A War for Friendship

Chapter 4 - The Ultimatum

The sky behind the mountains tops are shrouded by pitch-black clouds, as if they're waiting for an order to move over Ponyville. And on the highest mountain, there stands an armored alicorn, who is the source of the lingering darkness. His entire body is concealed in the shadows, making it a little hard to see him from afar. But the thing that the six mares from down below notice mostly: Are the yellow eyes and the crimson-red crystal, glowing sinisterly on his chestplate. The Harbringer of Hatred as come to Ponyville.

The mares feel the same chill crawling over their spines, just like the one Twilight Sparkle felt before. But Twilight is more afraid than her friends, shaking on her hooves from fear.

'Say, Twilight, is that loudmouth the troublemaker you talked about?' Rainbow Dash asks her.

'Yes...,' Twilight responds, breathing deeply from the tension she feels crawling over her skin.

Applejack turns her attention to her. 'So why is he here? Ah thought you said he was going to get "even" with the princesses in Canterlot?'

'He is...,' she tells her. But I think… -gulp- he’s after me too...,' she whispers nervously.

Pinkie Pie jumps to her side. 'Oh! A new friend, Twilight? Could you introduce us too?' she gleefully asks, not making the connection that the alicorn's intentions and dark aura mean that he's pure evil.

'Of course he’s not a friend, Pinkie Pie.' Rarity explains her, slightly intimidated by the alicorn's appearance as well. 'He is clearly some other black-hearted monster that wishes to bring nothing but terror and disaster to our precious lives!'

Pinkie’s smile changes to disappointment. 'Aw, that’s not friendly at all...'

Nervous, Fluttershy tries to say her word to the group as well. 'Eh, can’t we just talk about this before making rash conclusions? M-Maybe he’s just misunderstood?'

'All you pathetic subjects of Ponyville, heed to my call! After having served my undeserved imprisonment, I have returned to claim my birthright of leadership over this land, now known as Equestria! I am Lord Ignis! And as of today I will be your superior!'

The six mares and Spike look at Fluttershy with faces that say 'You were saying?...'

'Oh… Never mind…' Fluttershy corrects herself, with hanging ears.

The voice continues from afar, echoing over the entire area. 'Centuries ago, it was I that had control over every one of your pathetic ancestors’ lives! But I was lifted from my throne, only to be forgotten in time! …But now... NOW I have treturned to claim my rightfull position! As of today; You will accept my position, without question!'

Not only in Ponyville, but Ignis' voice can be heard everywhere. Pegasi in Cloudsdale, unicorns in Canterlot, Earth Ponies in Appleloosa, and any other kind of pony in any kind place; all they can hear that trembling voice of spelling doom in the air. It demands obedience. All the ponies look into the sky, where the voice echoes from. Some cower in fear from the mere power it uses to pass the message, while others don’t seem to be eager to agree so fast.

***

In Canterlot, Princess Luna is looking surprised out through the window. She was just about to prepare herself to raise the moon, until she heard the shoutings of Ignis move through the air. She could not believe her ears at first, but now she knows that it's true.

'The Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice! But…, how can that be? Only my sister and I are able to use it!'

***

'Though, I doubt... my presence shows much impression to your miserable ears. But I can sense and read your minds... There are some that doubt my power... For this; I have a solution. If an ultimatum is as you wish…; Then I shall provide,' he forcefully proposes, followed by a sinister chuckle. 'When the sun sinks behind the horizon, I will listen to the final answer of ponykind! If the voices of disobedience can still be heard in large numbers…, the consequences will be yours to bear, for the rest of your miserable lives.'

The voice ends, with the echo of his last spoken sentence still remaining for a few more seconds. The only things that can be heard by the seven friends now are the panicking noises coming from the town. All of Ponyville's citizens are disturbed, fearing for their peaceful lives. Afraid for the change that is to come. But the mane six don't panic. They all keep staring at the shadow that remains unmoved on the mountain, knowing that he will wait until sunset.

Their silence gets broken by Pinkie Pie. 'See, Twilight? He’s wasn’t after you at all, silly. No reason to worry,' she smiles.

'What shall we do?' Rarity tells what they all think, disturbed by the sudden change of situation. They believed Twilight about the power of this alicorn, but they never could've imagined that Ignis is this mad and dangerous. He has proven to be completely serious about this.

Applejack looks up at her friends. 'As much as I’d love to teach that fella’ a lesson about manners to fellow ponies, I think we’re better off securing Ponyville with the others.'

They all tend to agree. Safety is more important than punishment or revenge. If the duty to stop them falls on their shoulders, they will do it when they know everypony is safe.

However, Rainbow Dash looks pretty pumped for action. 'Ah, c’mon! Don’t turn into chickens now! I’ll show that bigwig how we handle chumps like him!'

Fluttershy shakes her head at her. 'We can’t do that, Rainbow Dash. We can’t pick a fight with somepony else,' she explains to her, attempting to prevent further provocation. 'If we can solve this trouble without any violence, it's the best solution.'

Rainbow looks at the others, who also stand with Fluttershy's idea.

Yet, she listens to her guts; which tell her to go and stop him personally. She looks at her friends, hoping to see any support for her plan of action. But when she sees how they all remain there, instead of siding with her, she becomes a little angry.

'Fine, you stay here while I send "mr. nice-guy" his just deserts!' she boasts and quickly takes off to the mountains, heading to the shadow.

'Rainbow, wait!' Twilight yells at her, afraid that the pegasus mare will get hurt. But Rainbow Dash is already too far.

They look at each other, and feel urged to help her. They all know that Rainbow Dash is simply throwing herself in danger. 'Hay, wait for us!' Applejack yells to the mare, about to gallop after her to the lingering danger.

'Wait! We can't just take Ignis on like this! He's a maniac!' Twilight tells them with fear in her voice, afraid for anypony to come in contact with the monster she faced today.

'Even if a bad idea, we can’t just leave Rainbow Dash on her own,' Applejack tells her. 'Sorry, Twi. But sometimes there's a time to stick to the plan, and sometimes there's a time for action.'

The other four other mares agree and quickly follow Applejack to the mountains. They have no intention of leaving a friend on her own, especially when she's about to be in danger by herself. They do understand that they may be about to throw themselves in a futile fight, but they also understand how shocked Twilight is.

'Go write that letter to Princess Celestia, Twilight! We'll make sure this creep won't get a step further to Ponyville!' Rarity yells to her, while running after Applejack.

Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie have left the nervous purple unicorn behind. Twilight wants to help them as badly as they do, but she’s the only one who actually witnessed a glimpse of Ignis’ power, which scares her to the bone. Not to mention his eyes and voice, which contains a darkness that alone already makes her shiver. but is she really supposed to just turn around and write a letter to Canterlot, while her friends are fighting with this traumatizing foe?'

Spike stands next to her, trying to ease her from the fear she experienced when she was all alone against Ignis, putting a hand on her back. 'Twilight…'

She looks into Spike’s worried eyes. Twilight understands that acting panicky won’t do any good for anypony and will only make her friends worry. She cannot let fear stop her from helping those who would help her no matter what.

'It’s ok, Spike…,' she sighs. 'Applejack is right. This is no time to stick to my plan. I have to help them, because they're my friends, who would do the same thing for me!'

When Twilight makes a few steps towards the direction where her friends have walked to, she notices that Spike is following right behind her, intending to stick with her all the way. 'No Spike, this is too dangerous for you,' she tells him.

The little dragon is a bit dissapointed to hear that from his friend. 'Ah, c’mon Twilight! I can’t let you all go without my help,' he tries to convince her. 'I'm a valuable asset to the team as well!'

Twilight shakes her head. 'you are, Spike. But we need somebody to stay here and help the others in Ponyville. We can only trust that to you!'

Spike shrugs, feeling like he can’t be of any help by staying here. for a moment he believes that Twilight is just saying that to make him feel "less useless." But when he looks into Twilight eyes, it convinces him that she's right and that he should follow her plan.

'Ok… I will stay,' he sighs. 'Just be careful!'

Twilight nods with a smile. 'I will.'

Without any further delay, the purple mare hurries after her other friends, who have a long head start already. Spike looks at her, how she follows the path into the mountains, until she’s nothing but a little dot in the distance. He silently gazes, fearful for the possible negative outcomes. When he turns around to head to the town hall and he is suddenly called upon from the shadows of the nearest buildings.

'Spike, over here,' a familiar voice whispers.

He looks surprised into the shadows next to him, where a silhouette has been waiting for him. 'Huh? Who-What are you doing here?' he asks surprised, hardly able to believe who stands next to him.

***

Gazing down from the mountainous area, the metal-covered stallion waits in absolute silence. His fiery-yellow eyes continue to stare at the sinking sun, without any need to blink. Though the wind blows gently along his ash-grey mane, the tranquility still makes him look sinister because of his crimson-red armor and spikes.

'They won’t change their minds… I already know…,' he mumbles to himself, frowing when he thinks about it.

Without any form of reaction on his face or body; Ignis notices how a young blue pegasus mare flies up to him, flying stationary when she's right in front of his face.

'Hey, who do you think you are?! you think you’re so tough that you can boss around?” Rainbow Dash rhetorically asks him.

Other than glaring in her direction, the stallion presents other form of reaction to the provoked mare. Knowing that she's being ignored, Rainbow Dash starts to slowly fly circles around.

'You’re better off crawling away with that ten-ton armor of yours, before I give you a piece of what pegasi like me can do!' she taunts, attempting to provoke a reaction from him.

The yellow eyes lose interest, looking back at the sinking sun, just like Rainbow Dash starts to lose her temper.

Hitting him with a hoof on his helmet, Rainbow Dash doesn't hesitate to be careful around the alicorn. 'Hey don’t you dare ignoring me, buddy!' she commands angry. The mare suddenly changes her attitude, realising that SHE'S the one who's being provoked now. All she gives him now is a cocky smirk on her face, acting like she's much better than him. 'You know; Nopony, including me, is afraid of you. We can all take you on. So why don’t you just fly off before you embarrass yourself?'

It still doesn't seem to work. Ignis still stares in front of him. But then he suddenly responds. 'And who will stop me? YOU?' he asks without the laugh he would normally add on his insulting questions.

'Not just stop you.... I would plow your face through TEN different clouds, just to make a statement,' she chuckles. Rainbow Dash slowly grins when she notices how she managed to catch his attention now, by the way he slowly turns his head towards her.

'You wish to play games, pegasus? Alright then... Have it your way, you ignorant birdbrain,' he grunts as he spreads his wings. 'You should’ve brought your friends, if you want to give me more than a simple warm-up. Because I know you pegasi and all the “tricks” that you got behind your… back.'

When he's done talking, he launches himself in the air with a mighty flap of his black wings. A little surprised by the speed of the alicorn, Rainbow Dash quickly starts to fly after him when he starts to move away from her, taunting the mare to try and catch up with him.

Ignis moves directly to the black clouds that hang behind the mountains, planning to outmaneuver the pegasus mare in a storm from his magic. Rainbow Dash knows the clouds that float everywhere; having seen them before Ignis arrived. It's the clouds that are just as hard as rock, but as light as a feather. It means that she will hurt herself if she even touches the clouds with the speed she makes to keep up.

But Ignis has underestimated Rainbow Dash' skills. Just like him, she can perfectly move around the solid black clouds that hang in their way, effortlessly. Her body is smaller than his, making it much easier to slip through narrow passages than the alicorn she chases. Although the blue mare has the time of her life, she doesn't get any closer to the fleeing monster! Is he simply keeping her busy?

'Hey, are you a flying chicken, or are you just wasting our time? Come on over here and fight like a pony, chump!' she yells at him. The alicorn seems to ignore her completely, not even looking back at her. When they're entering a part in the sky, riddled with the black clouds, Rainbow Dash has to pay attention to the them again. But when she's about to lose sight of the alicorn, due to a large cloud that floats in her way, she tries to hurry around it.

'-Ugh- C’mon, cloud, don’t get in my way…,' she mumbles. After she avoids the black cloud well, she is surprised to see how the alicorn, which was fleeing from her by a large distance, is now charging towards her! 'Ah, hay!' she gasps, just before collision. Without any time to react, the alicorn rams her mercilessly with his armor, knocking her down to the ground.

'Kgh!' she grunts as she tries to remain conscious, still plummeting to the earth. But as battle-hardened as Rainbow Dash is, she recovers in mid-air and is back in the game! But something has changed in the mare's head now. Suddenly; she's not as convinced as she was a moment ago. The alicorn proves to be just as skilled in flying like she is, flies just as fast as she can, and is well protected too! When Rainbow Dash look above her, attempting to see what Ignis is doing, she is again surprised by the speed he uses to rush towards her.

'Aah!' she gasps and closes her eyes, waiting for the next strike to hit her. Any moment now, she will be hit by that tough armor again. Considering she's no match for him, Rainbow Dash can only cover her eyes and wait until it's over.

Ignis is only a few meters away, about to ram into the respectless mare again, but gets his view blocked when something suddenly hits his face. '-Gragh!- What is the meaning of this?! Ignis grunts, avoiding Rainbow Dash by the length of a manehair. It was an apple that hit him, having covered his sight with the little applejuice that was in it.

Rainbow opens her eyes, surprised that she is still unharmed, unlike her attacker. She smiles relieved when she notices how Ignis angrily shakes apple remains from his helmet. Rainbow Dash has an idea, which she can use now that the alicorn is unable to defend himself. Instead of trying to get a good hit behind his armor, she should find an unprotected weakspot instead. 'Yahhh!' Rainbow yells as she storms towards Ignis, making speed while she looks where she should hit him.

But by the sounds of her noisy war cry, Ignis flaps desperately with his wings to blow her away. He will not tolerate to be bested by such a weak move. Dash manages to stay in the air, but fails to hit him while he was still blinded. Breathing deeply from rage, Ignis spits out the final piece of apple that got in his face.

'Who did that…?' he asks, clearly unamused.

'Right over here, greenhorn!' a voice yells to him from down below. It’s Applejack, possibly the only pony who could make a shot like that to save a friend. Still having a bag with apples on her side, it proves to be great ammo to the earth pony.

'Applejack! Just in time!' Rainbow Dash admits gratefully, glad to see that they haven't left her after all.

The blond Earth Pony gives a smile and a wink at her flying friend, ready to help her against this fiend.

'Stay out of this, “side-kick”! Return when you’ve grown a horn or a pair of wings!' the furious alicorn yells at her, insulting her for being a “mere” Earth Pony.

Applejack doesn’t feel insulted, considering it comes from this weirdo. Earth Ponies have proven themselves to be just as important and strong as pegasi and unicorns. 'Pardner, ya really need to watch yer mouth,' she grunts at him, not feeling intimidated by him at all.

'-Hmpf-,' Ignis grunts in response. I'll deal with you later... This is between me and this blue insect,'

But before Ignis could ready himself to assault Rainbow Dash again, he is surprised from another hit by an apple, hitting him on his armor this time. Applejack shows the guts to keep taunting him, even if she won’t be able to match his powers in magic or flight.

'Forget it,' Applejack tells him and spits on the ground. 'If you have business with Rainbow Dash, you also have business with ME!'

'You made a big mistake…,' he whispers, as apple remains leak over the metal of his armor. Without hesitation, he rushes down to where Applejack is standing. The mare is ready to stand her ground, expecting any sort of impact from the large stallion. Burrying her hooves into the rocky floor, she looks up at the stallion, who dashes towards her with an incredible speed.

But once he swoops over the pony, missing her by a inch, even her physical strength fails to keep her standing. After the wind from his wings touch her, Applejack is blown a couple of meters away, dropping on the ground. Ignis has flown back into the air, believing that she’s down for the count already. But he is slightly surprised when he sees how Applejack is easily standing back up, showing no sign of exhaustion.

'-Heh- Think that can hurt me? I might not have wings or a horn, but that doesn’t mean your wind alone can stop me from helpin’ mah friends!” she comments bravely, making a mockery out of Ignis' strength.

Ignis grunts, growing more and more enraged as the blond pony continues to provoke him. 'Let’s see if your actions are made of steel, rather than just your words!' he challenges, right before he swoops over her again. This time, the blow seems to have hit harder; because Applejack needs a moment to recover in order to stand up again. As the fight between Applejack and Ignis progresses for the worst, Rainbow Dash can't help but fly idly and watch her friend get harmed.

'-Ugh-, what to do, what to do…' Rainbow Dash ponders as she feels powerless to stop him like this. She can't just charge him, because Ignis realizes her attempt faster than she could reach him. The part that isn't covered under thick metal is his chin, which is basically impossible to reach with her limited flightspeed! But then; she has a solution!

'Keep him off, Applejack! I‘ll be right back!' she yells to the struggling earth pony, just before she flies off into the distance.

Ignis has taken notice of her and wants to stop her from fleeing. 'Oh, no, you won’t!' he yells as he is about to rush after her. He lets his guard down, which allows Applejack to kick another apple in his face. He has come to a complete pause, clearly staggered at how the two mares are making a mockery out of him; the upcoming ruler of Equestria!

'…Strike three. You’re out,' Applejack chuckles, taunting him with a smirk on her face.

The alicorn doesn’t even make effort to shake the apple off. The apple slowly drips from his helmet, while he is panting from unbridled rage. His anger for the Applejack has reached a point where he is paralyzed with fury. 'This… Means… War…,' he hisses angry. Behind the dropping apple pieces, his rage-filled yellow eyes glow like uncontrolled fire, aimed at the blond pony.

***

Applejack lies exhausted on the ground, tired from all the blows she has to endure from the “fly-by’s” of Ignis. 'I… really took too much on the hayfork than I could handle, this time…,' she sighs, watching as how Ignis prepares to fly over her again.

'Learned your lesson yet, groundcrawler?' he grunts in anger. 'Let this be a lesson to anypony who dares to stand up against me!'

Right as he flies towards her, Applejack closes her eyes, awaiting the wind that will blow her a couple meters further. But before Ignis can reach her, he is stopped from surprise, by a pink-maned pegasus that flies in his way. 'Hey...You!' Fluttershy tells him softly, though she meant to yell. The alicorn looks surprised at how this little shy pony flies before him, trying to command HIM. 'C-Can’t you… do something else than bullying?' she asks him. 'There is no need to be so mean!'

At first Ignis is astonished by her courageous words, even though he was furious a moment ago. It seemed for a moment that Fluttershy has alot of guts. But the stallion now realizes that Fluttershy is even more scared than any other pony he scared before. He can't help but smile over the futile efforts of Fluttershy, entertaining him enough to actually make him laugh. '-Haha- Having so much courage to come over here and tell ME what to do! Of all ponies, to hear YOU demand me to stop: it’s hilarious! I like your style, little one,' he gloats.

He shadows over her, intimidating her to the point she softly yelps in fear. 'And if I don’t listen to you… What will you do about it?' he asks sadisticly, meaning to intimidate Fluttershy as far as she can.

Fluttershy doesn’t say a word, hoping that her words would’ve been enough to make some sense appear in the wicked alicorn’s mind. But now that she sees how Applejack is wrestling with herself to stand back up, and her words had no effect at all, Fluttershy has no clue of what to do now.

From her silence, Ignis starts to laugh again. 'Hehe. Big words, but no heart. You’re quite entertaining for a docile little-' His words are cut off, as he got struck by a rock that hits his helmet. Surprised, Ignis looks behind him.

'Sir, you need a lesson... A lesson in manners! Is this the way you treat a lady?' the white mare angrily speaks to the confused Ignis, even though that rock had no effect at all. It was Rarity, who launched a rock at the back of the stallion's head with her unicorn magic, defending Fluttershy. 'I doubt you even heard of Etiquette, you creep.'

No friend of Fluttershy will ever tolerate somepony bullying her, even if it’s a dangerous monster like Ignis. Even Applejack feels ready to face him again after witnessing how respectless he treats a harmless pony like Fluttershy. Rarity levitates another rock, and throws it at him. But Ignis simply head-butts the stone with the spikes on his crimson helmet, cracking it without getting even a slight dent on the plate.

Some apple remains drop from his helmet when hit the rock, falling towards the pretty pony. Desperately trying to avoid it, Rarity jumps back in disgust. 'Ew! Ew! Don't throw that at me!'

Ignis raises an eyebrow, unimpressed by Rarity's attempt to sound as tough as rock. The way Rarity shows to avoid filth in panic proves to him that she is actually way too gentle to cause him any trouble, making her another perfect example to torture. He lands on the ground before her, but keeps his wings raised in the air.

'A real lady doesn’t throw rocks as well, missy,' he grunts, followed by a strong flap of his wings. The blow takes alot of dust and sand from the ground, all towards the white unicorn.

'-cough cough- No! Dust! My hair! So gross! -cough-,' she panics, unable to see anything through the cloud of dust that remains around her. Ignis can’t help but laugh at her overreaction for a little dust, making her possibly the most easiest target for suffering he ever found. Applejack and Fluttershy can't help but look at this tragic display, almost feeling sorry for having Rarity come along to a fight like this.

when Ignis is done laughing, he turns his attention back to Fluttershy, who he feels like not having intimidated enough yet. He moves his head near hers to force her to look him in his despair-bringing eyes. 'So, could you repeat your previous question? If you dare, that is,' he chuckles at her, baring his teeth to give her a creepy grin.

Fluttershy cowers in fear to the ground. Yet still, she makes another attempt to come up for her friends. 'P-please, stop this. C-can’t we just be f-friends?' she stutters.

'FRIENDS?!' he shouts at her, seemingly insulted by Fluttershy's question. 'Foolish little Pegasus! Do you have any idea who I am?! If you would, you wouldn’t count on me becoming friends with anypony! If there's something I learned; it's that you're best off when you count on yourself, rather than on a bunch of useless friends!'

Suddenly, to Ignis’ surprise, something pink bounces onto and off his helmet to stand at Fluttershy's side. 'What in the blazes?' the alicorn grunts as he looks back up.

It was Pinkie Pie, who jumps into the picture to comfort Fluttershy. Having arrived a little later than her other friends, she too managed to surprise the alicorn stallion. 'Don’t worry, Fluttershy. There’s no need to be scared of this “hothead”,' she tells the whimpering mare, who has a few tears of fear in her eyes.

Pinkie takes one look at the surprised face of Ignis and his long flame-like waving mane, making her laugh by what she thinks looks funny. Though other ponies would freeze from intimidation by Ignis' eyes, Pinkie Pie is not like most ponies.

'Grrr…,' Ignis growls. He has been surprised by these ponies for atleast three times now. Even if they were futile, it still starts to get him really irritated, because of the way it makes a fool out of him. The crimson stallion rises up again, trying to intimidate them again with his bulky size and armor. 'You pesky pink blob… Do you think you can make fun of me; The Harbringer of Hatred? That mistake will cost you...'

Pinkie Pie sticks rudely her tongue out at him, not backing away from his threats. 'You can’t expect to scare Fluttershy and get away like that!' she tells him, as if they're a mother who scolds her son. 'Just because you’re an oversized, spiked-armor wearing, intimidating, big-wig, doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want!'

It doesn’t matter to her how much more stronger Ignis is compared to her, since she already laughs at his mane again, while thinking of the term “big-wig.” It was enough to make Ignis lost the remnants of patience he had left for these pesky mares. The stallion takes off with a powerful leap, halting in mid-way, only a few meters away from the group of mares. Looking down at the four ponies, he finds their meeting more of a burden than entertaining now.

'That’s it! You we're slightly amusing at first, but now you've actually gone and angered me! I declare that this party is over!' he roars.

Pinkie Pie jumps up. 'Party? Over? Never! It’s never time to end the party!' she yells unconvincing. Ignis ignores her completely, growing only more tired of their insolence.

'I‘ll get rid of all of you, by ONE blow! I will give you a wind so strong, that it will send all of you fools to the moon!' he yells, slowly showing a smile of demonic delight, finding it amusing in his head. 'I have greater physical strength than the strongest Earth Pony. I have magical knowledge that advances that of the wisest Unicorn. And I have the flight speed that surpasses any Pegasus in Equestria!'

Applejack spits on the ground out of disagreement. 'Oh really?' she says with disbelief. In one quick kick, she sends a fourth apple towards Ignis. This time, however, Ignis slaps the apple away with his wing.

'THAT'S…IT!' he screams furiously, preparing his wings to blow them all off the mountain. He starts to laugh sadistically as the ponies group together, who look in horror towards him.

'I wonder if you’ll experience the moon like Luna did! Although you probably won't live long to return in a thousand years!' he laughs. 'Regret the moment you crossed me, and hate yourself for it! Say "bye-bye, ponies!" he cackles madly as his wings are stretched behind him, ready to blow them away.

Suddenly, they are all surprised by a big flash that enlightens the entire chain of mountain tops, distances behind Ignis. The following explosive soundwave distracts Ignis from gathering energy for his wings, forcing him to fly normally again. 'What in the blazes...,' he grunts as he looks over his shoulder, where the display of light came from.

A beam of light is shot like an arrow towards him, moving at the speed of sound. Inside the colorful beam of light is a little dot, the source; Rainbow Dash, having preformed the Sonic Rainboom on command.

She has achieved the element of surprise, along with speed enough to reach Ignis while he's unguarded. the stallion gazes in shock at the unexpected speed that Rainbow Dash has, aimed for him.

Halfway there, Rainbow Dash starts to purposely shake herself, making her spin in a drill pattern, instead of a straight line. In perfect timing; Dash spins like a whirlpool with the speed of 600 mph. Ignis is still frozen by the surprise, giving Rainbow more than enough time to execute her planned action, hoping that it will work as she thought it up in her head. She flies back up, aims for the unarmored chin of Ignis, and headbutts, resulting in an upper-cut at superspeed. The impact echoes for miles, able to be heard in Canterlot as well. Rainbow Dash has succeeded. She has struck the near-invincible stallion with a devestating attack.

'YYYYYES! AWSOME!' Rainbow Dash gloriously cheers as she continues to fly into the air, slowly slowing down from the complete new use of her unique skill. Her friends are just as amazed as the mare, having reached a effect that Rainbow hoped for: Ignis plummets down to the ground, as lifeless as a puppet.

The stallion crashes into the dust, giving no sound from the impact. When the dust blows away by the wind, a complete silence is followed. At first; Ignis was all talk and wore an impenetrable armor that fends of any of the ponies' attempts to stop him. And now; Ignis is as quiet as a rock. But even as the beast lies defeated, his ash-grey mane continues to wave like a flame. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie slowly move towards the unconscious body of Ignis, checking how he is.

'Is he… dead?' Rarity asks with fear.

Applejack looks closely at his face and pokes him, though a little more than needed. 'Nah, he’s just unconscious. Seems our "new leader" is having a “beauty sleep,” she jokes. 'He sure as hay can use one.'

Fluttershy looks away from him. 'My… How could anypony be so… mean?' she whispers.

'Hah, the only thing “mean” he’ll be having now is a mean headache!' Rainbow Dash boasts, still feeling like she’s the big heroine of the day.

Pinkie Pie giggles as she moves a piece of Ignis’ mane on top of hers like a wig. 'Look at me, girls! This guy is giving me one “hairy” problem!'

Even after the terrible confrontation they just passed, the beatings they received, they can easily laugh over Pinkie Pie’s pun, making them feel much better. Their victory has relieved them from fear, allowing them to lower their guard again.

'Too easy…,' they suddenly hear.

With one swift move to stand up, Ignis uses his wings to blow all the ponies away from him. The stallion was simply acting like he was unconcious, allowing him to fully surprise the ponies that stand around him. The force that blows from his wings is strong enough, causing all four ponies to crash on the ground, hard enough to make them pass out instantly.

'No!' Rainbow Dash gasps, horrified by the immediate turnabout. She looks at her friends; having bitten the dust, just after it looked like they won just a moment ago. Meanwhile, the stallion simply shakes the dust off of his unscatched red armor, acting like there was never any doubt for his victory.

'I must admit; I felt that,' Ignis shrugs, speaking to the stupified flying mare. 'The Sonic Rainboom; a skill I haven’t seen for a long time... I must admit that I’m slightly impressed, weakling.'

Rainbow Dash’ Sonic Rainboom in upper-cut form equals a soft poke to this alicorn. It makes Rainbow go crazy to think that nothing against this monster works. If striking him with the speed of sound against his bare chin doesn't work, what in Equestria's name does?

'Spitefull, isn’t it?' Ignis taunts to her.

'Raaaaah!' Rainbow Dash screams with sorrow, dashing straight towards Ignis with a loud battle cry.

'You still dare to underestimate me?' he chuckles at her.

The armored alicorn simply turns his shoulder plate towards her, having her charge into it, hurting only herself. Ignis looks at how Rainbow Dash is able to take a few dizzy steps away from him before falling unconscious on the ground, next to her friends. When he realizes that all his opponents are completely K.O., he walks back to the spot where he stood before, proceeding to look at the sun, as if nothing has happened. 'So much for a warm-up,' he chuckles for a last time.

***

In the distance, moving up the mountain path, a little dust cloud can be seen approaching the former site of combat. It’s Twilight Sparkle, hurrying to aid her friends. But when she arrives and sees how the alicorn stallion stands with five colorful bodies next to him, she realizes to her horror that her friends have already lost to him.

'Applejack…, Rarity…, Fluttershy…, Pinkie…, Rainbow...,' she whispers with anxiety. the purple mare feels sick over how her friends are all knocked out cold, blaming it on herself, because she wasn’t there to help them in time.

She turns her sadness towards the alicorn that doesn’t even pay attention to her arrival. 'Ignis! How dare you harm my friends! Have you got no heart at all?!' she bellows at him. But he doesn't listen to her cries. He only stands on a rock, looking towards the horizon. 'Say something! How could you do this?!' she demands to hear a response from him.

Ignis still completely ignores Twilight. But a few moments after Twilight's outburst, he starts to breath in. 'The time has passed,' he whispers.

Twilight doesn’t understand him. 'Wha-?' she asks confused.

The stallion turns his head towards her, slowly. 'Behold: the sun has sunk behind the horizon. The time of my ultimatum has reached its conclusion.'

Twilight has nothing to say in return. She can only assume it means a bad thing. Ignis grins at the confused face she gives him, realizing that Twilight is too confused to think straight.

'The time is up-' he chuckles '-And the ponies remain loyal to the princess... Not a big surprise. Now, they shall feel the consequences for defiance!'

Twilight rushes towards him, wanting to stop him in any way she can. She doesn't care how much stronger he is than her. All she cares for is avenging her friends and stop this monster for bringing any more harm to Equestria. But before she can reach him, Ignis spreads his wings and leaps into the air, flying down towards Ponyville. He leaves the Mane 6 behind on the mountain, unable to defend the town from him.

When Ignis is out of sight, Twilight turns her attention back to her friends, who still lie on the ground. 'Pinkie Pie, wake up!' she pokes the unconscious pink pony.

Pinkie Pie groans a bit, but seems alright. 'Nawh... Just a few more minutes…,' she mumbles, as if she’s asleep.

'Rainbow! Applejack! Rarity!' she yells to them, trying to get them out of their slumber.

They all respond to Twilight’s call, groaning like they had a bad night of sleep on a stone bed.

'-Urk!-' Rainbow Dash grunts as she stretches her back. 'What happened last night?'

'Fluttershy, are you ok?' Twilight whispers to her, while she helps her to stand back up.

The flustered mare comes by, slowly. 'Is… he gone?' she quietly asks.

Sighing, Twilight is relieved to see that, aside from a small concussion, her friends are alright.

'Glad to see you, Twilight' Rarity sighs with a smile. 'But weren't you going to send that letter to Princess Celestia to warn her?'

Twilight shakes her head. 'Rarity, you wouldn't really think that I would leave you all on your own here?' she tells her.

Applejack rubs over the bump on her head with her hoof, feeling like she's been sleeping in a mangler all night. '-Ugh-... So, wha' happened to Ignis?' she asks Twilight.

When she turns her head in the direction of their hometown, they fear the worst. They all walk to the edge, looking at the town, which is still enlightened by a few sunrays that come from the sun, which is practically down.

Fearful about what Ignis could mean with "punishment", the mares wait and listen to the bellowing voice of Ignis, sounding over Equestria once more, originating from the town square.

'Little ponies, I gave you a chance, which you failed to accept! You have failed to acknowledge my power and birthright! The defiance you show; burns my patience more than that despicable sun!' he shouts, clearly furious. 'Therefore, the dusk you just witnessed shall be your final glimpse of the sky! Cherish your memories, because it shall be the only place where you can see the heavens again!'

Ignis spreads his wings and channels a spell, which makes his horn glow like a torch, spewing out a flame. In the first minute, nothing happens. But suddenly, an enormous amount of darkness spews from Ignis’ body into the air, like a high-pressure burst of smoke. To all ponies’ horror; the black clouds from behind the mountains, and the clouds that appear from the horizon, start to come together at the point where Ignis' magic radiates. It pressures together, and spews more smoke from it, rapidly spreading over the entire sky of Equestria, in a whirlpool motion.

'Hate the fools that turned against me. Hate your friends for hating you! From this day forward: you shall live in hatred forever, coated under the burning blanket of darkness!' he cackles madly, failing to show any signs of sanity. 'Day and night, sun and moon, shall become but a myth in your rage-filled hearts! From this day forward, hatred seizes the cycle!'

'Do you see this, Celestia?!' he laughs uncontrollably. 'Your kingdom falls under the weight of my hoof! Nopony in Equestria can stop me now! Not even you!'

Ignis continues to laugh like this without end, while the horizon continues to fall under the dark, vast clouds that spread like wildfire. Every inch of Equestria loses its natural light, unabling any sight for the sun or moon. The only thing the Mane Six can do is watch in horror as hatred takes the light away from their world. They're too late.

Twilight gulps in worry. 'Dear sweet Celestia… What can we do now?'

Hope itself has lost its radiance.