//-------------------------------------------------------// My Little Pony: Friendship is Eternal -by veze- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// A Last Goodbye //-------------------------------------------------------// A Last Goodbye Chapter One A Last Goodbye In a faraway land, much different than our own, is a land known as Equestria. It is a strange place, filled with countless wonders and mysteries, yet isolated from the rest of the world. It hosts a variety of environments, ranging from the harsh deserts around the town of Appleloosa, to the dense, dangerous forest known as the EverFree Forest. But despite all these dangerous environments, there are the pleasant luscious areas where little ponies thrive and play. These ponies have lived peacefully with each other in Equestria for generations. While they may have their differences, Earth, Pegasus, and Unicorn ponies united all into one nation, ruled by two sisters known as Alicorns. Princess Celestia, the older of the two sisters, and her sister, Princess Luna, protected the land of Equestria from countless dangers and rose the Sun and Moon to keep balance in their kingdom . The first was threat was Discord, who’s chaos brought disharmony amongst Equestria, throwing it into terror. That was until the two sisters found the relics known as the Elements of Harmony. Using the six elements, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, Honesty, and Magic, they defeated Discord and trapped him in a stone prison. Princess Celestia would go on to use the Elements of Harmony on her very own sister, after her sister turned into a different pony all together, Nightmare Moon, who was filled with jealousy and hate. Using the Elements, she trapped her sister in a moon prison. The Elements of Harmony were later put away in a temple, which became lost to ponies for many years. One thousand years later, Nightmare Moon escaped her prison, and vowed to shroud the world in eternal night forever. Then, her very own pupil, a young unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, and her five new friends, rediscovered the Elements of Harmony. Together with her friends, Applejack, the Earth pony of Honesty, Fluttershy, the Pegasus of Kindness, Rarity, the Unicorn of Generosity, Pinkie Pie, the Earth pony of Laughter, Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus of Loyalty, and Twilight Sparkle, the Unicorn of Magic, defeated Nightmare Moon and rid her heart of all of her evil and hatred. But why did Princess Celestia send away her best tool to protect the ponies of her kingdom? It was a story lost to everypony in the land as generations past. But Princess Celestia did not forget the fateful day which temporarily cast Equestria into a madness it had never known before. Yes, even more maddening than the chaos that Discord, the god of chaos, brought to Equestria, which brought disharmony among all creatures in Equestria and tore the very fabric of reality. Worse than when Nightmare Moon shrouded the land in her night. Now, the signs that the day from long ago will repeat itself are starting to appear. There are high winds across Equestria, but there are no clouds and the Pegasai deny starting them. The sky has a red haze to it, which almost makes it appear that there is a sunset all the time. The last sign, which confirms Princess Celestia’s horrors, has now appeared. It can hardly be called a rainbow, being that it is all black, yet there was a strange appeal and wonder that normal rainbows could not cast. The black rainbow came from the direction of Mount Dominus. It seemed fitting for a black rainbow to come from Mount Dominus, its spiky peaks practically tearing the sky. Dark clouds and lightning always accompanied it, despite best efforts by pegasus ponies to remove them. Yet the clouds were the least of her worries, as she knew the disaster that would soon unfold. Immediately Princess Celestia began to yell orders to the guards around her frantically. “Evacuate all cities from here to Mount Dominus!” she yelled to Shining Armor. “You, alert all guards across Equestria to stay on high alert! Everypony including the guards need to evacuate from here now!” "Princess, I can throw up a shield if needed," Shining offered. "No, it will only slow the evacuation. Please assist the evacuation and no more." While the guards around Celestia were all frantically rushing about the palace, Princess Luna, who was sitting next to her, was as confused as all the other guards scrambling around them. “What is it Tia? What is wrong?” she asked. “My greatest enemy,” Celestia responded. “Soon after I banished you to the moon, another enemy appeared. A foe so great that not even the Elements of Harmony could stop him at first, until I learned their true power, that is.” “True power?” Luna asked her sister, both confusion and worry sparkling in her eyes. “Yes, for you see, the Elements of Harmony have multiple powers, from the magic that turned Discord to stone, to the magic that changed you back to good. But the Elements harbor a power greater than that any pony has ever seen. Even I could not stop its power once it had started.” Luna looked at her sister with confusion. “What could be so great that it would make the Elements use a different type of power?” she wondered to herself. She was going to inquire more from her sister and was halfway through opening her mouth when her sister cut her off. “Luna, you must flee the castle with the rest of the guards and civilians” “No sister, whatever this threat is we can face it together,” Luna responded, stomping her hoof on the floor with confidence. “Luna, I am not asking you to do this for me. I need you to go and find my student, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends in Ponyville, and tell them they must prepare the Elements of Harmony as soon as they can. From there you will help the rest of Ponyville evacuate, for they will be the first stop he will visit after here,” Celestia explained, giving her sister the most serious look Luna had ever seen. “Why not just send a letter to Spike!” Luna cried out, tears welling in her eyes since she already knew the answer. “We both know that Spike was here in Canterlot picking up books for Twilight this afternoon. He will not have the ability to give Twilight a letter in time. I will stall him for as long as I can.” Celestia said, tears welling in her own eyes for fear that this would be the last time she would see her sister. As she leaned down to hug her sister for what she feared could possibly be the last time, she spoke quietly, “The Sun will be your responsibility now, please take good care of everypony.” “I love you big sis,” Luna said quietly, as sparkling tears trailed down her face with a glitter that matched that of the stars in her mane. “I love you too, but you must go now. Fly to Ponyville, tell Twilight to ready the Elements, and wait, he will come to them.” As Luna flew out the door from the Palace chambers, she looked back one last time, at the sister who was more of a mother to her throughout their many years together. But she had a job to do, and she would honor it. As she flew fast across Equestria, her glittery dark mane waving behind her, she vowed she would do the best she can to defend Equestria and its many citizens. Meanwhile, Celestia stood alone by herself in the Palace chamber. The hazy red light cast an ominous glow in the room, which reflected upon Celestia’s mane so that it distilled the multiple light colors that her mane normally cast. She paused for a moment and let out a deep sigh. She knew that she laid a heavy burden onto that of her student and her friends. A burden that she knew would test the limits of their friendship. She looked out of a window of the Palace, which presented a view of Equestria as far as the eye could see. As she closed her eyes, she reminisced about many of her old pupils and her friends from many years ago. Celestia had many pupils before, who all had different types of interests, personalities, and friends. But she thought of the first pupil she had taken up shortly after Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon. It had been so long that all she could remember of her was a light green blur. But she could still recall the laugh she always had, which could announce her presence a mile away with her silly high pitched giggles. But like all her pupils she has ever had, she passed away. This would not have been so traumatizing to this alicorn, if it was not for the fact that it was she who, in a way, caused it. “Run away now!” Celestia remembered yelling. “I can’t control it!” Eyes still closed, Celestia could not help but feel the guilt, or curse rather, of limitless youth, allowing her to live while so many pupils had passed before her. But now she understood that her time was coming to an end at last. She could be reunited with her long lost friends at last, many of whom, she never got to say goodbye. As she opened her eyes with a slight smile on her face from the relief that her torment may now end, she found herself staring face to face with him. //-------------------------------------------------------// The Hate that Fuels Him //-------------------------------------------------------// The Hate that Fuels Him Chapter 2 The Hate that Fuels Him The palace chamber was silent as Celestia stared back at him. It felt like almost an eternity that they continued to look at each other, perhaps it was his appearance though. Despite the fact she stared at him, she could not stare into his eyes, for there were none. He had no face, which was odd for any creature. No other creature in all of Equestria had no face. His missing face did not even have a snout, and appeared to be more like a ball at the end of a his thick neck. His body was not black, in fact it was not any color at all. It was just darkness. Darkness which seemed to have no physical presence, despite the fact that he was physically there. As she stared at him, it was like staring into infinity. His mane was like a crackling fire, but just like the rest of his body, it just appeared as a shadow. His tail was long and sleek, but also just a shadow. His large body could be compared to that of one of Celestia’s royal guards, large. However, she knew perfectly well size means nothing. He had no horn, nor did he have wings. Yet Celestia recalled how he his magical abilities could summon fire, and how he leaped from cloud to cloud, so that not even flying pegasai were safe from his rampage. At last he spoke, his voice actually coming not from him, but what seemed like the entire room itself, as if his words were the wind. “It has been a long time, Celestia,” he said in a snicker. “Not long enough if you ask me, Rancorous,” Celestia said, saying his name for the first time anyone had in nearly 1000 years. “Well believe me, when you are locked away in an eternally dark prison for that long time does not move fast. You seem to enjoy banishing people for a long time. From what I heard your sister ended up being banished for 1000 years too.” “I only banish those who deserve it. Believe me, if I could have you would have been more than just banished.” Celestia hissed. He began to walk in slow circles around Celestia. As he moved, it seemed liked the light in the room got sucked into where he was standing. “Well now that I am out of that cursed dimension of darkness, it is time I resume my conquest. But before I do, it is time to make you pay. But rejoice, I will make your death a swift one.” “I admit, I have the elements no longer, I am defenseless. But before you do, explain to me how you broke free,” she demanded “I suppose I can tell you, not like it matters. The day you and I fought many years ago, you defeated me, using what you call the Elements of Harmony. Of course we both know that the battle was not easy for you to win. You chased me all the way across Equestria, until we at least came to Mount Dominius. Of course, the Elements of Harmony using their base power could not stop me. As the rainbow it protruded chased me, my speed stayed one step ahead of it the entire time. I am not quite sure what happened after that myself. I only recall a bright light, and waking up to find darkness. For the next millennia, I waited in my prison, trying to discover some type of exit. Recently though, something happened, the realm I was in...weakened. I knew this was my chance. I focused all my magical ability to one spot directly in front of me. The end result was a hole which lead back to this dimension.” “I see, it is just as what happened with Discord. With the Elements of Harmony no longer linked to me, any spell I casted using them long ago wore off...” Celestia trailed off. “Yes, now that you have your explanation, I believe it is time for your end.” “Not yet it's not,” Celestia stated, her voice assuring she would not go down without a fight. She began to fly into the air of the palace chamber, her horn beginning to glow with the magic of her spell she was about to cast. Suddenly the entire room was bursting with light so bright that to anypony but Celestia it would have been like standing in the center of the Sun. Before Rancorous could decide on how to respond, he found himself quickly knocked over by Celestia as she rammed into his side, pushing him into a palace wall. As he quickly got up, the darkness that he seemed to be made out of began to expand across the room, filling it just like Celestia’s light filled the room only a moment before. “You may be able to see in the light, but can you sense in the dark?” he asked aloud. Now Celestia, who is dazed and confused in the light, has started to panic. Before she could even begin to cast a spell to get rid of the darkness, she found herself being tackled mid air by Rancorous. As he grabbed onto Celestia in mid air, he brought them both back to the ground, landing atop of Celestia. As he began to withdraw the darkness which he used to blind the room, it became evident that they were in the dead center of the massive chamber. He backed up for a moment, enjoying every precious moment he saw Celestia lay crippled on the floor. He had dreamed of this day for nearly a millennia, and it was just as sweet as he had hoped. As Celestia began to struggle to stand up, she began to immediately cast a spell over Rancorous. Rancorous simply stood there, if he had a face it would be smirking. “You already know direct magic spells have no effect over me,” he said with amusement. “Never hurts to try,” Celestia said, a weak smile on her face. Suddenly in what seemed to be close to the blink of an eye, Rancorous was gone from where he was standing, and ramming straight into Celestia, sending her rolling across the palace chamber. Rancorous simply could not help but laugh at the simplicity of how easily Celestia was once again knocked down. “I forgot -cough- just how fast you were, it’s -cough- easy to see why you were able to dodge the Elements of -cough- Harmony so easily before,” Celestia whispered. “It was simply luck that the Elements of Harmony did what they did, you and I both know you were fighting a lost battle then.” “Hehe,” Celestia chuckled underneath her breath. “What is so funny?” he asked with confusion. “What is your goal? -cough- Defeat me, defeat everypony and everything in Equestria? What do you -cough- accomplish? You won’t have experienced all the joys that I have, or the -cough- friendship that all the creatures in Equestria have with each other.” Celetia continued her faint cough caused by the various blows she has endured. “What makes you think I want your pitiful friendship? What makes you think I want the company of others? No, I am the god of anger and rage, and I intend to take out all my anger on every living creature big and small across the land,” Rancorous declared, following with a sinister laugh. “-cough- I see. I pity you then, Rancorous. You may think that being alone is the answer, but -cough- just look at my sister, she found enlightenment in friendship,” Celestia said, still laying on the ground in her crippled position. “Ha! Pity me? Look at you! Defeated on the ground, not even having the strength to get up!” No, it is you who is to be pitied Celestia. But you will receive no remorse from me,” Suddenly Celestia rose into the air, a magic glow around her as Rancorous casted a spell. She wiggled in mid air, but it was no use, she was too weak to continue to fight anymore. She closed her eyes and smiled. “I’m coming...Shining Star...,” Celestia whispered, tears streaming down her face. Suddenly she was thrown into a pillar on the right side of the room. Where there was once a powerful ruler who maintained peace for over a millennia, now lays a mangled broken corpse. Rancorous trotted over to where her now deceased body lay. With an evil laugh, he stood over her, painting himself an everlasting mental picture of this scene in his mind. Suddenly, her body burst into a multitude of bright lights, and carried off into the sky, towards the Sun. As he watched from a palace window, the last pieces of Celestia disappeared into the sunset. The last time the Sun would be set by Celestia. Rancorous, pleased with himself, continued to laugh maniacally alone in the palace chamber. Looking at the valley below, he saw a small town in the distance, lights still glittering in the distance. “If I hurry, I can make it before they all scatter,” he said, joy in his voice as if it was some type of game. //-------------------------------------------------------// Darker Than the Night //-------------------------------------------------------// Darker Than the Night Chapter 3 Darker than the Night Luna landed in Ponyville, just as many of its residents were in the process of evacuating. Guards were rushing from building to building, ensuring that each building was cleared of any ponies. With all the chaos of every pony rushing to and from every which way, Luna realised that simply searching for Twilight Sparkle would not be possible. She shouted using her Royal Canterlot Voice, knowing it would get everypony’s attention. “WE ARE LOOKING FOR TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” The mob of various ponies paused, turning their attention to Princess Luna. Twilight stepped forward, every other pony continued their frantic rush. “What is it Princess Luna? What is going on? Why is everypony being forced to evacuate? Why did it so suddenly turn to night? Where is Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked quickly. “Calm down Twilight Sparkle, we have little time. Assemble your friends, then we shall answer thou’s questions.” Princess Luna said. “I reckon there is no need to go through all that trouble,” Applejack said, as she and Twilight’s other friends, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie walked out of the scurrying crowd. Rarity put down her many bags she was carrying, “I do say, what is all the commotion about? I was in the middle of a meeting with a very important client.” “We have little time, and we require all your attention immediately. A great foe my sister defeated long ago has returned, and it is up to you to defeat him,” explained Luna. “Who is this enemy? And how is it he managed to lower the Sun?” Twilight asked. “We know not who he is. My sister only explained that he was her greatest foe, and she only defeated him using some type of secondary power of the Elements of Harmony.” “The Elements have a second power? How can that be? And where is Princess Celestia?” Twilight once again inquired. “The Sun going down only means one thing...” Princess Luna trailed off. Tears began to shed from her eyes as she looked away from Twilight and her friends. It was then that Twilight understood what had happened. “The Princess...she...she...” Twilight also trailed off, and also began to cry while her friends soon followed. The Princess she had known and love as a teacher, friend, and in sort of way second mother was now gone. To Twilight this idea seemed impossible. Princess Celestia had ruled Equestria for over a millenia, how could it be possible? She was the strongest, fastest, and most powerful pony in all the land! “My sister sent us a message for you Twilight Sparkle. She wants you and your friends to gather the Elements of Harmony to once again defend Equestria. Gather the Elements, she said he would come soon. We shall help evacuate the rest of the town.” “You can count on us Princess,” Twilight said, wiping tears from her eyes. “Come on girls, the Princess left us a duty, we will honor her by living up to it. I still have the Elements in my library, lets hurry!” Twilight and her friends ran towards the library as fast as they could. Meanwhile, Luna, whose eyes and horn began to glow as she rose into the air. Behind her in the sky, the large bright moon rose into the sky, bringing some light to the early night. The remaining ponies around her had stopped momentarily, dazzled by the display that Luna had just performed. “What are thoust waiting for? Keep moving!” Meanwhile at the library, Twilight and her friends were having a difficult time finding the Elements of Harmony. “Darn it! Where did Spike put them? Ohhhh, I knew it was a bad idea to let him reorganize the library.” “Why did you even put it back in that book Discord hid it in in the first place?” Rainbow Dash asked, as she began to throw the books off the shelves in order to look for the one with the Elements in it. “Rarity help me open all the books using our magic!” Twilight called over to Rarity, who was gently picking books off of shelves one at a time. “Fine, have it your way, but I am not going to help you clean all this up,” Rarity said. Twilight looked at Rarity for a moment and rolled her eyes. Both of the unicorns stood side by side as their horns began to glow. All of the books suddenly had a dark purple glow around them as they lifted off all the shelves and opened, revealing all of their contents. The sound of metallic jewelry hitting the ground could be heard in the center of the room. Pinkie Pie, who was the closest to the Elements, began to toss them all to their respective owners. Each pony had a necklace with their cutie mark engraved into a gem on it. Twilight actually had a tiara with her cutie mark on it. “Perfect!” Twilight exclaimed. “Now let’s go outside and wait for whatever this threat is. We will avenge Princess Celestia.” //-------------------------------------------------------// An Unwinnable Battle //-------------------------------------------------------// An Unwinnable Battle Chapter 4 An Unwinnable Battle As the last pony ran out of Ponyville, Twilight and her friends waited in the center of town underneath Town Hall. The dark night seemed to be darker than it normally was, despite the fact that the Moon was full. Twilight felt a sense of foreboding danger approaching. She looked at her sides and saw the looks on her friends faces that they also felt it. “What do you reckon this monster is?” Applejack asked. “I don’t know, but if the Princess fell to it you can bet it is strong and pure evil,” Twilight responded. Suddenly the already dark night seemed to get darker still, and they knew that the evil creature had at last arrived. They looked around, knowing he was there but unsure where. The night hid him, making him nearly invisible. “Over there!” Rainbow Dash, who was flying mid air so she could look farther, pointed in the distance, as a shadowy figure walked over the crest of a hill. As he walked down the hill, it seemed like he ate the light around him. The girls waited, hoping to at least catch a glimpse of his face. He kept getting slowly closer, and it wasn’t until it was too late that Twilight came to the realization. “He has no face!” Twilight exclaimed in surprise. “What a horrifying figure,” Rarity said aloud. “You six must be the new wielders of the Elements of Harmony. Celestia was a true fool to think six small ponies like yourselves could ever hope to stop me, even with the Elements,” Rancorous said from afar. “We will stop you, and you will pay for what you did to the Princess,” Twilight countered. “What makes you think you six have the power to defeat me, even the great Princess Celestia failed to keep me contained forever when she used the Elements of Harmony herself. Now look where she is...GONE! And nothing you ponies will do will ever bring her back,” Rancorous yelled out with joy in his voice. “Just you wait. You will see that we are way stronger than you!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with pride. “Is that so?” Rancorous rhetorically asked. Suddenly, he kicked off the ground and soared through the air straight at Rainbow Dash, who was still hovering mid air. Being the fastest in Equestria however, Rainbow Dash barely managed to dodge Rancorous as he flew past her in mid air. Without hesitating, the girls activated the Elements of Harmony. Their various Elements began to glow with a bright aura around them. “NOOOOOO! I WILL STOP YOU!” Rancorous once again yelled. With all of his strength, he kicked off from where he was standing. His extraordinary speed made him but a simple shadow moving across the ground towards the girls. But already he was too late. The aura spread from their Elements to around the girls as a whole, making them one singular entity. Their eyes began to radiate lights as bright as the Sun. The six ponies lifted off of the ground and floated in mid air. The aura was bright, and not even Rancorous could consume the light that the Elements displayed. As he continued to charge towards them, he bounced off their aura as if it was some type of energy shield. With all of his might he kicked the aura, attempting to break through it. At last a double helix with the colors of a rainbow sprouted out of the top of the aura. As it twisted and turned in mid air, it turned towards the evil it intended to stop. Rancorous, was immediately underneath it, but dodged it with his swift speed. The rainbow followed behind him, twisting and turning as Rancorous continued to quickly dodge. The rainbow helix created by the Elements continued to chase him around the town, through the various maze like paths of the city. Yet his incredible speed was greater than that of the rainbow helix chasing him. He was increasing the gap between him and the rainbow with each step he took. “It ain’t working!” Applejack shouted. “Keep trying! He will have to mess up eventually!” Twilight shouted back. “HA! It seems the Elements have lost their touch. Perhaps you six don’t represent the Elements as well as you thought,” Rancorous said, as he continued to skip from place to place. “Don’t listen to him girls! He is just trying to get into our heads,” Twilight assured her friends. “I can do this all day, but I bet you six will tire out eventually,” Rancorous stated. “He’s right,” Fluttershy whimpered, “I’m too weak to keep doing this.” “I feel it too,” Pinkie Pie confirmed. “ARGH! Focus harder! We can do this!” Twilight exclaimed. Rancorous jumped on top of a house, and started to jump from rooftop to rooftop. As he did so, the rainbow helix following him began to start going through the homes, punching holes in whatever it went through. It went through Rarity’s boutique, through the Town Hall, and through the countless other buildings in Ponyville. Whatever building Rancorous landed on top of, the rainbow helix destroyed it in an attempt to stop him. “NO!” the six girls yelled out at once with a mystical voice unlike their own. Their bodies began to glow a bright light. Soon it spread to the aura surrounding them. It grew slowly but slowly brighter. Rancorous glanced over when he caught the increasingly bright light in the corner of his eye. “It can’t be!” he exclaimed in horror. At last the light burst out in all directions, creating a dome which expanded outwards in every direction. As it expanded it began to engulf all of Ponyville. Rancorous, who had saw this began to run with all of his speed away from the dome. Yet unlike the rainbow helix, this dome was catching up. By now the dome had engulfed all of Ponyville and was expanding at an ever increasing rate. “NOOOOOOOO!!! NOT AGAIN!” Rancorous yelled as he was consumed by the dome of light just before the edges of the EverFree Forest. As soon as it touched him it sucked him into its dome, like a mighty gravitational force. After consuming him, the dome stopped growing and instead started to shrink back to its origin. As it quickly receded, the same voice which spoke before when the dome was created spoke again. “The great evil has been sealed away again.” The dome at last disappeared back at its origin. The six ponies still hovered momentarily in mid air with the light still beaming out of their eyes. However, this quickly disappeared as well, as the six ponies fell to the ground, unconscious. //-------------------------------------------------------// delay //-------------------------------------------------------// delay not an actual chapter :P Super busy this last week with school and the big finale. This chapter will be larger than the others, and much more important. So I am putting more effort into it than the last ones. Expect something better than the last chapters this next sunday. However I went back to previous chapters and edited to make more reader friendly, stuff like spacing between chapters and other small fixes. I also added a couple lines to the first chapter, nothing much.