The Dark Zoner

Suspicion in the Air

“Dad!” Rainbow Dash grabbed at the cage’s bars and started to shake them. “Get away from him, Twilight, you monster!” The cage rattled loudly but she couldn’t break the bonds and was forced to watch the Zoner overtake her father.

“Not everyone can hold onto this moment. There are many that would like to be in your situation.” Twilight giggled as she brushed her lips off of his, completely ignoring everything else around her.

“I’m sure the masses are just waiting in line for you!” Reiner spat in sarcasm.

“True, you’d think that, since I’m a monster. But everyone here, knows how the birds and the bees for the Zoners work.” Twilight shook her head pitifully at Reiner’s reaction. “Everypony is afraid of being the Fated Partner but that’s a gamble, there’s only one. So odds are, they aren’t! Can you imagine how many ponies saddle up to me every night and day when they realize that they and I aren’t Fated?”

Reiner looked like he was about to say something but he couldn’t get the words out. Twilight laughed some more at this, “It’s not like I take them on their offers!” The look of disgust momentarily left Reiner’s face. “At least, not most of them.” Reiner sputtered as his face turned into a raging red. “My, jealous, are we?”

“You Lunar ponies are all the same, liberal-minded sickos!”

“And, you Celestian ponies are stuck up and too serious. That‘s no fun but you are still my favorite, Reiner.” Twilight held her head low near his armored chest and laid her ear against the metal surface. “I don’t mind, since we are Fated.”

The two of them laid on the floor for a few moments. The silence was finally broken as they noticed a metal clanging in the corner of the observatory. Rainbow Dash was shaking the cage so hard now that it was hopping up and down.

When Twilight got up to look at Rainbow Dash, a bit dumbfounded for some reason, Reiner took this chance to sneak up on her and pulled out his knife to stab her in the back of her neck.

Twilight howled in pain just as the chains holding the other pegasus and the cage holding Rainbow Dash turned white before they magically vanished to dust. The pegasi fell to the floor from their spots on the wall, the 5 foot crash was enough to wake them out of their apparent unconsciousness.

“Everypony, get out, fly back to Canterlot!” Reiner gasped as Twilight pulled the knife out with a spray of blood and lunged at him. The Starlight Pegasi weren’t sure if they should help their General or not.

They made up their minds when a horde of Shadowguards came into the room.

Everypony pulled out their weapon of choice and started attacking the other. Rainbow Dash only sat on her flank in astonishment. There was screams of pain as each pony was cutting another pony up but even with the pain they continued on.

She was in the corner, away from everypony so no one really took notice of her as she stood there. Her father was busy fighting Twilight, unarmed, until a couple of Shadowguards snuck up behind him. She was about to shout to him but he quickly bucked the pegasus guard behind him hard into the wall and did a 180 degree turn and grabbed the unicorn guard and slammed him flat on the floor before pulling out the unconscious guard’s sword.

“What are you going to do, stab me again?” Twilight shook her head in disappointment. “You surprised me there, Reiny, I didn’t expect that from you.” Reiner twisted his neck before flinging the sword out of his mouth at Twilight. Her eyes shot open as her horn glowed purple and she stopped the blade in midair, inches from her chest.

Before she could say anything, Reiner smirked and said, “Distraction!” Just as he exploded vertically into the air in a sonic boom. Everypony stopped what they were doing and watched the Starlight General shoot into the air. A few had their mouths open in awestruck.

He started to blur for a few seconds as he neared the glass ceiling before a thunderous explosion took place. Everything turned white from where he was before a burst of multiple colors exploded in all directions. The entire ceiling overhead just shattered.

All of the Shadowguards started to run back into the hallway in a panic as millions of sharp glass shards were falling down onto them. The Starlights, Rainbow, and Twilight didn’t move for a few seconds. The Starlight Pegasi and Rainbow smirked inwardly since they knew how to handle this, they were the elite fliers after all.

They all shot into the air, expertly dodging the falling glass, one of them got cut but she dodged it enough to only warrant a small cut. A few of the Shadowguard pegasus saw this as they were running and decided to chase after the Starlights. They were poorly able to maneuver around the giant glass pieces, unlike their Celestian counterparts, and many fell to their doom.

Twilight sighed as a small purple shield hovered over her and bounced the glass off of her, effortlessly. When all was said and done, the Starlights were gone. Her trap failed and she didn’t kill or maim any Starlights this time. And, they lost a dozen Shadowguards.

She closed her eyes as her horn glowed purple and the shattered glass around her began to glow purple also. The glass started flying back into the air and piecing themselves back into the ceiling, all of the blood stained glass also began to clean themselves. This only took less than a minute.

Twilight looked at the fallen Shadowguards around the area and sighed deeply once more. “They’re fresh.” She said to herself just as the retreated guards returned back into the observatory room. They all slowly approached Twilight with curious looks on their frame.

She slowly walked up to each corpse before stabbing her foot-long horn into the corpses’ chest. Just as she pulled out, the hole she punctured closed up immediately. Each fallen Shadowguard shot up with their eyes wide open and started hacking blood.

“Get yourselves cleaned up.” Twilight closed her eyes and started walking away. “Just because you died doesn’t mean you can laze around in bloody filth.”

All the stallions and mares looked at her exiting the open hall with star struck eyes. Because she was a Zoner, she was too far for them to reach but also because she was a Zoner they could be closer to her than anypony else. She truly is Princess Luna’s Firstborn.

“Hay…what a flank…!” A guard suddenly said when she was out of earshot as they watched her retreating behind.

Everypony looked at the earth mare who blushed furiously. “It’s true.” She said shamelessly. They all shook their heads and silently agreed, nodding.

XOX

“I don’t think they’re following us!” One of the Starlights said above the rush of wind. Everypony took a glance behind them and saw that he was right. They started to slow their flight, still not stopping though, back towards Canterlot.

“Well, this mission was a failure.” Another one said solemnly. No pony tried to argue with him. They never had trouble defending their homeland but when they were at the enemy’s front they rarely saw an important mission completed aside from the few sabotages and small battles.

At least, no pony came back dead this time, they all agreed.

“Where do you think you’re all going?” An all too familiar voice woke them from their stupor. They looked up to see a purple unicorn lying on her belly atop a white cloud, watching them in earnest.

“Zoner!” They all cried out in a panic. They were all too tired to fight and all too tired to run, especially not a Zoner.

“The game’s not over yet.” Twilight stood on all legs and hopped off of the cloud. She raced down to their level. The pegasus were stunned to see the Zoner walking in the sky as if it was dirt.

Twilight Sparkle looked at them confused for a moment before a smile spread across her lips. “All planes are my domain. The ocean, the earth, and the sky! Just as my Mother gifted me.”

“Run.” Reiner silently said. Everypony weren’t sure what he was planning and hesitated for a few seconds. “Run!” He turned and screamed at them.

They all raced passed the smirking Zoner just as Reiner lunged at her and tackled her into a large puffy cloud.

Rainbow Dash was trailing behind her clan and took a glimpse back at her father. He was going to follow them after he distracted Twilight, right? For some reason, there was an ache in her chest that told her otherwise. She remembered his hatred for the pony.

Definitely not going to happen.

She slowly turned and flew back, taking a small grey cloud for cover. The giant cloud that she saw Reiner pushed Twilight into was sparking with electricity. She could see giant shadows dancing in the cloud. It was like watching some kind of surreal movie.

The giant shadow of a unicorn raised a hoof and smiled as her mouth opened and shut. She couldn’t hear what was being said since she was nowhere near but it seemed to hurt her father as the pegasus shadow’s mouth twisted into a snarl.

He narrowly dodged a bolt of lightning that shot out at him, the electric bolt spread out of the cloud when it missed. Her father was fast but he barely managed to dodge all of the shots as Twilight increased her intensity each time. There were so many, that a few almost hit Rainbow Dash even though she was half a mile away!

Rainbow Dash decided to jump in, she was tired of always watching her dad from the background! This is where they defeat a Zoner!

With both hoofs above her head, she flew in with lightning speed, the shadow of Twilight turned in astonishment before being knocked over. She quickly got back up and tried to shake the disorientation out of her head but Rainbow came above her head and delivered a swift kick down.

“Rainbow! What are you doing?!” Her father panicked when he saw his daughter beating on Twilight.

“I’m saving you, that’s what!” Rainbow raised a foreleg and punched a surprised Twilight in the face. This time though, she didn’t fly back and Rainbow’s leg felt like it hit iron.

“You shouldn’t have done that, little filly.” Twilight growled, Rainbow felt her entire body freeze up as a white glow wrapped around her body. Electricity began to fill the cloud. It started becoming thunderous.

“What the hay, Rainbow Dash?” Reiner lunged at Twilight, breaking her concentration. “Stop getting in my way!” Her father looked more annoyed than she expected.

“B-But—!” Rainbow tried to say but had to dodge an incoming burst of white lightning.

“I hear that pegasi are innately able to control the weather…,” Twilight started to say out loud, not really speaking to anypony in particular. “Try controlling this!” Beams of light were shooting sporadically from her horn.

“Twilight is a dangerous mare, she’s too powerful for you to handle!” Reiner chided his daughter. Surprisingly, he could dodge the lightning without even looking, he even slapped a bolt with his hoof with ease. Rainbow didn’t even try to argue with him, too astonished with how he was taking everything.

He seemed so weak earlier, but now he seems to have gained a whole new level of power. Is this her father when he’s angry? ‘Wow, just wow.’ She thought to herself.

For a moment, Rainbow considered trying to slap lightning with her hoof but reconsidered it. As much as a daredevil she was, now wasn’t the time to be testing her abilities.

When she saw Twilight’s attention momentarily leave her, she took the chance to use the cloud they were in to their advantage. Twilight seemed to have the same innate magic like pegasus ponies, if that’s true…she could use it against her.

“Rainbow!” Her father called out before getting scratched by a bolt of lightning.

“Sorry, dad!”

“Dad?” Twilight stopped as the purple returned to her eyes. Within seconds, Rainbow flew near Twilight with a piece of the giant cloud in tow. She started speeding faster and faster until the cloud became flat and thin before going around Twilight.

“I think I did that better than even Applejack!” Rainbow praised herself as she crossed her forelegs over her chest in pride.

Twilight looked so stunned, it wasn’t really because of her being captured but the method. Who in the world ever thought of using clouds as some kind of…restraint?

Her entire body was covered in the extremely tight cloud ‘duct tape’. Only her head was poking out, so she kind of looked like some weird form of caterpillars.

The childish and somewhat adorable look on the purple Zoner’s face immediately turned sour as her glare returned and it was forced fully on Rainbow Dash.

“I remember you now! You’re that Starlight from before!” Twilight started to struggle in her snare but it was like some sticky rubber band, forcing her body back into the tight squeeze no matter how much she struggled.

At this, Rainbow started to giggle, attempting to stifle her laughter to no avail.

“Think this is funny, do you? Try laughing again once I rip your organs out.”

“I’m sorry if I have trouble believing any of your threats, ‘Ms. Flying Cocoon‘.” Rainbow smirked.

Twilight’s mouth hung open in shock, she’s never had anyone treat her like that before, not even from an enemy.

“How dare you, I am Mother Luna’s Firstborn! My brother and sisters are nothing compared to me!” Her eyes and horn turned white as she started to stretch the cloud in a way that made it balloon out. There was a hiss sound as the purple returned in her eyes and the cloud band painfully bounded back and smacked her sides. Hard.

Rainbow Dash was going to throw another insult but her father had other ideas. He lunged at her and started to zoom far away from the bound unicorn monster.

“Hey, I wasn’t finish with taunting her!” Rainbow complained between her father’s forelegs.

“Dash, you almost got yourself killed!” Reiner said through his teeth. Rainbow started to take notice of the smell of burning copper and noticed that her father was bleeding, bleeding burnt blood. Apparently, slapping lightning wasn’t as easy as he made it look.

She looked up at her father’s face in concern, he wasn’t looking at her as he was too intent on heading home. Then, she looked over behind his shoulders to look at Twilight, they were too far gone now and Twilight was lost in the sunrise filled sky. There was a loud roar before a burst of waves gently shook the air around them.

Something told the filly that it was Twilight Sparkle, the dark Zoner. It was a bit depressing, considering what could have happened if she stayed a bit longer, but at the same time, it was amusing to see that she could poke fun at the greatest monster in the world without coming out harmed.

XOX

“And, then, I was like who’s the one who should be embarrassed here? Not the super-supreme-totally-awesome-spectacular-riffic Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow flew into the air with one hoof pointed proudly at her chest.

Her two friends looked at her speechless. Applejack was about to say something until she was interrupted by Fluttershy’s soft, “Yay!’, as the other mare was clapping with vigor.

“Now, I don’t have an inch of doubt that ya’ll fought the Zoner and all, but I do doubt that that’s what happened.” Applejack couldn’t really get herself to believe Dash’s story.

“Okay…,” Rainbow drawled out. “So, maybe I smudged the info a bit, it’s called showmanship!”

“No, it’s called telling tall tales, nothing short of lying.”

“Well, I did tie her up like a hog with a cloud!” Rainbow complained, she flew down near Applejack and held her head against the farm mare’s. “And, that’s the truth!”

Applejack glared back at Rainbow Dash, pushing against her friend’s face. She looked at Rainbow in the eyes with annoyance staring into Rainbow’s eyes for any sign before pulling back out of the glare fest in shock. Applejack looked up and down at her blue pegasus friend before shaking her head.

“You’re telling the truth?!” She shook her head and tilted her head down sideways. “Well, I be darn. Now ain’t that something?” Rainbow Dash smiled in victory. “For the fact that you told the truth, now, I gotta respect ya some for that!”

Rainbow’s smile dropped and she frowned. “Hey! I just took down Twilight! Give me some cred!”

“I respect you!” Fluttershy interrupted in a soft tone, making both ponies look at her. “I mean, if you don’t mind?” She blushed and turned away.

“Okay, jokes aside, are you crazy, R.D.?!” Applejack grabbed an apple off the table near her and took a bite out of it. “I mean, no pony,” She looked at Rainbow hesitantly, ”in their right mind would do something so reckless.”

“Are you saying that I’m weak?” Rainbow frowned as she landed on the ground.

“No, just mad, is all.” Applejack finished her apple and swallowed it with some effort. “No offense?”

“None taken.”

“I mean, Granny Smith told me a lot about Twilight Sparkle.” Applejack said the words as if they were a curse. “The Zoner is bad news, she can do things that you haven’t seen yet!

“I get that she’s a flying unicorn? What’s more to know?” Rainbow huffed and turned to her side.

“She’s the Zoner of Destruction, she can do so much without the aid of her real powers, that was just the tip of the iceberg. That Zoner is just playing around. She could have unleashed a horde of phantoms or other boogey monster on you with a flick of her mane!”

“Pssh!” Rainbow waved at her friend with a ignorant hoof. “They’re nothing but Ursa Minors.”

“Your pride is showing under that chin of yours…,” Applejack mumbled to herself and shook her head. “You’re also forgetting about The Menace, Eon, and Cry!”

“The who, what, now?” Rainbow Dash asked as if she was asked, ‘How many beanies can fit in a spoolunker?’ Totally un-cool gibberish, in her own words. “Is that some kinda fudge?” She asked scratching her head.

At this, Applejack did another face-hoof. “How is it that everypony except the Starlight General’s own daughter knows about the Trinights?” The look of further confusion on the blue pegasus’s face made Applejack want to face-hoof Rainbow, hard in the face, enough to leave a bruise or a broken jaw! “The Trinights, Twilight’s personal elite lieutenants?”

“I heard that the Zoner of Destruction killed their family when they were mere foals and brainwashed them into obedience…!” Fluttershy hid her eyes behind her hoofs. “Through magical torture! Oh, I can‘t imagine!”

“It is said that the Trinights are almost equal to Twilight’s power when all three are together. Granny Smith mentioned that they were chosen from birth and given a training from Hayel until they were only loyal to Twilight and only Twilight, not even loyal to Princess Luna.

“The three are only known as The Menace, Eon, and Cry. I think they ar’ only codenames, not their real names. Menace is an earth pony, Eon is a unicorn, and Cry is a pegasus. Menace is known for her love of butcher—”

“Hold it, if they are sooo awesome, why have I never seen them with Twilight—?”

“That’s what I’m sayin’, R.D.!” Applejack complained, “If her elite lieutenants ain’t there, that means she’s not playing with a full bushel of apples!”

“I’m surprised that you didn’t know, your father fought them multiple times before.” Fluttershy hid her face behind her mane when Rainbow turned to look at her in surprise. “I mean, doesn’t he tell you a lot about his battles, if you forgive me for asking?”

“Now that you mention it…,” The blue pegasus looked left and right as if someone was listening in on their conversation. “I don’t think I ever heard him mention anything besides Twilight…?”

Rainbow bid her friends goodbye as she flew out of the café, almost forgetting to pay her bill until Applejack snagged her back by the tail. The Starlight Pegasus immediately headed over to the training grounds to practice her swordsmanship with her uncle, Starry.

“That sounds mighty suspicious!” Applejack frowned as she watched her friend’s fleeting back.

“You think Rainbow Dash is up to something?” Fluttershy asked with a worried look.

“No, not Rainbow, sugarcube. But I do have a strange feelin’ about another Starlight Pegasus.” Applejack paid the bills for herself and Fluttershy before walking outside with her. “I’ll explain back at my ranch.” Applejack looked at Fluttershy with a look that said, ‘It’s between you and me‘.

Chapter End