Dust: An Equestrian Tailby Sylpheed DashstepChaptersA Third (Fourth?) ChanceThe Personality DilemmaTeam One and Team BA Third (Fourth?) ChanceThe heat, the pain, and the emotional turmoil going on inside of Dust were the only things he was aware of in his last moments. Having Gaius drop himself into the pit of lava that was coming up to consume Dust had already fractured his already broken and tattered soul, even if Gaius had slain thousands of innocents, nobody deserved to die in a volcano like he was about to. And then there was the exchange between him and Fidget that had hurt him even more than anything so far, not even the pain of failing Bopo could compare to seeing Fidget and Ginger cry like that and knowing that he couldn't do anything about it. Maybe it was that pain that ultimately saved him, the pain that caused his fused souls to finally crack and have a falling out, or maybe it was just dumb luck. Dust opened his eyes one last time before the lava swarmed over him and found a light shimmering over his skin, and then he was under the lava. "This is grave my dear sister," Celestia muttered as she looked though the telescope in Luna's room. It was about midday in Equestria and the two celestial rulers of the land were currently gathered in the younger one's room. Luna's mane looked as though a bird had tried making a nest in it and her eyes had dark circles under them, giving the impression that she hadn't slept long. "What is it Tia," Luna grumbled, standing behind her older sibling. Well, standing wasn't exactly the right word to use for what Luna was doing, she seemed as though she was about to fall over at the slightest breeze that ran through the room. "Right there, just look," Celestia said, stepping back from the telescope and offering the sight to Luna. Luna stepped up to the telescope with a soft sigh, looking through the eyepiece just to get it over with and to get her sister to leave so she could sleep in peace. What she saw though made we pause and look as her sister. "Do my eyes play tricks on me," Luna asked, more to herself than her sister. "Nope," Celestia replied hurriedly, "both Twilight Sparkle and Cadence have seen it." "What is it," Luna asked, looking at her sister. "We don't know." Discord had been having a rather normal day, or at least as normal as things could get around him, with Fluttershy accompanying him on his random list of daily activities. And random it was. "So, um, why do we have to get these Tai berries, If you don't mind me asking that is," Fluttershy asked as the two of them hovered down the rocky road high in the mountains. "Of course not, Fluttershy dear. I am baking a pie sometime tomorrow and the berries go perfectly with it," Discord replied. "Oh, well I can't wait to taste it," Fluttershy replied, offering him a smile. "Can't wait to taste what," Discord asked. "The pie," Fluttershy replied, giving him a curious look. "Oh...we have pie," Discord asked with something of a laugh in his voice. Then again that laugh never left his voice. "No, you said you were going to make one," Fluttershy replied, thoroughly confused now. "Well I don't remember anything about a pie," Discord replied. "Oh, well alright then," Fluttershy replied, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She was really looking forward to that pie. "I'm just joking Fluttershy, I am making a pie and I promise you'll get the first piece," Discord said after bursting out into laughter. Fluttershy laughed weakly and turned her head to the horizon where the sky was slowly turning orange due to the setting sun. Or at least it should have been turning orange. Instead there was only darkness where there should have been a clear sky. "Discord, what is that," Fluttershy asked, stopping and trembling a bit as fear creeped into her voice. Discord followed her gaze, the colour literally draining out of his face and leaving him white. Accompanied by the bleak look on his face, it didn't look as though the darkness was there for a tea party. "Fluttershy, we have to leave. Now," Discord said, his voice missing the eternal laugh, replaced instead with genuine fear. Before Fluttershy could say another word she was in Celestia's throne room, surrounded by the confused faces, and worried in Twilight's case, of her friends. Celestia sat on her throne, blinking in surprise at the sight of so many ponies, accompanied by the Draconequus, simply appearing in her throne room. "What are you doing here," Celestia asked, quickly recovering her composure. "The darkness," was all Discord said. Celestia responded instantly, narrowing her eyes at Discord. "What do you know of it?" "I created it, a few thousand years ago," Discord said. "The history of it isn't important but what is important is that we've got to stop it." "How," Twilight asked. "I don't know," Discord replied honestly. "What do you mean you don't know," Rainbow Dash practically shouted, flying in front of his face. "You made it!" "Precisely, I made it, doesn't mean I know how to destroy it," he replied to the mare. "The line, 'I made you, I can take you out of this world as well,' isn't always true." "Well then what do we do," Rarity asked. "I don't know, Element of Harmony it up girls," Discord said. "Can they even do anything against it? From what I've gathered it's pure darkness," Twilight said, "I doubt that the Elements could even penetrate it?" "What do you mean, of course they can," Discord replied, giving Twilight a harsh glare for doubting him, "they're pure harmo...ny..." "Exactly," Twilight replied. "Uh, could somepony explain what exactly they're talkin' 'bout for those of us who don't know everything about magic," Applejack asked. Twilight cleared her throat as if she was preparing to give a speech, "Well when Discord did th-" "Discord made our Elements partly chaotic so now they're not pure harmony anymore," Pinkie cut in, realizing that with Twilight explaining it would take hours and nopony would understand. "So there's a chance that if we went to fight it then we wouldn't do anything," Rainbow Dash asked. "...Well so what, it's our duty to either save Equestria or lose our lives in the process, we are the Elements of Harmony after all!" The other five mare's of the group murmured in agreement and Celestia asked, "So you're all in agreement to this idea?" After each mare voiced that she was Celestia sighed and turned to Discord. "Are you sure there's no other way?" "I don't know, I banished it to another universe before, but I can only assume that it's learned how to cross universes on its own," he replied, crushing the hopes of everyone in the room. "So, I suppose we should get the Elements now," Twilight said. "Discord, if you wouldn't mind." Discord snapped his claws and the Elements of Harmony appeared around the neck of each ones respective wearer. That was when things essentially blew up. Discord was in the center of the circle of mares when a beam shot out of each Element, each adding to the circle that was now enclosing Discord and drawing energy from him. He could feel the energy being pulled from him and he faintly recognized the feeling of the magic that was being activated. "Guys, something's coming to our world," Discord yelled, trying to slam his way out of the ball. The mares on the other side tried helping, accompanied by Celestia, but none of them could cause a single break in the circle of multicoloured light. Discord suddenly felt a piercing pain that stabbed through his head, right behind his eyes, and left him screaming on the floor of the ball. The girls backed away from the ball and after a few seconds everything grew quiet. The revolutions of the ball grew slower until it eventually stopped and came apart in pieces that floated up into the air and dissipated. "Guys," Discord said as his claws touched the ground, "may I present you with Dust, Ahrah, and Fidget, the three creatures who are going to help us destroy that darkness." The Personality DilemmaDust opened his eyes and instantly shut them, the light coming down from above too bright for his eyes to handle at the moment. "He seems to be fine," a voice reached his ears, "and this creature over here as well." "What about the sword," another voice asked. "What do you mean, it's a sword," a third voice countered. Dust's brain couldn't process everything that was currently going on and instead began to slow down and process one simple thing at a time, mainly by trying to move his supposedly dead body. He was dead, right? He distinctly remembered being covered in lava, the last thing he saw between his tears being- "Ginger, Fidget," he yelled, sitting up quickly and looking around. Tell sunlight blinded him at first and he covered his eyes with a hand, peering through the cracks in his fingers to see...ponies. Technicolor ponies sitting around him. And another creature that looked like nothing he'd ever faced before. He leapt to his feet and away from the group his hand immediately going to where Ahrah would have been on his hip, had Ahrah actually been there instead of on the floor a few feet behind the group he was facing. Everything seemed to be frozen, him and the other...he counted a total of seven others in the room with him, and was evaluating how he could get past them to Ahrah, stiffening up once a voice eminated from right behind him, the entity close enough to stir up the wind around Dust. "Now, now, we mean you no harm, and if you intend to do us harm then I wish for you to please leave," the motherly yet stern voice said. Dust pivoted on his heel to face the figure and found another like the ponies behind him except this one was about as tall as him, making him back up a step. "I...am sorry," he said, Jun rising up to the surface, "I did not mean to scare you. I was simply startled at..." "Being alive," the odd creature said. "Precisely," Dust admitted. "How did..." "I connected, I suppose that would be the word, I connected with you when you crossed over," the creature said. "I know what happened right before you died and I know what you, Fidget, and Ahrah have been through so far. Now look, we have no time to deal with all of this right now, I need you to get your friends and we have to leave right away if we're going to get to the disaster area fast enough." "Discor-" the larger pony began. "Not now princess," the creature said, giving her a look, "I'll explain when I get back." "Make sure you come back then." Dust moved over to Ahrah slowly, not sure what exactly was going on at the moment, and picked up the sword, examining it for a few moments and running a hand over the blade. Cold. The blade was never cold before, it had always been humming with some internal magic, something that not even Fidget had understood entirely, as she had explained one night at the campfire. At that thought the specific wording of how the creature had said friend came back to him and his eyes scanned the room, landing on a space in the center of the six little ponies. Dust moved over to them and they parted, allowing him to see the unmoving body of Fidget. He picked her up gingerly and paused until he felt the small beating of her heart, giving a small sigh of relief. Dust stood up and looked at the creatures around him, his mind simply stopping for a moment before rebooting, but some part of him felt wrong, almost as though there was an intruder in his head. Jin, you're being too nice, you must at least question something, or you risk falling into submission. Before Dust could even comprehend what exactly was going on in his head his mouth opened and he said, "We're not going anywhere until you explain what's going on and why we should help you." Cassius, what are you doing, stop wasting time, these creatures obviously need our help. Tch, typical Moonblood supporter. "STOP IT," Dust yelled, clamping his free hand to his head, giving a small groan due to the pain. He pulled his hand away and looked up to see the eight inhabitants of the room all looking at him, each one except the odd one giving him a frightened look. "It's Cassius and Jin, isn't it," the creature asked. "Yes, and it hurts," Dust replied. "I'll explain what's happening on t-" it began, Dust cutting it off. "No, tell me something now or I'll assume that Cassius is actually right about something for once." "All of the magic currently in this world is currently being drained by a darkness, including the magic in Ahrah. That was the one thing keeping Jin and Cassius separated in your mind and now that it's gone, Cassius is trying to gain control." At the beginning of his elaboration, the three ponies with horns all seemed to try something, each one seeming to come to the same conclusion that whatever they were trying wasn't accomplishing anything. "Discord, what about your magic," the larger pony asked. "Drained as well, which is why we're still here," Discord replied. "Well if you're walking there then let-" the large pony began, Discord cutting her off. "No, the other six would get in the way and Equestria needs you right now because there are going to be a lot of panicking ponies who have lost their magic." "I don't feel safe having you leave out on your own with this creature, no matter what you say so ho-" "No guards." She was silent for a few minutes before looking at Discord and saying, "This is my final ultimatum then, you take Luna with you or you don't go anywhere and I'll take in this 'Dust' for questioning." Dust could tell that Discord was defeated in the subtle signs of his posture, but his voice held no trace of defeat as he said, "Fine, we accept your offer." A half hour later the three of them had survival packs situated on their backs, or in Dust's case his inventory, and were setting off for wherever Discord was leading them. Dust studied the dark pony that had joined him and she studied him, none of the three speaking until they had settled down for the night and started a camp fire. Dust held the limp body of Fidget in his hand, holding a thumb over her heart to assure himself that she was still alive. He was starting to really worry about her. "Don't feet Dust, she'll be fine, I promise you," Discord said, causing Dust and the dark pony to turn their heads. "In the meantime why don't we share a little and get to know a bit about each other." "You mean me and her," Dust said, giving the dark pony a quick glance. "Er, well, yes. Seeming as how I know both of you pretty well I was thinking I could st-" "I am not so antisocial so as not to be able to start and hold a competent conversation Discord," the dark pony said, turning to Dust. "I am Princess Luna, one of the four Alicorn's of this land and ruler over the night time and dreams of Equestria." "I am..." Dust paused as three answers suddenly rushed to the front of his head, each one battling to escape his mouth but instead forming what felt like a physical blockade in his throat, causing him to stop breathing almost immediately. "Oh no," Discord muttered a moment before Dust passed out from a loss of oxygen. "Dust, Dust wake up, please wake up, I need you." The familiar voice reached Dust's ears and he cracked his eyes open, feeling like he'd just died a second time within twenty-four hours. "F-Fidget," he moaned, lifting a hand up to his forehead and sitting up a bit. "She's fine Dust, but are you," Discord replied, helping him back up. "Yeah, I just...you know, Cassius and Jin..." Dust answered. "Discord he is not fine, he needs medical help immediately, he was dead for a good ten seconds there," Luna said, looking pointedly at Dust and wondering what had just happened. "How are you still alive," Discord asked him, looking just a bit worried. "I...think I know how," Dust replied, rooting around in his inventory for a few seconds before making a red crystal appeared in his hand. "A revival stone," he replied, "glad to know that they still work in this world." "So am I," Discord said, "because we may need these along the way." "Are you saying we might die," Luna asked. "There's a good chance." That was enough to kill the talk for the rest of the night and they finished their meal before putting the fire out and laying down to sleep, which turned out to be especially hard for Dust, who kept gazing at the part of the sky were the dark cloud was, evident by the lack of stars in the area as well as the constant distraction of reaching over to feel for Fidget's heartbeat to comfort himself. "You cannot sleep either," Luna whispered to him over Discord's soft snores. "No, I just find this all so surreal and find myself wondering if I'm even still alive," Dust replied. "Why wouldn't you be," Luna asked, "especially with those stones of yours." "They're not resistant to lava," was all Dust said, leaving the rest to Luna. "I see...I think," was all she said. "So what was that episode earlier?" "I have...three minds in here right now," he said, "it's a long story actually and I don't want to bore you." "Please, do bore me," Luna replied, making Dust give a small laugh. "Alright, I warned you," he said, telling his tale. He unconsciously reached a hand over and felt for Fidget's heartbeat one last time before beginning, his thoughts coming together with the comfort of the tiny beats of it. "It all started with a race of creatures called Moonblood's and a general named Gaius..." Author's Note So this was written today within five hours and my Kindle has a really stupid auto-correct on it so if you see any errors or words where they make don't make sense or replacing 'the' let me know (it really hates the, despite the fact that I've thrown in into the dictionary like eighty times now). Team One and Team BCelestia waited for a total of twenty minutes after the first group had left, watching the Elements of Harmony and Luna's personal night guard create ruts in the throne room with pacing. After the time was up she got up and said, "Twilight, I need you and your friends to begin heading back to Ponyville and get your stuff ready to follow Discord and Luna, bring anything you think will be of use. I want you to bring Spike along with you and I want you to wait until you get too far to turn back before you reveal yourself, okay?" Twilight looked at Celestia as though she had grown a second head, her mentor suddenly turning deceptive on her giving her a bit of a startle. "Y-yes princess, we'll be right on it," Twilight responded, giving her mentor a nod. "Guards, prepare a cart to take them back to Ponyville immediately and if you see Discord and Luna and that creature then go around them and please try to stay low profile, give them a regular grade cart," Celestia said, waiting for the order to be obeyed and smiling a little as ten guards instantly rushed to obey her. "They're Team One and we're Team B," Pinkie said as they exited the throne room, surprising her companions with the sudden outburst. "Wouldn't we be Team Two then," Rainbow Dash asked. "Well they'll be expecting that," Pinkie countered, "the princess said not to reveal ourselves until we get too far, and if they hear about a Team B while they're Team One then they won't suspect a thing." "But sugarcube wouldn't they have to know they were Team One already to not suspect...nevermind, this is hurting mah head," Applejack said, grimacing as she tried to understand Pinkie's logic. "Just roll with it AJ," Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes, "nopony'll ever understand Pinkie's logic." "Okay, so it looks like they're heading northwards, that means that they'll eventually hit the tundra, so I say once we hit the area where it starts to become barren is when we show ourselves, there won't be enough shops to supply us and by then we probably won't have enough food to make a trip back," Twilight said, talking more to herself than her friends. "Umm, quick question," Rarity spoke up, "if there's only enough food to get us there then how are we supposed to get back?" "That's easy, we use our magic," she replied. "So, we either succeed or d-die," Fluttershy said, quieting everyone. Twilight was silent, facing her five greatest friends in the world, knowing that this could very well be their final quest for the nation of Equestria. "No, this is just another mission to protect our loved ones, and we're not dying you got that? I'll carry you if I have to, but nopony is going to die on my watch." There was a dark and foreboding laugh that seemed to echo around the group of mares, making each one shiver in fear. "Words, words, words, saying something is simply one end of the deal, but will you hold up when it truly becomes time to hold up on your end of the deal?" The voice that was attached to the laugh had the same effect, but tenfold, making Fluttershy nearly burst into tears, and even making Rainbow Dash to weak in the knees. "I'll be seeing you again soon girls." And then it was gone, leaving a heavy feeling in the stomach of each mare. They each passed a look between the other, all of them wondering the same thing, but none of them willing to voice the question. Again? Before any of them could break the silence two carts rolled up to them. Three mares piled into each cart, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack getting in one and Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie getting into the other. They each began their journey to Ponyville. Team B1 Twilight opened her eyes to find the sky dark, the carriage bumping along a dirt road filled with potholes, a particularly large one having jolted her awake. She sat up immediately, sensing that something was amiss. They must have arrived by now, right, unless they'd caught up to Team One. Twilight rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and moved over to the window, pushing it up and sticking her head out, peering through the darkness to catch sight of where they were. She stared into the gloom for a good thirty seconds before catching sight of something white flash through the darkness, reflecting the moonlight into her eyes. She turned her head towards the front of the cart to try and track the movement, the reflecting light now a constant flashing in her eye. Her eyes ran over a figure cloaked in both shadows and iron, the two mixing and mingling to create an armour that made the creature hard to pinpoint, if not for the reflected light and dust clouds it was kicking up. It's face was cloaked from her view but there were slots for its ears, or what she assumed was it's ears. There were two crescent shapes coming up out of the hood, one on each side of it's head, and each seemed to be either scaled or ridged multiple times, the moonlight gliding gracefully across the appendages. It's hooves, or what she guessed was hooves due to her lack of sight, made no noise on the uneven ground and it appeared to have neither a mane nor a tail, the close fitting armour giving that away for her. The cart bounced once more and she slammed her head into the upper portion of the window, the purple mare biting her tongue and squeaking in pain. She pulled her head back into the cart to prevent getting caught but she knew it was too late the minute the cart started slowing. She quickly woke Rainbow Dash and Applejack up, silencing their questions and protests instantly and getting them ready to face the creature. The cart finally stopped, the creature drawing it out and giving them time to get ready to fight, and Twilight didn't doubt that it was on purpose. Twilight frantically looked around the cabin for something to fight with and also watched as Rainbow Dash and Applejack lined themselves up on either side of the door, their rumps facing the center of the cart, preparing to buck the creature into oblivion. Then the window exploded inwards, the creature coming in right behind the glass and grabbing Twilight, sweeping her off into the darkness before either of the other mares could respond. They immediately rushed for the window, Rainbow Dash flying high into the sky to try and catch sight of her while Applejack rushed straight into the darkness, hoping desperately to catch up to the creature that took her friend. Neither of them caught sight of the dark creature or even a hint of Twilight. She was gone and they were lost, alone and afraid in the dark. Groggy That was the first thing that Twilight felt when she woke up, her eyes opening in a fruitless attempt to bat away the darkness. But too bad for her she was swimming in darkness and shadows, so thick and undisturbed it was almost tangible, and so close to simply suffocating her, cutting one of the many needed elements of survival. Luckily for her though the darkness embraces all, even those who despise and fear it. "No need to fear now sweet Twilight," a voice hissed right beside her head, "you'll be perfectly safe now." Twilight didn't hesitate, swinging her head away from the voice and bringing it back as hard as she could, bracing for an impact, but only finding the feeling of something curling around her face, as though caressing it but also as though it wasn't there. "Shh, it will all be okay now, just sleep." Twilight felt her eyelids growing heavy and knew there was nothing she could do, at least in the condition she was in now. And so she slept. Team B2 Fluttershy was gazing out the window, simply watching as the scenery passed by in a dull shift, her attention peaking when a dark shape passed by the window in a blur, much faster than the rest of the scenery. She leaned forward against the window, smushing her snout against it in an attempt to see the figure once more. "Did either of you see that," she asked, turning back to Rarity and Pinkie. "See what dear," Rarity asked. "There was...something," Fluttershy answered sheepishly. "There's always something," Pinkie replied with a smile. "Yeah but this was...different," she said, growing quiet as she noticed that they had gone back to their own devices. It was another thirty minutes before she saw the creature again, this time further away from the trail but still somewhat visible. It was too dark to make out an particular details but she got the feeling that it wasn't there to be friends. "Girls, there's really something out there," Fluttershy said, her voice wavering a bit. This got the attention of the other two and they slid over to the window, peering out along with her. "Just wait for it," Fluttershy whispered. They didn't have to wait long, in fact it was only about a ten minute wait before the figure flew last, two more of them in tow. Rarity was the first to react, making her way over to the door and throwing it open, leaning out to yell something to the guard driving them, only getting out a small sound before being snatched away into the opposite direction the cart was driving. Things were silent for all of ten seconds, Pinkie beginning to move towards the door to close it before something got in but only making it halfway before the cart tipped onto its side, slamming down onto the side with the window and throwing Pinkie back into Fluttershy, knocking the wind out of her and causing a small cracking sound from the window. There was a sharp yell outside the carriage but neither of the mares dared move, simply sitting there and trying to calm their racing heartbeats, waiting for the next moment to bring something even worse than the last, but nothing else happened and all was silent as the sun began to set. "Do you think the-" Fluttershy began, being cut off abruptly as the side of the cart with the door was ripped off, filling the room with light and giving Fluttershy just enough time to see the party canon in Pinkie's hooves before it blew, nearly destroying Fluttershy's ear drums in the small space. Fluttershy lay there for a good five minutes as she waited for her hearing to return, waiting for the white noise to disappear so she could actually achieve something. Her hearing did return, and just in time to hear Pinkie return from somewhere, peering over the edge of the overturned carriage down at her friend. "Come on Fluttershy, we have a long walk to Ponyville," she said, waiting patiently for her friend to flap her way out. "What was that," Fluttershy asked. "We'll probably find out eventually, for now we just have to get to Ponyville and get Spike, and Gummy too," Pinkie replied. "Alright then," Fluttershy replied, stepping up beside Pinkie, gazing around at the darkness falling and gulping. "Lets please hurry." "Ah, I was wondering when you would wake up," a voice greeted Rarity, the same voice from the courtyard in Canterlot. "Your other...Alicorn friend has woken up already, although she's asleep now. It's funny, she wasn't an alicorn when we last faced against each other. Then again I didn't have all this power last time we faced." Rarity slowly opened her eyes to find her surroundings completely black. She shifted around a bit and came to the conclusion that she was tied to a chair, and in a rather uncomfortable position as well, sitting completely upright with her hooves tied together behind her. "Don't bother trying to escape, it's no use," the voice hissed, sounding so close but so far away at the same time. "Ah, so you are more reserved than your friend, that will do just fine, little miss Rarity. Oh yes, I know exactly who you are, I have prime sources, and they tell me that you've actually let yourself be influenced by the darkness once before. Why not try just one more time?" Rarity felt her willpower being bent, turning against her will. And then she sensed a break in the pressure forcing her will to bend, quickly grappling onto that release and forcing her way away from the pressure, the battle of wills causing her to begin breathing heavily and sweat, the beads forming on her brow and dripping down, and then it was gone, leaving her leaning away from the chair, the bonds the only thing holding her up. "Ah, so you've a strong will, I shall respect that for now, after all, I have all the time I wish now, after all, now that I have two of the elements I'm guaranteed not to be defeated," the voice said with a smug sound to it. "Wh-who are you," Rarity asked. "Ah-ah, too soon for names, we haven't even spent all of ten minutes together yet, and I'm very picky with my close ones," the voice whispered right in her ear, making her shiver. "For now though, I have things to deal with, more elements to steal, and world domination to plan, goodbye for now Rarity, I'll let you fall asleep on your own this time, you're not too far away." And then she sensed that she was finally alone in the darkness. Completely and utterly alone. She began to silently cry, her tears drying up long before she fell asleep. Author's Note OoOoOoOoOoO who could the villain possibly be (I swear I put essentially a neon sign in there pointing to the villain). Well either way you guys are welcome to guess, but for now I won't deny or approve any guesses (unless you happen to be so far off as to end up being right somehow (this has happened before (I kid you not)))
A Third (Fourth?) ChanceThe heat, the pain, and the emotional turmoil going on inside of Dust were the only things he was aware of in his last moments. Having Gaius drop himself into the pit of lava that was coming up to consume Dust had already fractured his already broken and tattered soul, even if Gaius had slain thousands of innocents, nobody deserved to die in a volcano like he was about to. And then there was the exchange between him and Fidget that had hurt him even more than anything so far, not even the pain of failing Bopo could compare to seeing Fidget and Ginger cry like that and knowing that he couldn't do anything about it. Maybe it was that pain that ultimately saved him, the pain that caused his fused souls to finally crack and have a falling out, or maybe it was just dumb luck. Dust opened his eyes one last time before the lava swarmed over him and found a light shimmering over his skin, and then he was under the lava. "This is grave my dear sister," Celestia muttered as she looked though the telescope in Luna's room. It was about midday in Equestria and the two celestial rulers of the land were currently gathered in the younger one's room. Luna's mane looked as though a bird had tried making a nest in it and her eyes had dark circles under them, giving the impression that she hadn't slept long. "What is it Tia," Luna grumbled, standing behind her older sibling. Well, standing wasn't exactly the right word to use for what Luna was doing, she seemed as though she was about to fall over at the slightest breeze that ran through the room. "Right there, just look," Celestia said, stepping back from the telescope and offering the sight to Luna. Luna stepped up to the telescope with a soft sigh, looking through the eyepiece just to get it over with and to get her sister to leave so she could sleep in peace. What she saw though made we pause and look as her sister. "Do my eyes play tricks on me," Luna asked, more to herself than her sister. "Nope," Celestia replied hurriedly, "both Twilight Sparkle and Cadence have seen it." "What is it," Luna asked, looking at her sister. "We don't know." Discord had been having a rather normal day, or at least as normal as things could get around him, with Fluttershy accompanying him on his random list of daily activities. And random it was. "So, um, why do we have to get these Tai berries, If you don't mind me asking that is," Fluttershy asked as the two of them hovered down the rocky road high in the mountains. "Of course not, Fluttershy dear. I am baking a pie sometime tomorrow and the berries go perfectly with it," Discord replied. "Oh, well I can't wait to taste it," Fluttershy replied, offering him a smile. "Can't wait to taste what," Discord asked. "The pie," Fluttershy replied, giving him a curious look. "Oh...we have pie," Discord asked with something of a laugh in his voice. Then again that laugh never left his voice. "No, you said you were going to make one," Fluttershy replied, thoroughly confused now. "Well I don't remember anything about a pie," Discord replied. "Oh, well alright then," Fluttershy replied, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She was really looking forward to that pie. "I'm just joking Fluttershy, I am making a pie and I promise you'll get the first piece," Discord said after bursting out into laughter. Fluttershy laughed weakly and turned her head to the horizon where the sky was slowly turning orange due to the setting sun. Or at least it should have been turning orange. Instead there was only darkness where there should have been a clear sky. "Discord, what is that," Fluttershy asked, stopping and trembling a bit as fear creeped into her voice. Discord followed her gaze, the colour literally draining out of his face and leaving him white. Accompanied by the bleak look on his face, it didn't look as though the darkness was there for a tea party. "Fluttershy, we have to leave. Now," Discord said, his voice missing the eternal laugh, replaced instead with genuine fear. Before Fluttershy could say another word she was in Celestia's throne room, surrounded by the confused faces, and worried in Twilight's case, of her friends. Celestia sat on her throne, blinking in surprise at the sight of so many ponies, accompanied by the Draconequus, simply appearing in her throne room. "What are you doing here," Celestia asked, quickly recovering her composure. "The darkness," was all Discord said. Celestia responded instantly, narrowing her eyes at Discord. "What do you know of it?" "I created it, a few thousand years ago," Discord said. "The history of it isn't important but what is important is that we've got to stop it." "How," Twilight asked. "I don't know," Discord replied honestly. "What do you mean you don't know," Rainbow Dash practically shouted, flying in front of his face. "You made it!" "Precisely, I made it, doesn't mean I know how to destroy it," he replied to the mare. "The line, 'I made you, I can take you out of this world as well,' isn't always true." "Well then what do we do," Rarity asked. "I don't know, Element of Harmony it up girls," Discord said. "Can they even do anything against it? From what I've gathered it's pure darkness," Twilight said, "I doubt that the Elements could even penetrate it?" "What do you mean, of course they can," Discord replied, giving Twilight a harsh glare for doubting him, "they're pure harmo...ny..." "Exactly," Twilight replied. "Uh, could somepony explain what exactly they're talkin' 'bout for those of us who don't know everything about magic," Applejack asked. Twilight cleared her throat as if she was preparing to give a speech, "Well when Discord did th-" "Discord made our Elements partly chaotic so now they're not pure harmony anymore," Pinkie cut in, realizing that with Twilight explaining it would take hours and nopony would understand. "So there's a chance that if we went to fight it then we wouldn't do anything," Rainbow Dash asked. "...Well so what, it's our duty to either save Equestria or lose our lives in the process, we are the Elements of Harmony after all!" The other five mare's of the group murmured in agreement and Celestia asked, "So you're all in agreement to this idea?" After each mare voiced that she was Celestia sighed and turned to Discord. "Are you sure there's no other way?" "I don't know, I banished it to another universe before, but I can only assume that it's learned how to cross universes on its own," he replied, crushing the hopes of everyone in the room. "So, I suppose we should get the Elements now," Twilight said. "Discord, if you wouldn't mind." Discord snapped his claws and the Elements of Harmony appeared around the neck of each ones respective wearer. That was when things essentially blew up. Discord was in the center of the circle of mares when a beam shot out of each Element, each adding to the circle that was now enclosing Discord and drawing energy from him. He could feel the energy being pulled from him and he faintly recognized the feeling of the magic that was being activated. "Guys, something's coming to our world," Discord yelled, trying to slam his way out of the ball. The mares on the other side tried helping, accompanied by Celestia, but none of them could cause a single break in the circle of multicoloured light. Discord suddenly felt a piercing pain that stabbed through his head, right behind his eyes, and left him screaming on the floor of the ball. The girls backed away from the ball and after a few seconds everything grew quiet. The revolutions of the ball grew slower until it eventually stopped and came apart in pieces that floated up into the air and dissipated. "Guys," Discord said as his claws touched the ground, "may I present you with Dust, Ahrah, and Fidget, the three creatures who are going to help us destroy that darkness."
The Personality DilemmaDust opened his eyes and instantly shut them, the light coming down from above too bright for his eyes to handle at the moment. "He seems to be fine," a voice reached his ears, "and this creature over here as well." "What about the sword," another voice asked. "What do you mean, it's a sword," a third voice countered. Dust's brain couldn't process everything that was currently going on and instead began to slow down and process one simple thing at a time, mainly by trying to move his supposedly dead body. He was dead, right? He distinctly remembered being covered in lava, the last thing he saw between his tears being- "Ginger, Fidget," he yelled, sitting up quickly and looking around. Tell sunlight blinded him at first and he covered his eyes with a hand, peering through the cracks in his fingers to see...ponies. Technicolor ponies sitting around him. And another creature that looked like nothing he'd ever faced before. He leapt to his feet and away from the group his hand immediately going to where Ahrah would have been on his hip, had Ahrah actually been there instead of on the floor a few feet behind the group he was facing. Everything seemed to be frozen, him and the other...he counted a total of seven others in the room with him, and was evaluating how he could get past them to Ahrah, stiffening up once a voice eminated from right behind him, the entity close enough to stir up the wind around Dust. "Now, now, we mean you no harm, and if you intend to do us harm then I wish for you to please leave," the motherly yet stern voice said. Dust pivoted on his heel to face the figure and found another like the ponies behind him except this one was about as tall as him, making him back up a step. "I...am sorry," he said, Jun rising up to the surface, "I did not mean to scare you. I was simply startled at..." "Being alive," the odd creature said. "Precisely," Dust admitted. "How did..." "I connected, I suppose that would be the word, I connected with you when you crossed over," the creature said. "I know what happened right before you died and I know what you, Fidget, and Ahrah have been through so far. Now look, we have no time to deal with all of this right now, I need you to get your friends and we have to leave right away if we're going to get to the disaster area fast enough." "Discor-" the larger pony began. "Not now princess," the creature said, giving her a look, "I'll explain when I get back." "Make sure you come back then." Dust moved over to Ahrah slowly, not sure what exactly was going on at the moment, and picked up the sword, examining it for a few moments and running a hand over the blade. Cold. The blade was never cold before, it had always been humming with some internal magic, something that not even Fidget had understood entirely, as she had explained one night at the campfire. At that thought the specific wording of how the creature had said friend came back to him and his eyes scanned the room, landing on a space in the center of the six little ponies. Dust moved over to them and they parted, allowing him to see the unmoving body of Fidget. He picked her up gingerly and paused until he felt the small beating of her heart, giving a small sigh of relief. Dust stood up and looked at the creatures around him, his mind simply stopping for a moment before rebooting, but some part of him felt wrong, almost as though there was an intruder in his head. Jin, you're being too nice, you must at least question something, or you risk falling into submission. Before Dust could even comprehend what exactly was going on in his head his mouth opened and he said, "We're not going anywhere until you explain what's going on and why we should help you." Cassius, what are you doing, stop wasting time, these creatures obviously need our help. Tch, typical Moonblood supporter. "STOP IT," Dust yelled, clamping his free hand to his head, giving a small groan due to the pain. He pulled his hand away and looked up to see the eight inhabitants of the room all looking at him, each one except the odd one giving him a frightened look. "It's Cassius and Jin, isn't it," the creature asked. "Yes, and it hurts," Dust replied. "I'll explain what's happening on t-" it began, Dust cutting it off. "No, tell me something now or I'll assume that Cassius is actually right about something for once." "All of the magic currently in this world is currently being drained by a darkness, including the magic in Ahrah. That was the one thing keeping Jin and Cassius separated in your mind and now that it's gone, Cassius is trying to gain control." At the beginning of his elaboration, the three ponies with horns all seemed to try something, each one seeming to come to the same conclusion that whatever they were trying wasn't accomplishing anything. "Discord, what about your magic," the larger pony asked. "Drained as well, which is why we're still here," Discord replied. "Well if you're walking there then let-" the large pony began, Discord cutting her off. "No, the other six would get in the way and Equestria needs you right now because there are going to be a lot of panicking ponies who have lost their magic." "I don't feel safe having you leave out on your own with this creature, no matter what you say so ho-" "No guards." She was silent for a few minutes before looking at Discord and saying, "This is my final ultimatum then, you take Luna with you or you don't go anywhere and I'll take in this 'Dust' for questioning." Dust could tell that Discord was defeated in the subtle signs of his posture, but his voice held no trace of defeat as he said, "Fine, we accept your offer." A half hour later the three of them had survival packs situated on their backs, or in Dust's case his inventory, and were setting off for wherever Discord was leading them. Dust studied the dark pony that had joined him and she studied him, none of the three speaking until they had settled down for the night and started a camp fire. Dust held the limp body of Fidget in his hand, holding a thumb over her heart to assure himself that she was still alive. He was starting to really worry about her. "Don't feet Dust, she'll be fine, I promise you," Discord said, causing Dust and the dark pony to turn their heads. "In the meantime why don't we share a little and get to know a bit about each other." "You mean me and her," Dust said, giving the dark pony a quick glance. "Er, well, yes. Seeming as how I know both of you pretty well I was thinking I could st-" "I am not so antisocial so as not to be able to start and hold a competent conversation Discord," the dark pony said, turning to Dust. "I am Princess Luna, one of the four Alicorn's of this land and ruler over the night time and dreams of Equestria." "I am..." Dust paused as three answers suddenly rushed to the front of his head, each one battling to escape his mouth but instead forming what felt like a physical blockade in his throat, causing him to stop breathing almost immediately. "Oh no," Discord muttered a moment before Dust passed out from a loss of oxygen. "Dust, Dust wake up, please wake up, I need you." The familiar voice reached Dust's ears and he cracked his eyes open, feeling like he'd just died a second time within twenty-four hours. "F-Fidget," he moaned, lifting a hand up to his forehead and sitting up a bit. "She's fine Dust, but are you," Discord replied, helping him back up. "Yeah, I just...you know, Cassius and Jin..." Dust answered. "Discord he is not fine, he needs medical help immediately, he was dead for a good ten seconds there," Luna said, looking pointedly at Dust and wondering what had just happened. "How are you still alive," Discord asked him, looking just a bit worried. "I...think I know how," Dust replied, rooting around in his inventory for a few seconds before making a red crystal appeared in his hand. "A revival stone," he replied, "glad to know that they still work in this world." "So am I," Discord said, "because we may need these along the way." "Are you saying we might die," Luna asked. "There's a good chance." That was enough to kill the talk for the rest of the night and they finished their meal before putting the fire out and laying down to sleep, which turned out to be especially hard for Dust, who kept gazing at the part of the sky were the dark cloud was, evident by the lack of stars in the area as well as the constant distraction of reaching over to feel for Fidget's heartbeat to comfort himself. "You cannot sleep either," Luna whispered to him over Discord's soft snores. "No, I just find this all so surreal and find myself wondering if I'm even still alive," Dust replied. "Why wouldn't you be," Luna asked, "especially with those stones of yours." "They're not resistant to lava," was all Dust said, leaving the rest to Luna. "I see...I think," was all she said. "So what was that episode earlier?" "I have...three minds in here right now," he said, "it's a long story actually and I don't want to bore you." "Please, do bore me," Luna replied, making Dust give a small laugh. "Alright, I warned you," he said, telling his tale. He unconsciously reached a hand over and felt for Fidget's heartbeat one last time before beginning, his thoughts coming together with the comfort of the tiny beats of it. "It all started with a race of creatures called Moonblood's and a general named Gaius..." Author's Note So this was written today within five hours and my Kindle has a really stupid auto-correct on it so if you see any errors or words where they make don't make sense or replacing 'the' let me know (it really hates the, despite the fact that I've thrown in into the dictionary like eighty times now).
Team One and Team BCelestia waited for a total of twenty minutes after the first group had left, watching the Elements of Harmony and Luna's personal night guard create ruts in the throne room with pacing. After the time was up she got up and said, "Twilight, I need you and your friends to begin heading back to Ponyville and get your stuff ready to follow Discord and Luna, bring anything you think will be of use. I want you to bring Spike along with you and I want you to wait until you get too far to turn back before you reveal yourself, okay?" Twilight looked at Celestia as though she had grown a second head, her mentor suddenly turning deceptive on her giving her a bit of a startle. "Y-yes princess, we'll be right on it," Twilight responded, giving her mentor a nod. "Guards, prepare a cart to take them back to Ponyville immediately and if you see Discord and Luna and that creature then go around them and please try to stay low profile, give them a regular grade cart," Celestia said, waiting for the order to be obeyed and smiling a little as ten guards instantly rushed to obey her. "They're Team One and we're Team B," Pinkie said as they exited the throne room, surprising her companions with the sudden outburst. "Wouldn't we be Team Two then," Rainbow Dash asked. "Well they'll be expecting that," Pinkie countered, "the princess said not to reveal ourselves until we get too far, and if they hear about a Team B while they're Team One then they won't suspect a thing." "But sugarcube wouldn't they have to know they were Team One already to not suspect...nevermind, this is hurting mah head," Applejack said, grimacing as she tried to understand Pinkie's logic. "Just roll with it AJ," Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes, "nopony'll ever understand Pinkie's logic." "Okay, so it looks like they're heading northwards, that means that they'll eventually hit the tundra, so I say once we hit the area where it starts to become barren is when we show ourselves, there won't be enough shops to supply us and by then we probably won't have enough food to make a trip back," Twilight said, talking more to herself than her friends. "Umm, quick question," Rarity spoke up, "if there's only enough food to get us there then how are we supposed to get back?" "That's easy, we use our magic," she replied. "So, we either succeed or d-die," Fluttershy said, quieting everyone. Twilight was silent, facing her five greatest friends in the world, knowing that this could very well be their final quest for the nation of Equestria. "No, this is just another mission to protect our loved ones, and we're not dying you got that? I'll carry you if I have to, but nopony is going to die on my watch." There was a dark and foreboding laugh that seemed to echo around the group of mares, making each one shiver in fear. "Words, words, words, saying something is simply one end of the deal, but will you hold up when it truly becomes time to hold up on your end of the deal?" The voice that was attached to the laugh had the same effect, but tenfold, making Fluttershy nearly burst into tears, and even making Rainbow Dash to weak in the knees. "I'll be seeing you again soon girls." And then it was gone, leaving a heavy feeling in the stomach of each mare. They each passed a look between the other, all of them wondering the same thing, but none of them willing to voice the question. Again? Before any of them could break the silence two carts rolled up to them. Three mares piled into each cart, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack getting in one and Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie getting into the other. They each began their journey to Ponyville. Team B1 Twilight opened her eyes to find the sky dark, the carriage bumping along a dirt road filled with potholes, a particularly large one having jolted her awake. She sat up immediately, sensing that something was amiss. They must have arrived by now, right, unless they'd caught up to Team One. Twilight rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and moved over to the window, pushing it up and sticking her head out, peering through the darkness to catch sight of where they were. She stared into the gloom for a good thirty seconds before catching sight of something white flash through the darkness, reflecting the moonlight into her eyes. She turned her head towards the front of the cart to try and track the movement, the reflecting light now a constant flashing in her eye. Her eyes ran over a figure cloaked in both shadows and iron, the two mixing and mingling to create an armour that made the creature hard to pinpoint, if not for the reflected light and dust clouds it was kicking up. It's face was cloaked from her view but there were slots for its ears, or what she assumed was it's ears. There were two crescent shapes coming up out of the hood, one on each side of it's head, and each seemed to be either scaled or ridged multiple times, the moonlight gliding gracefully across the appendages. It's hooves, or what she guessed was hooves due to her lack of sight, made no noise on the uneven ground and it appeared to have neither a mane nor a tail, the close fitting armour giving that away for her. The cart bounced once more and she slammed her head into the upper portion of the window, the purple mare biting her tongue and squeaking in pain. She pulled her head back into the cart to prevent getting caught but she knew it was too late the minute the cart started slowing. She quickly woke Rainbow Dash and Applejack up, silencing their questions and protests instantly and getting them ready to face the creature. The cart finally stopped, the creature drawing it out and giving them time to get ready to fight, and Twilight didn't doubt that it was on purpose. Twilight frantically looked around the cabin for something to fight with and also watched as Rainbow Dash and Applejack lined themselves up on either side of the door, their rumps facing the center of the cart, preparing to buck the creature into oblivion. Then the window exploded inwards, the creature coming in right behind the glass and grabbing Twilight, sweeping her off into the darkness before either of the other mares could respond. They immediately rushed for the window, Rainbow Dash flying high into the sky to try and catch sight of her while Applejack rushed straight into the darkness, hoping desperately to catch up to the creature that took her friend. Neither of them caught sight of the dark creature or even a hint of Twilight. She was gone and they were lost, alone and afraid in the dark. Groggy That was the first thing that Twilight felt when she woke up, her eyes opening in a fruitless attempt to bat away the darkness. But too bad for her she was swimming in darkness and shadows, so thick and undisturbed it was almost tangible, and so close to simply suffocating her, cutting one of the many needed elements of survival. Luckily for her though the darkness embraces all, even those who despise and fear it. "No need to fear now sweet Twilight," a voice hissed right beside her head, "you'll be perfectly safe now." Twilight didn't hesitate, swinging her head away from the voice and bringing it back as hard as she could, bracing for an impact, but only finding the feeling of something curling around her face, as though caressing it but also as though it wasn't there. "Shh, it will all be okay now, just sleep." Twilight felt her eyelids growing heavy and knew there was nothing she could do, at least in the condition she was in now. And so she slept. Team B2 Fluttershy was gazing out the window, simply watching as the scenery passed by in a dull shift, her attention peaking when a dark shape passed by the window in a blur, much faster than the rest of the scenery. She leaned forward against the window, smushing her snout against it in an attempt to see the figure once more. "Did either of you see that," she asked, turning back to Rarity and Pinkie. "See what dear," Rarity asked. "There was...something," Fluttershy answered sheepishly. "There's always something," Pinkie replied with a smile. "Yeah but this was...different," she said, growing quiet as she noticed that they had gone back to their own devices. It was another thirty minutes before she saw the creature again, this time further away from the trail but still somewhat visible. It was too dark to make out an particular details but she got the feeling that it wasn't there to be friends. "Girls, there's really something out there," Fluttershy said, her voice wavering a bit. This got the attention of the other two and they slid over to the window, peering out along with her. "Just wait for it," Fluttershy whispered. They didn't have to wait long, in fact it was only about a ten minute wait before the figure flew last, two more of them in tow. Rarity was the first to react, making her way over to the door and throwing it open, leaning out to yell something to the guard driving them, only getting out a small sound before being snatched away into the opposite direction the cart was driving. Things were silent for all of ten seconds, Pinkie beginning to move towards the door to close it before something got in but only making it halfway before the cart tipped onto its side, slamming down onto the side with the window and throwing Pinkie back into Fluttershy, knocking the wind out of her and causing a small cracking sound from the window. There was a sharp yell outside the carriage but neither of the mares dared move, simply sitting there and trying to calm their racing heartbeats, waiting for the next moment to bring something even worse than the last, but nothing else happened and all was silent as the sun began to set. "Do you think the-" Fluttershy began, being cut off abruptly as the side of the cart with the door was ripped off, filling the room with light and giving Fluttershy just enough time to see the party canon in Pinkie's hooves before it blew, nearly destroying Fluttershy's ear drums in the small space. Fluttershy lay there for a good five minutes as she waited for her hearing to return, waiting for the white noise to disappear so she could actually achieve something. Her hearing did return, and just in time to hear Pinkie return from somewhere, peering over the edge of the overturned carriage down at her friend. "Come on Fluttershy, we have a long walk to Ponyville," she said, waiting patiently for her friend to flap her way out. "What was that," Fluttershy asked. "We'll probably find out eventually, for now we just have to get to Ponyville and get Spike, and Gummy too," Pinkie replied. "Alright then," Fluttershy replied, stepping up beside Pinkie, gazing around at the darkness falling and gulping. "Lets please hurry." "Ah, I was wondering when you would wake up," a voice greeted Rarity, the same voice from the courtyard in Canterlot. "Your other...Alicorn friend has woken up already, although she's asleep now. It's funny, she wasn't an alicorn when we last faced against each other. Then again I didn't have all this power last time we faced." Rarity slowly opened her eyes to find her surroundings completely black. She shifted around a bit and came to the conclusion that she was tied to a chair, and in a rather uncomfortable position as well, sitting completely upright with her hooves tied together behind her. "Don't bother trying to escape, it's no use," the voice hissed, sounding so close but so far away at the same time. "Ah, so you are more reserved than your friend, that will do just fine, little miss Rarity. Oh yes, I know exactly who you are, I have prime sources, and they tell me that you've actually let yourself be influenced by the darkness once before. Why not try just one more time?" Rarity felt her willpower being bent, turning against her will. And then she sensed a break in the pressure forcing her will to bend, quickly grappling onto that release and forcing her way away from the pressure, the battle of wills causing her to begin breathing heavily and sweat, the beads forming on her brow and dripping down, and then it was gone, leaving her leaning away from the chair, the bonds the only thing holding her up. "Ah, so you've a strong will, I shall respect that for now, after all, I have all the time I wish now, after all, now that I have two of the elements I'm guaranteed not to be defeated," the voice said with a smug sound to it. "Wh-who are you," Rarity asked. "Ah-ah, too soon for names, we haven't even spent all of ten minutes together yet, and I'm very picky with my close ones," the voice whispered right in her ear, making her shiver. "For now though, I have things to deal with, more elements to steal, and world domination to plan, goodbye for now Rarity, I'll let you fall asleep on your own this time, you're not too far away." And then she sensed that she was finally alone in the darkness. Completely and utterly alone. She began to silently cry, her tears drying up long before she fell asleep. Author's Note OoOoOoOoOoO who could the villain possibly be (I swear I put essentially a neon sign in there pointing to the villain). Well either way you guys are welcome to guess, but for now I won't deny or approve any guesses (unless you happen to be so far off as to end up being right somehow (this has happened before (I kid you not)))
