Yeah, I think so.” Fluttershy nodded her head. ~~~~~~ Rainbow Dash sat alone in the storage building while Applejack and Fluttershy went off to look for Rarity and Pinkie Pie. She sighed, feeling useless at the moment. She couldn’t fight, and felt like she could, but wasn’t allowed to. “I really want to go fight too, but these stupid injuries keep me from it.” Rainbow sighed again as her body began to ache. “Ow.” She looked over at her satchel, a blue bag with her cutie mark stitched onto it. She unclasped the latch, and opened her satchel. Inside she pulled out one of her favorite books, amongst other things like a deck of cards, a canteen, and a sharpening stone for her swords. This book she loved so much was actually the book that made her like reading more. It was a book that one of her closest friends showed her: “Daring-Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone.” She had already read it, but she decided to read it again anyway. Rainbow Dash opened the book, and began quietly reading aloud the words across the pages. ~~~~~~ Twilight Sparkle sat in her room on her bed, reading over some test results. She had been particularly busy the past few weeks with experiments. She didn’t know why, but she felt compelled to speed up the process, and by doing so, she had been running on little sleep, but she didn’t care. Her thirst for death and blood was more overwhelming than a good rest. Twilight looked over at a nightstand beside her. A little locket reflected the fire of the lamplight that sat beside it. Twilight Sparkle sighed. She remembered what happened. None of these things were her fault, but she couldn’t stop herself. Yes, it's what happened to her so long ago. She remembered those events so vividly... ~~~~~~ Twilight Sparkle was a normal mare, just like any other, and was loved by many friends, respected as well. She had a lavender coat, beautiful violet eyes, the sweetest voice, and most importantly, she was hooved, she was a pony, she was herself. It was a sunny day, bright, warm, and cheerful. She was sitting in her room, studying like she always did. Spike was downstairs sorting the shelves as Twilight requested, and she herself was comfortably lazing on her bed. There came a knock on her door. She hadn’t been expecting anyone. “Spiiiike! Could you please get that for me?” Twilight called down to him. “I’m on it, Twi!” The little purple dragon replied. He opened the door, watching as a wall-eyed pony with a blonde mane, grey coat, and gentle smile dropped a little package and turned to fly away. “It’s a package!” Spike called back up to Twilight, waving goodbye to ditzy pegasus. “Bring it up, please?” Twilight looked down at him from her bed and gave a goofy grin. “Alright, fine. But only ‘cause you said please.” Spike chuckled and carried the package upstairs. When he got up to her room he handed her the package: a brown, cardboard box about the size of Twilight’s head. Twilight looked at the top where all the addressing was. “Hey, this is a package from my mother.” “I wonder what it is.” Spike curiously said. “Hm, well, we’re about to find out.” Twilight answered, opening the box eagerly. The box was mostly filled with packing peanuts. Laying on the mass of Styrofoam pellets was a letter, hoof-written by Twilight’s mother. She recognized this. “Your father and I are growing old, and we believe it’s time for you to be in possession of the Sparkle family heirloom. Our family has passed down this sacred heirloom for generations, for longer than a thousand years. We hope you like it, and please take good care of it, so that you may pass it down to a filly of your own one day. We love you very much.” ~Love, Mom~ Twilight reached further into the box and felt it. She felt the cold metal the necklace was made of. She pulled out the heirloom with her hooves and gasped. “Oh… Oh my goodness. It… It’s beautiful!” Twilight exclaimed, shocked at the gleaming radiance it gave off. It surprised her that an heirloom that had been passed down for so long looked so untouched by time. It shone with flawlessness, and was virtually unscathed. It had no scratches, no dents, no markings of damage. It was an amulet with a golden chain. The chain gleamed when the light touched it. The amulet itself was a flawlessly cut, diamond-shaped amethyst, placed in a gold-rimmed socket. On the back of the socket was engraved “Sparkle”. “I… I can’t believe it! I’m in possession of the family heirloom!” Twilight was overjoyed. She held the necklace up to her face and nuzzled it before lifting it with her magic and wrapping the chain around her neck. She played with the amethyst a bit. She suddenly didn’t feel right. She flinched and rubbed her head. “Twi? You okay?” Spike asked confused. Twilight nodded her head and smiled. “Yeah, I feel fine, Spike.” She replied calmly. “I feel sleepy though. I think I’ll go to bed early.” “Okay, well, sleep well.” Spike smiled and gave her a blanket. ~~~~~~ A wicked smile swept across Twilight Sparkle's tear-covered face. “Nightveil Sparkle…” she murmured to herself. It was clear. Something was terribly wrong, and this wasn’t Twilight. She unclasped the mechanism that held her cloak around her neck, the diamond-shaped amethyst. She held it under the lamplight, and read the back. “Sparkle.” She whispered as she glanced over the engraving. She got up out of her bed. It was late and she was tired, but she had to take care of something that she had been putting off. “All of my friends are gone; they’ve probably been taken by the creatures of the industrial wasteland; although, there is much news of their survival from a lot of workers.” Twilight went around her bed. There was a bookcase with several books packed together. She pulled a blue, green, and purple book in order. The bookcase slid open, revealing a dark and eerie passage. Twilight went down into the darkness and disappeared behind the curtains of shadows. The bookcase slid back into place, perfectly covering the passage. When Twilight got to the end of the passage, there were tables with leather straps, tables with metal braces, machines giving of random sequences of lights and sounds, and the smell of rotting corpses covered in chemical scents. She went over to a table and opened a drawer. Inside were several miscellaneous things, but Twilight picked out what she needed at the time: six plastic, transparent bags, sealed to protect the contents inside. The bags were labeled with individual names on each bag: Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Trixie. Twilight laid the bags out on a table with a few beakers, test tubes, burners, and other tools used for chemistry. “Time to begin,” Twilight told herself, “and put what I’ve learned about life to the test.” ~~~~~~ “Ya’ll okay?” Pinkie Pie heard the pleasant accent of Applejack’s. It sounded like she was talking from the other side of thick glass, though. “C’mon now, you two. We’ve wasted a lot of time fixin’ ya’ll up, and we’re runnin’ late.” Rarity groaned and sat up, struggling to brace herself, through the pain. “W-what happened? We…We’re alive?” “Course ya are. Yer lucky ya made enough commotion fer the whole town to hear.” Applejack snickered. “And with that, we need to get the hay outta dodge before any other monsters show up.” Pinkie began to open her eyes, giving a silent groan. She looked over at Rarity, who she thought was Rainbow Dash for a moment, because she was wrapped in bandages. In fact, Rainbow Dash was floating above them as well. Her wings gave strong, heavy strokes against the air, keeping her afloat. She was suited in heavy steel armor; it was unbelievable that her wings could support all that weight. The armor was a glimmering smoky black. It was plated and layered, and it looked as though it would take something massive to even create a scratch or dent. Her torso, legs, and hooves were covered in the blackened metal. Her hands up to her wrists were protected by a pair of gauntlets of the same material but left her fingers exposed. The designs on the armor looked regal, yet ancient, and therefore very intricate. The plates of armor were lined with golden trimming, and on the left side of the breastplate was Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark glossed over to help protect it from being scratched off. “Aww yeah! Feels so good to be free again!” Rainbow announced audaciously. “Take it easy there on the wings, Rainbow,” Applejack told her, “you haven’t fully recovered yet.” “Yeah, yeah, I know, I will be!” Rainbow reassured. “Can ya’ll walk?” Applejack looked over to the two ponies on the ground, just recovering from the beating of their lives. “Now I know we just took down a giant metal statue and all, but we took it down together, when we were at our strongest. Did ya forget how hard you were slammed into that wall, Rarity?” Rarity blushed a little, and looked away. “Uhhh, well, maybe I forgot, you know because I was hit so hard, and everything.” “Ya ain’t playin’ innocent with me. Yer not invincible, Rarity.” Applejack got a little more serious. Rarity only looked down. She felt responsible for the injuries she caused Pinkie Pie. “I… I’m sorry Applejack. I’m sorry, Pinkie. I guess I let my sense of honor get the best of me. That shadow shifter was right. I’m just a selfish, complacent pony.” “Now, Rarity, nopony said that,” Applejack bent down to comfort her, “Ah just simply said that you shouldn’t go tryin’ to play the hero.” “Yeah, that’s my job!” Rainbow Dash flew up to them and struck a heroic pose. Rainbow suddenly stopped posing when she noticed Rarity and Applejack giving an unimpressed glare. “Now’s not the time, Rainbow.” Applejack told her. “Anyhoo, ya ready to go, Pinkie? Can ya walk walk?” Pinkie nodded and stood up, groaning as pain struck a heavy chord in her body. “Y-yeah. I can walk.” “Alright, then. Let’s go, ya’ll.” Applejack told the group. After much time wasted, the five finally got back out into the nothing, on their way to the palace. They now have to make up for lost time; the sooner they get to the palace and end the suffering, the better. The five ponies were on a critical mission, as they’ve been before, to restore harmony, and under Twilight’s reign balance is lost entirely. They had enough time to make it to the palace, as long as the road was smooth, and if there were few obstacles. Their hope was to be there within a few weeks, before Twilight gathers the power to control everything with only a finger. And Twilight was working endlessly to achieve that. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy… All five ponies delving into unknown darkness, into more sinister hatred than they could imagine. They hoped it was going to be simple. But nopony can foresee the future… ~~~~~~ Twilight Sparkle gave a long-awaited exhale. She was successful. She looked at the liquid-filled tubes that lined up evenly. Six tubes. “My creations. My beloved creations!” Twilight excitedly shouted at the tubes. Within the tubes were ponies with wires and pads connected to them. The advanced technology and magic allowed her accomplishments at great speeds. “Look at what we’ve accomplished! Look at where we’ve come.” Twilight seemed to speak in a different voice. “It… It’s so beautiful. We can accomplish anything. We are unstoppable.” Twilight stated to herself as though having a conversation with a figment of her own imagination. The ponies in the tubes were not just ordinary ponies. They were Twilight’s friends. They floated in the liquid, lifeless bodies, replicas of her closest friends. Now, she had the help of her friends, and it would make conquering the planet so much easier for her. Twilight Sparkle took and inserted a piece of glass into a machine that seemed to be connected to the tubes. A malevolent grin spread across Twilight’s face as she pulled a switch, the machine activating and lighting up the tubes. “I can’t have any heroes trying to stop me within my own palace. So I have to make them like me!” Twilight snickered. The first tube lit up, the liquid becoming purple. First was Rainbow Dash. Next Applejack, then Pinkie Pie, then Fluttershy, and Rarity. As the process finished on Rarity, the machine malfunctioned before it began on Trixie. “Huh? What happened? Blast this machine!” Twilight turned off the machine, and opened the slot where she inserted the piece of glass. Perhaps I ran out of the gene. Let me get another sample.” Twilight went over to her desk, retrieving another sample of her synthetic genetics. She walked back over to her machine and replaced the original sample. She turned the machine on again, Trixie’s tube going through the process. It eventually lit up purple, like the rest, except this time it was lighter purple, but Twilight didn’t notice. “Get some sleep, my friends, we have a big day tomorrow.” Twilight told the sleeping ponies as she crossed the passage once more, retreating into her room. The machines died down, the life support for the ponies excluded, and darkness shrouded the room and all was silent. Hours passed and night was far from over. Ominous shadows curtained every inch of the palace. But there was a sudden rustling in the lab. Trixie’s tube flickered with light. Hers was the only one that lit up. Trixie was inside, awake and wriggling around. She had pulled all the wires and pads off. She pushed against the glass hoping to find an opening, but it was solid. “Mmmf.” Trixie choked, trying to get air, but there was only water. She began banging her fists on the glass. She was hitting it as hard as she could. She continued hitting the glass with her fists, and eventually cracked it. Seeing that she was making progress, she started hitting harder and faster. She started feeling lightheaded from using so much energy to free herself from her cylindrical prison. She used as much force as she could and finally broke the glass. The water poured out, and she inhaled a copious amount of breath. Trixie looked around. She was drenched, her blue coat was darker. She was completely nude, but that wasn’t the key issue at the moment. Her main concern was wondering where she was and what was going on. “Where am I?” Trixie whispered under her breath. “Wait.” She paused and began remember: She was on an operating table, one of the first test subjects. She couldn’t move. She was strapped down. Twilight stepped from the shadows with a table covered in blood and knives, beakers with chemicals, and surgical tools. Blood was drawn, incisions in her skin were made, and she screamed and pleaded with every inch of her fiber, but the pain never ceased. Trixie died that night. Trixie had to escape; she had to get out, but how? She looked around and found an air duct in the back behind some machines. Maybe she could get out through the air duct. She walked over to the duct and tore away the cover. She had to hurry before Twilight noticed her attempt to escape. Trixie really hoped that Twilight hadn’t heard the glass break. This possibility only made her work faster to escape. Trixie crawled through the dark tunnels of the vent. They winded around and sometimes made her think she was just going in circles. She had no idea where exactly she was going, in fact, but she didn’t care. She remembered the pain and agony she suffered through as Twilight stood over her, pouring acids over her body, ripping her flesh off, horrific things that made her sick just thinking about it. These memories seemed to take her body and just drive it away. She had no idea how she was alive, but she didn’t think about it; she was breathing and that was good enough for her. Trixie came across several openings to fall through, but she wanted one that was outside of the palace or at least close to an exit. She crawled for a while, looking around for an opening to the outside, but instead she was met with a dead end. “Of course.” Trixie sighed and whispered sarcastically. She silently removed the covering over an opening by the dead end. She peeked her head through first, looking around for guards or traps. The area was clear. It was a dark storage closet, and a large one at that. Trixie dropped down landing as softly as she could, but still making a clop noise when she landed. She began to sweat and bit her bottom lip, hoping there was nobody around to pursue her. She was frozen for a few minutes, just waiting for someone to catch her, but no one came. She exhaled in relief, standing up straight. She took a look around, observing the area. “Hmm… What could I use to help me escape?” Trixie asked herself as quietly as possible. Most of the items in the room were useless to her, though. There were mostly ingredients for recipes. Large brown bags of flour packed in corners by crates labeled “spices”, and shelves of pots and pans lined up across the room. Trixie realized that this room could possibly expose her. It’s dark and if she trips and falls on a shelf, the pots and pans impacting on the floor would be a loud enough alarm to expose her and probably have her killed. Trixie did her best to keep her hooves from making too loud of noise. She wormed around the shelves, sweat beads dripping from her forehead and cheeks. She made sure her hooves were nowhere near any objects that could make loud noises. Luckily for her, the door wasn’t too far from where she had landed. She crept over to the door, sighing with relief as her heart calmed from exhilaration. Trixie cracked the door as silently as possible, peeking around. There was nobody around. “Excellent. Maybe this will be easy.” She gave a sweet smile and crept out the door, trotting along the hallway and hoping for an exit. The hallway was long and narrow, almost like an eerie hallway from a nightmare where you run as fast as you can, but the hallway just keeps stretching for eternity. Trixie went left, to the closest corner. She was draped in shadows which made it harder for her to be seen. She used this to her advantage and peeked her head around the corner. “No guards? This is getting to be too easy.” Trixie said, becoming more cautious than before. “I don’t care. The faster I can get out of here, the better.” Trixie carefully walked down the hallway, checking doors and looking for easier ways out; however she had no luck. All the doors led into other rooms that just went deeper into the palace. She was walking along the hallway, using the walls for direction, when she suddenly saw a light coming around the corner at the end. “Uh oh.” Trixie said with a low tone, while checking the doors. Inside the closest door to her was a bedroom. She definitely didn’t want to go into any bedrooms. She decided to backtrack and went back into the storage room she came out of earlier. She went inside and pushed the door almost closed, leaving a tiny crack for her to see through without being noticed. Her heart was pounding as the light turned the corner. When the light passed, she got a glimpse of a shadowy figure holding a lantern, except it wasn’t holding the lantern; the lantern was connected to its arm. Trixie opened the door as quietly as possible, looking around and seeing the creature disappear along with the light. “Hmm, maybe I should actually follow it.” Trixie thought. She could tail it and find an exit, using its lantern for light. She realized that the creature had gone down a set of stairs onto another floor. She looked around and found the light going down another eerie hallway. Trixie followed it, but didn’t test its senses and kept a great distance between them. It turned down another staircase, an odd place for a staircase actually: cutting right out of the middle of the hallway in between two bedroom doors. Trixie paid no mind and followed it anyway. She had been following this thing for a while now, almost fifteen minutes, and it seemed to just be leading her nowhere. She was looking for an exit, not trying to get lost inside a palace taking up an eighth of Equestria! Finally it stopped and turned around, but didn’t move forward. It just sat there as though it just now noticed it was being followed this whole time. Trixie froze and backed away a great bit, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. She turned around and realized she was backing straight into another one. She about screamed, but bit her tongue. She saw a door, and understood that she had to hide behind that door. It was her only option. Trixie opened the door as quickly, yet quietly as possible. “Maybe I need to stay out of the halls. Or at least not stay in them for too long.” She whispered under her breath. She didn’t know what the creatures were doing on the other side of that door, but she didn’t dare check to find out. She assumed she was safe for the moment in that room, so she stayed there for a while. It was a bedroom and black as a void. Trixie squinted and tried to see if there were any ponies sleeping in the beds, but couldn’t tell, and decided it would be best not to risk causing any noise, so she sat there against the door thinking. But it was almost pointless to think. She had no idea how to get out and no idea which doors led where. She had no maps, so this escape was going to be unimaginably difficult, but very time consuming. Trixie sat in the dark for nearly an hour, silent, naked, cold, and tired. She wanted to be somewhere safe, where she could sleep without worry, eat without limits, and be warm with given blankets or even clothing, but instead, she was stuck planning on what she might could possibly do to get out. Trixie hadn’t heard any movement in the beds and figured it was okay to crawl around and have a look at the place. The darkness made it more difficult, but over the hour of being surrounded by it, her eyes adjusted and it was somewhat easier than before. She noticed beds and nightstands, a window in the back, and chests at the ends of the beds to act as containers for personal belongings. “Think, Trixie, think,” she told herself, “maybe the window? Maybe we’re not too high up.” She crawled over to the window, past the beds. Now that she was closer she could get a better look and verified that there was a pony sleeping in one of the beds. Trixie flattened her ears and made sure it was imperative she remain as silent as imaginably possible. She peeked through the window. Outside, it was gloomy, even for the night. The moon seemed to mock the existing inhabitants of the planet, being so safe up in the sky like an unscathed pearl while the ponies suffered horrific and wicked deaths. Trixie looked down, her heart sunk, “Of course.” She thought to herself. She had to be on one of the highest floors possible. Looking down, there were jagged rocks scattered across a rushing and crashing pool of water. It seemed to wildly attack the bottom of the palace as if trying to knock the entire building over. It made Trixie sick just imagining an attempt at climbing down. Trixie sighed quietly and noticed that there was one bed open. She checked the chests to see if they were just gone, but the chest was empty. The pony sleeping was alone, and Trixie had a bed to herself. She quietly climbed into the empty bed and wrapped herself in the blanket. The velvet-like blanket was soft and she felt warm. She tried to cover her entire body. Maybe she could wake up early and get back in the vents before the other pony awakes. Trixie closed her eyes and continued to think about ways she could free herself from this place before being caught. She smiled slightly, for this may be the last good feeling she feels for a long time, so she savored it. She savored the warmth of a blanket in a cozy bed because that’s all she wanted for the time being. Trixie rolled over onto her side and drifted off to sleep.
Fire and Night - Chapter 3Trixie groaned as she felt a nudge against her side. “Pst. Hey. Get up.” A voice in her mind echoed. “Hey, I’m not kidding! It’s morning!” Trixie’s eyes shot open, and she yelped as she jumped to the other side of the bed, furthest from a caramel-colored stallion that was standing over her, dressed in a white t-shirt and boxers. She began to breathe heavily, knowing for certain she had been caught. She had intended to wake up a little earlier, but her body must have been more exhausted than she thought. “Whoa, calm down, there, I’m not going to hurt you.” The tall pony looked Trixie over, analyzing her nude body. He gave an insignificant smirk. “You must be a new recruit sent to bunk with me.” Trixie sat there, calmer than before, staring up at the stallion and unaware of her nakedness. “A bit shy, eh? My name is Vanilla Delights, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Recruit.” Vanilla held out his hand. Trixie leaned forward a little, still looking up at the stallion. “M… My name is Trixie. I… I’m not a recruit, actually.” Vanilla tilted his head and smiled. “Trixie. Cute name.” “Thank you.” Trixie sat up in the bed. She glanced around the room as the two became quiet for a brief moment. She didn’t have much time to examine it when it was dark and she was in a rush to escape. Quickly, the blue unicorn turned her attention to her new roommate's eyes. Bright ocean blue and as calm as a soothing lake, they were. Trixie felt one with the tides just looking at them. Vanilla nodded. “So, you’re not a recruit. Then you must be an escapee.” “Well, yes, I don’t know exactly where I am,” Trixie lied, making it sound more dramatic, “and I’m trying to get out of this awful place.” Vanilla paused and struck a serious face. “You’re very lucky. Had you told anypony else, you’d likely be carried off right about now to be dissected alive; however, I, too, am trying to escape. I need to unite with my family out in the Industrial Wasteland.” He looked out his window to the orange and pink dawn, barely visible through the curtain of clouds created by industrial smoke and pollution. The horizon was covered in ruins of small villages, villages of no inhabitants anymore. The plane in which she lived now was virtually desolate of free organic beings, only machines or mutant mistakes created by Twilight Sparkle. “Well, maybe you could take me with you?” Trixie pleaded Vanilla shook his head. “You will be leaving first and without me. But don’t worry for me, I’ll be following shortly after you make it out.” Trixie looked down and bundled up in the blankets, realizing she had been naked this whole time, but covering up nonchalantly. “But, why not? Why will you wait so long?” Vanilla sighed and smiled. “Let me explain: Lady Twilight is a sick a mare. She has absolutely no love or care for any life but her own. She aims to control everything and advance technology and magic at an incredible rate by sacrificing everything that is morally just and precious to us as sane ponies. And being the organized pony she is, she keeps tabs on everypony, and when their number comes up, she abducts them and uses them as live specimens for research and testing. Every test she does just results in agony and death.” The cream-toned stallion explained, hanging his head and sighing softly. “Nopony knows when their number comes up. Well, nopony but me. On the day my number comes up, Lady Twilight will let her guard down to catch me sleeping, but I’ll be out through the front door by the time she enters my room.” Trixie smiled and propped her head up with her balled up hand. She was impressed at how much this pony had put into this plan, and the fact that he would be willing to help her escape. “Thank you, Vanilla. Be careful when you go to escape… Please.” Vanilla gave a warm grin and walked over to his wardrobe. “I’m going down to get some breakfast, you hungry?” “A little.” Trixie nodded, perking up at the mention of food. “Well, you’re going to need to stay hidden while I’m not in the room. I happen to have a little hidden room that you can hide in. I hope you don’t mind.” The tall stallion told her as he took off his shirt. Trixie looked over at the half-nude stallion, his beefy arms and wide torso implying how strong his abdomen and chest is. She blushed, hoping he’d turn around, but he reached in and pulled out a black shirt, putting it on. Trixie sighed and felt a bit disappointed. “Maybe one day.” She thought. She, then, turned her attention back to the original statement directed to her. “I don’t mind at all. If it means to keep me safe, then I’ll do whatever it takes.” The blue unicorn assured. “Good. I don’t want you getting hurt. Lady Twilight’s personal guards search our rooms randomly, once a month or so.” Vanilla explained. “They know who the recruits are, and who are not. Luckily, you won't be here for longer than a few days, hopefully.” “But, this place is huge,” Trixie began, watching as Vanilla Delights finished covering himself in thin armor, as if it were armor that was equipped under thicker armor, “These guards must be computers to keep up with all the residents.” “You’re partly right.” The stallion began to explain as he walked over to the wall. “They’re organic computers created by Lady Twilight. They analyze our DNA upon recruitment so that they memorize who we are.” Trixie sat there and listened. She seemed to enjoy listening to Vanilla rather than debate with him. It was something about his voice that enticed her. It was calm and mellow, but sharp enough to keep her attention. She watched as Vanilla Delights pressed in a part of the wall by his wardrobe, making a part of the wall near the floor slide over to the side and reveal a small vault-like space with a vent on one of the walls that apparently acted as a ventilation system. It was definitely big enough for Trixie to fit in, but if she knew that if she stayed there too long she’d get cramps in several places. “Don’t worry, I won’t be gone long. Just try not to make a lot of noise.” Vanilla chuckled. “Also, feel free to rummage through my wardrobes and drawers for clothes. I’m sure I have something that will fit you; although, you’re so much smaller than me so…” “Oh don’t worry about that,” Trixie interrupted him, “I have a spell that will make the clothes fit perfectly.” Vanilla smiled. “Well, I hope you don’t mind the colo-…” “Oh I have a spell for that too…” Trixie grinned widely. Vanilla began to feel defeated, now. He elicited a small giggle. “Just get in the box.” Trixie giggled back and got up, walking over to the stallion’s wardrobe. She scrounged around and found some large, drab shirts of a stained ivory. The color made her cringe, but she figured it wasn’t Vanilla’s choice of what color they could wear. She took a baggy shirt and some men’s boxers. Vanilla couldn’t help himself but to study Trixie’s naked body. Several times did he have fantasies in just the short time he’s known her. It was all in the fact that she was there before him, without a single piece of clothing on her; however, those fantasies were swiftly washed away by the truth: She’ll have escaped by the time he even gets the chance to make a single move, and after that, he’ll probably never even see her again. Trixie casually put the clothes on. She struggled to keep them on long enough to use the spell. She held onto the boxers and shirt with each hand as her horn lit up a blue, sparkling aura. The clothes began to shrink and shape nicely around her body. Trixie smiled at the success of her spell. “Nice job, now hurry up and get inside the box thing. I’m starving.” Vanilla smiled and chuckled softly. “Okay okay, Mister Bossy.” Trixie giggled and climbed into the small room. She positioned herself as comfortably as she could and looked up at Vanilla. “Okay, we’re good. See you in a bit?” “See you in a bit.” The armored stallion smiled and pressed the space in the wall again. The wall slid in and Trixie relaxed as the light began to fade. The wall-door placed perfectly back with the rest of the wall and a black veil prevented Trixie from seeing anything. ~~~~~~ Rarity groaned as the five walked onward through rolling dust clouds. Applejack was supporting her weight some. “Uggh! Ah feel like Ah’m carin’ fer a bunch’a foals! Would ya please stop whinin’ Rarity?” Applejack snapped as she rubbed her head. “But my leg hurts!” Rarity groaned again. Her leg was wrapped from above her knee all the way up her thigh as far it could be wrapped. “Ah know yer leg hurts! We all know, Rarity. At least Pinkie’s trying to bounce around.” Applejack pointed back to Pinkie who was skipping around as bubbly as usual. “It doesn’t hurt that bad. You get used to it after a while!” Pinkie hopped up beside Rarity, who didn’t look too pleased with the pink pony. “Her leg wasn’t nearly cut off.” Rarity said, gritting her teeth as she pointed to her bandaged leg. “Ya both took sharp spears to the chest. Yer both lucky to be alive.” Applejack reminded Rarity. “Hmph. You know, there’s mean, and there’s just plain rude.” Rarity turned her head away. Applejack grew a furious expression. “Ya know, there’s fussy, an’ there’s just plain gettin’ on mah nerves!” Rarity grumbled and just held her breath. They had been walking for hours and the constant pressure Rarity was putting on her leg was killing her. Pinkie Pie hoped beside Rainbow Dash, who was up in front with Fluttershy. “Hey, guys, what’re you up to?” “Talking about whatever we can to drown out their annoying fighting.” Dash pointed back to the orange and white ponies behind her who had just found something new to argue about. “Oh you know they can’t help it. This whole situation has us a little on edge, but we just have to remain calm and stick together. We’re The Elements after all, the most renowned rebellion group in all of Equestria. “I know, but these occasional quarrels are nerve-wrecking!” Rainbow Dash turned to Pinkie and explained. “We need to be discussing tactics and plans for how we’re going to defeat Twilight.” “Well, um, do you think we should stop and make camp soon?” Fluttershy started up. “I mean, it’ll be dark soon, but if we keep going in this same direction, we’ll come across Ponyville… Or what’s left of Ponyville I mean.” Rainbow Dash looked over at Fluttershy with a silent stare. Her eyes were filled with shock, and a chill echoed up her entire body. “Y-yeah, let’s book it to Ponyville.” “I agree with Dashie. We can survive a few minutes in the dark.” Pinkie nodded and agreed. “Hey! You two back there!” Dash shouted back at Rarity and Applejack who immediately stopped arguing and turned their attention to Rainbow Dash. “We’re going to stay out a little later so we can get to Ponyville for the night. You two cool with that?” The two ponies nodded in agreement then went back to quarreling. Dash sighed and shook her head. She looked over and noticed Pinkie was much drabber than before. She was dragging along now, rather than bouncing like she was a few minutes ago. “I was just thinking about Twilight… I really miss her. We wouldn’t have such a difficult time getting around or killing these creatures if she was on our side… Of course, if she was on our side, we wouldn’t have to travel across Equestria or kill creatures at all.” Pinkie sighed and held her arm. “I know, Pinkie. We all want our friend back, and by Celestia we will.” Dash said to Pinkie, patting her on the shoulder. “I really hope so, Dashie.” Pinkie replied softly. Rainbow Dash noticed that ever since Twilight became the sadistic mare she is now, Pinkie’s mane and tail have been straight, even when she’s been happy. She had always wondered why her hair was so straight, because it’s only ever straight when she’s really upset or depressed. But Pinkie had just shown Rainbow why, even though Pinkie has been bubbly and beaming after the industrialization, her mane and tail were still flat. Pinkie had lost one of her closest friends, and she was masking the deepest, most agonizing scar her heart had. She hadn’t been truly happy, she had been masking her pain with fake bubbliness so she didn’t bring the rest down to her level of depression. “Pinkie… We’ll fix this, I promise, and we’ll bring back your happiness.” Rainbow told Pinkie in her thoughts. If only Pinkie Pie could have heard her, though. “Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie spoke out to her but didn’t look at her. “Yes, Pink?” Rainbow Dash looked over at her pink friend. “Thank you for being my friend.” Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment, but smiled and wrapped an arm around Pinkie Pie. “Come ‘ere. You know you’re my best friend, and I love you, right?” Pinkie smiled weakly and looked over at Rainbow. “Yes, I know. And I love you too. You’re such a great friend” “And the coolest.” Rainbow Dash grinned and nudged Pinkie with her shoulder. “Definitely the coolest.” Pinkie Pie giggled. ~~~~~~ Ponyville was particularly quiet that day. The usual chatter and clamor of ponies was rather small, and shops were getting little business. It was that rare day that the purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle got to laze in the grassy fields and read in the warm sun. She could send Spike off to run some silly, mundane errands for her while she vacationed on Rainbow Bridge Mountain, one of her favorite places to relax and watch stars. On these rare, quiet days, however, she’d trot off to that cliff and read some books that she wanted to read, but never could due to being a busy mare. Twilight was standing by a table in the main lobby, packing her satchel with books. She had an impatient grin upon her face, and an expression clearly indicating that she can’t wait to relax. The Sparkle family heirloom dangled from her neck, and bit of light in room gleaming off it. “Spike?” Twilight called out. “Yeah, Twilight?” The dragon’s voice replied from another room. “I made a list of things I need for you to do while I go out to Rainbow Bridge Mountain.” Twilight explained as she finished putting all the books she wanted into her bags “Aww, you’re going to Rainbow Bridge without me?” Spike complained. “Well, I need someone to finish those errands, and you’re my number one assistant.” Twilight told the baby dragon. “Alright, fine, I do it for you, Twi.” Spike agreed. “Thank you, Spike. The list on my bed.” Twilight called back to him. “I’ll see you in a while!” Twilight headed out of her library, shutting the door behind her. Twilight was about halfway to her destination, trotting along happily. The sun was warm on her lavender coat, the breeze was soothing, and the sky was beautiful. Twilight suddenly felt a pulse inside her, an odd, abnormal pulse from nowhere. She paid no mind to it, but suddenly felt strange. It wasn’t pain and it wasn’t uncomfortable, just strange. She heard a whisper in her ear shortly after. “We are invincible…” “Huh? Who said that?” Twilight looked around, but only heard the whispers of the rolling breeze. She shook her head and continued onward to Rainbow Bridge. “Together, we can take Equestria…” Twilight stopped again and looked around. “Alright, I know somepony’s there. Who’s there?” Only the rustling of leaves replied. She was alone. Twilight shivered and just began down the road. The strange feeling she had had gone away, and she no longer heard the voice for the rest of her trip to the cliff. The rest of the way to Rainbow Bridge, two strange compound words struck a chord in her head: Skyfire and Nightveil. It was as though something was shouting those words into her head every second that went by. Twilight didn’t care though. She just wanted stretch out on the soft grass and read her books. When the purple mare got to the cliff, she raced over by the edge and lied down. She opened her satchel and grabbed the first book she saw. It was titled ‘Flames of the Twilight’. Twilight always wanted to read this particular book, mostly because her name was in the title. The eager pony opened the book and began reading, soaking in the intriguing story, and retaining every word and letter. ~~~~~~ Twilight lied in her bed with a book in her hand, using her magic to turn the pages. She was on the last page of the book. “The dark cloud had unveiled the village and the two heroes stood victorious. Finally, after so many years of agony and suffering, the two stallions vanquished the monster of the twilight that had lit the sky on fire and brought darkness across the land. And in the midst of hopelessness, they triumphed and laughed at the face of death. Peace reigned across Equestria once more.” Twilight closed the book and set it aside. The doors timely creaked open and a pony wearing armor of a dark amethyst color lined and bordered with silver walked into Twilight’s room. “My Lady, your presence is needed in the throne room.” The guardspony bowed and announced to her. “Very well, I will be there shortly.” Twilight replied casually. Twilight got out of bed and grabbed her normal regal outfit. She looked outside and noticed it was almost dark. What could be so important at this hour? She sighed as the guard exited the room. She dressed herself in the shining outfit and left her room. She made her way to the throne room slowly and casually. Twilight eventually came into a wide open room with white walls and a gleaming white floor. The floor was so clean it was like a mirror, and walls were spotless, stainless. She looked over to the throne, her throne, and saw ragged, filthy, dirt-covered stallion. His coat was white, and he had blonde hair. He was wearing tattered and worn pants and a shirt; it looked like he had been wearing the same clothes for months, years even. “What is the situation here?” Twilight called to him. Two guards stood on either side of the white stallion. “W-we seek guidance, Lady Sparkle. I work the Dreamruby Caverns.” The pony explained. “We seem to have m-mined everything from the cave and I have come to ask where we should go now. The slave drivers only tell us to keep mining, but there is nothing left to mine for.” “You are certain?” Twilight inquired. “Y-yes, my Lady. We have mined every inch of the caverns and can no longer find any minerals.” He told her, quivering. “Hm. Guards, send somepony of a higher status to tell those slave drivers to move the slaves at Dreamruby Caverns somewhere else.” Twilight commanded one of the guards beside her. “Th-thank you, Lady Sparkle.” The stallion began to make his way out of the palace. The guards around Twilight also made their way to do as she commanded. “Wait.” Twilight stopped him. “You seem familiar… What is your name?” “M-my name?” He turned toward her. “My name is Blueblood.” “Aha! I knew I recognized you. Prince Blueblood.” Twilight blinked from existence and appeared in front of him to greet him. “I remember you from the Grand Galloping Gala some time ago.” “I… I’m surprised you remember me.” Blueblood replied cautiously. “It was the most memorable night ever, I never forgot anything or anypony.” Twilight told him with a smile. “You know, you could be of some extra use to me.” “Oh? H…how so?” The white stallion asked. “You could help me around the palace, but you could be essential to my most recent and important experiment yet.” Blueblood hesitated and didn’t move. He was frozen in place. He was scared to answer. “I… I don’t…” Twilight’s smile became a wicked grin as she stepped closer to him. “You don’t exactly have a choice in that. No matter what you say, you’re mine.” Blueblood immediately turned and sprinted for the door as fast as he could, but as he approached the door, strips of shadows stretched from Twilight. The shadows crawled toward Blueblood and wrapped around his hooves, bringing him to the floor. The shadowy tentacles dragged him toward Twilight. “No! Please! Let me go! Don’t do this, please!” Blueblood pleaded and screamed. “You are essential to me, and I have no choice.” Twilight continued to grin wickedly as the shadows brought him back to her. As Blueblood neared her, the shadows began to wrap around them both, engulfing them in darkness. When the shadows dissipated, the two were gone from the throne room. ~~~~~~ “Well there it is.” Applejack spoke aloud in the cold night. “Twilight’s Library.” The five had arrived at Ponyville. The entire village was torn and several buildings had been burned and broken down, or boarded up. The first building of note they came across was Twilight’s library. It was barely touched, almost unscathed. “Look at this place. All this damage…” Fluttershy squeaked. “I hope my cottage is still where I left it.” “We can check on that tomorrow morning, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash calmly told her. “For now, we need to just find some shelter and get some sleep. We’re just a few days away from the palace now.” “How ‘bout Twilight’s library? It seems perfectly sturdy.” Applejack suggested. “I like that idea. Besides, it’s right there.” Rainbow Dash giggled and agreed. The five made their way to the giant tree, studying the ghost town that Ponyville was, now. They got inside the dark, trashy library. Books were scattered all around the floors, most of them burned. The books that weren’t burned had pages ripped up or torn out. “D-do you think it’s s-safe to make a f-fire in here?” Fluttershy asked flattening her ears at the eerie darkness. “It’ll be alright if we keep it small, and open a window or something.” Rainbow Dash replied. “If we keep it away from any other part of the tree, it won’t burn down the whole place down.” Pinkie began working to pick up the books and setting them aside, saving a few of them to help start the fire. Occasionally she’d find a book that had only minor damage or none at all. She made sure to keep those books in her bag to read later. The five laid out some metal plates on the floor that they had found along the way. They formed a large space big enough for a campfire. Pinkie laid out the ruined books in a circle and tossed in some twigs she found on some of the branches in the library. The five stood there a moment. “…We need Spike.” Rainbow said, breaking the silence. “Anypony got any matches?” Applejack asked. Pinkie perked up. “Oh wait, I have a lighter.” “A what, now?” Applejack asked, scratching her head. “A lighter. You remember that little village we stopped by right before we fought that big golem, and that rebel group we met there? Well, one of them gave me this doo-hickey and called it a ‘lighter’. You just pressed down this button here,” Pinkie demonstrated by pressing down a button on a small device, a small flame eliciting from an opening of the device, “And voila! We have fire.” The other four stared in amazement. “What the- How’d ya do that?” Applejack inquired, amazed by the sudden conjuring of fire. “I’m not sure, exactly. All I know is that a little container of fuel is met with a spark at the nozzle of the device, causing fire.” Pinkie explained. Applejack and Rainbow Dash glanced over at each other, and then back to Pinkie Pie. “You know, Pinkie Pie is a lot smarter when her hair is straight.” Rainbow whispered to Applejack. “Yeah, Ah’ve noticed. It must be because her head isn’t clouded with bubbly nonsense.” Applejack whispered back. “You and I both know we like her bubbly nonsense. It’s what makes Pinkie Pie… Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow Dash replied back to her. Applejack nodded. “Well, Pinkie Pie, let’s get this fire a’goin’. It’s startin’ to get a might chilly in here.” “Okie dokie lokie.” Pinkie said cheerfully. She sparked the fire and lit the books and sticks ablaze, a small fire igniting into larger one, providing warmth for the ponies. Rainbow Dash looked around the lit room. It was so eerie yet it felt safe too. It felt like the only sanctuary they had left, even though she knew that no matter where they were, things wouldn’t change if they just sat around, and Twilight’s minions would find them. “Hey, ya’ll remember when Rainbow Dash tried to sneak back into the hospital fer a book?” Applejack chuckled. Rainbow Dash blushed but giggled anyway. “Hey, that book awesome! Don’t make fun of me! Remember when me painted all the apples in Applejack’s orchard, Pinkie Pie? That was such a funny prank!” “Yeah, I remember that!” Pinkie Pie began laughing. “It’s been so long though.” “Don’t worry, Pinkie Pie.” Rarity said. “We’ll fix everything. We’re going to pull through, you’ll see.” She and the others sat down by the fire. They sat in a circle of complete silence. The only sounds heard were the crackles and pops of the fire. “Well, I’m going to sleep, guys.” Rainbow Dash said already out of her armor and in t-shirt and pants. “Good night, everypony” “Yeah, Ah think I’m gonna hit the hay too.” Applejack announced with a yawn. “Me too.” Fluttershy gently said. “As am I.” Rarity said with the rest. “Well, I’m going to stay up for a while.” Pinkie Pie told them. “Well, Alright, just don’t wander off, ya hear?” Applejack told her. “Remember that we never fight alone, and if yer out there by yerself, you could get ambushed by one o’ Twilight’s creatures.” “I understand. I’ll be okay.” Pinkie assured Applejack. “If I do go outside, I’ll probably just stay by the door.” The four ponies were asleep. Pinkie Pie was the only one awake. She was sitting on Twilight’s bed, staring out her window. The moon was barely visible through the chemically laced clouds. She sighed and stretched out on the bed. When she did, she looked down into the lobby at Rarity who was sleeping on the hardwood floor by the dying fire. “Rarity needs this bed more than I do.” Pinkie thought to herself. She quietly snuck downstairs and walked over to Rarity. Rarity was sound asleep, giving tiny, lady-like snores. Pinkie swung her hands down by her sides, her gloves lighting up a sort of purplish aura. She reached her hands under Rarity, who groaned as Pinkie did so, and lifted her up. She began to carry Rarity, who was still asleep somehow. Pinkie was a little wobbly carrying someone who was about her own size. She went back up the stairs, carefully making sure not hit Rarity’s head on the wall or anything. She stepped up beside the bed and laid Rarity on the bed. “You’re a bit heavier than you look.” Pinkie whispered under her breath. Rarity groaned and rolled over. As Pinkie went back downstairs, Rarity smiled and slightly opened an eye, looking around. She wrapped herself in a blanket she had been carrying with her when Pinkie carried her, closed her eye, and drifted back to sleep. Pinkie lied down where Rarity had been sleeping and curled up into a ball. She watched the fire dance and play as it slowly died out. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re just a fire in the dead of night.” Pinkie whispered to herself. “We dance around and have fun, but the night’s darkness will eventually consume us; we’ll die out and our light will fade.” Pinkie sighed, sat up, and left the library, quietly closing the door behind her. She walked outside into the quiet, dry night and started down the trash-covered street. Pinkie wanted to visit a place she hadn’t seen in years. A place she called home. A place called Sugarcube Corner.
Daisies and Poison Joke - Chapter 4“Pinkamina, my sweet filly,” the elderly mare said, “why are you crying?” “Because everything is so scary!” The little pink filly replied with teary eyes. “What’s so scary? What has been scaring you?” The older pony questioned. “The monsters! Under my bed, my closet, outside my window… They’re everywhere.” The flat-maned pony responded with a soft sob. “Shh, come here. It’s okay. It’s okay.” The elder calmed. “You don’t have to be afraid of them.” “I… I don’t?” Pinkie hiccupped. “No, of course not. All you have to do is stand up above those monsters and giggle! You can make all your fears fade away if you just laugh at them.” The elderly mare explained. Pinkie smiled a little and giggled. “So, a-all I have to d-do is laugh and the scary monsters will go away?” “Of course, Pinkamina. It’s as simple as that, dear.” Pinkie giggled and wrapped her arms around the elderly pony. “Thanks Grammy Pie. I promise to laugh every time I feel scared.” “That’s my filly. Now, why don’t you dry those eyes and come downstairs and get some supper?” Grammy suggested. Pinkie nodded with a bright smile on her face. “Mhm! I’m really hungry.” The pink filly and the elderly mare both descended down a staircase, into the living room to meet the rest of the family. ~~~~~~ Sunshine crept into the once brightly colored room. A room of pink and yellow, but dulled by age. The paint was peeling and the wooden floors were creaky and old. A worn bed sat by a window with its shutters closed tight and boarded up. There were only a few cracks, but the cracks were wide enough for light to enter the room. Pinkie gave a slight groan as she pushed herself away from the hardwood floor. She looked around the room, especially focusing on the bed. “Nng, why didn’t I sleep on the bed?” Pinkie questioned herself. She got up and walked over to the bed, which had a large hole in it. “Oh, right, that’s why.” Pinkie analyzed what her room had become. It was dank, messy, and looked as though it could all fall apart at a quake. She looked at her hooves and sighed. Her colorful and bright room was just a dusty old memory in a dark world now. Pinkie Pie clenched her fists as a tear fell from her eyes. She quickly walked over to her closet and opened it. It was empty inside except for a safe in the back that was seemingly untouched by time. It was smooth and shiny, and was so black that it was impossible to see unless you knew it was there and could focus on it. There was a combination knob on the front of it. Pinkie grabbed hold of it and turned the knob. She turned left and stopped on fifteen, turned right and landed on thirty-two, then back left and stopped on zero. It clicked, and the door opened, revealing only a small, light blue, crescent-shape gem placed in a golden, crescent-shaped socket. Pinkie swiftly took the medallion and clenched it in her fist. She got up on her hooves and made her way out of her room. She started down the stairs and stopped before got to the bottom. She looked over and saw that the shop had been just as trashed and dulled as her room. She couldn’t see it well last night when it was dark, but now that there was a little sunlight, she could see the horror of the damage that this era dealt. The pink pony opened the door of the sweet shop carefully. She peeked outside. The dust devils and rolling clouds of smoke were the only things in motion to be seen. Pinkie Pie left the shop, the strap of her satchel thrown over her opposite shoulder, the medallion placed safely inside it. Pinkie shifted her eyes back and forth, looking for the others, making sure they weren’t around. She didn’t worry, though. It was still too early for any of them to be up. They didn’t wake up until noon, and it was far from noon. Pinkie Pie hurriedly started down a path out of town. Her hooves kicked up dust as she trotted away. She glanced behind her, an expression of despair upon her face. “I’m sorry, girls… But somepony has to finish this quest, and I’m the one that was chosen to.” Pinkie mumbled to herself as she turned and continued down the path, further, deeper into the rolling clouds of dust, and far away from Ponyville. ~~~~~~ “So, why are you helping me, exactly?” Trixie asked the caramel stallion while stuffing her face with a piece of toast and an apple. “I mean, not that I’m not appreciative…” Vanilla smiled and took a drink of apple cider. “Well, because we share the same motives. It’s an awful place under some psychotic mare’s control, and we want to leave. I figured that was reason enough.” He took another sip. The blue pony giggled and took a sip of her own cider. “Well, it’s very nice of you to help me.” Trixie wiped the crumbs from her mouth and lied back in her bed. She turned her head to look out the window. It was a beautiful morning. A true rarity. Trixie watched the wicked, dusty clouds dash through the sky, dissolving and washing away like ocean waves. She had forgotten what true natural beauty was; it had been destroyed under industrialization. Vanilla sighed and looked at the wall by his bed, facing away from Trixie. “Things aren’t like they used to be. I remember when oceans, lakes, and ponds were crystal blue and even common see around Equestria… Well, for lakes and ponds I mean. I remember when trees were lively, bright, colorful. All these machines, and factories, and abominations… This entire industrialized era has virtually crushed happiness and hope.” Trixie wanted to go to him and take him in her arms immediately. She wanted nuzzle him and tell that there will always be hope. She wanted to give him happiness in some way, but maybe she was thinking this too fast. She doesn’t know anything about this stallion, really. How can she throw herself into his arms? For all she knew, this colt was just going to betray her and set up a fake escape plan for him to earn a big reward for her death. But something felt safer about him. It felt safer being with him, than it did being out in the halls alone. She felt like she could trust him, and she was going to take that trust as far as she could. “You up for a game of Pegasus Feathers?” Vanilla smiled and held up a deck of cards. “I don’t think I’ve ever played that game before.” The blue mare replied, setting a cup of cider on the nightstand by her bed. “It’s simple. Here, I’ll explain along the game.” The stallion replied. The two ponies sat on the edge of their beds on either side of a small table Vanilla had set up. Trixie held six cards in her hand, as did Vanilla. “Alright, so here’s how it works. We each have six cards maximum,” Vanilla explained, “and, like in most card games, you draw a card after you play one. Alright, so now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to explain the actual rules.” He giggled. “Alright.” Trixie said as she stared at the cards in her hands. “Okay, so, this game is originally intended as a joke game. So, it’s pretty easy. The player that goes first lays down their highest card. In this game, Aces are one, so King is highest, and the Joker is like a reset button. Here, I’ll go first.” Vanilla laid down a seven of clubs. “Now the next player, you, lays down the lowest card they have.” “O-okay.” Trixie laid down a two of hearts. “Now what?” “Okay, so now, we have to lay down one card in between that range. We can only play cards between two and seven. You can either play a single card in between that range, or play two card of the same suit to add together to get in that range, or two cards of a different suit, to subtract to get in that range.” Vanilla continued. “Right, I think I got it. Do we only draw one card?” Trixie asked. “You draw until you have six again. The objective of this game is to get more points than the other. It’s basically based on math. You want to play higher cards within the range. Single cards are how many points you get, like playing a four gets you four points. Playing a two and three of the same suit doesn’t get you five points, however. Between two cards, if they’re of the same suit, you count the difference between those two cards as points. The difference between two and three is one, so you’d get one point. Now if you play two cards of a different suit, you do add the two cards together. In this case, a two and three of a different suit would get you five points, but the difference of two and three is one, so you wouldn’t make it in the range, and wouldn’t get the points.” The stallion finished and looked up at Trixie, who seemed to understand a little. Trixie was never good at math since she focused all her attention on being a show stopper. She looked up at Vanilla Delights and nodded. “Okay, is that it?” “Pretty much.” The caramel pony nodded back and laid down a four of diamonds. “Four for me.” He said, smiling. “In between the range, hm?” Trixie reminded herself with that question, and then placed a King of spades and a seven of hearts. She grinned smugly. “Now, I’m not that good mathematics, but I think that’s twenty points for me, right?” Trixie giggled and looked at Vanilla’s shocked face. “Yeah, twenty points. Hah, beginners luck, I say.” Vanilla claimed as he laid down an eight of clubs and a four of hearts. “Sixteen points total.” “So, why do they call this game ‘Pegasus Feathers’?” Trixie asked as she played a card, drawing another one. The stallion chuckled. “Interested in a little history, eh?” He played two more cards and drew. “Well, most ponies now a days just claim that it’s because the rules of the game are a load of pegasus feathers. But, good ol’ Vanilla, here, knows the real reason.” He laughed. Trixie giggled and played her cards. “Well, I do enjoy a little bit history.” “Well, there were three pegasi that were known as the Plumeshine Brothers. They had the softest, most beautifully preened feathers in all of Equestria. One day a pegasus with beautiful, golden feathers boasted that his feathers were much more breath-taking than the Plumeshine Brothers’,” Vanilla told Trixie as he laid down his card, “and challenged them to a race. He claimed that his feathers were not only beautiful, but could carry him through the wind faster than any other pegasus in Equestria. He also claimed that the Plumeshine Brothers’ feathers were just for show and nothing more. The eldest brother of the three scoffed at the stallion’s ignorance and accepted his challenge. “The youngest brother went first. They were to race from Canterlot to Cloudsdale and back. Whoever made it back first was the victor. The checkered flag was brought down and the two bolted out of sight within seconds. A few minutes later, the golden-feathered pony had made it back and left the youngest Plumeshine brother in the dust. The next oldest brother stepped up. The golden-feathered pony smirked and they dashed off, disappearing behind the clouds faster than in the last race. But, again, the golden-feathered stallion came back first. With this second victory, the eldest brother stepped up next. He asked the golden-feather pony if he needed to catch his breath. He assured him that he would lose, but the golden-feathered pony just scoffed at the Plumeshine brother’s boast and shook his head. With the drop of the flag, they were gone. “The eldest brother and the golden-feathered pony were side by side, and Cloudsdale was coming into view quickly. But before they even got there, the golden-feathered pony had mounted the Plumeshine brother, and began ripping his feathers out swiftly. As they got into Cloudsdale, the Plumeshine brother didn’t have enough feathers to fly and he crashed into the clouds. Before he crashed, the golden-feathered pony jumped off and went to fly away, but the elder brother had appeared in front of his. The Plumeshine brother was breathing heavily from using so much strength to keep him afloat, but it was just enough time for him to take hold of the golden-feathered pony. He pulled him back to the clouds and pushed him into them. He sat in his back and took the base of one of his wings in his mouth. Without hesitation, he twisted his head and snapped the wing, breaking it and ensuring he couldn’t fly. He quickly took the other wing and broke it as well, and with both of them broken he ripped all his feathers out. He took them back down to Canterlot, along with his brothers, leaving the defeated pony, with two broken, useless wings, in pain and agony. “After the Plumeshine Brothers’ victory, they went back to their home in Canterlot. They wanted to celebrate their victory, and so they came up with this game with cards and used the golden feathers to bet. The one with the most points at the end of each game gets all the feathers that were bet. They decided to call this game Pegasus Feathers. Not everypony plays with bets though, like how you and I are playing. We’re just playing for points and fun. But, anyway, that’s how Pegasus Feathers came to be.” Vanilla finished and looked at Trixie, who was smiling and watching him, as if intently listening. “My, what an interesting story. But, do you realize that you’ve lost?” Trixie snickered as she played two cards. “One hundred twenty-four points total.” Vanilla looked up at her, and then at the cards. “Hey, no fair, I wasn’t focused!” He chuckled and stood up. “I call a rematch.” Trixie stood up and crashed down on the bed. “I call sleep.” She said, giggling. “We can play again tomorrow.” “But it’s morning.” Vanilla laughed. “How can you always be tired?” “Well, there’s not a whole lot to do around here, and besides, I need my strength for when I escape.” Trixie smiled and rolled over. “Alright, well, maybe it is a good idea that we don’t sleep at the same time, so that I can throw you in the secret room if guards come around.” The caramel stallion snickered and began picking up the cards, pilling them in a neat stack. Trixie smirked. “Throw me? You’re a nice pony, aren’t you?” Vanilla jumped into Trixie’s bed and lied back, making Trixie roll back over. “Yeah, I’m quite the charmer, you know.” “Pff, yeah, a charmer. You’re something alright.” Trixie said. “Yep. I’m gonna lay here and watch the door for you, Lazy Plot.” “Yeah, whatever,” Trixie giggled, “just wake me up in an hour.” “Alright, sleep well…” ~~~~~~ “Applejack, wake up! I can’t find Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash said, violently shaking Applejack awake. “Calm down, calm down, Ah’m awake!” Applejack dizzily replied. “Uhm, girls…” Fluttershy spoke up. “We need to find Pinkie Pie, AJ! We’re weaker without everypony together.” Rainbow yelled. “Ya think Ah don’t know that?” Applejack replied. “Girls…” Fluttershy tried again. “Where could she have gone? You know what? That’s it, I’m going to go find her.” Rainbow Dash told her. “Not without the rest of us, ya ain’t.” Applejack assured her. “Uhm…” Fluttershy walked over to them, trying to get their attention. “Well, we can’t just stand around all day! She could be dying out there! Or already dead!” The blue pony began to raise her voice. “You’ll be dead too if ya rush into this like an idiot!” Applejack matched Rainbow’s volume. “GIRLS!” Fluttershy spoke up. The other two ceased their fighting and turned to Fluttershy. “We need to go find Pinkie Pie, and, yes, together, but Rarity is missing too. So, instead of fighting, we need to pack up our things and get going. Understood?” Rainbow Dash and Applejack nodded and began stuffing their satchels with their belongings. Rainbow threw the strap of her bag around her shoulder while Applejack tightened the belt with her smaller satchels on it and throwing her backpack strap over her shoulders. “So Rarity is missing, too?” Rainbow Dash asked. Fluttershy nodded. “I wonder where she could have gone. Maybe after Pinkie? But why would Rarity go alone?” “Who knows, but we need to find them, and fast.” Applejack said heading for the door. “Ah sure hope they’re alright.” ~~~~~~ Pinkie Pie walked endlessly through the dust and sand of Equestria. She seemed to walking through an endless wasteland, but she had no fear of death, for she was almost near her destination. Pinkie thought of several funny jokes and moments of her life, keeping her giggling along the way. It was her only weapon against death. She made her way over a hill of dust and saw what she had been looking for. The Everfree Heartlands. The Everfree Forest was destroyed by the hazardous pollution of industrialization, but the Heartlands were unscathed. Nobody knew why, but Pinkie knew. She knew how the Everfree worked. It was virtually built upon magic entirely, and the source of life of magic came from the Everfree Heartland. Before her was a lush, beautiful forest. She could even see a crystal pool of water from where she was standing. She spoke no words, but began to slide down the other side of dust mound to run toward the Everfree. She ran up to the edge, her hooves right before the wet grass. With hesitation, she touched her hoof the green plant life. She flattened her hoof and smiled wide. It had been so long since she felt the soft feeling of grass under her hooves. She stopped for a moment to enjoy the feeling, but didn’t waste too must time. She made her way into the large forest, being reminded of the scent of life around her. The emerald green leaves met with the shine of light reflecting from the surface of them from the precipitation. Pinkie looked around the forest and smiled. She hadn’t been this happy in so long. And she realized that it was the death of almost all life in Equestria that had caused her happiness to diminish. Pinkie wanted to just stay here forever, but she had a job to do, and she felt that we weren’t getting anywhere wasting nights going from town to town as they worm their way into the palace. But she had a different task… “Pinkamina,” Grammy Pie whispered to the pink filly, “I want you to have this.” The elder mare opened a small jewelry box that lay in between the two. She pulled out a crescent-shaped medallion, a blue crescent-shaped gem placed in a gold crescent-shaped socket. “What is it?” Pinkie asked staring at its captivating beauty. “This is a one-of-a-kind treasure, my dear. You cannot tell anypony of its existence. Do you promise?” Grammy Pie asked her. “Oh, oh, I’ll make up a special promise just for you. I cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie smiled and did a cute motion of her crossing her heart, pretending to fly, and shoving in object into her eye. The elderly pony giggled. “Okay, okay, as long as you promise. But, you can never break that promise. It’s a special promise, okay?” “Okay, Grammy.” Pinkie leaned in and smiled. “Okay… This is known as an Element of Harmony. It was one of the six Elements of Harmony created by Princess Celestia to banish Nightmare Moon.” Grammy explained. “But, Grammy, isn’t that just an old mare’s tale?” Pinkie tilted her head and inquired. “Well, yes, of course it is, but I’m only telling you the story that follows this beautiful medallion.” Grammy smiled and pushed it over to the pink filly. “As you know, there are only five known Elements of Harmony: Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty. The sixth is a mystery. But this one is a lost Element known as the Element of Compassion.” “What does that mean, Grammy Pie?” Pinkie asked holding the medallion to her chest with her hooves. “It’s a type of care for others.” Grammy told Pinkie. “I want you to hold onto it, okay? It’s very special.” The elderly mare looked into the filly’s eyes. “You will know when the time is right to use it.” Pinkie looked ahead into the forest. It was endless as far as her eyes could see. It was very pleasing, though, being in an environment that provided fresh air and comfort. She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. “I could stay here forever…” Pinkie focused and the magic in her armor took effect. Suddenly she took off, running at impossible speeds. She weaved through the forest, dodging and evading trees and large rocks. Then she saw it. The heart of the Everfree. The magic that created the lush forestry and kep it alive. Pinkie immediately started to slow down, stopping before a pedestal. The pedestal came up to Pinkie’s chest, and on it was a ball made of a light blue crystal material, the same color as the medallion. Pinkie reached into her bag and pulled out the crescent-shaped medallion. She held it in her hand tightly as it started to glow brightly. She looked at the crystal ball on the pedestal, then back at the medallion. “This is it. With her, we will take back Equestria and return everything to normal.” The pink pony said as she extended her arm toward the sphere. But before she could touch the medallion to the crystal ball, she felt a sharp sting in her side. She clenched the medallion as tightly as she could but the pain caused her to drop it right beside her as she landed. “I thought I might find you here, Pinkie Pie.” Said a terrifyingly familiar voice. Pinkie froze immediately, a horrifying chill echoing throughout her body. She pushed herself up and turned, and just as she thought, a lavender unicorn wearing a wicked smile came traipsing up to her, dressed in her usual regal outfit. “Twi-Twilight…” Pinkie could barely say through her fear. How could Twilight have found her? Why was she here? Shouldn’t she be at the palace? All these thoughts raced through her mind, and she was wishing she was just having a terrible nightmare or even a hallucination. “Yes, it’s me. I missed you, Pinkie.” Twilight told the pink pony. She stood over Pinkie Pie, casting a shivering shadow over her. Pinkie looked up into Twilight’s sinister, violet, eyes. “H-how could you have possibly known t-to find me here?” “My, we haven’t gotten much smarter since we last saw each other, have we?” Twilight laughed. “My beautiful creations live and populate in this very forest. They are harmless, but they alert me when somepony is lurking around, looking for food or water because it’s the only place full of life left in Equestria.” The purple pony reached down and picked up the crescent-shaped medallion. “I actually came for this, Pinkie.” Pinkie cringed and reached for it. Twilight smirked. “No, I didn’t come to kill you. As a matter of fact, I want you alive, and I want you to go back to the others. I want to fight all of you at the same time.” “Twilight…” Pinkie wanted to say something but couldn’t think of anything proper to say. Twilight seemed to flinch and change for a moment. “Pinkie Pie,” she said with tears forming in her eyes, looking deep into her friend’s eyes, “I’m so sorry… Please forgive me.” Pinkie’s mouthed dropped slightly, tears forming in her eyes now. “Twi-Twilight… I…” She stopped. Twilight gasped and fell to her knees revealing a white pony with a purple mane behind her. Twilight dropped the medallion. “Rarity?” Pinkie got up to her hooves. Twilight staggered to get to her hooves as well. “Come on, Pinkie, we don’t have time to stand around.” Rarity shouted at her friend. “But I have to do something, it won’t take long, I promise. Just keep Twilight busy for a moment.” Pinkie told Rarity. “Pinkie Pie! Augh, alright, but please hurry!” Rarity said. As Twilight tried to stand up, her head dizzy and a new cut in her back, leaking blood, Rarity pushed Twilight back down. Pinkie quickly grabbed the medallion off the ground and held it to the crystal ball on the pedestal. Twilight’s eyes glowed a bright white as she turned and became infuriated. Her horn glowed a purple aura and she teleported over to Pinkie. Pinkie Pie turned and a struck a horrified face. Rarity appeared from the shadows behind Twilight and pushed her away. “Please hurry, Pinkie!” “Just a few more seconds, Rarity.” Pinkie continued to press the medallion to the crystal ball, the auras and lights around them gleaming brighter and brighter. Twilight held her hands down low, palms out, and as before Rarity could get close enough to Twilight to strike her, her hooves had been frozen to the ground. “Pinkie Pie, darling, I’m a bit stuck so, now would be a good time to stop messing around!” As Rarity said that, the ground shook, and a bright and large tower of light shot from the orb and into the sky. The light pushed punched a hole in the clouds, and made a gigantic area of the sky crystal blue and bright again. “Okay, we can leave now!” “You think you can hide from me? You can’t even escape from me! I control the darkness! I can see everything!” Twilight explained to them. Thump thump thump! Twilight gasped and fell to her knees. Three arrows were lodged into her back. Rarity and Pinkie looked up to see Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash off in the distance. Applejack had her bow held out in front of her. “C’mon ya’ll. Now is the time to get the hay out of here. Now!” Applejack called out to them. “Let’s go, hurry.” Pinkie said, looking over to Rarity. Rarity nodded and they ran toward the others. “So why did you run away?” Rarity said as they made their way to the other three. “I didn’t… I was completing a mission. Fulfilling a secret destiny.” Pinkie assured Rarity as she started to breathe heavier. “A secret destiny?” Rarity asked confused. “I’ll explain when we’re not running from death itself.” Pinkie giggled. They ran for the edge as fast as they could, not looking or caring where they stepped, as long as they could get away from Twilight. They weren’t ready to face her just yet. ~~~~~~ “So you ran all the out into the heart of the Everfree forest, by yourself to recharge this medallion?” Rarity asked, making sure that’s what had been said. “Yes,” Pinkie said, “and when I was a little filly, my Grammy Pie told me that that medallion is the seventh Element of Harmony, the lost element. “The seventh element?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Well, what does it represent?” “Compassion.” Pinkie answered. “It’s the Element of Compassion. It was a prototype element created as a test.” “Then how do you have it?” Rainbow inquired. “It was thrown away and abandoned. Time had stolen it away, but a few generations ago, someone dug it up and pawned it off, thinking it was a useless piece of jewelry. The pony who bought it was my grandmother.” The pink pony explained. “Fate works in strange ways.” Fluttershy squeaked. “Yeah, if my grandmother hadn’t passed this down to me, we wouldn’t be able to find the pony that this element belongs to.” Pinkie told them. “So, the pony this belongs to is still alive!?” Rainbow Dash asked excitedly. “Apparently so,” Pinkie said, “but it’s so supposed to show us where they are. It just keeps pulsing this light blue glow like it’s searching, like it knows that the spirit of Compassion is still alive. If they were dead, the medallion would have broken or turn black or lose color or something like that.” “Well maybe it’s because the area that they’re in is caged by a magical barrier or somewhere there is large amounts of magical energy.” Rarity theorized. “Well, if that’s the case, then that means they’re in or near the palace. Twilight is the only one with that much energy to prevent an Element of Harmony from doing a task.” Applejack said. “So what should we do?” Pinkie asked. “Should we go looked for her?” “No,” Rainbow Dash said, “we should jump from safehouse to safehouse until that thing shows us where that pony is.” “But if they’re near Twilight or a slave of hers, they might die before we even get to them.” Rarity said. “She’s right ya’ll. We need to double our speed and try to get to the palace even faster.” “Uhm, I-I have a request.” Fluttershy said with her gentle voice. “There’s a sacred spot in the Everfree Heartlands that we can go to. I’d really like to be around some lively nature, if that’s okay.” “And you know for certain that we’ll be safe there?” Rarity asked. “Oh, yes, um, I used to go there all the time with Angel. It’s the purest most sacred place and repels anything truly evil.” The yellow pegasus told them. “Twilight and her monsters wouldn’t be able to touch us.” “Wait a moment.” Rarity said emphasizing the word ‘wait’. “Exactly how big is this area of protection?” “Well, it’s, um, about the size of two of this room in radius.” Fluttershy explained, stretching out her arms. “Well, then we should head that way, and then straight to the palace.” Applejack told everyone, looking over at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow nodded when she looked back to Applejack. The five gathered their things and left the library, heading out in the direction of the Everfree. ~~~~~~ It was dark, the moon was shining through the hole in the clouds and through the leaves. Twilight gasped at she pulled out the last arrow from her back with her magic. She quickly used her magic to heal the wounds as she looked up at the moon. She sat against the pedestal, a tear forming and running down her face. “I believe in you. All of you.” Twilight mumbled to herself as she looked down at the necklace she was wearing. “I know you can stop this…” Twilight cried softly as a purple aura surrounded her, and a flash of light followed. She was gone from the Everfree.
The Element of Compassion - Chapter 5Vanilla entered the dark room, looking around and trying to see. The room was empty but for the furniture. Trixie’s bed was messy as always. The caramel pony rolled his eyes and smiled. He walked over by his wardrobe and pressed in a part of the wall, revealing the compartment that held Trixie. The wall shifted and slid out of the way, revealing a blue, sleeping unicorn. “Pff, you’re always asleep.” Vanilla whispered. Trixie curled up and rolled over, facing away from the stallion. Trixie groaned and mumbled, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” Vanilla paused and sat down by the hole, listening to her. “I thought I would help, and I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.” A tear formed in Trixie’s eye. “I’m so sorry.” ~~~~~~ “You’re such a disgrace, Trixie! You’re so pathetic! You never listen and you always mess everything up!” Yelled a tall light blue pony. “But, I was just trying to help!” A little blue filly replied with fear and teary eyes. “Help? You’re just a filly, Trixie!” The light blue stallion snapped. “I had it under control! If you hadn’t come along, nopony would be dead!” “But I… I…” Trixie sobbed. “No! No more. I’m tired of hearing your voice! I better not see you tomorrow morning… If you’re still here when I wake up, I’ll do to you what you did to all those ponies… I’ll kill you.” “But, Daddy! Please, I didn’t mean…” Trixie tried to reason with her father, but before she could even finish her sentence, the stallion was inside the house. Trixie broke down and cried for what seemed like an eternity. Where will she go? What will she do? All she knew was that it was true. She just killed about twenty innocent ponies, all because she interfered with her father’s work. Trixie went inside and gathered her things, what few things she had. A hoof-stitched cape and magician’s hat that her mother made for her not too long ago before she was brutally murdered… by her own daughter. Trixie winced as she picked up these items. She had always been a reject, a worthless pony that always messed everything up, and this time, she messed up worse than ever. She only ever made ponies miserable; maybe it was for the best that she left forever. It’s not like nopony would care anyway. Trixie grabbed the last most important thing she could think of: A necklace her mother gave her when she was younger. She put it on along with the hat and cape, which were a little too big for her, but she figured she’d grow into them. The blue filly left the house, the town, and even Manehattan forever. ~~~~~~ Trixie found a nice place to stay for a while: Under a dank, trashy bridge. She sighed as she sat down under it. The sun was setting, and she was getting tired and hungry, but it seemed to her that she was going to bed hungry tonight. Trixie lied down and went to go to sleep, but was suddenly surprised by the voice of another pony atop the bridge. “Nightly book sale! I have books and scrolls of all sorts!” The voice called into the dusk. Trixie heard several hoofsteps trotting up to the bridge. She was curious and instead of trying to ignoring it, she got to her hooves and went up to the top. An earth pony with a gray coat and black hair was standing by a cart of books. There were only about five or six ponies browsing her collection of books so Trixie decided to explore too. She’d need something to keep her busy so maybe a book will help her through. Trixie trotted up to the stand and looked at all the books. Adventure books, romance novels, scary tales, fantasy stories, and myths. Trixie smiled and excitedly browsed through all the books. “My, you look to be an avid reader.” The gray mare said with a smile. Trixie focused her attention on the pony talking to her. “By the excitement in your browsing, I’d say you enjoy a good book.” Trixie hesitated to reply. She wasn’t used to talking to anypony but her parents and was a little shy. “W-well… I… I don’t read a whole lot, because I n-never owned any books ‘afore.” The filly unicorn replied. “B-but I’ve always wanted to learn.” The grey pony gasped. “You don’t know how to read? What a crime! I have an idea. Why don’t you stay right here with me, and when everypony is gone I will teach you how to read.” She told Trixie. “And I don’t care how long it takes, I will make sure you are reading and speaking at expert levels! You can come with me on my travels while you learn too.” Trixie’s face lit up. She had never been shown this amount of kindness before. She nearly exploded with pure glee. “Wow, really?!” Trixie gasped. “That’s the kindest most sweetest thing anypony has ever done for me!” The book keeper bowed and smiled, her long, black mane hanging over her bright, green eyes for a moment before being swept away with her hoof. “Anything to increase one’s love for reading, my sweet filly.” A few minutes passed as Trixie continued to browse the collection of book before her. She kept going back to one particular book: “Magic Tricks for Beginners.” It seemed like an interesting book because she had always wanted to learn how to use magic, being a unicorn, but never could get it to work for her. Just like everything else, it just made everyone else miserable or exploded in her face. Trixie picked up the book in her mouth, carrying it over to the gray mare. The gray mare looked it over. “Ah! A wondrous book for aspiring magicians.” She said picking it up with her hooves. “I assume this is the book you’re wanting?” Trixie nodded and looked up at the older pony with bright and beaming eyes. She glanced back at the book. The book had a pony wearing a cape and hat much like Trixie’s, except the pony wearing them had a white coat. Trixie looked back up at the gray mare and said, “Miss Book Keeper, can I stay with you?” The filly became sad suddenly. “I don’t have a home anymore.” The gray mare became serious suddenly as well. She smiled soon after, though. “Well, of course you can stay with me. I said so earlier didn’t I” She told Trixie, giving a sweet grin. “My name is Textbook Pages.” Trixie gleamed with joy and nearly shouted her next statement, but controlled it and said, “I’m Trixie. Thank you so much for letting me stay with you. You’re the nicest pony I’ve ever met.” “Well,” started the gray earth pony, “you’re a special pony, I think. And judging by your story I’d say you deserve a little compassion.” ~~~~~~ “Trixie.” Vanilla’s voice called. “Hey, Trixie, wake up.” Trixie woke up violently, wiping the tears away immediately, as if knowing she was crying in her sleep. “Huh? What? What’s going on?” Trixie groggily asked. “Tonight’s the night.” The caramel pony said as he smiled. “The night? For what?” Trixie inquired, still half-asleep. “The night you make your great escape.” Vanilla Delights told her. “You ready to go? I found a vent that leads to the water processing department. And there, you will find a pipe that leads to the outside.” Trixie started to wake up. She climbed out of the hole in the wall and stretched. “Sounds simple enough.” “You think that, but there are Shadow Watchers all over out there.” Vanilla reassured her. “Shadow Watchers?” Trixie repeated with more of an upward inflexion. “Yes. Just stay out of the darker shadows and you’ll be fine. As soon as you get the chance, run as fast as you can and don’t stop until the palace is out of sight, okay?” The pony turned and faced away from Trixie, taking off his shirt to replace it with a cleaner one. Trixie looked over in his direction, and noticed something she hadn’t noticed before, something very peculiar: Two scars in his back going down his shoulder blades. They were evenly spaced apart, too perfectly to be stabs from blades. Trixie hesitated, but after a few silent seconds, she said, “Yeah, okay. I should be fine.” She decided not to ask him where the scars came from, but only pondered it further. “Alright, you’re going to have to step out into the hallways with me, so just stay as close to me as you possibly can.” The stallion ordered. Trixie nodded and changed clothes. “Oh, and you may keep those clothes. My gift.” Trixie looked down at her hooves, but looked back up and smiled. “Heh, thanks, Vanilla.” “No problem.” He told her. “You ready?” The tall caramel pony asked. Trixie nodded, and Vanilla opened the door slightly. The hallway was just as eerie as Trixie remembered it last time. Vanilla headed out the door and Trixie followed closely. The two did their best to run as silently as possible throughout the halls. They trotted along a seemingly endless hallway, avoiding the searching lights that cut them off or came their way. Soon, they turned down another hallway. They passed several doors along the way, and Trixie observed them, to see if anything caught her eye from pure curiosity. “Here.” Vanilla said, pointing to a vent by a door. He quickly, and silently, opened the vent door, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a piece of parchment with scribbles on it. “I also drew a map for you.” A light turned the corner in the distance, coming their way. “Quickly, go!” He whispered. “You’ll know where to go; the map explains everything.” Trixie looked into his eyes as though lost in thought. “I’ll miss you.” She told him. The light drew nearer, and Trixie climbed into the crawlspace. Vanilla closed the vent door and waved at Trixie. “Good luck.” He whispered before he ran off. The light followed just seconds after he left. Being from her angle, Trixie got the chance to see the creature holding the light: A large, black, blob-like creature with glistening tentacles and several arms in places they don’t belong. An absolute abomination. Trixie cringed as her eyes grew wide. “Why in Equestria would anypony make something like that?!” Trixie whispered loudly to herself. She shook her head and began crawling down the vent a good ways before opening the poorly drawn map Vanilla made. She studied it for a while before rolling it back up and crawling further. Judging by the map, she had a long ways to go before she even got to her first destination. Trixie crawled through twists and turns, the metal labyrinth frustrating her more. She knew she was going in the right directions, but the length of these vents just made her question the size of the palace even more. The blue pony made a turn and opened the map. She grinned as she realized she had arrived had the vent she needed to climb out of. She looked around for the vent door and saw it just ahead. She was relieved that it was on the side of the vent this time, meaning she would be able crawl out simply. Trixie opened the door and looked out the vent, realizing she was wrong. She looked down to see a large fall. She was also surprised to see that the room was empty. It was also very dark, which worried Trixie. She’d come to realize that every bit of security Twilight has is focused on the shadows. “This could either be really good, or really bad.” Trixie said shaking her head. Trixie closed her eyes and her horn lit up. She jumped from the vent, falling to a severe injury or two, but before she hit the ground, a gust of wind swept up from nowhere and immediately broke her fall. She planted her hooves safely on the ground. “They don’t call me ‘Great and Powerful’ for nothing.” She giggled, mocking gravity itself. It was dark which prevented her from seeing much, but in this room were several crates in corners and large generator-looking machines. She assumed that the large generators were like motors for the processing of water. They seemed to be silent though, as though no water is being filtered and cleaned. She sat down in a corner, by some crates, as though to hide from anything that might be nearby to pursue her. The blue pony unraveled the map sketch and looked around the room. She glanced down at the map and then back at her environment. She noticed a large hole in the floor covered by a steel plate over in the corner opposite her. Trixie looked around to make sure it was safe before dashing off to the marehole. Once beside it, she lifted it up with her magic, straining to exert enough strength to move it aside. She slid it across the floor to reduce the amount of noise it made. The unicorn breathed heavily and climbed down the ladder of the hole, using her magic to conjure some light. She made sure to cover up the hole as she planted her hooves on damper ground. She focused her attention on her new surroundings which seemed to be a dark, dank sewer passage. “Really, Vanilla?” Trixie sighed and opened her map once more. There were two ways to go from here. Left or right. Opposite of the ladder was just a wall, and she was only standing on a small sidewalk of the filthy sewage street between her and the brick barrier. The map pointed Trixie to go right once facing the wall, opposite of the ladder. The eager pony began trotting down the path, staying alert and cautious but picking up the pace. She was tired of living amidst the danger and just wanted to get somewhere safer. The sound of Trixie’s hoofsteps echoed along the walls. Even with the light from her horn illuminating the area around her, the darkness was so thick that couldn’t see very far. Trixie continued down the path anyway, occasionally checking her map to see where she should go next. The path she was on already, though, just seemed to go on endlessly. Trixie sighed and an agitated expression swept across her face. “Hmph. I break out of a tube to avoid drowning, bunk with a super good-looking stallion for four days, and walk forever so my hooves can fall off. If I weren’t in danger of getting caught, I would scream right now.” She told herself. The blue unicorn sighed but soon saw a turn. She was finally getting somewhere again. And even better, she could see a dim light in the next tunnel. She hurriedly turned onto the next path, crossing a small bridge over the sewage water that just continued to flow into a grate. Trixie made her way further into the tunnel, being alert and cautious. As she got around the corner she suddenly covered her mouth and stepped back. The light was coming from one of the tentacle monsters she saw earlier in the palace. This one, however, was blocking her path to freedom. What should she do? How could she possibly get passed it? It took up nearly the entire space of the passage way. The creature did not move. It remained stationary, giving the occasional flick of the tentacles and a heavy grunt. Trixie tried to think of a spell she might know to slip passed it or distract it, but nothing came to mind. She was virtually trapped at this point. Even if she could figure a way back into that vent, she couldn’t remember for the life of her how to get back to Vanilla’s room. Then it clicked. ‘The life of her.’ Maybe those creatures will report back to Twilight when they’ve captured someone trying to escape. It was worth a shot. The creature gave another intense grunt as Trixie started to focus. Her horn lit up brightly and a mirage of her began sprinting down the tunnel and just slipping by the beast. When the mirage passed the fiend, it took off after her, giving Trixie a quick moment to check over her map. The exit was just through that passage. She was almost free. Trixie sprinted toward the door and rolled up the map as she ran as fast as she could. Before she even made it through, she could see the ground. Her face lit up with excitement, she could taste the freedom already. She almost made it through. Out of the sewers, away from the palace, but as she passed the edge where the pipe and ground meet she felt something grab her legs. Her eyes widened and she gasped as she fell face first onto the ground. What she felt around her legs were tentacles. “No!” Trixie screamed. She suddenly started being dragged back into the darkness, away from the moonlit field ahead. So close to freedom. The blue pony started to sob as she was being pulled further into the veil of shadows. In the moment of panic there was no time for her to think of a spell that could free her from the monster’s grasp. It was over. She was caught. She was going to die by Twilight’s hands again. The unicorn dug her hands into the concrete flooring, hoping to stall the inevitable, but all was in vain. She wasn’t slowing down the process at all. And as the darkness began to take her vision, she heard a blood-curdling screech from the creature, which was only inches behind her. The tentacles released and Trixie scrambled to her hooves. A caramel-colored stallion with black, shifting wings had cut the monster in half. The pony seemed familiar, but he had wings that looked as though they were made of shadows, and the way the wings shifted resembled fire. The pony was shirtless and wearing white linen pants. He held a long sword of a regal design but was as black as the shadow wings he had. The sword gave off pieces of itself, like little shreds of paper when burned and released back into the air. Trixie stepped back from him and hesitated. He turned and faced her. The unicorn gasped and pointed at him. “V…V-Vanilla?! But, the wings, and the sword! The incredible creature killing!?” Trixie couldn’t gather her words as fast as she could process her thoughts. Vanilla chuckled, his voice sounding deeper now suddenly. “I’ve been lying to you, Trixie. My name isn’t Vanilla Delights. It’s Shadow Feather.” He looked more serious suddenly, turning and stepping toward Trixie. His irises were a gleaming and radiant red. They seemed to be ablaze with flames rather than soothed with ocean. “But… Why would you lie to me about this?” Trixie inquired, backing away closer to the edge. Shadow Feather only smirked, continuing to walk toward the blue unicorn. “Because… I didn’t want you to know who I really was. I didn’t want you to know that I was a pegasus. That I was once beautiful. I wanted to change for the better. But it seems my old ways just keep coming back.” He smiled and licked his lips as he began walking faster toward Trixie. “Old ways? W-what are you talking about?” Trixie’s heart started to pound as she neared the exit of the pipe. “Why, my thirst for victory. For companionship. For blood.” Shadow gave a wicked grin as he continued toward her. Trixie’s eyes grew wider and she turned to run, but he was there, in front of her. “Let me go, Vanilla! I thought you were helping me escape!” She said as tears formed in her eyes. “Oh, no, you’re not going anywhere. Alive or dead, your body will be mine to do whatever I please.” He stepped up and stroked his hand across her face. “Now cooperate and come back home so we can have a nice night together or die and have me enjoy it all alone.” The unicorn’s heart pounded in her throat, she was on the verge of bursting into tears. “Why, Vanilla? Why would you?” She cried to him. He only laughed. “Why not? I want inside you, and that’s reason enough for me. And I will get inside you, whether you have a head or not.” Trixie bit her lip and glanced out behind him. She had no choice. She closed her eyes and looked down at her hooves. “I’ll go with you.” A tear escaped her eyes. The caramel stallion chuckled. “Keep your eyes closed, and don’t move anything. I’ll move it for you.” Trixie tried to suppress her sobs. She kept her eyes closed as she was ordered and felt his hand on her chin. She started to tremble. What exactly was he going to do to her? Was he bluffing and just going to kill her right there anyway? Suddenly, she felt the most serene and pleasant filling she had ever felt. She felt his hand reaching into her chest. His hand had phased into her, and it felt as if he was connecting with her very soul. But it didn’t hurt at all. Instead she felt relaxed. Was he killing her in a peaceful way? No, this was something else. He was giving her something. But what was it? “Don’t say anything. Don’t open your eyes. Just trust me…” Shadow told her. Suddenly his dark and shadowy wings began to blossom into golden feathers. A bright aura surrounded the two as Shadow did his work. Dark purple energy wrapped around the stallion, shredding his clothes off and revealing his cutie mark: A dark purple crescent moon with a silhouette of a winged tombstone. Trixie started to feel like she was going to lose consciousness. She began breathing a little heavier. Her body felt weak and she now felt like he was stealing her energy, but at the same time giving her power. The light lasted for a long time but Shadow’s wings finally rejuvenated and gleamed with a bright golden color. He pulled his hand from Trixie’s chest who nearly collapsed to the floor. “There, the trade is done. I’m myself again!” Shadow cheered. His cheering was suddenly ended with Trixie sudden sobbing. “Oh, Trixie, I’m sorry, I was only playing around…” “Vanilla?! Why would scare me like that? I thought I was going to die.” The unicorn screamed at him. She was trembling but didn’t notice the sudden increase in power through her fear. “Oh, come on Trixie, I was just dramatically teasing you. I’m sorry, but, I needed to do that.” The caramel pony told her. Trixie’s sobs lightened. “Wh-why?” She choked. “Because I was told that if I showed true compassion to somepony, I would get my wings back. By giving up virtually all of my shadow powers to you, I showed that I care for you enough to give you something special to me.” Shadow explained. “Lost your wings, but how’d you…” Trixie gasped and suddenly remembered the story Vanilla told her. “Wait… You mean you’re the pony that lost that race and tried to win by cheating?” Shadow looked at his hooves and hesitated before nodding. “Yeah… That’s me… And I’m not proud of it either. That was hundreds of years ago though.” The unicorn tilted her head and looked at him. “Hundreds of years? How are you still alive?” Trixie asked him. He replied with a chuckle and said, “A long time ago I had a spell cast on me that made me pretty much immortal with the downfall that I am cursed with these dark shadow demons that grant me unholy powers. With these demons comes great evil, hence my behavior during that race.” “But, didn’t you just give me those shadow powers?” Trixie asked him, her eyes widening. “Yes, the powers, not the demons.” He assured her. “The demons fed off that power, and now that it’s all gone, they will perish, and my original age will begin where it left off.” The blue pony was confused but did suddenly feel the dark energy coursing through her. It was dark, but it wasn’t evil. “So, what can I do with these new powers?” “Well, I’ll leave most of it for you to discover,” Shadow chuckled as he began to explain, “but two of my favorite particular spells are the shadow wings and shadow sword. Just think about them. The energy will do the rest. Knowing how to cast the spell will come natural.” “So, I can use those shadow wings to help me escape right?” Trixie asked, making sure. Shadow nodded. “But, these shadow spells only work in the dark, and are especially strong at night time. They are powered by darkness.” Shadow walked up to Trixie and hugged her tightly. “I need to go. You’re on your own from here on out. Please, try not to die.” The unicorn looked him in the eyes and smiled. “Heh, with these new powers, I’m sure it’ll be a lot harder to take me down.” Shadow smiled, a pool of shadows reaching up from the ground, taking hold of him and eventually engulfing him in darkness. When the shadows vanished, so did he. Trixie concentrated, the shadows shifting around her. She focused on her back and thought of flying; more so dreamed of flying. In seconds, wings made of the shadowy fire formed and stemmed from her back. Her mind was taking control and guiding her to her new dark side. “This energy. It’s so serene.” Trixie closed her eyes and walked to the end of the pipe, taking in the moonlight hidden partially by the toxic clouds. For some reason, the moonlight felt more tranquil than ever before. Perhaps the shadow powers were the reason for that. The unicorn opened her eyes and looked to the moon. She spread her shadowy wings and took to the sky. The wind stroked its soothing invisible hands across her cheeks and swept her mane away. Her eyes became engulfed with smoky shadows and suddenly, she was piercing the wind at incredible alacrity. She noticed that she was also faced with flying shadow monsters. She should have known it wouldn’t be simple even with wings, but she knows now that with this new power, this will be much easier than before. Trixie quickly stopped. She remembered back to what Vanilla said before. Watch out for the darker shadows. As long as she avoided the darkest shadows, she should be okay. The unicorn dashed off again, weaving and dodging shadows. She was making very quick movements and was certain it was enough to get her caught, but no creatures came after her. This made it obvious that the creatures can only see as far as their light expands. Trixie was surprised that the palace was large and even the amount of guards in the radius. She was certain she had flown several hundred hooves away, but there were still guards. What didn’t Twilight Sparkle control? She began flying even faster, straining and trying to get beyond the barriers of harm. She looked over and saw there was a shadow monster flying on a collision course with her. She dove down and pulled back up, making it passed the creature. When she looked back, it looked to be an avian of some sort, but made entirely of the fiery shadows. It had bright red eyes and shifted constantly, looking as though it was having a difficult time maintaining its current form. “I’m beginning to wonder if the creatures are even created. They seem to be from somewhere.” Trixie pondered to herself. She focused harder on the way out, trying to fly even faster but instead, shadows began to wrap around her. She didn’t realize this and just continued flying. Before she had a chance to understand what happened she had crashed into a large sand mound. “What the hay?” She said, digging her head out of the sand. Trixie looked behind her and saw the palace off in this distance. She beamed and jumped up and down. She was speechless. The unicorn turned and made her way over the sand mound, trying to brush the sand out of her mane with her hand. Trixie flew on slowly for a while. She looked around for civilization, but all she found for miles was dust and ruin. Trixie started to feel dejected. Morning was breaking and she was about to lose her powers for the day. She was also starving and thirsty from all the exerted energy. “So, this is what Twilight’s done?” Trixie said as a tear dropped from her eyes. Everything was gone. Equestria was a desolate dustbowl and, thankfully, Trixie was ‘asleep’ for the majority of the destruction. The blue pony continued walking through the warming sand and dust. For miles it looked to be a desert, but this didn’t stop Trixie. She was determined to take her freedom as long as could take it. ~~~~~~ The sun was beaming hot, and Trixie hadn’t gotten anywhere. There was no sign of civilization and she was feeling weak. Her vision became hazy, and her legs became wobbly. She came to the reality of the situation and realized she was likely to die out here where not a single soul would ever even be able to find her. The blue pony panted and breathed heavily. But she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Something that she wasn’t sure how she missed. She turned and saw a huge forest. A dense, moist, and shady forest. She turned slowly and weakly. “Must get to forest… Must… Get… To…” Trixie made it halfway to the jungle-like environment before collapsing. She no longer had the strength to make it the rest of the way, and it was so close. She only needed to walk a bit further, but she couldn’t move. Her body was like cement; connected to the sand around her. She closed her eyes and lost consciousness. ~~~~~~ “Miss Textbook Pages?” Trixie called quietly. It was night time and moonlight crept into the bedroom. The grey-coated mare rolled over with a gentle smile and rubbed her eyes with her hooves. “Yes, Trixie? What is it?” Trixie gave sad, sorrowful eyes. “I had a really bad dream,” the blue filly said, “may I please sleep with you tonight?” Textbook smiled sweeter and took the small pony into her hooves and cuddled up beside her. “Aww, Trixie, you cute little filly, you know don’t have to ask. Of course you can sleep with me tonight. Whatever it is that scared you, I’ll be here all night to protect you.” Trixie nuzzled into the earth pony’s neck and smiled. She wrapped her front legs around Textbook, and she did the same to Trixie. The grey pony pulled the sheets over them both, and they giggled. “You know, Trixie,” Textbook said quietly, “you are the cutest, kindest, and most loving pony I’ve ever met. I’m glad to call you my daughter.” Trixie kissed the mare’s cheek and closed her eyes. “And I’m glad to call you my mama.” The filly replied. “I love you, Mama.” Textbook’s heart melted with love. ‘Mama.’ She held that title as though her life depended on it. “I love you too, Trixie.” ~~~~~~ “Oh my, do you think she’s still alive?” A gentle, hushed, female voice asked. “We need to get her back to safety.” A charming and regal female voice replied. “We’ll carry her together.” The gentle voice offered.
