A War for Friendship

Chapter 3 - The Shadow of Hate

Twilight looks with surprise and despair up to the shadow; having the resemblance of the once hatred-filled Princess Luna. Though she certainly looks bulkier now than Twilight can remember.

'Night Mare Moon? I’m afraid you’re confusing me with somepony else, Twilight Sparkle.' The Alicorn says calmly with a thundering heavy voice.

Twilight takes another close look at the intimidating shape, and notices it isn’t the Mare of the Night indeed, but a stallion. The Alicorn is indeed as dark as a shadow, just like Night Mare Moon, but has an ash-grey mane that waves like a flame in the wind. His skin is protected by a crimson-colored plate armor, which covers him completely from head to flank.

The helmet on his head is decorated with two silver spikes and two bullhorn-shaped metals horns, next to his black alicorn horn. And on his flank; he wears a piece of cloth, decorated with an unknown symbol of a black flame. His grey chestplate is decorated with a red crystal, which glows continuesly.

Gathering the courage, Twilight starts to speak. 'Who... are you?'

The Alicorn continues to glare with his yellow eyes at her. When a moment has passed, Twilight starts to wonder if he's still alive or maybe deaf. But that's when she suddenly gets a reaction.

'That is of no importance, little mare. A being of my stature has no responsibility to answer to the call of little ponies such as yourself, unless proven otherwise.'

Twilight is a little confused. 'Who does this guy think he is? How can he appear out of nowhere and claim he’s so powerful?'

'I meant your name,' she corrects calmly.

The alicorn ignores her question, and turns to the crater where the meteor lies. With every hoofstep he takes, his heavy armor scrapes over itself, metal on metal. The sound itself makes a shiver go down the mare's spine. 'I was a prisoner in this chunk of rock, waiting to fall down on Equestria,' he explains. '...And now I finally have returned to my home…'

Twilight has lost her patience with the mysterious stallion and asks again with more volume. 'Your name!'

The stallion ends his smirk and looks over his shoulder into Twilight’s eyes, which drain her completely from her any signs of bravery in her heart. The power that radiates from his stare is already enough to intimidate somepony, making Twilight worry about the powers he may possess.

'…My name is Lord Ignis, Harbringer of Hatred!' he roars angry at Twilight.

The wind starts to blow at the very moment he yells, moving the dust from the ground between them. Most certainly; The mere sound of his voice can already harm the balance of nature.

Twilight still shakes after, requiring a moment to catch her breath. She considers that if she's not too careful, this being could be a really pain!

Twilight simply wants answers rather than questions, and dares to ask. 'What do you mean by that? And how do you know my name?' she asks calmy again, not wanting to provoke him.

Ignis turns back around, sniffs the air for a moment, and then focuses back on the purple mare. 'Who doesn’t know you; the student of Princess Celestia. I could sense your magical capabilities, the very moment you set hoof into the place. You’re more powerful than a regular unicorn,' he explains. 'Some might say… a threat.'

Twilight tries to to breath too deeply, while she looks at the alicorn that seems deep in his own thoughts. What could he possibly mean with that. The alicorn seems to know Princess Celestia, and even that she's her personal student. A common pony knowing that wouldn't be much of a surprise. But this creep, who claims to have been in solitude for centuries, shouldn't know that!

He shrugs. 'It’s a good thing you’ve come here, little pony. With leverage like you, you’ll make my steps SO much easier to fulfill,' he tells her with a wide grin on his face, turning back around to the mare.

'Huh?' she questions, too late to react in any way. The alicorn, Ignis, spreads his wings, and makes his horn glow flaming-red. The moment he does, the winds move disturbing again, raging into the current that Twilight had to endure just before.

Twilight quickly holds a grip on the ground before she could fall over by the storm. 'Not…again!' she yelps and closes her eyes.

The mare gets a merciless sandstorm to endure once again, giving her the uneasy feeling of desperation. She can hardly see, she's facing some alicorn who clearly overpowers her, she has no way of defending herself like this, AND she has no friends to rely on!

While Twilight struggles with the magical wind, Ignis seems to look entertained; watching at how the unicorn struggles against the dark wind that he creates with the magic from his horn.

'Not so strong on your hooves now, little pony?!' he laughs loud. 'Can you feel the hope sinking away? Do you understand how futile it is to resist? Nopony can help you now!'

Twilight hears his evil laughter through the raging storm, growing angry over the torment he's putting her through. She doesn't deserve this! Whatever this Ignis creep was doing in the Crimson Asteroid, he deserved it! He hasn't told anything about his plans now that he's back to Equestria, but everypony would understand that he's no good! Twilight refuses to be held down by a monster like him, even if she's in a disadvantage right now. She slowly rises up from the ground, barely managing to stay with four hooves ont he ground, and starts to conjure a spell of her own. Twilight is going to attempt to counter the clouds with her own magic.

Twilight’s horn starts to glow purple, preparing a spell that can put the currents in the air to a stop, with the possiblity to free her. She learned this spell when she was studying a book that was about a connection between the Pegasi weather control and unicorn magic.

But when she fires a blast of purple energy, the winds don’t seem to calm at all though. Figuring that the winds are completely unnatural, her magic brings a disturbing anomaly in to occur: The wind starts to blow faster, uncontrollable by either her or Ignis.

'W-Wait!' Twilight gasps, and proceeds to attempt a new spell to cancel everything out. Ignis has taken notice of the chaos from the mare's foolish attempt, and grunts unamused. His horn stops glowing, resulting to the end his spell, and therefor; ends the storm.

The silence returns in a flash, with only the moving dust scraping over the ground. Covered in dust, and breathing exhausted, Twilight is growing desperate now that she figures that this alicorn is truly more monster than pony. He has shown a fraction of his might, and he already manages to hold her down with it! 'Who in Celestia's name is the creep? Why haven't I read anything about him?' Twilight thinks.

She feels ill, believing that her entire stomache has turned over. At the point where she had to use everything she had in her power; she couldn't keep up. The struggle of magic with this demon has drained her from her confidence, courage, and hopes. The confrontation is far from over, and she knows that she has to deal with him all by herself. 'Who...WHAT is this guy...,' she whispers to herself.

The alicorn does nothing but stare at Twilight’s tired state, waiting until she’s recovered. A magic collapse like this was not even enough to make him shake. The mare can only hope that he will leave her alone as long as she isn't able to speak from exhaustion, praying in her head that something good will happen soon. Something that could help her to get out of her and get help!

Like an answer to her prayers; the silence before the next storm is broken by something big that falls out of the sky, crashing into the dust a few feet away from them. They both get surprised by crashing tools, which Ignis’ storm must have dragged off the ground. While Ignis looks without much reaction at the trash, Twilight becomes speechless.

'Wh-what?' she speaks out surprised. She has seen the tools before: Painting equipment, with a dusty beret on top of it.

Twilight returns her focus on Ignis. Courage has returned to her senses, along with an unbridled rage, keeping her from hesitating to yell out against the armored alicorn. 'What did you do to Spectrum Brush?!' Twilight shouts at Ignis, while he simply continues to look unmoved at the paint equipment, giving no signs of emotions on his face. A few seconds after Twilight's outburst, he looks back at her.

'That little painter, you mean?' he replies calmly. 'I did what I had to do: Imprisoning for snooping around in somepony else’s business. He had to be stopped from leaking my existence out to Canterlot, before I would be fully recovered from my imprisonment...'

He smiles sadistically to the mare again, attempting to scare her by staring into her eyes again. 'You have him to thank for our little meeting. After all; He was the fool who freed me from that comet! So as reward: I gave him a “tour” through my home,' he chuckles. 'If I grant such rewards to the ones that help me..., can you imagine what I would do to my enemies?,' he rethorically asks with a dreadful tone.

Twilight looks with disgust at him, listening to how Ignis has sealed a friend of her away, while he has no speck of regret for it. She can only imagine in what kind of situation Brush is in; imprisoned in a hunk of boiling hot rock, scared from the lonelyness! 'Let him go!' she demands from him.

But the alicorn is clearly unimpressed, ignoring her disrespecting tone. 'Hold your reins, little pony. You will see him soon enough… You will thank me. Atleast you two will have each other inside this prison, while I was in it for many centuries alone! It tends to make you a little.... crazy, perhaps?', he rhethorically asks, hinting that he is indeed not at all amused by his centuries long trip through space.

Without warning, he starts to move towards Twilight. When she looks him in the eyes again, she is shrouded by the same fear again. The heartless demonic glare from his eyes could turn the bravest pony into a whimpering pile of despair. She slowly walks back, afraid of what he might do if he gets to close to her.

'Just like that boy, you’ve seen my arrival already as well. THAT could be a thorn in my side... Believe me when I tell you that I do you a favor by sealing you away. You wouldn’t want to witness what I will do when I make my entrance here in Equestria,' he grunts at her, crushing through the rocky ground with his metal hooves, without any effort, every step he makes towards the young mare.

Twilights backs away, but quickly gets closed in by the rocks. Fearful, she is staring how the large Alicorn is closing in on her. 'W-what do you want?' she yelps.

'I have waited centuries for this moment; The day that I will regain control over this land, and exact my vengeance on the princesses!' he yells to her.

'P-Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?' she whispers. Twilight closes her eyes and makes her horn glow again, preparing a new spell.

'You’re precious Princess Celestia was the reason I was trapped... She did it without warning. And just like she surprised me ages ago; she won’t know what hit her until it’s too late… They WILL surrender to the might of Lord Ignis!' he finishes as he is a few steps away from the purple unicorn.

'But you know… instead of becoming another prisoner, there's a different, glorious path you could take,' he tells her. 'You can become MY student. There is nothing more powerful than the emotion of hatred, able to push the weakest pony into dominance over the strongest!'

Twilight can't believe her ears. Does this monster actually believe that intimidation would make her turn against everypony she cares for? Ignis must be mad, to believe that she would accept that offer out of fear.

'What do you say; Remain loyal to your princess and suffer imprisonment, or join me and become disciple of the incarnation of the most powerful emotion in existence?', he demands an answer from her. 'Equestria will return to become my toy, I shall be avenged from what Celestia did, and you will become my loyal pupil, both retaking control over this land named Equestria!'

Twilight takes a deep breath, having finished her spell. 'Not even in your dreams, maniac!' she yells at him.

That answer was not the kind Ignis tolerates, showing by the nervous twitch on his face. 'Wrong answer, Twilight Sparkle...,' he hisses at her.

As Ignis places his hoof right before Twilight, he is blinded by the large flash that shoots out of Twilight’s horn. Covering his eyes from the light, the stallion waits surprised until the light will end. When the light fades, Twilight has disappeared into thin air before his very eyes.

Ignis looks surprised to the spot where Twilight stood, figuring that the mare has used a spell of teleportation.

'Hm...Touché, little protégée,' he grunts, slightly amused from Twilight's struggle.

Even though his plot of keeping his plans unbeknownst to Equestria has clearly failed, due to letting Twilight Sparkle escape Sparkle, he can't help but grin from amusement. 'Looks like I’m forced to move my schedule further up,' he chuckles as he spreads his wings.

With a mighty blow from his dark wings, he takes off into the darkened sky. Even though he wears armor that perhaps weighs a ton, he flies forth with a tremendous speed, unhampered by the plate he carries. The alicorn is ready to bring his terror to Equestria. As he flies, he can’t help but laugh from insanity.

'Feel the hatred, little ponies! I will burn the days of old back into your fragile hearts! Lord Ignis has returned!'

***

The sun is sinking down, having reached the top of the day a few hours ago. The streets of Ponyville are starting to fill with an orange glow, while it's also emptying from ponies, who head home from a day's work. To everypony's confusion; the mist from today has suddenly vanished, believing to have dissapeared for good. The major has managed to ease the disturbance at the town square, especially now that the subject of chaos is no longer here. With a relieved heart, the citizens think that this is the end of it. Little do they know that the real chaos is heading for them right now.

A little spark appears in the town square of Ponyville, like a very local burst of lightning. The spark grows and grows, until suddenly disappears in a flash, leaving a  purple mare behind, scared stiff from the horror she just witnessed. Twilight had only seen the monster for barely a few minutes, yet that was already enough to scare her beyond the known concept "fear". To experience the tranquil peaceful atmosphere of Ponyville feels very strange, when she thinks about where she just warped away from.

Two ponies notice the sudden appearance of the unicorn. It’s Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who are still present at the square. Glad to see their fellow friends, they move to her to say hi. 'Hi, Twilight!' Pinkie Pie says as happy as ever, while Fluttershy humbly greets her with a calm 'Hello, Twilight...'

But Twilight seems to be frozen in shock. The only things that move are her legs shaking from fear.

Pinkie Pie notices that something is wrong, waving her hoof in front of Twilight face. 'Twilight, are you having a staring competition with the air?' Pinkie Pie asks when she sees how Twilight doesn't respond.

Twilight’s tiny pupils slowly direct to her two friends. The only thing that comes out of her mouth is: 'Hey Pinkie…, hey Fluttershy…'

'Are you alright, Twilight? What is wrong?' Fluttershy asks worried.

'Catastrophe…' Twilight whispers.

'Wha? A cat-as-trophy? Now that’s an odd reward! I didn’t know that could be a prize for a staring contest!' Pinkie snickers, finding the joke irresistable to keep to herself.

'I think a cat as friend would be a great prize…' Fluttershy admits to Pinkie Pie, not realizing that the mare was simply joking.

Suddenly, Twilight grabs Fluttershy with her hooves and shakes her, yelling: 'CATASTROPHE!'

'Twilight, you’re scaring me!' Fluttershy yelps.

The unicorn let’s go of pegasus and moves her own face near that of Pinkie Pie. 'Disaster, trouble, mayhem, havoc, chaos!'

'Oh! Let me guess! This is a new game of puns?' the pink mare gleefully reacts, not understanding that Twilight has seen a horror beyond words.

Twilight starts talking to herself, clearly having lost her marbles. 'This is disastrous! Is this Ignis seriously more dangerous than Night Mare Moon? Or isn’t he? In any case, I should inform Princess Celestia right away! But what if this turns out to be some terrible joke? No-no-no, I should tell the Princess anyway, to be sure! I got to send a letter! Or must I personally go to the Princess to show the urgency? Where’s Spike? SPIKE!'

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie silently watch from the side at how their friend is ranting on and on, having no idea what’s going through her mind. They look at each other, hoping that the other may know what in Celestia's name Twilight is mumbling about, but no answer lies on their minds. Because they don't even know where Twilight has been all day, they won't know until Twilight calms down.

'Wow, did Ah miss something? What gibberish is Twilight sayin'?' the incoming orange mare asks to the other sane ponies. Applejack has entered the town square as well, attracted to the racket that Twilight makes. It isn’t hard for her to notice them.

'I don’t think Twilight likes her new cat.' Pinkie Pie responds, scratching her head with her hoof.

Applejack raises an eyebrow of doubt at Pinkie Pie and moves to Twilight, understanding that something really messed up is going on in her unicorn friend's mind. 'Calm down now, Suger cube. What’s the hassle?' she asks and holds Twilight still with her hooves.

Applejack grows a little worried when she notices the nervous twitch with of Twilight's ear and deep breaths before responding to her. 'Well, Applejack. Bluntly said: some maniac alicorn has come to Equestria, after centuries of being in a chunk of rock, and plans to cause a lot of trouble not just to Princess Celestia, but to ALL of Equestria...,' she grunts out of character. Applejack doesn’t know whether she should take her serious or laugh at it like she just said a joke.

'We have to do something, quick!' Twilight pressures them. But Applejack presses her hoof on Twilight’s head, forcing her to back down from her outburst. 'Wowow, hold your horns, Nelly. We can’t help ya if ya can’t even speak clear words.'

Twilight bites on her own lip out of stress, slowly clearing the haze that keeps her mind in turmoil. She really does understand that she is panicking and that it will do no good to anypony. Applejack's words strike her right where they were need, making the mare calm down. The alicorn, Ignis, is still miles away, and his clouds of darkness have passed. That means that there's still enough time to do something before he tries something. 'Alright...,' she sighs relieved, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. But before she could explain her panic attack, she is interrupted again by somepony else.

'Heya, everypony,' a voice greets them all.

'Twilight, are you also horrified by these AWFULL winds?' a gentle female voice asks her.

Twilight looks over her shoulder, noticing that Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Spike have also come to the town square. 'What winds?' Twilght asks.

Rainbow Dash interupts just as Rarity is about to answer. 'The winds that carry those frozen pitch-black clouds around! We tried everything, but they won’t move an inch! And nopony can figure out where the wind comes from, other than "somewhere" in the east!'

Rarity finds a gap in Dash’s line and proceeds. 'She’s right, dear. Nopony seems to be able to do anything about them, while it continues to circle around Ponyville! If that isn't bad enough; it completely ruins our days and manes!'

Rainbow Dash seizes the moment again and continues. 'First those clouds appear, vanish into nothingness, and now it's about to head back! They’re stronger than solid rock!'

Twilight looks at her as if she saw a ghost, from hearing these facts from her friends. 'It can't be... I was there only a moment ago.. Are that alicorn's clouds this fast?…,' she mumbles.

'Twilight, do you know what it is?' Spike asks her, noticing how Twilight seems to know more about it.

Twilight won't let herself panic again and tries to explain the whole story at an understandable speed to her friends. 'Look; some terrible alicorn came out of the meteor that crashed here two days ago. He's the one responsible for the clouds, the fog and the winds that block the sun! He turns out to have been sealed away in the Crimson Asteroid centuries ago, now planning to take control over everything we hold dear! He plans to attack Canterlot, along with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!' she tells them, with a tone of concern and urgency.

The mares and Spike look at their purple friend, a little worried over her heatlh. Because nopony else dares to say what they all think, Rainbow Dash does. 'Wow, hold on, Twilight... An alicorn? Coming out of a meteor?' Rainbow Dash asks for confirmation. 'Nightmare Moon locked on the moon for 1000 years, ok... But isn’t this a step too far? Are you really sure that-'

Twilight looks very serious at her, understanding all their doubts. 'I know it’s weird. And I’ve never known or read something about the Crimson Asteroid that involves a wicked alicorn. But I’ve seen it! I saw with my own two eyes how he shadowed an entire meadow and created a sandstorm with only a fraction of his magic!'

She looks to all her friends and urges to believe her, but still they have trouble with it, even though they want to believe her 100%. 'He...He has already taken a pony captive already! And he also tried to imprison me! We gotta do something, before he comes to Ponyville!'

As she pants from exhaustion, Twilight cannot think of any way to prove it. Other than what she saw, there's no proof. But then, she suddenly feels a comforting hoof on her back. When the purple unicorn looks over her shoulder, she notices that it's Fluttershy. 'I believe you, Twilight,' the pegasus nods with a smile.

'Hay, we all do,' Applejack tells her. 'Sorry if we seemed so doubtful, Twilight.'

'But we'll always believe you!' Pinkie Pie nods. 'That's what friends do, right?'

Twilight's happiness knows no bounds. It feels so nice to know that her friends are willing to believe and trust her in any situation, cheering her up from their company. She wouldn't know what to do without her friends.

'Thanks, everypony,' she nods. 'Alright; this is the idea! I'll quickly write a letter to Princess Celestia, explaining the situation that is going on. Spike will send it away. And if we're lucky; we will have a head start before Ignis makes his move!'

The mares agree, believing that it's the quickest way to contact Canterlot. But one thing remains unclear to them. 'Ignis?' Spike asks.

Twilight nods at him. 'The alicorn. He calls himself "Lord" Ignis. He's probably on his way right now!”

'It is time…,' a deep voice echoes through the town.

All the ponies’ eyes jump open of surprisingly loud echo, originating from the mountains closest to Ponyville. All six mares turn their faces towards the peak, where a dark aura is gathering like a flame of shadows.

'No.... he can't be this fast...,' Twilight gasps.

Normally; Twilight is one of the last ponies that would cower in fear in whatever situation. Yet now, Twilight is shaking like there's an earthquaking, fearfully from the terrifying meeting she had with this diabolical warmonger. She stares towards a red alicorn, who looks straight back at her from a cliff near the peak of the mountain. She can still hear the echo of that evil voice in her ears.

Lord Ignis has arrived in Ponyville.