The Taking of Tartarus

by Rakoon1

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Main 6, Original Character, Other, Adventure
Length: 152816

When the Lord of Chaos conquer Tartarus, he use every villain in there to get revenge from the ponies who ruined his plans and also to spread his darkness. Will our heroes win this new battle agains the most evil being that exist?

After a few months since the Light Kingdom had awakened from its stone sleep, the Lord of Chaos comes with a new plan to take over the world. This time, he want to use every single villain that had tried to conquer Equestria and other lands and their inhabitants. For that, he had to take the prison where they are: Tartarus, the most terrifying place that exist in all world. For that, he managed to steal Golden Paladin's key, the one thing that can give to its user the full control of the prison. In this story, we will have old and new villains that will try to shake our heroes life in order to accomplish their goals or their master's. It will be a battle for peace very difficult to win.

Note: This story is the sequel of The Light Kingdom. It must be noted that this alignment of stories doesn't follow the main alignment of the fourth season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

First story: The Life of a Young Colt
Second story: Twilight and Blue Sword
Third story: The Light Kingdom
Fifth story: Star Knight and the Nine-Tailed Fox
Sixth story: The Island of Tambelon
Seventh story: Light and Darkness - The Shadow of Midnight
Eighth story: The Hidden Prince
Nineth story: Aventures in the Bermikun Triangle
Tenth story: The Elements of Virtue
Eleventh story: The Prince of the Cursed Kingdom

Published 2014-10-04 23:50:03 UTC
Last updated 2015-11-20 15:37:04 UTC

The Power of the Key of Tartarus

Once again, in the castle of Canterlot, would happen the long-awaited Great Galloping Gala. Everything was ready for the big event and, as soon as night fell, the guests began to arrive, with the mares wearing beautiful dresses and the stallions with their stylish tuxedos.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were at that moment receiving the guests who, upon arriving on the edge of them, made them bows.

"Their Excellencies, Golden Paladin, the General of Peace, and Heartbeat, the General of Affection" the courtier announced.

And then Golden Paladin and Heartbeat emerged, both radiating their light. Golden Paladin was wearing his usual golden armor, while Heartbeat had a pink dress and her mane was combed in a different way than the usual.

"Welcome to our home" Celestia greeted, while Golden Paladin and Heartbeat were approaching.

"Thank you so much, your Majesties" Golden Paladin greeted, while he and Heartbeat made a bow.

"I must say that I thought you would come with your siblings" Luna confessed. "Melody, Purple Smoke and Leaf Mane have arrived already."

"Unfortunately, I had a mission to convince a certain filly to come" Golden Paladin answered in his cordial tone, turning then to Heartbeat that didn't seem too pleased.

"I don't know how you made it" she grunted. "I like balls and all that, but it's always the same thing."

"Well, I'm sure something will happen that will break the monotony" Celestia replied with a smile. "It had happened a few times."

"Well, we're going to not block the way" Golden Paladin said. "By the way, Princess Twilight and Prince Blue Sword will arrive soon."

"Good" Celestia said. "This gala would not be the same without my most faithful student."

The two generals made a last bow and then they went to the ballroom.

It didn't take long until they hear again the courtier saying:

"Their Highness, Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor, accompanied by their daughter, Princess Gleaming Shield."

And it was then that Shining Armor and Cadance approached. Shining Armor brought his black tuxedo while Cadance brought her dress with encrusted crystals and with her mane combed with the traditional ceremonial headdress. On top of Shining Armor’s backs was the small Gleaming Shield, with little more than a year. She was awake and looking at the surroundings with great fascination.

"Cadance, Shining Armor, I'm glad to see you here" Celestia said.

"We wouldn't miss the Great Galloping Gala for nothing" Cadance replied.

"Yes, I even agreed to wear this uncomfortable outfit" Shining said. "I was to bring my armor, but Cadance insisted that I should dress myself formally."

Celestia gave a few laughs and then said:

"I'm sure you wouldn't feel a stranger. After all, Golden Paladin has arrived and he is with his armor. "

Shining Armor turned to Cadance and told her:

"You see? I told you it wasn't going to make any difference if I used the armor or not."

"Oh, Shining, Golden Paladin is the General of Peace" she replied. "It's natural that he's come up with his armor."

"I hope you have a lot of fun" Luna said. "We got the three funniest of the Generals of Order. I can assure you that there will be no hassles."

"Good" Cadance said. "We have had a few complicated and extremely busy days. Aunt Celestia, Aunt Luna, could request one of your maids to take care of Gleaming Shield?"

"Of course" Celestia replied. "I already sent prepare two rooms: one for you two and another to Twilight and the Blue Sword. In addition to that, I already had charged one of the maids to take care of Star Knight. I bet she won't mind also take care of Gleaming Shield."

It was then that the maid who Celestia was talking about arrived and the Princess of the Sun told her:

"I wonder if you could take care of Princess Gleaming Shield, besides Prince Star Knight?"

"Certainly, Princess" the maid replied, bowing her head.

"Thank you" Celestia thanked.

After Shining and Cadance say goodbye to Gleaming Shield, she was taken by the maid. The couple then drove up to the ballroom. Not last long until the courtier say:

“Their Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Prince Blue Sword, along with their son, Prince Star Knight.

So Twilight and Blue got in and approach to Celestia and Luna. Blue was wearing a white tuxedo, while Twilight was wearing a beautiful dress with encrusted star seeds that made her shine more light than usual. Her mane was neatly combed, and, as Cadance had crystals, she had star seeds. Twilight brought a foal chair that floated magically where there was the little Star Knight, Twilight and Blue’s son.

"My dear Twilight, I'm glad you're here" Celestia said. "You too, Blue Sword. And I see you brought the little Star Knight with you."

"I couldn't part with him" Twilight said. "I can't stand the idea of being so far away from my beloved son."

"I told her she didn't need to worry about" Blue said. "After all, Star is in greater security in the Light Kingdom."

"It's understandable" Celestia said, with a smile. "Mothers like having their children around. Shining and Cadance also brought Gleaming Shield."

"Our maid is ready for the Star Knight" Luna said.

And then she showed up and, although a little tempted to not do it, Twilight ended up handing over the baby pony, but only after Blue had insisted. After this, they all went to the ballroom.

There was a lot of fun, with all the dancing, laughing and chatting. Twilight's friends were there, too, since that time, things were a little different, since that incident that happened on another gala.

The gala itself was quite different, being now more cheerful. It is clear that Pinkie Pie gave it her personal touch, but it was essentially Melody, Purple Smoke and Heartbeat that made the things happy. Melody was, of course, who was in charge of the music, entertaining everypony with her wonderful voice. Purple Smoke wore his ability to talent imitation to compete with his sister’s voice, something that amused the ponies. Heartbeat, for her part, struggled for the gala not becoming so boring as she thought it would be.

Everything was going so well when suddenly something happened. A thunder was heard with an immense force that caused a huge silence in the ballroom.

"That was weird" Purple Smoke said, while he and Melody were approaching their siblings who were next to Twilight, Blue, Shining and Cadance. "I didn't think it was supposed to rain today."

"And it wasn't" Leaf Mane said. "I made sure of that."

"I don't know why you are so worried" Blue said. "It's just a storm. It happens."

"Blue is right" Shining said. "Sometimes, even the pegasus can lose the control of the weather."

"No" Golden Paladin said. "That thunder wasn’t natural. Something triggered it. Something powerful."

It was then that Heartbeat seemed to be very uncomfortable.

"Oh no" she said.

"What's wrong?" Golden Paladin asked.

"I can feel it" Heartbeat said, breathing a little heavy. "It's cold... very cold. It’s him. It can only be him."

"But he who?" Applejack asked, while she and the others were in sight.

The answer came with an evil laugh. It was the most evil and cruel laughter they already had heard, able to freeze the sun.

"I guess my surprise was discovered" a voice that echoed everywhere said.

Everypony was petrified when they heard that voice. They knew it and terribly well.

"It can't be..." Twilight said, very nervous. "But it’s... "

But she didn’t over, because the window glass broke, causing a lot of ponies to scream, and then shadows entered, ascending into the air and building up, with some red eyes appearing in the middle of them and then a figure left them and that turned out to be the Lord of Chaos.

"It's me!" he exclaimed, laughing.

"Lord of Chaos" Golden Paladin said.

When they saw him, Shining and Blue placed themselves in front of their respective wives to protect them.

"Why so surprised?" he asked. "Did you thing that pile of pure light would stop me forever? Well, news for you, something that you, pseudo-Generals of Order should know: I am eternal! And now, you, happy little ponies, will pay for everything you did to me."

"That's what you think, chuckles" Rainbow said, flying. "We beat you twice, and we can still make it a third."

"Such courage" the Lord of Chaos commented to Rainbow Dash. "Or is it ignorance? Maybe stupidity?"

"Well you..." Rainbow Dash started, wanting to go against the Lord of Chaos, only to be stopped by Applejack that held her tail.

"Calm down, gal, ya don't want tah make things worse than they already are" Applejack said.

"Let's cut to the chase and let all these... foalish, as you ponies would say" the Lord of Chaos said.

"What do you want?" Celestia asked, arriving with her sister.

"Isn't it obvious?" the Lord of Chaos asked. "I want everything."

"Including my star seed, isn't it?" Twilight asked back.

"Very clever, princess" the Lord of Chaos praised. "That's one of the things I most admire about you."

"Don't you dare touch my wife" Blue said.

"That is also my sister" Shining added.

"You don't have to worry about, your Highnesses" Melody said.

"Melody is right... this time" Purple Smoke said. "Our master’s magic prevents the original star seed original of being removed by the Lord of Chaos. The only beings capable of do it is Sombra and Fire Punch and one is dead and the other is in jail, and without his horn."

But then the Lord of Chaos started laughing, something that confused everypony.

"Do you really think I'm here because of that seed?" he asked. "Please, I have much more important things to do."

"Without the seed, you don't control anything" Golden Paladin said.

"Au contraire, mon ami" he said. "I control everything."

He snapped his fingers and then two big bubbles appeared. Everypony was stunned when they saw what were inside of them...

"Gleaming Shield!" Cadance called.

“Star Knight!"Twilight called.

It was true. The two young infants were trapped in the bubbles, sleeping.

"Release our kids, you scumbag!" Blue yelled.

"Sure" the Lord of Chaos said. "As soon as you give me what I want. They are the trade."

"And how do we know that you are not fooling us?" Shining asked.

"If there's something I'm proud of is my integrity" the Lord of Chaos replied. "I always keep my promises."

"We will retrieve our kids, but you will have nothing" Blue said.

"I give you my star seed if you release them" Twilight said.

"Twily, no!" They all said at the same time.

"If this serves to save Star and Gleaming, then I won't hesitate" Twilight said. "Their life is more precious."

"Princess, we don’t advise you to do this" Golden Paladin said. "If you do, the Lord of Chaos will rule this world."

"Of course I will" the Lord of Chaos said. "But I don't need that disgusting star seed."

"What?" Twilight asked.

"When you beat me with all that humiliating, I decided that it's much better to conquer than to dominate" the Lord of Chaos said. "Why transform light into darkness, when I can simply destroy it? It will be very useful. Not to mention it will give me more pleasure. So, I want only one thing and the brats are yours. I want the key of Tartarus."

That made the Generals of the Order, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stay without reaction.

"The key of what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'm sure it must be something important" Rarity said.

"Uh, uh, let me guess" Pinkie Pie said. "What can it open? A door? A drawer? Oh, I know! A treasure chest."

"I'm afraid not, Pinkie Pie" Melody said. "Something a lot worse."

"The key to Tartarus opens..." Heartbeat started. "Well, opens Tartarus."

"Wait, ya mean, Tartarus, as in Tartarus?" Applejack asked.

"The super duper scary place where all the great and scary bad guys are and that is guarded by a big and scary three-headed dog?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"That’s right" Heartbeat replied.

"And the key is the essential instrument to its absolute control" Leaf Mane said.

"Whoever has the key controls Tartarus" Purple Smoke said. "And everything that is inside of it."

"Because the key unlocks not only the gates, but also all the cells and much more" Golden Paladin concluded.

"So he wants the key..." Cadance started.

"To release all the villains that have already been captured" Celestia said.

"Not only the ones Princess Celestia and Princess Luna captured, but also those that I and my brothers and sisters defeated" Golden Paladin said. "Old threats that we vow to guard and keep from coming back to haunt this land."

"Yes, an excellent objective, but futile" the Lord of Chaos replied. "Now, give me the key right now."

"But we don't have the key" Twilight said. "How can we give you something that we don't have?"

"Of course you don’t have it, princess" said the Lord of Chaos. "How could you have something too important to the maintenance of peace throughout the world? Something like that can only be in possession... "

"Of the General of Peace" Golden Paladin replied, making everypony look at him. "In other words, me."

He then invoked the key that was rotating in the air at his edge.

"Golden Paladin, you can't" Purple Smoke said.

"Think of all the villains that will be released" Melody said. "It will be a disaster."

"Maybe..." Golden Paladin said, who looked to the young infants and his princess. "But we have a duty and we should stick to it."

And so he made the key address to the Lord of Chaos and then the magic aura that surrounded it became dark and it landed in the Lord of Chaos’ hand.

"Finally" he said. "The key of Tartarus is mine now. Thank you, Goldy. It was very generous."

"Now let the little ones go" the General of Peace demanded.

"Whatever you want" the Lord of Chaos replied.

He snapped his fingers and the bubbles burst, making the young infants begin to fall. Shining and Blue managed to catch them with their magic. Twilight and Cadance then went to their respective children to embrace them.

"As you can see, I keep my promises" the Lord of Chaos said. "However, it would have been smarter if you hadn't given up key."

"You can have the key, but you can’t get in Tartarus without pass through Cerberus" Golden Paladin said. "And trust me when I say that he won’t let you come in."

"Yes, your puppy may be a problem" the Lord of Chaos said. "I'm glad that I have a plan."

He raised his hand and then black roots emerged from the ground, right below Melody, and they rose her up in the air, grabbing her.

"Hey, put me down right away!" She exclaimed. "You're ruining my best dress!"

"Oh no!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Yes, it's horrible" Applejack said. "Tha Lord of Chaos has the General of Music."

"It's not that" Rarity said. "That's really a wonderful dress and that thing with thorns is ripping it."

That made everypony look at her and he giggled nervously and said:

"What is not at all the most important thing right now."

"Stop it!" Golden Paladin exclaimed to his other siblings.

Everypony began to carry their horns, but the Lord of Chaos pointed them his palm and launched waves of energy that launched everypony against the floor. When they came back up, the Lord of Chaos and Melody had disappeared.

"Oh no" Golden Paladin said. "This is bad."

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked. "Why did he took Melody?"

"To go through Cerberus" Heartbeat answered.

"But how a singer can tame a beast that size?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, if you excuse me, I think I know why" Fluttershy said shyly. "Sometimes, the large animals can be soothed by music. My friend bear likes to sleep at the sound of a lullaby music."

"She's right" Golden Paladin said. "Cerberus sleeps as soon as he begin to hear music. It’s his only weakness. The Lord of Chaos knows it and intends to use Melody to pass through my dog and, with the key, he can disable all other protections. I have to go there as soon as possible."

He turned to the other Generals and told them:

"You stay here. The Lord of Chaos is not to be trusted. He can attack Canterlot, while he’s trying to take Tartarus."

They waved and then Golden Paladin called to the air:

"Mirror Coat!"

Then the mirror of polished metal blue that served as a portal to Mirror Coat appeared and it happened that he appear again. See everything around them, he said:

"I know I'm the General of Knowledge and all that, but I have to ask. What the hell happened here?"

"I will explain later" Golden Paladin said, advancing to the gate. "There's no time now. We're going to Tartarus. "

"Whatever" Mirror Coat said.

He and Golden Paladin went through the gate, appearing in front of the cave where the entrance to Tartarus was. The two rushed in, but then they met Melody sitting on the floor, tied with Cerberus who was sleeping beside her.

"Melody!" Golden Paladin called, advancing to his sister, followed by Mirror Coat.

When arriving to her, Golden took the gag out of her mouth and she said:

"Sorry, Golden Paladin, but he forced me to sing to Cerberus."

"It's okay" Golden Paladin said, as he loosened Melody from the strings. "He can be very persuasive."

After having released, the ground began to shake and the cave walls began to crack.

"What's wrong?" Melody asked.

Golden Paladin knew very well what was happening.

"We have to get out of here... Now!"

He turned to his three-headed dog and told him:

"Sorry, old friend, but I have to wake you up."

And then he kicked in the middle head of Cerberus and he and the other two heads aroused in abruptly, with the body up, ready to attack. But then he saw that had been his owner.

"Come on, boy. Out."

The three ponies and the Cerberus ran out of the cave and, barely reached the exit, they looked up and saw the top of the mountain where the cave were crumbling. It was then that a huge dark tower left, seated under a huge chunk of land, rose in the air. It was then that, in front of the entrance, appeared the Lord of Chaos that asked Golden Paladin:

"Do you like the change I made to your small prison? All that yellow you had was giving me headaches. "

But he did not respond, but his glares to the Lord of Chaos were intense. He then lifted her head and said:

"This is now for all the ponies of Equestria, Crystal Empire and Light Kingdom."

His voice echoed everywhere, with all the ponies hearing it. He continued:

"Tartarus is mine now. All the villains that are here will return to active duty. This world will be mine, all mine. And I'm going to conquer it the way you choose: the most painful and destructive one. "

And then he gave his evil laugh.

"Until our next meeting."

And so the tower and the Lord of Chaos disappeared.

The Krylock's Venom

After the taking of Tartarus by the Lord of Chaos, the ponies appeared to have entered into an immense state of panic. The only ponies that could calm them were their respective princesses.

"Dear Equestrians, we know that we are facing a new threat" Princess Celestia said, from her castle, along with Luna, to the ponies of Canterlot. "And we know that this reaches completely different levels we have ever faced."

"Although our enemy is the Lord of Chaos, we can assure you that we will do everything to protect you all" Luna continued.

"That is and will always be my responsibility and the other princesses" Cadance said to crystal ponies. "We will ensure that none of the villains of Tartarus cross our borders and destroy our beautiful land."

"You, ponies of light, were trapped in a stone sleep for over a thousand of years" Twilight said to the light ponies. "However, I know, from the bottom of my heart, that you never ceased to have hope of one day to wake up. Therefore, I ask you: remain calm and don't panic, it won't help anything. Don't do it for me, but for you. I, Prince Blue Sword and the Generals of Order as well as the other princesses will find a way to defeat the Lord of Chaos and return the peace that has been taken from us."

Although the light ponies continue with fear, they applauded Twilight’s speech. She made them a bow and then went back inside the castle, where she was received by Blue Sword that gave her a kiss, saying then:

"That was a nice speech, Twily. I'm sure you managed to calm them."

"I hope so" Twilight said. "They are my responsibility. I have to ensure that nothing bad happens to them. After all, the Light Kingdom should be at the top of the Lord of Chaos’ blacklist. Where's Star?"

"Don't worry about it" Blue said. "He's in his room resting, watched by the best guards of the kingdom."

"I can't stop worrying about our son, Blue" Twilight said. "The Lord of Chaos was able to catch him and Gleaming Shield in Canterlot. Who guarantees us that he doesn't do it again?"

"The kingdom's magic will keep him away" Blue answered, caressing her face with the hoof. "It's nice you want the security of our son, but I can assure you that he’s completely safe. Now, I think the best thing to do is to concentrate on other matters."

Twilight smiled and then said to him:

"You're absolutely right. What would I do without you? "

"That's a good question, dear" he replied. "A good question."

The two looked at each other intensely and prepared to give a kiss when somepony cleared his voice. It was Mirror Coat.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, Your Highnesses" he said. "Princess Twilight, I must tell you that I just get all the information about all the villains imprisoned in Tartarus. It’s on your desk."

"Thank you, Mirror Coat" Twilgiht thanked. "I know it must have been difficult, given that you still have a lot to organize in the Mirrored Library."

"Don't worry, Princess Twilight" Mirror Coat replied. "It didn't cost me anything."

He prepared to retreat when Twilight called:

"Mirror Coat?"

"Yes, princess?"

"Do you know where Golden Paladin is?" Twilight asked. "I haven't seen him around."

"Golden Paladin went reunite with the Lord of Order due to current circumstances" Mirror Coat answered.

"I just hope he can get us something to combat the crisis in which we find ourselves" Twilight said.

In the throne room of Order, Golden Paladin was kneeling on the bottom of the stairs that led to the throne where his master was sit. The General of Peace told everything that was happening in Equestria.

"I see" the Lord of Order said. "So my brother wants to play for real."

"He's out of control, your lordship" Golden Paladin said. "With a lot of villains attacking in successive manner or at the same time, I don't know if we can withstand for long. We need a way to stop them."

"You're right" the Lord of Order said. "This will bring serious disturbances to the balance between good and evil."

It was then that Golden Paladin lowered her head sadly and somewhat embarrassed and said:

"And I gave him literally the key to his plan be executed."

"Don't blame yourself, general" the Lord of Order said. "There was nothing you could do."

"Yes, master, but even so, it was my duty and I failed."

"On the contrary, you made properly your duty to protect the lives of two innocent ponies, even for more, being these two innocent members of the royal family."

There was a pause in which the Lord of Order thought for a moment about the situation and then he said:

"The only solution I see is to capture each villain once more and save them until we get control of Tartarus. I can’t use my powers as my brother is not using his directly to conquer Equestria."

"I think it’s the best solution as well, master" Golden Paladin agreed.

The Lord of Order snapped his fingers and three big bubbles appeared, while he said:

"To help you in this task, you will need three things. The prison-book..."

In one of the bubbles appeared the image of a book padlocked and with an octagonal slot in the center of the cover.

"The life cells..."

In the second bubble appeared a couple of small hexagonal discs with the size of the existing slot in the prison-book.

"And the cell blaster"

And in the last bubble appeared an instrument that was similar to a spotting scope with the front having the same shape as the life cells.

"Find these three items spread across several worlds and you would be able to imprison each villain until we get Tartarus back" the Lord of Order said.

"Understood" Golden Paladin said, bowing respectfully his head. "I will do my best, master."

He then drove up to one of the mirrors of the throne room and with his horn surrounded by his magical aura, he crossed it.

"Good luck" the Lord of Order wished. "You're going to need it."

In Ponyville, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were in Sugarcube Corner, talking about what had happened at the Grand Galloping Gala.

"Ah still can't believe that Tartarus is in tha hands of that lunatic" said Applejack. "He now has tha resources tah destroy Equestria and everythin’ that surrounds it."

"Yes, with all those hideous villains that he got, it's pretty likely what will happen" Rarity said.

"Uh, let's not be so negative, girls" Pinkie Pie said, in his usual cheerful and dizzy tone. "Maybe he doesn't want to break in and create a great chaos. I mean, it might be in his name, but that doesn't mean he's going to do. Maybe he wants to make a big party and decided to invite all his bad friends."

That made everypony look at her seriously.

"Anyway…" Rainbow Dash said, ignoring what Pinkie Pie had said. "For me, the Lord of Losers can send all the villains that he wants. We have the Elements of Harmony and, with them, those idiots will get a kick in the ass that they won't soon forget."

"Oh my, that sounds so... violent" Fluttershy said. "Maybe we can convince them to do no harm. After all, we reformed Discord."

"Fluttershy, darling, no offense, but I think our friend Discord is not exactly reformed" Rarity said. "At least, not in the way it was supposed to be."

"That is because there must be collaboration of both parts" Fluttershy said. "Seriously, girls, if you met him a little bit more, you could see the good heart that the Discord has."

"Yeah, I'm sure Discord and good heart are words that can never be placed in the same affirmative phrase" Rainbow Dash said.

"Changin’ tha subject..." Applejack said, turning to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, we can have tha Elements of Harmony, but it won't do any good if various villains attack us at tha same time."

"Applejack, you worry so much" said Rainbow Dash.

"And ya do tha opposite" Applejack replied.

"Come on, girls, can we end this?" Fluttershy asked.

"Fluttershy is right" Rarity said. "This is already becoming very exhausting."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged a look and then waved.

"Great" Rarity said. "Now we can focus on happier things."

"Yes, just like the Great Ponyville Fair that will take place tomorrow afternoon" Pinkie Pie said. "I can't wait! And I'll do my special chocolate cupcakes recipe. It will be... delicious!"

"Well, it's always a way tah distract us from everythin’ that's happenin’" Applejack commented.

"You are right" said Rainbow Dash. "Let's concentrate ourselves on having fun."

The Lord of Chaos was watching that scene through the mirror of a room situated in Tartarus, where he had installed himself, sitting on a throne similar to the one he had in his throne room.

"So you want to have fun" he said. "That's what we're going to see. After the role you had in my humiliation, I don't think that's going to happen."

It was then that someone knocked on the door and then Fire Punch entered.

"I'm sorry, sir" he said.

"What do you want?" the Lord of Chaos asked rudely. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I wanted to thank you a lot for release me" Fire Punch said. "It just proves how magnanimous you are to those who are loyal to you."

The Lord of Chaos looked at him for a few seconds and then said:

"Don't get above yourself, Fire Punch. You're just out of your cell because I opened every cell in Tartarus. Believe me, after your big failures, I had no intention to involve you in my latest great plan."

"But I promise you that I will be an asset" Fire Punch said. "Don't forget everything I did for you when was the King of Changelings or when had King Sombra’s Horn."

"Yes, and both times you were defeated miserably" the Lord of Chaos replied. "If you think I'm going to give you a new power, you're sadly mistaken. You had your opportunities. No other villain received more mercy than you. Consider yourself lucky to be allowed to walk freely around."

"But..." Fire Punch started, but, after receiving the gruff look from the Lord of Chaos, he changed to a submissive tone. "As you wish, my lord."

"Now you stopped bothering me with meaningless affairs, I think it's time to concentrate on more important matters, like trying to find a way to ruin the happiness of Princess Twilight’s friends and, at the same time, lure her out of that stupidly brilliant place" the Lord of Chaos said, adopting his pensive air.

He thought for a while and then said:

"I know! I'm a genius. I know exactly what to do and Pinkie Pie’s chocolate cupcakes are the answer."

"I don't understand, sir" Fire Punch said.

"With your limited understanding and intelligence, no wonder" the Lord of Chaos answered him. "I will put something in the cupcakes that will end with the peace and tranquility of the so beloved Twilight’s Ponyville, enough to make her go there and then crush her. Without the Light Kingdom Princess, the only opponent with the same kind of power is her son who at this moment is still a baby. Thus, it will be much easier to conquer this world. Of course, when I say I will put something in the cupcakes, I mean someone will do it for me. Namely, a villain in particular."

And he rubbed his hands, while giving his evil laugh.

In the Cakes’ kitchen, Pinkie Pie was preparing to cook her cupcakes. Humming, she put the ingredients on the table and began to check them. After that, he began to mix everything, always humming. It was then that, after mixing the flour, sugar, chocolate and baking, she prepared to mix the eggs, milk and margarine when suddenly...

"Oops, what silly I am, I didn't bring the eggs" she said. "How can I make cupcakes without eggs?"

And she went to the refrigerator looking for eggs. Meanwhile, a creature with six articulated legs appeared and, using a scorpion tail, it squirted a slight glow green liquid, starting then mixing everything to put as it was before. While doing it, Pinkie Pie had one of her combos: ears flopping and tail twitching.

Pinkie Pie lifted her head and said:

"Ears flopping and tail twitching? That means there's a monster behind me messing with my cupcakes."

She turned around holding the eggs with the tail, but she didn't see anyone there. She approached her mixture and smelled it. Then she said:

"No, it seems that it was a false alarm."

And she continued to make the recipe.

The Lord of Chaos was seeing her making the cupcakes and then said:

"That’s right, my dear pink bouncing ball, make your cupcakes and then give them to your friends. They will have a surprise that they will not forget any soon."

And he gave an evil laugh. He made a gesture with his hand and then said to the creature that appeared in the mirror:

"You made a great job... Krylock."

The Lord of chaos was talking to a monstrous creature with a large cobra head on scorpion body. The Krylock just hissed, seeming unable to articulate words.

"I'm sorry, my lord" Fire Punch said. "But can I ask what are you planning?"

"It's not obvious, you idiot?" the Lord of Chaos asked. "Those muffins will be distributed for all Ponyville ponies and those idiots will ingest Krylock’s venom."

But seeing Fire Punch’s confusing air, the Lord of Chaos sighed and said:

"Don't worry your pretty little hollow head. Just wait and see what will happen."

The next day, the Great Ponyville Fair seemed to revitalize ponies’ spirit. The fun and happiness reigned in all corners of the village. Pinkie Pie was finishing packing the cupcakes she had done. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were there with the twins.

"We are very pleased that you can go sell the cupcakes for us, Pinkie Pie" Mr. Cake said.

"Yes, with the twins, we don't have much time for that" Mrs. Cake said.

"It was nothing, Mr. and Mrs. Cake" Pinkie Pie said, giving a cupcake to each twin that started eating them. "You know how I love to make cupcakes. And I love even more to sell them. Well, I gotta go. See you later."

And she left, hoping. Mr and Mrs Cake turned to their two kids who were all dirty with the chocolate cupcakes that they had been eating.

"Sounds like somepony needs a bath" Mrs. Cake said.

"Let's go to the bath, kids" Mr. Cake said.

Mr. Cake took on Pumpkin Cake, while Mrs. Cake took on Pound Cake. What they didn't know was that while they were going up, the eyes of the two foals became yellow and with slit pupils and their teeth became razor sharp, turning into fangs.

At the fair, Pinkie Pie was in her stall selling her cupcakes.

"Come on!" exclaimed Pinkie. "Come buy your delicious cupcakes here in your dear friend Pinkie Pie’s stall."

A pony came to the stall and put a bit on Pinkie Pie’s tin and then she extended him a cupcake saying:

"Thank you very much and have a nice day, which shouldn't be hard because every day looks better with a delicious chocolate cupcake."

The pony then walked away with his cupcake he ate with a lot of satisfaction. Pinkie Pie’s friends then appeared.

"So, how's is goin’ tha sales, Pinkie?" Applejack asked.

"Like a dragon in the middle of a lot of jewels" Pinkie Pie replied.

"Good" Fluttershy said. "These cupcakes seem to be appetizing."

"In fact, they appear to be the ideal candy to take along with a nice cup of tea" Rarity said.

"Well, I saved some for you" Pinkie Pie said. "But first, I need you to help me with the sales."

"Selling cupcakes to eat a few for free?" Rainbow asked. "I'm completely on it."

"Yes, ya can also count with my help, Pinkie" Applejack said.

"And mine" Fluttershy said.

"Well, personally, I would not align in something that was related to any physical effort" Rarity said. "But sales require a certain approach with the customers and I happen to have a natural gift to interact with the ponies."

"Well, there you go, girls" Pinkie said, while giving to each one a tray with cupcakes. "Make sure everypony have one. Of course there will be some that will not have one, which is a shame, because they won't be able to experience the joy of eating a chocolate cupcake made here by Pinkie Pie."

Her friends then took the trays, placing them on their back, except Rarity who used her magic, and they began to deliver the cupcakes. It didn't take long until they have the trays empty. They returned to Pinkie Pie’s stall, or at least almost all of them. Fluttershy was the only one who had not yet returned.

"Did you distributed all the cupcakes?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yes, Pinkie" said Applejack. "These ponies rushed to them like a bunch of Timberwolves to a lot of food."

"Yes, those cupcakes sell very well" Rarity said.

"Hey, since we worked hard to sell those cupcakes..." Rainbow Dash started.

"You want to eat some as a reward?" Pinkie Pie asked, making appear a platter with five muffins. "They're already here."

"Pinky... you are awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, preparing to take one of the muffins, only to be stopped by Pinkie Pie.

"But we will just start eating when Fluttershy arrive" she said.

"What?!" Rainbow Dash asked, not wanting to believe what she heard.

"Come on, Rainbow Dash, is part of the rules of good education" Rarity said.

"There's no harm in waitin’ a little longer, RD" Applejack said.

Seeing that she had no other choice, Rainbow Dash sighed and said:

"Okay."

Fluttershy, due to her shyness, ended for taking a long time to deliver the cupcakes, but ultimately she managed to give the last one to a young filly.

"Thank you" the little one thanked, moving away.

"You're welcome" Fluttershy replied.

She sighed before her done work and then saw the filly eating her delicious cupcake. It was amazing the satisfaction that arose by brighten the ponies with things as simple as a chocolate cupcake. She now understood what Pinkie Pie felt when she do it.

Then something caught her attention. The filly, after eating her cupcake, licked her lips, all happy, but then she wriggled her face and then Fluttershy saw with horror her eyes turning yellow with slit pupils, her teeth becoming fangs, the column bending so that the front legs were raised off the floor and they became pincers, while the hind legs became in six articulated legs and the tail turned into a scorpion tail. A kind of exoskeleton appeared also from the waist down.

The filly, now transformed, started pinging, showing a cobra forked tongue and began to walk from one side to the other, causing chaos, making the ponies around screaming and running. And she wasn't the only one. More ponies, young and old, all transformed into similar creatures. And among them, were all the ponies whom Fluttershy had delivered the cupcakes.

Full of fear, Fluttershy started running in the direction of Pinkie Pie’s stall, for help.

There, Rainbow Dash was getting tired of waiting for Fluttershy, until they got fed up and said:

"Ok, I'm starving. I'm going to eat my cupcake, either Fluttershy is here or not. I’ll even eat her cupcake if she doesn't come in five minutes."

"Ah expect’d ya tah say somethin’ like that" Applejack said.

"Yes, but until that lasted long enough for the normal" Rarity commented.

Rainbow Dash was about to eat her cupcake when Fluttershy appeared, flying quickly and saying:

"NOOO!"

She then dropped Rainbow Dash before she take a bite of the cupcake, throwing her to the ground and throwing the cupcake to the ground.

"Fluttershy, what do you think you're doing?!" Rainbow Dash asked, moving Flutterhy away from her, rising up. "You made me lose my cupcake."

"I'm terribly sorry, Rainbow Dash" Fluttershy said, also rising up. "But it turns out that you couldn't eat your cupcake."

"And may I ask why?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because..." Fluttershy stammered, trying to find the courage to say it. "Because... Because of that."

And she pointed. It was then that the ponies turned appeared to wreak havoc, something that surprised her friends.

"What tha hay are those?" Applejack asked.

"It happened to be all the ponies that ate Pinkie Pie’s cupcakes" Fluttershy said. "At least, everypony who I sold them"

"Hey, Ah also recall those ponies" Applejack said. "Ah also sold them tha cupcakes."

"And I to those" Rarity said.

"Hey, are you saying that my cupcakes have anything to do with the fact that those ponies are now a sort of weird mutants and..." Pinkie Pie started.

She then sniffed her cupcakes more carefully and then said:

"Hey, somebody put something in my cupcakes! I had a feeling that something wasn't right. My Pinkie sense never fails!"

"Look out!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

They then saw a scorpion tail being whipped towards them and everypony ducked, while the tail destroyed Pinkie Pie’s stall. They went to a shelter and there Applejack asked:

"How are we goin’ tah get rid of these things?"

"For me, I go there and let them feel the flavor of my hooves" Rainbow Dash said, ready for combat.

"You can't fight them, Rainbow Dash" said Rarity. "In spite of everything, they are innocent ponies."

"But what am I supposed to do?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh damn" Pinkie Pie said, remembering something.

"What is it, Pinkie?" Applejack asked.

"I just remembered that I gave cupcakes to the Cake twins" she said.

In Sugarcube Corner, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were in a shelter, while their children, now transformed into mutants, tipped the store upside down while they ate all the candies.

"But what's wrong with our babies?" Mrs. Cake asked.

"I don't know, sweetheart" Mr. Cake replied. "It must have been something they ate."

It was then that Rainbow Dash appeared at the entrance and, with her speed, she managed to put the twins in a net and hang them from the ceiling.

"Are you okay, Mr. and Mrs. Cake?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"But what are you doing to our children?" Mrs. Cake asked to Rainbow Dash, in a disapproving way, while she and her husband came out from their hiding place.

"Ah... Keeping them safe... and you" Rainbow Dash replied.

She then heard a sound of spitting, turned and saw that one of the twins had spat a kind of green acid that broke up the net, which allowed them to get out of there. Given this, Rainbow Dash, with all her speed, grabbed Mr. and Mrs. Cake and took them out of the bakery and then sealed all the doors and windows.

"They, they won't get out of here" she said.

"Can you explain us what's going on?" Mr. Cake asked.

"Uh, it's kinda hard to explain" Rainbow Dash answered. "But don't worry, we will do what we can to resolve this. I hope..."

And having said that, she moved away quickly. She returned to the area of the fair where everything had worsened. She found her friends and said:

"The twins’ situation is under control... more or less. How are things here?"

"Not well" Applejack answered. "We don't know how to fight these things without hurting them."

"I wish Twilight was here" Fluttershy said. "She'd know what to do."

In the Light Kingdom, Twilight was sitting on his throne with Blue and Spike by her side, taking care of some matters of the kingdom when suddenly a deafening alarm began ringing.

"But what is this?!" Twilight asked, while she and the other two covered their ears.

"I don't know!" Blue Sword replied.

Mirror Coat then appeared and Twilight asked him:

"Mirror Coat, what the hell is going on?!"

He didn't answer, only looking at one side of the throne room where Heartbeat appeared.

"Did you like it?" she asked, so that all could hear. "It’s my new emergency alarm. It plays quite loud so all ponies can hear."

But seeing rough looks looking at her, she asked:

"Too loud?"

"Yes!" everypony replied.

"Oops, sorry" she said.

Her horn shone and then the alarm stopped.

"Thanks Celestia!" Spike exclaimed. "I thought I'd be deaf before reaching the adolescence."

"Heartbeat, which was the reason for the alarm?" Twilight asked.

"I'm terribly sorry, princess, but I thought I could install an alarm system in case of any activity of villains emerge" Heartbeat said. "And it seems that it worked well. I just have to adjust the intensity of the sound."

"Wait, you mean there's a villain playing up?" Blue Sword asked.

"That's exactly what brought me here, Your Highnesses" Mirror Coat said in his respectful tone. "I received information that Ponyville is being attacked by mutant ponies right now."

"Ponyville?!" Twilight repeated, rising up. "My friends... How are they?"

"Well, they're trying to take of everything, but I doubt they can do it for a long time" Mirror Coat answered.

"What are we dealing with?" Blue Sword asked.

"I'm afraid with this" Mirror Coat replied, carrying his horn with magic.

He made a mirror appear and it reflected Ponyville being attacked by the mutants, something that horrified Twilight and Spike.

"But are these..." Heartbeat started.

"I'm afraid so" Mirror Coat said. "These poor ponies ingested Krylock’s venom."

"Kry-who?" Spike and Blue asked.

"Krylock" Twilight said, thoughtful. "I think I've read something about it. The information about the prisoners of Tartarus you gave me, Mirror Coat."

"Yes, Krylock is a prisoner of Tartarus" Mirror Coat said. "A pretty dangerous prisoner."

"And stupid" Heartbeat added.

Mirror Coat’s horn shone and in the mirror appeared Krylock’s image, as he explained:

"Krylock is a demon with a cobra head and a scorpion body. It’s a beast of pure evil, although, like Heartbeat said, not very intellectual, it is pretty good at following orders."

“And I guess who is giving orders to it” Blue said.

"But the venom it’s the worse part" Heartbeat said. "It can turn others into mutant monsters like it."

"But how did it manage to do something like that?" Twilight asked.

"Apparently, it used your friend Pinkie Pie’s cupcakes, princess" Mirror Coat answered. "It is inter-dimensional. It is not very difficult to it appear and vanish into thin air."

Twilight thought about it all. Her friends were in danger and she need help them.

"I have to go to Ponyville" she said. "Now."

"What?" Blue Sword asked, turning Twilight to himself. "Twilight, you can't go. It's pretty dangerous."

"Blue, my friends are in danger now" Twilight said. "I can't leave them."

"Prince Blue Sword is right, Your Highness" Mirror Coat said. "Most likely this is a bait of the Lord of Chaos to attract and attack you."

"I don't care, my friends need me and I will help them, whether you like it or not" Twilight replied.

Blue really wanted his wife didn’t go because was the best for her, but he knew he couldn’t stop her when she was so determined. So he could only do one thing.

"So I'm going with you" he said. "You won’t face those things by yourself."

Twilight then answered him with a tender smile. She then turned to Mirror Coat and asked him:

"Is there any way to reverse the mutation process caused by the venom?"

"There's a spell" he replied. "But I need a few ingredients first."

"So, set it up and then come meet us in Ponyville" Twilight said.

Mirror Coat nodded, making a bow to Twilight, and then, with his magic, he changed the mirror that was invoked to become a portal to Ponyville and then invoked another mirror he crossed, making it disappear then. Twilight and Blue exchanged a look and a smile and, before crossing the mirror, Twilight said to Heartbeat and Spike:

"You two take care of the Star, okay?"

"Of course, Princess" she replied. "You know how I love foals."

“Yeah, Twilight, your number one assistant has everything under control” Spike said.

With that, Twilight and Blue crossed the mirror.

Things in Ponyville took a turn for the worse with the mutants attacking the rest of the village. Some stallions tried to fight them, but the mutants were too strong. Twilight's friends tried to stop them as best they could, but the results were not better. It was then that one of the mutants managed to trap them and prepared to attack them, if it wasn't a magical bubble that appeared and secured him, lifting him into the air. Everypony looked at who had released the bubble and then saw, with great joy, Twilight and Blue Sword.

"Twilight!" Applejack called, while she and the others went to them. "Blue Sword! Ah'm glad ya came."

"When Mirror Coat told me what was happening, I had to come" Twilight said.

"And of course I had to come too" said Blue. "I wasn't going to let Twily fall into a trap of the gross Lord of Chaos."

"Wait, this is his doing?" Rainbow asked.

"It’s one of the villains of Tartarus" Twilight replied. "Its name is Krylock and is a demon with the cobra head and the scorpion body. It put some of its venom in Pinkie’s cupcakes for the ponies that eat them turned into mutants and begun attacking Ponyville."

"What?!" Pinkie Pie asked, completely shocked and angry. "How did they dare to poison my delicious cupcaked? This is an attack on the good name of the chocolate cupcakes!"

Although still a little unnerved by what Pinkie Pie had just said, they ignore her. Twilight then said:

"Mirror Coat's handling the cure, but we have to get all existing mutants, while he does it."

"Understood" Rainbow Dash said, making her a salute and then turning to the others. "You heard her, girls, we have to catch all the mutants. Come on!"

They then put to work. They began to round up and imprison all the mutants, placing them in Twilight’s magic bubble that was increasing in size to hold all of them.

The Lord of Chaos was watching everything from the comfort of his room in Tartarus, saying:

"All the pieces are in place."

"Are you sending the Krylock to end with Twilight Princess right now?" Fire Punch asked, who was alongside his master.

"I could do that, but it’s better wait they spend their energies to heal their buddies and then the Krylock attacks with full force" he replied.

After Blue Sword put two mutants that he had captured in the bubble, Twilight asked:

"Is it verypony?"

"Almost" Rainbow Dash’s voice replied.

She then brought the twins, which had the pincers and the muzzles closed with rope, holding them by the tail. Mr. and Mrs. Cake came along.

"These two were hard to catch" Rainbow Dash said, putting the twins in the bubble, starting to gasp then. "Who would think two small foals would give a lot of fight."

Mr. and Mrs. Cake then reached Twilight and the first asked her:

"Please tell us you can heal our children, Princess Twilight."

"Yes, they are only foals and..." Mrs. Cake began.

"You don't have to worry about" Twilight answered them with her kind smile. "We'll be able to heal them."

Mr. and Mrs. Cake, listening Twilight’s words, became more peaceful.

It was then that a mirror appeared and Mirror Coat appeared from it, carrying a small cauldron boiling with his magic. The mirror disappear when Mirror Coat crossed it.

"Mirror Coat, I glad you're here" Twilight said. "We captured all the mutants. Is the spell ready?"

"Not yet" he replied. "It still misses one more ingredient."

"Then why are you here?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Go get this last ingredient."

"That's why I'm here, my very dear colorful friend" Mirror Coat replied. "The final ingredient that we need is Krylock’s venom and I think this is the ideal place to find some."

"The venom?" Blue repeated. "You need the venom to make a cure for the venom itself?"

"A lot of the antidotes for venoms require a sample of the venom in question to work" Mirror Coat answered. "Fight fire with fire, if you want."

"But the venom is in the muffins and we sold them all" Rarity said.

"Except those that Pinkie Pie saved for us" Fluttershy said. "But they were undone in the middle of the whole the chaos."

"So where do we find a cupcake that has tha venom an’ that has not yet been sold or lost?" Applejack asked.

It was then that everypony had the same idea and they looked to Pinkie Pie.

"What?" she asked.

Twilight advanced to her and extended the hoof. Realizing what Twilight wanted, Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes and then she drove her hoof to her mane and pulled out one of the chocolate cupcakes that she was selling, giving it to Twilight.

"Seriously?" Rainbow Dash asked to Pinkie Pie.

"Hey, I like having a chocolate cupcake saved in my mane" Pinkie Pie defended herself. "You never know when we want to eat one. Besides, it was here before I began selling the cupcakes."

Twilight extended the cupcake to Mirror Coat who used his magic to pick it up and put in the cauldron that bubbled up to become purple. After that, Mirror Coat plunged his horn in content. The horn began to shine and absorbed everything that was in the cauldron, assuming its color, and then he turned to the mutants and launched an intense beam that passed through the bubble and hit them. They groaned during a few seconds and then the mutation process started to retreat until they all come back to be ponies, all confused about what had happened. Twilight freed them from the bubble. Mr. and Mrs. Cake went to pick up their children, thanking Twilight and the others for what they had done and then went home. The others did the same.

"Well, it looks like tha mutant problem is solv’d" Applejack said.

"But not the problem with the Krylock!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, pointing.

Everypony turned and then they saw Krylock itself right there.

"Protect yourself, princess!" Mirror Coat exclaimed, advancing to the creature.

Mirror Coat began to attack Krylock with magical beams, however the hard exoskeleton of the creature was protecting it. The demon also attacked Mirror Coat, but he protected himself from the attacks with a magical barrier. It was then that Krylock threw up his green acid that reached Mirror Coat’s barrier, undoing it. With the general unprotected, the Krylock made a tail attack that reached Mirror Coat, throwing him.

Without the General of Knowledge of its way, he turned to Twilight, wanting to finish the job that his master had given to it. Blue advanced to it, wanting to fight it, but it was enough to Krylock make a blow with one of its claws to get him out of the way.

"Blue!" Twilight called.

But she could not go to him, because Krylock was right in front of her.

"Yes, crush her now!" the Lord of Chaos exclaimed, starting to get excited, while he saw the scene.

The Krylock raised its pincers, ready to strike Twilight. She tried to access to her magic, but it seemed like she had entered into some sort of paralysis. When Krylock down its pincers, Twilight closed her eyes, waiting for the impact. But there was no impact. When she opened her eyes, she saw that there was a yellow shield protecting her from the Krylock. It tried to break it, but it couldn't. It turned to the one who had done that and all the others looked as well. Golden Paladin was nearby, with his horn surrounded by his magic aura.

"Don't even think about it, freak" he said to Krylock. "You don't touch on Twilight Princess with your nasty pincers."

"What?!" asked the Lord of chaos, not wanting to believe in his eyes. "Golden Paladin?! But has he always have to arrive on the less timely moment?! Krylock, finish him and finish your job!"

Krylock then advanced against Golden Paladin, but when the creature was close enough, he teleported, appearing on one of the monster’s flank and giving him a buck so strong that launched it for a few hooves away, something that left everypony speechless.

"It seems you have competition, Applejack" Pinkie Pie said.

Krylock stood up and moved so fast that it managed to hold Golden Paladin on, securing him with its pincers. Later, it prepared its tail for the attack, but, when Krylock down it, Golden Paladin created a barrier where the tip of the tail hit and the two began to measure forces. The General of Peace managed to win this battle of forces, making Krylock to release him, and then he took advantage of this moment to catch the tip of the tail of the demon with cobra head and stick it on its chest.

The creature screamed in agony, while retreating and then fell on the floor, unconscious. Golden Paladin stood up, while all of the others acclaimed him.

"It's time to you get back to where you shouldn't left, Krylock" Golden Paladin said.

His horn shone and then he invoked the cell blaster and a life cell, placing the last in the front of the first. Then he charged the cell blaster with his magic through the back and it began to shine with the same brightness and then the life cell began to emitter a yellow light that got Krylock and began to suck it inside of it. After the monster had been sucked wholly into the life cell, an image of it appeared there. After that, Golden Paladin invoked the prison-book and entered the front of the cell blaster into the slot in the cover and then rode it, making the book absorve the life cell.

After the task finished, everypony went to him.

"Thank you, Golden Paladin, you saved me" Twilight said.

"That’s my duty, princess" he replied, making a bow to Twilight.

"No, seriously, Golden Paladin, you were amazing" Blue said, while he placed himself next to his wife. "Even I couldn't fight like the way you did."

"Yeah, ya've such a force" Applejack said. "If I had your hooves, I wouldn't have half the work in the orchard."

"And these devices you have…" Mirror Coat observed. "What are they?"

"It’s what the Lord of Order gave us to imprison all the villains" Golden Paladin replied. "It’s a task that will take some time, but has to be done."

"But with the help of everypony, I'm sure it will be done right" Twilight said.

Her friends nodded, agreeing with her.

"NOOO!" the Lord of Chaos yelled, launching lightning against the mirror, leaving it in a thousand pieces and then starting to leave the whole room upside down. "How can this be possible?! My plan was a virtually perfect!"

Fire Punch, full of fear about what could happen to him in the midst of all the anger from his master, he left quickly the room.

When he was calmer, the Lord of Chaos said, gasping:

"You can laugh all you want, but Krylock was only the beginning. I still have a lot of villains to use, each one worse than the other."

Author's Note

This chapter was based on the episode "Half Baked" from the series American Dragon, but with some changes: the mutants are cured with a spell that requires the Krylock’s venom and the creature don’t die, but get unconscious instead, intoxicated with its own poison. The objects used by Golden Paladin to arrest Krylock were taken from the series Matt Hatter Chronicles from where I got with the idea to do this story.

The Predators of the Night, Part II - The Lunar Crystal

Twilight, Blue and Star arrived to Ponyville, arrived from the new Light Kingdom Express, something that Mirror Coat created to adapt the Light Kingdom to modern times. When they stopped at the Ponyville train station, they managed to see a huge reception on the part of the inhabitants of the village that was once and always will continue to be Twilight’s home.

The Light Kingdom royal family went out to the platform and the ponies began to acclaim with a lot of joy. Star, on top of his father’s back, seeing all that joy, started pounding the hooves happily while he laughed. The excitement was such that he started beating his wings, starting to rise in the air, but Blue noticed that and grabbed him with his hooves and brought him down, saying:

"Easy, champ. After all, we just got here."

The only thing the small alicorn colt did was laugh, while Blue put him again on his back.

"Twilight!" called a voice, well known to the Light Kingdom Princess.

She saw with joy her friends appearing from the crowd and heading to her. It was then that a pair of guards from the Light Royal Guard appeared in their way, preventing them from moving forward.

"Hey, what was that for?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"No one should approach Princess Twilight" one of the guards said.

"It's for her safety" the other added.

"But do you know who..." Rainbow Dash started, only to be stopped by Applejack.

"Calm down, sugar cube" she said.

"Let them pass" Twilight said to the guards. "They are my friends. All the residents of this village are my friends."

"Are you sure, princess?" the first guard asked.

"You heard your princess" Blue said. "You can let them go."

The two guards exchanged a look, then they said:

"Yes, princess. Yes, captain."

Blue had been appointed Captain of the Light Royal Guard by Golden Paladin shortly after the restoration of the Light Kingdom, since he had to focus on keeping the peace in the world that had destabilized since the release of his star seed.

The guards then came out and made way to Twilight's friends that went to her.

"Finally" Rainbow said, while she and the others arrived at the edge of Twilight, Blue and Star. "But what was all that about?"

"I'm terribly sorry, girls" Twilight said. "But since the Lord of Chaos freed the villains of Tartarus, the security of the Light Kingdom became pretty tight."

"Golden Paladin adopted these measures, because it's pretty obvious that Twilight’s original star seed is the Lord of Chaos’ target" Blue said. "Despite I’m being the captain, he is still the General of Peace."

"Well, tha point is made well" Applejack said.

"Wait till you see what we have prepared for the Summer Sun Celebration" Rarity said. "It's all fabulous."

"And if you need a foalsitter to the lovely little Star is just saying" Pinkie Pie said, while patting the baby alicorn, something he seemed to be enjoying a lot.

"Well, you can believe that, if we need one, we will ask" Twilight answered. “Spike will be quite busy helping oversee the preparations."

"Speaking of him" said Applejack. "Where the little guy is."

That's when Spike went out to the platform, wearing a robe and with a fairly tranquil air.

"I'm terribly sorry, but couldn't get out from the jacuzzi" he said. "That thing relaxes enough."

It was then that Pinkie Pie appeared in front of him and asked him, with her eyes close to Spike’s:

"There's a jacuzzi there?!"

"Uh, yeah, in the royal carriage" Spike replied.

"I've never seen a jacuzzi on a train before!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "I wonder if the bubbles whistle as the train's whistle when they break. I have to go check it out!"

But before she could enter, Twilight stopped her with magic and said:

"You better not, Pinkie. The train is about to leave."

And, indeed, the doors closed and the train pulled out. Pinkie Pie watched it with sadness, saying while waving:

"Goodbye, train jacuzzi."

Twilight looked and noticed that only Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were there.

"Where's Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.

"Who knows" Rainbow Dash answered, shrug. "I haven't seen her since yesterday."

"I saw her buying some medicinal plants from Rose and I didn't even have time to say hello or ask her about our weekly trip to the spa" Rarity said. "She seemed to be with a lot of haste. And she seemed also very worried.

That left Twilight thinking. Although Fluttershy was quite nervous, a behavior like that was quite strange in her.

After greeting many of her old friends of Ponyville, Twilight met with Cherry Blossom and Big McIntosh that brought their son, Jonagold Apple, which was on his father’s back.

"Cherry, so long no see!" Twilight exclaimed. "And you too, Big Mac."

"We no longer see each other practically since your marriage" Cherry said.

"Yes, unfortunately I do not have many opportunities to leave the Light Kingdom" Twilight said. "And, as far as I can tell, you don't leave Ponyville very much too."

She looked at Jonagold and said:

"Your son is very sweet. He's a lot like you, Big Mac."

"Eeyup" he said, filled with pride.

"And it seems that he’s already a friend of little Star" Blue commented.

Indeed, Star Knight, curious with Jonagold, flew to the edge of him and the two colts began to observe each other and then started bumping the hooves merrily, making their parents laugh.

Finally, the Royal family arrived at the place where Twilight lived before moving into the Light Kingdom: Golden Oak Library. With the guards guarding the entrance, Twilight, Blue, Star and Spike entered, with the latter bringing the bags.

"Home sweet home" Twilight said, breathing deep. "It feels so good to come back here."

"Tell me about it" Spike said, landing the last bag. "It seems that passed an eternity since we leave this place."

"Looks like someone's been cleaning up this place" Blue noted, looking around. "There is only a thin layer of dust and cobwebs."

"It wasn't too long since the last time we were here" Twilight replied. "Besides my friends or another pony must clean it, after all it’s Ponyville library."

"Well, it's better we unpack everything" Blue said.

"Wait, are you suggesting to unpack our stuffs?" Twilight asked, surprised. "Normally, I'm the one who reminds you that, because if I don't, you just remember that the night before we leave."

"Ah, ah, ah, very funny" Blue said, cynically. "You see, Star? Your mommy knows how to be funny."

"Mama funny" Star said, between laughs, something that also made Twilight laugh too.

In Fluttershy’s house, she was taking care of Thunder Night. During the day yesterday, she made sure the cottage was totally dark, illuminated only with some candles, and began to put wet compresses on Thunder Night’s forehead to make the fever down, putting plasters made with some medicinal herbs she had brought from the village in his wounds and burns. He improved slightly during the rest of the day, but he only improved significantly when she took him out for a while after nightfall. The dark night allowed Thunder Night to recover a good part of his forces.

While Fluttershy watched his wounds and burns, her boyfriend woke up and saw her taking care of him.

"Fluttershy..." he said.

She turned to him and said:

"Thundy, don't make efforts. Rest. You just got a part of your strength and your fever just disappeared a few hours ago."

"You... You took care of me?" he asked.

"But of course, silly" she said, approaching her head. "You're my coltfriend, aren't you?"

Thunder Night smiled and said:

"I'm glad I have you by my side."

The two exchanged a smile and then a kiss. Fluttershy continued to look Thunder Night’s wounds and burns and then questioned him:

"But what happened for you stay in this way, Thunder Night. I've never seen you like this."

"It's a long story... and also quite confused."

He then told her what had happened.

"That's terrible!" Fluttershy exclaimed, horrified.

"Don't tell me" Thunder Night said. "It was horrible to see ponies and thestrals that I know being turned into monsters like those."

"And the pony you saw? The one that turned your friends. Do you know his name or who he is and where he came from?"

"Nothing. I don't know anything about him. I don't even know what he was exactly. I had never seen anything like him."

Fluttershy meditated for a while and then she realized that he should be some villain of Tartarus. If that were so, then she had to tell to Twilight. Luckily she would come to Ponyville that day. She hoped she had already arrived.

"Thundy, I have to leave for a while" Fluttershy said. "Will you be okay?"

"Of course" he replied. "You know I will. Where are you going?"

"Don't worry about it" she replied. "I won't be long."

She gave him a kiss on the forehead and then she headed to the exit.

"Angel, can you watch Thundy for me?" Fluttershy asked to her white bunny.

He responded with a salute. And then Fluttershy left.

Rarity was in the town when a voice said to her:

"Look who's here, the beautiful lady of yesterday.”

The white unicorn nearly froze when she heard that voice. She turned and saw Shadow Claw before her.

"Uh, hello..." she said, laughing nervous.

"It is a great pleasure to see a muse like you" Shadow Claw said, picking on her hoof and kissing it. "Just to see you, my day has been entertained."

"Oh, Shadow Claw, you really need to stop with these complements" Rarity said, giggling while she blushed.

"As I said before, I only speak the truth" he replied. "In fact, I was on my way to your botique."

"Oh yeah?" she asked.

"Yes, I was wondering if you wanted to take a smoothie or something with me. On my own, of course."

"Well... I don't know... It's an invitation quite unexpected. I have a lot to do for the celebration. But, I accept with pleasure."

"After you" Shadow Claw said, making an inviting gesture.

Rarity blushed slightly and then advanced. After she passed Shadow Claw, he made one of his evil smiles, following her then.

Fluttershy walked through Ponyville, heading to the library, hoping to find Twilight there. It was then that she noticed Rarity and intended to ask her if Twilight had already arrived. But she noticed that she was with a stallion, probably on a date, as was the custom of his friend, so she decided not to bother her.

When she reached the library, she saw two light ponies guards guarding the entrance door. Fluttershy realized, to her great relief, that Twilight had already arrived. She approached and one of the guards said to her:

"Who goes there?"

"Uh, my name is… Fluttershy" the yellow pegasus answered in a shy way. "I am one of Princess Twilight’s friends. I wanted to talk with her."

The two guards exchanged a look and one of them waved to the other. The second then knocked on the door and, moments later, it opened and Twilight appeared.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but here is a friend of yours to see you."

"Fluttershy!" Twilight exclaimed, going to hug her friend. "I thought I was going to spend my time here without seeing you. I was told that you've been weird since yesterday. But what's going on?"

"Twilight, I need you to come with me" Fluttershy said. "It's a bit... urgent. Well, it's not urgent, but it is certainly important."

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

Nervous, Fluttershy approached Twilight's ear and whispered:

"It's something that has to do with possibly one of the villains of Tartarus."

Upon hearing that, Twilight realized Fluttershy should know something about the mysterious villain who activated Heartbeat’s alarm.

"Ok, let's go" Twilight said, turning then to the guards. "I'll just be out for a bit. I will be with my friend Fluttershy."

"I think one of us should go with you, princess" one of the guards suggested.

"It’s not necessary" Twilight replied. "This will be quick. Just make sure my husband knows."

"Yes, Your Highness" the two guards replied, bowing their heads.

Fluttershy then began heading to her cottage with Twilight.

Meanwhile, Rarity was sitting at the table of a village esplanade to take a smoothie with Shadow Claw. While they drank their smoothies, both exchanged glances. There was an immense silence, with one waiting for the other like the first step. Tired of all that silence, Shadow Claw was the first to speak:

"So, how's your sister?"

"She’s okay" Rarity replied. "But she seems not to sympathize with you."

"I'm sure it's not a big deal" Shadow Claw said. "Children are always like that. I bet if she knows me better, she will like me."

Rarity let out a laugh and said:

"You're such an optimist."

"An optimist who has a good taste in choosing mares" Shadow Claw answered.

Rarity was delighted with all Shadow Claw’s charm. There seemed to be something that attracted her to him. When she found herself, she was approaching her muzzles to Shadow Claw’s and he began to do the same. It was then that both lips touched in a kiss.

Fluttershy and Twilight were walking to the cottage when they passed by the esplanade where Rarity and Shadow Claw were and they saw them kissing.

"Well, it looks like Rarity has found a new coltfriend" Twilight commented.

"Yes, I've seen them before when I was arriving to your library" Fluttershy said. "I was going to ask Rarity if you had arrived, but I didn't want to bother."

"I wonder who is that stallion" Twilight said, watching Shadow Claw. "I don't know why, but he gives me the creeps."

"Twilight, I'm sorry, but I wonder if we could..." Fluttershy started, making a gesture to the path that led to her cottage.

Realizing what Fluttershy wanted, Twilight replied:

"Oh, yes, of course."

And they continued their way.

Rarity and Shadow Claw ceased the kiss and the white unicorn exclaimed:

"Wow! I never thought you kiss... so well."

"Did you like it?" Shadow Claw asked, causing a slight smile.

"If I liked?" Rarity repeated, sensing the enthusiasm growing within her. "It was... It was... It was... I don't even have words. It was the best kiss of my life!"

"If you want, we can repeat" Shadow Claw answered.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. But not here. Maybe in a more romantic atmosphere. How about at the Summer Sun Celebration? At the time Princess Celestia rises the Sun?"

"Okay" Rarity answered. "But you have to promise that you will be there."

"You bet I will" Shadow Claw said. "How could I lose an event like that, especially when a mare as pretty as you will be there."

Rarity smiled while she blushed. Shadow Claw stood up, gave a kiss on Rarity’s cheek, causing her to blush even more, and then walked away, saying:

"See you later."

"Sure" Rarity replied with a dreamy air.

And Shadow Claw pulled away, displaying a dark smile on his face.

Fluttershy and Twilight arrived to the cottage and the first opened the door, calling:

"Thundy!"

"I'm here, Fluttershy" he said, still lying on the couch.

"Where’s Angel?" Fluttershy asked, while she and Twilight entered.

It was then that the Bunny appeared skipping along coming from the kitchen, carrying a glass of juice that he gave to Thunder Night.

"Thanks, buddy" he thanked him, taking the glass.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see Angel being so helpful with somepony" Twilight commented.

Repairing on Twilight, Thunder Night rushed to put the glass at the table and saying:

"Princess Twilight, it’s a great honor."

He bowed respectfully his head to Twilight, saying afterwards:

"My name is Thunder Night and I am a member of the Princess Luna’s Royal Guard."

"Nice to meet you, Thunder Night" Twilight said, returning him the gesture.

"You know, Twilight, Thunder Night is…" Fluttershy started, going to his edge. "He is my coltfriend."

"Seriously?" asked Twilight, slightly surprised. "But this is amazing. Since when?"

"Since... Well, we met shortly after your marriage " Fluttershy replied. "I know it's been several months since then, but I didn't have the guts to tell everypony about our relationship."

"Don't worry, Fluttershy, I understand" Twilight said. "But what does this have to do with the villains that escaped from Tartarus?"

Fluttershy and Thunder Night exchanged a look and then the last began to explain what had happened in Hollow Shades two nights ago. After finishing his story, Twilight mused about it and said:

"From what you've told, Thunder Night, it seems to me that we're dealing with a villain of Tartarus, probably the one that Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat went investigate. I don't remember any ponie specie or another type of creature that resembles or do what you described."

There was a pause and then she had an idea.

"I had an idea" she said. "If you let me, I can get in on your mind to be able to see who or what we're dealing with. Don't get me wrong, but I want to have every detail possible."

"Of course, princess" Thunder Night replied. "You have my permission."

So Twilight focused and charged her horn with magic, keeping in mind the instructions of the reading minds spell. She closed her eyes and when she opened them, she could see what had happened through Thunder Night’s perspective.

She saw the turned ponies and thestral attacking another pony and turning him into one of them. She saw the leader of creatures appearing and ordering the others to turn Thunder Night and his friend. She saw his friend being turned too, while they were fleeing. She saw Thunder Night escaping, running away from Hollow Shades, while the Sun raise up, making the creatures returning to their pony forms, including their leader, and Twilight could see who he was, through his wild air. Upon learning his identity, Twilight was shocked and finished the spell.

"What's up, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, seeing her friend’s.

"I already know who's the responsible" Twilight said, rising up. "We have to find Rarity immediately. She is in great danger."

The Lord of Chaos and Fire Punch watched that scene and the last said:

"Looks like our friend with fangs has been discovered, master."

"In fact, but you're forgetting that our beloved princess thinks Shadow Claw’s purpose is her unicorn friend" the Lord of Chaos said. "But the truth is that he's only playing with her. She doesn't know what Shadow Claw actually wants. "

Twilight and Fluttershy galloped to Carrousel Boutique, finding Sweetie Belle doing her homework.

"Sweetie Belle, do you know where your sister is?" Twilight asked, while she and Fluttershy panted.

"In her bedroom, getting ready to the date of her life" Sweetie Belle mumbled. "You should see with whom she will leave. He is sinister."

Twilight and Fluttershy climbed the stairs and, upon arriving Rarity’s room, the first knocked on the door, calling:

"Rarity, open, we need to talk to you!"

The door then opened up and Rarity appeared, wearing a robe and a towel wrapped around her mane.

"I'm sorry, girls, but I'm very busy" she said. "I have a date with the most handsome and charming stallion I ever met."

"It is about him that we wanted to talk with you, Rarity" said Twilight. "He..."

"He's wonderful!" Rarity exclaimed, dreamily. "I know. Therefore, I can't let him get away. Now, if you excuse me, I have to arrange myself."

"But, Rarity..." Twilight started.

But their friend simply closed the door and Twilight managed to feel a soundproof barrier being invoked from inside.

"What do we do now, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight thought for a while and then said:

"We have no other option. We have to watch Rarity and ensure that the most handsome and charming stallion don't turn against her."

Night fell and the ponies of Ponyville kept celebrate the event that was going to happen. There was plenty of food, games and lots of laughs. Twilight, Blue and Star walked through the party, satisfied with everything. The guards that accompanied them were nearby, ready to ensure their safety, if some villain showed up.

Twilight looked at all sides, hoping to find Rarity, but it seemed that she had not yet arrived. Blue, knowing by Twilight what was going on, helped her find her friend.

"But where is she?" Twilight asked. "She has to be here."

"Take it easy, Twily, you know how Rarity is" Blue said, while holding Star so he wouldn't get away. "She likes to get always a little late."

"Yes, but taking into account that we may be dealing with a villain of Tartarus..." Twilight started.

"I know, but try to calm down" Blue reassured, passing his hoof delicately by his face. "Everything will be fine."

"I hope so" Twilight said.

Elsewhere, Twilight's friends were all over the place trying to find Rarity in the crowd. Twilight warned them of the danger that their friend could be running and they should keep an eye on Rarity. They had also been surprised by knowing that Fluttershy had a coltfriend, which Rainbow Dash couldn't believe it when she heard about.

"I still can't believe that Fluttershy has a coltfriend" she said to Applejack, while the two were walking around. "I mean, she's not the type to relate with other ponies."

"Well, technically, Thunder Night is not a pony" Applejack replied.

"You know what I mean" Rainbow Dash said. "Fluttershy don't have coltfriends. She can't even face us assertively without look away right away."

"It seems tah me that somepony is jealous for not havin’ a coltfriend" Applejack provoked.

Rainbow Dash snorted and then said:

"Please! As if I needed a coltfriend. You know what I think about all these sappy things."

"I know you know" Pinkie Pie said, coming out of nowhere between the two mares.

Rainbow Dash startled, dropping a little scream, but quickly recovered her composure and said:

"Pinkie, don’t scare us like that! I mean, I'm not scared, but I'm saying this for Applejack."

"Yeah, yeah…" Applejack said, turning then to Pinkie. "What are ya doin’, Pinkie?"

"Now, I'm having fun, silly" she replied. "Isn't that the point of the Summer Sun Celebration?"

"But we have to find Rarity, remember?" Applejack asked. "That's what Twilight ask’d us tah do."

"Oh!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Okey-dokey-lokey."

And then she walked away, hooping.

Twilight and Blue were talking, when...

"Twilight!" a familiar voice called.

Twilight turned and saw Cadance approaching.

"Cadance!" she exclaimed, going to her sister-in-law.

When they reached the edge of each other, they began to sing their song:

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap you're hooves, and do a little shake!"

They ended up with a wagging tail, a laugh and then a hug.

"It feels so good to see you" Cadance said. "Especially after the Lord of Chaos have taken Tartarus. I heard about the Krylock. Are you okay?"

"Yes" Twilight replied. "Fortunately, Golden Paladin appeared just in time."

"Good" Cadance said, turning then to Blue. "Hello, Blue. How are you? "

"Quite well" he replied. "With everything that has been happening, a moment of relaxation with the family is everything I need to be right."

"And how's my nephew?" Cadance asked in a jovial manner to the little colt.

She patted his mane, while he laughed, and then commented:

"He's more grown up every day."

"I bet Gleaming Shield too" Twilight said. "Did she stay at the Crystal Empire with Shining?"

"Yes, I thought it was better that way" Cadance said. "With the celebration here in Ponyville, I don't think I'd have plenty of time for her."

"Yes, I guess you're right" Twilight said.

It was then that Twilight noticed Rarity walking nearby, elegant and well-dressed. Twilight intended to call her, but then Cadance said:

"Twilight, come on. Celestia and Luna must be almost rising the sun and downing the moon. We have to go."

Although Twilight want argue that she had important things to attend to, she realized that from the stage she could see Rarity and, if she met Shadow Claw, Twilight could intervene.

After resigning from her husband and her son, she and Cadance went to the stage, where Celestia and Luna were already there. The crowd was also there, so they could watch the most awaited moment. Twilight looked around and noticed Rarity, but, fortunately, she was alone. She, in turn, looked from one side to the other, trying to find Shadow Claw, but without success. Twilight just expect things to continue like that. She also could see Fluttershy and Thunder Night (who had recovered enough to get out) and they seemed to be vigilant too, if Shadow Claw showed up.

In Shadow Hollow, Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat were investigating the place where Shadow Claw had attacked. While looking around, Mirror Coat said to his older brother:

"You know, this may be nothing. There are lots of creatures that attack ponies and take them away. This may not have any relationship with the villains of Tarturus."

"No way" Golden Paladin answered. "Heartbeat’s alarm warns us whenever there is a large-scale activity of the villains that we seek."

"Now you're going to take a leap of faith to one of Heartbeat’s spells? Her magic is unstable. Maybe the spell made a mistake."

"Brother, you have to have more faith in our little sister’s capabilities. Don't forget that she is the most powerful of us all."

Mirror Coat tried to refute, but he couldn't say anything and continued searching for clues.

Golden Paladin looked around, trying to figure out who could be behind those attacks and why. However, there were plenty of villains to be considered and the time was so limited. It was then that a cloud deviated and they were soaked by the moonlight. The General of Peace looked at the sky and noticed the full moon shining in the night sky. That made Golden Paladin understand everything.

"Mirror Coat, I think Heartbeat’s alarm was right" he said.

"What do you mean?" Mirror Coat asked.

Golden Paladin pointed to the sky and Mirror Coat peered, repairing also in the full moon.

"And we have a winner."

Back to Ponyville, Celestia stepped forward and said:

"Citizens of Equestria, welcome to one more Summer Sun Celebration. It is with great joy that I lift the summer sun in a party that celebrates the return of my sister, Princess Luna."

Princess Luna bowed her head slightly to the public, while they congratulated her.

"Now, we will begin the celebration" Celestia said.

But before some pony could do anything, a malicious voice said:

"I don’t believe so, princess."

And that voice then gave a huge laugh. Everypony looked around, some wary. The royal guards that were there looked to all sides, all raising their weapons.

"Who's there?!" Celestia demanded. "Reveal yourself!"

"Oh, Celestia, don't tell me you forgot about me" the voice said. "But of course I should expect something like that. The last time we saw each other, one of us ended in Tartarus."

It was then that Celestia immediately recognized that voice and became petrified.

"It can't be" she said.

It was then that someone came from one of the rooftops of nearby buildings, landing right in front of the stage, with the ponies retreating as much as they could. It was Shadow Claw, on his pony-wolf form. He brought with him a saddlebag.

"Hello, Celestia" Shadow Claw greeted, displaying his evil smile.

"Shadow Claw" Celestia said, with anger in her voice.

Rarity was stunned by what she was seeing. The stud of her dreams was a villain of Tartarus?

"So, you remember me" Shadow Claw said. "I haven't forgotten you, too. How could I, when I was locked up in a cell for hundreds of years."

"You were arrested because you were just a fierce predator that used to terrify and turn the ponies during the full moon" Celestia said, with contempt, while the other princesses put themselves at her edge.

"What can I say?" Shadow Claw asked, rhetorically. "It's the nature. We, pony-wolves, were meant to hunt and breed."

"Whatever your plan is, Shadow Claw, whatever your master has in mind, it won't work" Celestia said. "I know your weakness. You don't have any powers without the full moon and I'm about to lift the Sun that will remove all your powers."

It was then that her horn began to shine with her magical aura.

"I don't think so, my dear" Shadow Claw said.

He then took the hoof to saddlebag and then pulled out what appeared to be a crystal with the shape of a crescent moon with a bluish color. He raised the crystal and it began to glow with a bright blue luster that began to compete with Celestia’s magical aura. The Princess of the Sun struggled to resist, but the crystal’s power was too strong and Celestia couldn't resist more and was hit and thrown to the ground, while moaning, falling unconscious. All the ponies were shocked with what they saw.

"Celestia!" Twilight called.

"Sister!" Luna’s called.

The three alicorn princesses went to the edge of the fallen princess. But then Luna turned to Shadow, which featured a triumphant smile, and told him with immense anger:

"You're going to pay for it, your mutt!"

"Honestly, I doubt about it" Shadow Claw said, while he saw the royal guards surrounding him. "Do you think that I would make an attack like this without bringing reinforcements?"

"Attack!" Luna and Shadow Claw exclaimed.

The royal guards prepared to attack, but it was then that pony-wolves appeared from everywhere, advancing to protect their leader.

Blue, seeing all that, took his son and handed him to one of the light guards, saying:

"You two keep Prince Star Knight safe."

"Yes, sir" the two guards said, saluting him.

"Daddy" Star said, looking frightened with what was going on.

"Don't worry, champ, daddy just goes deal with some bad guys" Blue said.

And so Blue went to join the fight, while the light guards were coming out from there to keep the baby prince safe. Thunder Night also joined the fight, as well as Rainbow Dash and Applejack. The fight against the ponie-wolves seemed to be going well to the ponies side, but a few pony-wolves bit some of the combatants, turning them, which increased their number.

While that fight happened, Shadow Claw took a big jump, going up to the stage and getting face to face with alicorn princesses. Luna, Cadance and Twilight placed themselves up ahead of Celestia, which was still unconscious.

"What cute" Shadow Claw said cynically. "You are protecting the dear and sweet Celestia."

"We'll protect her from you" Cadance said.

"That’s very bold, but, tell me, who gonna protect you?" Shadow Claw asked.

"Do you really think you can defeat us?" Luna asked.

"With the Lunar Crystal by my side, of course I can" Shadow Claw said, referring to the crystal that was now surrounding him.

"My sister said that without the full moon, you are nothing" Luna said. "Well, I, as the Princess of the Moon, I'm going to do that you and your nefarious creatures don’t cause more damage."

Luna's horn began to shine and everypony could see the Moon starting to change its face. Seeing that, Shadow Claw managed to feel his power of pony-wolf starting to disappear. To prevent that, he pointed Lunar Crystal to the Moon and then launched a beam that hit the star of the night. That started a fight between Luna and Shadow Claw to decide the face of the Moon.

But it was then that Luna could not overcome the crystal’s power, starting to feel exhausted. Her magic began to go off and then the Moon stayed full again, restoring again Shadow Claw’s strength.

He then emitted energy waves from the Lunar Crystal that reached the three alicorn princesses that were still standing, throwing them to the ground. After that, he motioned to two of his pony-wolves and they took Celestia and got out of there quickly.

Shadow Claw looked around and then found her. Rarity was petrified, watching him with great horror. With an immense speed, Shadow Claw came to her and said:

"I'm really glad you are here, my dear, and you're even more beautiful than usual."

"I can't believe..." Rarity said. "You... You are..."

"A loyal servant of the great Lord of Chaos" Shadow Claw said. "Yes, and I’m proud of it."

"You lied to me" Rarity said. "I thought we had something special."

"And we have" Shadow Claw said, trying to pass his paw through Rarity’s face, but with her putting it away. "I never lied to you. I just omit certain details so you wouldn't be scared."

Rarity couldn't even respond or act.

"Now it's time for both of us to be together forever, my love."

Twilight lifted his head and then saw Shadow Claw right in front of Rarity. He made the Lunar Crystal begin to shine.

"No!!" Twilight exclaimed.

But it was too late, because Shadow Claw and Rarity disappeared, as well as the Lunar Crystal. All pony-wolves also disappeared.

Twilight couldn't believe what had just happened. Shadow Claw had just taken her mentor and one of her best friends.

Author's Note

I'm sorry for the wait, but my studies kept me busy.

The Predators of the Night, Part III - The Solar Crystal

The Predators of the Night, Part III - The Solar Crystal

Things were really bad. Shadow Claw had succeeded in taking Princess Celestia and Rarity and had also managed to turn a good part of the Royal Guard into pony-wolves. On top of that, without Celestia, the Sun wouldn’t rise. They were stuck in the night, in a full moon night.

Twilight rose and went to Luna and Cadance. Upon reaching the edge of them, asked them:

"Are you all right?"

"I think so" Cadance replied, rising up.

"I'm fine" Luna said. "But it seems that this only applies to our physical condition, because things are not well at all. That bastard took my sister."

"I know" Twilight said. "And he also took Rarity."

"But what does he want with her?" Cadance asked.

Twilight shrugged and then asked:

"But who is this Shadow Claw?"

"My sister told me about this creature who by day is a pony and by full moon night is a monster" Luna replied. "But I don't know much more about it."

"I think we can add any more information" a voice said.

They turned and then saw Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat.

"Golden Paladin!" Twilight exclaimed, glad to see them. "Mirror Coat! I'm glad you came."

"A little late, I'm afraid" Mirror Coat said, looking around. "We can see that our old pony-wolf friend regained the power he had."

"Pony-wolf?" Twilight repeated.

"A kind of pony that now lives in mythology" Golden Paladin explained. "On full moon nights, they become in what you could see and become quite aggressive. In this pony and wolf mixed form, their physical abilities are tremendously increased. It is quite difficult to defeat a pony-wolf in combat. Even for me."

"Typically, they are organized in packs, where there's an alpha, namely the stronger pony-wolf, a leader" Mirror Coat continued.

"Like Shadow Claw" Cadance realized.

"Precisely" Mirror Coat said. "The alpha is the one who controls all the others. He holds the loyalty of all his soldiers, so it will be practically impossible trying to divide his army."

"But, why he took Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked.

"Because without her we would not be able to rise de Sun" Luna realized.

"Yes" Golden Paladin said. "The Sun is the only thing able to revert a pony-wolf to its pony form. Typically, an alpha has the unique ability to transform in any time of the day or night, with or without a full moon. But since Celestia defeated Shadow Claw, he lost this ability."

"Besides, an eternal night will unbalance the world and plunge it into chaos" Mirror Coat added. "What it is undoubtedly what the Lord of Chaos wants."

Twilight thought for a while and then said:

"Wait, you said the ponie-wolves take their powers from the full moon, right?"

The two generals waved and their princess continued:

"Well, Princess Luna could change the face of the moon. Thus they would be normal ponies."

"But that's a great idea, Twilight!" Cadance exclaimed.

"It's not something I like to do, but considering the situation…" Luna said.

The princess of the night turned to the Moon and then charged her horn with magic and fired a magic beam against it. But then nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know" Luna answered, so dumbfounded like everypony else. "The Moon should have changed."

"This is bad" Mirror Coat said. "The Sun is the only thing that can revert them to their pony form. Without it, the only way to defeat Shadow Claw and his pony-wolves is…"

"Through physical combat" Golden Paladin completed. "Something that would be very dangerous, because the risk of biting is quite high and it’s needed just a nibble for the transformation."

"This probably has something to do with that strange crystal he used" Cadance said.

That caught Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat’s attention who asked at the same time:

"What crystal?"

"He used a weird moon-shaped crystal to defeat us" Cadance said. "It emanated an immense power. I've never seen anything like it."

The two generals looked at each other.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked. "Do you know that crystal?"

"Unfortunately, yes, princess" Golden Paladin replied. "Actually, it wasn't called Moon Crystal, was it?"

"Yes, that was the crystal’s name" said Twilight. "Do you know what it is?"

"It's a jewel created by one of the most feared Lord of Chaos’ followers" Mirror Coat explained. "An object imbued with the power of darkness. It is able to control the Moon and create an eternal eclipse. But of course Shadow Claw just wants to prevent the Moon from change its face. And without the Princess of the Sun to lift the star of the day…"

Twilight didn't even need that Mirror Coat finish the sentence.

"But taking into account that Shadow Claw used the Lunar Crystal to create all this, maybe there's a way to put an end to this eternal full moon night" Golden Paladin said.

The princesses looked at him.

"Yes, I think I know what you mean, brother" Mirror Coat said. "Under the Light Kingdom, specifically under our dungeons, there is an underground world covered in bright diamonds. There, there's a giant diamond which is responsible for sustaining the entire Light Kingdom."

"I didn't know that," said Twilight. "You never told me that."

"It is a secret that is preferable to forget, Princess" Golden Paladin replied. "This underground world, which we call Diamond Domain, works as a pillar for our Kingdom. Under the Diamond Heart’s sustenance, it prevents the Light Kingdom from sinking in its own foundations."

"And what does that have to do with what can counteract the Crystal Moon’s power?" Luna asked.

"There, it’s hidden the Lunar Crystal’s counterpart, that contains within itself the power of light, able to lift the Sun once again" Mirror Coat said. "The Solar Crystal."

"What are we waiting for?" Twilight asked. "We need to get this Solar Crystal immediately."

"As you wish, Princess" Golden Paladin replied, while he and Mirror Coat made her a bow.

"We're staying here" Luna said to Twilight, referring to herself and Cadance.

"We have to calm down all citizens" Cadance said. "The panic is spreading because they didn’t see the sun rising."

Twilight waved and then went to Blue, telling him:

"I, Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat will go back to the Light Kingdom. There’s something that can combat this threat."

"I'd like to go with you" Blue said.

"But you can't" Twilight said. "Our son needs you. Besides I need you to gather up all the guards as you can in case of more pony-wolves appear."

Blue, despite wanting to go with Twilight, thought she was right and waved to her.

"Don't worry, Twily" he told her. "I take care of it."

"And I will help Prince Blue Sword, Your Highness" Thunder Night said. "I will speak with Princess Luna and then I will gather the entire Lunar Royal Guard."

"Thank you, Thunder Night" Twilight thanked.

She then gave a kiss on Blue’s cheek and told him:

"I love you."

"I love you too" he replied.

Twilight returned to the edge of the two Generals of Order that charged their horns with magic and so the three teleport themselves.

The Lord of Chaos had been listening all the conversation and he got a little worried.

"The Crystal Solar is the only thing able to overpower the Lunar Crystal’s magic" he said. "If they can get the hooves on it, they will be able to stop Shadow Claw and ruin my plan."

"So you have to find a way to stop them, master" said Fire Punch. "If you want, I can stop them."

"Don't be ridiculous, Fire Punch" the Lord of chaos said. "You wouldn’t last two seconds against Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat. And with them within the Light Kingdom’s borders, I can't send another villain or dark creature against them. I only have one choice. I have to warn Shadow Claw and hope he can somehow win the Solar Crystal."

In the abandoned castle that once belonged to the two alicorn sisters, situated deep of Everfree Forest, a lot of pony-wolves were watching the surrounding area. Inside of the castle, Rarity was sleeping in a bed with silk blankets, still using the dress she was wearing in the celebration. She began to wake up and then noticed where she was.

"I'm glad you woke up" a voice said.

Rarity startled and turned and saw that, in a dark corner, was Shadow Claw, that let the moonlight illuminate him.

"You look so pretty sleeping" he said.

"You never heard that it's rude to view other ponies sleeping?" Rarity asked, moving in bed in order to move away the more possible from Shadow Claw.

But he came to her with his abnormal speed, to what made her shudder. The alpha smelled her mane and said:

"You're the most beautiful mare that I ever saw. You will be my muse of the night."

"If you love me so much as you say, why did you kidnap me?" Rarity asked. "To keep me hostage, you better turn me on what you are."

"Why would I ruin your perfect beauty with fangs and claws?" Shadow Claw asked, wanting to pass his paw through Rarity’s beautiful face, but she kept herself away.

Shadow Claw retreat his paw, getting a serious look. It seemed that Rarity had lost all the fascination she had for him after discovering his true identity. But he wasn't going to give up. He wanted that mare and she was going to be his no matter what.

"Shadow Claw" a voice called.

He turned and the image of the Lord of Chaos appeared on the other side of the room. When she saw him, Rarity got back the more she could.

"My lord" Shadow Claw said, standing up and making a bow to his master.

"Sorry if I'm bothering your fun" the Lord of Chaos said, looking in a fun way to Rarity, something that gave her a lot of chills. "But I have to warn you that Princess Twilight, along with that stupid peacemaker and that mirrored brain, is about to reclaim the Solar Crystal. Has a lot of caution. I don't want my brilliant plan to bring the eternal night fall apart."

"Don't worry, master" Shadow Claw answered. "The Lunar Crystal is using its magic to hide our presence from our enemies and, even if they find us and dare to attack us, my pony-wolves will surely kick their ass and at the same time increase my army."

"I hope so, Shadow Claw" the Lord of Chaos replied. "Don't make me regret from give you this opportunity. For failures, I already have Fire Punch and Krylock."

And, having said that, he disappeared.

Rarity looked carefully to Shadow Claw, after the Lord of Chaos have disappeared, and noticed that he seemed quite nervous. Feeling certain empathy for him, she approached, hesitating in put the hoof on his shoulder. She said:

"I don't know why you serve him if you don't like to do it."

"It doesn't matter if I like it" Shadow Claw answered. "I'm a creature of the shadows and it is my duty to serve the Lord of Chaos. All my power comes from him. Without him I am nothing."

"You're wrong" said Rarity, putting her hoof gently on Shadow Claw’s shoulder. "You're something. At least, for me."

Shadow Claw looked to Rarity and she could see through the evil that had those canine eyes injected with blood. She could see the alpha’s good side, prisoner of all darkness that plagued his heart. It was then that this good side disappear again and Shadow Claw moved away her hoof and coldly said, rising up:

"You don't like me. At least, not the real me. You like the fake Shadow Claw, the one that I pretended to be to win you trust."

"That's not true" Rarity up, standing up too. "I know there's still goodness within you, Shadow Claw. I can feel it."

"You're wrong" he replied. "I'm bad to the last fraction of my being. I don't need love, care or anything else that the Order side can give me. I already have what I want. The Lunar Crystal will give me the eternal full moon night that I so wished."

"No, you're wrong" the white unicorn said.

"I don't care about your opinion" Shadow Claw answered. "I don't care if you like me or not. Now, you're my and you’ll be it forever."

And having said that, Shadow Claw went out the window with a great speed. Rarity went to there and saw she was on top of one of the towers of the castle. The alpha must have used his abilities to get out safely. Rarity went to the door, but saw that it was locked. She was stuck there.

Princess Twilight and her two generals appeared at the entrance of the Light Kingdom and advanced towards the castle. Upon arriving there, Twilight followed Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat to the engraving of Princess Aurora and the six Generals of Order.

The General of Peace launched a magic beam that hit Princess Aurora’s horn and her eyes began to shine. The three were traversed by magic and then they were teleported. When Twilight gave for her, she was in a long tunnel.

"We are now under the Light Kingdom and its dungeons" Golden Paladin explained to Twilight. "Follow us, princess."

Twilight did so. They went through the long tunnel that led down increasingly. It was then that they arrived to a door which, despite not having the same beauty that those that existed in the Light Kingdom, was strong and sturdy. There was only one round groove in the center, big enough for a unicorn horn. Golden Paladin then entered there his horn and rode it like a key. The door was covered by a yellow glow and then opened up and Twilight, accompanied by two generals, came in and became amazed by what she saw.

It seemed to be an immense cavern, but all of it was covered by beautiful and radiant diamonds. It had them in different sizes and shapes, some forming up columns, while others hung from the roof like stalactites or decorate the walls. Twilight was fascinating with everything. If Rarity was there, the princess was sure she was going to faint for being surrounded with such beauty. The diamonds shone so much that illuminated the cave completely.

"Welcome to the Diamond Domain, Princess" Golden Paladin said.

"It's really beautiful" Twilight commented, looking around. "I never thought there was something like this underneath of our kingdom."

"But there is" Mirror Coat said. "And this is what keeps our kingdom stable. The shine that they radiate interacts with the light existing in the star seeds at the top level and this creates a force that prevents the Light Kingdom from sink, even when there is the worst of earthquakes."

Twilight was still fascinated with that place and was only brought back to reality when Golden Paladin said:

"Princess, follow us. The Solar Crystal is more inward."

The three then advanced through the cave and it was then that they have reached what appeared to be its center. Twilight couldn't believe when she saw that, even in the center, there was a gigantic diamond, with immense hooves of height. He was suspended in the air, with more diamonds long in length coming from the roof. This diamond was the brightest and seemed to be reacting with Twilight’s presence, intensifying its shine as she approached.

"This is the largest and most brilliant diamond that I've ever seen" Twilight said, stopping right in front of him.

"This is the Diamond Heart" Golden Paladin said. "It's the one that gives all the power to the existing diamonds from here. He ensures the stability of this place and, consequently, the Light Kingdom’s."

"And it is it who holds the Solar Crystal" Mirror Coat said. "And you, princess, are the only pony that can recover it."

Twilight advanced to the Diamond Heart, fascinated and attracted to its brightness. She rose then her hoof and touched it. The diamond shone with more intensity and it was then that this glow formed what appeared to be a crystal. When the light waned, she could see an orange rrystal with a spherical shape and with several spikes that wafted into the air in front of Twilight. It was the Solar Crystal.

Using her magic, Twilight picked it up and soon could feel its magic. There was so much light in a vast amount that the young princess had ever seen.

"Very well, Princess" Golden Paladin said to Twilight. "It's time for us to defeat Shadow Claw and save Princess Celestia and your friend."

Twilight, still somewhat distracted by the Solar Crystal, waved and then Mirror Coat invoked his magic, created a portal and he, Golden Paladin and Twilight crossed it.

In Ponyville, Blue Sword and Thunder Night had managed to gather so many royal guards as possible, ponies and thestrals. All of them were watching Ponyville and ensured that there was no pony-Wolves over there. Luna and Cadance were nearby and, when Thunder Night and Blue Sword arrived at their edge, the older princess asked:

"Anything?"

"No, Princess" Thunder Night said. "We didn't find any pony-wolf that might still be around. It seems that Shadow Claw took them all when their disappeared."

"Balls" Luna said. "If we could at least catch one, we could try to understand where he got my sister and Rarity."

"At least we don't have to worry about the fact that there are more transformations" Cadance said. "At least here."

"Our only hope is that Twilight appear with the Solar Crystal" Blue said.

"I'm excited that Twilight arrives and we go save our friend Rarity and kick that Shadow Claw’s ass" Rainbow said, who had come along with Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.

"Even if we have the Solar Crystal, our victory is not guaranteed, Rainbow Dash" Princess Luna said. "Don't forget that Shadow Claw has the Lunar Crystal, whose shadow power equates to the Solar Crystal’s light power."

"Tha princess is right, Rainbow" Applejack said. "Ya saw what that thing was able tah do. In addition tah havin’ stucked tha Moon, it also defeat’d all tha alicorn princesses."

"Oh, my goodness" Fluttershy said. "The idea of being in an eternal night controlled by pony-wolves is still worse than the idea of being in an eternal night controlled by Nightmare Moon. Ah... no offense, Princess Luna."

"Don't worry, dear Fluttershy" Luna said. "I'm not offended. I confess I have an eternal night was always a wish I had in the deepest and darkest part of my heart, but now I just wish undo it."

"And don't worry, my dear" Thunder Night said to Fluttershy, going to the edge of his marefriend and putting one of his wings on her shoulders. "I'll be here to protect you."

That made Fluttershy smile to him.

"Besides, we won't have to worry about the Solar Crystal, because Twilight must be appearing... Now!" Pinkie Pie said.

And a mirror portal appeared and from it came Mirror Coat, Golden Paladin and Twilight, carrying the Solar Crystal.

"How did you do that?" Rainbow Dash asked to Pinkie Pie, completely aghast.

"Oh, I had a combo earlier saying that Twilight was coming with the Solar Crystal and then I just had to time the time" Pinkie Pie replied.

"And you didn't tell us anything?!" Rainbow asked.

"You don't ask me" Pinkie said, doing then a big smile.

That made Rainbow Dash take her hoof to her own face.

"Twilight!" Blue Sword exclaimed, going to hug his wife. "I’m so glad you're back."

"I am also glad to be back" Twilight answered, returning her husband’s hug, finishing it a few seconds later. "And Star?"

"Don't worry about him" Blue said. "He's safe. So is this? The Solar Crystal?"

"Yes" Twilight replied, looking to the Crystal. "And the power that is contained here is immense. I'm sure this is enough to defeat Shadow Claw and his Lunar Crystal."

"Indeed, I can feel its power even at a distance" Luna said.

"Yes, it's like being surrounded by an immense wave of sunlight after waking up" Cadance added.

"Well, I'm glad we have the Solar Crystal and all that, but now we have a Princess, a friend and all a world to save" Rainbow Dash said.

"Rainbow is right" Twilight said. "We must act quickly."

"But we don't know where Shadow Claw is, princess," Thunder Night said.

"You know, as the darkness always find the light, the opposite can also happen" Golden Paladin said. "After all, they are the opposite sides of the same coin."

Twilight realized what Golden Paladin meant. She could make the Solar Crystal led them to the place where the Lunar Crystal was. Twilight focused and so she was able to access the immense magic contained in the Solar Crystal and asked it to take her to the Lunar Crystal. The crystal flashed and then began to move rapidly.

"Follow the crystal!" she said to everypont.

So Twilight started following the Solar Crystal, followed by the two Generals of Order, Blue, the other two alicorn princesses, her friends, Thunder Night and a handful of guards. It was then that the crystal stopped, which made the group also stop. They saw that they were in front of...

"The Everfree Forest?" Rainbow Dash said, upon seeing the dense and dark woods surrounding Ponyville. "He was always here?!"

"Apparently" Applejack replied.

"I don’t like this" Fluttershy said, hugely nervous. “I don’t like this at all."

"He must have used the Lunar Crystal to protect him and his pony-wolves from our eyes" Mirror Coat said.

"There's only one place in the forest where Shadow Claw may have gone" Luna said. "The castle that was once my home and my sister’s."

"If you’re right, Princess, so he must have pony-wolves surrounding the castle and within it" Blue said, turning then to a pair of guards. "You go back to the village and organize the remaining guards to protect the inhabitants of Ponyville in the case of some pony-wolf appear."

"Yes, Sir" their said, returning back.

"The rest of you fight with us" Blue said to other guards. "We hope to be successful."

"Don't worry, Your Highness" Thunder Night told him. "We, thestrals, are also creatures of the night, just like those creatures and we will ensure that they do no harm."

The group then entered into the Everfree forest, already prepared for any attack that might happen by the pony-wolves, following the Solar Crystal. It was then that it stopped in the vicinity of the Castle of the Two Sisters.

"I was right" Luna said. "He's at the castle."

"In fact, I feel a lot of negative energy in this place" Mirror Coat said. "I'm sure there's some protective magic."

"Princess, use Solar Crystal to destroy this protective magic and when you do that, stay close to me" Golden Paladin said to Twilight. "We will pass by the pony-wolves so that we can confront and defeat Shadow Claw and save Princess Celestia and your friend."

"But then..." Twilight said, worried about the others who would face Shadow Claw’s pony-wolves.

Knowing what his wife was thinking, Blue approached her, took one of her hooves and told her:

"Don't worry, my love. Go. Defeat Shadow Claw and ends the Lord of Chaos’ evil plan."

"Yes, Twilight, we take care of Shadow Claw’s slaves" Rainbow Dash said.

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy waved (although Fluttershy was more hesitant). Twilight smiled. She really had great friends.

"I'd like to go with you, Twilight Sparkle" Luna said. "I would like to help save my sister, besides I know quite well the castle."

Twilight looked to Golden Paladin who told her:

"Princesa Luna's right."

He turned to Luna and told her:

"Very well, Princess, you can go with Mirror Coat. He will protect you."

Luna nodded and then Golden Paladin gestured to Twilight.

"Okay, here we go" she said.

She focused again on the Solar Crystal and accessed to its magic. The crystal began to shine and then it unleashed huge waves of intense light that advanced forward. It was then that a shield made of dark power appeared in front of them and he started to crack and then fell apart into pieces that disappeared. In front of them there was an army of pony-wolves, ready to attack their attackers in the name of their alpha and the Lord of Chaos.

At the top of one of the tallest towers of the castle, Shadow Claw was quietly meditating with the Lunar Crystal levitating at his side. It was then that he felt an immense light energy with a power that rivaled with his Lunar Crystal’s and that destroyed the barrier that he had created. His crystal started blinking, feeling that something powerful was approaching. Shadow Claw knew what it was.

"It's time for combat" he said.

Author's Note

I'm sorry for the late, but here I am with the third part of this especial chapter of my story. I hope you had enjoyed it.:raritywink:

The Predators of the Night, Part IV - The Alpha's Fall

The pony-wolves attacked as soon as they saw the intruders. Twilight saw a pony-wolf coming in her direction and tried to react, but it wasn’t needed, because Golden Paladin conjured a shield around the two, which protected them from the pony-wolf. The young princess looked out and saw that Mirror Coat had also invoked a shield around him and Luna. Then, the four started running, plowing among the pony-wolves, while the others were fighting them, avoiding as much as possible to give them opportunities for biting.

The Lord of Chaos watched that scene with a certain pleasure.

"Look at that, Fire Punch" he said. "Is there anything better than watching a war lit up like this?"

"I must say that is a pretty intense fight" Fire Punch commented, noting also the fight.

"That's because you haven't seen a real war" the Lord of Chaos said. "It's not like the humans’, but even so, it is full of negative energy, of chaos. A feast."

"Sir, not to be a killjoy, but we shouldn't keep an eye in Princess Twilight?" Fire Punch asked, making the Lord of Chaos looking to him. "After all, she's going through all the pony-wolves."

"I know exactly what she's going through them, your idiot" the Lord of Chaos replied. "I'm not blind. However, I know that our little princess is not prepared for what expect her. Neither she nor the generals know the true power that resides in the Lunar Crystal. They don't even understand the Solar Crystal’s power. Only Princess Aurora could understand the power of that prickly ball of light. Princess Twilight is still very green. She does not have yet the maturity to use the Solar Crystal in its maximum capability. Believe me, Fire Punch. The odds are on our side."

After much struggle to get past through the pony-wolves, Twilight, Luna, Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat arrived at the castle and were able to enter in, with the generals to stun the vicious creatures who were at the entrance.

"All right, now we just have to find Shadow Claw" Twilight said, leaving the Solar Crystal levitate to her edge. "Let's see where he is."

She focused and so the Solar Crystal began heading for one of the corridors.

"Over there" Twilight said, pointing to where the Solar Crystal was heading.

"If we go through there, we will end in the entrance to the tallest tower" Luna answered. "It's a good place to hold a pony that has no wings."

"It must be were Rarity should be" Golden Paladin said. "He wouldn’t put her in a dungeon. Come on."

They prepared to go when Mirror Coat felt something.

"Wait" he said.

"What's up, brother?" Golden Paladin asked.

"I feel something" he said, concentrating. "I'm getting an image of a reflection in the neighborhood. I think that is... Yes, it is. It’s Princess Celestia, no doubt.

"My sister?" Luna asked.

"Where is she?" Twilight asked.

"She is…" Mirror Coat said, trying to concentrate better. "In a dungeon. I can't quite see well because it should be the reflection of a pool of water. However, I feel that there is something different about her."

"Take me there" Luna said to Mirror Coat.

"Yes, I want to go too" Twilight said, who wanted to help her mentor.

"Princess, I have to remind you of the purpose of our mission" Golden Paladin remembered to Twilight. "We need to stop Shadow Claw and make the Sun rise again. Let Princess Luna deal with this."

"But…" Twilight started.

She knew it was the right thing to do, but she didn't want to turn back to the pony that helped her to get where she was now.

"Don't worry, Twilight Sparkle" Luna told her. "I will get Celestia. You have to defeat Shadow Claw. Is the only way to win."

Twilight then waved and then she and Golden Paladin continued to follow the Solar Crystal, while Luna followed Mirror Coat.

The Lord of Chaos and Fire Punch were seeing as Mirror Coat and Luna were on their way to where was Celestia.

"My Lord, if they save Princess Celestia, she will raise the Sun and all pony-wolves will return to his pony form" Fire Punch said.

"Don't worry about it" the Lord of Chaos said. "When they get there, they will realize that there won't be much for them to save."

And he gave an evil laugh.

The fight against the pony-wolves was pretty intense. There was a massive confusion. Fortunately, all those who were not pony-wolves avoided to give maximum opportunity to the enemy to bite. Blue and Thunder Night were those that defeated more pony-wolves due to their experience in combat, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack were nothing behind. Pinkie Pie was beating her opponents with her only way to fight: with her party cannon, although no one knew how she had brought it. Only Fluttershy was the only pony who wasn't fight seriously, preferring to avoid any fight as possible.

Blue and Thunder Night approached each other, covering the blind spots of each other and the last said to the first:

"They are too many and too strong. I don't know how long we're going to hold them."

"We have to do the best we can, while Shadow Claw is not defeated" Blue answered him.

Then their heard a moan of pain and saw that one of their guards had been bitten and it wasn't long before he becomes a pony-wolf.

"Not if they keep multiplying in this way" Thunder Night returned.

Twilight and Golden Paladin followed the Solar Crystal and started to climb the highest tower. On reaching the top, they saw a door that was broken by a burst of Golden Paladin’s. Upon entering, they saw Rarity sitting in the bed.

"Twilight!" she called, standing up, happy to see her friend.

"Rarity!" Twilight exclaimed, going up to her edge and hugging her.

They finished the hug and then Twilight told Rarity:

"We came to set you free. Come on, we gotta go."

"Princess" Golden Paladin said, in a warning tone, motioning to the window.

Twilight and Rarity turned and saw Shadow Claw right in front of the window.

"You’re leaving now so early?" he asked.

Fluttershy avoided fighting constantly, what caught the attention of the pony-wolves that were attacking, knowing she would be an easy prey. When one of them was about to bite her, Thunder Night appeared and gave him a punch so powerful that put him unconscious.

"Pick on somepony from your own size, freak."

"Thundy!" Fluttershy exclaimed, going to embrace her coltfriend.

"Fluttershy, you should have stayed in the village, if you don't want to fight" Thunder Night told her.

"I know I have fear, Thundy, but I can't stand quiet while I see my friends fighting" Fluttershy replied. "I just can't do it."

That made Thunder Night smile and say:

"That's why I love you."

Fluttershy also smiled, but then she saw a pony-wolf approaching Thunder Night behind.

"Look out!" she exclaimed.

The thestral turned, but the pony-wolf gave him a blow that knocked him backward. Thunder Night, at times, kept his eyes closed because of the strike, but when he heard the cry of his marefriend, he opened them immediately and stood up.

"Fluttershy!" he called.

He saw his marefriend lying nearby. He intended to approach her, but he saw that she had a bite in one of the forelegs.

"Oh no…" he said, not wanting to believe. "Not you."

The wound then cured itself, while Fluttershy’s body also changed. She then stood up and turned to Thunder Night, looking at him with yellow eyes with narrow pupils and snarling him, showing her fangs.

Mirror Coat and Luna arrived at the castle dungeons. While walking, Luna said:

"This place brings back lots of memories. I never thought I'd come back here after my exile."

"Sometimes, what we think it might not happen, eventually happens, Princess" Mirror Coat said, while trying to feel where Celestia was.

It was then that he felt she were closer.

"Let's go" he said.

They moved down the hall until they arrive to a cell where, through the bars, they could see Celestia, sitting down, with her back to them. Apparently, she had a shackle in one of her hind legs. Next to her, was a pool of water created by humanity. It had been through there that Mirror Coat might see where Celestia was.

"Sister!" Luna called.

However, Celestia does not answer her. It seemed that she had not heard. Luna and Mirror Coat entered the cell and Luna said, while approaching:

"Sister, we're here to save you. Don't worry."

When they got close enough, Mirror Coat noticed that although Celestia had a shackle in her hindleg, she wasn’t arrested and then noticed the claws in the place where there should be Celestia’s hooves.

"Princesa Luna, don't!" Mirror Coat exclaimed.

It was then that Luna, being now practically on the verge of Celestia, made her turn to herself and saw with horror that her sister had been turned into a pony-wolf. Celestia snarled her and prepared for the attack, but Mirror Coat was faster and used a spell that made appear a mirror underneath Celestia that absorbed her. Then he lifted the mirror and put it to a wall, revealing Celestia trapped inside. She tried to free herself, but she couldn't.

"I can't believe" Luna said, looking overwhelmed for her turned sister. "He... turned her."

She turned to Mirror Coat and said to her:

"You have to heal her."

"The only way to do that is neutralizing the alpha, Princess Luna" he replied. "Once Princess Twilight defeats Shadow Claw, all pony-wolves from his lineage will be cured thanks to the Solar Crystal’s light. Don't worry."

However, Luna had reason to worry, because she knew that the darkness had various tricks to achieve victory at any price.

Thunder Night tried not to make any sudden movements in front of Fluttershy. He didn't want to fight the mare he loved as if she were a pony-wolf like the others. He didn't wanted to hurt her, even putting her unconscious. He wouldn't be able to do it. Her friends, seeing what had happened, wanted to help.

"Flutershy!" Rainbow Dash called, while she, Applejack and Pinkie Pie approached.

"No, stay away!" Thunder Night exclaimed, making them stop. "I deal with her! Go!"

"But..." Rainbow Dash started, who did not want to abandon Fluttershy, who was her friend before Twilight and the others.

"Don't worry" Thunder Night told them. "I take care of her. You have to deal with the other pony-wolves before they turn somepony else."

"Come on, Rainbow" Applejack said to Rainbow Dash.

And so the three moved away.

Thunder Night turned to Fluttershy that began to approach him slowly and said, while trying to keep his distance.

"Fluttershy, honey, please, you've got to control yourself" he said. "I know it must be difficult but you have to do it. It's me, Thundy, your coltfriend, your beloved."

But Fluttershy seemed not to be listening. Thunder Night continued:

"Do you remember when we met for the first time? You took care of me when I was hurt by having been flying during the day. We didn't get along at first, but we ended up understanding each other. We become more than friends. I will never forget the times you took care of me after I had been imprudent. Especially when you treated me after I had escaped from Shadow Claw. Do you remember?"

Although Fluttershy continue to roar to him, her movements slowed until she stopped approaching Thunder Night. Sensing that he was able to reach her, Thunder Night continued, this time approaching Fluttershy:

"You're the sweetest and kindest pony that I know. You are always ready to sacrifice yourself to help a friend, forgetting all your fears. I have faced a lot of enemies, but I will never have the courage you have."

Came to her and taking her front hooves, Thunder Night told her:

"I love you, Fluttershy."

Upon hearing those words, Fluttershy felt like waking from a dream. She looked to Thunder Night and said in a changed voice, due to her transformation:

"Thundy?"

Happy by Fluttershy have recognized him, Thunder Night said:

"Yes, it’s me Fluttershy."

A smile emerged briefly in Fluttershy’s face. She then said:

"Thundy, I feel weird."

"Don't worry, I will treat you as you treat me. It's going to be okay."

Fluttershy felt safe when Thunder Night said that. Then a sharp pain in her head made her moan of pain.

"What's the matter, honey?" Thunder Night asked, worried.

"I don't know" she said. "Something is compelling me to attack you. I'm trying to resist, but... It’s very hard."

"Fluttershy, you have to resist" Thunder Night said. "You have to fight. Don't worry, I'm here."

"I… can’t" Fluttershy said. "It's… very painful."

It was then that the pony-wolf instinct resumed control over Fluttershy and she attacked Thunder Night, throwing him to the ground and trying to bite him. He struggled to prevent Fluttershy to do it.

In the tower, Shadow Claw made intention to move, but then Golden Paladin put himself in front of Twilight and Rarity.

"Don't you dare go any further" the General of Peace told him.

"Come on, general, you know perfectly well that you can’t beat me" Shadow Claw said.

"That's what we're going to see" Golden Paladin said.

Shadow Claw giggled and then made the Lunar Crystal appear. The crystal glowed and launched waves of energy against Golden Paladin. He tried to resist, but he was eventually pushed against a wall.

"Golden Paladin!" Twilight called.

"I'm fine, Princess" he replied, standing out.

"Shadow Claw, please, you don't have to do this" Rarity said. "You don't have to obey to the Lord of Chaos."

"I already told you, I can't" Shadow Claw answered. "He is the one that made me what I am now and I'm not going to betray him. Very well, let's see what Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of the Light Kingdom, and her Solar Crystal are capable of."

"Since you don't want to back up your plan, Shadow Claw, so I have to beat you" Twilight said, carrying her horn with magic and accessing to the Solar Crystal’s power. "And that's what I'm going to do."

"Don't make me laugh" Shadow Claw replied. "You cannot even understand the full potential the Solar Crystal has. On the other hoof, I understand the Lunar Crystal. Allow me to demonstrate."

He closed his eyes and concentrated and it was then that the Lunar Crystal began to shine brightly. It then launched an energy beam against the alpha, seeming to be feeding him with magic. While this was happening, Shadow Claw's body began to glow, radiating the same energy that was in the Lunar Crystal. He should be absorbing all the magic that existed in the crystal. It was then that it stopped giving its power to Shadow Claw and then fell to the ground, breaking up and gaining the transparent color of a common crystal.

After absorbing all the magic contained in the Lunar Crystal, Shadow Claw started moaning in pain, like if he wasn’t being able to control all that power. But then his body began to change. They saw with horror as his body grew up and all the pony traces that he had disappeared completely, only to become a creature completely canine. His fur became purple with a big mane around his head. Purplish white light lines appeared throughout his body.

That image released an immense scream from Rarity, not wanting to believe that the pony for who she had fell really in love had been turned into a monster like that.

Shadow Claw then gave a strong roar that freed a lot of waves of energy that made the roof of the tower be destroyed. Golden Paladin used a protective spell to protect himself, Twilight and Rarity from the wreckage. That was so violent that caught the attention of those who were fighting down there.

"But what the hay..." Applejack said.

And then they saw Shadow Claw appearing, managing to fly thanks to the magic of the Lunar Crystal.

"Is that who I think it is?" Rainbow Dash asked, not wanting to believe in what her eyes was seeing.

"If you want to know if that wolf monster is our dear and beloved pony-wolf alpha, then the answer is yes" Pinkie Pie said.

"But how did he get so big?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know, but I hope that Twilight has something to defeat something that big, I'm not sure if the Solar Crystal will be enough" Rainbow Dash said.

Shadow Claw turned to Twilight and asked her:

"What's up, Princess Twilight? Are you afraid of fighting me?"

Twilight, knowing that she had no other choice but to defeat Shadow Claw in combat, she prepared herself to takeoff.

"Princess, wait" Golden Paladin said. "You’re not supposed to do this alone."

"Don't worry, Golden Paladin," she replied.

And Twilight took flight. Down there, her friends might see her.

"Look, it's Twilight" Pinkie Pie said.

"It looks like she'll face Shadow Claw" Applejack noted.

"Go, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash encouraged. "Show to this bastard how the things are done!"

Blue also noted that and became concerned. He just hoped that Twilight was okay.

"It seems that the stage is ready" Shadow Claw said to Twilight. “The Lunar Crystal’s power against Solar Crystal’s. The light against the darkness."

"Unfortunately, it will always be like this while your master exists."

"So it looks like this war will last for eternity" Shadow Claw said.

And that's when he launched from his forelegs a kind of black magic beam in a unexpected way. Clumsy, Twilight quickly created a shield around her and, with her magic increased by the Solar Crystal, she managed to protect herself, although only barely. She also attacked Shadow Claw, but it just ricocheted in the alpha, not affecting him.

"That's all?" Shadow Claw mocked, while he brushed the place where Twilight’s attack had settled. "You're going to have to do better than this, princess. That even didn’t make me tickles."

The two then continued to wage their struggle, both attacking and defending. However, it was Shadow Claw who attacked more. Twilight was limited to defending and his attacks became stronger with each strike. After all, he had all the power from the Lunar Crystal and Twilight didn't know how to use completely the Solar Crystal’s, but she couldn't let that stop her from doing the right thing: defeat Shadow Claw, save all ponies which he enslaved and raise the Sun once again.

It was then that the Solar Crystal began to shine with a more intense light. Seeing that, Twilight could understand now. The crystal reacted to her desire to help her friends.

"It's time to end this once and for all" Shadow Claw said to Twilight.

He then concentrated an immense amount of dark energy and then said to Twilight.

"Goodbye, Princess Twilight."

And then he released all that energy, hitting in full force in Twilight and creating a huge blast of smoke.

"Twilight!" her friends shrieked, thinking that Twilight had been neutralized.

"Yes!" the Lord of Chaos exclaimed, victorious. "Finally, the Princess of the Light Kingdom no longer exists. What do you say to that, brother?"

And he laughed.

"Your desire was fulfilled, Lord of Chaos" Shadow Claw said.

But in the middle of the smoke, an intense light appeared. When smoke disappeared, Twilight appeared, flooded by the intense light from the Solar Crystal.

"It can't be!" Shadow Claw exclaimed.

"Twilight!" everypony exclaimed, watching with a smile that Twilight was fine.

"What?!" the Lord of Chaos asked, not wanting to believe. "She's still alive?! And to top it she get access to the full power of the Solar Crystal. Shadow Claw, you have failed me."

"That's impossible" Shadow Claw said to Twilight. "I… I shot you. You... You should have been destroyed."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I didn't" Twilight replied. "Not when my friends' happiness depends on my victory. You know, that's what you don't understand, Shadow Claw. Love, affection and friendship are far more powerful than the power of darkness. Because they illuminate our world."

Twilight then made the Solar Crystal rise up above her head and it started releasing an immense light that spread everywhere. That light hit Shadow Claw that began to scream in agony, while he felt all the darkness that he had absorbed disappearing. It was then that his body began to move to the previous appearance and then returned to his pony form.

With their Alpha defeated, the pony-wolves began to moan and began to return to their pony form, freed from the curse that had been placed in them. When Fluttershy became herself, she found herself overwhelmed by Thunder Night that, seeing that she was back to normal, freed her. The two then exchanged a smile and a hug. Luna also saw her sister returning to normal and after that happens, the mirror where Mirror Coat had put her broke, releasing her. Seeing that she was free, Celestia hugged her younger sister. In addition to all this, the Sun returned also to rise, bringing an end to that eternal full moon night.

Twilight descended into the room in the tower, carrying Shadow Claw with her magic and putting him gently on the ground while landing. He began to stand up and, upon seeing what had happened, he said:

"No! My power! It... disappeared!"

"It's over, Shadow Claw" Twilight said. "You lost."

"No, it can't end like this" Shadow Claw said.

"Please, Shadow Claw, it's over" Rarity said, trying to get close to him. "You don't have to continue to serve the Lord of Chaos."

"You're wrong" Shadow Claw answered. "I'm still a pony-wolf."

"Maybe, but you will not be as strong as you were" Golden Paladin answered. "You should surrender yourself."

"I will never surrender" said Shadow Claw. "You'll see. I will form a new army and come back."

"That's not going to happen" a voice said.

They turned and saw Mirror Coat at the entrance of the room. He then charged his horn with magic and invoked the cell blaster that already had a life cell prepared. Upon realizing what Mirror Coat was ready to do, Rarity said:

"No, wait!"

But it was too late, because Mirror Coat carried the cell blaster with his magic and it issued a light blue light that hit Shadow Claw and he began to be sucked into the life cell, while he tried not to be captured. However, he was completed sucked and his image appeared on the life cell. Mirror Coat then invoked the prison-book and put the life cell inside of it.

"No, Shadow Claw!" Rarity exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but it had to be this way" Mirror Coat said. "We couldn't risk have him there hurting other ponies."

Despite knowing that Mirror Coat was right, Rarity did not fail to feel immense pain in her chest.

"I don't believe!" the Lord of Chaos yelled, while destroying everything that was on his side and Fire Punch left the room, fearing his master’s anger. "I was so close! That idiot didn't serve for nothing!"

After calming down, he said:

"But they haven't seen even one tenth of what I'm capable of."

In the library, Spike walked from one side to the other, quite nervous. He was like that since he found out that Rarity had been kidnapped. The little dragon, which has always had a crush on the white unicorn, couldn't stop to ask to himself if she was okay. He wanted to go with Twilight, but he had to stay with Star.

The door opened and Twilight and Blue entered.

"Finally, I was almost getting crazy here" Spike said. "How's Rarity."

"Safe" Blue answer. "And the Mirror Coat arrested Shadow Claw in the prison-book."

"But that's amazing!" Spkie exclaimed. "I'll go see how Rarity is.”

"You better not do that, Spike" Twilight advised.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because she now needs rest and have time to herself" Twilight replied.

In her room, completely obscured by curtains, Rarity was lying on her bed, thinking with tears in her eyes. She couldn't get Shadow Claw out of her head. He was the first stallion she had been in love for real. Despite everything that happened, Rarity made a promise to herself: she would find a way to cure his condition as pony-wolf and release him from the control of the Lord of Chaos, even if it cost her own life.

Author's Note

This ends my special chapter with Shadow Claw. I'm already working in my next chapter. I will let you think in what villain I will use this time.

Little Box of Horrors

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were once again being insulted by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon for not having their Cutie Marks. That left the three fillies very angry, because not even in the summer holidays they could have peace from the two bullies.

"You know, girls, maybe you should stop this pathetic little club of yours" Diamond Tiara told them. "It’s better you designate yourselves to the fact that your flanks will be blank for the rest of your lives."

"Yeah, I bet that even when you have wrinkles you won’t have your Cutie Marks" Silver Spoon added.

"That's what ya think" Apple Bloom said.

"Yeah, it happens that we are already good at many things" Scootaloo said. "It must be why we still don’t have our Cutie Marks: it is difficult to know which is our true talent."

The other two nodded.

"Well then, let's hear in what you three are good to do" Diamond Tiara said.

That made the three Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanged nervous glances because what Scootaloo had said was not entirely true.

"Well, we are..." Sweetie Belle began. "We are good..."

Realizing that they did not know what to say, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon gave a laugh and then the first said:

"Yeah, I knew it. You are completely losers. If you want to continue that your little club you may continue. You may find your Cutie Marlks... maybe never.”

And she and Silver Spoon began to laugh out loud.

"Hey, stop it!" a voice commanded.

They turned and saw a filly from all their age approaching. She had a green pigmented hair, a yellow-pale mane and reddish eyes. She had no Cutie Mark. She had saddlebags.

"Are not you ashamed for bully ponies that don’t have their Cutie Marks?" the filly asked.

"What right have you to say that?" Diamond Tiara asked, arrogantly. "I see that you are also a blank flank."

"Yeah, right" Silver Spoon added.

"I have all right" the filly replied, adopting a more mischief air. "At least I do not go around making troublers that can be discovered by some parents."

Realizing what the filly was trying to say, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon became shocked with the first saying:

"You would not dare."

"If it is to save blank flank partners, then yes, I would dare" the filly replied, challenging Diamond Tiara’s sharp look.

The two looked at each other for a while and then Diamond Tiara told to Silver Spoon:

"Come on, Silver Spoon. Let's do things that only special ponies like us can do."

"But..." she began.

Seeing her friend’s harsh gaze, Silver Spoon hastened to follow her. When they moved away, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo went to the foal and began to congratulate her.

"That was awesome!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Ah never saw anypony facin’ Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon that way" Apple Bloom said.

"You helped us" Sweetie Belle said. "I don’t know what to say."

"It was nothing" the filly said. "I'm sure any of you would do the same for me."

"By tha way, mah name is Apple Bloom" the little farm filly presented. "And these are Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. What’s yer name?"

"My name is... Pandora" she said.

"Pandora?" Scootaloo asked. "What a strange name. Don’t tell us you are from another world."

"What?"

"Don’t mind her" Apple Bloom said, covering Scootaloo’s mouth for a few seconds. "Sometimes, Scootaloo says some nonsense."

"You're new around here?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I've never seen you around."

"I just moved with my parents" Pandora said. "Long trip."

When they heard that, the three Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanged glances and smiled, because they had just had the same idea.

"Hey, Pandora, since ya will live here in Ponyville, do ya want tah join our club?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Your club?" she asked.

"Yes," Sweetie Belle replied. "We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders and our goal is to find our special talents and win our Cutie Marks."

"Yes, and it's pretty fun" Scootaloo said. "What do you say?"

"Let me think..." Pandora said, thoughtfully. "Sure, why not?"

When they heard that, the other three fillies exclaimed:

"Hurray!"

"So come with us" Apple Bloom said. "We will to our headquarters tah do yer initiation ritual. Come!"

And Apple Bloom, Seetie Belle and Scootaloo began to advance towards their treehouse. Pandora stood to see them moving away and then she made a smirk and her red eyes shone with a dark luster. Then she began to follow them.

The Lord of Chaos was seeing them through his mirror, sitting on his throne in his room in Tartarus with Fire Punch beside him.

"Yes, everything is going as I planned" the Lord of Chaos said, giving then evil laughter.

"I don’t understand, master" Fire Punch said. "Why did you send a girl? Would not it be more logical to send a villain with more... well, more. "

The Lord of Chaos looked coldly to Fire Punch who cringed before the eyes of his master.

"You really are an idiot, Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos said. "You should learn that appearances can be deceiving. Therefore, let me clarify that your little mind. Actually, do you know who that filly is?"

Fire Punch shook his head and the Lord of Chaos answered:

"Her name is Pandora and she lived at the time that the ponies of all kinds lived together in peace before my darkness lead them to a war that forced my brother to create the Light Kingdom and bring his Generals of Order. At that time, I tried to infect this world, but my brother was able to isolate my darkness and lock it in a box, preventing me from moving forward with my achievement. After that, he instructed a pony of pure heart to keep it, giving her the key, and forbade her to open it, saying that bad things would happen if she did it. This pony was Pandora. "

"Wait, but if she was chosen by the Lord of Order to keep the box, how she eventually became one of your villains?" Fire Punch asked.

"A question with an easy answer" the Lord of Chaos replied. "Invisible, I whispered in her ear and encouraged her curiosity and Pandora eventually opened the box, freeing my darkness, giving me the opportunity to continue my invasion in this world. After that, I used part of the same darkness to turn Pandora into what she is today: one of my most cruel and evil minions."

"But what happened to her?" Fire Punch asked.

"After she opened the box, my brother took it from her and closed it, holding part of the darkness that remained there, hiding it later and then Pandora was eventually defeated by Melody and Purple Smoke, when she had almost found the box" the Lord of Chaos said. "Now that she is free, I can use her to retrieve the box and release the rest of my power is still there and so I will become even more powerful. Pandora has the key and know where the box is hidden. Now, we just need to achieve it."

"But why are you using those fillies?" Fire Punch asked. "If Pandora has the key and knows where the box is, would it be easier and safer if she went to get it?"

Faced with that question, the Lord of Chaos pointed his hand and threw Fire Punch telekinetically against a wall, causing him to fall to the ground. Then he came to his edge quickly and said:

"You really are stupid. Don’t you see that the box cannot be released from the place where it is for someone with an evil heart? It is necessary to be of the Order side to get it. Therefore, I will use this fillies’ ingenuity and obsession in achieving their Cutie Marks to get the box. Do you understand now?"

Fire Punch nodded his head quickly and then the Lord of Chaos said:

"Good."

And having said this, he went to sit on his throne.

In the Light Kingdom, Twilight was dealing with paperwork, sitting on her throne, while Heartbeat was playing with Star Knight. Blue Sword had work from the Royal Guard to do and Spike was in the kitchen to snack, and Twilight knew that Spike was going to take longer than expected. As she signed papers, the throne room doors opened and Melody and Purple Smoke entered, standing in the middle of another of their disagreements.

"I'm just saying that it was my turn to get to the room" Melody said.

"Oh, you're completely wrong, dear sister, it's my turn" Purple Smoke said.

"Storm coming" Heartbeat said. "I think we'd better go play somewhere else, Star. If you excuse me, Your Highness..."

And then she and Star disappeared in a red glow. However, the General of Talent and the General of Music continued to advance towards the throne, always arguing.

"I created that room for my art" Purple Smoke said. "That room is for arts."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Purple Smoke, but music is art too" Melody said. "Furthermore, that room is the one with the best acoustics and enough space to dance."

"Please, you won’t start with that crap, will you?"

"Golden Paladin told us to share the room at the same time. You used it last time, and now it's my turn."

Tired of hearing them discussing and wanting to focus on her work, Twilight said:

"Okay, can you two stop this? I hardly hear my thoughts."

The two Generals stopped immediately, listening their princess speaking, and Purple Smoke said, as he and Melody made her a bow:

"I'm so sorry, Your Highness. It turns out that my sister Melody is behaving like a stubborn mule."

"Stubborn mule?!" Melody repeated, offended. "Who are you calling stubborn mule, your ball of purple and scruffy coat?!"

The two looked at each other quite fiercely and Twilight didn’t know what to do with those two. She then exclaimed:

"ENOUGH!"

That made Purple Smoke and Melody stop arguing and look to her.

"You have to come to an understanding" the princess told them. "I know you may have opposing ideas, but you have to think that you are siblings and should act as such."

However, the two generals turned their backs to each other. Twilight sighed and said:

"This won’t be easy."

Suddenly, the alarm began to ring, which meant that there was villain activity.

"I can’t believe it just had to happen when there’s not almost no one here" Twilight said.

Then she had an idea that maybe would cause Purple Smoke and Melody to find peace for some time.

"Purple Smoke, Melody, I want you to investigate this" Twilight said.

"What?!" they asked.

"I won’t do anything with her" Purple Smoke said.

“Me neither" Melody said.

"Look at you already agreeing" Twilight joked. "Yes, you will. That's an order."

The two Generals looked fiercely and then turned their backs to each other, as they disappeared. After that, Twilight sighed and said:

"I just hope to have made the right decision."

In the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ treehouse, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo made Pandora's initiation ritual, which was equal to Babs Seed’s, including the long and redundant welcome speech Sweetie Belle said and it was written by Scootaloo that she had not yet reviewed. After that, they began to try to decide what they would do now.

"Very well, Cutie Mark Crusaders, we have tah think about somethin’ we have not tri’d yet" Apple Bloom said. "It has tah be somethin’ challengin’."

"Something fun" Sweetie Belle said.

"Something exciting and immensely radical!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

When she heard them saying that, Pandora smiled, because her master’s plan was going according to what he had anticipated. She then suggested:

"What if we did a treasure hunt?"

"A treasure hunt?" the other three repeated.

"Yes" Pandora said, while using his magic, whose aura had the same color as her eyes, to pick a rolled parchment. "I found this in my parents’ old things. It seems to be a treasure map."

She unrolled the scroll and the others saw that it really looked like a map that had a marked path leading to a large X.

"It is really a treasure map!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Wait, didn’t we do a treasure hunt before?" Sweetie Belle asked. "And I remind you that the treasure was no big deal."

"Maybe, but this map seems to be serious" Scootaloo said. "Where did your parents found it, Pandora?"

"I don’t know" she replied, lying. "They should have arranged it in one of their trips."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Scootaloo asked. "Lets go!"

Pandora smiled, trying to not show the evil nature of that smile. Those stupid fillies were falling into the trap.

"Wait a minute" Apple Bloom said suddenly. "This map shows that tha treasure is... in the Everfree Forest."

"The Everfree Forest?!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle asked at the same time, beginning to tremble.

"Are you talking about that forest beyond?" Pandora asked. "What has it?"

"It’s only full of the most dangerous creatures of all" Scootaloo said.

"Yes, the last time we went there by ourselves, we were attacked by a basilisk" Sweetie Belle said. "Fortunately, our friend Fluttershy was there to help us."

"Pandora, however how much good would be followin’ yer map, Ah don’t think it is a good idea tah enter in tha Everfree Forest by ourselves" Apple Bloom said. "Maybe we should ask for help to Applejack."

Pandora began to fear the failure of her plan. If Apple Bloom would tell Applejack, one of the representatives of the Elements of Harmony and great friend of Princess Twilight, she could not get her box and then use the power in it to spread his master’s darkness. She had to do something.

"Wait, Apple Bloom" Pandora said. "You won’t want to do that."

"Why not?" She asked.

"Because your sister is working" Pandora said. "You don’t want to make her stop just because of a simple treasure hunt, do you? Furthermore, you are already more grown since the last time, aren’t you?"

"Well..." Apple Bloom started, uncertain.

"Pandora is right, Apple Bloom" Scootaloo said. "We are more grown-up."

"In addition to that we will be more aware of the dangers" Sweetie Belle said.

Apple Bloom thought for a moment, but then she sighed and said:

"Okay, ya won, we will do the treasure hunt."

"Good!" the other three exclaimed.

"Ah jest hope not come tah regret this" Apple Bloom said.

Seeing this, the Lord of Chaos laughed and said:

"Very well, Pandora. Continue to do the job you're doing. You are doing great."

"I don’t want to be a spoilsport, my lord, but it does not take much to fool fillies" Fire Punch said.

"If I had sent another villain, Fire Punch, it would be a waste, because the more likely it was that same villain be captured soon after" the Lord of Chaos said. "We need to enter the place where the box is, and for that, we have to gain the trust of someone from the Order. Because there are now huge villains out there, ponies and other creatures are quite cautions. Pandora has an innocent look that is perfect for this service. She is deceiving those silly fillies perfectly."

Pandora and the fillies went to the edge of the Everfree Forest with everything they might need in their saddlebags. Then they entered in the dark Everfree Forest.

Purple Smoke and Melody came to Ponyville with the last using some magic.

"Apparently, the source of the negative energy of the villain we pursue is here in Ponyville" she said.

"The Lord of Chaos has really a lack of creativity" Purple Smoke said. "Does he have no more places to attack?"

"Ponyville cannot be his real target, Purple Smoke" Melody said.

"Oh, now you think you know everything like Mirror Coat knows?" the General of Talent asked provocatively.

"At least, I know more than you, apparently" she replied.

The two looked at each other fiercely, but then Melody stopped and said:

"Look, we can sit here and argue or we can do what we came here to do and end with this involuntary partnership as soon as possible."

"Finally, there is coming out something really clever from you" Purple Smoke said. "I think we can make a truce until this is over."

And then the two bump the hooves to seal the deal.

"Now, where is that little rat?" Purple Smoke asked.

"I'm not sure" Melody said, going back to her magic to try to find the villain they sought. "But I think that is not in the village. I can feel a strong negative energy coming from... Sweet Apple Acres."

"Do you think the Lord of Chaos want to go after Princess Twilight’s friends so they cannot use the Elements of Harmony against his villains?" Purple Smoke asked.

"Well, he already had two planes almost successful" Melody said. "I think getting rid of a possible threat like the Elements of Harmony would be a good reason for him to attack."

"So what are we waiting for?" Purple Smoke asked. "Let’s go."

And they began to head to the apple farm.

The Lord of Chaos and Fire Punch saw them in the mirror.

"It seems we have problems" Fire Punch said.

"If they think that I will let them prevent me of recovering what is mine, they are so wrong" the Lord of Chaos said.

He changed the image in the mirror to show Pandora and the fillies walking through the woods and said, making his voice echoed only in Pandora's mind:

"Pandora, the General of Talent and the General of Music are looking for you. Hurry up to find the box."

Pandora nodded.

Applejack was bucking all trees full of apples and make them fall. When she stopped to rest and wipe the sweat from her brow, she heard a voice saying:

"Hello, Applejack."

That made Applejack shudder a bit, because she was not expecting, and then she turned and saw Melody and Purple Smoke.

"Are you okay?" Melody asked, who had been one that had greeted Applejack.

"Yes Ah am" she said. "Ya just surpris’d me a little."

"Always so honest" Purple Smoke said. "I do not know you can do it."

"Ah can thanks tah what is inside of me an’ tha hard work" she said.

"Well, I couldn’t do what you do" Melody said, looking at the harvested apples.

"Of course, you have fear of soiling the mane and the hooves" Purple Smoke said.

"I thought we agreed that we wouldn’t argue" she told him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know" he replied.

"But what are ya doin’ here?" Applejack asked.

"We came after a villain" Purple Smoke. "Apparently he or she is here."

"Tha Lord of Chaos is attackin’ again, is not he?" Applejack said.

"Unfortunately, dear Applejack" Melody. "Did you see something strange or somepony new here?"

"Something strange, no" she said. "Now about new ponies, Ah only jest met a new friend of mah sister an’ her friends. What was her name? Ah, yeah. Pandora."

Hearing the name, Melody and Purple Smoke gasped.

"Pandora?" they repeated.

"Yes" Applejack confirmed, noticing that the two Generals had been shocked by that. "What’s up?"

"Applejack, your sister’s new friend is the villain we seek" Melody said.

"What?!" Applejack asked, not wanting to believe. "That lovely thin’? It can’t be."

"She may look lovely on the outside, but believe us she is far from it" Purple Smoke said.

"Wait, if you are serious, who is this Pandora and what she want with my sister and her friends?" Applejack asked.

"Pandora is responsible for the fact that the Lord of Chaos is currently trying to conquer your world" Melody said.

"And if we know Pandora as we know her, so I guess we know what she wants" Purple Smoke said.

Pandora and the three fillies were so inside of the Everfree Forest that in the trees and in the plants there were frightening shadows. The three fillies were starting to get scared.

"Pandora, I think we should go back" Apple Bloom said. "We can continue another day."

"Yes, in the company of other pony" Scootaloo said.

"Like my teddy bear!" Sweety Belle exclaimed.

"Hold on, girls, we're almost there" Pandora said, who was sick of hearing the fillies whining.

She had to hurry before Purple Smoke and Melody arrived. Although they were always arguing, those two made a great team. After all, that was why they defeated her.

It was then that she felt something. It was the darkness contained in the box calling her. Pandora couldn’t believe she was so close. Suddenly she seemed to hit some kind of barrier that made her fell on the floor.

"Pandora, are you okay?" Apple Bloom asked as she and the others went to her edge.

"Yes, I am" she said, sitting up.

That should be the barrier that prevented the evil beings to move on. It was now that the fillies would be useful.

"Maybe we should turn back now" Apple Bloom said.

"When we are so close?" Pandora asked. "The place we seek is right in front of us."

"Really?" Apple Bloom asked.

Pandora nodded. The other fillies looked at each other and then Apple Bloom said:

"Okay, we continue."

"Good" said Pandora. "But do you mind in go on? I think I need to recover from that fall."

"You should not stay here alone" Scootaloo said.

"Don’t worry" Pandora said. "I’ll catch you in no time."

Although uncertain, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweety Belle advanced. Seeing them departing, Pandora smiled wickedly and said:

"That’s right, go ahead. Find your treasure. When you find yourselves, this world will be merged in the Lord of Chaos’ darkness."

It was then that from the vegetation came out a manticore. It roared fiercely to Pandora as it approached, but she didn’t seem to have afraid. It was then that her face changed completely. Her coat wrinkled a lot and became immensely pale, her mane was undulating and whitish and her eyes turned white. She was so scary that the manticore run away immensely scared, as if it had seen its worst nightmare. Then Pandora's face was again the one of a lovely filly again and she said, referring to the manticore:

"That's what I thought."

Applejack, Melody and Purple Smoke ran as quickly as they could through the Everfree Forest. The two Generals had just told the story of Pandora to Applejack.

"You mean that Pandora is using my sister and her friends to get a box?" Applejack asked.

"It's not any box" Melody said. "It contains a part of the darkness with what the Lord of Chaos tried to infect this world."

"If he can put his hands on box and its content, he will increase his power" Purple Smoke continued.

"And why use fillies for this?" Applejack asked.

"The box is protected from evil beings" Melody explained. "Only good things can come closer to the box. Pandora is using them due to their ingenuity. Once they take the box, the defenses around will disappear and your sister and the others will be in great danger."

"So we have to get there as soon as possible" Applejack said.

And the three rushed up.

The little fillies continued the way, looking nervous for the trees that were surrounding them. Then they arrived to a sort of clearing with a square shape. In the center was a plate with engravings.

"Look, gals" Apple Bloom said, pointing to the plate. "It must be that."

"Finally!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "I cannot stand these trees. I mean, is not that I am afraid, but..."

“Let’s get the treasure" Sweetie Belle said.

The fillies went there and found the plate that should be hiding something. Driven by their curiosity now, they put their front hooves on the plate edge and used all their strength to push. They began to move it and, after doing so, a beautiful golden and shiny box rose in the air, and a light pulse was released.

"Okay, that was weird..." Scootaloo said.

"Look at this box" Sweetie Belle said. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Yes, it’s strange" Apple Bloom said, lifting a hoov and starting to bring it closer to the box.

"It's not just strange" a voice said. "It's powerful."

They turned and saw Pandora.

"Pandora, we’re glad you came" Scootaloo said. "We were getting worried."

But Pandora didn’t answer. She merely took the hoof into the saddlebag and take out a golden key. She raised it in the air, pointing to the box, and then it headed to the key, inserting it in its lock and then rotating, opening. The box then pulled away and opened, making darkness start getting out slowly from there.

"Okay ... that was weird" Scootaloo said.

"Pandora, what's going on?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Thank you, girls" Pandora said, with its eyes beginning to glow. "If were not from you, I would never find my box."

"Pandora... what is happening... with you?" Sweetie Belle asked, as she and her friends began to retreat nervously.

"What is happening is that I can finally drop this innocent air that gives me nausea" Pandora said.

Then she revealed her terrifying look that made the little fillies give frightened screams.

"Finally, the box was opened and all the Lord of Chaos’ imprisoned power can finally flow in this world" Pandora said.

"Wait, Lord of Chaos?" Apple Bloom asked. "This means that you..."

"Yes, I am one of his servants" Pandora said. "In fact, one of his most loyal servants who will return to him the power that once was his."

"Oh no, what have we done?!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"You helped me to make this world better" Pandora said, making the box come to her and grabbing it. "With the contents of this box, the power of the Lord of Chaos will not be beat!"

And she gave an evil laugh.

"Although your help was essential, you no longer have anything to offer me" Pandora said to the fillies. "It's time for you to be the first casualties in this new era governed by the master of all evil."

And she began to charge her horn with magic to get rid of the fillies, but that was when somepony said:

"Only over us, Pandora."

She turned and saw Purple Smoke and Melody along with Applejack.

"Big sis!" Apple Bloom called.

"Hold on, Apple Bloom" Applejack said. "Ah'm comin’."

"Well, well, well, if not the two Generals who put me in a filthy cell in Tartarus" Pandora said.

"It’s also a pleasure to see you, Pandora" Purple Smoke said. "I mean, at least you could... not show your face."

"We are here to stop you, Pandora" Melody said. "And this time you will go to a much more confined place."

"Do you think that you can win me now that I have in my possession the box of all evil?" Pandora asked, showing them the gold box.

"This is something we will have to see, isn’t it?" Purple Smoke answered.

And, without warning, he and Melody cast magic beams from their horns against Pandora that retaliated with one of her own to fight against the two Generals. Taking advantage of that, Applejack came to her sister and friends.

"Applejack!" Apple Bloom exclaimed as she hugged her sister. "Ah'm so glad tah see ya."

"Me too, sis" Applejack said. "But now we have tah get out of here. Melody and Purple Smoke can fight with Pandora. "

Applejack began to try to drive the little fillies out of that place when they saw that Pandora was winning the fight with the two Generals of Order. The evil villain laughed when she saw that she was close to victory.

"Applejack, they need help" Apple Bloom said.

"Ya're right, sis" Applejack said. "And that is exactly what they will have."

And then, waiting for the best moment, Applejack gave haul and then jumped as high as she could in Pandora’s direction and hit her, causing her to stop her attack on Purple Smoke and Melody. When recovering from the onslaught, Applejack saw Pandora facing her and with an air not very cheerful. The box was lying nearby.

"How dare you, your filthy pony?" Pandora said, starting to charge her horn. "You will regret this bitterly."

But before she could attack, Pandora was surrounded by purple smoke.

"What..." she began.

Pandora then saw that smoke was coming from Purple Smoke’s horn. It was his toxic gas. She then felt her forces to diminish and Pandora bowed, starting to cough terribly.

"Applejack, the key and the box!" Melody said.

Realizing what she meant, Applejack take the golden key from Pandora that couldn’t do nothing but cough and then threw it to Melody who caught it with magic. Then she kicked the box that flew to the General of Music that caught it with her hooves.

"No..." Pandora said between coughs.

"Your search for power ends here, Pandora" Melody said. "The darkness that your master gave to you will come back to the box."

Melody inserted the key into the lock and ran it. The box opened and began to suck darkness that came from Pandora that coughed and screamed in agony. After all the darkness entered in the box, it closed and was locked.

"No!" Pandora exclaimed.

Purple Smoke then invoked the cell blaster with a life cell and told Pandora:

"As in the good old days."

And he carried the cell blaster with his magic and he casted a purplish light that hit Pandora and she began to be sucked into the cell life. She tried to resist, but she could not. So she was completely sucked and her image appeared on the cell life. Purple Smoke invoked then the prison-book and put the life cell inside, saying:

"A villain booked. Or should I say boxed".

Purple Smoke opened the book on the page that showed where Pandora was. She told him:

"You will be sorry. You will see, my revenge will be terrible!"

"Yeah, well, it's better you keep your breath" Purple Smoke replied. "You'll be there for a long time."

And he closed the book, making it disappear then.

"I must admit we did a good job" Melody said, approaching, holding the box with her magic.

"Yes, we did" Purple Smoke agreed.

"Well, but who would say" Applejack said, approaching with Apple Bloom and the others. "Ya two are agreeing and even praising each other’s work."

"That's why we did a good job" Purple Smoke replied.

"And partly thanks to you, Applejack" Melody said. "Thank you."

"It was nothing" Applejack said. "It was a pleasure."

'We didn’t do nothing" Apple Bloom said, sadly. "All we did was make Pandora put her hooves on what she wanted."

"Yes, we almost ruined everything" Scootaloo said.

"You have no fault" Melody said. "You didn’t know who Pandora was."

"Yes, to all eyes, she was an innocent filly" Applejack said. "She even fooled me."

"Yes, but she used our eagerness to receive our Cutie Marks" Sweetie Belle said. "We were really naive."

"There is no harm in wanting to find out in what we are good" Purple Smoke said. "But you should note that nopony discovers his talent this way. You just have to be patient and you'll see that you’ll find out in what you are good."

"Can ya tell us, mister General of Talent?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yes, we promise you will not tell to anypony that you helped us" Scootaloo said.

"I'm sorry, girls" Purple Smoke said. "But the rules prevent me to tell you. Furthermore it would not be fair."

"Well, at least we tried" Sweetie Belle said.

And everypony started laughing.

In the Lord of Chaos’ room, he was about to explode with rage and Fire Punch hastened to leave the room before his master could do anything to him.

After handing the box to the Lord of the Order and return to the Light Kingdom, Purple Smoke and Melody told Twilight everything that had happened. Heartbeat was beside her.

"I’m glad you were able to arrest another villain" Twilight said. "And I'm even more pleased to see that you are starting to get along."

"Yes, I think we are learning to respect each other more" Melody said.

"I agree" Purple Smoke said. "And for that reason, Melody, you can keep the room for you."

"Oh, thank you, Purple Smoke, but I can find another room to practice" Melody said. "You can stay with your room."

"No, I insist. You can have it."

"No, it’s yours."

"Melody, I told you. You can have it.

"And I told you, Purple Smoke. My turn can wait."

And when they find themselves, Melody and Purple Smoke were arguing again.

"I can not believe that after everything that happened, they started arguing again" Twilight said to Heartbeat.

"What can we do?" Heartbeat asked, shrugging. "Those two almost never are in accordance.”

The two sighed and started to see Purple Smoke and Melody arguing.

Author's Note

Hi, guys. As you can see, to do this chapter, I inspired in the episode with the same name of Matt Hatter Chronicles. This time I will not add an image of Pandora, because I decided to do it in the profiles I'm doing to DevianArt. I hope you had enjoyed the chapter. I will start to do the next. See ya!

Entering in Heartbeat's Dreams

A great day was approaching. It would make a year since the Light Kingdom was awakened thanks to Twilight and her friends and there would be a great celebration. In addition, it would happen on the same day that the star seeds from the light plants collected would be delivered to the sky. After that, the two great towers would play the first song they played, the same that spread light for the kingdom and revived it. It could see the joy and enthusiasm flowing throughout the kingdom. But of course there was a person who was to hate the day it was coming.

The Lord of Chaos watched the peaceful kingdom, while its inhabitants enjoyed a beautiful soothing sleep under the watchful care of the moon and stars. The sight of that bright kingdom raised his anger immensely.

"Look to them" he said to Fire Punch. "All the light ponies, sleeping quietly... with a smile and having sweet dreams, eagerly waiting the Light Kingdom Recovery Day. It give me nauseous just thinking about that!"

There was a pause of a few seconds, while the Lord of Chaos tried to control the anger that was coming to a head, and then he said:

"It will make a year since that filthy ponies humiliated me and they are thinking in celebrating that day. It’s unacceptable!"

Fire Punch was startled when his master shouted the last words. Giving two deep breaths, the Lord of Chaos said:

"I have to find a way to spoil the day. If I do it, not only will ruin their special day, but also I will be able to prevent them from making the offering to the sky, which will make the kingdom soil sterile. But what can I do to make it happen?"

"I'm sure you'll find an amazing plan, my lord" Fire Punch said.

But the Lord of Chaos gave him a look that made Fire Punch look down and said:

"I will shut up."

The Light Kingdom was immensely peaceful, until, suddenly, an earthquake began to shake the kingdom and all that was around it. Twilight and Blue Sword were asleep in their bed when they were awakened by the same earthquake.

"But what is this?!" Twilight asked, trying to hold to the bed.

"I don’t know" Blue Sword said. "It must be an earthquake."

"Star!" Twilight exclaimed. "We have to get our son, Blue!"

The two got up and left the room to get Star Knight. It was then that they found Golden Paladin who was patrolling the hallways.

"Golden Paladin, quick, we have to get our son" Blue said.

"Please tell us that he is safe" Twilight asked.

“Calm down, Your Highnesses" Golden Paladin said. "It's all right. Melody is with the little prince."

Both parents breathed relief, but then Twilight asked:

"But what about this earthquake? I didn’t know that happened in the Light Kingdom."

"And they don’t happen" the General of Peace replied. "At least when they are natural. But this is being caused by Heartbeat."

"What do you mean it's Heartbeat who is causing this?" Blue asked.

"She doesn’t do it intentionally" Golden Paladin said. "It turns out that my sister likes to sleep, although she didn’t need it."

"When she was with us in Ponyville, she didn’t sleep" Blue said. "We had to arrange things for her to do for entertainment."

"That's because she didn’t have her star seed" Golden Paladin explained. "But now that she has it, she can do it. And when she does, she dreams and her dreams, because of her empathetic power, have effects on the environment that surrounds her. Good dreams can convey the same tranquility and happiness through the world of dreams, which allows people close to her also have good dreams. But the bad dreams... These emit an intense energy that is able to shake the world, literally."

"So this is all because Heartbeat is having a bad dream?" Twilight asked.

Golden Paladin nodded and then said:

"But as I said, you don’t have to worry about. As you know, the Diamond Heart keeps our kingdom above the ground. It can absorb the resulting energy of Heartbeat’s nightmares and thereby stabilize the kingdom. This has happened several times. In fact, the light ponies have come to expect. This should not take long to stop."

And indeed the earthquake stopped the same way as it began. After that happening, Twilight asked Golden Paladin:

"So the Diamond Heart can absorb all the energy of Heartbeat’s nightmares?"

"Up to a certain degree, yes" he replied. "But if the energy is greater than what the Diamond Heart can handle, it would break and our kingdom would eventually collapse on its foundations."

Twilight was horrified at the thought of such a thing. Seeing her like that, Golden Paladin said:

"But you don’t have to worry about, princess. For this to happen, Heartbeat would have to have a really bad nightmare and have it for a long time, something that it’s almost impossible. And even if that happens, we will be prepared."

The Chaos Lord heard that. He meditated and then he had a great idea.

"Don’t care about offerings" he said. "I can end the whole kingdom at once."

"What do you mean, sir?" Fire Punch asked.

"The General of Affection is the key" the Lord of Chaos said. "I can use her nightmares."

He then made the Diamond Heart appear in his mirror and then said:

"The Diamond Heart. Its size is proportional to its power, because it is what make the Light Kingdom being on surface. However, if something happens to it, all the kingdom falls."

He gave an evil laugh and continued:

"Why didn’t I thing ever in this. It’s as simple as effective."

"But how will you do this, master?" Fire Punch asked. "I am sure using Heartbeat’s nightmares will not be an easy task."

"You're right" the Lord of Chaos agreed. "Therefore, I will use a professional. And I know the perfect villain to help me."

The next day, the day so expected by the light ponies had come: The Light Kingdom Recovery Day. The streets were all decorated and even brighter than usual. Ponies from everywhere came to celebrate with the light ponies that special day and to see their traditions. There was a place where light ponies responsible for gathering the star seeds were putting the baskets with them, preparing them for the time they would ascend to the sky.

Twilight and Blue, which have Star with them, walked through the kingdom to make sure everything was in order, accompanied by Spike who was taking notes. The ponies, when they saw them, greeted those who had saved their kingdom, always with a cheerful smile.

"Just look at them" Blue said, after receiving greetings from more ponies. "Even after what happened last night, they remain cheerful."

"Well, Golden Paladin said they were already accustomed" Twilight said.

"What are you talking about?" Spike asked. "What happened last night?"

"Spike, yesterday there was an earthquake caused by Heartbeat’s bad dreams" Twilight replied. "Did not you notice it?"

"No, I was sleeping" he said. "Did that really happen?"

Twilight sighed. She was already expecting something lije that. Spike was so fast asleep that he didn’t felt the earthquake. It was typical of him.

Golden Paladin was walking through the the streets, trying to find Hearbeat, because since he had seen her to go to bed the night before, he didn’t see her again. He saw Melody and Purple Smoke playing games with the last winning each one.

"And one more!" Purple Smoke exclaimed happily after winning another game. "I'm now unstoppable."

"You just won the games because you can imitate any talent" Melody said.

"No, little sis, I don’t imitate. I do. I have no guilt of having so many talents."

"Yeah, right."

Golden Paladin reached them and asked:

"Have any of you seen Heartbeat?"

"No, why?" Melody asked.

"I have not seen her since she went to bed" Golden Paladin said.

"Perhaps she is sleeping" Purple Smoke opined. "With the nightmare she had last night, I wouldn’t blame her."

"Maybe, but normally, with or without nightmare, she is always here running and jumping immediately after the sunrise" said Golden Paladin. "Well, I'll keep looking for her. Alert me to come."

And then he walked away.

Twilight’s friends came to the Light Kingdom and became amazed with what they found.

"This is... awesome!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Ya bet, partner" Applejack. "Ah never thought light ponies were such good hosts."

"Wow, I never saw anything so bright and luminous in my entire life" Pinkie Pie said. "And look that I remember of all the bright and luminous things I've seen, you can believe. I’m glad I brought my sunglasses."

And having said that, she got some sunglasses from nowhere and put them.

"Don’t you think this is wonderful, Rarity?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes, amazing" she said, but without the enthusiastic tone that she does when she sees something as fabulous as the light ponies’ celebration.

Her friends were saddened by her. Rarity had been more or less sad after Shadow Claw have been captured and imprisoned in the prison-book. This had affected her deeply.

They walked the streets until they found Twilight and the others.

"Twilight!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed who catch up with her friend quickly and gave her a big hug.

"Hello to you too, Pinkie" Twilight said, trying to keep Pinkie away from her before she strangled her. "You can drop me."

"Oops, sorry" she replied, finishing the hug, while the others approached. "So did you receive my letters?"

"Of course I received" Twilight replied. "I liked to know what you were doing each hour, Pinkie."

"Well, you know, at first I thought of writing in five minute intervals, but then I thought that maybe would not be able to find topics to talk about and write and send the letters, so I chose the option more practical" Pinkie Pie said.

"An’ look this guy" Applejack said, approaching Star. "He's huge. Of course not as huge as mah nephew Jona."

"Well, it’s in his genes" Blue said.

"And how he, Cherry and Big Mac are?" Twilight asked.

"Very well" Applejack said. "They sorry they cannot come, but somepony had tah stay on tha farm an’ tha hospital is full of work. It's that time of tha month when a certain pink pony makes her culinary creations."

"Applejack, if that’s an indirect for me, I just have to say that I don’t have the fault ponies aren’t able to appreciate the art of cooking of the great Pinkie Pie" Pinkie Pie said.

"Pinkie, the problem is not they don’t appreciate, the problem is really their stomachs" Rainbow Dash said.

That made Twilight laugh. That was her favorite part in the middle of all that celebration: being with the ponies she liked, in addition to her husband, her son and her number one assistant.

Spike approached Rarity and greeted her:

"Rarity, how are you? I see you are as beautiful as always."

"Oh, Spikey-Whikey, you're always so dear" Rarity said, as she scratched his chin Spike liked so much. "I'm also happy to see you."

Although Rarity pretended having a good humor, Twilight, like the others, noticed her sadness.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, it’s about to begin a jousting tournament" Blue said to Rainbow. "Maybe you want..."

But he didn’t finish the sentence because Rainbow Dash flew away quickly in the direction of the tournament.

"Apparently, you want."

Golden Paladin was still looking for his youngest sister, but without success. He was already getting worried. Or one of two things: either something happened to her or she was up to something. Either of the two hypothesis could not work good thing.

Rainbow Dash had registered herself in the jousting tournament and was about to enter in her first confrontation. She and her opponent were prepared and then started running toward each other. When they were about to strike, a tremendous earthquake began, starting to shake everything and everypony. Rainbow Dash was thrown back against the floor.

"What the hell..." she said.

The ponies were concerned about what was happening, many of them were scared. Even the light ponies were concerned because they never had an earthquake as intense as that.

"But what’s happenin’?" Applejack asked.

"I don’t know, but I like it" Pinkie Pie said, following the tremors.

"I didn’t know there were earthquakes here in the Light Kingdom, Twilight" Rarity said.

"And usually, there isn’t" she replied.

"So what the hell is happening?" Rainbow Dash asked, arriving.

Twilight and Blue mediated and then said, trying to calm Star that seemed frightened by the tremors:

"Twilight, don’t you think..."

"I just hope it's not that" she said.

"What are you talking about?" Spike asked.

But she and Blue didn’t respond and began to walk away. The others exchanged glances and followed them. The prince and the princess reached the edge of the castle where there was Golden Paladin. Twilight asked him:

"Golden Paladin, please tell me Heartbeat is here playing."

"I'm afraid not, princess" he replied. "I can’t find her anywhere."

"This is bad" Twilight said.

"But what is it, Twilight?" Applejack asked, as she and the others arrived.

"Hearbeat is who is causing this" she said. "More precisely her nightmares."

"Wait, so all this is happening because Heartbeat is having a bad dream?" Rainbow Dash asked, not very convinced.

"Well, don’t remember what happened in Ponyville when she started crying?" Fluttershy asked. "She caused a huge storm."

But then the villain activity alarm began to ring, something that still left the ponies even more frightened.

"Perfect" Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Just what we need. Another villain."

But Golden Paladin didn’t seemed convinced. He thought for a few seconds and then said:

"No, an earthquake of this magnitude caused by Heartbeat during day and villain activity at the same time is too much coincidence. There must be a link between the two."

"So you think a villain is causing all this?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, and he or she is making Heartbeat having nightmares" Golden Paladin answered.

"But isn’t the Light Kingdom protected from all evil?" Spike asked. "How can that be?"

"Our villain is not attacking the same plane as ours" a voice replied.

Mirror Coat appeared, doing some off guard ponies started.

"Man, do you really have to appear like this?" Rainbow asked. "I almost died of fright.

"What do you mean, Mirror Coat?" Twilight asked.

"What I mean is that the villain in question is using the dream world to get to Heartbeat" he explained. "It's a world that connects all dreams to each other as if they were grapes in the same bunch."

"You're right" Golden Paladin said. "And there is only one villain capable of doing this. Mirror Coat, can you go get Princess Luna?"

Mirror Coat nodded and then disappeared.

"Why did he go call Princess Luna?" Blue asked, who shared the same question as the others.

"You’ll know soon" Golden Paladin said.

Before long, Mirror Coat returned with Princess Luna.

"What's wrong?" she asked, when she arrived.

Then the earthquake began to increase in intensity, making some ponies momentarily lost their balance.

"This is what’s wrong" Golden Paladin answered. "Heartbeat is having a nightmare, a great one."

"And at the same time, we received a villain alert" Twilight said. "Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat say it’s the villain who is tormenting her dreams."

"Princess Luna..." Golden Paladin said. "It's him."

Luna was completely stunned. But then she recovered and said:

"It would be expected" she said. "After Shadow Claw..."

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We are dealing with a villain Princess Luna defeated long ago" Golden Paladin said.

"He’s an evil spirit who likes to cause nightmares to any creature" Luna said. "At first he worked as a counterbalance to my good dreams, but the Lord of Chaos made him get out of control and I had to stop him."

"Our villain is Oogie Boogie" Mirror Coat said.

On hearing the name, some began to laugh, especially Rainbow Dash and Spike.

"You're kidding, right?" Rainbow said. "Tell me you're joking."

"I never joke" Mirror Coat replied.

"But this..." began Spike. "But that's the name... more corny at all."

"The name may be funny, but believe that the nightmares he can create are not" Golden Paladin said. "He's a danger in the dream world."

"Oh, yeah" Purple Smoke said approaching along with Leaf Mane and Melody. "He is the reason why Mirror Coat don’t sleep anymore."

That made Mirror Coat make an intimidating look to Purple Smoke who hastened to say:

"I’ll shut up."

Then there was more intense shaking and then cracks began to appear on the ground, much to the fear of ponies.

"This is bad" Golden Paladin said. "If we cannot stop these earthquakes, the Diamond Heart will not take all the energy released."

"And what will happen?" Fluttershy asked.

It was Twilight who answered:

"So the Diamond Heart will break and the Light Kingdom will collapse on its own foundations."

"Is this mean that we are in a kingdom that can crumble in an instant?" Rainbow asked. "Perfect, just perfect."

"But that only happens if we leave these earthquakes continue" Applejack said.

"Applejack’s right" Rarity said. "We have to stop this."

"Why do you want to stop it?" Pinkie Pie asked, continuing to vibrate to the rhythm of the earthquake. "This is amazing!"

The ponies ignored her and then Luna said:

"I will enter in Heartbeat’s dreams and will stop Oogie."

"Yes, while we, the Generals of Order and Princess Twilight, will try to stabilize the Diamond Heart as much as we can" Golden Paladin said.

"Fine with me" Melody said. "I never miss a chance to go to the Diamond Domain."

"You’re aware that it is not a pleasure visit, aren’t you?" Leaf Mane asked to Melody.

"Of course I do" she said. "Who do you thing I am, Leaf Mane?"

"And what do we do?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"You have to help the Royal Guards to keep the calm between ponies and keep the star seeds for the offering to the sky" Golden Paladin said. "It’s imperative you do so."

"Well, I'll trust Star to one of our best guards and I help them keep order here" Blue said.

"Actually, Your Majesty, it’s better you go with Princess Luna" Golden Paladin said.

The others seemed somewhat surprised by that decision from the General Peace, especially Blue Sword.

"Me?" He asked, while a guard came to take the baby prince. "Why?"

"Princess Luna will be too busy trying to find a way to expel Oogie from Heartbeat’s dreams" Golden Paladin said. "We need somepony who has a close relationship with her to try and free her from the nightmares that torture her. I could go, but my power is required to maintain the Diamond Heart stable, just like the other Generals and Princess Twilight. Excepting for us, you are the pony who Heartbeat feel more comfortable with."

"He's right, Blue" Twilight said. "It has to be you."

Blue knew he had a close relationship with Heartbeat since the day he found her in the petrified Light Kingdom. After all, he was the first pony with whom she spoke in decades. However, the idea of entering in her dreams made him a little uncomfortable because he knew how unstable she could be. But it was his duty as a friend and a prince, so he nodded.

"All right, let’s go" Luna said to Blue. "We have no time to lose. I will teleport us to the dream world immediately. "

Luna acceded to her magic and then she disappeared with Blue.

Twilight, hoping her husband would be all right, turned to her friends and said:

"All right, girls, pay attention."

Pinkie Pie then appeared yet vibrating along the vibrations of the earthquake, only to be stopped by Applejack.

"Thanks, AJ" Pinkie Pie thanked. "I confess that my brain was about to become like a milkshake. Although, on second thought, this would be a really cool thing to see."

"Ahead" Twilight said. "You need to help the guards here and try to keep the calm between ponies and protect the star seeds."

"Ya can count on us, Twi" Applejack said.

"Yes, with our great help, we will certainly prevent the Light Kingdom become full of panicked ponies" Rainbow Dash said, turning then to the others. "Let’s move, girls."

And they just went to do their task, with some going to calm down the ponies, while others were going to the star seeds. Twilight then turned to her Generals and told them:

"Let’s go to the Diamond Domain."

And everypony followed Golden Paladin who went ahead to the entrance of the Diamond Domain.

When Blue found himself, he was in a long, dark hallway full of doors. Each door had a name on it.

"Be welcome to the dream world, Blue Sword" Luna told him. "It’s from here that anypony can access the dreams of all dreamers, including Heartbeat."

"Where is her door?" Blue asked.

"Well, personally, I try to avoid it" Luna said. "Heartbeat doesn’t like invaders in her dreams, for obvious reasons. But I know where the door may be. Follow me."

And Blue Sword did so.

Twilight and the remaining Generals of Order reached the Diamond Domain and were quick to get to the Diamond Heart. It didn’t stop kept pulsing with increasingly intense and rapid pulsations. Twilight could feel its energy vanishing as it tried to stabilize the kingdom.

"We have to hurry up" Twilight said. "The Diamond Heart is running out of energy."

"All right, prepare yourselves" Golden Paladin said, while everypony prepared their horns. "Aim. Fire!"

And six magic beams came out and reached the Diamond Heart that began to absorb the energy it was receiving.

After walking through the immense hallway, Blue and Luna finally reached their destination: the door to Heartbeat’s dreams. Blue had to confess that the door itself gave him chills. It was dark red and was the one that had a more gloomy air, as if no one used it. Before opening the door, Luna cautioned Blue:

"Be very careful. We don’t know the things that may be behind this door. Oogie may have prepared something big to prevent us from reaching Heartbeat."

"Whatever it is, I am ready" Blue said.

"Very well" Luna said.

Using her magic, she turned the knob and opened the door, entering with Blue. They were amazed by what they found. They were inside of a lot of crossroads leading more doors. The problem was that the paths mingled and forked in a way that made it very difficult to find the path to follow, and there were hundreds and hundreds of doors.

"Okay" Blue said. "I am seriously thinking in rephrase my last statement, Princess Luna. After all, I'm not ready."

It was then that they heard an evil laugh to give chills up the spine up and then heard the same voice that laughed saying:

"Welcome, Princess Luna and Prince Blue Sword. I hope you enjoyed what you found when you entered. When the Lord of Chaos told me that I will have visitors, I had no time to straighten everything to receive two royal guests."

And laughed.

"The game is over, Oogie Boogie" Luna said seriously. "It's time for you to release Heartbeat."

"Don’t worry" Oogie said. "I will free her. Once the Diamond Heart had been reduced to dust."

He cackled again.

Unable to hide his anger, Blue began to shout:

"It's good you release Heartbeat or..."

"Or what?" Oogie asked, mockingly. "You will give me a royal lesson? For that you'll have to catch me."

He gave a laugh that infuriated Blue, so he prepared to start opening all doors only to find him. Fortunately, Luna could stop him.

"Take it easy" she told him. "You cannot help Heartbeat and the Light Kingdom walking around and opening every door just like that."

"So what do we do?" Blue asked. "We have not much time."

"We have to be careful" Luna said. "What you are giving to Oogie is precisely what he wants. If you start searching door to door for Hartbeat, you will never find her and the Light Kingdom will fall."

Blue realized she was right. He had to stay calm. Therefore, he took two deep breaths and then said:

"Let’s go then."

Luna smiled and said:

"That's better. Come on, we have no time to lose."

In the Diamond Domain, Twilight and the five Generals tried at all costs to sustain the Diamond Heart, but the task was becoming increasingly grueling. That task was consuming too much energy and they didn’t know how much longer they would resist.

"Come on, guys!" Twilight exclaimed. "We have to... continue to keep the Diamond Heart... stable!"

"We are trying, princess!" Purple Smoke answered.

"This is... very difficult to maintain!" Melody said.

"We can’t give up!" Leaf Mane encouraged them. "If we do it, our kingdom will collapse."

"Leaf Mane is right" Golden Paladin said. "Continue!"

And they did so, although at cost.

In the dream world, Blue and Luna were still trying to find the door that would take them to the place on Heartbeat’s mind where she was having her nightmare, but the task seemed impossible, because there were a lot of doors and all looked the same. There was nothing that could differentiate them.

But then, passing through a particularly one, Blue felt a strange sensation. He could feel something different about it, as if somepony was there. It could only be the door they were looking for.

"Princess Luna, I think I found it!" He exclaimed.

Upon hearing that, Luna began to address him, but that was when there was a tremor and a hole appeared beneath Luna and she fell, and the hole closed quickly before she could fly up again.

"Princess Luna!" Blue called.

But then he was arrested by a rope that made him fall to the ground. He heard hoofsteps and then he saw what looked like a pony made of cloth like a giant puppet that had a smirk on his face. That should be Oogie Boogie.

"I see you're a bit entangled" he told Blue, giving a short laugh.

"And I see that your sense of humor is not very good" Blue commented. "I thought that a creature like you that cause of nightmares could have a better humor. Your time in Tartarus left you so decompensated, no?"

"No decompensated enough to cause a big nightmare to one of the Generals of Order" he said. "For all I know, it will not much later to the diamond be dust and the Light Kingdom to sink."

"That will never happen" a voice said.

There was a light and Luna appeared.

"Look who came out from the hole" Oogie said. "Did you like my surprise, dear Luna?"

"You should be more creative" she said. "The holes are so basic tricks."

"Do you mean like this?" Oogie asked, while blowing and creating a flame of fire that extended and formed a snake made of fire that began attacking Luna.

She turned away and tried to counteract the snake. Oogie jumped up to snake’s head, where he seemed to be immune to its fire, and began to order the snake successive attacks.

While he was entertained fighting with Luna, Blue began trying to free himself.

In the Light Kingdom, Twilight’s friend, as well as the guards, tried to stay the calm and order. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and Applejack tried to keep the collected star seeds safe.

In the Diamond Domain, Twilight and the Generals continued to maintain the Diamond Heart stable, but things became more difficult as Melody was so tired that eventually stop. She tried again, but she no longer had forces. The same happened with Purple Smoke.

While Luna and Oogie fought, Blue managed to break free and started heading to the door where Heartbeat should be. Oogie saw him and said:

"Don’t even think about it."

He created another head in his snake and sent it to attack Blue, but when it approached him, a barrier arose and prevented its advance. It was Luna who made it.

"Go, Blue Sword!" She said. "Release Heartbeat!"

Blue came to the door, opened it, and passed it. The door closed behind him. Blue looked around and saw that he was surrounded by darkness. There was nothing but darkness. It was a cold darkness that seemed to surround and bind.

He then saw her. Heartbeat was a little further ahead, completely shrunken and with her head down.

"Heartbeat" he called, starting to move towards her.

That got her attention that looked him with an empty and sad look.

"Blue?" She asked.

"Yes, it's me" he said, approaching.

But then he crashed into a force that threw him back against the floor and then shadows appeared and tied his four legs and trunk.

"No!" He exclaimed, trying to free himself.

"Yes" a familiar voice said.

Oogie appeared there in the air.

"You?" He asked. "But I thought you were fighting Luna."

"You're not very smart, are you?" Oogie asked. "Don’t you see that now you are in the dream world? Here, everything is possible, once you know how to control your surroundings. However, Heartbeat’s mind is so full of darkness that it was fairly easy involves her with it. So I’m the one with more power. Not even Luna can overcome me here."

Blue looked at him furiously.

"But of course our bright red friend facilitated me so much" Oogie said. "She hides herself in the middle of so much joy, but the truth is that she is hugely susceptible to sadness and loneliness. And that's what I'm forcing her to feel."

"Your monster!" Blue called.

"True" the villain said. "I'm a monster. A monster able to create the worst nightmares ever seen. You don’t know what I felt during the whole time I was in Tartarus. And how much I had to endure to not cause nightmares to not call the attention on me after the Master have me released. It was the worst! But now I can finally stretch me and cause the damage I want."

"Not this time, Oogie" a voice said.

And Luna appeared there.

"What?" Oogie asked, completely surprised. "How did you...?"

"You're not the only one who can manipulate dreams" Luna said. "You can have the advantage, but I have more practice."

"That's what we'll see" he said.

And the two began a new battle, but Luna broke Blue free and said to him:

"Try waking Heartbeat. If she does it, all this is over."

Blue nodded and began to go there. Oogie, seeing that, tried to stop him, but Luna was faster and kept him focused on the fight between the two. The prince came to the edge of the General of Affection, but he couldn’t approach. It looked like a force prevented him from that.

"Heartbeat, you have to listen to me" he said. "You have to wake up. Just wake up and all this is over. All this darkness disappear."

"Go away” she said, without looking at him. "I want to be alone. After all, it’s the best for everypony, right? Thus, they don’t need to be afraid that my fickle moods hurt them."

"What?" Blue asked. "Heartbeat, how can you say such a thing?"

"It's true" she said. "I see how everypony looks at me. I’m able to break this world in two. The best thing to do to prevent this from happening is to move me away as much as possible."

"No, Heartbeat" Blue said, realizing that make her awakening could be a very difficult task.

In the Diamond Domain, things were getting more and more complicated. Without the help of Melody and Purple Smoke, it didn’t take long until Leaf Mane also stop, completely exhausted.

"Princess, there are only the three of us remaining" Mirror Coat said to Twilight, referring to the two of them and Golden Paladin.

"We have to resist" Twilight said. "Resist as much as we can. At least until Blue and Luna release Heartbeat from her nightmare."

"The princess is right" Golden Paladin said. "Quitting is not an option."

Then a crack appeared in the Diamond Heart that released a pulse of energy that tried to shoot the three back. Fortunately they had managed to hold on, but it was not long until Mirror Coat begin to weaken.

"Mirror Coat!" Twilight called.

"I think... I can no longer" he said.

And he stopped.

Without Mirror Coat’s magic, more cracks began to appear. This meant that the Light Kingdom was becoming increasingly unstable. The earthquakes were more intense and already had homes beginning to sink. At that moment, it was almost impossible to control the panic that was there.

In Heartbeat’s dreams, Blue continued to tell Heartbeat:

"Heartbeat, stop it. Listen to me. You are not alone. You’ll never be alone. It’s true that if you are not careful with your powers you can cause damages, but you have us to prevent this from happening. You have me, Twilight, your brothers and sisters, little Star."

Heartbeat began to raise her head and Blue continued:

"You are one of the most amazing ponies I know. You carried on you everything that's wrong with the ponies, all their bad emotions, but you can always show your joy, you can make it shine above the rest and, therefore, you can infect the other ponies with the same joy. Don’t let your fears tell what you have to do. Be the pony you want to be. And above all, don’t let the darkness win."

Heartbeat looked at him for a few seconds and then a smile began to appear.

"That's right" Blue said. "That’s the smile I want to see."

Seeing what was happening, Oogie broke free from the fight against Luna and began to move to Blue and Heartbeat, but she let a bright red light get out from her and that illuminated everything.

In the Diamond Domain, Golden Paladin finally gave in to fatigue and also ceased his magic.

"Sorry, princess" he said panting. "I cannot do it anymore."

Twilight then used all of her strength, but the Diamond Heart had huge cracks and seemed to be about to break. The energy that was being released was growing and difficult to contain. Then to Twilight gave in to fatigue and also ceased hern magic.

"It’s over" she said. "Everything is lost."

It was then that the earthquakes stopped much to everypony’s surprise. The Diamond Heart began to shine and then they saw that the existing cracks began to be repaired, while the large diamond recovered its brightness of always. Twilight and the Generals couldn’t believe it. Blue and Luna had managed to do it.

On the kingdom, the panic subsided slowly, as all the ponies saw the houses that had begun to sink to back up.

"They made it!" Applejack exclaimed.

"Hurray!" everypony shouted.

Blue came to himself and then noticed where he was. He was in a magnificent bedroom. It seemed to be a child's bedroom. The walls were bright red and the room was full of toys and sweets were floating around the ceiling. One of the side walls was covered by a huge tapestry with golden ornaments and in the bottom was a large four-poster bed. That should be Heartbeat’s bedroom.

He looked and saw Luna at his side.

"We did it" he said.

"Yes" she replied.

It was then that the two were pushed by a force, but they have managed to stay standing. They looked and saw that Oogie Boogie was also there.

"You will pay for what you did!" He exclaimed. "You blew the Lord of Chaos’ great plan!"

"Well, that's kind of what we do" Blue answered.

"You dare to mock him?" Oogie asked. "You'll pay for your insolence."

"If I were you, I would put me miles from here quickly" Blue advised.

"Why?" Oogie asked cynically. "You're going to attack me?"

"No, but I will" a voice behind him said.

Oogie frozed when he heard that voice. Slowly, he turned and saw Heartbeat, fully awake. When he saw her, he shuddered full of fear.

"Please, we can talk, can’t we?" He asked, starting to retreat, with Heartbeat following him. "Come on, after all, I was just following orders."

Heartbeat’s horn shone and then Oogie was strongly thrown against a wall.

"You caused me nightmares" she told him. "I hate nightmares! Because of that, you'll pay."

And so, she invoked the cell blaster with a life cell and she carried the cell blaster with her magic and she casted a reddish light that hit Oogie and he began to be sucked into the cell life. When he was completely sucked and his image appeared on the cell life, Heartbeat invoked the prison-book and put the life cell inside. After that, Heartbeat made the book disappear.

Blue went to Heartbeat and said:

"Wow, but what a good job. You really gave him a great lesson."

Heartbeat turned to him with her jovial smile and said:

"And all thanks to you. Thank you, Blue."

And she hugged Blue.

"You're welcome, kid."

After the hug, Heartbeat said:

"Well, now you two leave my bedroom."

That made Luna and Blue give a slight laugh.

"No, I'm serious" the filly said. "Get out."

Blue, Luna and Heartbeat went to the outside of the castle, where they were greeted by a standing ovation. All ponies were there to receive those who prevented the Light Kingdom from collapsing. Twilight and the other Generals of Order came and she went hug Blue, saying:

"You got it."

"Well, I had a great help from Princess Luna" Blue said. "It was her who fought against Oogie, while I tried to free Heartbeat."

"And where is he?" Golden Paladin asked.

"I booked him" Heartbeat said. "Finally I had the opportunity to book a villain."

"Good" Purple Smoke said. "It would be bad enough if we were to take our kingdom under the ground."

Twilight turned to her friends and told them:

"I also have to thank you. You have made a great effort to maintain order here besides that you also protected the star seeds."

"Ya don’t have tah thank, sugarcube" Applejack said. "We jest did our duty."

"Yes, you can always count on our help" Rainbow Dash said.

"Although I liked to have the ground trembling under my hooves, I'm happy to have helped" Pinkie Pie said.

"I say the same" Rarity said. "Except the trembling ground part."

"Despite all my fears, Twilight, I will always help you" Fluttershy said.

Then Heartbeat appeared before Fluttershy suddenly, looking at her with great attention, something that put her a little nervous.

"It’s something wrong?" she asked to the General of Affection.

"You look different" she said. "There's something about you that... I cannot explain. It‘s... Wait, I know! You have the same light that Princess Twilight had when she was pregnant with Star."

That made everypony look at Fluttershy, something that put her even more nervous.

"Fluttershy..." Twilight began. "You are..."

Seeing that her secret had been exposed, Fluttershy said:

"Well, the truth is... I'm... pregnant."

"WHAT?!" everypony asked, completely amazed.

"I knew it" Heartbeat said. "I always guess these things."

"Why didn’t you tell us anything, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We are your friends, by pony sake."

"I just discovered it recently" she said. "Thundy and I wanted to wait for the indicated time to tell."

"By tha way, there is anythin’ else ya wanna tell us?" Applejack asked.

"Well, by chance..." Fluttershy said. "Thundy and I... We are... engaged."

That new caused even more surprise.

"AMAZING!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, full of joy. "I love getting two great and happy news!"

"Yes, congratulations, my dear" Rarity said.

"Ya deserve" Applejack said.

"You bet" Rainbow Dash added.

"I am very happy for you, Fluttershy" Twilight said. "If you want, I will be happy to offer my castle to host your wedding."

"Thanks, Twilight" Fluttershy thanked. "But I think Thundy and I prefer something more... simple."

"Well, if you change your mind, just say" Twilight said.

"Your Highness" Golden Paladin said, approaching Twilight. "It's not that I want to spoil this wonderful moment, but we have to continue with the celebration."

"You're right" Twilight agreed. "Well, that the Light Kingdom Recovery Day continues!"

And so it continued. The ponies returned to their laughter and fun until night fell and the time has come that everypony waited. Everypony gathered the baskets full of star seeds that were placed in rows and then the luminous seeds ascended to the sky, as thousands of fireflies flying, and settled in the sky, decorating it with even more light and shine.

After that, Twilight and Blue went both to the chamber were the music machine of the two large towers were and activated it, doing the Jewel of Life play its music that enabled the special structure of the castle, creating the light wings that spread all light through the kingdom. It could hear a lot amazed sounds from the ponies that were not in the Light Kingdom when it awaked and so was the first time they saw something like that.

The Lord of Chaos was watching everything with a great fury. Another of his plans had failed. Fire Punch had retreated to a safe distance, fearing his master’s anger.

"That’s right, celebrate everything you can, because your happiness will not last much longer" he said. "I still have more villains to use and more opportunities to create chaos. One day, I will delete the damn light of your kingdom and your precious original star seed."

Author's Note

I'm sorry for the delay, but I have school things to do:facehoof:. Also, when I saw that we were in march, I make me a promise that I would post this chapter in march 10th, because it's my anniversary. That's right. Today, I'm officially twenty years old:pinkiehappy:. I hope you had enjoyed this chapter, that had a few surprises.

The Gorgon Gaze

The Lord of Chaos was thinking about a new attack against the ponies. However, it was being complicated, because he could not think of a villain who could serve.

"I cannot believe it" he said. "I can’t thing in nothing useful to use. Why is it so hard to be an evil genius?"

He gestured to his mirror that showed him the failures that it had done so far.

"Krylock, Shadow Claw, Pandora and Oogie" the Lord of Chaos said. "They all failed. There must be a way to get to counterattack in force. "

Then the door opened and Fire Punch emerged. He said, in a way somewhat hasty:

"I'm so sorry, my master. I know I'm late, but I had some problems and..."

"Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos called.

Hearing his master calling him in that way made the pony jump up. Normally, when the Lord of Chaos turned to him like that, it came along some kind of sermon and punishment.

"Yes, master?" he asked nervously.

"Come closer" the Lord of Chaos asked.

Fire Punch did so and then said:

"Sir, whatever I've done, it wasn’t intentional. I..."

"That's not it, your idiot. I just want your opinion."

"Yes?"

"What kind of villain you think I should use?" the Lord of Chaos asked.

Fire Punch was surprised by the question and then said:

"Are you asking me to choose a villain?"

"No, stupid" the Lord of Chaos replied. "You don’t decide anything. I’m the one who decides that. What I want to know is your opinion about the profile of a villain I should use. Tell me, what failures my previous villains had?”

"Personally, my master, there wasn’t wrong anything wrong with them" Fire Punch said, in his usual fawning tone. "But the part of using only a villain may be the only factor in your defeats. After all, there are six Generals of Order, four alicorn princesses and lots of other ponies. I mean, of course Shadow Claw created a large army of pony-wolves, but in the end, it was just him."

"I see" the Lord of Chaos said. "Use more than one villain. I must say that the idea doesn’t displease me. Usually, I wouldn’t take such a risk, but it seems that it’s the only way to finally get what I want."

He thought for a few seconds and then said:

"That's it. I got it. I will use one of the most terrifying teams of villains. Fire Punch, if plan works, I may consider giving you a small reward. Maybe a pair of wings... or a new horn."

"That would be glorious, master" the servant answered, bowing.

"All right, let's go talk to the first member of my team" he said with a laugh.

In a public toilet in Manehattan, a mare was in front of the mirror of the toilets, but the point was that she was no ordinary mare. She had a green coat, that seemed to be scaled in some áreas, with two tangled yellow snakes as a Cutie Mark and her blue eyes had narrow pupils as reptiles’, but the stranger was her mane that was made of living dark green snakes that she was trying to hide in a pink hat.

“Mommy knows, my sweeties” she said in a loving way. “I also didn’t want to hide you, but we have to go undercover.”

She just hided the snakes and then looked at her own reflection in the mirror and then said with a smile.

“Wow, I’m hot.”

“Indeed” a voice answered.

The mare recognized that voice and said in a gasped tone:

"Master."

And then the image of the Lord of Chaos appeared in the mirror in which the mare was admiring her reflection. She hastened to make a bow, as she said:

"It’s an honor."

"I know it is" the Lord of Chaos replied, while the mare stood. "And how has my beautiful Gorgon been? I hope you haven’t been calling attention, Fury."

"Don’t worry" she said. "I have done everything you asked me. After all, I have to. If not for the fact that I can be caught and you are my master, it would be because you freed me from my stone prison."

"Yes, I know" the Lord of Chaos said. "Mirror Coat was very cruel when he used mirrors to make your power and your sisters’ to turn you three into stone. But this is something that will be easily remedied. I have a mission for you."

"Whatever you want" she said cordially bowing her head.

"Find and release your sisters and then I want you to create a giant version of the petrified Light Kingdom" the Lord of Chaos said.

But seeing that Fury was confused by the last part, he sighed and explained:

"I want you to turn ponies in stone."

"Oh, I got it" Fury said. "Don’t worry, sir. Your desire it’s my command."

"I hope so" the Lord of Chaos said. "Don’t fail me, Fury."

And then the Lord Chaos’ image disappeared.

It was then that the bathroom door opened and three teen cheerleaders fillies entered. The leader was saying to her friends:

“Don’t care about that tomboy. She’s…”

But then she saw Fury, almost bumping at her.

“My bad, I didn’t see you” she said. “I must have a blind side for horrid hats.”

It was then that Fury turned to the filly with a not very happy air and asked her:

“Are you talking to me?”

“Yeah” the teen answered in an arrogant way. “We don’t like freaks with a tacky style.”

That made the other two laugh. When she saw them mocking her, Fury became angry and said:

“Insolent mortal ponies! You dare mock Fury? Don’t you know who I am?!

And then her eyes turned completely red and bright, something that left the three teenagers tremendously frightened.

In the throne room of the Light Kingdom, Purple Smoke and Melody were playing magic chess, while Leaf Mane was taking care of some of their plants.

"Unicorn to E5" Purple Smoke ordered.

Purple Smoke’s red unicorn moved forward and took one of Melody’s white pegasus.

"This is a check, dear sister" he said. "It looks like the end of the game is approaching."

"You wish" she replied. "Queen to E5."

And the white queen stepped forward and took the red unicorn.

"Checkmate" Melody said.

And the red king fell after Melody’s move.

"No!" Purple Smoke exclaimed, frustrated.

Melody laughed and said:

"It looks like there is something that the General of Talent doesn’t have much expertise."

"That's what we'll see" Purple Smoke said. "New game."

"As you wish" Melody accepted as she and her brother began to repair the taken pieces and order them and the other in their respective places on the board.

Then the villain alarm started playing.

"Really?" Purple Smoke asked. "It just has to be on the day that we have the castle to ourselves?"

"I think it’s best we inform the princess as soon as possible" Leaf Mane said, landing her watering can. "She must return from the Crystal Empire."

"I don’t think it's a good idea" a voice said.

And Mirror Coat appeared.

"Why not?" Leaf Mane asked.

"Princess Twilight is safe in Crystal Empire, which is protected from evil almost as effective as the Kingdom of Light" Mirror Coat replied. "In addition, the enemy of today isn’t yet dangerous."

"Will you continue with the riddles?" Melody asked.

"I was organizing some books near the our enemy records section and I noticed activity on Fury’s part" he said.

"Wait, the Gorgon?" Purple Smoke asked. "The one you turned into a statue along with her sisters?"

"Yes, the three Gorgons: Fury, Euryale and Medusa" Mirror Coat confirmed. "Although Medusa is the more famous Gorgon in the pony mythology, the other two are also evil. They were three of the Lord of Chaos’ most powerfull servants, because together have the power to imprison in stone anyone who looks at them. But I could use my mirrors to use their own power against them. Golden Paladin then tried to separate them and put them in separate places, and Fury went in Tartarus. The Lord of Chaos should have released her from the prison when he took Tartarus and freed the other villains.

"Well, since I already slept for a thousand of years turned to stone, I’m not in the mood to be turned again" Purple Smoke said.

"You won’t have to worry for now" Mirror Coat said. "Alone, Fury’s gaze will only hypnotize the victims. To restore her full power, she must first find and free her two sisters. It must have been why she showed activity. This must be the Lord of Chaos’ plan."

"A plan that will fail" Melody said. "We will find them first."

"Actually, I had the initiative to seek and discover where Euryale are" Mirror Coat replied. "Some archaeologists found her statue and now she is exposed in a business company in Filly Delphia. Melody and Purple Smoke, go there to retrieve it, while I try to find Medusa. Leaf Mane, I need you to stay here to take care of the kingdom. "

And they were all waved and went deal their respective missions. Melody and Purple Smoke reached the company when it was night and it was already closed. They found Euryale, yet transformed into statue and positioned as a principal ornament of the source of the great hall, right on top of a pillar. The two used magic to levitate up to the level of Euryale and Melody said:

“Let’s hurry. If Fury looks anything like her sister, I think I get why she is so mad.”

“Actually, mommy always said I was the cute one”

They turned and saw Fury down there with their snakes revealed. She launched an energy beam of one of her hooves against Purple Smoke, but he could deflect, although he was forced to land. She released another beam against Melody, but he just grazed by her mane, ruining her manestyle.

"Hey, do you know what it costs me to keep the mane like that?" Melody asked, landing next to her brother. "I bet your mother forgot to tell you to not touch the mane of a General of Order."

She and Purple Smoke advanced to Fury that continued to release energy beams against them, but the two Generals could defect. It was then that Melody saw Fury stretching her snakes and preparing to use them in Purple Smoke and her.

"Purple, behind you" she warned.

He looked and defected in time. The two defected from the snakes, but it was quite difficult, given that they were many.

“Why had it to be snakes?”

It was then that the snakes were able to corral Purple Smoke and Melody Fury on the ground and Medusa raised a whip snake that launched against them. But they released beams from their horn, right on the head of the snake, something that displeased Fury immensely.

“My baby!” she exclaimed, picking up the whip and petting its head. “Oh, sweetheart, are you okay?”

“So, Fury, that’s all you got?” Purple Smoke asked.

“Not even close” she answered. “Minions, attack!”

Then as Purple Smoke as Melody began to be attacked with kicks. When they stopped, they saw who were their attackers.

"Teenage fillies?!"

It was true. It was the leader of the cheerleaders and her friends who had mocked Fury and now were in the pyramid position with their red eyes due to the Gorgon’s hypnosis.

"That's right, Generals" Fury said, suspended in the air thanks to her snakes. "With these girls, you don’t touch me."

She was right. They couldn’t hurt that fillies because they were innocent. They then continued to attack Mirror Coat and Melody. She, who was a mare and knew how cheerleaders thought, knew how to dodge, but Purple Smoke wasn’t having the same lucky. While her slaves dealt with the two Generals, Fury grabbed her petrified sister with her snakes and went away, followed by the fillies.

When Melody and Purple Smoke returned to the Light Kingdom and told what had happened to Mirror Coat and Leaf Mane the next morning, they were not very happy.

"This is bad" Leaf Mane said. "Fury must have those fillies under her spell."

"Yes, but I think Fury is not stupid" Mirror Coat said. "Her spell must have an on/off switch. Probably those fillies are living their normal lives without knowing that they are slaves to one of the Gorgons. Fury has an inborn ability to sense the location of her sisters. Surely she will use the cheerleaders again to help retrieve her only other sister, Medusa. But she won’t take her chance at day-light”

"Did you managed to locate her?" Melody asked.

"Unfortunately no" he said. "It appears that Golden Paladin launched Medusa in the ocean so that no one could find her, so she can be anywhere."

"I had an idea" Leaf Mane said. "If Fury can find Medusa, we just have to infiltrate and for this we will have to get close with the cheerleaders. If Fury calls them, they can lead us to the statue. "

"It's an idea, but for that we need a filly that they do not recognize and I think my illusions will not serve anything" Mirror Coat said.

"But where we will arrange a filly that we can use for the infiltrating?" Melody asked.

Then something caught their attention. They looked and saw Purple Smoke seeing his reflection, while taking the form of many different stallions, as he said to himself:

"What will I use in my next time in Las Pegasus?"

It was then that he noticed the others looking at him.

"What?" Purple Smoke asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

Mirror Coat, Leaf Mane and Melody looked at each other and the first asked:

"Are you thinking at the same as me?"

They nodded with a smile.

"What?" Purple Smoke asked, who was not understanding.

"Purple" Melody said, approaching him. "My dear brother, ever have you transformed into a teenage filly?"

"No, why are you asking..." he began to ask, soon realizing what was their idea. "Wait, no way! No, no! I will not do that!"

Later, in the high school where the cheerleaders were studying, they were in the gym. Then the doors opened and they saw an earth filly at the same age as them entering. She had a silky sky-blue coat and a beautiful mane with beautiful shades of purple. She wore the school cheerleader uniform. The truth is that was Purple Smoke in disguise, and he had had no choice but to take that ridiculous form.

In the Light Kingdom, Mirror Coat, Leaf Mane and Melody watched that in one of Mirror Coat’s mirrors. Melody was one that finds it very funny.

"I think I'll every day to the Mirrored Library only to remember this moment" she said.

"Shh" Mirror Coat said. "Remember that we are working."

When Purple Smoke reached the edge of them, he said:

“Hi, girls, I’m here to join your cheer squad.”

“Who are you?” the leader asked. “I think I never saw you around here.”

“My name is Purple…” Purple Smoke started, trying to invent a name for himself. “Shine… yes. Purple Shine. I’m new. I was transferred few days ago and I thought that, how I was a cheerleader in my former school, I could join in this squad.”

That made the three cheerleaders watch to each other.

In Fury’s hideout, she was ready to release Euryale.

“Euryale, my sister!” she exclaimed.

And, using one of her energy beams, she made the stone layer above her sister to break and she was released. Euryale was very alike her sister, but with a different mane style, green eyes and her Cutie Mark (also hade the same design) had red snakes.

“You are free!” Fury exclaimed.

After recovering from her liberation, Euryale looked around and said:

“This is… a new world. At last we will rule again and spread the Lord of Chaos’ terror. And once we find Medusa, none should stay on our way.”

It was then that Euryale stopped and said to Fury:

“Oh no, you are not wearing my bracelet.”

Back to the gym of Manehattan high school, the cheerleader leader, who was called Grace Strut, said to Purple Smoke, who was incarnating Purple Shine:

"Look, newbie, you can’t simply get here with that outfit and think you can be on the team."

"Actually, this is what makes me think I be on the team" Purple Smoke said.

He then put the radio play the music the cheerleaders used to play for practice and began an amazing choreography. Although his powers were limited when he changed his form, he could still make a good dancing to impress the cheerleaders, something that could and earn him a place in the team.

"Very well, you may have entered, but if you want to hang out with us outside practice, you still have a lot to prove" Grace Strut said to him. "That little dance of yours was test number one."

"So what's test number two?" Purple Smoke asked.

"Surprise wardrobe inspection" one of Grace’s friends said. "Your house, twenty minutes. Are you in?"

Purple Smoke gave a nervous laughter. After all, win their trust would be more difficult than he thought. Fortunately, thanks to Mirror Coat’s illusions and Melody’s wardrobe, Purple Smoke could let the cheerleaders speechless, given that the General Music's clothes were the late fashion.

What further left Purple Smoke even more humiliated was that he had to use Melody’s clothes along with the other fillies when they returned to school because he knew that he was just giving to his sister and rival more stuffs for her to enjoy.

All ponies were looking at them, especially colts, something that left Purple Smoke immensely uncomfortable. Then they stopped and Grace told to Purple Smoke:

“Very well, newbie, you got the moves and the look, but now it’s time to check your cheerleader attitude. The next pony that turns around that corner is to leave in shreds.”

"What?" Purple Smoke asked, knowing that they wanted him to humiliate somepony, something that went against what he was. "I don’t know that I can."

But then a thin colt with glasses turned around the corner that Grave indicated. Purple Smoke hesitated and then Grace said to him:

"What are you waiting for, finish him already."

Knowing he had no choice and he would repent immediately afterwards, Purple Smoke went towards the poor colt and when he arrived in front of him, he told him:

"Hey, why don’t you see where you're going?"

"I'm sorry" he said nervously.

"Oops, it seems I formulated wrongly what she said" Purple Smoke said. "A four-eyed like you should never see well, even if something is right in front of his nose."

The words and the tone he was using seemed to be affecting the poor colt that began to shrink in fear.

"Just look at him shaking. Why don’t you go run to you mommy. Go, go there!"

And the colt, failing to support more, got out of there running and crying, something that shattered Purple Smoke. After all it was his duty to help ponies and not make them feel bad about themselves. While the cheerleaders would congratulate him, his brother and sisters were amazed by what they saw.

"It seems Purple Smoke doesn’t need to be the General of Talent to be able to do that" Melody commented.

"Poor little guy” Leaf Mane said. “He was shattered. "

"It was necessary" Mirror Coat said. "Now with that, Purple Smoke won their trust."

Mirror Coat was right, because they organized a party in Grace's house to celebrate Purple Smoke entering the group of them, when night fell, taking up a cake with a picture of him as Purple Shine. He liked the cake, but when they started with the filly games, he didn’t like so much.

When they reached the Truth or Dare, Purple Smoke invented an excuse and went to the bathroom. When he got there, he turned to the mirror and saw whis filly form. He couldn’t wait to get back to his own self.

"Hello... sis" a voice said.

He turned and saw Melody.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nothing, I just came to see how you were doing" Melody said.

"Yeah, you came just to enjoy yourself" Purple Smoke said. "Don’t you have all my embarrassing moments?"

"Now you're being cruel" Melody said.

"Melody, return to the Light Kingdom" Purple Smoke said coldly.

"Yeah, okay, as you wish... grumpy" she said, teleporting herself.

Purple Smoke then returned to the room, but when he got there, the fillies were gone. He went to the lobby and saw the back door was back, realizing that they had just left.

“Hey, guys, wait for me” Purple Smoke called, while he was running to catch them. “It’s already time for the treasure hunt?”

He followed them to the docks, where they were walking through a footbridge towards a fishing vessel used by the city griffins.

"What’s up, girls?" Purple Smoke asked, looking around as he approached them. "Something tells me that this is not a game. Guys, I think it’s better we get out of here, right?"

Then they turned to him and Purple Smoke saw that they had red eyes, as when they were hypnotized.

"Oh, oh" Purple Smoke said, backing away.

It was then that he noticed a presence behind him. He turned and saw Fury and Euryale exhibiting a big smile.

“Look, Euryale, a guest” Fury said. “Let’s try to make her welcome.”

And their eyes turned bright red, ready to hypnotize Purple Smoke.

Melody came to the throne room, but saw the face of concern of Mirror Coat and Leaf Mane.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"We lost contact" Leaf Mane said.

"What?" Melody asked. "How?"

"It appears that the Gorgons’ hypnosis prevents us from spying their slaves when they are under hypnosis" Mirror Coat said. "We have to hurry up. When he is not in his true form, Purple Smoke is more vulnerable. If they caught him..."

"So we have to go" Melody said. “Let’s go."

They went to Grace's house and, using a tracker spell from Mirror Coat, they could follow their steps to the docks. Using a levitation spell, they began to cross the sea to find the fishing vessel stopped where there were the two Gorgons, along with the three cheerleaders and Purple Smoke (still in the form of Purple Shine), who were pulling the great handle to pull the fishing net.

“Let’s pick up the pay, ladies” Fury said to her slaves. “I’m missing some serious beauty sleep here.”

The three Generals were hidden behind boxes to observe and saw that Purple Smoke had given up to the hypnotic power of the Gorgons.

"Purple" Melody said.

But Fury and Euryale heard her and the first said:

“Minions, seize them!”

And the three fillies and Purple Smoke advanced against the three Generals. But without them, the handle began to rotate to the opposite side quickly, dropping the net that was being pulled. Fury, seeing this, hastened to go to the crank and locked it. She turned then to her sister and said to her, as she began cranking:

“Euryale, don’t just stand there. Help me.”

“Okay” she replied, in a boring way, getting close calmly. “ But for the record, no one likes a bossy Gorgon.”

And she began to help Fury.

The net then appeared, full of fish. They brought it to the boat and dropped it. The fish fell to the deck, but also appeared the statue of the last missing Gorgon, Medusa.

“At last, our sister” Fury said.

And she and Euryale used their energy beams to break the rock that held Medusa and she was released. Medusa had blue eyes like Fury and the snakes of her Cutie Mark were blue. She sank down and said, as she passed the hoof down her face:

“That rock made my skin so dried.”

She then noticed the fish were there and then asked to her sisters, standing up and looking around:

“Please, tell me you don’t live here”

“Or you could just say thank you” Fury said, extending then her hooves. “Euryale. Medusa. Take my hooves.

They did so, causing a release of energy that made the struggle between the Generals and the cheerleaders stop. The energy involved the three Gorgons and, seeing that, Mirror Coat advanced and told them:

“Sorry, sisters, but it’s time to break this little family reunion.”

He then advanced to them, along with Leaf Mane, but the three Gorgons threw red beams from their eyes that reached the two Generals and turned them into stone statues that fell on the deck.

"No!" Melody said.

Then she was surrounded by the cheerleaders and Purple Smoke.

“You, minion, finish her.”

So he advanced to Melody.

"No, Purple Smoke" she said, while her brother gave her a blow that left her suspended in the bow.

Melody looked and saw Purple Smoke, right in front of her.

"Purple Smoke."

He tried to make her fell, but she managed to resist.

"Wait a second" Fury said to Melody. "Did you call him Purple Smoke? This means that we have one of the Generals at our command."

"It will be nice to see a General defeat another" Medusa said. "Truly enjoyable."

"I don’t know what that means, dear sister" Euryale said. "Don’t invent words like that."

"Purple Smoke, it's me, Melody" Melody said. "The sister you hate the most."

What Melody said seemed to be affecting Purple Smoke, as he seemed to hesitate. Fury approached, suspended by her snakes, and ordered:

“What are you waiting for, General minion. Could you finish her already?

"Whit whom do you play chess where you end up losing, but always with head up?" Melody asked to Purple Smoke. "With whom are you always brag about your achievements just to annoy? Me, Melody, your dear and, at the same, hateful sister."

Melody’s words struck Purple Smoke that began to free himself from the hypnosis, eventually do it completely.

"Melody?" He asked.

He then helped her back up.

“My spell!” Fury exclaimed, without wanting to believe. “She broke my spell!

“That’s right, Fury, and I’m about to break so much more” Purple Smoke answered her.

“Nobody defies me!” Fury exclaimed. “I am Fury, leader of the Gorgons!”

“Excuse me” Euryale said, making Fury turning to her. “We lead together.”

“Yah, who died and make you queen?” Medusa asked.

"Look at that, those Gorgons still fight more than us" Melody noted.

That gave an idea to Purple Smoke that said:

"I got an idea. And I will do it in the cheerleader way. And I know that I just gave you another embarrassing moment to remember."

"Eeyup, but we talk about it later" Melody said. "Go ahead with the idea."

Purple Smoke nodded and he turned to the Gorgons and said, making the Gorgons turn to him:

“Hey, Fury, didn’t you tell you were more powerful than Medusa? Because if you ask me, she deserves to lead, not you.”

“You said you were more powerful?!” Medusa asked, not very happy with Fury.

“Please, as you could fulfill the Lord of Chaos’ commands without me” she answered.

“Well, everypony knows Medusa” Purple Smoke continued, making Medusa swell with vanity. “But what hell it’s a Fury? And since only one of you can lead, why shouldn’t be her?”

“Well, the General of Talent has a point” Medusa replied.

“But I’m the most import of the Gorgon sisters” Fury said.

“Wake up, sweetie, we are just as important as you are” Euryale answered her.

“I’m the leader!” Medusa exclaimed, making her hooves shine with energy.

“Hello, I am!” Fury answered, doing the same.

“I am!” Euryale exclaimed, doing the same as her sisters.

Then the three began to fight among themselves, casting a energy beams to the other. Purple Smoke and Melody tried to take cover. All those beams eventually release Mirror Coat and Melody from their stone prison. The battle between the Gorgons became increasingly intense, until the three used their petrification spell in one another, causing a huge explosion of energy that created a smokescreen. When it cleared, the three Gorgons were turned into stone statues.

"I can’t believe" Mirror Coat said. "You made it."

"You bet" Purple Smoke said. "And now that this is over, I can finally get rid of this filly disguise."

And then he returned to his true form.

"Finally!" He exclaimed, hugging himself. "I never miss so much being like this."

"Well, the truth is that it only ends when the Gorgons are trapped in the prison-book" Leaf Mane said. "That is why..."

And she invoked the prison-book, the cell blaster and two life cells (because there was already one in the cell blaster). Focusing first on Fury, she loaded the cell blaster with her magic and she casted a greenish light that hit the petrified Gorgon and she began to be sucked into the cell life, where her image appeared. Then Leaf Mane put the life cell in the prison-book and made the same with the other two.

After that, they turned to the three teenagers that, with the defeat of Fury and the others, were released, losing consciousness in the process.

"Well, I think it’s better we deal with them" Mirror Coat said.

"I'll help you" Leaf Mane volunteered, after making the prison-book and the cell blaster disappear.

"I'm going home" Purple Smoke said. "I'm tired of... well, this."

And he turned into a stormy cloud of purple smoke and he walked away.

"And I go too" Melody said. "I need to relax after this adventure and there is nothing better than watching again all the ridiculous moments Purple Smoke did. To the Mirrored Library!"

And she disappeared.

"Those two will never change" Mirror Coat said to Leaf Mane.

"And is it better they change?" She asked.

The two exchanged a laugh and then went deal with teenage fillies.

The Lord of Chaos saw everything through and then said:

“It seems using a villain team was not a good idea. But, wait, this was your idea, Fire Punch.”

And he turned to his serve that started soon shaking in fear and backing up when his master got closed.

“Well, technically no” Fire Punch defended himself, nervously. “All I said…”

“I don’t believe in technicalities” the Lord of Chaos answered. “I believe in payback.”

Fire Punch gulped, knowing that awaited him another of his master's punishment.

In the throne room, Mirror Coat and Leaf Mane were resting after having dealt with the teenage fillies. Then the door opened and Twilight, Blue, Star and Spike entered.

"Your Highnesses" Mirror Coat said, as he and Leaf Mane made a bow to the royal family.

"There was a problem while we were away?" Twilight asked to the two Generals.

"Nothing much, Princess" Leaf Mane said.

"Yes, the work of the usual" Mirror Coat continued. "Organize..."

"Taking care of plants..."

"Catch three villains..."

"Wait" Blue said. "Did you just say you caught three villains?"

"Why didn’t you warn me?" Twilight asked.

"Don’t worry" Mirror Coat said. "It's all right. We dealt with the problem. The villains are in the prison-book."

"Good" Twilight said, a little more relieved. "But I want to know all the details."

"Of course, Princess" Mirror Coat and Leaf Mane answered.

But then a discussion between two family ponies started on the outside of the room.

"Come on, Purple Smoke" Melody asked. "Just once."

"No, I said no!" Purple Smoke replied. "Once was enough."

"But you were so cute."

"I said no! And no is no! "

"But what's going on out there?" Twilight asked, not understanding.

"This, princess, is a long story" Mirror Coat said, while Leaf Mane struggled to contain her laughter.

"Why do I have the feeling that we have lost much more than we think?" Blue asked.

"Believe me, my friend, this is always happening to me" Spike answered.

Author's Note

The results of my poll ended with a tie between the Gorgons and the Dragon King, so I decided to do the Gorgons, how I though that this needed a little humor and, as you could see, this chapter was based on the episode "Bring It On" of American Dragon. I hope you had enjoyed.

How to Cure a Predator

Rarity had just arrived to the Light Kingdom in the Light Express. Although many think that it was a friendly visit to her great friend, Princess Twilight, the truth was that she had come to the heart of all the goodness in the pony world with one goal: to enter in the Mirrored Library, where only Twilight and the Generals of Order had access.

After her great love be captured by Mirror Coat and placed in the prison-book, Rarity’s heart had been shattered, as Shadow Claw was the only stallion Rarity had loved, despite knowing that he was not entirely a stallion, and she knew he felt the same for her.

Although everypony said that their love was impossible because he was a servant of the Lord of Chaos, Rarity knew she could try to help him escape from the darkness that held him. However, she didn’t know how to do so. Then she had the idea to go to the Mirrored Library, because it was a place where she could find the answers she sought. It could only be there where she would find them.

She arrived at the castle where she asked to speak to Twilight and she was escorted by guards to the throne room, where the young princess was sitting on her throne dealing with real issues with her number one assistant, Spike. The door opened and one of the guards appeared and said:

"Your Highness, there's someone here to see you."

"Really?" Twilight asked. "Who?"

"It's me, dear" Rarity said, entering.

"Rarity!" Twilight exclaimed, going to her friend, while the guards who had brought her went out.

Seeing Rarity, Spike stayed soon with his usual enamored air.

"But what are you doing here?" Twilight asked, giving a brief hug to Rarity. "I thought you had an important job in hoof to handle with."

"Oh, dear, that can wait" Rarity said. "What matters is that I missed you so I decided to visit you."

Twilight looked suspiciously to Rariy. Normally, Rarity becomes so focused on her work and she doen’t allow a single distraction while she doen’t end what she is doing. Spike then approached and asked Rarity:

"Did you miss me too, Rarity?"

"Of course I did, my Spikey-Whikey" she said, scratching his chin, something that made him completely enamored.

"Spike, could you go ask for some tea and biscuits to the real cooker?" Twilight asked.

"Of course, Twilight" Spike replied without taking his eyes from Rarity. "I do everything for Rarity..."

But then he came to himself and said to Twilight:

"Of course I do everything for you too, Twilight."

"Yes, right" she replied.

Spike then left.

"Well, now that Spike came out, tell me the truth" Twilight said to Rarity. "Why did you really come here?"

"Twilight, I told you, I came to visit you" Rarity said, flashing a wide smile.

But Twilight merely look to Rariry with her suspicious stare. Realizing she couldn’t fool Twilight, Rarity sighed and said:

"Okay, you won."

"Come on, tell me why you came here truly" Twilight said.

Rarity sighed and said:

"I wanted you to let me visit the Mirrored Library."

Twilight was surprised with that request.

"Why do you want to go to Mirrored Library?" she asked.

"Because..." Rarity began, trying to find the right words. "I would like to know more about... pony-wolves."

"This is about Shadow Claw, isn’t it?" Twilight asked.

"Yes" Rarity confirmed. "I... I just want to know if there is a way of cure him. To him return to be the pony I fell in love with."

"Rarity, you know that Shadow Claw’s intentions when he seduced you were not the best" Twilight said.

"Maybe not at first, but you didn’t know her as I did, Twilight" Rarity said. "He was so dear to me, even after he had kidnaped me. He didn’t want to turn me. I could see that he loved me. "

"I understand, Rarity, but..."

"I know you're reluctant because he is a servant of the Lord of Chaos and that he had almost brought the eternal night" Rarity said. "But I know that if we can find a cure, if we can free him from the curse the Chaos Lord gave him, he might be again what he was."

Twilight didn’t even know what to say. She admired the feeling that Rarity had for Shadow Claw and, because of it, she hated to take her illusions.

"Rarity, Shadow Claw is an alpha pony-wolf" Twilight said. "I don’t think there can be a cure for that kind of pony-wolf."

"But the others..." she began.

"The others were transformed by him" Twilight answered. "When we defeated him with the Solar Crystal, we broke the lineage and everypony he turned returned to normal. But with Shadow Claw is different. "

Rarity was disappointed with the answer, but it didn’t shake her hope.

"You said it may not exist a cure" she said. "But that doesn’t mean that there’s not one. Because of that, I need to enter in the Mirrored Library. I'm sure there may be something we can use."

Despite knowing that the probability of that happening was minimal, Twilight knew Rarity was right. Moreover, she knew that if there was any information about a cure for Shadow Claw, it might just be in the Mirror Library. She looked to Rarity and could feel all the love she had for him and that it was sincere. Twilight smiled and nodded, saying:

"Very well, Rarity, you can go there."

That made Rarity give smile and then she gave a big hug to Twilight saying:

"Thank you, Twilight!"

"I do everything for my friends" she said, returning the hug and then finishing it. "But try to avoid crossing with Mirror Coat. I don’t know if he or the others would approve this."

"Don’t worry" Rarity said. "I will be discreet."

Twilight then went to the nearest mirror and, using the spell that the Generals had taught her, she inserted the horn and opened the portal. Waving to Rarity, she advanced and crossed it.

Rarity found herself in the Mirrored Library. However now there was a problem: where to start. There were lots of shelves, each one with millions of books, and all in continuous updating and adding.

It was then that she remembered Heartbeat said once everything was divided into sections. She just had to go to the section where it might be the book that had the answer to her problem. How she wanted to know to cure pony-wolves, she had to go where there were books about magical creatures: the Science and Magic section.

Rarity began looking for the section until she got lucky and found it in no time. After that, she began to search for books about pony-wolves, but those she found didn’t have the information she wanted. Everyone talked about the lineage break that heals all the pony-wolves turned by other pony-wolves, but nothing about how to cure Shadow Claw.

"I can’t believe this!" Rarity exclaimed, closing the nth book she checked. "There is nothing at all!"

"But what a great surprise" a voice said.

Rarity started and then came across with...

"Mirror Coat!" she exclaimed, running into with the General of Knowledge and rushing to hide the book she was reading behind her. "What a surprise to see you here."

"This is my workplace" Mirror Coat reminded her. "The surprise here is you, Miss Rarity. Why are you here?"

"Well..." Rarity began, trying to make an excuse. "You know... I asked Twilight for permission to use the Mirrored Library to look for inspiration from dresses of other worlds to my new collection."

"In the Science and Magic section?" Mirror Coat asked suspiciously.

"Really?" Rarity asked, making a false surprised air. "This is the Science and Magic section? What a surprise."

She gave a nervous laugh, but Mirror Coat continued to look suspicious to her. He then noticed the book that Rarity was hiding and, using his magic, managed to pull it off from her and went to see what it was about. After reading, he looked at Rarity and said:

"I don’t think information about pony-wolves will help you to find inspiration, unless you are seeking a more sinister look, which doesn’t seem to be your style, Miss Rarity."

She then sighed and said:

"I think you got me."

"Let me guess" Mirror Coat said. "You are trying to find a way to cure Shadow Claw."

Rarity nodded and then said:

"I know you must think is a bad idea, but I think I should do something to find it. After all, I..."

"You love him" Mirror Coat completed.

Rarity looked at him, amazed that he knew that.

"How do you know that?" She asked.

"I spent too much time with Heartbeat and she already gave me a lecture by having separate two ponies for each other" Mirror Coat said.

"Is that means that... Shadow Claw love me?" Rarity asked, with a smile.

"I don’t know that" he said. "But I know that you caused some impact on him. Although it was me who arrest him and I did for everypony’s sake, I think it doesn’t hurt to try to find a way to cure him. It's a great way to get rid of a threat, even if it is securely in the prison-book."

"Will you help me?" Rarity asked.

Mirror Coat waved for Rarity’s joy.

"Well, you have to take into account, Rarity, that pony-wolves as Shadow Claw are alphas, so they don’t have a lineage to break, like normal pony-wolves" Mirror Coat explained. "You won’t find a cure in any book that talks about them. This is only in a particular book."

He acceded to his magic and made a book come, saying:

"It is in this on we will find the answers."

The excitement began to seize in Rarity, knowing that the answer to the mystery that she so wanted to solve was right there. Mirror Coat then said, as he opened the book:

"The only way to cure an alpha pony-wolf is with pure water."

"What do you mean with pure water?" Rarity asked. "You mean like river water springs?"

"No, not like that" Mirror Coat said. "This type of pure water is water that is created out of nothing. Each world has a certain amount of water which cannot be reduced or increased. But pure water we seek is created without using nothing there is in the world where it is formed."

"But where we find water like that?" Rarity asked.

"You already know where" Mirror Coat replied.

And then an image appeared of the book that was...

"The Oasis of the Heart!" Rarity exclaimed, seeing Heartbeat’s star seed’s wonderful creation.

"Yes, the waters of this place are so pure and so magical that can release any pony-wolf from his curse, including an alpha" Mirror Coat replied.

"This is amazing!" Rarity said excitedly. "So we can already cure Shadow Claw."

"This is quite so" he replied, making Rarity cease with her enthusiasm. "There is a problem."

"What is it?"

"The very nature of the oasis. It doesn’t let anypony with a dark heart or with bad intentions to get in and Shadow Claw, right now, is a servant of the Lord of Chaos. The oasis will not leave Shadow Claw enter."

"But it have to leave" Rarity said. "It's the only way to cure him. We can ask for Heartbeat’s help. She can make the Oasis of the Heart let Shadow Claw enter."

"The oasis is really an extension of Heartbeat’s power, but it has its own mind and the rule of not letting any of the Chaos Lord's servants is absolute" Mirror Coat replied.

"So we have a cure, but we don’t have a way to get the cure?" Rarity asked. "Perfect."

"However, there is another place where we can go" Mirror Coat said.

"So you could have started by there, right?" Rarity asked.

Mirror Coat turned the page of the book and the image of the Heart of the Oasis was replaced by a large canyon of bright stone into the Light Kingdom, while Mirror Coat said:

"In the far side of the Light Kingdom, there is a canyon called the Great Light Canyon. If you follow it..." image made zoom, following the path of the canyon until they reach a desert, where the sand was very bright "you will arrive to a small desert where there is a small lush oasis."

He showed the image of the oasis. It was not as beautiful as the Oasis of the Heart, but it was also beautiful. In the middle, there was a pond with a water equal to the water in the oasis created by the red star seed.

"It's so beautiful!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Yes, but be careful when you enter this oasis" Mirror Coat said.

"Why?" Rarity asked.

"Because of its guardians" Mirror Coat replied. "The pony-panthers."

And then came the image of a pony with an aspect like the pony-wolves, but instead of having canine traits, he had feline traits, including the tail was long and thin.

"Well, they seem ferocious" Rarity commented.

"That's because they are" Mirror Coat replied. "They have the same capabilities as the pony-wolves, but they can switch between this form and the pony form when they want. They are the Lord of Order's servants who only respond to him and him only. Not even we, the Generals, managed to get them to collaborate unless they have something to gain. Typical feline behavior. But one thing is certain, they will not let you cure Shadow Claw. They hate pony-wolves, as a cat..."

"... hate a dog" Rarity completed. "I get it. But I have to try."

"Yes, of course" Mirror Coat said, closing the book. "There’s only one more thing. To acquire Shadow Claw, you have to have his life cell and it is in the prison-book. I and others can only put the life cells inside. To get them out, you need the General Peace that is..."

"Golden Paladin" Rarity said, realizing that now she had to convince the General of Peace to help her."

When she left the Mirrored Library, along with Mirror Coat, Rarity found Golden Paladin in the throne room with Twilight and asked him to take Shadow Claw’s life cell out of the prison-book to go to the oasis of the pony-panthers, but his answer was...

"It’s out of the question" he replied firmly. "I will not take any life cell from the prison-book, only to cure Shadow Claw."

"But, Golden Paladin..." Rarity began.

"No" he continued to say. "Simply, no. It’s against my code of General of Peace release a prisoner villain."

"But you don’t understand" Rarity said. "We can release Shadow Claw from the Lord of Chaos’ control."

"I don’t care" Golden Paladin said. "Do you realize that the Lord of Chaos can take advantage of this to release Shadow Claw and re-use him to conquer this world? We are giving all we have to capture the villains who escaped from Tartarus and so far we only have seven villains, but there are many more. We cannot risk to unbalance things even more."

"But..." Rarity began, but, seeing the determined look of Golden Paladin, she stopped.

"Golden, I share the same opinion as you" Mirror Coat said. "I know this is quite risky, the Lord of Chaos can try to recover Shadow Claw and the pony-panthers may not even help us, but you have to see the other side. We have the possibility to get rid of the alfa pony-wolf, one of the greatest villains of the Lord of Chaos."

"Mirror Coat’s right" Twilight agreed. "And I'm not saying this because Rarity is my friend. Shadow Claw is also a victim. He was cursed by the Lord of Chaos that made him one of his slaves. We have to help him to break free."

"I understand, princess, and admire your kindness, but I am the General Peace and cannot risk the safety of ponies" Golden Paladin said.

"Always the duty, isn’t it, Goldy?" a voice asked.

They all looked and saw Heartbeat who was sitting in a chair on the edge of a round table taking a cup of tea.

"Why don’t you stop thinking with your head once in your life?" Heartbeat asked.

"Don’t meddle, Heartbeat" Golden Paladin said her. "This has nothing to do with you."

"You're wrong" she replied, teleporting to Rarity’s edge. "When we are talking about a demonstration of love like this that Rarity is showing, then we are in the area of Affection and I am the General of Affection."

"But we are talking about releasing a villain from the prison-book who can return to threaten the peace of this world and this has to do with me" Golden Paladin answered.

That made Heartbeat adopt a serious look.

"Oh, this will get good" Mirror Coat said.

"What do you mean?" Rarity asked.

"Do you know when Purple Smoke and Melody discuss?" the General Knowledge asked. "Well, the ones between Golden Paladin and Heartbeat are worse."

"I can’t believe I'm hearing this from you" Heartbeat said to Golden Paladin. "I thought ponies were important to you."

"Don’t say that to me" Golden Paladin said. "I don’t do other thing than do everything for them."

"It's not what it seems."

"I cannot worry about the safety of a pair of ponies when I put in cause safety of so many others."

The two Generals looked at each other fiercely for a few seconds, something that was more intense than the exchange of glances between Purple Smoke and Melody. Then Heartbeat turned back to his elder brother and said to him:

"I liked the old Goldy. The one that risked only to help an innocent pony, a pony like Shadow Claw."

Those words seemed to have affected Golden Paladin, something that confused Twilight and Rarity. It took a few seconds, but then Golden Paladin finally said:

"Okay, I'll do it. But if something goes wrong, I won’t take any responsability."

Heartbeat then turned to him and said with a smile:

"I knew you'd say that. After all, you're my favorite big brother."

And then gave him a big hug.

"Heartbeat always ends up winning this type of discussions" Mirror Coat whispered to Rarity, making her drop a laugh.

"I'm glad that everything is revolved" Twilight said. "Golden Paladin, I think it’s better you go take Shadow Claw’s life cell. And, if you are concerned that he can return to terrorize the ponies, you can follow Rarity to the oasis of the pony-panthers."

"It seems I have no choice" he replied.

So Golden Paladin invoked the prison-book and the cell blaster. Then he inserted the tip of the cell blaster in the groove of the prison-book and rolled it. When he removed it, the life cell with the image of Shadow Claw appeared. Golden Paladin took it with his magic and then put it in some saddlebags that he invoked.

"Well, what are we waiting" he told to Rarity. "We have a long way to go."

That made Rarity smile immensely.

The Lord of Chaos was watching that scene and then said:

"This is unacceptable! How can they think they can cure one of my villains?"

"I don’t understand, master" Fire Punch said, standing nearby. "Why do you care if they cure Shadow Claw or not? After all, he has failed you."

"Just like you, but the difference is that you've failed me twice" the Lord of Chaos replied. "But the point is Shadow Claw is one of my greatest villains. He's mine. And he still can be useful to me. I cannot allow they get the cure. But also this can even play in my favor. Shadow Claw’s life cell is out of prison-book, so it’s my chance to recover him. Let me see."

He made appear the way to the oasis of pony-panthers in the mirror, saying:

"It’s better no attack them near the oasis of pony-panthers. They can ruin everything. So I will attack them in the best place for ambushes: the Great Light Canyon, where the protective magic of the Light Kingdom is not as strong and my villains can attack. And I know the perfect villain for this job. Or rather, villains."

He snapped his fingers and then the image was replaced by the image of a mare that had a bizarre appearance. She had a bird beak instead of muzzle, wings on the forelegs and claws instead of hooves.

"How can I serve you, my master?" she asked, bowing.

"Featherwing, I need your services and your sisters’" the Lord of Chaos said. "The General Peace is now beginning to head to the oasis of pony-panthers to cure Shadow Claw. I want you to ambush him and take Shadow Claw life cell Shadow Claw and bring it to me."

"You may leave it to us, master" Featherwing replied, making another bow.

And the communication ended. Fire Punch then said:

"Master, I thought you wouldn’t go use more villain teams after ... You know, the Gorgons."

"And I wouldn’t, but this is a unique opportunity that cannot be missed" the Lord of Chaos replied. "If I have again Shadow Claw in my hand, my advantage in this war will simply increase. Who knows, I may get rid of the General of Peace at the same time."

And he gave an evil laugh.

Golden Paladin and Rarity walked towards the Great Light Canyon. While they walked, Rarity asked:

"Sorry, Golden Paladin, but we cannot go directly to the oasis? You could teleport us there."

"I could" he replied. "But then the pony-panthers wouldn’t let us use their water. First, we have to show our worth and make the journey without magic is a way to start."

"Very well" Rarity said.

They continued walking, going up to a more remote part of the Light Kingdom where Rarity had never been. Then the vegetation began to dwindle until they reached an immense canyon. Rarity was stunned when she saw that the rocks that formed it were immensely bright.

"Sweet Celestia..." she said. "I've never seen anything like this!"

"We are in the Light Kingdom boundaries" Golden Paladin explained. "In this area, there are very few light plants growing, but there’s enough to give light to this canyon. Well, come on. The sooner we get to the oasis the best."

They two then began to advance through the canyon. At the top, watching them, was Featherwing, along with her two sisters.

"Okay, girls, it's time to recover Shadow Claw to our master" she said. "Concentrate on the General Peace. The unicorn is not a threat. All right, go!"

His two sisters spread their wings and took flight and began coming down the pike towards the two ponies who were down there.

Golden Paladin then sensed something. He looked up and saw Featherwing’s sister to come quickly to them.

"Oh no, Harpies!" He exclaimed. "Rarity, run!"

"What the..." she began, only to be moved away by Golden Paladin’s magic.

Then the General of Peace began to be attacked by claws as he tried to protect himself and at the same time attack. Rarity had been stunned. She had never seen such creatures. They have to be servants of the Lord of Chaos trying to recover Shadow Claw for him.

Golden Paladin tried to resist the Harpies, but they had caught him off guard and were too quick to be able to avoid all the blows they did apart that they could not attack without getting even more vulnerable. If he didn’t do something, they would get Shadow Claw’s life cell. He had no alternative.

"Rarity, catch!" he exclaimed.

Using his magic, he made Shadow Claw’s life leave his saddlebags and then threw it to Rarity. Reacting quickly, she took it with her magic.

"Golden Paladin..."

"Run! I'll take care of the Harpies! Don’t let them get the life cell!"

"But..."

"Go!"

It was then that the Harpies noticed that Rarity had the life cell and prepared for the attack. But Golden Paladin was faster and created a magical dome that held him and the Harpies inside. Rarity seized the moment and began to run as fast as she could.

On the top of the canyon, Featherwing was seeing Rarity escaping.

"It seems it has to be me to make everything. But this will not be very difficult. I just have to wait that the desert does the work for me."

And she laughed.

Rarity ran as fast as she could. It didn’t late until the rocks begin to be replaced by sand and the bright environment disappear. That meant she was out of the Light Kingdom. Now, she just had to cross the desert and reach the oasis. But that proved to be a quite difficult task, because the sun was very hot and Rarity was dehydrating quickly, apart from that it was difficult to walk on sand. She had some water with her, but it was running out quickly. When she went to drink another sip, he realized that this was the last one, because she had no more water.

"I have to find the oasis" she said, immensely tired. "I have to save Shadow Claw."

Then a shadow flew over her. To her horror, she saw Featherwing approaching and landing in front of her.

"Oh no!" the unicorn cried.

Rarity tried to turn around and run away, but she was too tired for that.

"My dear, don’t difficult this" Featherwing said, extending then one of her front claws. "Give me Shadow Claw’s life cell and I leave you unharmed."

"No way!" Rarity replied, trying to protect at all costs her loved one.

"Why do you risk yourself for a villain so evil as Shadow Claw?" Featherwing asked. "He doesn’t worth your life."

"I love him and that's something you will not understand" Rarity said. "I know Shadow Claw is not like you. I can see it. He is good and loving, but a prisoner of your stupid master."

"If I were you, I would moderate the language" Featherwing said, sounding offended when Rarity insulted the Lord of Chaos. "Well, if that's what you want, then I'll have to get the life cell from you by force."

She then moved forward, taking off and preparing their rear claws. In an instant, she managed to hold Rarity who tried to break free, but without success. Featherwing moved one of her front claws to Rarity saddlebags and found what he sought.

"Here you are" she said, raising the life cell. "The Lord of Chaos will be very pleased."

Rarity took her distraction to release one of her front hooves and punched her, what made her let her go and drop a life cell that flew into the air and fell on the sand nearby. The unicorn ran to there, but Featherwing was too fast and got there first, scratching then Rarity's face and throwing her against the sand.

"Stupid girl" she said, taking the life cell, while Rarity looked at her angrily. "Did you really think you could attack me, get the life cell and escape. Or you are very naive or very stupid."

"I prefer to believe that she is not any of the options" a voice replied.

Featherwing turned and then saw Golden Paladin. He was scratched in various places and his mane and coat were all disheveled.

"You defeated my sisters?" Featherwing asked, not wanting to believe.

"And now they are in a very warm cell in the prison-book" Golden Paladin said.

That made Featherwing contort the angry face, but then she smiled and said:

"So? At least they managed to tire you out. I doubt you can defeat me when you are so tired that you can’t keep yourself up on your hooves. It will be a bonus. Not only I will bring the Shadow Claw’s life cell to my master, as I will have the honor of crushing the General of Peace. This undoubtedly will greatly facilitate the Lord of Chaos’ plans."

"You wish" Golden Paladin said.

He invoked the cell blaster and tried to use it against Featherwing, but he was so resentful from his previous fight that he had no forces, especially being Featherwing with full energy.

"Looks like I win and you lose" Featherwing said, approaching and raising her claw.

Then something grabbed her claw. She looked and then she was faced with a pony-panther.

"What?" she asked.

"We don’t tolerate dark creatures in our territory" the pony-panther said to Featherwing. "Much less those who threaten our master’s loyal servers."

The pony-panther made a coup and launched Featherwing against the ground and then she found herself surrounded by more pony-panthers who had appeared out of nowhere. That blow also made her drop Shadow Claw’s cell life that rose into the air and was caught by the first pony-panther. The Harpy, finding herself surrounded, rose and prepared to fight, but the pony-panthers were too many and quite strong and she was completely overwhelmed.

"I believe that this is yours" the one that seemed to be the leader of the pony-Panthers said, extending the life cell to Rarity.

"Thank you" she thanked, getting it with her magic.

"Thank you, Chief Strongpaw" Golden Paladin thanked cordially bowing his head.

"You don’t have to thank me, General of Peace" Chief Strongpaw replied. "After all, we are both servants of the great Lord of the Order. Despite our differences, we are allies. I believe that you'll deal with this evil… thing."

He looked at Featherwing.

"Absolutely yes" Golden Paladin said.

He pointed again the cell blaster to Featherwing and charged it again with magic. This time, Golden Paladin managed to find the strength to launch the yellow light that got Featherwing and began to suck her inside of it. After she had been sucked wholly into the life cell, her image appeared on the life cell and then Golden Paladin invoked the prison-book and put it in it.

"Now, you will make company to your dear sisters" Golden Paladin said, opening the book at Featherwing’s cell who tried to boot the bars but without success, closing it after.

"You saved us" Rarity told to Chief Strongpaw and his pony-panthers. "I am very grateful to you."

"It was our duty" Chief Strongpaw replied. "However, I have to ask. What brings you here?"

Rarity would speak, but Golden Paladin told her:

"Allow me to handle this."

Rarity did so. Golden Paladin advanced to Chief Strongpaw and said:

"I know what we'll ask you is too much, especially after what you did for us right now, but it's necessary. The water of your oasis is the only thing that can cure an alpha pony-wolf from his curse, in addition to the water of the Oasis of the Heart. So, we wanted to ask you to let us use it to heal Shadow Claw."

"You want us to use our water to cure one of the followers of the Lord of Chaos?" Chief Strongpaw asked, while the other pony-panthers began to talk to each other.

"We know that's asking a lot" Rarity said, not resisting speaking to be able to save his beloved. "And I know that you have no duty to Golden Paladin or any of the other Generals of Order. But... I love Shadow Claw and I know deep down he is a good being."

"He is a follower of the Lord of Chaos" Chief Strongpaw told her. "And all his followers are bad, liars and manipulative."

"You’re right" Rarity said. "And I don’t blame you if you don’t want to help, but you cannot blame me for trying. I know Shadow Claw has done many terrible things, but he had no choice. He was cursed and enslaved by the Lord of Chaos. He is a victim and deserves a chance."

The pony-Panthers seemed even less convinced and Rarity put all her love for Shadow Claw in her last words to try to convince them.

"Please, help me save my love."

And a tear trickled from her eye and fell in the desert sand.

Then, out of nowhere, the ground began to shake and palms emerged from the sand, all lush and full of life, along with great fresh and green undergrowth. But then, nearby, there was a huge lake with crystal clear water that glittered with the burning sun.

"But..." Rarity said, not wanting to believe what she was seeing. "What is this?"

"This, Rarity, is their oasis" Golden Paladin said. "The oasis of the pony-panthers."

"Apparently, the oasis heard your cry for help, young mare" Chief Strongpaw said. "We are their guardians, and so we should not let anypony it didn’t consider worthy to enter. But it seems that it found you worthy after you had defended your beloved and express your desire to save him."

"That means..." Rarity began.

"That you can use the pure water to release Shadow Claw from his curse" Chief Strongpaw Chief replied with a slight smile.

Rarity didn’t fit herself with joy. She turned to Golden Paladin who said:

"Well, looks like I have no other alternative but to put Shadow Claw in probation."

"Thank you" Rarity thanked him.

Using his magic, Golden Paladin made the Shadow Claw’s life cell levitate in the air and then he launched a magic beam against it and so it shone with a yellow light and when it vanished, in place of the life cell was Shadow Claw, in his pony form.

"What the..." he began. "Where am I?"

He then noticed Rarity.

"Rarity?"

He then noticed Golden Paladin and the pony-panthers.

"Oh no..." he said.

He tried to escape, but the pony-panthers cornered him and grabbed him.

"Let me go, your smelly half-cat!" He exclaimed. "Let me go now!"

"Please, Shadow Claw, don’t struggle against them" Rarity asked. "They just want to help you."

"I don’t need help!" He shouted. "Let me go now!"

"I think it’s better we end this before it happens something unwanted" Golden Paladin said.

Chief Strongpaw nodded and then motioned to his pony-panthers and they then launched Shadow Claw into the lake. When he fell there, he began to moan and squirm. Parts of his pony-wolf form appeared and disappeared. Then a darkness began to wrap him and then rose into the air, where it burned and then disappeared.

After that, Rarity saw Shadow Claw getting out of the lake and approached her. Golden Paladin and the pony-panthers prepared themselves in case he were to do something.

"Shadow Claw..." Rarity said. "Are you really you? I mean, without the claws and the fangs?"

Shadow Claw smiled warmly and said:

"Yes, Rarity, it's me."

Rarity smiled hugely and then gave him a big hug, which Shadow Claw respond with another one. After they finish the hug, Golden Paladin approached and told to Shadow Claw:

"Get to know that we will be watching you at the next full moon to make sure that you are completely free. Don’t take this wrong, but a curse like these always leave residue, and I wonder if such residues will not be a danger."

"I understand" Shadow Claw said. "And I hope I can exceed your expectations. Mainly because..."

He looked at Rarity and added:

"Now I can be with the love of my life."

And the two exchanged a kiss.

"Well, I just have to wish you two good luck. But I have to warn you, Shadow Claw. Be very careful, because the Lord of Chaos sure will not give up on you, if only to save his pride."

"Don’t worry, I'll be careful" Shadow Claw said.

The Lord of Chaos saw that scene through his mirror. Fire Punch was away as he could, fearing how his master would react to what had happened. However, the master of all evil remained calm. He said:

"So you'd rather stay on the Order side. Okay, you can stay on the Order side. But it’s good that you take care of your back because I'm going to make all the traitors to pay for their crime."

Rarity, Golden Paladin and Shadow Claw returned to the Light Kingdom. Despite the fears and suspicions, the ponies have accepted Shadow Claw after knowing he had been cured. Twilight had been very pleased that Raroty had achieved to cure the pony she loved, but there was someone who was not so happy. Spike saw his chances with Rarity falling dramatically when he saw her with Shadow Claw. But that didn’t change her behavior towards him.

Then Rarity and Shadow Claw went back to Ponyville, where they could finally live their love freely.

The Revenge of the Trix

The Lord of Chaos had executed a new attack... a triple one. He had sent three different villains to three different locations. Kraken, the most terrifying sea monster, was attacking Manehattan, trying to sink the island with its giant and powerful tentacles; Cyclops, an one-eyed giant, was terrorizing Canterlot, and there was still Acromantula, a giant spider, which was transforming Las Pegasus on its personal nest.

The Generals, with no alternative, decided to separate to face this triple threat: Heartbeat and Melody were dealing with Kraken, Golden and Purple Smoke went to stop Cyclops and Mirror Coat and Leaf Mane went to deal with Acromantula.

In Manehattan, Heartbeat and Melody reached the docks where the Kraken's tentacles appeared to grab on the island and to take it to the bottom of the ocean, while the ponies that were there tried to flee.

"How do we stop such a big thing?" Melody asked.

"First, I think it's better to prevent it from sinking the island and then we take it from its element" Heartbeat replied.

"Good thinking" Melody said, realizing what Heartbeat was thinking.

The two fire magic beams against its tentacles, which made Kraken drop what it was grabbing and keep them in the air. Then it was Melody’s turn. She cleared her throat and then she sang a song that thrilled the surrounding area. Then Kraken, due to the power of Melody’s voice, was lifted from the sea, revealing its monstrous body. Reaching her immense power, Heartbeat launched a powerful magic beam that hit Kraken in full force and made it moan a lot. When she finished, the monster fell unconscious in the coast.

"And that's how we make a good fishery" Heartbeat said.

"Well, I must say I'm impressed" Melody said, invoking the cell blaster. "Let’s go imprison this thing before it wakes up and returns to the water."

Charging the cell blaster with magic, she made Kraken be sucked into a life cell and then put it into the prison-book.

"One done, two to go" Melody said.

In Las Pegasus, Acromantula had covered the whole city with its sticky web, where the ponies were held, without being able to escape. The arachnid monster was about that time to devour one of the prisonered ponies, who closed his eyes, not wanting to see the horrible creature.

Then roots appeared and moored in Acromantula that was moved away from the pony who sighed in relief. The creature was trapped in the roots that Leaf Mane had invoked with her magic.

"No way, arachnid" Leaf Mane said. "It’s better you pick on someone your own size... and with the same number of legs."

Mirror Coat freed the prisoned ponies who flee after they were released. Then he turned to his sister and said to her:

"Leaf Mane, we must defeat this thing as quickly as possible."

"Right away" she said.

The General of Nature made the roots that she invoked tighten Acromantula even more, making it moan in pain. Taking advantage of that, Mirror Coat invoked the cell blaster and sucked the giant spider to the life cell, sending it then to the prison-book. Mirror Coat then checked the cells and saw that Kraken was there.

"It looks like Heartbeat and Melody managed to arrest Kraken" Mirror Coat said.

"Amazing, this means that only lack Cyclops" Leaf Mane said.

In Canterlot, the giant pony with one eye was causing great destruction. He kept kicking and bring down everything he saw. The ponies of Canterlot panicked and tried to flee to where they could go. The Royal Guard tried to intervene, but Cyclops was too big and strong to overpower them. Then Golden Paladin and Purple Smoke appeared.

"Really?" Purple Smoke asked when he saw Cyclops. "Of all the villains he could send, it had to be Cyclops? That idiot cannot even distinguish day from night."

"He may be stupid, but he’s cause immense destruction with his brute force" Golden Paladin said. "This is making the ponies panicking what causing..."

"Chaos, yes, I know" Purple Smoke said. "Let's finish this."

"Very well, I distracted him and you do what you know best" Golden Paladin said.

"You have to be more specific, bro" Purple Smoke replied. "I'm the best in many things."

But seeing Golden Paladin’s hard look, Purple Smoke lost his pride and said, making a salute:

"Yes sir."

Golden Paladin rolled her eyes and then advanced to Cyclops, saying:

"Hey, one-eyed freak! Here!"

That made Cyclops turn to Golden Paladin and ask with his thick and drawl voice:

"Are ya talkin’ tah me?"

"Are you seeing another monster with only one eye and immensely ugly around here?" Golden Paladin asked.

"Ah am not ugly!" Cyclops exclaimed Cyclops. "Hey, wait a minute. Ah know ya. Ya’are one of the ponies who arrest’d me!"

"Wow, it seems you don’t have fish memory" Golden Paladin sneered. "Impressive."

Cyclops was immensely angry with all the insults Golden Paladin said and prepared to attack him, but it was then that purple smoke hit him in the face. Inhaling the smoke, Cyclops started getting dizzy and it was then that he fell to the ground, causing a crash while doing it. The smoke then headed to the edge of Golden Paladin and took the form of Purple Smoke that asked:

"Is that good enough?"

"Perfect" Golden Paladin said, invoking the cell blaster.

He pointed it to Cyclops and sucked him into the life cell. After that, he put the life cell in the prison-book. He opened it and saw that his siblings had been successful and was pleased to see that Kraken and Acromantula in their respective cells.

"And with that, the triple threat is over" Golden Paladin said, making the book disappear.

"Well, I have to say" Purple Smoke said. "This attempt of the Lord of Chaos was somewhat weak compared to others."

"No when we are talking about spread fear and chaos" Mirror Coat said, appearing with Leaf Mane. "Acromantula filled Las Pegasus with cobwebs and almost devoured its inhabitants."

"Yes, it was awful" Leaf Mane said. "It almost ate a pony when we got there."

"Not to mention Kraken almost sank Manehattan" Melody said, appearing with Heartbeat.

"This just makes us be more careful" Golden Paladin said. "Now we know that the Lord of Chaos will not hesitate to send over different villains at the same time."

"If only we knew where Tartarus is, we could try to recover it" Heartbeat said.

"I think it’s not possible while the Lord of Chaos still have more villains to use" Golden Paladin said. "However, we must do the best we can. And I think the best we can do right now is help rebuild the damage done by the villains of today."

When he said that, they saw a flash of red light and Heartbeat disappeared.

"It's always the same" Purple Smoke said. "The brat always have to run away when work appears."

"What did you expect?" Mirror Coat asked. "After all, she has the personality of a filly."

"Well, guys, let's stop talking and help rebuild the damage" Golden Paladin said.

The others nodded.

The Lord of Chaos was seeing his three villains being defeated so easily, something that made him very angry.

"I can’t believe this!" He exclaimed. "Three villains in three different places, causing chaos and destruction, and yet those damn Generals managed to beat them and lock them up!"

"Well, my master, no wonder" Fire Punch said. "After all, they had already defeated them before and they knew their weaknesses beforehoof."

"Fire Punch..." the Lord of Chaos began, adopting then a thoughtful air. "I believe you stumbled to bond something in your primitive and clumsy way.”

“I… I have?” he asked.

“The Generals of Order know all my villains of this world” the Lord of Chaos said. “ They know their motivations and their weaknesses. The answer is quite simple, I only have to use a villain who is not from this world. And I have enough of them."

"Yes, but..." Fire Punch began. "Who will you choose? It’s just when you use that villain, the Generals of Order will understand and will be aware of any villains from other worlds."

"You're right" the Lord of Chaos said. "I have to be careful in choosing. I need a villain who is evil, ruthless and enjoy cause chaos and destruction."

He thought for a moment and then said:

"I already know! It’s bit risky, but worth a try. Since we have in this world a pony who recently came from another reality, why don’t we use villains of that reality?"

And he laughed.

In the Magic Dimension, the three witches, who were the Winx’s enemies, were now trapped in a prison in Hoggar. Stormy, that was the most impulsive of the three, tried to blow up their cell, but her attempts were futile.

"Give up, Stormy, you will not get" Darcy said, sitting on her bed.

"There must be… a way... to get out" Stormy said, launching more attacks, but without success.

"If there is one, it will not appear out of nowhere" Icy said.

"I wouldn’t be so sure" a voice said.

The three witches jumped, with Darcy standing up, and then darkness appeared and took the form of the Lord of Chaos.

"Who are you?" Icy asked, in his gruff way.

"If I were you, I would show more respect for your lord and master" the Lord of Chaos said.

"Lord and Master?" Stormy repeated, not so convinced. "Right."

The Lord of Chaos looked at her and then raised his hand and closed his fist tightly. The three witches then felt an immense pain in them that forced them to kneel before him.

"I created the darkness and the dark magic you use" the Lord of Chaos said. "I am the source of all evil. Thanks to me, you have the power you have. I am the Lord of Chaos! So, I’ll repeat. Show me more respect!"

The Trix, which never before showed real fear, seemed to have it now. Never before they had known the Lord of Chaos and they never thought he even existed. Icy, which recovered faster than her sisters, stood up and then said:

"We’re sorry... your Excellency" she said. "But we didn’t know who you were?"

"Don’t worry about it now" the Lord of Chaos said, while Darcy and Stormy arose. "We try to know each other better later. Right now, I have a mission for you."

"A mission?" Darcy asked.

"Right now, I'm trying to conquer a world located in a different reality than yours that my brother, the Lord of Order, rules almost completely" the Lord of Chaos said. "I've tried several times, but his soldiers are always meddling in my way. Many of my villains of that world have tried to give me control, but they were miserably defeated."

"So you want our help" Icy concluded.

"Precisely" the Lord of Chaos replied. "I need something they have never faced. You three have a good reputation in this reality. Can you help me in this little demand of mine?"

The three exchanged glances with each other and then Stormy asked:

"And what we get in return?"

The Chaos Lord looked at them for a few seconds and then said:

"I like the way you think. You prefer to engage something, knowing that you are gaining something. But I think the mere fact of helping me is reward enough. In addition, of course, of your freedom. But, if you accept, you will have a small bonus."

"That is?" Darcy asked.

"The chance to take revenge against your old friend Bloom" the Lord of Chaos replied.

"Bloom ?!" Icy repeated, while hate appeared on her face and on her sisters’.

"What does she have to do with this?" Stormy asked.

"She now lives in the same world that I'm trying to conquer" the Lord of Chaos answered. "But I may have more information if you accept. I'll be waiting... for the next few seconds."

And then he turned into darkness which has become a portal.

"What do you think?" Darcy asked to her sisters.

"Are you kidding?" Stormy asked. "It's the perfect opportunity to destroy Bloom once and for all."

"Stormy is right" Icy said. "Come on."

She then passed through the portal, followed by Stormy. Darcy hesitated for a second, but she also passed the portal.

The Chaos Lord was sitting on his throne in Tartarus with Fire Punch by his side, when from the portal appeared the Trix.

"Be very welcome" the Lord of Chaos said. "I’m glad to see that you accepted my reward."

"Enough talk" Icy said. "We want to know more about Bloom."

"Moderate your tone" Fire Punch told her. "Don’t you know who you're talking to?"

"Moderate your tone, horsy" Stormy said. "Or I will undo you to pieces."

"This is Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos introduced. "One of my servants that at the moment is... keeping me company as pay for his failures. And I think you should not call him horsy, because he is a pony... just like you."

He gestured and his mirror moved to the front of the Trix and they were shocked to see that now they were unicorn ponies. The manes and tails of them were of the same color as their hair, while Icy had a light grayish blue coat with a frozen heart surrounded by thorns as a Cutie Mark, Darcy had a dark moderate blue coat with two black feathered wings as a Cutie Mark and Stormy’s coat was mostly desaturated dark pink with a storm cloud with three lightnings as a Cutie Mark.

"But what is this?!" Icy asked.

"What have you done to us?!" Stormy asked.

"Is this a joke?" Darcy asked.

“Calm down" the Lord of Chaos said, trying to reassure them. "There are rules in this reality, because this world is a world where ponies and other creatures live. But don’t worry. Your powers remain the same, I made sure of that myself. You just have to use your horns for that."

"Enough of this" Icy said. "Where is Bloom?"

"But what impatient you are" the Lord of Chaos said. "Very well. Your dear enemy is living a quiet life in a village called Ponyville... along with her husband and their baby son."

"Wait, Bloom married?" Darcy asked, astonished.

"And she’s a mommy?" Stormy asked, equally surprised.

"This is... unbelievable" Icy said.

"Now your job" the Lord of Chaos said. "I want you to destroy... Well, everything. But try not to be caught. Oh, and stay away from the Light Kingdom if you want to keep your freedom."

"That's it?" Darcy asked. "You just want us to destroy everything."

"To me, it seems perfect" Stormy said.

"I know it sounds pretty basic... for someone like me" the Lord of Chaos said. "But we are talking about spread fear and suffering, and the alicorn princesses, the leaders of the land that I am targeting, will not want their subjects suffering."

"I understand" Icy said, smiling slightly. "A very clever and evil plan."

"Thank you" the Lord of Chaos thanked. "But enough of praises. Start working. The earlier you start, the sooner you will have your chance to end Bloom."

The sisters exchanged glances with each other and then nods.

"You can count on us" she said.

And having said that, they teleported themselves.

"Are you sure you can trust them?" Fire Punch asked. "They don’t seem very reliable."

"You're right" the Lord of Chaos replied. "So I'll be an eye on them. And, if they turn under me, I will have all the pleasure in putting them back on track. And if they don’t up to my expectations, I always have the Generals to deal with them."

Fire Punch, realizing what he meant, smiled wickedly.

In Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack, Big Mac and Apple Bloom were picking apples, with the first two bucking trees and the little filly collecting the apples that fell. Then Cherry Blossom appeared.

"Look who she is" Applejack said as Big Mac ran towards Cherry Blossom to greet her with a kiss. "Hard day at tha hospital? Ah believe today is tha day of Pinkie’s culinary creations."

"Interestingly, no" Cherry said. "It seems that the creation of this month of Pinkie was a complete success."

"Well, but what a great surprise" Applejack said. "Don’t ya think, Big Mac?"

"Eeyup" he said.

"Oh, Applejack, can we go prove it, can we?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Of course, li’l sis, but only after work" Applejack said.

In Ponyville, Rarity and Shadow Claw were strolling through the village. Since Shadow Claw was cured, they were able to celebrate their love at will and, therefore, they gave long walks through the village.

"It’s so good to be with you at ease" Rarity said.

"Yeah, you know, deep down, I just wanted to be with you" Shadow Claw confessed. "I think you were my only thought of comfort when I was stuck in the prison-book."

"Good thing I was" she replied, with a smile.

Both were prepared to kiss when a loud thunder was heard in the village, making several ponies shudder.

Quickly, black storm clouds came and covered the whole village.

"But what is this?" Rarity asked. "I thought it would be sun. After all, we are still in the summer."

Rarity saw her friend Rainbow Dash passing and asked her:

"Rainbow Dash, but what is this?"

"I don’t know," she replied. "This shouldn’t be happening."

The blue pegasus hastened to go deal with the clouds, but as ahe approached them, lightning came and hit her, throwing her hard against the floor.

"Rainbow!" Rarity exclaimed as she and Shadow Claw approaches. "Are you okay?"

She rose with her head spinning and replied:

"I think so."

But then things got complicated, because the lightning started to hit several houses and set them on fire and some ponies ran to avoid being hit.

"But what's going on?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I have a bad feeling about this" Shadow Claw said.

But then a tremendous snowstorm came and began to freeze the entire village. There was evil laughter and then a cloud came down from the sky and there were the Trix.

"I hope you are having fun, Ponyville" Icy said. "Because the fun is just getting started."

"But who are those three?" Rarity asked.

"They’re probably villains of the Lord of Chaos" Rainbow Dash said, turning to Shadow Claw. "Colleagues of yours?"

"I don’t know" Shadow Claw said. "I never saw them, not even in Tartarus."

"It seems that these ponies are quite skittish" Darcy said to her sisters. "Let's see if I can make them run faster."

From her horn, she released darkness that took the form of a giant snake that started crawling around the village and scaring everypony.

"Hey, you!" Rainbow Dash said, flying to them. "What do you think are doing?"

"You see, sisters, a bully" Icy said.

"Let’s show her what we do with the bullies" Stormy said, making sparks coming out from her horn.

She threw more lightning against Rainbow Dash who tried to deviate from them as she could.

"Hey, I thought that lightning fell only once in the same place."

She tried to swerve, but that seemed to be too difficult.

"Let's go!" Rarity exclaimed.

She and Shadow Claw began to get out galloping and Rainbow Dash eventually followed them, flying. Soon they come near Sweet Apple Acres.

"Well, I guess I'll see Jona" Cherry Blossom said. "I don’t see him since morning."

But when she was preparing to go to the farmhouse, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Shadow Claw appeared gasping.

"What tha hay is wrong with ya?" Applejack asked them. "It seems ya are runnin’ away from somethin’."

"In fact, we are" Rarity said.

"Really?” Apple Bloom asked. “From what?”

"From that!" Rainbow Dash said, while the black clouds arrived at the apple farm and lightning began to beat some apple trees.

They heard laughter and the Trix appeared with Icy saying:

"It seems that we now have enough targets to train our powers, girls."

Cherry Blossom froze when she saw Icy and heard her voice.

"No, it can’t be" she said, beginning to retreat. "Not you."

Icy noticed her and said:

"Look who she is. How are you, Bloom?"

"Icy? Darcy? Stormy? "Cherry Blossom asked, not wanting to believe.

"You seem surprised to see us" Icy commented.

"Yes, don’t you are happy to see us?" Stormy asked.

"You know these three, Cherry?" Applejack asked, as she put in front of Apple Bloom.

"They are witches from my dimension" she said. "They are my greatest enemy. But I don’t see how they can be here."

"Courtesy of the great Lord of Chaos" Darcy said. "He wants us to cause some chaos here."

"That's why I don’t recognize you" Shadow Claw said. "You are not villains of this world."

"Exactly" Icy said. "And we are here to take revenge on you, Bloom. You will pay for what you did to us."

Big Mac then placed himself in front of Cherry and said to the witches:

"Only over mah dead body."

"Look, girls, it seems that this is Bloom’s famous new love that we heard about" Darcy said to her sisters.

"Hilarious" Stormie said. "From a prince boyfriend to a farmer husband."

"Enough talk" Icy said. "Let's do what we came for."

"Well, farm boy, let’s respect your request, shall we?" Stormy said.

She launched a lightning from her horn that hi Big Mac and cast to the ground.

"Big Mac" everypony called.

Seeing her almost-unconscious husband, Cherry turned to the Trix and told them:

"Trix, you will pay for this!"

"I sincerely doubt about it" Icy said. "Darcy!"

"Here it goes" she said.

And from her horn, she released an immense darkness that covered everypony. They couldn’t see anything. Finally, the smoke dissipated and they saw that they had disappeared... with Cherry.

"Oh no, Cherry!" Big Mac exclaimed, getting up.

"Those three kidnapped her!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Ah have tah do somethin’!" Big Mac said. "Ah will find her and rescue her and then Ah will deal with those three!"

"Take it easy, big brother" Apple Bloom asked, who was not used to see her older brother so exalted.

"Apple Bloom's right, Big Mac" Applejack said. "Ya wouldn’t stand much against those three. Did ya see tha powers they had."

"But I cannot stay here while they have mah wife, AJ" Big Mac said.

"Big Mac, Cherry is a good friend of mine and I want to save her, but Applejack’s right" Rainbow Dash said.

"I think we only need to ask for help from those who have the power to defeat them" Shadow Claw said. "I think you know who I mean."

"Twilight!" Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash exclaimed in unison.

"And the Generals" Shadow Claw said. "After all, they managed to defeat me, when... well, you know. And I think they are about to realize what happened, given the damage they caused."

In the Light Kingdom, Twilight and Blue were enjoying a good time with their son in the castle gardens, when Mirror Coat appeared and said:

"Your Highnesses, it happened something horrible."

"What's up, Mirror Coat?" Twilight asked.

"Ponyville was attacked" the General of Knowledge said.

"What?!" Twilight and Blue asked at the same time.

"It was even a moment ago" Mirror Coat said.

"Mirror Coat, gather your siblings" Twilight said. "This may be an attack of the Lord of Chaos."

"They are all in the throne room waiting" Mirror Coat replied.

"Perfect" Twilight said, turning then to her husband. "Can you stay with Star?"

"Go rested" Blue Sword said. "Let me know if you need help."

"Sure" she replied, giving him kiss and then turning to her son. "Mommy has to go work now. I see you later, my little one."

And she gave a kiss on Star’s forehead and then followed Mirror Coat to the throne room, where there were the other Generals.

"I don’t understand" Twilight said, coming up with Mirror Coat. "If there is another villain attacking, the alarm should have fired."

"Not in this case, princess" Golden Paladin said.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

The General of Peace waved to Mirror Coat that created a mirror that showed to Twilight the Trix destroying Ponyville.

"But who are they?" Twilight asked.

"They are called the Trix and they are really bad" Heartbeat said.

"They are not from here" Leaf Mane saod. "That's why the alarm didn’t fire, because it is only scheduled for the villains of Tartarus."

"This means that they are... out of this world?" Twilight asked. "But from where?"

"From the same world that your friend Cherry Blossom" Golden Paladin said. "In fact, they are her greatest enemies."

"What?!" Twilight asked. "And how is Cherry?"

The the Generals of Order exchanged glances with each other and then Golden Paladin said:

"Unfortunately, she was kidnapped by them."

Twilight didn’t wanted to believe. Cherry was a good friend of hers and now she was in trouble because of her old enemies.

"I don’t want to imagine how Big Mac is" Twilight said. "All right, let's go to Ponyville."

They waved.

In the Trix’s hiding place they had found, they had tied Cherry Blossom. She regained consciousness and saw the three witches in front of her with a mischievous smile.

"Look who decided to wake up" Icy said. "So Bloom, are you comfortable?"

"You will not get away with this" Cherry said to them.

"Do you think so?" Darcy asked. "We disagree. After all, we have what we want you, don’t we?"

"And all we were told to do to have you was to cause chaos and destruction" Stormy said. "My favorite activity."

"Now, Bloom, it's time for you to pay for all the suffering that you have made to us" Icy said.

She began to charge her horn with magic, while her sisters did the same. Bloom closed her eyes, waiting for the pain. But then a voice said:

"What do you think you are doing?"

The Trix turned and Cherry opened her eyes. A darkness came and from it appeared the Lord of Chaos.

"What do you think we are doing?" Icy asked. "We are having our revenge."

"Before you fulfill your part?" the Lord of Chaos asked. "I don’t think so."

"Calm down, all right?" Darcy said. "We will treat what you told us to do."

"Yes, let's just deal with Bloom and will have all this land burned" Stormy said.

"I don’t want it burned after" the Lord of Chaos said. "I want it NOW!"

The Lord of Chaos’ cry made the Trix shudder, while a thunder was heard.

"If you don’t respect my requirements, you will return to that cell where I got you" the Lord of Chaos said. "Is that clear?!"

But Trix didn’t respond.

"I'm not listening to you" the Lord of Chaos said.

"Yes, sir" the three witches answered.

"Perfect" the Lord of Chaos said. "So go back to work. I'll be watching you."

He then turned to Cherry and told her:

"Cherry, or should I say Bloom, it's so good to see you."

"The feeling is not mutual" she replied.

The Lord of Chaos laughed and then said:

"Good."

And then he disappeared.

"What do we do, Icy?" Stormy asked. "We have the opportunity to end Bloom. She doesn’t have her powers. We have ours."

"You heard what the Lord of Chaos said, Stormy" Darcy said. "He will get us back to our cell if we not obey him."

"Darcy’s right" Icy said. "We cannot disobey to the most evil and powerful being of all. You both treat to destroy. I'll be watching our prisoner."

"Oh, you want us to believe that you're not going to do anything while we're gone?" Stormy asked cynically.

"The Lord of Chaos is watching us" Icy recalled. "Don’t worry, Bloom will be in one piece when you two arrive. Now, go. The faster you do the job, the sooner we will have our revenge."

Stormy and Darcy looked at each other and then they teleported themselves. Once they are gone, Cherry say to Icy:

"I can not believe you think the Lord of Chaos will remain true to his word."

"Shut up, will you?" Icy said to her. "If we’ll stay here, is for you to keep quiet."

"You're making a big mistake, Icy" Cherry said. "The Lord of Chaos is just using you and then he will discard you when you three cease to be helpful to him, just as Darkar, Valtor and Tritanus used you and discarded you."

"Probably" Icy said. "But I and my sisters will do everything possible to postpone this moment. And when it comes, you will not be to see him."

"Not if they are caught in the meantime" Cherry said. "Not this plano f the Lord of Chaos Lord doesn’t work."

"Oh, it will work" Icy said. "We will burn this land and spread fear so the Lord of Chaos can feed from it."

"Icy, I know the alicorn princesses and the Generals of Order" Cherry said. "They will beat you and your sisters and arrest you in a place where you can never escape for yourselves. A worse place than where you were. They will make to you the same they did to all the other villains that the Lord of Chaos sent. They..."

But she didn’t finished because Icy used her magic to invoke a rope to muzzle Cherry.

"I told you and I’ll repeat" the witch said. "Be quiet!"

In Ponyville, Twilight and the Generals of Order appeared in the place where the others were.

"Thanks Celestia" Rarity said as she, Rainbow Dash and Applejack would hug Twilight. "We’re glad you came, Twilight. Cherry..."

"We know" Twilight said. "That's why we're here."

"Ya’ll save Cherry, won’t ya, Twilight?" Big Mac asked.

"Of course" Twilight said. "And we will also defeat those witches before they can cause more damage."

"It's too late for that, Your Highness" Mirror Coat said. "See."

He used his magic to summon a floating mirror that showed to everypony Stormy and Darcy. They were in different places: Darcy was in Tall Tale Stormy and Stormy was in Filly Delphia, but they were doing the same thing: destroying everything in sight and cause chaos.

"They are doing what it was ordered to them" Shadow Claw said. "Cause chaos and destruction, so the Lord of Chaos can feed from the fear generated by them."

"They are continuing the work Kraken, Acromantula and Cyclops were doing" Golden Paladin said.

"But the worst is that these witches are smarter and more efficient" Mirror Coat said. "If we did nothing, all Equestria will burn and will not be long until the Empire Crystal and possibly the Light Kingdom suffer the same fate."

"Wait, they are only two" Applejack said. "Where is the other?"

"Icy" Heartbeat said. "She must be with Cherry."

"Can ya find her?" Big Mac asked.

"I don’t know" Mirror Coat said, making the map of Equestria appear. "They should still be in Equestria, but I cannot say where."

"Maybe I can help" Heartbeat said, advancing to the map. "Recently, I felt a rush of negative energy. How it was momentary, I didn’t care about it, but it was great. The Lord of Chaos type."

"Where?" Golden Paladin asked.

"Well, here" Heartbeat said, pointing to Ghastly Gorge.

"So that's where Ah must go" Big Mac said.

"Big Mac, ya cannot go" Applejack said. "What if somethin’ happens tah ya? Think ‘bout li’l Jona."

"It’s fer him that Ah'm doin’ this ... and fer Cherry" Big Mac said. "It’s my duty to rescue her."

"So I'll go with you, Big Mac" Twilight said. "You're going to need help to deal with Icy. Heartbeat, you come with us."

"Sure" she replied.

"Golden Paladin, you and the others have to stop Stormy and Darcy" Twilight said.

"Don’t worry, princess" he said. "We will stop them."

Twilight then turned to her friends and told them:

"I need you to watch over things here and help the ponies that need. After an attack like this, there may be somepony in need of help."

"You can count on us, Twilight" Rainbow Dash said, saluting.

"We will give our best" Rarity said.

"And that's a promise" Applejack said.

"I'll help," Shadow Claw said.

"Me too" Apple Bloom said.

Twilight smiled and then she and Heartbeat teleported themselves, taking Big Mac with them.

"Okay, guys, let’s go" Applejack said.

And she, Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom, Rarity and Shadow Claw went to the village. After they depart, Golden Paladin turned to his siblings and said:

"Well, come on stop those witches. Mirror Coat and Purple Smoke, you deal with Darcy."

"Sure" Mirror Coat replied.

"It will be a pleasure" Purple Smoke said.

"Leaf Mane and Melody, you come with me to stop Stormy" Golden Paladin said.

They waved. With the tasks distributed, the five teleported themselves.

Darcy had moved from Tall Tale to Vanhoover where she was terrifying the ponies with her extremely realistic illusions, while flying over and destroyed buildings.

"This is being fairly easy" she said. "But anyway, after this city, I will advance to the so-called Empire Crystal."

"That will not happen!" a voice exclaimed.

She turned and saw Mirror Coat on the ground.

"And who are you to say something like these?" Darcy asked.

"I'm Mirror Coat, the General of Knowledge" he said.

"So you are one of the famous Generals of Order that the Lord of Chaos talked about?" Darcy asked. "You don’t seem a big deal."

"Neither you compared to your sisters" Mirror Coat replied. "I really have to say. Do you call this an illusion? A unicorn baby can do much better.”

"What did you say?" Darcy asked, offended. "You'll pay for this insult. Take this."

And she launched a black beam from her horn that hit Mirror Coat that simply snapped in mirror shards.

"What ?!" she asked, not wanting to believe. "An illusion."

"I told you that your tricks were not very good" Mirror Coat said, appearing a few feet away from where the illusion was.

"And you still call yourself the witch of illusions" another Mirror Coat said, appearing on the top of a building.

"You're pathetic" another said.

"More than pathetic" another said.

"You're lower than an amateur" another said.

When Darcy found herself, she was surrounded by Mirror Coats.

"How..." Darcy began before recovering her composure. "So, you want to fight, right? Whatever."

Using her magic, illusions of herself were invoked and, channeling her power to them, she began to destroy the copies Mirror Coat had, hoping to hit the real one. However, when she turned to the last one, she saw that it was also an illusion.

"So that's how you want to play?!" Darcy asked to the air, on land, referring to Mirror Coat. "Hiding up behind your glass dolls?"

"I thought it was how you played" a voice said.

Darcy turned and saw Mirror Coat, the real one (as this one was shining with his light unlike the others), appearing.

"I thought you also hide yourself behind the illusions and then attack like a coward you are" Mirror Coat said. "At least, I have the dignity to show my face to my enemy."

"Unless you are the true General of Knowledge, you are just doing the same" Darcy said.

Mirror Coat smiled and said:

"I am the true one. You can see that I am different from the others."

"So, finally, I can do... this!"

And Darcy moved quickly towards Mirror Coat, carrying her horn with magic, but she saw that Mirror didn’t moved away and was displaying a slight smile. Was it...

It was then that purple smoke appeared from nowhere and involved Darcy. Breathing it, Darcy began to feel dizzy and had no strength to stand and fell to the ground. With her head slightly to the wheel, she saw the smoke dissipate and noticed the stallion stood beside Mirror Coat. It was Purple Smoke.

"Just because I showed my face, it doesn’t mean I have stopped using illusions, my dear" Mirror Coat said to her.

"And now it's time for you to pay by your actions" Purple Smoke said, invoking the cell blaster.

The General of Talent appointed it to Darcy and sucked her to the life cell. Then invoked the prison-book and put it in there.

After causing some destruction in Filly Delohia and in Baltimare, Stormy progressed further south, precisely in the direction of the Light Kingdom.

"The Lord of Chaos said to not approach the Light Kingdom because of the Generals" Stormy said. "I want to see how he will react when he learns that I destroyed that kingdom."

Then she crashed into a barrier so hard that she fell to the ground, getting foot landing at the last moment with the help of magic.

"What the hell was that?"

"That was me" a voice said.

And then Golden Paladin appeared a few meters from Stormy.

"And who are you?" She asked.

"My name is Golden Paladin and I’m the General Peace, the leader of the Generals of Order" he said.

"So you're the leader of the Generals" Stormy said. "I've heard about you and the others."

"So if you heard about us, you should know that we already defeated many of the Lord of Chaos’ villains" Golden Paladin said.

"Yes, I've heard all that crap" Stormy said. "But if you think you'll manage to defeat me, then you are very much mistaken."

"Is the youth of today so arrogant?" Golden Paladin asked. "You should not underestimate us. You can pay for that... like now."

Suddenly, Stormy was hit by a sonic scream that made her lead her hooves to the ears. It was a sound so acute that she barely could think. She looked all around and then saw Melody approaching and giving the scream that was disorienting her.

Loading her horn with magic, lightning was fired against her, but then a root appeared from nowhere and absorbed the lightning. Leaf Mane was there, having protected Melody with her magic on nature. After that, she concentrated her magic on Stormy and roots then appeared around her and bound her, holding her firmly. Once Stormy was trapped, Melody stopped her sonic scream and she and her siblings approached. Stormy tried to break free from the roots with her magic, but the lightning conjured were absorbed by the roots that then lead them to the ground.

"I told you to not underestimate us" Golden Paladin said, invoking the cell blaster. "To the next time, follow the advice I gave you."

And he absorbed her to the life cell and then deposited it in the prison-book. Shortly thereafter, Mirror Coat and Purple Smoke appeared.

"Good job, guys" Golden Paladin said, seeing Darcy and Stormy trapped in their cells. "I hope the princess and Heartbeat are being able to handle Icy and save Cherry Blossom."

Twilight, Heartbeat and Big Mac walked through Ghastly Gorge.

"Are you sure they are here, Heartbeat?" Twilight asked.

"Of course, after all I am the General of Affection" she said.

Heartbeat then stopped and said, pointing to a cave:

"There. I can feel it. It’s Cherry Blossom... and Icy."

"Well, let’s go" said Big Mac, beginning to move.

"Wait, Big Mac" Twilight said, stopping him. "Maybe I should go first with Heartbeat."

"But it's mah wife" Big Mac protested.

"I know, but you have to understand" Twilight said. "Icy is a very powerful witch. Let me and Heartbeat deal with her. While we keep her busy, you can free Cherry."

Big Mac thought for a few seconds and then said:

"Okay."

In the cave, Icy walked from one side to the other, getting impatient.

"But where are they? Why are they taking too long?"

"Maybe because they have been defeated" a voice said.

Either Icy as Cherry Blossom turned and saw Twilight and Heartbeat. Cherry was very happy to see them.

"But what is this?" Icy asked, in a tone of joy. "A filly and her baby-sitter?"

"Hey, who are you calling filly?!" Heartbeat asked, offended, then repairing in her body. "Well, yes, I am a filly, but not any filly! I am the General of Affection."

"Wait, you're a General of Order?" Icy asked, with a laugh. "Yeah, right."

"It's the truth!" Heartbeat exclaimed, starting to get angry.

The growing anger of Heartbeat began to slightly shake the place, but Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder, which made her calm and to stop the shaking. After that, Twilight came forward and said:

"I am Princess Twilight, the ruler of the Light Kingdom, and I demand that you release our friend, Icy."

"If not what... princess?" Icy asked. "Do you think I'm afraid of you two? You don’t even give me the creeps."

Then a red beam came out of nowhere and hit Icy hard and threw her against the wall of the cave.

"Heartbeat!" Twilight said, turning to the little General.

"Sorry, but she was annoying me" she said.

Icy rose up, extremely angry, and using her magic, she made the temperature drops sharply, while snow was beginning to appear.

"Enough!" She exclaimed.

And she released a white beam that was caught by a barrier created by Twilight. A battle began between Icy and Twilight and Heartbeat.

Realizing it was his cue, Big Mac came in and proceeded to Cherry. When she noticed him, the stallion was already on the verge of her to untie her. Cherry had never been so happy to see the stallion she loved. As soon as he untied her and she removed her gag, the two exchanged a big hug.

Noting that Cherry Blossom was untied, Icy said:

"No!"

And she launched against them a white beam. Big Mac put himself in front of Cherry to protect her, but does not happen any clash since Heartbeat quickly appeared and protected them with a red shield. When Icy’s attack stopped, Heartbeat broke the defensed and launched a more intense red beam that hit in Icy that started moaning in pain. Twilight joined the attack with another beam and together, the princess and the General managed to subdue Icy, who was lying on the ground, defeated.

"I'm sorry that things have come to this" Twilight said, invoking the cell blaster. "But you and your sisters have not given us no choice."

She charged the cell blaster with her magic and so she casted a violet light that hit Icy and began to suck her into the cell life. After that, Twilight invoked the prison-book and put Icy there.

"There" she said, also seeing the other two witches in their cells. "The Trix will no longer return to bother us."

"If I were you, Twilight, I wouldn’t say that" Cherry Blossom advised. "These three always find way to cause problems."

"But within the prison-book, they will not have many opportunities" Heartbeat guaranteed. "It is designed to be inviolable. No villain manages to escape from there."

"Well, I don’t know how to thank you" Cherry Blossom said. "You saved me."

"You are our friend" Twilight said. "Of course we save you."

"And ya are mah wife" Big Mac said to her. "Did ya think that Ah would stand doin’ nothin’?"

Cherry Blossom smiled and lightly passed her hoof across his face and the two shared a kiss.

"That's why I love you" she said.

Twilight then noticed a tear in Heartbeat’s eye corner.

"Heartbeat, are you... crying?" She asked.

"Of course I am" the General of Affection replied, wiping her eyes. "The happy endings like this always make me cry."

They then returned to Ponyville, where Cherry Blossom could return to her family, strongly embracing her son when she saw him.

The Chaos Lord was seeing that, but soon made the image disappears. He said:

"You may have locked the Trix in your little book. But that didn’t stop my plan."

He then began to laugh, as darkness began to envelop him. Fire Punch was slightly intimidated and stepped back. The Lord of Chaos began to laugh and then said:

"All the fear and chaos caused only strengthened me. It's time to start to play seriously. It's time to make my enemies bow before me!"

And he gave such a loud laugh that the thundering clouds that filled the sky where Tartarus was rumbled to the rhythm of the laughter of the master of all evil.

The Return of the Sirens, Part I - The Muse Lost Her Voice

It was a perfect day in the Light Kingdom and Melody walked around the castle with a cheerful floor and spread the same joy through her wonderful voice. All those who heard her singing just stopped to listen her, interrupting any activity they were doing.

Melody also loved her voice. It was not vanity or something. It was because she loved to sing and loved others to hear her and feel happier. Her music always helped to calm the most conflicting hearts and it was she who kept part of the harmony in the Light Kingdom, and her voice was one of the main defenses of the kingdom.

After singing at the castle, Melody walked through the kingdom streets, where the ponies watched her amazed and some greeted her. She went to the forest where the animals approached, also captivated by Melody’s voice and also for her kind nature. Of all the places in the Light Kingdom, the forest was undoubtedly the place she liked the best, because the animals liked genuinely her, seeing through her voice.

The only person who didn’t like her music was the Lord of Chaos who was wathcing that with immense disgust.

"Look at that, Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos said. "I hate music, especially Melody’s damn voice."

"I don’t know, master" Fire Punch said. "She appears to sings quite well."

But when he received the harsh gaze of his master, he hastened to say:

"Yes, you're right, it's horrible."

"The point is that Melody’s music represents everything I hate: harmony and calm" the Lord of Chaos said. "Especially that voice, which is a key pillar of the defense of the Light Kingdom."

"Yes, can you imagine what would happen if Melody lost her voice?" Fire Punch asked. "It would be very bad to the Light Kingdom."

That made the Lord of Chaos meditate and then he said:

"Fire Punch, you are all right. I walked all this time trying to destroy that damn kingdom when I could just win by depriving it from its own defenses. If Melody’s voice disappears, things can play in my favor."

"But, master, even if we get rid of Melody’s voice, we still have to deal with the other Generals and their defenses" Fire Punch said.

"Therefore I will deal with them as well" the Lord of Chaos said, laughing.

Melody have arrived at the castle and, when a maid was passing by her, she asked her:

"Sorry, did it arrive by chance any package for me?"

"No, Miss Melody" she said.

"Oh, okay" Melody said. "Thank you any way."

The maid then advanced.

"Are you waiting for something?" a voice asked.

Melody turned and saw Heartbeat.

"Actually, yes" Melody said. "I ordered a herbal tea they said to be perfect for the voice. After all, I have to take care of my voice, isn’t it?"

"You're right" Heartbeat said. "It would be bad if you lost it."

"Well, I have to go" Melody said. "They're waiting for me in the studio. Goodbye."

And having said that, she teleported herself.

Seeing that scene, the Lord of Chaos said:

"Interesting. So our dear General of Music is waiting for a special tea."

Passing a hand in front of the mirror, the Lord of Chaos made the image change to a pony that took packages to the Light Kingdom. He was passing the dense forest that divided the Light Kingdom from Equestria.

"Perfect" the Lord of Chaos said. "He has not yet arrived to the Light Kingdom.”

He made the image disappear and then turned to Fire Punch, saying:

"Fire Punch, I have a mission for you."

"Just say" he replied.

"I need you to intercept that pony and switch the content of the Melody’s package for this" the Lord of Chaos said, invoking a bottle with a liquid similar to a tea.

"What is it?" Fire Punch asked, getting the bottle.

"Just a little surprise for our beloved singer" the Lord of Chaos replied, maliciously.

"I'll get right on it" Fire Punch said, disappearing.

"Meanwhile, I’ll see this studio of hers" the Lord of Chaos said, snapping his fingers.

In the mirror, the image of Canterlot appeared. There was a new building created by Melody: a music studio where ponies could go to sing or play all kinds of instruments. There, amateur bands could practice and even take classes with singers and musicians hired by Melody, the studio's founder.

Twilight’s friends were there because they had decided to create a band (Rainbow Dash’s idea, of course) to spend free-time and had been registered in the studio to practice. They were sitting in the lounge area, where many students were there, exchanging ideas and talking.

"All right, girls, don’t forget that we have practice this afternoon" Rainbow Dash said.

"We know, Rainbow Dash" Applejack said. "Ya don’t have tah always remind us."

"Yes, because I'm always counting the minutes until that time comes" Pinkie said, briskly. "I cannot wait!"

The others laughed before Pinkie Pie’s excitement.

Then an orange light came on stage that was in the room, something that caught the attention of the ponies there, and they saw Melody appearing.

"Hello, everypony" she greeted them. "I expect you are having a good time in the studio and learning and enjoying music."

There was a pause and then Melody continued:

"Well, I have something to communicate to you. As you know, summer is ending and with that comes the autumn equinox which is celebrated with the Autumn Equinox Ball."

Soon it began to hear whispers everywhere.

"I know this ball is a very important tradition, especially for those who have a coltfriend or a marefriend, and that's why... that I convinced Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to leave the subscribers of the studio act at the ball that is going to happen here in Canterlot."

Upon hearing that, the ponies were getting immensely excited.

"Whoever wants to register to act is at ease. I hope you practice a lot and can honor our studio and the music."

And having said that, Melody disappeared again. After that, the room was filled with noise with the ponies speaking about the ball.

"Oh, good, this will be awesome!" Rainbow Dash said. "We can finally act to a large audience and show everypony what we can do. Do you know what that means?"

Pinkie Pie looked her hoof up and asked:

"That we will be able to give ponies joy that we can transmit through music and so raise their spirit?"

That made everypony look to Pinkie that asked:

"What?"

"Any way..." Rainbow Dash said. "This means we'll have to practice more."

She waited for her friends react the same exciting way, but they didn’t.

"Well, I expected a little more joy."

"Rainbow, is not fer nothin’, but do ya know how many times we practice every day?" Applejack asked.

Rainbow mused on Applejack’s quetion, but it was Rarity who answered:

"Five. Two in the morning, two in the afternoon and yet one before we go to sleep. And not to mention that time we woke us in the middle of the night to practice a sixth."

"That's why we have to practice, girls" Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah, Rainbow, we know, but we also need tah rest and relax" Applejack said.

The other nodded in agreement.

"Sorry, Rainbow, but I think Applejack’s right" Fluttershy said.

Rainbow then sighed and said:

"Okay, let's reduce the practice time. But don’t blame me if our performance is not as good as it should when the ball arrives."

The Lord of Chaos continued to watch the studio when Fire Punch appeared.

"So?" the Lord of Chaos asked, looking at the mirror.

"It's all dealt" Fire Punch said. "Melody will receive your bottle."

"Perfect" the Lord of Chaos said, standing up. "Come with me. I want to show you something."

Intrigued, Fire Punch followed the Lord of Chaos out of the room until they get to the hall where there were the cells.

"But what do you want to show me, master?" Fire Punch asked.

"You'll see" the Lord of Chaos answered.

They then reached the middle of the hallway and then the Lord of Chaos hit with his spear on the floor once and a stone pillar rose from the ground. At the top, there was a keyhole. The Lord of Chaos invoked the key of Tartarus, inserted it in the keyhole and ran it.

Suddenly, to the astonishment of Fire Punch, stairs appear to drive down. They went down them and reached a dark corridor that was lit by torches when they arrived. It was a small hallway that contained six cell doors, three on each side. These doors had no railings, being made of heavy metal and invulnerable to magic. Each of the doors had the representation of the Cutie Marks of each General of Order: a circular sheet music with notes and clefs to Melody, a palette and brushes to Purple Smoke; a tree to Leaf Mane, the infinite symbol inside of a mirror to Mirror Coat, a heart with a white feather wing and a black bat wing to Heartbeat and a sword with white wings to Golden Paladin.

"Master, where are we?" Fire Punch asked.

"We are in solitary of Tartarus, where the worst of the villains who were defeated by the Generals of Order of the Light Kingdom are" the Lord of Chaos replied. "Each of these cells contains a powerful villain who was defeated by each Generals and were an even greater danger than the other villains."

"Wow!” Fire Punch exclaimed. “But if you have these villains still in reserve, why have you not used them?" Fire Punch asked.

"Because I could not, your idiot" the Lord of Chaos said. "These cells were designed to keep the doors from being opened either from inside and outside. It would take a very powerful magic to break them, something that only the Generals, my brother and I can do. And if I release them using my power, my brother could intervene and I cannot allow him to intervene."

"But if that’s true, how will you release them now?" Fire Punch asked.

"Using the dark energy that I took from the fear of the ponies when I used my other villains" the Lord of Chaos replied. "I have been waiting for the moment to have enough energy to break down these doors without use my magic. And it's time to use it... on this door."

He pointed to the door with Melody’s Cutie Mark and dark energy was launched against it. When it was hit by the energy, the door began to crack and then simply broke up. Fire Punch looked and then saw three figures appearing. When light of the flames lit them up, he saw three earth mares. The one that was in the middle had a pale apple green coat, a luminous vivid orange mane with brilliant yellow streaks, brilliant raspberry eyes and a gem with a G-clef as Cutie Mark. The mare at her right had a pale, light grayish fuchsia coat, a moderate purple mane with light brilliant aquamarine streaks, moderate mulberry eyes and a two-toned purple star with the forte symbol. The mare at the left had an arctic bluish white coat, a light arctic blue mane with moderate persian blue stripes, moderate raspberry eyes and a blue and purple jagged eighth note on a pink heart as Cutie Mark. However, the three had the same red gem pendants.

"It was about time, my master" the mare in the middle said. "Since we began to think that you had forgotten us."

"How could I forget you" the Lord of Chaos replied her, turning then to Fire Punch. "Fire Punch, let me introduce you yo Adagio Dazzle" indicated the mare in the middle "Aria Blaze" indicated the mare at the right "and Sonata Dusk" indicated the one at the left.

"Hello, how are you?" Sonata asked to Fire Punch, cheerfully. "My name is Sonata."

"The Lord of Chaos has already presented you, Sonata" Aria said. "You really are an idiot."

"Hey, you're the one who is an idiot" Sonata replied.

"I'm so sorry, my master" Adagio said to the Lord of Chaos. "But being locked in a confined cell for centuries didn’t work very well to some of us."

"Never mind, my dear" the Lord of Chaos said.

"So you three are Melody’s enemies" Fire Punch noted.

"Of course we are" Adagio said. "She shut us here after we have tried to create disharmony between ponies."

"Really?" Fire Punch asked.

"They are not ponies, Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos explained. "They are Sirens, creatures who can turn ponies against each other with their voices. Their voices are so powerful that they can even affect the Generals of Order. Well, all Melody. She used it in her favor, and together with her voice and her music, she beat them and held them here."

"Yes, and that’s why we want our vengeance" Adagio said.

"You will not have to worry about that any more, Adagio" the Lord of Chaos said. "I have prepared the ground for a new plan of mine that will satisfy both your desire for revenge and my desire to conquer this world."

The three Sirens exchanged glances and Adagio said to the Lord of Chaos:

"We are all ears."

Melody returned to the castle in the middle of afternoon and when she arrived there, Heartbeat appeared and told him:

"Oh, Melody, a package had arrived for you. It should be your tea."

"Perfect!" She exclaimed. "Where is it?"

"I took it to your room" Heartbeat replied. "Do not worry, I didn’t move your things."

"Good" Melody said, while Heartbeat walked away.

The General of Music went to her room which was decorated with lots of musical notes and with light instruments hanging from the ceiling and some heavier ones around the room. Another feature was her giant closet (whose door was now closed) that had all her dresses and accessories and even a mirror. She then found the package on top of her bed. She went over it and opened it where there was a bottle with what appeared to be tea.

Using her magic, Melody mae a cup of tea appear and then poured some tea, putting the bottle again in the box. Taking the cup to her mouth with magic, Melody took a few sips light. But then something happened. An immense pain arose in her throat, something that made her spit the tea that she was taking.

"What the..." she said, but in a hoarse, almost faint voice.

Melody held her breath when she heard that voice coming out of her mouth. She tried to speak but she couldn’t. Completely panicked, she ran out of her room and went to her siblings, in the hope that they could help.

When she could find them and showed them the situation, they returned to her room, where Mirror Coat watched her throat. Twilight, Heartbeat, Leaf Mane and Golden Paladin were there, while Purple Smoke was watching the bottle with the substance that Melody had drunk.

"Yes, you really have a great swelling" Mirror Coat said to Melody. "I think you'll not be able to sing in the near future."

That made Melody become immensely discouraged because singing was her life.

"You cannot do anything?" Golden Paladin asked.

"No" Mirror Coat replied. "I think she just has to wait for the swelling to disappear. Unless I can identify the substance she ingested and can create an antidote."

"So let me save you time, bro" Purple Smoke said, lowering the bottle. "It’s poison joke essence."

"So the problem is resolved" Twilight said. "There is a cure the effects."

"Not for this type of poison joke" Purple Smoke said. "It’s a mutant species with longer lasting effects that are more resistant than conventional. It is quite rare so it is surprising that its essence is over this tea."

"Unless someone has put it in there" Golden Paladin said.

"It must have been the Lord of Chaos" Leaf Mane said.

"But why he wants Melody to lose her voice?" Twilight asked.

"Beyond the fact he hates her music, because Melody’s voice is her best weapon" Mirror Coat explaind. "It is also part of the main defenses of the Light Kingdom. Melody’s songs relax and calm the light ponies and ultimately enhance their light."

"That means... we are more vulnerable?" Twilight asked, a little worried.

"There's nothing to worry about, princess" Golden Paladin said. "Yes, we are more vulnerable than before, but there is still our defenses. We are still safe."

Twilight was relieved, but then noticed that Melody was not happy and the princess understood it, after all singing was the thing she liked to do the most.

"Still, it's best we cure Melody the fast we can" Twilight said.

"Yes, the princess is absolutely right!" Heartbeat exclaimed, before adopting a more thoughtfully. "But how do we do that?"

"Purple Smoke, do you know how to make a cure?" Twilight asked.

Purple Smoke was going to answer, but Mirror Coat spoke first:

"Of course not. There is no doubt that Purple Smoke can’t do it. The only thing we can do it’s wait."

"I’m sorry?" Purple Smoke asked. "Do you think I cannot find a cure?"

"If experienced botanicals couldn’t do it, do you think you can?" Mirror Coat asked.

"I don’t know if you noticed, Mirror Coat, but it was me who gave the talent with plants to all those botanicals" Purple Smoke said. "And you know what, I'll find a cure for the essence of mutant poison joke."

And having said that, he grabbed Melody’s hoof and began to take her out of her room, as he said:

"Come, Melody, I’ll heal you."

She tried to fight, knowing what expected to her if Purple Smoke would try to cure her. However, he was stronger and, therefore, she had no choice but to go with him.

"Poor Melody, she will suffer so much serveing as a guinea pig to Purple Smoke’s experiences" Heartbeat said, apparently sorry for Melody, before moving to a more cheerful air. "It should be fun! I have to see it! Wait for me!"

She left quickly to go after her brother and sister, while others gave laughter.

Then the alarm started ringing.

"Perfect, just perfect" Golden Paladin said.

"It's time for work" Mirror Coat said.

"If you want, I can go with you" Twilight said.

"It’s not necessary, princess" Golden Paladin said. "We can handle it."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, of course" Golden Paladin said. "After all, we are three Generals against... whatever the Lord of Chaos may have sent."

He then turned to Mirror Coat and Leaf Mane and told them:

"All right, let’s go."

They waved and the three teleported themselves.

The three Generals reached Vanhoover where they went to the focus of the alarm and saw a bar where it was happening an immense confusion. When they got there they saw that all the ponies there were arguing a lot.

"But what's going on here?" Leaf Mane asked.

"It seems they are all arguing for no reason" Mirror Coat said.

By accessing her magic, Golden Paladin charged his horn and then released a magical pulse that hit in all ponies. After a few seconds, they eventually calmed and discussions ceased.

"Well done, Golden" Leaf Mane said.

"Not bad" Mirror Coat commented.

"Ending this sort of thing is my specialty" he said as the three moved away from the bar. "But that was not normal. How does an entire bar starts to argue that way for no reason?"

"If this was the work of one of the villains of Tartarus, then it must be someone very good to spread discord" Leaf Mane said, as they advanced to the outskirts of the city.

"But there are plenty of villains that can do that" Mirror Coat said. "How will we find what we are facing?"

"Maybe turning in the right direction" a voice said.

When they heard that voice, the three Generals turned and saw the three Sirens nearby.

"It can’t be" Golden Paladin said, as surprised as his brother and sister. "Adagio? Aria? Sonata? But it was supposed you to be in solitary. Neither the Lord of Chaos can free the villains from there without resorting to his unique magic."

"It seems he can now" Adagio replied. "And now it's time to take revenge for all the centuries that we caught."

The three generals prepared themselves to attack, but the Sirens were faster and began to sing. Their singing was beautiful, but at the same time mesmerizing, having neither a point of joy that Melody’s had. When they heard them sing, Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Leaf Mane felt an intense pain in theirs ears that rendered them unable to defend or counter-attack. They took their hooves to the ears, but that didn’t soothe the dying sound that clouded their thoughts and made them fall to the ground, unconscious.

"Yes!" the Lord of Chaos exclaimed, seeing the Sirens defeating Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Leaf Mane. "And three Generals were defeated."

"Wow, they are really good" Fire Punch said. "Now, the only Generals who can intrude in our plans are the General Talent and the General of Affect. Without forgetting Twilight Sparkle."

"And they will not take any chances so the Sirens when they recover their full power" the Lord of Chaos said. "And I know the right way to do it."

And he just gave an evil laugh, watching Melody’s music studio through his mirror.

Author's Note

I hope you had enjoyed this first part of this special chapter where I presente you with the first of the top 6 of the villains of Tartarus: the Sirens.

The Return of the Sirens, Part II - Enchant, Divide and Conquer

On the morning of the next day, Twilight friends’ band, the Rainbooms, was ready to pratice in the room they had reserved for it. Each one was playing a different instrument: Rainbow Dash played a guitar, a bass to Applejack, Rarity had a keytar, Fluttershy had a tambourine and a drum for Pinkie Pie.

"All right, girls" Rainbow Dash said to the others. “Let’s go.”

"One, two, three" Pinkie Pie said, beating the drumsticks to start scoring pace with her drum and start the song.

The five then began to sing a song called "Better Than Ever". They sang the chorus all together and then shared with each other the rest of the letter.

At the end of the song, they seemed satisfied with their work, it was then that they heard what sounded like a cynical applause. They turned and saw Trixie, who had entered in Melody’s studio with them with her own band: Trixie and the Illusions.

"Not bad, Rainbow Dash" she said, with her cynical smile. "It seems that your band is playing reasonably well."

"What do you want from here, Trixie?" Rainbow Dash asked coldly. "I reserved the room for me and my friends."

"Don’t worry, I'm leaving" Trixie said. "After all, I have to prepare my great act for the Autumn Equinox Ball. I am sure it will surpass anything you play."

"That's what you wanted" Rainbow Dash said. "We will overcome you in the calm."

"Girls, do you realize it's not a competition, right?" Applejack asked.

"Of course I do" Rainbow Dash and Trixie answered at the same time.

"Well, I'm walking to my own pratice" said Trixie. "See you at lunch... losers."

And Trixie left. Rainbow Dash grunted and said:

"That Trixie gives me some nerves! But no matter, my band will roll with hers."

“Your band?” Rarity repeated, frowning as well as the others.

“Duh, it was my idea to start the Rainbooms so we could pass some days in Melody’s music studio” Rainbow Dash answered. “Plus I’m the lead singer and guitarist. By the way, Rarity, you’re still coming in a little late on the second verse and, Applejack, your bass solo could use a little work. But I’m sure you’ll get it together in time for the Autumn Equinox Ball.”

That made the unicorn and the earth pony make her a harsh look, which went unnoticed to the pegasus with the rainbow mane.

Rainbow looked at the existing clock in the room and then said:

“We’ve still got a few minutes before lunch starts. What do you say we do ‘Awesome As I Wanna Be’?”

“Uh, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked, approaching timidly with her personal notebook on her back. “I was wondering if we could maybe play the song I wrote?”

“We’ll get to it” Rainbow Dash replied, going to get her guitar.

That discouraged Fluttershy, who had struggled to write her letters in the hope they would be played by her and her friends. But because of her peaceful nature, she said:

“Oh. Okay.”

Then the voice of one of the headmasters (other than Melody), Swan Swong's, said through the existing speaker in the room:

“Fluttershy, please report to the main foyer.”

“Sorry, girls, but I volunteered to show some new ponies around the studio” Fluttershy said to her friends, keeping her tambourine in her saddlebags. “I thought it would be nice for them. See you later.”

And having said that, she left the room. Then Rainbow Dash said to the others:

"Well, it seems we have to practice without Fluttershy. Let’s go."

Fluttershy addressed the main foyer and said to the ponies who were there:

“Hi. Are you the ponies I’m supposed to show around?”

It turned out that the new ponies were, nothing more, nothing less, than Adagio, Aria and Sonata. They went a step ahead and Adagio said, showing a slightly sinister smile:

“We are.”

“Melody’s music studio is great” Fluttershy said, while starting to walk along with the others. “You’re really gonna love it.”

“Oh, yes, we really sense there’s something… harmonious about this place” Adagio answered, exchanging a few smiles with her Siren companions.

Then Fluttershy started to show them the studio.

“That’s the instrument store” Fluttershy said, pointing rooms. “The indoor garden is in there.”

They then went through a poster that was communicating the Autumn Equinox Ball and Fluttershy said:

“Oh, and the ponies from the studio will act at the Autumn Equinox Ball! The all studio is pretty much rallying around it.”

“Don’t you say” Adagio said, with a interested air.

“I’m sure since you’re new, Swan Song and Sound Wave would let you sign up if you’re interested.”

“We have been known to sing from time to time” Aria said, looking to her hoof.

“Hello, we sing, like, all the time!” Sonata exclaimed. “It’s how we get ponies to do wath we want.”

That made Adagio turn to her and pass the hoof by the neck with an angry air, sending her to shut up. Fluttershy watched them a little confused.

“What?” Sonata asked with a smile, not realizing why Adagio was mad with her. “What did I say?”

“What you meant to say was that acting in the Autumn Equinox Ball sounds like a great way to meet the other ponies” Adagio said, trying to emend Sonata’s mistake.

“Oh, yeah” Sonata said, realizing. “What she said I meant to say. That’s what I meant. To say.”

And she smiled her biggest smile.

“And what you would have said if you weren’t the worst” Aria said to Sonata.

“You are!” Sonata answered her.

“You have to excuse them” Adagio said to Fluttershy. “They’re idiots.”

Fluttershy would be lying if she said she didn’t find those girls a little strange. Then she noticed the pendents they were using and found them immensely beautiful.

“Those are pretty” Fluttershy said, extending her hoof to Adagio’s pendant. “Where did you…”

But seeing Fluttershy approaching the hoof to her pendant, Adagio reacted to remove in a sharply way Fluttershy’s hoof. Realizing what she had done, Adagio made a slight laugh and said:

“Sorry. These pendants mean an awful lot to us. We’d just hate for anything to happen to them.”

And having said that, she and the others two moved away, leaving Fluttershy somewhat puzzled.

The Lord of Chaos and Fire Punch saw that scene in the mirror.

"I don’t know, master" Fire Punch said. "I know they defeated three of the Generals of Order, but I don’t know how this infiltrate in the Melody’s music studio will help you in your plan to conquer this world."

"Patience, Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos said. "As I told you, the Sirens need to be able to regain the power they had before. And you will see that these ponies will be the perfect food source. And with Princess Twilight’s friends there, things may have a quite interesting end."

The lunch time arrived and the ponies of the studio were all there in the cafeteria to have lunch. Fluttershy came to the edge of her friends. Repairing in her air, Applejack asked:

“So how was tha tour?”

“I don’t know” Fluttershy asked. “You know that I don’t like to talk about other ponies behind them, but these girls, they were… There was something off about them.”

“Like, off like this?” Pinkie Pie asked, using her own mane to do some beard and mustache. “Or off like this?” she put two lettuce leaves over her eyebrows and two carrots (one with the tip nibbled) in the mouth like teeth. “Or… Or… Like…”

“Maybe we should just let her tell us” Rainbow Dash said to Pinkie Pie.

So Pinkie Pie just look to Fluttershy, letting the carrot with the tip nibbled fell. The yellow pegasus so continued:

“That’s just it. I can’t put my hoof on it. They just acted sort of… strange around me. Maybe somepony told them something bad about me.”

“Fluttershy, dear, what could somepony tell something bad about you?” Rarity asked. “You’re probably the sweetest pony we know.”

The others nodded, agreeing with her.

“Yes, you’re probably right” Fluttershy said.

On the outside the cafeteria, the Sirens were there. Adagio said the other two:

“This is it, girls. The moment we’ve been waiting for.”

“Lunch?!” Sonata exclaimed, excitedly.

Adagio pass the hoof by her face, not wanting to believe in Sonata’s stupidity.

“The chance to get our magic back.”

“Oh, right” Sonata answered, while Aria rolled her eyes.

“Our voices are just strong enough to make them want something so badly, they’ll fight to get it” Adagio said, looking to the ponies through the mirrors of the doors.

“So we’re just gonna do what always do?” Aria asked to Adagio, in a mocking way. “Stir up some trouble and then feed off the negative energy? Some plan, Adagio.”

“Don’t forget that the Lord of Chaos is counting with us to get our power back to defeat the Light Kingdom and its princess” Agadio replied to her. “And their negative energy will give us the power we need to make this world do our bidding and, by extension, our master’s.

“But we can get lunch after though, right?” Sonata asked, turning to a poster with the image of tacos. “It’s Taco Tuesday!”

“Just follow my lead” Adagio told her.

“Or my lead” Aria said, in a suggestive tone.

“My lead!” Adagio told her in a threating way.

That made Aria not able to contest Adagio, what made her back with what she had said, what made Sonata give a little chuckle.

They then broke into the cafeteria as they began to sing. All other ponies who were there started listening the singing.

Hearing them singing about a battle of the bands to decide who would act in the Autumn Equinox Ball and encourage them to want to win, no matter the price, the ponies began to give in to their little idea and some such way that doesn’t take long until all start looking in a askance way to the ponies that were not of their bands and then discuss intensively. This all started, without them noticed, to create a light green mist that was being generated by all the negativity that they were causing and being absorbed by the Sirens through their pendants.

The only ponies that were not being influenced by their music were Twilight’s friends, who were concerned about what was happening.

At the end of the song, when the ponies were all discussing, Pinkie Pie said to her friends:

“Oh, they’re that kind of off”.

Seeing this, the Lord of Chaos laughed and said to Fire Punch:

"You see? This is the power of my Sirens. All the ponies of the studio will compete against each other in a competition full of distrust where everypony will do everything to win. But of course, they will not be the one who will win, but Adagio and the others. And when they act in the Autumn Equinox Ball, ponies will bow before them and give them the power they lost so they can invade and conquer the Light Kingdom, whose defenses are weakened with the loss of four Generals."

And he gave his evil laugh.

"Wow, I think I can already smell the victory" Fire Punch said. "But master, Princess Twilight’s friends did not seem to have been affected."

"Well this is because they are protected by the Elements of Harmony" the Lord of Chaos said. "But no one is invulnerable to disharmony, even the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. We just need to make pressure in the right place."

After what had happened in the cafeteria, Twilight’s friends walked through the studio corridors, talking about what had just happened.

"Looks like you were right, Fluttershy" said Rarity. "They are really strange. Those three are definitely in possession of some kind of dark magic.”

“Probably, they’re new villains sent by the Lord of Chaos” Rainbow Dash.

“Don’t worry, y’all” Applejack said. “We’ll let the headmasters know all about this and those three will be kicked to the curb in no time.”

But that didn’t happened, when they went to talk with Swan Song and Sound Wave. When they told them about the three newcomers, they didn’t seem to believe. Swan Song was a unicorn mare and Sound Wave was an earth stallion.

“Dark magic?” Swan Song asked, sitting on her chair behind her desk in her office. “Villains of Tartarus? I find that very hard to believe. Those girls came into my office earlier and were absolutely delightful.”

“Perhaps you five are fighting the Lord of Chaos’ villains that you see them everywhere” Sound Wave said, standing beside Swan Song.

“Maybe you’re right, but…” Fluttershy started.

“That’s not what’s happening!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “We saw all of this go down in the cafeteria!”

“Yes, but isn’t your band supposed to be part of the subscribed to the Autumn Equinox Ball?” Swan Song asked.

“Yes” Rainbow Dash answered.

“Perhaps you’re all just worried that the Dazzlings will steal your spotlight” Sound Wave suggested.

“Tha Dazzlings?” Applejack asked.

“It’s the name of their musical group” Swan Song said. “That’s why they came by my office earlier today to sign up for the Autumn Equinox Ball. They even sang a little song to Sound Wave and me.”

“They did?” Applejack asked, wondering if that meant she was thinking.

“Yes” Swan Song answered. “And we think, and we know that Melody will agree, having a Battle of the Bands to decide who will act at the Autumn Equinox Ball is a marvelous idea.”

It was then that they saw their eyes shining with a green glow, equal to the mist that had formed when Dazzlings incited discord among the ponies.

Later, the Rainbooms were in the indoor garden to talk about what had happened.

“I can’t believe they got to Swan Song and Sound Wave too” Fluttershy said.

“They’ve gotten to everypony” Rainbow Dash said.

“Not everypony!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, gesturing to herself and her friends.

“Pinkie Pie’s right” Applejack said. “We were there when tha Dazzlings were singin’ and we weren’t affect’d. It was like we were protect’d somehow.”

“Maybe it’s because the Elements of Harmony” Rarity suggested.

“Do you think they get to Melody too?” Fluttershy asked.

“Ah don’t think so” Applejack said. “She is tha General of Music. Ah don’t think tha Dazzlings can enchant her with music.”

“I think it’s better we try to contact Twilight about this” Rarity said. “She may know how the break the spell and defeat the Dazzlings. Or maybe the Generals know.”

“Yes, but how?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Duh, the alarm” Pinkie Pie answered. “We just have to hope she will come.”

“Pinkie’s right… again” Applejack said. “Even if we don’t ask, Twilight will always come for our help.”

In the Light Kingdom, in Melody's room, she was about to be subjected to another attempt of Purple Smoke to cure her from the effects of the mutant poison joke. Heartbeat was also there eating popcorn as if she was watching a show or a movie.

"Come on, Melody, just another one" Purple Smoke said, handing her a cup with a steaming solution.

But Melody kept to refuse.

"Come on, don’t you want to get well?" Purple Smoke asked.

"That’s if you can do it" Heartbeat said.

"And what does that mean?" Purple Smoke asked to his youngest sister.

"Come on, it’s not needed to have empathy powers to see that Melody is not liking any your approaches" Heartbeat said, while Melody nodded in agreement. "I mean, she has vomited, turned purple, her tongue was swollen, she turned purple again (though in a lighter tone) and then returned to vomit."

"The expression trial and error tell you something?" Purple Smoke asked.

"And the phrase Mirror Coat is right also tells you something? " Heartbeat asked back.

Then Twilight came in, ending with the discussion, and asked:

"Have your siblings arrived? They went to go watch na alert yesterday and I have not seen them since then."

"I didn’t see them" Purple Smoke said, while Melody shook her head.

"Me neither" Heartbeat said. "But I am sure they must be to appear. I mean, what kind of villain can defeat three Generals at once?"

Then the alarm rang again, this time louder.

"Okay, I was wrong" Heartbeat said, using her magic to stop the alarm.

"I knew something had happened to them not to return" Twilight said. "We must be facing a very powerful villain."

"Well, for that to happen, it would have to be one of the villains who are in the solitary of Tartarus" Heartbeat said, while eating popcorn. "I mean, it’s there that the most dangerous villains we face are."

Realizing what she had just said, Heartbeat said in a more serious tone:

"Oh no."

"If this is true, then the Lord of Chaos must have got find a way to release them without using his own magic" Purple Smoke said.

"Wait, back of" Twilight said. "Villains of the solitary?"

"Well, yes, they are the most dangerous type of villains that each of us, Generals, have faced and defeated" Purple Smoke said. "The top six, you want. Their cells were so well protected that a very strong magic to open them would be required. The Lord of Chaos couldn’t do that unless he wanted the Lord of Order to join the party. "

"Something he certainly doesn’t want to happen" Twilight said.

"Precisely" Purple Smoke said. "Which brings us to believe that he should have used the negative energy that he must has collected with all the villains he has sent to free them."

"Well, what kind of villain we are dealing, then?" Twilight asked.

"We have six chances, but I think it must be one that can easily defeat the Generals" Heartbeat said. "Probably the loss of Melody’s voice is linked to it somehow, because the Lord of Chaos doesn’t tip unknotted."

Hearing Heartbeat saying that, Melody thought for a moment and then realized much to her distress with whom they were dealing with. She tried to draw the attention of everypony, and when she did it, she began to make gestures to herself, trying to say that they were the villains she defeated.

"What?" Purple Smoke asked. "We are not getting it."

"Duh, it's so obvious" Heartbeat said. "Melody is saying that we are dealing with the Sirens, the villains she defeated and imprisoned in solitary."

Realizing what she had just said, Heartbeat said:

"Oh no, again."

"Are you sure?" Purple Smoke asked to Melody, which just made him one of her stares that made him say. "I’m just asking. Well, this is bad, very bad."

"What?" Twilight asked. "Who are these ... Sirens?"

"The Sirens, princess, are three beautiful but dangerous creatures who have the power to charm ponies with their music. But to maintain this power, they have to feed on the negativity and distrust of others. The more negative energy they consume, the stronger their voices become and the farther they can spread their dark magic."

"They sound awful" Twilight commented.

"It's because they are" Purple Smoke said. "Their voices are so powerful that, even in their weakened state, they can still manipulate ponies at ease. Even we, the Generals, are vulnerable to them... Well, except Melody. It was because of her immunity and her voice that she que could defeat them."

"Wait, if you also can be influenced by their voices, that means..." Twilight began.

"That Golden Paladin, Leaf Mane and Mirror Coat were defeated by them" Heartbeat confirmed.

Twilight couldn’t believe it. This meant that now only there were Purple Smoke and Heartbeat to defend the Light Kingdom, beyond herself. She could not allow her kingdom, and the others, fell into the hands of the Lord of Chaos and his villains.

"How can we defeat the Sirens?" Twilight asked to her three generals.

They exchanged a look and Purple Smoke replied:

"Winning them in a musical battle. But the only pony that was able to defeat them was Melody. But now that she lost her voice..."

"Then I'll have to move forward" Twilight said.

"But, Princess..." Purple Smoke began.

"No buts" Twilight said. "You have to stay to help to protect the Light Kingdom. Now, where are the Sirens?"

"They have to be in a place where they can accumulate huge dark energy and sing without giving the eye" Purple Smoke said.

"They will also need large amounts of negative energy to achieve the power that they had before, so they need a large audience" Heartbeat added.

Upon hearing that and meditating, Melody realized where they could be. She began gesturing to herself again and Purple Smoke told her:

"Can you stop that? And everypony says I'm convinced."

"You really are an idiot" Heartbeat said to him. "Cannot you see she is saying that the Sirens are in her music studio?"

Melody nodded, confirming what Heartbeat had said.

"But how do you know what she is trying to say?" Purple Smoke asked to Heartbeat.

"Hello, I’m the General of Affection" Heartbeat said. "I have empathy powers, remember?"

"Wait, they are in Melody’s music studio?" Twilight asked. "But that's where my friends are. So are they in danger?"

"No, I think not" Purple Smoke said. "To my knowledge, the Elements of Harmony contain the magic that is opposite to the Sirens’. The two spells should cancel each other out."

"To some extent" Heartbeat said. "This protection is only kept if the harmony between them is unharmed."

"Well, then you better join me to them" Twilight said. "If the magic of the Elements of Harmony is able to defeat the Sirens, then we should use them against them."

But then Melody tried to say something, but she could not scratch the right gestures to express. Fortunately, Heartbeat translated what she meant:

"Melody is right. That doesn’t work if not add music."

"So I have to join my friends’ band" Twilight said.

"Yes, but, princess, that may raise many suspicions if everypony sees you joining your friends’ band" Purple Smoke said, then thinking for a while. "I know, wait here."

He teleported himself, but seconds later he reappeared, carrying a bottle with purple smoke that seemed to belong to his smoke form.

"I've been practicing a spell that allows me to use my smoke to transform things other than me" Purple Smoke said. "So far it has gone well."

"Wait a minute" Twilight said. "Have you tried this on ponies?"

"Well... no" Purple Smoke replied. "But don’t worry, princess. Everything will be fine."

"Yes, it can be seen by your failed attempts to cure Melody" Heartbeat said.

"Hey, at least it has a pretty safe success rate" Purple Smoke said. "Moreover, in times like this, it’s better to risk, don’t you think?"

Heartbeat was going to answer, but Twilight said:

"Purple Smoke is right. We don’t have time to think in a safe plan when time is precious. We have to catch the Sirens. Just tell Blue where I am and for him not to worry."

"Don’t worry, Princess" Heartbeat said. "We take care of it."

Twilight nodded to Purple Smoke, giving him authorization to start the spell. He then released the smoke from the bottle, saying:

"I hope this work."

And, having said that, he used his magic to launch the purple smoke against Twilight, wrapping her and starting to submit her to its effect.

The Return of the Sirens, Part III - Let the Battle Go On

The Rainbooms walked through the studio corridors, seeing as all the bands looked aside and gave despise looks to each other. It seemed that the whole studio had fallen completely under the Dazzlings’ spell except for them.

"This is really bad" Rarity observed. "I never thought to see our friends act like this."

"Me neither" Pinkie Pie said, with her unusual sad face. "And that makes me very sad."

"If there was a way to bring back the happiness that there was before" Fluttershy said.

"And there’s one" Rainbow Dash said. "We just have to stop Dazzlings."

"Yeah, but how?" Applejack asked.

"Well..." Rainbow Dash began. "I don’t know."

It was then that they were surrounded by a magical aura that pulled her into an empty room.

"What tha hay..." Applejack began.

"Okay, who's pulled us here just like that?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking around. "You will learn a great lesson."

"It was me, Rainbow Dash" a voice said.

They turned up and then were faced with a unicorn mare with a golden coat and a sun-colored mane with three stars as Cutie Mark.

"Who are you and why did you drag us here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Girls, don’t you recognize me?" the mare asked. "I look different, but I think I still have something that remains the same."

The five musicians mares looked closely at her and that's when Applejack could see more than what she saw with her eyes.

"Twilight?" Applejack asked, while the others were confused.

"Yes, it's me" the mare said.

"But how..." Applejack started, beginning to approach.

"Wait a minute" Pinkie Pie said, placing ahead of Applejack and coming face to face with Twilight. "You don’t look like Twilight.”

"Pinkie, that's because I'm disguised" Twilight replied, rolling her eyes.

"A very convenient history" Pinkie Pie said. "How do we know you're not one of those super duper evil villains that the Lord of Chaos had to make us believe that you are Twilight just for you eat our brains?"

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Pinkie Pie, that’s very silly, even for you" Rarity said. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, I recently saw a film that is about zombies posing as normal ponies just to approach to eat their brains" Pinkie Pie answered. "It was a very exciting movie. I ended up eating ten buckets and three quarters of popcorn and I drank soda that took me two hours straight just to..."

"Okay, I think we don’t need a detailed description" Rainbow Dash interrupted.

"Don’t worry, Pinkie Pie, Ah think this is our friend Twilight" Applejack said. "Ah think Ah can say if this is not Twilight."

"Let the expert determine that, Applejack" Pinkie Pie said, turning then to Twilight. "Very well, if you are the real Twilight, answer me this. What is my favorite treat?"

"All of them" Twilight replied.

"My favorite sport?" Pinkie asked.

"See how long you take to make everypony of Ponyville laugh" Twilight replied.

"Okay, and now for the final question, tell me: what is my biggest dream?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Living in a land made of ice cream" Twilight replied.

When she asnwered that, Twilight was embraced strongly by Pinkie Pie who said:

"It’s really you, Twilight!"

"That's what I said" Twilight replied, freeing herself from Pinkie.

"But how did you end like that?" Rarity asked.

"Purple Smoke used a spell that, along with part of his smoke, managed to turn me into another pony... although temporally" Twilight replied. "So I could come without drawing attention. It seems to me that you need help."

“You bet" Rainbow Dash said. "There are strange ponies who recently arrived at the studio and are quite strange."

"Yes, and I know who they are" Twilight said. "And believe me, I have bad news about them.

And Twilight explained to her friends about who the Dazzlings were and what they wanted. After finishing, Applejack asked:

"So if we don’t stop her, we may be jeopardizin’ tha security of tha Light Kingdom?"

"Yes, and you know that if the Kingdom of Light fall, the other kingdoms will fall with it" Twilight said.

"But what about the Generals?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I thought they were immensely powerful. They could easily kick those Sirens’ asses."

"No, they can’t, Rainbow" Twilight replied. "They are affected by their voices. Only Melody is immune, but..."

"But what, dear?" Rarity asked.

"Melody lost her voice" Twilight replied.

That news left her friends in suspense.

"Worse, it seems that Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Leaf Mane were defeated by the Dazzlings and now the Light Kingdom only has my magic, Purple Smoke’s and Heartbeat’s to defend itself."

"Okay, now this is serious" Pinkie said.

"So it seems we must defeat them in the old-fashioned way" Rainbow Dash said, pumping her fists and starting to give some blows in the air. "Since we are not influenced by the Dazzlings’ magic, we can handle them."

"Rainbow Dash, only you to come with such violent idea" Rarity said.

"Rarity is right" Twilight said. "We cannot use violence against the Dazzlings. To defeat them, we have to win in their own game."

"Ya mean winnin’ the Battle of Bands?" Applejack asked.

"That's right" Twilight replied.

"But how do we defeat them, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "I mean, only Melody managed to do it..."

"Don’t worry" Twilight said. "Melody gave me a bit of magic that will be activated as soon as we make music."

Focusing on her magic, Twilight made five orange light balls that amazed her friends, especially Pinkie Pie. Each light ball directed to each of the mares and went inside of them.

"Now, remember" Twilight said. "We can only activate this spell once, so we can only do that just and only just when we face the Dazzlings."

"Wait a second, sugarcube" Applejack said. "How can we do that if the magic is activated when we make music?"

“I think we just have to be good enough to make it through but not so good we let the Sirens see the magic Melody gave us” Twilight said. “They could realize we plan to use it against them and then we would be helpless against them.”

“Got it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Be cool enough to win, but not so cool that we end up showing off the thing. Sooo... about twenty percent less cool.”

“So is this mean you’ll join the Rainbooms, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“I want to help you, so I thing so” Twilight answered.

“So what do you wanna play?” Pinkie Pie asked, going taking instruments there were in the room. “Triangle? Sousaphone? Theremin?”

Pinkie Pie played theremin and then said:

“Soooo magical.”

“Actually, I’m not fond to any specific instrument” Twilight answered. “I’ll just sing”

“Like, as in, lead singer?” Rainbow Dash answered. “Cuz that's usually my gig. This being my band and all.”

“It's our band!” Applejack answered her, turning then to Twilight. “An’, of course, as lead singer. She's tha one with tha magical know-how tah help us pull this thing off.”

“Okay, yeah, that's cool” Rainbow Dash agreed. “I'll just use this as a chance to hone my already insanely good lead guitar skills.”

“It's only temporary” Twilight said. “And we don't have to win the Battle of the Bands. We just have to perform against the Dazzlings and beat them.”

“Let's get to learn that musical counter-spell!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Well, that's just it” Twilight said. “I don't know any.”

Her friends sighed in dismay.

"Melody is better at this stuff" Twilight said. “But I'm sure I could figure out how to write one.”

“Of course you will” Rarity said. “After all, you’re the one that can learn anything.”

Applejack then looked at the clock of the room and said:

"We'd better go, gals. It's time for the tonight party."

"Uh, I love parties!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Especially those that happen in a music studio."

"And you can also know the Dazzlings" Rarity said to Twilight. "This party is for all the bands who signed up to be in the Autumn Equinox Ball."

Twilight nodded, thinking it was a good idea.

They then went to the lounge area, where all the bands were there too. On the edge of the drinks table, Twilight watched things and noticed the hostility that existed between the bands.

"You weren’t kidding" Twilight said. "Things are really bad here."

They waved.

It was then that the Dazzlings entered. Rainbow Dash, noticing them them, motioned to Twilight, pointing to the Sirens.

The Dazzlings, on entering, beheld all the disharmony that was there with a smile, especially Adagio, who said in a cynical tone:

“Oh, no! No one's mingling! It's like there's some kind of underlying tension that could bubble to the surface at any minute!”

“It's the fruit punch, isn't it?” Sonata asked, with a glass on her hoof. “I knew I used too much grape juice!”

Agadio rolled her eyes and said to her:

“It's not the fruit punch! It's us!

“But the punch is awful, too” Aria said to Sonata.

“What do you know about good fruit punch?” She asked her.

“More than you!” Aria replied her.

“Do not!”

“Do too!”

Adagio interrupted them and said them:

“This is just the kickoff party, girls. Imagine what a tizzy they'll be in by the time the Battle of the Bands starts.”

"That's what we'll see, Dazzlings" a voice said.

They turned and saw Twilight and her friends.

"We know what you are plotting" Twilight said. "And we will not let you take your onward. We will catch you and end the Battle of the Bands."

Adagio, realizing their intention, not intimidated, and to end it, began to say in a way that everypony could hear:

“Talk about throwing down the gauntlet! This group is obviously serious about winning! A little cocky though, aren't they? Claiming there won't really be a battle. Seems they think they already got this thing all locked up.”

Her words had a great influence on the ponies. Trixie said:

“Not if the Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie has anything to do with it!”

The other ponies also began to say the same kind of things, starting one more intense discussion between bands that generated a huge amount of negative energy that the Sirens began to absorb with their pendants.

But Adagio was more focused on the Rainbooms that didn’t seem to have been affected by her magic and her sisters’. But she then looked closely at Twilight and noticed a strange light in her, something she had only seen in the most powerful beings of that world: the Generals of Order. But the light was different. It was more powerful and bright. It was then that she realized who Twilight was. She then told the other two with a smile:

“I think we may have found what we're looking for. Or rather, it found us.”

Aria, realizing what Adagio meant, nodded, smiling too. But Sonata didn’t realize and shrugged, which made Aria slap herself and Adagio exclaim to Sonata:

“The Light! Don't you see?! Everypony else has fallen under our spell. But not these ponies “she motion to the Rainbooms that were getting out of the room. “These ponies are special. And I think I know who that golden unicorn is.”

The Rainbooms went to their dormitory, where they could talk more freely.

"Well, it was a disaster!" Twilight exclaimed. "Did you see? This only caused them to become even stronger."

"Relax, Twilight" Applejack calmed her. "We still didn’t lose."

"Yes, we still have the magic that Melody gave us" Rarity continued.

"Not to mention my..." Rainbow Dash began, before amend herself. "Our musical qualities."

"Furthermore, we still have you, Twilight" Fluttershy said. "We are sure that you will be able to create a song that would enable us to defeat the Dazzlings."

That made Twilight give a nervous laugh, because the truth is, now that she met the Sirens, she didn’t know if she would be able to do that.

In the Sirens’ dormitory, they had a mirror that they used to contact their master.

"How are things going?" the Lord of Chaos asked, sitting in his chair.

"Very well, master" Adagio replied. "We're only here for one day and we have acquired a lot of negative energy. I'm sure it will not be long until we have our old magic back."

"Perfect" the Lord of Chaos replied.

"However..." Adagio began.

"Adagio, you know I don’t like howevers” the Lord of Chaos said.

"It’s just there’s a band that doesn’t seem to be affected by our voices" Adagio said.

"Yes, and also they seem to know who we are" Aria said.

"Oh, you must be referring to Princess Twilight’s friends" the Lord of Chaos said. "They are linked to Elements of Harmony. That’s why you cannot charm them. Don’t worry. I'm sure you can handle them."

"There is also another thing" Adagio said. "There was a unicorn mare with them containing a different light. It looked identical to the... original star seed’s."

"I see" the Lord of Chaos said, thoughtfully. "You're right, Adagio. This light is from the original star seed. That unicorn should be Twilight Princess. Purple Smoke probably used one of his transformation spells so she could help her friends unnoticed."

"Do you think she will be some nuisance?" Adagio asked.

"She’s the Princess of the Light Kingdom" the Lord of Chaos replied. "She’s always a nuisance, while her light still shines. Therefore, try to make the Rainbooms argue with each other."

The Sirens exchanged glances and Adagio asked:

"Would it be easier to remove them from the battle?"

"No, they would just find another way to reach you" the Lord of Chaos replied. "To defeat them completely, you have to destroy what they have of most precious: their friendship. Furthermore, I think about the negative energy that you might have by breaking their ties."

"But how do we do that, if they are immune to our voices?" Adagio asked.

"You’re three are smart" the Lord of Chaos, then noticing in Sonata that smiled to him. "The most of you, at least. There are more than one way to create chaos."

And having said that, he disappeared.

Adagio though for a bit on the Lord of Chaos’ words and then she had an idea:

"I know what we'll do."

It was night and Rainbooms were having a slumber party in her bedroom. While Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie talked happily, Twilight was lying on her bed trying to compose a song that they could use against the Sirens in Fluttershy’s notebook she kindly lent to her. But just as she had predicted, Twilight was having difficult in writing a song. It was then that Rainbow Dash asked her:

“So, Twilight, how is that counter-spell comin'?”

That question took Twilight off guard who said:

“Huh? Oh, uh, good. Great. Thanks for letting me use your notebook, Fluttershy. I really like the song you wrote for the Rainbooms.”

“Thanks” she thanked, then sighing. “Hopefully one day, we'll get a chance to play it.”

When it was late at night, Twilight’s friends fell asleep, but she stayed awake to work on the counterspell. Not wanting to disturb her friends, Twilight left the bedroom and went to the inside garden, but even in that way, she couldn’t find the perfect lyrics.

“No. That's not gonna work.”

She sighed, not wanting to believe that depended on her to find the perfect song to defeat the Dazzlings when she couldn’t compose as well as Melody. Then a deep, soft voice asked:

"Problems, princess?"

Twilight turned and saw the Lord of Order by her side.

"Lord of Order?" she asked. "But what are you doing here?"

"I had the feeling you weren’t doing well, so I came to see what was going on" he said, sitting on her edge. "What’s up?"

"I think you know what's going on" Twilight replied. "I'm not able to compose anything. We only get one shot at this. It has to be perfect.”

"You know, Melody has a secret when she composes her songs" the Lord of Chaos said.

"Really, and what is it?" Twilight asked, in an enthusiastic way, and when she realized what she had done, she tried to moderate. "I'm sorry."

"Don’t worry" the Lord of Order said. "I know what it feels when people expect things from us, especially great things. It only makes things harder because the last thing you want to do is…”

“...let everybody down” Twilight completed.

"Precisely" the Lord of Order said. "But I have faith in you, Twilight. Just as I had faith in Princess Aurora, I know that you will be able to do great things."

He stood up, preparing to leave, but then he turned to Twilight, saying:

"By the way, in answer to your question, you already know the secret, you’re just not seeing it."

And having said that, he disappeared, leaving Twilight thinking about his words.

The next day, the Rainbooms were practicing a new song with the lyrics that Twilight had written, but it happened that was not as good as it should.

In the end, Fluttershy was the first to speak, saying in a soft voice:

“Eh, that sounded... way better than the last... five times we've played it.”

But to see the look of her friends, Fluttershy confessed:

"Yes, you’re right, it was a disaster."

“I think it's pretty obvious what's going wrong with this counter-spell” Rainbow Dash said.

“Ya're turnin' what should be tha chorus into a five-minute guitar solo?” Applejack asked, while she and Rarity made harsh stares to Rainbow Dash.

“I have to pick up the slack somehow!” Rainbow Dash defended herself. “Are you guys even trying?!”

“I’m trying” Fluttershy said, bashfully.

“It's fine” Twilight said with a nervous laugh, trying to convince herself instead the others. “It'll be fine. One more time from the top!”

But her friends did not respond and Rarity said, advancing a few steps:

“Or, perhaps we could take a short break, try on some of the wardrobe choices I've put together?”

She made up a clouth cart with six sets, saying then:

“I'm particularly fond of this one.”

He pushed the cart, appearing with a beautiful purple dress with glowing on the skirt and still with epaulettes on the shoulders.

“Eh, of course we could always go with something a bit more modern” Rarity admitted.

“We're tryin' tah save tha studio and the world here” Applejack answered her. “Enough with tha costumes!”

At that moment, Rarity had another cloth that was a bright yellow suit similar to the space ones and with a helmet that gave her a more robotic voice. She told to Applejack, in an indignant tone:

“Oh, you can never have enough costumes!”

“She just wants to make things fun!” Pinkie Pie said to Applejack, behind her battery, in a bored way. “Isn't that what being in a band supposed to be?”

And she played a rimshot angrily.

Fluttershy locked to the clock and said:

“I don't think we have time for any of this. We're supposed to check in at the Battle of the Bands in five minutes!”

“Oh no!” the others exclaimed, starting to pack everything.

“What?” Twilight asked “But it's not ready! If we play against the Dazzlings with our counter-spell in the first round and it doesn't work, we will not be able to defeat the Sirens!”

That made the others stop and then Applejack said:

“Well, we jest have tah hope that doesn’t happen until tha counter-spell is finish’d. Meanwhile, we have tah stay in tha competion.”

“Now we talking my language” Rainbow Dash said. “I take over lead vocals again and we stay alive until Twilight finish the counter-spell and we unleash it against the Dazzlings!”

“We are countin’ with ya, Twilight” Applejack said to her with a smile.

“Thanks, Applejack” Twilight answered, nervously.

“Then let's go win us a Battle of the Bands!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

They went to the main auditorium where the event would happen, except the final that would happen at the ball, where the winner would play when the equinox had happened. When everypony was seated in the stands, Swan Song and Sound Wave appeared on stage and the first told to everypony:

“Welcome to the first ever Melody’s Studio Battle of the Bands. I believe I speak for everypony when I say it is by far the greatest thing we have ever done here at this studio!”

The ponies acclaimed with emotion Swan Song’s words. She continued:

“We are so glad our three newest members encouraged us to turn this event into something exciting!”

She was talking, of course, about the Dazzlings, that were exhibiting fake smiles while waving to everypony.

It was Sound Wave’s turn to speak:

“But, as this is now a competition, we can only choose one winner that will inaugurate autumn. Who is it going to be?”

That question made the ponies begin to argue once more and generate more negative energy that was absorbed by the Sirens. After absorbing it, Adagio asked to the other two:

“You feel that, girls? Our true power is being restored.”

That made Aria and Sonata laugh.

Then Adagio saw the Rainbooms entering and she made her sisters stop laughing, saying then:

“And that's before we've tapped into the strongest magic here.”

“But the Rainblossoms, or whatever they're called, aren't under our spell” Aria said to her. “How exactly are we supposed to get to their magic?”

“As our master said, we can create chaos in many ways” Adagio said. “The Rainbooms are just as capable of falling apart as anypony else. They just need a little... push in the wrong direction. I have a feeling everypony here is going to be lining up to give them a shove.”

And the auditions for the Battle of the Bands began, with bands acting to the two headmasters. The duo that preceded the Rainbooms were rappers, but their act was not brilliant, actually it was pretty bad, joining the microphones resonances. Adagio and Aria released a mock laughter. The only ones that seemed to be liking were Pinkie Pie and Sonata. In the end, they left the stage, telling to the Rainbooms:

“In your face, Rainbooms!”

When they walked away, Applejack said to her friends:

“Least we know one group who won't stand in the way of us gettin' to the finals.”

“Let's get ready to rock!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Wait!” Pinkie Pie said. “Where's Rarity?”

It was true, Rarity wasn’t there.

“Here!” she exclaimed, approaching and panting. “I'm here!”

They saw then that she was wearing a jacket and boots decorated with light metal plates with a ribbon around the head. She expected some reaction from her friends, but when she didn’t get any, she said:

“We will be performing in front of an audience. I'm not going to wear something fabulous?”

That made Applejack roll her eyes with annoyance.

They then took the stage, but they noticed that none of the other participants seemed satisfied by seeing them. In fact, they were even whispering between each other.

“Remember, we…” Twilight said, trying to not speak to the microphone.

“Yes, we know” Rainbow Dash. “We have just to be cool enough to win. Enough talking, let’s go rock!”

"One, two, three" Pinkie Pie said, beating the drumsticks and starting the song.

The six began to play a song called "Shake Your Tail".

They were going very well, showing their potential, but what they didn’t know was that one of the rival female bands were up there, preparing magnets attached to marionette control bars with a mischievous smile. The leader pointed to Rarity and the others two launched the magnets that made the metal bars being attracted to them and so the ponies could control Rarity’s to great shock of her. They forced her to make a ridiculous dance that caught Applejack’s attention. She didn’t realize what Rarity was doing. With one movement, Rarity took Applejack’s hat down, which made her catch it with the tip of her bass and put it in her head again, making then a harsh look to Rarity. She tried to sing her part of the song, but their manipulators wouldn’t let her and she ended up bumping against Applejack that moved her away with a kick, while singing her part.

Pinkie Pie, looking at the audience, noticed that some ponies were find their act boring, so she decided to launch the surprise she had. Removing the drum head of one of her drums, Pinkie cocked it and it came out, like a cannon, a lot of confetti. But what she didn’t expect was that Twilight choked with one of them, which forced Fluttershy to go up to her and hit her in the back with the tambourine to make her spit the confetto before returning to sing.

Up there, the rappers also began to sabotage the Rainbooms’s act, focusing the spotlight on Fluttershy. She, feeling the eyes on it, began to feel her stage fright appearing. She tried to deviate from the light falling on her, but the light continued to follow her, which forced her to run on the stage to escape from the light, always trying to hide in any hiding place she found, but always with light finding her.

All those sabotage were ruining Rainbooms’ performance, with the sleeves of Rarity’s jacked ripping apart due to her attempts to break free of the magnets, which made her cry, and with Fluttershy hidden behind Pinkie Pie’s drum, while she played her tambourine and sang in a low way. Truth be told that the song didn’t end as it had begun. After all, Swan Song and Sound Wave applauded (being the only ones to do so) and took notes.

They left the stage with Rarity saying, as she cried:

“Ruined! Absolutely ruined!”

“Rarity, were ya tryin' tah make us lose out there?!” Applejack asked coldly.

That question offended Rarity that, stopping crying, replied:

“This was not my fault! This was an act of sabotage!”

“Yeah, well, whoever did this couldn't have done this if ya didn't insist on dressin' like... like... this!” Applejack exclaimed, pointing to Rarity’s clothing. “We need to sound good! Is there some reason that concept seems to escape you?”

“And what was with the confetti, Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash said to Pinkie Pie showing her one confetto. “How am I supposed to shred if there's paper stuck in my frets?!”

“It was pretty distracting...” Fluttershy agreed.

“Says the pony who was running from a light the whole time!” Pinkie Pie answered her. “A light!”

Twilight tried to calm things down, saying:

“We still sounded much better than most of the other bands. I'm sure we'll make it to the next round. But it won't matter if we don't have that counter-spell ready. You all find a place to practice where the sirens can't hear us. I'll follow you.”

And so they did that. They left muttering to themselves. Repair on that, Adagio laughed and said to Aria and Sonata:

“Arguing already? This is only the first round.”

The other two also gave a laugh. Then they heard Swan Song to say through the speakers:

“The next band to take the stage will be Trixie and the Illusions.”

“Better head back. We're supposed to go on after Trixie.”

But when they went to the entrance of the auditorium, they met with Twilight that seemed to be waiting for them.

“You're never gonna get away with this.”

“Why? Because you’re telling so… princess?” Adagio asked.

Twilight became petrified when Adagio said that.

“That’s right” Adagio told her, while she and the other two started to circle Twilight. “We know who you are, Princess Twilight. We can see your light. I was thinking what the other ponies will say when they find out who the sixth member of the Rainboom really is.”

“You wouldn’t do it” Twilight said.

“Of course we would” Aria replied. “We’re bad, remember?”

“But you’re right, we wouldn’t because we don’t need it” Adagio said. “I mean… Have you seen how your dear friends were arguing?”

“I think it will not last until your friendship break” Aria said.

“Too bad!” Sonata said. “So sad!”

“If it's any consolation, you will not have to care about that by the time we're done” Adagio said, passing through her with her sisters.

Seeing them moving away, Twilight became worried. She had to hast to complete the counter-spell or everything would be lost.

After Trixie and her band’s performance, it was the Dazzlings’ turn. They were behind the curtains, while the others were waiting for them. Holding their microphones, Adagio said to her sisters:

“Remember, girls. We want to save the good stuff for when our full power has been restored.”

And they began to access the power of their pendants. When the curtain goes away, they soon began to sing while spreading more disharmony, generating even more negative energy that was absorbed by them.

The battle of the bands continued with all the bands fighting to win. The round of the playoffs was established with the Rainbooms and Dazzlings to compete in the final if they win all the rounds, something that seemed to be fulfilled. Each of them was winning battle after battle to reach the semi-finals.

The Rainbooms made a huge effort to not reveal the power that Melody had given to them, but it seemed that some were having more difficulties than the others. Rainbow Dash seemed to be getting more and more excited in every passing round, becoming quite obvious that she wouldn’t hold it much longer. However, Twilight tried to finish her counter-spell, but she was not succeeding and time was running out, something that made her even more nervous.

Then the semi-finals and the Autumn Equinox Ball day arrived with the Dazzlings deserving their place in the final. The last battle of the semi-finals that lasted was the one between the Rainbooms and Trixie and the Illusions. Before they start the battle, the Rainboom were behind the scenes to prepare themselves.

“This is it!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Last round and you're in the finals to battle the Dazzlings! Is the counter-spell ready, Twilight?”

Seeing her air, realized that the counter-spell was not yet ready. Applejack said to her:

“Don't worry, Twilight. Finals aren't until tonight. We'll get in a little more practice before we're supposed to hit the stage. We won't let you down!”

The other nodded, sharing the same feeling as Applejack.

“You won't let me down...” Twilight said to herself, thinking that should be the opposite.

“Um, I was just wondering” Fluttershy said to Rainbow Dash. “We haven't played any of my songs yet, and...”

“It's the semifinals” Rainbow Dash answered. “We gotta do ‘Awesome As I Wanna Be’.”

“Don't know why I even asked...” Fluttershy said to herself, discouraged.

Trixie and her band were finishing their act with "Tricks Up My Sleeve", ending with an incredible burst of light. Swan Song and Sound Wave cheered amazed with the first saying:

“Fantastic!”

Trixie and his band thanked with a nod and then went backstage, where she said to the Rainbooms with her usual haughty air:

“You're never gonna top that performance, Rain-goons. You shouldn't be allowed to when you can have a little advantage than the rest of us.”

“My superior guitar playing and off-the-charts awesome singing voice?” Rainbow Dash asked her in a mocking way.

“Oh, don't be ridiculous, I mean her!” Trixie replied, pointing to Twilight, not knowing who she was. “If you were really all that, Rainbow Dash, you wouldn't need another singer to have half a chance. Everypony's talking about it.”

“Puh-leeze!” Rainbow Dash answered. “I could win this thing as a solo act and everybody knows it!”

Her friends didn’t seem very happy about that selfish comment of Rainbow Dash.

“Sure you could” Trixie said in a cynical way.

She then casted a smokescreen that made everypony cough. When the smoke dissipated, Trixie wasn’t there anymore.

“She's gone!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, leading her hooves to her mane. “Oh, wait. There she is.”

She pointed to her drum where Trixie was hidden before she leaves.

“Next up, the Rainbooms” Sound Wave announced.

They took the stage and started playing the song Rainbow Dash said they would sing: "Awesome As I Wanna Be".

Rainbow Dash was the lead singer, much to Fluttershy’s annoyance, who simply did the chorus, while playing her tambourine. Rainbow Dash started walking briskly across the stage while playing her guitar excitedly, as she came to her friends who wore expressions equal to Fluttershy’s, and they were also fed up with Rainbow Dash’s exhibitionism. Even Pinkie Pie lost her joy, playing her drums in a boring way. Then all the spotlight focused on Rainbow Dash, which only increased the other’s annoyance.

Then something began to happen. Rainbow Dash was so uncontrolled that her mane began to glow, which meant she was about to show the magic given by Melody. Suddenly, a red aura circled Rainbow Dash’s hooves, causing her to stumble and stop the music. Seeing that, the ponies began to scoff and booing, while Swan Swong and Sound Wave took notes in a not very encouraging way.

When they left the stage, Applejack asked to Rainbow Dash:

"But what was that, Rainbow Dash?!"

"I don’t know, okay?" She said. "It was not me. Somepony made me stumble."

"Yes, I was" a voice said.

They turned and faced with Heartbeat.

"Heartbeat?" They asked at the same time.

“Why did you do that?!” Rainbow Dash asked her, angrily.

“You were showing them your magic” Heartbeat answered. “I came here just to check everything by Melody’s request and, when I saw what you were doing, I had to act.”

“You could just maybe close the curtains?” Rarity said to her. “Unplug her amp? Give us a chance to deal with the situation?”

"I’m sorry if I avoided you lose your changes of use Melody’s magic against the Sirens" Heartbeat said, sarcastically. "I just wanted to help. But I if you don’t want my help, I think I'll go back to the Light Kingdom to help Purple Smoke to make Melody recover her voice."

And having said that, she disappeared.

"I cannot believe Heartbeat may have made us lose" Rainbow Dash said.

“None of this would've happen’d if ya weren't tryin' tah show off… as usual” Applejack said to her.

It was then that Trixie appeared and said cynically:

“Good show, Rain-brooms. I especially liked the part where you, Rainbow Dash, stumbled in your mid-guitar solo!”

“It wasn’t me, Trixie” Rainbow Dash protested.

“If you say so” Trixie said with a mocking smile. “Ooh! Looks like they've already decided who'll be moving on to the finals!”

She was referring to Swan Song and Sound Wave who were discussing who would pass to the final on the other side, appearing to have come to a conclusion.

“I'm guessing it wasn't too difficult a decision” Trixie said, taking her mirror to arrange her mane.

Then something caught Twilight’s attention. She saw the doors behind the two headmasters opening and the Dazzlings appeared and began to sing to them, who entered in a trance state, as their eyes flashed with a green light. Twilight wondered what they were up to. She was to ask her friends what they thought, but they were more concerned with the result to pay attention to the Dazzlings.

“What can we do?” Rarity asked. “There isn't gonna be another opportunity for us to play. And I had the most gorgeous outfit for the finals!

“Yup, 'cause that's the real tragedy here, Rarity: that you won't get to play dress-up!” Applejack exclaimed, sarcastly, what irritated Rarity so much.

“You know perfectly well that is not what I meant!” She answered her.

Rainbow Dash ended their discussion, saying:

“You guys wanna keep it down? They're about to announce who's moving on.”

“Who are you kidding?” Fluttershy asked. “You know it isn't gonna be us.”

Swan Song and Sound Wave went to the stage and the first announced:

“The band that will be joining the Dazzlings in tonight's finals during the Autumn Equinox Ball is... The Rainbooms!”

All were shocked by such an announcement, especially Trixie and the Rainbooms themselves.

“What?!” Trixie exclaimed.

“Did they just say, the Rainbooms?!” Pinkie Pie asked.

Completely angry, Trixie went through the Rainbooms with heavy step, telling them:

“This isn't over!”

Rainbooms went to the stage, with only Rainbow Dash showing some joy.

“Congratulations, girls” Swan Song told them. “You deserve it.”

“Seriously?!” Pinkie Pie asked. “We didn't even finish our…!”

But Rainbow Dash didn’t let her finish, making just a smile to the headmasters. It was then that the Dazzlings appeared from the other said and told them:

“See you at tonight's big show, Rainbooms. We are really looking forward to it.”

And they started to move away. What Adagio said seemed to have irritate Rainbow Dash that said to them:

“Yeah, well... not as much as we are!”

But it was then that the ponies of the audience started to jeer them, what made them leave the stage sadly, while they were jeered by the ponies until they leave the auditorium. Seeing them leaving, Trixie exclaimed:

“This is a travesty! A travesty!”

“It really is!” Adagio said, appearing by her side, along with Aria and Sonata. “The Rainbooms don't deserve to be in the finals. Not when your band was so much better in the semis.”

“And wanted it so much more” Aria added.

“Alas, this is the way it's going to be” Adagio said. “Dazzlings vs. Rainbooms.”

“Unless, of course, the Rainbooms don't manage to make it to their set or held up for some reason” Sonata said.

When she heard what Sonata said, Trixie made a sinister chuckling, because she had just the perfect plan that would allow her and her band to go the final instead of the Rainbooms.

Later, the Rainbooms were at the state where they would act during the Autumn Equinox Ball, whose area had been evacuated so the performers could practice, preparing themselves.

“This doesn't make any sense” Fluttershy said, while preparing her tambourine. “We were awful. Doesn't anybody else think it's strange that we're the ones that made it to the finals?”

“Very strange” a voice said.

They turned and saw Trixie appearing at the stage, along with the other two members of her band.

“What are you doing here, Trixie?” Rainbow Dash asked her. “Pretty sure the losers are supposed to be up there in the cheap seats.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is the most talented pony at Melody’s studio” she said. “It is I who deserves to be in the finals. And I will not... be denied!

She made a sign to her colleagues and one of them pulled a lever that made the trapdoor under them open, making them fall. Trixie laughed and said to them:

“See you never!”

And they closed the trapdoor before Rainbow Dash could fly to get out.

The Dazzlings were seeing the scene by far with a wicked smile on their faces. Adagio so told to her sisters:

“Told you somepony would give them a shove.”

“She didn't shove them” Sonata said. “She pulled a lever.”

That made Adagio bring the hoof to her face, while Aria rolled her eyes, saying:

“Go back to sleep, Sonata.”

The Lord of Chaos also saw that scene and was very pleased to the Dazzlings’ plan.

"Yes, my dear Sirens" he said. "Finally, I can feel the taste of victory."

"Yes, with the Rainbooms out of the way, no one can stop the Dazzlings to win" Fire Punch said.

"Fire Punch, is not only that" the Lord of Chaos told him. "You will see that this plan has a greater purpose."

And having said that, the Lord of Chaos gave one of his evil laughter.

Arbor, the King of Trees, Part I - A Vengeful King

Ponyville was facing another threat from the Lord of Chaos. One of his villains was attacking the village with large fires that were making all ponies to panic.

The villain in question was a large fox with nine tails, golden fur and fire covering his paws and the tip of his tails. Every step that the creature gave burned the soil with his footprints. Even though he was concentrating his efforts on Everfree Forest, he didn’t cease to be a danger to Ponyville because their fires raged to the village.

In Fluttershy’s cottage, she and Thunder Night came out and they became terrified when they saw the fire that was consuming the forest.

"Oh no!" Fluttershy exclaimed, watching her animal friends running away from their homes. "This is terrible!"

"Fluttershy, you should go to a safe place" Thunder Night told her. "I'll see what is happening."

"No, I'll go with you, Thundy" Fluttershy answered.

"No, my love" he said, passing his hoof through her face. "You have to put yourself safe and our foal. Don’t worry, I'll be fine. With the sky covered, the sun will not do anything to me."

Despite being worried about her fiancé and father of her future foal, Fluttershy nodded and walked away to fly. Thunder Night also took off and started to fly over the Everfree Forest. The fire that was consuming it didn’t seem natural, for it seemed to be even more scorching than usual. Then he heard a cry for help. He went to where the cry was coming and saw Zecora surrounded by flames. Flying the pike, Thunder Night was up to her, grabbed her and put her in a place free of fire.

"Thanky you, Thunder Night, your help to my eyes was a delight" Zecora said.

"You're welcome, Zecora" he said. "It is better if you go find shelter."

She nodded and walked away, running. Then a noise in the bushes made Night Thunder turn around, preparing for what could appear. And so Shadow Claw came out from there.

"Shadow Claw?" Thunder Night asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to try to stop the one who is doing this" Shadow Claw said. "It's one of the Lord of Chaos’ villains."

"Yes, I think I've imagined it" Thunder Night said. "But who?"

"Only one creature is able to summon flames like these" Shadow Claw replied.

They then heard footsteps and the large fox appeared.

"Kitsune" Shadow Claw said, seeing him.

"Look who he is" Kitsune said, also seeing Shadow Claw. "The traitor."

"And you have not changed anything, do you?" Shadow Claw asked. "You’re still the same pyromaniac I know."

"Fire is my essence" Kitsune replie. "As the full moon is yours. Wait, let me rephrase. It was your essence."

"You'll continue to flirt with each other or we will fight?" Thunder Night asked.

And having said that, he began to fly against Kitsune.

"No, Thunder Night, wait!"Shadow Claw exclaimed.

But it was too late, because Thunder Night was already approaching Kitsune to attack him. He laughed and then lifted his nine tails to the fullest and then the flames that were involving them launched an intense light that hit Thunder Night that made him moan in pain as he felt his skin begin burned. He was thrown against a tree and Shadow Claw went to him, watching with concern the burns that appeared in the thestral’s body.

"Are you okay?" Shadow Claw asked.

"Yes, but... what happened?" Thunder Night asked.

"It was Kitsune’s flames" Shadow Claw answered. "They are like little suns. And, how you are a Thestral, you are vulnerable to them."

"I can’t believe how stupid you are" Kitsune said, approaching. "I don’t know which of you is more stupid, if you for trying to attack me, or you, Shadow Claw, for having abandoned our master.

"He's not my master" Shadow Claw said. "Not anymore."

"Yes, a terrible mistake of yours" Kitsune said.

He raised his tails again to attack with fire, when suddenly the branches of the trees that were there twitched and tried to hold the tails.

"What the..." Kitsune began, burning the branches that were holding his tails and freeing himself. "Who did this?!"

"As if you needed an answer to that question, Kitsune" a voice said.

There was a green light, and Leaf Mane appeared in front of Thunder Night and Shadow Claw.

"You!" Kitsune exclaimed.

"Long time no see" said Leaf Mane.

"Yes, since the day you imprisoned me" Kitsune said. "Something that you'll regret deeply."

"That's why you are burning the Everfree Forest?" Leaf Mane asked. "To get to me?"

Kitsune laughed and said:

"I think you know why I'm here, don’t you?"

"I have a sneaking suspicion" Leaf Mane answered. "But I will not let you."

"This I want to see" Kitsune said. "Don’t forget that I know you and fire don’t get along so well. And in case you've forgotten, I can manipulate fire."

"Maybe you're right" Leaf Mane said. "But you also forgot one thing: fire is an element of nature. And I'm the General of Nature."

And then they started a fight: fire agains earth. Leaf Mane used the plants around them, making them attack with their roots or branches, while Kitsune used his fire to protect himself while attacking Leaf Mane with it. To protect herself, Leaf Mane’s leaves created a barrier that disappeared after the guard so Leaf Mane could fight back.

Then Kitsune released a burst of fire that hit Leaf Mane and threw her against a tree, with her body full of burns and her mane with slightly scorched leaves. Kitsune displayed a wide smile, but then Leaf Mane got up and was summoned by her magic that made her green light become more intense. When the light returned to its normal intensity, Leaf Mane was completely restored.

"But..." Kitsune began, quite surprised. "How did you..."

"You should know, Kitsune" Leaf Mane said. "Plants have a very good regenerative power."

Using Kitsune’s distraction, Leaf Mane invoked several roots which she used to involve Kitsune. When he tried to use the flames of his tails, Leaf Mane hastened to make branches to grab his tails and go out the flames. Kitsune tried to free himself, but Leaf Mane made the branches and roots further tighten. Unable to endure more, Kitsune eventually passed out. Leaf Mane then released him and he fell to the ground.

"Wow!" Shadow Claw exclaimed, as he approached, supporting Thunder Night. "That was pretty amazing."

"Yes, impressive" Thunder Night agreed.

"Thank you" Leaf Mane thanked. "But this is not over. I have to imprison him right now."

But when she went to get the cell blaster, something happened. A darkness involved Kitsune and began to make him disappear.

"No!" Leaf Mane exclaimed, hasting to use the cell blaster.

But it was too late, because Kitsune disappeared.

"I can’t believe this" Leaf Mane said, lowering the cell blaster.

"What happened?" Thunder Night asked. "Where did he go?"

"The Lord of Chaos called him back" Shadow Claw answered. "There must be something more prepared to him for the Lord of Chaos had saved him from the prison-book."

"I agree, and that it’s not good" Leaf Mane said.

Thunder Night wailed slightly pain due to his burns. Leaf Mane turned to him and said:

"You have suffered enough damage against Kitsune."

"Don’t worry, Leaf Mane" Thunder Night said. "This is nothing that a good night can’t cure."

"Or I can save you the job" she said.

Leaf Mane lifted the hoof and, focusing her magic, she passed it by Thunder Night’s burns that glowed with a green light and then disappeared, leaving both stallions amazed.

"Thank you, Leaf Mane" Thunder Night thanked, returning to stand by himself.

"You're welcome" she said. "After all, you already helped a few times. Now, why don’t you two come back to the village and tell everypony it's all okay? I’ll try to fix the damage that Kitsune did."

They nodded and began to walk away. Leaf Mane then looked around, seeing all the burned and charred plants, which gave her enough grief. Charging her horn with magic, she released a burst of light that spread everywhere. It was then that all existing plants around began to regenerate as well as those who had been killed. It didn’t take long until all the damage caused by Kitsune’s fire are all erased.

However, she was still worried that the Lord of Chaos had called Kitsune back. He only did that when he had something big planned, which usually meant a catastrophe for them. Leaf Mane just hoped it hasn’t to do with what she was thinking. Then, with her work done, she teleported herself, returning to the Light Kingdom.

The Lord of Chaos and Fire Punch saw her to teleport and the latter asked:

"Why did you save him, master?" Fire Punch asked. "That’s not usually your style."

"I still need Kitsune to what I'm planning" the Lord of Chaos replied.

"And what is it exactly?" Fire Punch asked.

"Get rid of the Generals of Order" the Lord of Chaos replied. "They are the ones beyond Twilight Princess that can operate with the cell blaster. Without them, my victory is virtually guaranteed. And I'll start with Leaf Mane, one of the most powerful Generals with her power over Nature."

"But how will you do that, your lordship?" Fire Punch asked.

"The answer is obvious" the Lord of Chaos said. "I will attack the source of the power of each of them: their matrices."

"Matrices?"

"Yes, it is the source of each General’s power. They hid them in a place that only they know. But nevertheless, I managed to deduce the area where Leaf Mane’s matrix is: the Everfree Forest. I have always wondered about the reason for it being so indomitable and now I know. The General of Nature hid her matrix there. So I saved Kitsune. His flames can burn anything."

"But how can you know such a thing, master, if you just said that only the Generals know their own matrices?" Fire Punch asked.

"I have my ways" the Lord of Chaos replied. "I got discovered the aspect of Leaf Mane’s matrix and I know that Kitsune flames are able to destroy it. I just don’t know how I can find its exact location. I know it’s somewhere in Everfree Forest, but where? If only the trees could tell me where."

He thought for a few seconds and then recalled the words he had just said.

"Wait, I'm an idiot. It's so obvious. I already know."

"What, master?" Fire Punch asked.

The Lord of Chaos rose up from his chair and headed to the exit, answering him:

"If you want to know, come with me."

Curious, Fire Punch followed his master.

In Ponyville, things seemed to have returned to normal, with the ponies returning to their homes after Leaf Mane have restored the damage caused by Kitsune’s fire. When she saw Thunder Night, Fluttershy (who was with her friends) threw herself into his forelegs saying:

"I'm so glad you're all right, Thundy!"

"Yeah, me too, Fluttershy" he said, returning the hug. "This new villain was quite treacherous."

"So it was really a villain of Tartarus" Rarity said, going to Shadow Claw. "You were right, dear."

"Well, when I saw that fire, I realized it could not be normal" Shadow Claw said.

"And I should have heard you, Shadow Claw" Thunder Night said. "If I had stopped to hear you about Kitsune’s flames, maybe he wouldn’t hurt me."

"Wait, you were hurt?" Fluttershy asked, very concerned.

"Don’t worry" Thunder Night told her, holding her hooves. "I'm fine. Leaf Mane came and saved us. She also healed my wounds."

"Good thing we can always count on tha Generals" Applejack said.

"Yeah, I bet Leaf Mane imprisoned this villain in one of those tiny cells, although I don’t know how it works" Pinkie Pie said. "How can they put those big guys in really tiny cells?"

"Well, it turns out Leaf Mane didn’t managed to arrest the villain" Thunder Night revealed.

"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"The Lord of Chaos prevented him from being captured" Thunder Night explained.

"What?!" Rainbow Dash asked. "Really? What General to let that happen. "

"It’s not Leaf Mane’s fault, Rainbow" Applejack said. "Don’t forget that this creature controls fire, a major weakness of hers."

Rarity then noticed that Shadow Claw seemed quite thoughtful. She came to him and asked him:

"Is something wrong, Shadow Claw?"

"I don’t know, something is not right" he said. "What was Kitsune doing here, anyway?"

"I think it's pretty obvious" Rainbow Dash said. "To destroy Ponyville."

"No, if it were only that, the Lord of Chaos wouldn’t bother to save him" Shadow Claw said. "And I know of what I’m talking about. He must have something big planned and this is what makes me concerned."

Upon hearing this, the others also adopted some worried look.

In Tartarus, the Lord of Chaos went, along with Fire Punch, for deep solitary, where five of the six cells remained intact.

"This place gives me the creeps" Fire Punch said, trying not to move away. "Do you even have to use one of these villains?"

"It's the only way to find Leaf Mane’s matrix" the Lord of Chaos replied.

"And are you sure that this villain is reliable?" Fire Punch asked.

"Well ... no" the Lord of Chaos replied. "In fact, of all the villains here, he is the least bad."

"Wait, if that's true, then how did he end up down here?" Fire Punch asked.

"Sometimes, actions speak louder" the Lord of Chaos replied. "And what I need now is someone with a great motivation."

They then stopped in front of the cell that had Leaf Mane’s Cutie Mark. The Lord of Chaos raised his spear, which concentrated dark energy at its tip and then threw it against the cell door that was smashed, creating a smokescreen. He and Fire Punch observed the cell entry and then began to hear heavy footsteps and a huge figure came out, intimidating Fire Punch.

When the smoke cleared, they could see the one that was locked in that cell for centuries. At the first glance, it looked like a huge tree, but then they could see his face on the top of the trunk with strong wooden arms and two legs ending in roots. His entire aspect seemed immensely intimidating.

"Fire Punch, let me introduce you to Arbor, the King of Trees" the Lord of Chaos.

But then Arbor simply snorted, rolling his eyes and began to head to the exit of the solitary.

"Hey, wait a minute" the Lord of Chaos said, placing himself in front of him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To recover what belongs to me" Arbor said with a thick, harsh voice. "I don’t have time for your little games and your childish war with your brother."

"Childish war?" the Lord of Chaos repeated, offended. "How dare you, your talking piece of wood? I was the one who brought you out of your cell. Now, you'll have to do what I command you."

But Arbor simply passed by him, continuing to move towards the exit.

"Master, shouldn’t he supposedly help you?" Fire Punch asked.

But a harsh glance from his master made Fire Punch cower in fear and say:

"I’ll keep silent."

The Lord of Chaos returned to Arbor’s front and told him:

"Look, you don’t like me and I also don’t like you. But I think we can help each other."

"How so?" Arbor asked.

"Well, during your absence, the ponies took up more land and downed more trees just to build their domain" the Lord of Chaos said, showing to Arbor images of cities and villages of Equestria in a ball of light.

"Despicable!" Arbor exclaimed. "How dare they?!"

"I know, it's outrageous" the Lord of Chaos said. "But the worst is that the General of Nature, the one who put you in that cell, let them do it."

"Leaf Mane should protect my people" Arbor said. "Instead, she leaves the ponies like her toppling trees to make their useless objects."

"Yes, but if you are claiming what's yours, alone and without allies, she will soon capture you again and put you in an even tinier cell than the one where you were" the Lord of Chaos said.

"That will not happen" Arbor assured.

"Yes, but Leaf Mane has virtually the same powers you have" the Lord of Chaos said. "You two are similar. And let's face it, she has the help of her brothers and sisters."

Arbor looked at the Lord of Chaos and realized he was right. So he told him:

"What do you win in helping me?"

"Well, aside from the fact of getting rid of Leaf Mane so I can defeat the Order side, not so much" the Lord of Chaos said.

"I and my trees will be safe if you win?" Arbor asked.

"Well, I cannot guarantee that there will be some casualties, but, hey, it's always better than leave those ponies abuse your subjects, don’t you think?" the Lord of Chaos asked him. "But I can guarantee that, overall, nothing will happen to you or to your trees."

There was silence and then Arbor asked:

"What do you want me to do?"

That made the Lord of Chaos drop a laugh.

Leaf Mane returned to the Light Kingdom, where she met with Mirror Coat in the hallways.

"Well, I just know what happened in Ponyville" he said. "Congratulations for your victory."

"It wasn’t a great victory" Leaf Mane said. "I didn’t capture Kitsune.”

"No, but you saved Ponyville and you know that the princess cares more about that than any villain that can be capture" Mirror Coat replied.

"I know, but..." Leaf Mane began.

Mirror Coat noticed in her worried look and asked:

"What’s up?"

"No, it was something that Kitsune said" Leaf Mane said. "Mirror Coat, I think the Lord of Chaos knows where my matrix is."

"What?!" Mirror Coat asked, rushing to look around to see if anypony was around. "But how is this possible?"

"I don’t know" Leaf Mane said. "I think he doesn’t know the exact location, but he should know that it is in Everfree Forest."

"So that's why he sent Kitsune" Mirror Coat said. "He wanted to burn the whole forest hoping to also burn your matrix."

"Yes" Leaf Mane answered. "And I think he saved him to be able to re-use him."

"Don’t worry, Leaf Mane" Mirror Coat said. "The Lord of Chaos knows you should have noticed what he wants. He probably will not try something soon."

"I don’t know, Mirror Coat" Leaf Mane said, not very convinced. "I really don’t know."

Arbor was walking through the Everfree Forest, following the whisperings and guidance of the trees around him. He seemed to know perfectly where to go, advancing in a safe and purposeful stride. The King of Trees eventually get to the heart of the forest, an area where stood the Castle of the Two Sisters.

Reaching a kind of crater, he went down to reach a cave formed there, whose entrance was covered by strong, thick vines full of thorns. As he approached them, the vines simply moved away to allow the entrance to Arbor, recognizing him as their king. He entered in the cave and advanced to its background and found what he sought: Leaf Mane’s matrix.

The matrix was nothing more than an immensely beautiful tree with a silver color. Its branches were covered with vines hanging and containing bright green spheres. At the center of its trunk was Leaf Mane’s Cutie Mark.

"How wonderful!" Arbor exclaimed, not wanting to believe in what his eyes were seeing.

Freeing himself from the tree’s charm, Arbor remembered what brought him there.

Moments before...

"Deep in the Everfree Forest, there is Leaf Mane’s matrix, the source of all her magic" the Lord of Chaos told him. "However, I don’t know its exact location and that forest is too big. I am sure that your influence on the plants will allow you to find it."

"What do you want me to do when I find it?" Arbor asked. "I don’t harm any subjects of mine, and I’m sure Leaf Mane’s matrix is some kind of plan."

"You don’t need you to kill it" the Lord of Chaos said. "You just have to weaken the power of the matrix so Leaf Mane’s power can be also weaken."

Present...

Knowing what he had to do, Arbor said:

"I’m sorry for this, my friend."

Then he slammed his foot down hard, where its roots sank. Then, around the matrix, black and thorny roots lifted from the ground and began to engage the tree. Feeling the thorns of the roots beginning to penetrate the truck and absorbing its power, the matrix’s light started flashing and losing its intensity every time.

The Lord of Chaos saw it happen through his mirror.

"Perfect!" He exclaimed. "It won’t late until Leaf Mane start to resent from the attack that her matrix is suffering."

"Master, I was wondering about a thing" Fire Punch said. "As you said, to defeat Leaf Mane completely, it is necessary to destroy her matrix, right?"

"But of course" the Lord of Chaos replied. "That’s why I still have Kitsune under my service. He will burn the tree and end the General of Nature."

"But if the matrix is destroyed, will not it destroy the whole nature in all the worlds?" Fire Punch asked. "All the trees will die. This doesn’t go against the promise you made to Arbor?"

"Fire Punch, do you really believe I will fulfill that foolish promise I made to Arbor?"

"Well..."

"I do everything to get what I want, even make false promises" the Lord of Chaos said. "After all, I am the most evil of all. Arbor knows this and was naive to make a deal with me."

"But if Arbor discovers what the plan really is..." Fire Punch began.

"Arbor will only notice it when it is too late" the Lord of Chaos replied. "That decadent tree will be too concentrated to attack ponies to recover his dominion that will not realize that he was tricked."

"If you say so, master" Fire Punch said.

The light in Leaf Mane’s matrix was already quite weak as well as its magic. Some of the vegetation that was around it soon began to wither, losing much of the magic that made them grow.

In the Light Kingdom, Leaf Mane walked through the hallways of the castle when suddenly a wave of weakness washed over her. But she was able to resist and continued walking. She then met with Golden Paladin in the hallway.

"Hello, Leaf Mane" he greeted her.

"Hello, Golden Pa..." Leaf Mane began.

But she didn’t finish it, because she began to feel her energy being drained in a way that Leaf Mane eventually passed out. Seeing his sister beginning to fall, Golden Paladin hastened to go pick her, saying:

"Leaf Mane!"

Catching Leaf Mane before she hit the ground, he took his hoof to her forehead and noticed that it was immensely hot.

"You have a lot of fever" he said.

It was then that he noticed in her mane and saw that the fresh leaves that adorned it was beginning to dry and Leaf Mane’s light was weakening, as if it was going out.

"Oh no..." Golden Paladin said.

Author's Note

Leaf Mane's matrix is based on the Tree of Harmony, as my stories doesn't follow the main alignment of the season 4 and 5 of the saga.

Arbor, the King of Trees, Part II - A Plant Invasion

Once she had passed out, Leaf Mane was taken to the hospital wing by Golden Paladin, where they were reunited then with the other Generals. Twilight and Blue went to there also, concerned about what could be happening with Leaf Mane. Mirror Coat examined her carefully and, when he finished, Golden Paladin asked him:

"That's what I think it is?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Mirror Coat replied him.

"But what's that you're thinking about?" Blue asked.

"Yeah, what's up with Leaf Mane?" Twilight asked, noting how her light was becoming weaker.

"Leaf Mane’s power is being drained slowly" Mirror Coat answered. "And the only way for this to be happening is that her matrix is currently being attacked."

On hearing this, Melody, Purple Smoke and Heartbeat soon hold their breaths.

"That's bad, right?" Blue asked.

"More than bad, Your Highness" Melody answered.

"It's terrible" Purple Smoke said.

"A complete disaster" Heartbeat added. "Something that can unbalance everything."

"Each of us, Generals, has our magic obtained from a particular source from which flows the magic that the Lord of Order gives us" Golden Paladin explained. "Its appearance differs from General to General and only its respective owner knows its location, but all have the same purpose: to give us our magic. They are our matrices."

Twilight, understanding Golden Paladin’s explanation, realized:

"So if something happens to one of these matrices, the magic of the General whom it is linked will... disappear?"

"Basically" Golden Paladin said.

"Although this statement is not so linear, because the Lord of Order is able to use his magic to sustain the loss of a matrix, but it is certain that things will not be the same if that happen" Mirror Coat added.

"If this is true, then it means that her matrix is being attacked right now" Blue said. "We must act now."

"Yes, but..." Melody started.

"We don’t know where Leaf Mane’s matrix is" Purple Smoke said. "Only she knows."

"We have no alternative but to wait for her to wake up and trust us the location of her matrix" Golden Paladin said.

In the cave where Leaf Mane’s matrix was, Arbor said:

"Don’t worry, fellow tree. You shalt not die. Besides being against my principles, I need your magic continue to flow so that our fellow plants can grow and dominate this world once more."

A throne made of roots grew from the ground and Arbor sat on it.

"It's time to purge this world from the ponies’ domination" he said.

Its roots shone with a black gloss and rooted on the ground. When he did this, vegetation began to grow rapidly and spread out in locations where it was deforested.

At Fluttershy’s cottage, she and Thunder Night were having a moment of relaxation on the couch when several knocks at the door were heard.

"But what can it be?" Fluttershy asked, as she stood up.

"I don’t know" Thunder Night replied.

Fluttershy went to the door and opened it. Barely made it, several animals entered in her house, almost completely filling the space so that Thunder Night had to take off. The animals seemed terrified.

"But what's up with them?" Thunder Night asked, while landing next to Fluttershy.

"I don’t know" she said, as she tried to figure out what their animal friends were trying to say. "But it looks like something scared them immensely."

"It must be something really big to scare up a bear" Thunder Night commented, referring to Fluttershy’s bear friend.

"Friends, please calm down" Fluttershy said to her animal friends. “Please, tell me, what is it that has caused you all such distress?

Her bear friend pointed to the exterior, with a terrified look.

“Whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing you need to really worry about” Fluttershy said.

She and Thunder Night went to outside and were speechless when they faced with thorny and black roots leaving the Everfree Forest and beginning to spread. Without thinking twice, Fluttershy closed the door in panic and said:

“Oh, no, you were right. You should be worried! Very, very worried!”

"Calm down, Fluttershy" Thunder Night said, embracing his fiancée. "Everything is going to be all right... I hope."

But things were not going well at all. The same black and thorny roots were showing up all over Ponyville. In Sweet Apple Acres, they appeared in the fields, which forced the entire Apple family (including Cherry Blossom) trying to get rid of them, tearing them in the bud. But the task was proving to be quite complicated, because it seemed that for every one that they took off, more appeared.

“Come on, y'all!” Applejack exclaimed, while trying to take out a root. “Put yer backs into it!”

But it seemed that they were becoming increasingly stronger and longer.

"Eeyup" said Big Mac, preparing to boot a root, just for it suddenly to hide under the ground. "Nnope."

It appeared again in another place and when Big Mac tried to pull it up again, it returned to disappear, only to reappear elsewhere, with the big red stallion saying 'Eeyup' and 'Nnope'.

The roots developed in such a way that even the farmhouse began to be surrounded by them.

"Applejack, I think this is not working" Cherry Blossom said, trying to use his magic to boot the roots, and with the small Jonagold on her back.

“We ain't never seen this kind of trouble with weeds bafor” Applejack said to her, now looking closely one of the roots. “Now that Ah think about it, Ah've never seen these kinds of weeds at all! Have y'all?”

“Nnope” Big Mac answered, while one of the roots hit him from behind.

“Where tha heck are these things comin' from?” Applejack answered.

Having noticed how the roots were spreading, Rainbow Dash began using her speed and kicks to try to knock them down.

"Take this!" She said, as she hit the roots. "And more of this! And this!"

But then one ended up grabbing a hoof of hers and soon more follow it and they bind Rainbow Dash altogether.

"Oh, no."

At Carousel Boutique, Rarity was pinching the curtains when she saw the roots.

"Shadow Claw, come see this" she said.

He arrived there and asked:

"What is it, dear?"

"Don’t you think there are strange plants starting growing a little too fast?" Rarity asked.

Also seeing the roots, Shadow Claw became amazed.

"What the hell..." he began.

"Well, of course the earth ponies can handle this" Rarity said, starting to move away from the window. "Come, let's have a cup of tea."

A little apprehensive, Shadow Claw also turned from the window.

What they didn’t know was that the roots that appeared around the boutique started having flowers that opened and released a strange, bright pollen.

Rarity brought the tea service to the table with her magic and then the pollen came in and went straight to her horn. They merged with her magic aura and when Rarity lifted the teapot to pour tea into the cups, the tea simply began to float in the air strangely, much to the Rarity and Shadow Claw’s amazement. The teapot also began to move wildly and they followed it and saw it entering in the dress room and begin to pour tea on Rarity’s creations, something that shocked her.

“What in the name of calming chamomile is going on?!” she asked.

“I don’t know” Shadow Claw said. “But this is very strange.”

Then the teapot began to pursue and squirting tea on Rarity's cat, Opalescence, which began to run away as fast as she could.

“Opalescence, darling, I'm so sorry! I promise I am not doing this on purpose!”

Rarity spent the hoof by the tongue and then passed it by the horn, stopping the flow of the magic. The teapot, no longer surrounded by the magical aura, crashed on the floor, stopping the persecution.

“It wasn't me, I swear!” Rarity told to her cat.

But Opal simply growled at her and walked away with a haughty air.

"Okay, that was weird" Shadow Claw said.

“And I think I know who did this” Rarity said, turning then to the top floor. “Sweetie Belle! If this is some sort of prank you and your little Crusader friends are pulling, I find very little humor in it!”

Then Sweetie Belle appeared floating upside down from the stairs coming with her magic also as uncontrolled as Rarity’s, saying:

“Rarity, Shadow Claw, you have to help me! I think something's wrong with my horn!”

She then fell to the ground, but then Rarity’s magic activated itself and began to pull a curtain and make it start chasing Sweetie Belle who start fleeing and screaming. Rarity couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

"I have to stop this!" Said Rarity as she tried to hold her magic.

Sweetie Belle was trying to escape as fast as possible, but it looked like the curtain was going to catch her. When this was about to happen, Shadow Claw ran the fastest he could and managed to catch the little filly and put her on his back.

"Thank you, Shadow Claw" Sweetie Belle thanked.

"Don’t thank me yet" he said, seeing that the curtain was still animated by Rarity’s magic. "This is not over."

He then started running to the exit of boutique and Rarity went with them.

All this made the Light Kingdom alarm sound.

"It was about time" Purple Smoke said. "You know, Heartbeat, you should tune that alarm of yours."

"At least it works" she replied. "The same can not be said about your creations."

That made Melody to laugh, which earned her a harsh look from Purple Smoke.

"What?" she asked. “It was funny."

"Stop you three" Golden Paladin told them. "The situation is serious."

"The villain who should be causing trouble must be the one that attacked Leaf Mane’s matrix" Blue said.

"Mirror Coat, which is the source of the disturbance?" Twilight asked.

He then invoked one of his mirrors and showed Twilight what was happening in Ponyville.

"Oh no!" Twilight exclaimed.

"It seems that Everfree Forest is... invading" Blue noted.

"Wait, is this possible?" Purple Smoke asked. "I thought plants were dying, not growing uncontrollably."

"I don’t know" Golden Paladin said. "Only Leaf Mane know the properties of her matrix."

Then Leaf Mane began to wake up, to the great relief of all.

"What... is happening?" She asked. "Why do I feel... so weak?"

"Leaf Mane, your matrix is being attacked" Mirror Coat said. "Your power and light are getting weakened because of that."

"What?" Leaf Mane asked, didn’t want to believe. "No... It can’t be."

"I think it is" Heartbeat said, pointing to the image Mirror Coat invoked.

"But if my matrix is being attacked... the plants should be dying" Leaf Mane said.

"Unless someone is controlling them somehow" Twilight said.

"So that means that we are dealing with a villain who can control plants just like Leaf Mane?" Blue asked. "Is there a villain like that?"

Leaf Mane didn’t need much thought to know with whom they were dealing with.

"Arbor..." she said.

"Arbor?" the other repeated.

"Who is Arbor?" Twilight and Blue asked simultaneously.

"The King of Trees, one of the prisoners of the solitary" Golden Paladin said. "He was defeated by Leaf Mane."

"Is this means that we are dealing with one of the top villains?" Twilight asked. "Perfect. It didn’t pass so much time since we defeated the Sirens."

"But the point is that Arbor is not even a real villain" Heartbeat said. "Why did the Lord of Chaos decide to use him?"

"He's not a real villain?" Blue repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

"Let’s just say Arbor is more an extreme environmentalist than a villain" Purple Smoke said. "He thinks that plants should rule the world and, therefore, tried to take over Equestria with his plants."

"He's just misunderstood" Leaf Mane said, trying to reunite the forces she still had. "He just wants to protect... his subjects. But his vision was blurred and this made him take extreme decisions. He began to threaten innocent ponies and wouldn’t stop. I had no choice... but to defeat him and... hold him in the solitary."

"And that's what we will do" Golden Paladin said. "We will arrest him and as soon as possible. If his influence over plants spreads, we may be witnessing the end of Equestria. But of course, for this, Leaf Mane, you must tell us where your matrix is."

Leaf Mane didn’t answer that question immeatly. The information Golden Paladin was asking was sacred. But she knew that was the only way to stop Arbor’s madness, so she nodded and said:

"My matrix is in the heart of Everfree Forest, near the Castle of the Two Sisters."

"Really?" Twilight asked her, amazed. "But I have been there a few times and..."

"It is fairly well protected" Leaf Mane said. "The forest itself protects the matrix, that why it's so wild and untamed."

"We will have to act quickly" Golden Paladin said. "Generals, come with me to face Arbor. Princess, I cannot let you come with us but can’t stop you from help your friends. You can go to Ponyville to help them with anything they need."

"Thank you, Golden Paladin" Twilight thanked. "You bet I will help them."

"And I'll go with you" Blue said. "I can not allow you to face something like this by yoursel."

Twilight smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, saying:

"That's why I love you."

That made Blue smile and blush slightly.

In Ponyville, things were worse. More and more roots appeared in an uncontrolled manner. Rarity and Shadow Claw, having taken Sweetie Belle to her and Rarity’s parents’ home, advanced through the village towards the town hall with Rarity saying:

“Something very strange is going on, and…”

She stopped when she came across with a root growing right before her eyes and beginning to bind her hoof. Shadow Claw acted immediately, giving it a strong kick that took it off from the ground and freed Rarity.

“Thank you, dear” she thanked, turning back to concentrate in what she was saying. “I for one would appreciate an explanation!”

Rainbow Dash appeared, having been released from the roots that bound her, saying:

"All I know is that these roots appeared out of nowhere and began to cause all this."

“’though Ah don’t know what all these crazy plants are, Ah know where they are comin’ from” Applejack said, arriving while trying to take out some of the roots. “They're comin' from tha Everfree Forest! And try as we might, us Earth ponies can't do anythin' to get rid of 'em!

A large root appeared and Pinkie Pie appeared slipping on it and the landing nearby.

“Don't suppose ya know any magic that might stop 'em from spreadin'?” Applejack asked to Rarity.

“Alas, this whole raging forest situation seems to have left my horn on the fritz!” Rarity answered.

“She’s right” Shadow Claw said. “It seems this plants are affecting also unicorn magic.”

“We have to figure out something!” Fluttershy said, arriving with Thunder Night. “I don't know how much more of this Ponyville can take!

A root grabbed one of her hooves, something that frightened her tremendously and took Thunder Night to act and cut the root, freeing Fluttershy, who exclaimed:

“I don't know how much more I can take!”

"Calm down, Fluttershy, deep breath" Thunder Night told her Night, trying to reassure her.

"Hey, don’t you think this is another attempt from that Chaos idiot, do you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

So all eyes focused on Shadow Claw who said:

"Hey, just because I worked for him, that does not mean I know what he is thinking. Although this seems something of him, I don’t know any villain able to control plants in this way. This is something that is unique only to the General of Nature."

“It doesn’t matter who is behind of this” Applejack said. “Tha forest is expandin' and judgin' by how fast it's movin', it doesn't seem content just takin' over Ponyville... I reckon before long, it'll cover half of Equestria!”

Then a portal appeared and Twilight and Blue arrived.

"Hello, friends" she greeted.

"Twilight!" Everypony exclaimed. "Blue!"

They went all to them with Twilight’s embracing her strongly.

"I'm glad you came!" Rarity said, when they finished the hug. "Things are quite complicated here."

"I think that does not even describe it" Rainbow Dash said. "These things are covering all Ponyville!"

"I think they are fun" Pinkie Pie said, who started jumping on top of a root as if it were a trampoline.

She then noticed the look of everypony and said:

"Hey, you can’t blame me for trying to see the positive side of things."

"This has nothing positive in this" Twilight said.

"Do ya know who is causin’ all this commotion?" Applejack asked.

"You bet" Blue said. "It's one of the envoys of the Lord of Chaos."

"Yes, but I do not remember seeing any villain in Tartarus able to control plants" Shadow Claw said.

"That's because he was locked in the solitary" Twilight replied. "That's why you don’t know him."

"Wait, we're dealing with another super villain?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I don’t know if it's the right way to describe him" Twilight said.

She and Blue then explained the situation to everypony.

"Oh, goodness!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "That's horrible. Poor Leaf Mane."

"So if we cannot save this matrix, Leaf Mane will lose her magic and Nature will die?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Not completely, because the Lord of Order can use his magic to offset the loss of the matrix, but this would tip the balance of power in favor of the Lord of Chaos" Twilight said.

"An’ this Arbor, it is he who is causin’ all this?" Applejack asked.

"He thinks he's just saving his trees" Twilight said.

"But that's no excuse for this" Rainbow Dash answered.

“I dunno if you've noticed, but the Everfree Forest is just a teeny-tiny bit out of control” Pinkie Pie said.

Then her tail began to shake. It was her Pinkie sense warning her. And so she looked up in time to a large root that came suddenly and eventually hit on Applejack that was thrown to the ground.

"But even now you were saying that these things were funny" Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh, Dashie, don’t be silly" Pinkie Pie said. "Who do you think can find those ugly herbs fun. Neither I think they are."

That made Rainbow Dash lead the hoof to the face.

"Sometimes our intentions are mixed with the darkness that Chaos Lord implants within us and that blurs our reason" Shadow Claw said. "I know that from my own experience. Maybe that's what's happening with Arbor."

"Well, whatever, Golden Paladin and the others are dealing with him" Blue said.

"Blue is right" Twilight said. "Of course they will be able to catch Arbor. We just have to ensure that these roots do not spread. "

"I think it is too late" a voice said.

They turned and all saw Discord appearing, holding a couple of hand luggage and spiky thorns in some parts of his body.

"Discord" Fluttershy said, going to him. "But what happened to you?"

"It seems you've been dealing with a thorny problem" Rainbow Dash said, in her cynical tone.

"Ah, ah, ah, very funny, Rainbow Dash" Discord said, taking one of the thorns that he had. "But I could say the same about you."

He then used the thorn to hold his hand luggage to one of the roots that was nearby.

"Whatcha doin’ here, Discord?" Applejack asked. "Ah thought ya lik’d more to be in Haysead Swamps as a place where ya can have fun at ease."

"And I liked until recently when the trees there simply kicked me out" Discord replied. "Something that I didn’t know that was possible, given that they have no feet."

"Wait, you said it was too late" Blue said. "What do you mean by that?"

"Apparently I was right about the fact you being a little slow, Blue Sword" Discord said. "I think I was quite explicit. It seems that your beloved vegetable friends are already progressing enough to beings that were not supposed to move."

He then appeared some distance with an increased size and taking pictures to Ponyville infected with the roots, saying:

“Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love what these things have done with the place.”

He reappeared again beside them with the normal size and said:

"But it happens that several places have the same thorny problem than you."

He appeared behind Rainbow Dash and said in her ear:

"You see, Rainbow Dash, this is how a pun must be used."

Discord reappeared in the place where he was and Thunder Night asked:

"Where?"

"Well, let me see" Discord said, by displaying a map of Equestria that was floating in the air and beginning to mark the locations with the thorns that he still had on his body. "We have Tall Tale, Dodge City, Baltimare, and of course, Hollow Shades."

"What?" Thunder Night asked. "My home too?"

"It makes sense" Twilight said. "These are places that are surrounded by a large concentration of vegetation."

"You see how a good friend I am?" Discord asked. "When I heard about these terrible incidents happening, my conscience told me then that I should come to tell you everything."

"Wait, you have a conscience?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Of course I have" Discord replied, making appear a small cage where there was a cricket inside. "You see? I keep him fed and everything else."

He made the cage disappear and then asked:

"It's not like I am getting into matters that are not mine, but can you tell me what's going on here? I'm all ears."

And he made cat ears appear in his head.

"Actually, have you ever heard about Arbor?" Twilight asked.

"What, the idiot who is fanatical about plants?" Discord asked. "The one who wants to destroy the pony society and conquer every single piece of land with his small friends with leaves?"

"Yes" Twilight replied.

"I've never heard about him" Discord answered.

That made Twilight roll her eyes and say:

"Discord!"

"Calm down, I was just kidding" Discord saind. "Don’t you like a good joke?"

But seeing the serious air of the ponies, he said:

"Look, the only thing I know is that he didn’t like when ponies began to cut down trees to build their small towns. He lost it and tried to conquer everything, but he was defeated by Leaf Mane and then... "

And he make prison clothes appear on him, as well a ball and chain tied to one of his feet.

"Life imprisonment in the solitary of Tartarus."

He returned to normal and said:

"It's not that we were great friends, after all he's no big fan of the Lord of Chaos or any of his servants."

"Okay, okay, can you at least help us to control things around here?" Twilight asked. "We have to keep things under control, while Golden Paladin and the others deal with Arbor."

"Well, I don’t know" Discord replied. "Allow me to consult my personal adviser."

He made the cage with cricket reappear and then put his ear to the cage, as he said:

"Well... I see... Okay..."

He made the cage disappear again and said:

"Okay, I'll help you."

And he made a gardener suit appear along with a pair of pruning shears and said:

"Let the gardening begin!"

And he started cutting some roots.

"I don’t understand why we still stand him" Blue said to Twilight.

"Neither do I" she replied.

Arbor was sitting on his throne when he felt something approaching. He drew a smile and said:

"I wondered when you would appear."

And then Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat, Purple Smoke, Melody and Heartbeat appeared.

"Enough, Arbor" Golden Paladin said. "You've proved your point. Now, calls back the roots."

"As if that were to happen" Arbor replied.

"I don’t understand how can you do this" Golden Paladin said. "How can you attack Leaf Mane’s matrix? You know what happens if it is destroyed."

"That is why I’m keeping it alive" Arbor said, gesturing to the silver tree that was some distance behind him. "With the matrix weakened, Leaf Mane’s power is also weakened, which gives me complete control over the plants again."

"Arbor, you are not a villain like the others" Golden Paladin said. "Your heart doesn’t belong to the Lord of Chaos. Please stop this."

"Your diplomatic skills will not convince me to change my mind, General of Peace" Arbor said. "I've been centuries to convince me to move forward with this. Furthermore, I do not understand why you are on the side of the ponies. You are not ponies, after all... at least, true ones. You are not even from this world. Why are you helping them?"

"Because it is our duty" Golden Paladin answered.

"Well, I think we are all following our duty" said Arbor. "You toward the ponies and me towards my vegetable companions. Let’s see what duty will prevail... mine or yours."

There was a pause and then Arbor said:

"By the way, Mirror Coat, if you think your sneak attacks will work, you're sorely wrong."

Then roots emerged and were up to a certain point hidden behind Arbor and then they lifted Mirror Coat, the real Mirror Coat, which tried to break free, but in vain. The Mirror Coat that was with the other Generals was an illusion that crumbled into mirror pieces when the original was caught.

"Mirror Coat!" Golden Paladin called.

Then Mirror Coat was arrested by the roots from the neck down and the roots began to glow, doing the same with General Knowledge that started moaning in pain. It seemed they were sucking his energy to let him weak.

"Attack!" Golden Paladin exclaimed to the other Generals.

Melody and Purple Smoke prepared to execute Golden Paladin’s order, but Arbor was faster (or was waiting for something like that). Roots appeared out of nowhere and started attacking the General of Talent and the General of Music. The roots who attacked Purple Smoke, bound him and began to absorb his energy so quickly that he didn’t have time to change to his smoke form and those who attacked Melody managed to prevent her from use her voice and then subdued her too.

Seeing that only remained he and Heartbeat and seeing that it was only a matter of time for Arbor also take them, Golden Paladin realized that they were unable to defeat him at the time.

"Golden!" Heartbeat exclaimed.

He looked where she was pointing and saw the cave entrance was being sealed with vines. They were going to be stuck, if they did nothing. But then he realized they would not get there in time to leave before the vines had closed the cave... at least he wouldn’t. Turning to Heartbeat, he told her:

"Go away, Heartbeat."

"But..." she began.

"Go!" Golden Paladin ordered. "It's an order! You have to get Princess Twilight and her friends. The Elements of Harmony are our best weapon now. Go!"

Heartbeat didn’t know what to say or what to do. She could not let Golden Paladin and the others.

"What are you waiting for?!" Golden Paladin asked. "The exit is closing. Go!"

Then, when she found herself, she was using her immense speed to get out of the cave, few seconds before they close the cave.

"I see that you have wasted an opportunity to escape" Arbor said to Golden Paladin while his roots approached the General of Peace. "What stupid you were."

"It was not stupid and you know that quite well" Golden Paladin said, while the roots were beginning to bind his hooves.

"It doesn’t matter what you use against me, it will not work" Arbor said, while the roots continued to bind Golden Paladin and to rise him up.

"That's what we'll see" he replied.

And then the roots began to suck Golden Paladin’s energy, being also managed to subdue him.

Arbor, the King of Trees, Part III - The Redemption of the King

Although Arbor’s black roots continue to invade, the inhabitants of Ponyville seemed to have managed to control the situation, mainly thanks to Discord’s help, although he sometimes did live up to its name.

After a while, Blue went to Twilight and told her:

"It looks like things are going well here."

"Apparently" Twilight said. "But I'm worried. We should have received news from Golden Paladin. "

"Don't worry" Blue said, passing his hoof through his wife’s face. "I'm sure they are right. Remember that we're dealing with one of the villains of the solitary. They must take longer to defeat it. "

Twilight was hoping he was right, but there was something inside her that was telling her that there was something wrong, something that came to confirm at that time.

Heartbeat appeared out of nowhere in front of them, having used her immense speed. She had the coat and mane completely misaligned. She looked like she had been struggling so much to get there, because she was panting a lot.

"Princess Twilight, something terrible has happened!" she exclaimed.

"What happened, Heartbeat?" Twilight asked.

The other, noticing Heartbeat’s arrival, went to them, while she said:

"Arbor captured my brothers and sisters!"

"What?!" everypony asked at the same time.

"Yes!" Heartbeat exclaimed. "And I couldn't do anything. He used his roots to take us all. Those roots are like energy leeches and they managed to subdue my siblings. But Golden Paladin sent me escape to warn you, Princess. "

"He managed to defeat five Generals alone?" Rarity asked. "Unbelievable!"

"Well, the truth is that he has the upper hand" Shadow Claw said.

"We have to do something" Rainbow Dash said. "We have to get that chump now."

"How do you go to do that?" Thunder Night asked. "I don't know if you noticed, but he managed to defeat five of the most powerful beings of this world."

"Well, technically, it was only four, I managed to get away" Heartbeat recalled. "But the truth is that defeating Arbor will be much more complicated. But that's why Golden sent me. There is a way to defeat Arbor and I think you know what I'm talking about. "

Twilight didn't have to think long to realize.

"The Elements of Harmony!" she exclaimed.

"That's right" Heartbeat said. "After the Generals' magic, their magic is the most powerful one you can find in this world."

"All right, y'all, let's go get the elements an’ that evil" Applejack said.

"Finally, some real action!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, all excited, saying after seeing her friends staring at her. "What? I'm just saying."

"Well, it's not that I like to walk through dark and scary forests, but we may find those funny trees we found when we picked up the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon" said Pinkie Pie. "It was hilarious!"

"I don't like at all walking in woods out of control and ready to catch us with dirty roots" said Rarity. "But, anyway, save the world and keep up the good-looks are not things you can do at the same time. Maybe I ask some advice to Melody when we save them."

"Okay, I'm ready" Fluttershy said, although her words do not correspond to what she was feeling.

"I don't know, Fluttershy, I think I should go with you" Thunder Night said. "If something happens to you or to our foal, I will not forgive myself."

"You don't have to worry about, Thundy" Fluttershy reassured. "I'm going to be all right. Besides, I have my friends with me."

"I know, but..." Thunder Night started.

"Don't worry" Rainbow Dash told him. "I promise we won't let anything happen to Fluttershy or to your foal."

The others waved, confirming what Rainbow Dash said.

"Besides, we need you to keep these roots under control" Twilight said. "We could leave Discord to deal with them, while we take care of Arbor, but the truth is that I don't trust him."

"Did I hear somepony say my name?" Discord asked, appearing and bringing hedge clippers with blades twisted, what he threw to behind him, causing them to fall into a dumpster filled with others hedge clippers also with the blades twisted. "You know what they say when you talk bad about somepony in his or her..."

But he then noticed in Heartbeat and when he saw her, he gave a cry of panic and grabbed Shadow Claw, shaking, while asking:

"But what's she doing here?!"

"Don't worry, Discord, I'm not here to play with you" Heartbeat said to him, while Shadow Claw made Discord leave him. "I don't know if you noticed, but we have a pretty dangerous villain to stop."

"Of course I noticed" he replied. "And I don't know if you noticed, but I have been helping to control all of this things of destroy Ponyville."

"It's better that way" Heartbeat said. "Because, believe me when I said you will want to wish you never have been created if you don’t help."

Heartbeat had said it in a dark tone, and then moved to a more cheerful air asking:

"Do you understand?"

"Of course I do" Discord said, crossing his arms. "I'm not an idiot. Furthermore, you don’t intimidate me not one bit."

"So why are your legs shaking?" Rainbow Dash asked.

It was true, Discord’s legs were shaking. He tried to stop the tremors with his hands, but only managed to put his whole body shaking. It was then that he started walking away saying:

"Just for the record, I'm pushing me away because I have to keep working and not to stay a safe distance from the most bipolar General that exists."

When he walked away enough, Rainbow Dash said to Heartbeat:

"Seriously, you gotta say what you did to make Discord so afraid of you."

"Well, enough" Twilight said. "We have more important things to attend to."

And then she conjured with her magic her crown and her friends’ necklaces with the Elements of Harmony, delivering them to their respective owners. She then turned to Blue Sword and asked him:

"Do you take care of this?"

"Don't worry, everything will be fine" he assured. "Go on."

Twilight smiled and exchanged a kiss with her husband.

Rarity approached Shadow Claw and asked him:

"See you later?"

"Sure" he replied with a slight smile. "I just hope you to stay well."

"Of course" Rarity replied him. "You can be sure of that."

Fluttershy approached Thunder Night, saying:

"Thundy..."

"Don't worry about it" he said. "Equestria needs you. You know that I'd preferred you stayed here, but I know that you and your friends are the only ones who can stop this. But please, promise me that you're going to be careful. Not only for you, but also for our foal."

Fluttershy smiled tenderly and then replied:

"Don't worry about it. I will."

The two exchanged a hug and then Fluttershy joined her five friends and Heartbeat to go to the Everfree Forest.

The group of seven advanced through the forest, while they all looked around, afraid.

"I don't know why, but I feel like we're being watched" Rainbow Dash said.

"Seriously, Rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked sarcastically. "What makes ya think that? Maybe it's tha fact that we are surround’d by trees that may be under Arbor’s control."

"Calm down" Twilight said. "We have to stick together, if we are to defeat Arbor."

"Princess is right" said Heartbeat. "You never know when... Watch out!"

And without warning, Heartbeat fired a red beam from her horn that passed between Rarity and Pinkie Pie and tore a giant root that approached surreptitiously.

"Wow, that was awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Don’t rely on it until we’re sure of it, Rainbow" Twilight, while she saw more roots to appear. "We are surrounded. Heartbeat, do you think you can deal with them? "

"My mission is to get you safely to Arbor" Heartbeat said. "Besides, it takes more than a few roots to overturn a General."

"But that's not the way your siblings..." Rainbow Dash started.

However, she didn’t finish, because with one Heartbeat’s sharp look made her stop. Turning her attention back to the roots, the General of Affection charged her horn with magic and then created a red bubble around them.

"Stay with me" Heartbeat said. "This force field will protect us. Come on!"

They started running, with Twilight and her friends struggling to stay with Heartbeat. The roots were trying to catch them, but when they touched the protection created by Heartbeat, they simply burned and eventually back off. Soon they arrive to where Arbor was. Using her magic, since Heartbeat was protecting them from the roots, Twilight managed to destroy the roots that were clogging the entrance to the cave. They entered, finding Arbor sitting on his throne. Stuck to the walls of the cave by the leech roots, were Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat, Purple Smoke and Melody, both practically unconscious.

"This ends here, Arbor" Twilight said.

"Princess Twilight" Arbor said. "I was wondering when you'd show up. It was obvious that Heartbeat would get you and her friends to defeat me with the Elements of Harmony."

"You bet we're going to bring you down" said Rainbow Dash. "Just like an old tree."

Arbor giggled and then said:

"And you still wonder why I'm doing this. Even with jokes you hide your cruelty to my people."

"I know you have your reasons to doing all this, Arbor" Twilight said. "But believe me when I tell you that this is not the best way to deal with everything."

"Yes, but I disagree" Arbor replied.

And, without warning, roots appeared underneath and managed to grab Twilight, Heartbeat and the others.

"Girls, we must act now!" Twilight exclaimed.

Twilight and her friends tried to activate the Elements of Harmony, but before they could do so, the roots began to suck their energies.

"Personally, I never would have a relationship with the Lord of Chaos more than I should have" Arbor said. "But maybe if I offer him the Princess of the Light Kingdom, maybe my position on our deal will be safer."

But before he could do anything else, a voice said:

"No, Arbor."

Everypony looked all and saw Leaf Mane at the entrance.

"Leaf Mane!" the seven mares exclaimed.

"What are you... doing here?!" Heartbeat asked. "Your strength ..."

"I know I shouldn't be here" Leaf Mane said, advancing slowly, due to her energy being drained, and getting momentarily disturbed by seeing her matrix wrapped by Arbor’s roots. "But I had to come. It's my duty as the General of Nature."

"Don't try to even persuade me to abandon my revenge, Leaf Mane" Arbor said. "If you came here for that, then you're just wasting the energy that you still have."

"You don't understand... do you, Arbor?" Leaf Mane asked. "You're just doing... more harm than good. You think you're doing the best for your plants, but you’re doing exactly the opposite. And they know that."

"Don't be ridiculous" Arbor said. "My subjects are helping me in my revenge. If what you say is true, then how are the plants attacking the ponies?"

"That's because... you made them attack" Leaf Mane said. "You are using your influence, even unintentionally. But, if you hear them... you’ll find that."

Despite being skeptical about Leaf Mane’s words, Arbor started to listen his subjects and was stunned when he heard their pleas to stop what he was doing with them.

"But why?" he asked.

"Because Arbor..." Leaf Mane replied, while she activated her magic and made appear little birds which were chirping and flying, going to land on her back. "The animals are also part of Nature. With them, there is perfect harmony between them and plants."

And the birds flew out of Leaf Mane’s back to Arbor’s branches, something that left him petrified.

"Of course ponies were not well when they brought down your trees, but that was a long time ago" Leaf Mane said. "Ponies are remedying what they did and, for this may happen completely, we must give them a chance."

Arbor couldn't help but think in Leaf Mane’s words. She was spending the little energy she had left to say all that. She looked like she was putting all her trust in them, like she was sure that corresponded to reality. Also he had the prayers of his servants and all of that was made him fight against everything he believed for centuries.

"Well, well, well..." a voice said at the entrance of the cave. "How sentimental."

They turned to there and saw Kitsune. Seeing him, the birds that Leaf Mane had invoked fled from the cave.

"Kitsune" Leaf Mane said.

She tried to attack the nine-tailed fox with her magic, but she had spent so much energy on the invocation of the birds that she fell to the ground. Kitsune laughed and said, while he entered:

"It seems that this time you won't be able to defeat me, my dear."

"What are you doing here?" Arbor asked coldly to Kitsune. "This is no place for a freak like you. Go away. "

"Arbor, you should be more nice" Kitsune said. "After all, we're both on the same side. Both of us serve the Lord of Chaos."

"I don't serve and I never served him" Arbor replied.

"Don't tell me" Kitsune said. "Because you did exactly what he wanted you to do. Well, not entirely. Allow me to finish the job for you."

And saying this, he opened his nine tails which started to burned and then launched the fire through everypony and hit directly on Leaf Mane’s matrix.

"No!" she exclaimed.

"What the..." Arbor started, not wanting to believe. "No! If the matrix dies... My subjects."

He turned to Kitsune and asked him:

"How dare you?"

"I dared because it was the great Lord of Chaos who asked me" Kitsune answered.

"What?!" Arbor asked. "But he promised... He tricked me!"

"What a surprise" Rainbow Dash joked.

"You're going to pay!" Arbor exclaimed to Kitsune.

He prepared to launch his roots and branches to attack the fox, but a wave of weakness gripped him and his roots and branches backed to normal. The leeche roots which arrested their prisoners weakened and broke, releasing all of them but the power that they had stolen left them weakened too much to fight against Kitsune.

"I don't feel well" Arbor said, while kneeling.

"It’s the matrix!" Twilight exclaimed, pointing to the matrix. "All the powers of Nature are connected to it."

"Exactly" Kitsune said with a smile. "Without the matrix, the General of Nature will lose all her power and the Lord of Order will lose influence, which will give to my master more power and room to maneuver. Moreover, Arbor, you did us the favor of capturing the other Generals of Order and even Princess Twilight and her friends. Now, nothing can prevent the Lord of Chaos to rule this world."

And he gave a cruel laugh.

"That will not going to happen, Kitsune" a voice said.

They turned all and saw Shadow Claw.

"Shadow Claw!" Rarity exclaimed, seeing her coltfriend. "What are you doing here?"

"An excellent question" Kitsune agreed. "After the beating you took, along with your thestral friend, I thought you'd be smarter."

"Sorry to disappoint you" Shadow Claw answered. "But, you know what, I wouldn't have come if I knew that I couldn't help."

"What do you mean?" Kitsune asked.

"You're going to see" Shadow Claw answered.

He closed his eyes and then Shadow Claw was surrounded by an aura. Suddenly, his hooves become paws with claws and his ears became pointed. His coat bristled and his pupils became split with his teeth become canine. He had become a pony-wolf, to the shock of all.

"But how?" the fox asked, not wanting to believe. "It's impossible."

"I don't think so" Shadow Claw growled.

And Shadow Claw lunged at Kitsune and the two began fighting. Due to the surprise effect, Shadow Claw managed to stay in advantage over Kitsune, but the nine-tailed fox was trying to haggle with his pyrokinesis. However, the pony-wolf could always avoid his attacks with fire. It was then that Shadow Claw began to reach Kitsune with his claws and teeth in such a way that the fox was pretty weak. After being hit by Shadow Claw’s claws in the face, Kitsune stepped back and said, gasping:

"This can't be happening."

"But it is" Shadow Claw said.

And, giving a small boost, Shadow Claw ran into Kitsune and gave him a blow so hard it knocked him unconscious on the floor. After having defeated Kitsune, Shadow Claw took a deep breath and then the same aura came again and he returned to his pony form. The ponies that were lying on the floor rose, including the other Generals who began to regain consciousness, all greatly amazed because of what happened.

"Ok, what just happened?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Shadow Claw, your powers..." Rarity started, approaching him.

"I know" he said, going to Rarity. "But you don't have to worry about. It was the Lord of Order that returned them to me and he even eliminated the infectious bite. He thought you could need backup."

"And he though well" Twilight said. "But, unfortunately…"

And they all turned to the matrix which was still on fire.

"I'm afraid it's too late" Twilight said.

"My matrix..." Leaf Mane said, approaching her with a deadpan air. "The Nature... My powers."

There was a long silence in which nobody said anything, but it was then that Rainbow Dash said:

"Hey, we can help. We have the Elements of Harmony. We can..."

"Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do" Mirror Coat said.

"Mirror Coat is right" Golden Paladin said. "The fire that Kitsune used burns everything it touches. It's a cursed fire that doesn't go out until it burn what it’s burning. We lost the matrix of Nature."

"No" a voice said. “There is a way to save her."

They turned and saw that who spoke was Arbor that began to rise.

"You don't make a move" Rainbow Dash said, putting herself in a fight position. "If you take a step that is, I will kick your ass."

"Don't worry" Arbor said, starting to advance. "The Lord of Chaos betrayed our deal, so I don't owe him anything. In addition, I realized that I made a big mistake and I want to correct it."

He reached the edge of Leaf Mane and, when she looked at him, he said to her:

"Thank you for opening my eyes."

He then turned to Twilight and her friends and told them:

"Use your Elements of Harmony to transfer the power from the matrix to a new one."

That left them confused.

"Wait, is that possible?" Applejack asked.

"Indeed" Mirror Coat answered. "But for that we must use a container that corresponds to the attribute that you want to make it keep. In this case, a corresponding container to Nature."

"And how are we going to find something like that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I don't know if you've noticed, but the plants are dying."

"That’s not true" Pinkie Pie said, referring to a little flower that was in there, but soon started to wilt. "Never mind!"

"There's still a possible container" said Arbor. "Me."

That left everypony speechless. Leaf Mane turned straight to Arbor.

"Arbor, no..."

"It's the least I can do to repay you for everything I've done" Arbor said. "My misjudgment almost destroyed the Nature that I love. So, I want to make it through the only way I can do: save the matrix, becoming its container."

He directed to the alicorn princess:

"Please, Princess Twilight, make the desire of this old tree reality."

Twilight didn't even know what to say, but she could see through Arbor’s eyes he was telling the truth about his repentance. He really wanted to save the matrix. That made her smile and wave. Twilight turned to her friends and told them:

"Let's go, girls."

They waved and then they closed their eyes, while focusing the magic of their respective elements. Twilight opened her eyes that were glowing with a white light and the star of her crown began to shine, beginning to free two tentacles with the color of the rainbow and connecting the necklaces' pendants until they are all connected.

The star launched the rainbow that hit the tree on fire and then was redirected to Arbor, along with the power of the matrix. He started moaning, while receiving all that power. While this was going on, his body began to stiffen even more, while his torso was becoming the same color as the matrix. They stay watching, while the transfer was finishing and the tree that was once the matrix started to liquefy into ashes because of the flames.

They were now looking at a beautiful tree like the one that had burned, but larger and with more resistant. What were Arbor’s feet were now rooted in the ground and what were once his arms were now branches covered by vines and green balls.

The new matrix started shining immensely and the same happened with Leaf Mane who recovered the aspect she had before, as well as her power. But that was not all. Its magic has spread all over the place. The plants began to regain its vitality and the roots that Arbor invoked also retreated, what did the ponies pretty happy.

Back to the hideout of the matrix of Nature, the other generals went to Leaf Mane.

"Are you ok, Leaf Mane?" Melody asked.

"Yes" she replied. "All thanks to Arbor."

She went to her new matrix and put the hoof on its trunk and said:

"He sacrificed himself for what he loved."

"You were right, Leaf Mane" Twilight said. "Arbor was misunderstood. Deep down, he really loved Nature."

"Yes, I just hope I can honor his sacrifice" Leaf Mane said.

"You can start with a certain fox” Purple Smoke replied, motioning to Kitsune.

Realizing what he meant, Leaf Mane turned to Kitsune and invoked the cell blaster and pointed it to Kitsune. Using her magic, Leaf Mane charged the cell blaster and began to absorb Kitsune and then, invoking the prison-book, arrested him.

The Lord of Chaos was trying to contain his anger at seeing one of their plans be ruined again, but it was difficult.

"Am I going to have to continue to see my plans being ruined in this way?!" he exclaimed, while Fire Punch struggled to stay out of reach of the anger of his master. "But this is a war, a war that I know I won't lose. I'll have what I want!"

A Queen a Little Off, Part I - How to Steal a Heart

In the prison of Tartarus, the Lord of Chaos descended to the solitary, followed by Fire Punch who asked:

"My Lord, but what are we doing here? Don't tell me you're going to release another of your villains from the solitary."

"What do you think?" the Lord of Chaos asked, descending the stairs.

"But you've opened two of the cells and the villains who were there have failed" Fire Punch said, continuing to follow his master. "Don't you think you should use one of your normal villains? There’re still so many to choose."

"At the level we are, Fire Punch, I need more than simple villains" the Lord of Chaos replied, nearing the end of the staircase. "Besides, you've only seen the Sirens and Arbor’s power. There are still many more villains even more powerful and more fearsome than them. Like this one."

The Lord of Chaos stopped in front of the cell that had Purple Smoke’s cutie mark.

"Who's in there?"

"Somepony with the perfect combination of intelligence, wickedness and madness I need to conquer this world and dominate the hearts of all ponies... literally."

"What do you mean with..."

But Fire Punch didn’t finish, as the Lord of Chaos began to open the cell. It took only a few seconds until the door crack and tear apart. Smoke remained in the air for a few moments before a figure appear. Then an imposing female voice said:

"Finally, it's going to be OFF WITH THE HEAD!"

And an unicorn mare appeared. Her coat was pinkish and its mane had varied tones of red and was very well-arranged with a golden crown adorned with red hearts. She was dressed in a red gall adorned with playing cards on the hems and on the collar. She also had a heart-shaped mark in the corner of her mouth.

The imposing figure of this mare and his cry made Fire Punch startle and placed slightly behind his master.

"Ah, but what a pleasure to see you again, Queen of Hearts."

"Well, I can't say the same, your honor" the Queen of Hearts replied, without lowering his aplomb. "What took you so long to release me?"

"I'm terribly sorry, but I had to be cautious" the Lord of Chaos answered. "If I released all those who are in the solitary, certainly there would be the chaos that I love so much, but it would also make the Generals of Order and the Princess of the Light Kingdom to take action. Don't you think it's much better to use the element of surprise seeing by my point of view?"

"How can I know what it's like to see from your point of view if I’m not you?" the Queen of Hearts asked.

"Of course, you're absolutely right" the Lord of chaos said. "But let’s moving on to more important things."

"Where do we go next?" the Queen of Hearts asked.

"Oh, my Lord, are you sure when you said she was the perfect combination of intelligence, wickedness and madness?" Fire Punch asked to his master. "I mean, I don't disagree with the part of the wickedness and madness, but I don't know with the part of the intelligence."

"What are you saying, your sample of... anything?" the Queen of Hearts screamed to Fire Punch that gave a little scream of fear and began to retreat, while the queen advanced to him. "Do I look stupid? Do you think just because I'm a beautiful and splendid queen that I have no brains?!"

Fire Punch had retreated so much that he hit against one of the walls of the solitary, wishing only that the division was bigger so he could retreat more. He had never met anypony who fucked almost as much fear as the Lord of Chaos.

"It's better you show me more respect or it's OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" the Queen of Hearts shouted.

Shaking, Fire Punch tried to enlist his master’s help:

"My lord, don’t you will help me?"

"I'm thinking about it" he replied, looking at his fingernails.

He left the Queen of Hearts terrorize Fire Punch for a few more seconds before saying:

"My dear Queen of Hearts, I believe that it is better to save his head. After all, you will need his help if you want to help me and, at the same, get your revenge. Fire Punch will be happy to help you."

"I will?" Fire Punch asked.

"He will?" the Queen of Hearts asked at the same time that Fire Punch.

"Of course he will" the Lord of Chaos said. "He is a bit clumsy and don’t think too much, but he's a sufficient helper. I'm sure he will be a great... knave."

"Don't tell me" the Queen of Hearts said, with a thoughtful air, turning to Fire Punch. "Well, whatever. It can be."

She drifted away from Fire Punch (much to his relief).

"I hope you will be very useful as a knave... Fire Punch. Otherwise it's off with your head!"

With Fire Punch trembling before the Queen of Hearts’ threat, she asked in a more relaxed voice and with a smile:

"Did you understand?"

Fire Punch waved and then the Queen of Hearts said, watching him:

"But, first, we have to take care of your clothing. If you're going to be my knave, you have to have the proper presentation."

And having said that, she carried she horn with magic and launched a magic beam that hit Fire Punch. When he was by himself, he was wearing a red armor with three rows of hearts in the front and he also had a heart-shaped mark on his right eye.

"As always, my queen, your taste is impressive." the Lord of Chaos said, while Fire Punch looked at his new look. "But, now, it's time to start with everything."

And he gave a slight chuckle.

In the Canterlot castle, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were at the end of one more royal meeting.

"Well, finally, one more meeting ended" Princess Celestia said, while signing the latter document she needed to sign.

"You're absolutely right, sister" Luna agreed, also signing her final document. "I think I'm going to get some sleep before my duty of the night."

But the throne room door opened and a guard came and reported to the two sisters:

"Your Highnesses, a representative of a far country and her companion had just arrived and want a meeting with you."

"It seems that we speak too soon, little sister" Celestia joked.

"But who is this representative?" Luna asked.

"Well, there's only one way to know" Celestia replied, turning then to the guard. "You can let them in."

The guard waved and then withdrew, returning later with two ponies wrapped with capes. One of them came forward and said with a female voice, making a bow:

"Your Highnesses, but what a pleasure to meet you. I hope I haven't come at bad time."

"Of course not" Celestia answered, leaving her throne and going to the mysterious Mare. "It's a great honor to receive somepony from a distant country and establish a new friendship. I just want to know which so mysterious country is yours. "

"Oh, it's a land full of wonders!" the mare exclaimed.

Suddenly, the mysterious mare lifted her hoof and entered it in Celestia’s chest, penetrating it magically. Celestia moaned in pain when the mare’s hoof got in.

"Sister!" Luna exclaimed, turning to the guards who were there. "Guards!"

The present guards prepared to attack the mystery mare, but her escort put himself in their way and beat them quickly. Luna intervened, launching a magic beam against the escort, but he managed to dodge, jumping back, something that made his hood and reveal his identity: Fire Punch.

"You!" Luna cried.

Fire Punch laughed and said:

"Surprised? Well, I understand. But, now, I think you should worry about your sister."

Luna turned to Celestia, seeing the mysterious mare getting off her hoof from her chest and pulling out what seemed to be...

"My heart..." Celestia said, gasping.

She tried to attack the nare, but she jumped back to get away.

"Stop" she ordered to Celestia.

As if she were compelled to obey, Celestia stopped.

"Sister" Luna said, wanting to her edge.

"Stop, Luna” Celestia said, making her sister to stop, without stopping to look at the mysterious mare. "You still don't get it. There's only one pony able to rip the heart out of somepony in this way, besides Purple Smoke. How are you... Queen of Hearts."

The mysterious mare smiled and withdrew her cape, showing that she was indeed the Queen of Hearts and starting to give her manic laughter.

"That's right, princess" she said to Celestia. "It's a shame you have figured that out too late."

And she laugh maniacally.

"Your..." Luna started.

She began charge her horn. Fire Punch tried to stop her, but the Queen of Hearts said, without giving up from her smile:

"If I were you, Princess Luna, I would think twice before you do that you're going to do or I will gladly make her heart be slaughtered entirely what will make Princess Celestia be killed. Wow, I liked the sound of this."

So Luna, due to the fact that the Queen of Hearts had in her possession the heart of her sister, she gave up the attack she was planning to do.

"Perfect" the Queen of Hearts, starting to approach Celestia’s throne, taking with her Celestia’s heart with her magic. "Now I think I'm going to sit in my new throne."

She sat down and said:

"It's not really my style, but it's nothing that it can't be change."

"You're not going to get away with it" Celestia said.

"When the Generals know what you're doing, they will stop you" Luna added.

"And I can't wait for that to happen" the Queen of Hearts said. "You know, I want to talk to them about something, especially with that despicable who thinks he's better than everyone else."

"Are you talking about Purple Smoke?" Luna asked.

"No, I'm talking about the Mad Hatter’s dormouse" the Queen of Hearts answered sarcastically. "Of course I'm talking about Purple Smoke! That idiot... He dared to take my own heart and use it to defeat me. Well, now, I have a bargaining chip."

And she laughed, as she watched to Celestia’s heart.

There was movement and more guards came in, ready to face the threat that had appeared.

"Allow me, Your Highness" Fire Punch said to the Queen of Hearts.

"Don't bother, my knave" the Queen of Hearts repied. "I know how to deal with them in the best way."

And she laughed, while approaching to her Celestia’s heart.

"Celestia, my dear, will you do the honors?"

Celestia tried to fight against the Queen of Hearts’ desire, but it was an impossible task, as she held her heart. So Celestia, using her magic, arrested the guards who have been caught by surprise by the fact that they have been attacked by their own princess.

"Good girl" the Queen of Hearts said to Celestia, with an evil smile.

"You're going to pay bitterly for what you're doing, your sample of queen" Luna said to the Queen of Hearts.

"If you weren’t helpful, my dear, I would tell you to be careful with the words or it would be off with your head" the Queen of Hearts. "But I need to deliver a message to Purple Smoke. Tell him I want my heart. Only in this way you can take back sweet Celestia’s heart. And if he tries to use it against me, he has to think again, because my master is protecting me."

Luna didn't want to leave her sister, but Celestia told her:

"Luna, go!"

"But, sister..."

“Go! I'm fine."

So, Luna, without another choice, took flight and went out.

"Okay, now let's get to more important matters" the Queen of Hearts in a serious tone, passing then to a more exciting one. "Decoration! I was thinking in a red hearts decoration in... well, the whole castle. And I also want a more sumptuous throne. I see you don't have a taste as sublime as mine, dear Celestia."

"Excuse me, Your Highness" Fire Punch said, placing himself in front of the staircase to the throne and making a bow.

"What?" the Queen of Hearts asked. "Can't you see I'm planning the decoration of my new castle?"

"I know, my queen, but I want to give you some advice that I think you will enjoy very much" Fire Punch said.

"This better be good, or else is..." the Queen of Hearts began.

"Off with my head, yes, I know, but believe me when I say it's important" Fire Punch said. "Knowing our enemies as I do, and I know them well enough, they will find a way to beat you."

"Don't tell me..." the Queen of Hearts said, thoughtfully.

"But I know of a perfect way to get around this complication" Fire Punch said.

"So, what are you doing here?" the Queen of Hearts asked. "Go take care of it."

"But I'm going to need backup" Fire Punch said. "To do what I'm planning, it takes more than a pony."

"Very well" the Queen of Hearts answered.

She turned to the guards and charged her horn with magic, invoking then a number of tentacles to the guards, and used these tentacles to penetrate their chests and rip their their hearts off. After this, they were engaged by light and, when it was cleared, the guards began to rise, all wearing armors that were either red or black with a number and suit recorded in their helmets.

"My own card guard" the Queen of Hearts said. "And, with their hearts in my power, all of them are loyal to me."

"You should be ashamed" Celestia said. "How dare you do this to innocent ponies."

"Shut up!" the Queen of Hearts ordered, order that Celestia followed without alternative. "You just say whatever I want. You, take her to the dungeon."

A pair of guards who were turned went to Celestia and took her to the dungeon.

"Okay, it's time to take care of the rest of the guards, conquer this damn city and keep all these hearts" the Queen of Hearts said. "Oh, there's so much to do! I can't wait for tea time!"

In the Light Kingdom, Twilight was sitting on her throne taking care of issues with Golden Paladin when the alarm started to play and quite loud.

"Oh no" Twilight said. "Not again."

"I was waiting for this" Golden Paladin said. "We both know that the Lord of Chaos doesn't like to waste time."

"Go get the others" Twilight said. "We have to know what threat is as soon as possible so we can respond and defeat this new villain without causing too much damage."

"Yes, Your Highness" Golden Paladin replied.

But when Golden Paladin was preparing to get his siblings, the gates of the throne room opened and a guard said:

"Your Highness, terrible news."

But before he finished, Luna entered the throne room and said, advancing to Twilight:

"Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Canterlot are in terrible danger."

That left Twilight stunned.

"What?!" she asked. "But what happened? Is she all right?"

Luna tried to respond, but she was interrupted by Purple Smoke that entered in the throne room and took his corporeal form.

"So, what's the big emergency?" Purple Smoke asked. "Some ugly monster? Or a mad villain trying to conquer Equestria on behalf of the Great Master?”

"The Queen of Hearts" Luna said.

Golden Paladin and Purple Smoke hold their breath hearing that name.

"I get it, the last" Purple Smoke said.

"Damn, this is really bad" Golden Paladin said.

"But who is the Queen of Hearts?" Twilight asked.

"Somepony who is as dangerous as crazy" Mirror Coat answered which appeared coming from one of the mirrors of the throne room. "She ruled a world adjacent to our called Wonderland. There, magic is much more intense and the logic is completely different."

"The Queen of Hearts ruled their world in a quite severe and egotistical way" Golden Paladin continued. "In part because the Lord of Chaos managed to make her succumb to his influence. But she was dethroned by her own daughter and exiled to here where she began to cause problems."

"Well, that was until I defeat and arrest her in the solitary" Purple Smoke said.

"So this is one of the villains of the solitary" Twilight said. "Luna, what happened?"

"The Queen of Hearts appeared in disguise, together with Fire Punch" Luna told.

"Fire Punch?!" Twilight repeated. "But what has he to do with this?"

"It looks like he is her Knave of Hearts" Luna answered. "They pretended to be representatives of another country. We didn't realize who they were until it was too late. The Queen of Hearts ripped out my sister’s heart."

"What?!" Twilight asked horrified, standing up.

"Don't worry, princess" Golden Paladin calmed. "It's not what you think. The Queen of Hearts has the power to rip the hearts of the ponies without killing them, because the heart is still attached to the body."

"The problem is that whoever has the heart of a pony can control his or her actions and can have in his or her hooves the pony's life to whom the heart belongs" Mirror Coat continued.

"And that's how I managed to win her" Purple Smoke said. "With my ability to mimic talents, I imitated her magic and ripped her heart. Needless to say, as it was much easier to arrest her after that. Although, in order to achieve this, I had a lot of work, to tell the truth."

"And that's exactly what she wants in exchange for Celestia’s heart: her own heart" Luna said.

"You mean this?" Purple Smoke asked, invoking a box and pulling out a heart. "I kept it around when the Lord of Chaos began sending the villains from the solitary. What was well thought because now we can beat that crazy Queen, given that we can control her."

"I'm sorry to ruin your moment of happiness, Purple Smoke, but the Lord of Chaos assured to the Queen of Hearts immunity to her heart" Luna said.

"What?" Purple Smoke asked. "It can't be."

He tried to use the Queen of Hearts’ heart, but it seemed he couldn't, because he was a little disappointed and said:

"Oh…"

"It seems that we have no other choice" Golden Paladin said. "We have to abide by the Queen of Hearts’ requirement."

"Yes, but she must be up to something" Purple Smoke said. "I know her pretty well. Furthermore, I doubt the Lord of chaos have released her only to retrieve her heart."

"You're right" Golden Paladin said. "Probably, this serves only to release her from our control."

"I don't care" Twilight said, coming down the staircase of her throne. "We have to save Celestia."

"She's right" Luna said. "We have no time to lose."

Golden Paladin mused for a few seconds and said:

"Okay, Purple Smoke, you're going to take care of the exchange. The fact that you can turn into smoke allows that the Queen of Hearts can't rip your heart out. But the fact that she might be up to something that's what upsets me. We must draw up a plan."

In Ponyville, Twilight's friends were having a picnic on the edge of Ponyville.

"Oh, I miss our picnics with Twilight" Rarity said, while levitating a cup of tea. "Without her, it seems that things are not the same."

"I understand you perfectly, Rarity" Applejack said, while eating a slice of apple pie. "But Twilight have lots of responsibilities in the Light Kingdom. After all, she's the princess."

"But she's got like six Generals to give her coverage" Rainbow Dash said, eating a sandwich. "I bet that should not be difficult to find the time to come to Ponyville."

“Rainbow Dash, we're talking about a kingdom that's been petrified by centuries" Rarity said, taking light swallows of tea. "I bet there must be a lot of work to do.”

"Rarity is right" Fluttershy said, while passing the hoof through her belly that was increased in size from day to day. "Twilight is our friend and I'm sure she would come to see us if she had time."

"The Lord of Chaos is trying to have revenge against her and take over the world" Applejack said.

"Oh, and don't forget that we also had a large role in his defeat, which was also his greatest humiliation" Pinkie Pie said, balancing on her snout cupcakes that were stacked on top of each other, throwing them in the air and then eating them one by one. "I wouldn't be surprised that he aimed one of his attacks against us again."

"It's amazing how the most stupid of you can say the most rational thing" a voice said.

They all turned and saw Fire Punch at a certain distance, displaying a wicked smile.

"Fire Punch" Applejack said, while she and the others raised up.

"How are you?" Fire Punch asked. "We don’t see each other in person since the Light Kingdom was recovered."

"You mean when we beat you and your master" Applejack said.

"Details, details" Fire Punch answered.

"Speaking of details, what's up with the new look?" Rainbow Dash asked, in a mocking tone, looking to Fire Punch’s armor and heart mark. "You decided to try new things?"

"Why?" Fire Punch asked. "Envy?"

"Not in a million years I'd be envious of somepony so disgusting as you” Rainbow Dash answered.

"Really, whoever designed that must have a lot of bad taste" Rarity said.

"Girls, you should be more careful" Fluttershy said, nervously. "After all, he is... followerof the... Lord of Chaos."

"You should hear your little friend" Fire Punch said. "Taking into account that I was assigned to help a new villain who is very different from all those who you faced."

"Oh, do you think you intimate us with that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I'm going to show you what I do to cockroaches like you."

And Rainbow Dash took flight, preparing to attack Fire Punch. But that's when two pegasus card guards showed up and arrested Rainbow Dash against the ground.

"But..." she began as she tried to break free, but in vain. "Let me go!"

The others tried to help Rainbow Dash, but they found themselves suddenly surrounded by other guards. Fire Punch laughed and said:

"Girls, allow me to introduce my new guard: the card guard. Now, in the name of the Queen of Hearts, you're under arrest. "

And he laughed.

A Queen a Little Off, Part II - The Queen of Hearts' True Motivation

After being captured by Fire Punch, the Knave of Hearts, and his guards, Twilight's friends, in a cage, began to be transported by a carriage pulled by two pegasi card guards, along with Fire Punch, to Canterlot.

"You’ll see, you piece of crap!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed to Fire Punch. "When I get out of here, I'll kick your ass!"

Fire Punch rolled his eyes and then said to her:

"Will you shut up? You're giving me a headache."

“Believe me when I say that will be the least of your problems!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Rainbow Dash, calm down!" Applejack exclaimed, managing to immobilize Rainbow Dash. "Don't waste your energy on him.”

"You should listen to your friend" Fire Punch advised cynically. "After all, even if you did get out of there, I can't believe that you and your friends would too far with my card guard around. Furthermore, if my eyes don't deceive me, only two of you can fly, so…"

"You know, that's not exactly true" Pinkie Pie said. "You know, even without wings, earth ponies and unicorns can fly like pegaso, as when Twilight created those wings to Rarity. Of course I also wanted some, after all, flying freely through the air is a dream to a non-flying pony. Although we can achieve the same with a hot-air balloon, but it's not the same thing. Maybe I will ask Twilight to..."

"Shut up!" Fire Punch ordered, in a way he mad Pinkie Pie stop her babbling. "Damn, you're worse than your colorful friend."

“Rainbow is not colorful, silly" Pinkie Pie replied. "Only her mane is. Even though I sometimes think she paints it and..."

"Shut up, Pinkie!" Fire Punch and Rainbow Dash said at the same time.

That made Pinkie Pie to shut up.

Fluttershy, that was a very impressionable pony (something that was intensified with her pregnancy), began crying sadly, while being comforted by Rarity.

"I don't like this" she said, sobbing. "And if something happens to my foal?"

"There, there, my dear" Rarity comforted, while passing the hoof by her mane. "Everything will be fine."

Rarity then turned to Fire Punch and said to him, in a snide manner:

"Look what you did. Don't you know that pregnant mares should not be disturbed in this way?"

"I don't care what happens to that foar or whatever that hybrid is" Fire Punch replied, indifferent and looking forward.

That response shocked Fluttershy's friends who gasped.

"How dare you?!" Rarity exclaimed. "It's a baby you're talking about!"

"Rarity, don't waste your vocabulary with this sample of pony" advised Applejack. "He's not worth it."

"You're going to be sorry for what you said about Fluttershy’s foal!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"What I said is also valid for you, Rainbow Dash" Applejack said.

It was then that Applejack noticed the route they were following.

"Wait a minute" she said, looking back. "We're going in the direction of Canterlot."

"Fire Punch, further being ugly now you’re stupid?" Rainbow Dash asked mockingly. "I mean, even stupider?"

"Believe me, I'm quite sure that is our destiny, don't worry" Fire Punch answered.

"It's not us who you should be worried, but you" Rainbow Dash said. "You're on your way to the city where is Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s castle."

"Are you sure about that?" Fire Punch asked, without downing her evil smile.

Seeing him so confident, Applejack realized what he meant.

"Oh no..." she said. "Do you mean..."

"Yes" Fire Punch replied, cheerfully. "Your dear and beloved Princess Celestia was defeated."

That left Twilight’s friends in suspense.

"You're lying!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"So you have to see for yourself" Fire Punch said, while Canterlot appeared on the horizon.

When they arrived to the big city, Twilight's friends were shocked to see the card guards keeping the entrance of the city. Seeing the carriage with Fire Punch, the guards saluted him.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy didn't want to believe what they were seeing. Almost nopony ventured out into the city, and those that did that were so cautious. Canterlot, which had always been immensely busy, was now completely deserted. But worse was when they reached the castle that was now decorated with hearts and playing cards.

The Queen of hearts was in the gardens of the castle, playing her favorite game: croquet at Wonderland style. The difference between it and the normal croquet was that the mallets had the shape of flamingos and the balls had the form of hedgehogs. Watching, were some of the celebrities of Canterlot that didn’t had no choice but to watch.

The Queen made a putt and the ball spun towards the wicket, but stopped before crossing it. However, one of the guards who was beside pushed it so it would cross. The audience applauded and acclaimed the Queen of Hearts, although without enthusiasm. When she made them a hard look, they had no other choice but to feign more enthusiasm pleased the Queen.

A guard then approached the Queen of Hearts and whispered something to her. After that, she exclaimed:

"Finally! I was thinking that he would never get here."

She dropped his mallet and advanced to within the castle. She entered the throne room where she found Fire Punch.

"Your Highness" he said, making a bow.

"Get up" the Queen of Hearts ordered, what Fire Punch obeyed. "Did you do what you said you had to do?"

"Of course, my Queen" Fire Punch answered.

And he made a gesture towards the cage where Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were.

"And what is this?" the Queen of Hearts asked, approaching and observing the five mares. "Fire Punch, if you spent my precious resources and my game of croquet just to capture a few simple ponies, it will be off with your head!"

"Please, Your Highness, you don't understand" Fire Punch said. "These are Princess Twilight’s friends. You know, the princess of the Light Kingdom the Lord of Chaos told you about."

"Don't tell me" the Queen of Hearts said, looking at the five mares. "To tell you the truth, they are not very impressive."

"Wait till I get out of here and you’ll see what is awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"But what insolence" the Queen of Hearts said, arrogantly "Is this how you treat your sovereign?"

"Never mind her, Your Highness" Fire Punch said. "She is the one that barks more."

"What are you talking about?" the Queen of Hearts asked. "She's not a dog or a wolf."

"That's not what I meant" Fire Punch said.

"Then you should be more explicit" the Queen of Hearts replied. "If they are ponies, they don't bark."

That made the mares exchange looks of strangeness, all except Pinkie Pie that said:

"It makes sense to me."

Ignoring Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash said:

"You're not our sovereign or anything like that. This place belongs to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. "

The Queen of Hearts began to laugh before Rainbow Dash’s assertion and said:

"I love the poor ignorance this ponies have. It's pretty hilarious, don't you think, Fire Punch?"

"Yes, quite hilarious" he agreed.

"My dear, your beloved Princess Celestia is now my slave" the Queen of Hearts said, leaving the five mares shocked. "Her heart is literally mine. As for your Princess Luna... Well, she's doing to me a little favour, sending a message that basted who arrested me in a cell in the solitary: Purple Smoke."

"Wait, does that mean..." Applejack started. "You're one of the villains of solitary!"

"Exactly" the Queen of Hearts said. "But I'm not any villain. I am the Queen of Hearts, the most powerful of all. If anypony dares to get in my way, it's off with his or her heads!"

"And what do you want?" Rarity asked. "In addition to conquer Equestria? It's obvious that you want something more."

"What was taken from me" the Queen of Hearts replied. "But don't worry about that detail. It’s already being treated. And you will give me a little help."

"Do you think we're going to help a scum like you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Your presence is enough, my dear" the Queen of Hearts replied. "But even if I needed more than that, I wouldn't need your wills. I just had to take your precious hearts and then you'd be puppets in my beautiful hands."

The way she said that intimidated the five mares, mainly Fluttershy. Even Rainbow Dash and Applejack, which rarely intimidated, shrank slightly.

It was then that sounded the four hours and the Queen said, enthusiastically:

"Uh, tea time!"

A guard appeared pulling a cart with a pot and a few cups, apart from dishes with cookies. When he arrived, the Queen began to pour tea into her cup. When she got the tweezers to grab some sugar cubes, she asked the mares.

" Would that be one lump, or two?

"Two please" Pinkie Pie said, with a smile.

That made her receive the looks of her friends and she said to them:

"What? It’s not polite to refuse tea. Especially when it's tea time."

And she made again her broad smile, while your friends rolled their eyes.

Outside the walls of Canterlot, hidden, were Twilight, Purple Smoke and Golden Paladin.

Twilight was stunned when she saw what was going on with Canterlot.

"It can't be" she said. "The Queen of Hearts… made all this?"

"She has transformed the Royal Guard on his own Card Guard and remodeled the city to her taste" Golden Paladin said.

"Don't you think we should have brought the others?" Twilight asked.

"And risk giving to the Queen of Hearts more hearts that she can control?" counter-asked Golden Paladin. "No, we can't risk. In fact, you shouldn't even be here, princess. If the Queen of Hearts catch your heart..."

"I had to come" Twilight replied. "It’s Princess Celestia. She is my mentor."

"But she is Princess Luna’s sister and she stayed in the Light Kingdom" Purple Smoke said. "No offense, but I'm the only one who can really stop the Queen of Hearts without risking to lose the heart."

"I just came as a reinforcement" Golden Paladin said. "Don't forget what's our plan."

"Yes, I remember" Twilight said.

Moments before ...

"So, what do you have in mind, Golden Paladin?" Twilight asked.

He thought for a few seconds and then he asked to Mirror Coat:

"Mirror Coat, what do you know about spells that cut the connection between the heart and its owner?"

"That the link does not disappear completely" he replied. "And, of course, so the heart goes back to its proper place, the spell is broken."

"I see..." Golden Paladin said. " So I don't see another way. Purple Smoke, we're going to have to perform the exchange. But you have to ensure that the Queen of Hearts will give Princess Celestia’s."

"Don't worry about it" he said. "But what then?"

"Wait until the Queen of Hearts replace her heart and then take it again" Golden Paladin answered. "So, we're going to have control over her again."

"But that won’t to be easy" Purple Smoke said. "She has probably a lot of slaves right now."

"That's why I'm going to support you" Golden Paladin said. "We cannot forget Fire Punch, the Knave of Hearts."

"I'll go with you too" Twilight said.

"No, Princess, I don't think it's a good idea" Golden Paladin said.

"Golden Paladin, I will and you can’t stop me" Twilight said, resolutely.

"Twilight Sparkle, I also think it's better that you don’t go" Luna advised. "Although she’s my sister, with an enemy like the Queen of Hearts, you can't be too careful."

"There is nothing you can tell me" Twilight said. "I will."

In the present...

"Well, let's get started" Purple Smoke said.

And he turned into his purple smoke form and headed to Canterlot.

The Queen of Hearts was sitting on the throne, drinking a cup of tea which was levitating with her magic. Fire Punch was right next to the throne. It was then that the Queen smiled and said:

"He's here."

And a purple smoke entered the throne room and then took the form of the General of Talent.

"But what a surprise” he said. “I never thought I'd see you again."

The Queen of Hearts giggled and asked:

"Did you miss me?"

"In the same way I miss an itch" Purple Smoke replied, turning then to Fire Punch. "And I see you're working overtime as Knave of Hearts. What? The Lord of Chaos does not give you sufficient fees?"

"I'm just obeying my true master" Fire Punch said. "He wants that the Queen of Hearts is satisfied and that's enough for me."

"Okay" Purple Smoke said. "But now enough of chatter. Let's get down to business. I assume this is yours, Queen of Hearts."

And he invoked the box where he kept the Queen of Hearts’ heart and then he picked it out of there, levitating it.

"My heart!" she exclaimed, sketching a huge smile. "Give it back to me, now!"

"First, I want to see Princess Celestia’s heart" Purple Smoke demanded.

And then the Queen of Hearts invoked a heart.

"How do I know that is Princess Celestia’s heart?" Purple Smoke asked.

"Why do you ask that?" the Queen of Hearts asked. "Don't you trust your dear and beautiful friend?"

"No offense, but I like to be even" Purple Smoke answered. "You know that this is your heart because you can feel that. But I don’t know if that is Princess Celestia’s heart."

The Queen of Hearts giggled and said:

"It looks like you won't change. Always very suspicious. Okay, here's the proof."

And she made the heart glow. It looked like she was giving an order. It was then that Celestia entered in the throne room flying and landed.

"You're still not convinced?" the Queen of Hearts asked to Purple Smoke. "Well, maybe this will convince you."

And using her magic, she began to put pressure on the heart, as if she were trying to crush it. Celestia started moaning in pain, taking the hooves to the chest, exactly where her heart would be, falling on the floor.

"Ok, I believe!" Purple Smoke exclaimed. "Stop it!"

And the Queen of Hearts stopped trying to crush the heart, what made Celestia sigh of relief.

“Can we begin the exchange?" the Queen of Hearts asked, while beginning to descend the throne staircase.

"We exchange at the same time" Purple Smoke said. "And no tricks."

"Don't worry, I don't have anything on the sleeves, you see?" the Queen of Hearts said, showing her sleeves.

Getting a considerable distance from each other, standing face to face, Purple Smoke and the Queen of Hearts looked to each other, staring for a few seconds and then they released each heart that was grabbed by the other’s magic.

"Finally!" the Queen of Hearts exclaimed, closing her heart to herself. "My heart!"

When he received Princess Celestia’s heart, Purple Smoke acted immediately, directing the heart to her and inserting it back inside of her chest. When he did this, Celestia stood up and placed herself behind Purple Smoke and told him:

"Thank you, Purple Smoke. I'm sorry I caused too much trouble."

"Don't worry, Princess" he replied. "But be prepared, because the real battle is about to begin."

The Queen of hearts, using her magic, put her heart back in her chest and, after doing so, said:

"A lot better."

It took about five seconds before the Queen of Hearts and Purple Smoke say at the same time:

"Now!"

And a battalion of card guards entered, while Purple Smoke teleported to the throne room Golden Paladin and Twilight who turned straight to the guards and invoked a protective shield that prevented them from moving in.

"Twilight!" Celestia exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't stay in the Light Kingdom when you were in danger" Twilight said.

Celestia smiled and said:

"I understand. And I assume that you couldn't persuade her, do you, Golden Paladin?"

"Not that I didn’t argue about this" he replied. "I knew it wasn't going to be worth it. Purple Smoke, now!"

"Here I go!" he exclaimed.

And he went to the front of the Queen of Hearts and stuck his hoof at her chest, trying to get her heart.

"You're going back to where you shouldn't have left, Queen of hearts" Purple Smoke said. "I know the limitations of the protection that the Lord of Chaos created to you. Now that your heart is back to your chest, I can get back the control I once had on you again."

"I'm glad that you say that, because I also realized a way to do the same to you" the Queen of Hearts replied.

And then she stuck her hoof by Purple Smoke’s chest.

"What the..." he began.

"After centuries locked in that cell, I pondered a way to take your heart without having tou change into smoke and I realized the only way to do it was when you tried to steal my heart again. Now, finally, I'm going to rip your heart out. Of course you can dodge it, but you will have to give up what you're trying to do."

"No way" Purple Smoke said. "Even if you take my heart, I will ensure that I take yours and give it to Golden Paladin."

"So it looks like I will have to resort to my backup plan" the Queen of Hearts said, still with a smile. "I thought I'd use it using some pony else, but my Knave had a better idea."

When they heard that, they looked all to Fire Punch that smiled with his evil smile. Using her magic, the Queen of Hearts invoked in the edge of her Knave of Hearts the cage with Twilight's friends.

"My friends!" she exclaimed.

"Twilight!" her friends exclaimed.

"But that's a low blow" Purple Smoke said to the Queen of Hearts.

"I just use what I have" she replied, smiling. "So what's it going to be? Will you give up and let me take your heart or will you take my heart so my Knave ends up with Princess Twilight’s friends? After all, she and your brother need to focus their magic on the shield and Princess Celestia is too weak to attack."

All looked to Purple Smoke, while he faced a terrible choice. Either way, his heart would be taken, but he could take the Queen of Hearts’ heart and give it to Golden Paladin who could use it to defeat her and recover after that his heart. But that would mean Fire Punch would hurt Princess Twilight’s friends. He had no other choice.

"This is not over yet" he said to the Queen of Hearts.

And using the magic he could use in that situation, Purple Smoke launched some smoke that advanced to the five mares trapped in the cage and teleported them to the edge of Twilight and they embraced her heavily, something she returned. But this allowed the Queen of Hearts to take his heart before he could do the same with hers.

"Finally!" she exclaimed, raising victoriously his heart. "I did it!"

Purple Smoke let himself fall upon his four knees gasping and then said to the others:

"Go away!"

"What?" Twilight asked. "No, we can't."

"Go!" Purple Smoke exclaimed. "Before she can use my heart to make me attack you!"

"He's right, Princess" Golden Paladin said. "Come on."

Despite not wanting to abandon Purple Smoke, Twilight knew he was right and she waved.

"Let’s go" Golden Paladin said.

And, using his magic, Golden Paladin teleported himself, Twilight, her friends and Celestia to far away. With them, the protective shield they created disappeared and the guards got in.

"They may had escaped, but that doesn't matter" the Queen of Hearts said, looking to Purple Smoke’s heart. "I already have what I need. Now, you'll obey to my orders."

And levitating the heart, she used its influence on Purple Smoke that made him bow before the Queen and he said:

"I'm at your service, Your Highness."

"I have to admit” Fire Punch said, approaching. “I’m very impressed. You managed to put one of the Generals under your control."

"And that's not all" the Queen of hearts replied. "Purple Smoke is just a means to an end. With him, not only disable the enemy to take my heart and take from them the only pony able to face me without risking to lose the heart, but also I can use him to achieve my true goal: return to Wonderland and conquer it and all Equestria!"

And she gave her most evil laugh.

A Queen a Little Off, Part III - Searching the Well of Wonder

Golden Paladin teleported himself and the others directly to the Light Kingdom. Arriving to the throne room, they found Heartebat, Melody and Leaf Mane with Mirror Coat and Luna.

"Sister!" Luna exclaimed, seeing Celestia, and went to her to hug her.

"What happened?" Leaf Mane asked. "Mirror Coat and Princess Luna told us that the Queen of Hearts and Fire Punch had conquered Canterlot."

"Unfortunately, yes" Golden Paladin replied. "And, unfortunately, we couldn't stop it."

"How?" Melody asked. "Purple Smoke..."

"The Queen of Hearts stole his heart" Twilight said.

"What?!" Melody asked.

"But she couldn't steal Purple Smoke’s heart" Leaf Mane said.

Mirror Coat was going to answer that, but it was Heartbeat who did, saying:

"Not if he's trying to steal another’s heart, which could allow the Queen of Hearts to do the same, since Purple Smoke couldn't turn up in smoke if he had to steal a heart."

"What she said" Mirror Coat said.

"And Ah think that's our fault" Applejack said. "If Fire Punch had not captur’d us."

"Yes, the Queen of Hearts would have nothing to threaten him" Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight's friends made a crestfallen air and the Princess of the Light Kingdom said:

"Girls, you don’t have to blame yourselves. If it wasn't you, the Queen of Hearts would have found others to use as a shield."

"Twilight’s right" Celestia said. "The Queen of Hearts is one of the most treacherous villains that we ever deal with.

"She is even more dangerous than the other villains that we faced already, including the Sirens and Arbor" Luna added. "Not to mention, she's unpredictable."

"Yes, but I think there’s a reason for her to want Purple Smoke under her control" Golden Paladin said.

"What, aside from the fact that she want to humiliate him and show her superiority as payback for what Purple Smoke did to her?" Heartbeat asked. "Not talking about the fact that she now controls one of the Generals of Order, which are the greatest servers of the Lord of Order?"

"Yes" Golden Paladin replied. "I don't know, it's just a feeling."

"A feeling from a General of Peace?" Mirror Coat asked, not very convincing.

"I know you're a little skeptical about these things, Mirror Coat, but I can assure you that there is something more" Golden Paladin said.

"That’s a valid thought" a voice said.

There was an explosion of light and the Lord of Order appeared.

“Master” the five present Generals said, while making him a bow.

"Sir, did you come to help us?" Celestia asked.

"It's more giving you a little push in the right direction, completely different terms" the Lord of Order replied. "Furthermore, with Purple Smoke under the Queen of Hearts’ control, my influence has dropped drastically and I don't like feeling trapped. But let's get to what brought me here because I have a lot of work. I know what the Queen of Hearts wants from Purple Smoke."

"What?" everypony asked.

"Return to Wonderland and so regain control over it" the Lord of Chaos replied.

That made the most of the presents gasp, with the exception of Twilight's friends, who didn't understand what Wonderland was.

"Oh, what is Wonderland?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Duh, of course it's a world with its own magic and logic where the Queen of Hearts is from and used to rule until she was dethroned and banished, what made her come to here and cause a lot of trouble until Purple Smoke defeat her and arrest her in the solitary" Pinkie Pie answered.

That made everypony (with the exception of Heartbeat) look astonished to her.

"Wow, she hit the bullseye" Melody said.

"I will never understand what and how she thinks" Mirror Coat said.

"Welcome to the club" Rainbow Dash said.

"I think Pinkie Pie used a sophisticated method of pure reasoning and logic" Heartbeat protested.

"Of course she did… if she was a Wonderlandian" Mirror Coat responded.

"Anyway, I said what I could have said" the Lord of Order said. "I hope you can stop the Queen of Hearts before she can get to Wonderland."

And having said that, he disappeared in a burst of light.

"Oh, he must think that must be easy" Rainbow Dash said.

“Rainbow Dash, try not insult a so illustrious and powerful figure like the Lord of Order" Rarity scolded.

"But we don't even know what we're going to do" Rainbow Dash said.

"I don’t think so" Golden Paladin said. "The fact that we know what the Queen of Hearts wants, that gives us some room for manoeuvre."

"What do you mean, Golden Paladin?" Twilight asked.

"So she can go back to Wonderland, she has to have access to a dimensional portal" Golden Paladin said. "But the problem is that there’s not many at her disposal."

"No?" Applejack asked.

"Wonderland was poisoned with a curse the Queen of Hearts casted before she left from her homeworld" Mirror Coat said. "Because of that, we had to seal almost all the portals to ensure that the curse didn’t come to here."

"Almost all?" Twilight asked. "Why din’t you seal all of them?"

"That can't happen, princess" Melody said.

"The various realms are arranged in a way to ensure balance" Leaf Mane continued. "The realms give part of themselves to each other."

"In this case, Wonderland gives part of its wonder that flows through all the realms, which gives color and joy" Mirror Coat said. "As far as I know, there are only five ways that allows common ponies go to Wonderland: by a teleportation spell, through a rabbit hole of the White Rabbit of Wonderland…"

"White Rabbit?" Fluttershy asked. "Like my rabbit Angel?"

"This rabbit is not like a pet rabbit" Golden Paladin replied. "It's bigger, can speak and wears a vest and a pocket watch."

"Yes, not to mention he's psychotic" Heartbeat added and, seeing her brothers and sisters staring at her in a disapproving way, asked. "What? It's true!"

"Anyway, there's no way she can use any of those, because the spells and the holes were sealed" Golden Paladin said.

"Another way is through the mirrors of the Lord of Order and the Lord of Chaos’ throne rooms" Mirror Coat said. "But it doesn't look like the Lord of Chaos will let the Queen of Hearts use his mirrors. In that way, he would be inviting the Lord of Order to do the same with us."

"So that leaves us with only two remaining options" Twilight said, starting do a slight smile. "This is going well."

"The other option is using the magic of the General of Portals" Mirror Coat said.

"Wait, there's more Generals beside you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes, Rainbow Dash" Celestia answered. "But Golden Paladin and the other five were assigned to help the Light Kingdom."

"And who is the General of Portals?" Twilight asked.

"It's our sister Bright Night" Melody answered. "But I don't think she would help the Queen of Hearts. I can't believe she approaches her. As for Purple Smoke, I'm sure the Lord of Order warned the others about him."

"Which leaves us with only one option" said Mirror Coat. "The only portal available that was left open so it would be allowed a critical trickle of creativity to flow through the other realms: the Well of Wonder."

"The Well of Wonder?" Twilight and her friends repeated.

"But it shift place constantly" Celestia said. "It just stays in one place for a few minutes. How will the Queen of Hearts find it?"

"Using Purple Smoke” Golden Paladin answered. “Due to his ability to mimic talents, he may be able to track down the well."

"That's why she stole his heart" Twilight realized. "It's not just for revenge. It is also to find the well."

"Ok, somepony else noticed that this is out of our capabilities and normality?" Rarity asked.

"Ah understand Rarity" Applejack said. "It's not every day that we deal with villains from other worlds."

"Well, there are some villains of Tartarus which are not from this world" Heartbeat said.

"But that doesn't matter for anything right now" Golden Paladin said. "Now, what we have to do is send Princess Twilight's friends back home."

"What?!" Rainbow Dash asked. "But we want to help!"

“I don’t think you will serve to a mission like this" Golden Paladin replied. "Besides, you have a pregnant mare among you and we can't risk an innocent life."

Fluttershy felt somewhat uncomfortable when she turned suddenly the target of attention, but made it through.

"And without one of the elements, we cannot activate the magic of the Elements of Harmony" Golden Paladin concluded.

"Golden Paladin's right, Rainbow" Twilight said. "I understand you want to help, but we can't take the chance."

Rainbow Dash tried to find some argument, but Applejack anticipated and said:

"We understand. Ya can send us back tah Ponyville."

Mirror Coat activated his magic and invoked a mirror that served as a portal that Twilight's five friends used to return to Ponyville. After that, Golden Paladin said to Celestia and Luna:

"While we are looking for the Well of Wonder, it is likely that the Queen of Hearts will leave Canterlot. You could take the opportunity to regain the city."

"We can do anything to save our subjects" Celestia said.

"Yes, they deserve that after they put up with that cursed mare" Luna said.

"Meanwhile, the rest of us are going to the Well of Wonder and wait for the Queen of Hearts and Purple Smoke" Golden Paladin said.

"But how do we find the Well of Wonder if it's always shifting places?" Twilight asked.

"Don't worry, princess" Mirror Coat said. "Purple Smoke is not the only one that can find the well. We have a secret weapon right here."

And he pointed to Heartbeat that was sucking a lollipop she had invoked. Seeing everypony looking at her, Heartbeat asked:

"Wait, are you talking about me?"

The Queen of Hearts was at that time sitting on one of her card guards that was being used as a chair, while another one wore a parasol to protect his queen from the solar rays, having others around to guard her. They were on the verge of a road near Neighagra Falls. She seemed to be waiting for somepony, while taking a cup of tea.

It was then that Purple Smoke appeared right in front of her and and bow.

"So?" she asked.

"I think I found it" he replied. "Is nearby and it had just appeared."

"Perfect" the Queen of Hearts said, standing up and making the cup of tea disappear. "Come on. Show me the way."

And Purple Smoke beckoned her.

Celestia and Luna flew in the direction of Canterlot. When they arrived, they landed in the gardens of the castle. There was nopony there.

"I don't like this, sister" Luna said.

"Yes, it's too quiet" Celestia agreed.

And it was then that several card guards appeared and surrounded them. There was a laugh and then Fire Punch appeared.

"Do you really think the Queen of Hearts would go out without ordering to somepony to take care of things?" he asked.

"In fact, we assume that" Celestia replied.

"But the fact that you are in charge doesn’t scares us even" Luna added.

"That's what we're going to see" Fire Punch said. "Attack!"

And the guards advanced against the two sisters, who began to use their magic to put the guards outside of combat without hurt them.

The Queen of Hearts and his card guards followed Purple Smoke until they reach the lake that was being fed by the big falls. Right on the edge of the side was a well made of stone and moss was covering some places. It could see a bright and multi-colored fluid inside.

"There it is, the Well of Wonder!" the Queen of Hearts exclaimed. "Finally, I can go home and reclaim what was taken from me."

"That's if we let that happen" a voice said.

They turned and saw Twilight, Golden Paladin and the other generals.

"You?!" she asked.

In Canterlot, Celestia and Luna had managed to subdue all the guards. The only one missing was Fire Punch.

"It seems that we have only you left, Fire Punch" Celestia said. "Give up. You don't stand a chance against us."

"You underestimate my abilities, Princess Celestia" Fire Punch said. "Don't forget that hold both you, your sister and Cadance."

"That was when you were the Changeling King" Luna answered. "You don't have that power nor your Changelings."

"Maybe not, but do you think I would wear this outfit if it didn't come with extras?" Fire Punch asked.

And then he used a lot of speed to get close to the princesses and tried to attack them. Fortunately, they were fast enough to avoid it. They realized soon that defeat Fire Punch wouldn't be as easy as they thought.

"How did you get here?" the Queen of Hearts asked.

"After understanding what you wanted, it wasn't that hard" Golden Paladin replied. "As finding the well. We might not have our scout, but we have someone who can smell the Wonderland water from miles away."

"Uh, that is me" Heartbeat said.

"You're not going to get what you want, Queen of Hearts" Twilight said. "We're going to retrieve Purple Smoke and then we're going to arrest you."

The Queen of Hearts gave a laugh that was able to give Twilight a lot of chills.

"It's really funny, because I don't see anyone on your team who can escape from my powers" the queen said. "Besides, I can't steal hearts with twice of the speed with Fire Punch fighting by my side."

"You can have a General fighting by your side" Melody said. "But you forgot that there are six Generals of Order."

"It doesn't matter" the Queen of Hearts said. "You won't stop me of getting what I want!"

"You don't think so?" Heartbeat asked with a smile. "Three, two, one..."

And it was then that the Well of Wonder just disappeared.

"The well!" the Queen of Hearts exclaimed, recovering then her composure. "It doesn't matter. I can find the well later. But, first, I'm going to take care of you all. Guards, attack! Off with their heads! In fact, OUT WITH ALL OF THEM!"

And the guards who were with the Queen of Hearts advanced to fight Twilight and the Generals of Order.

Celestia and Luna continued to fight against the Knave of Hearts. It seemed that Fire Punch improved greatly, perhaps thanks to the magic the Queen of Hearts gave to him when she turned him on her knave. The two, in the air, exchanged a look and waved to each other. Celestia advanced first and tried to hit Fire Punch with a magic beam, but he dodged and gave a strong jump to try to hit Celestia that dodged. Fire Punch then saw Luna coming towards him, what made him do a stunt to dodge and then land on the floor. After that, he turned to the two sisters and asked:

"Do you really think that would get me?"

"I don't know" Celestia replied with a smile. “You tell me.”

And that's when Luna disappeared as if it was smoke, what made Fire Punch confused. And a sharp pain in the back took him and Fire Punch fell. On the ground, he saw Luna appearing at his side, smiling the same way as her sister. It seemed that Fire Punch had fallen into their trap.

"It looks like we won, Fire Punch" Celestia said, putting herself on the edge of her sister. "Surrender."

Fire Punch saw he was completely trapped, but he wasn't going to let them caught him. he didn't want to be put in the prison-book.

"I will never surrender" he said.

And concentrating all the magic the queen gave to him, Fire Punch managed to teleport himself.

"He escaped!" Luna exclaimed.

"It's okay, Luna” Celestia said. “What matters is that we came back and we regained our castle."

"Yes, I think that what we can do now is return the hearts the Queen of Hearts stole" Luna said. "We just have to figure out where they are."

"Don't worry, sister" Celestia said. "I know where the vault with the hearts is."

It was then that Celestia had an idea.

"If she have there all the hearts she'd ever captured, then… That’s it! Luna, come on."

Luna, without understanding, followed her sister.

The fight between the Generals and their princess against the Queen of Hearts’ card guards seemed to be with the advantage in favour of the formers, as they were too powerful for the ponies that had the Queen of Hearts’ power.

But the queen's intention was not for the guard to defeat them but to entertain them, as she knew that was going to allow her to win everything and, at the same time, give to the Lord of Chaos that he wanted the most.

The Queen of Hearts surrounded the fight with Purple Smoke until she saw her prey: Twilight. She would take her heart to take control over the Princess of the Light Kingdom. This would allow the Lord of Chaos to invade the only place of that world he could not conquer.

"Cover me" she said. "Make sure nopony interferes in what I’m going to do now."

"Yes, Your Highness" Purple Smoke replied, bowing his head slightly.

And when the Queen of Hearts saw an opportunity, she advanced with her speed against Twilight and inserted her hoof in her chest, something that made Twilight take a huge cry of pain, which made her generals turn to her.

"Princess!" they shouted at the same time, while trying to get to her, but not being able to do that due to the guards.

Heartbeat, who was the fastest, tried to use her speed to prevent the Queen of Hearts, but she was hit with a cloud of toxic purple smoke of Purple Smoke that knocked her unconscious.

"Take your hoof out!" Twilight ordered.

"I don’t think so" the Queen of Hearts replied. "The Lord of Chaos will be quite pleased when I give to him the heart of the Princess of the Light Kingdom. It will be as if he had your star seed."

Things seemed to be going from bad to worse. If something wasn’t done, the Queen of Hearts would take Twilight’s heart Twilight and have her under control.

Celestia wandered through the corridors of the castle towards the dungeons.

"Sister, where are we going?" Luna asked.

"Give a hoof to our friends of the Light Kingdom" Celestia replied.

She stopped in front of a door of the dungeon and, using magic, she managed to unlock it and open it. The two sisters came and encountered the walls full of slots. Each slot was identified according to the deck of cards. But what Celestia was searching did not belong to the deck of cards, but she knew it was identified with something. It was then that she found the vault that was identified with the image of Purple Smoke’s Cutie Mark.

"It's here!" Celestia exclaimed, starting to try to open the slot.

"What's up, sister?" Luna asked.

"This is the vault where the Queen of Hearts guards the hearts she steals" Celestia exclaimed. "Each slot contains a heart that, as long as it is in its place, the Queen of Hearts uses to influence its owner. All the hearts that are here belongs to the guards of her card guard. However, this slot has Purple Smoke’s heart."

"That means we can release him from her influence" Luna realized.

"Yes, I just have to break down the protective spells..." Celestia said, who managed to open the slot. "I did it!"

She opened the slot and removed Purple Smoke’s heart from there. Having it in her hoof, Celestia could feel the connection between the heart and its owner and realized that now she could control Purple Smoke.

"Purple Smoke, I command you to break free from the Queen of Hearts’ orders of the Queen" Celestia said.

The Queen of Hearts was still trying to get Twilight’s heart who was trying to prevent that at all costs, holding the queen’s hoof.

"I'm not going to let you take my heart" Twilight said.

"It’s inevitable" the Queen of Hearts replied. "I'm going to get you, then this world will be plunged into darkness and chaos."

And she gave her greatest and more terrible evil laugh, but she stopped suddenly when she felt an immense pain coming from her back. All present were shocked by what had happened.

"It’s... impossible" the Queen of Hearts said, without wanting to believe. "I have... your heart."

Purple Smoke had inserted his hoof on the Queen of Hearts’ back in order to reach her heart.

"Now you don't have it" Purple Smoke replied. "Now, my heart is in Princess Celestia’s beautiful hooves."

"That... Knave" the Queen of Hearts said. "What... worthless."

"Release Princess Twilight" Purple Smoke ordered.

"No" the Queen of Hearts replied. "Not... even… think… about it."

"Bad for you" Purple Smoke said.

And having said that, Purple Smoke removed his hoof from the Queen of Hearts, removing her heart.

"Now, as owner of your heart, Queen of hearts, I command you to release Princess Twilight" Purple Smoke ordered.

Unable to control their movements, the Queen of Hearts released Twilight.

"Order your guards to stop fighting" Purple Smoke ordered.

The Queen of Hearts tried to resist, but she said:

"Stop ... fighting."

And with this, the card guards stopped fighting. Heartbeat regained her senses and, upon seeing what was happening, she asked:

"Did I miss anything?"

"Only Purple Smoke taking the Queen of Hearts’ heart... again" Melody answered.

"Oh, I always lose the best moments!" Heartbeat exclaimed.

That made everypony laugh and then Purple Smoke said:

"Well, it's time to arrest this mad queen."

"You're going to regret it, Purple Smoke” the Queen of Hearts said. "Don't doubt about it!"

But Purple Smoke didn't listened her and invoked the cell blaster, saying then:

"Now, let me catch you and put you in the prison-book and don’t fight against it."

And so he aimed the cell blaster and shot at the Queen of Hearts that was sucked into the life cell that was there. After she had being sucked to it, Purple Smoke invoked the prison-book and put the life cell in there.

"I think she will be off for a while" Purple Smoke said.

And everypony laughed.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to get my heart" Purple Smoke said. "I think those guards will also need them. If you don't mind, I'm going ahead."

And he turned into smoke and left.

"Well, he's in a hurry" Twilight noted.

"I would be too if I was supposed to be immune to the Queen of Hearts’ power and still lost my heart to her" Heartbeat replied.

Fire Punch arrived to Tartarus exhausted. Having used all the power that the Queen of Hearts had given to him, he went back to what he was before. He advanced through the prison until he had reached the Lord of Chaos’ room. He opened the door and saw the Lord of Chaos who was sitting on his throne staring at his fingernails. His mirror was there on the edge.

"Hello, Fire Punch" he greeted.

"Master" Fire Punch said, a little afraid.

"Tell me how were the things with the Queen of Hearts?" the Lord of Chaos asked.

"Well... you know..." Fire Punch stammered. " It turns out that... What happened..."

"I think what happened was that the Queen of Hearts was defeated because somepony didn’t manage to protect her vault" the Lord of Chaos said, looking to Fire Punch with his malevolent look.

"But master... the princesses..." Fire Punch said unable to articulate a complete sentence. "It wasn't my fault."

"She just need only a few seconds" the Lord of Chaos said, rising up. "Just a few more seconds, and not only I would control over Wonderland and Equestria, but I would also have control over Princes Twilight."

"Master…" Fire Punch started, with his growing fear increasing even faster.

"Are you prepared for what's next, dear Fire Punch?" the Lord of Chaos asked, beginning to approaching Fire Punch.

"No, master" Fire Punch implored, trying to leave the room, but without success because the door have been magically sealed by the Lord of Chaos. " No, no... No!"

And Fire Punch had to face the terrible punishment that the Lord of Chaos had for him for having failed once again to him.

The Shadow That Lives in the Mirrors, Part I - The Crystal Impire Falls Into Darkness

In Tartarus, the Lord of Chaos was sitting on his throne watching his mirror. A month had passed since the the Queen of Hearts’ attack. The Lord of Chaos had let pass that interval of time in part to give a false sense of security to his enemy, but also because it was getting harder and harder to come up with a plan that would work, since Twilight and the Generals of Order had already caught most of his villains.

"This is ridiculous!" the Lord of Chaos explained, as he watched several parts of Equestria in search of something that could be of interest, but he couldn’t find anything. "Normally, I wouldn't take too long to come up with a plan to take those nasty ponies’ stupid peace that they love so much."

Fire Punch opened the door to enter in the room when the Lord of Chaos, filled with rage and frustration, launched a lightning bolt from his spear that almost hit Fire Punch, who managed to dodge it in time, going to hit the wall, next to the door.

"Master, are you okay?" Fire Punch asked, afraid that his question would put his master even angrier.

"I'm stuck!" he exclaimed. "This has never happened to me before!"

And then he turned to Fire Punch and said:

"And this is partly your fault, Fire Punch!"

The stallion startled when he heard the Lord of Chaos saying that and asked:

"What do you mean with that, master?"

"If it weren't for your failures, none of this would be happening" the Lord of Chaos. "Mainly your last failure with the Queen of Hearts."

Fire Punch was petrified, fearing that the Lord of Chaos would punish again, but he was relieved when he saw his master trying to calm down, saying to himself:

"Take it easy. Think. There has to be a way to defeat those ponies. Let's see, what haven't I thought. I could use a minor villain to terrorize ponies, while I think of a better plan. No, that would be pathetic. I’m the Lord of Chaos after all. I still have three more villains in the solitary. Maybe I could use one of them. But I have to think of a perfect way to use them."

The Lord of Chaos thought for a few moments and then he had an epiphany and said:

"Of course. I know what to do!"

"What is it, sir?" Fire Punch asked.

"Tell me, Fire Punch, what do you see?" the Lord of Chaos asked, pointing to the mirror and snapping his fingers.

Fire Punch observed and saw the image of the Crystal Empire appearing.

"Is the Crystal Empire" he replied. "The place where Princess Cadance and her fool husband live and rule."

"That's right" the Lord of Chaos said. "You know, I realized that I have given too much attention to Equestria and the Light Kingdom that I ended up putting the Crystal Empire aside. I think we have to make sure it doesn't feel that, don’t you think?"

"You mean you're going to attack the Crystal Empire?" Fire Punch asked.

"It surely will be the starting point of my new plan" the Lord of Chaos replied, giving a short laugh. "Those crystal ponies won't know what hit them."

And having said that, he got up and started heading to the door.

"My Lord, you're not thinking in..."

But the Lord of Chaos ignored him and walked out of his room. Fire Punch began to follow him. The two went then to the solitary of Tartarus, where the Lord of Chaos has moved to stand in front of the cell that had Mirror Coat’s Cutie Mark.

"Sir, are you sure?" Fire Punch asked.

"Do you think I don't know what I'm doing?" the Lord of Chaos asked in a harsh way.

"Ah... of course you know" Fire Punch answered, making a nervous smile. "You always know."

The Lord of Chaos turned again to the cell door and pointed his hand to it, beginning to try to open it. The door cracked and then collapsed. Fire Punch waited until the smoke created by the collapsing seat to see what kind of villain the General of Knowledge had arrested in the solitary. But, when finally the smoke disappeared, he saw that the cell was completely empty. The only thing that was there was a wall mirror with a beautiful frame.

"Master, there's nobody here" Fire Punch said.

"That's because you're not looking as it should be" the Lord of Chaos replied.

The Lord of Chaos approached the mirror and observed her reflection.

"Why are you looking in the mirror, master?" Fire Punch asked, starting to observe also the mirrored surface.

Suddenly, black smoke appeared in the reflection of the mirror and red eyes showed up, something that made Fire Punch startled and put himself behind his master and then he asked:

"What's that?"

"Only a villain who feeds on love and hope" the Lord of Chaos replied. "He can leave his victims in a hypnotic state, while feeding them. Mirror Coat managed to stop him, trapping him in the Mirror Realm and then isolating it in here."

"Master…" a voice said from the mirror.

"How are you... Wraith? " the Lord of Chaos asked.

"Freedom…" the Wraith said.

"I know" the Lord of Chaos said. "Unfortunately, the Mirror Realm is the exclusive domain of my brother and the only one of his followers able to enter and leave freely is Mirror Coat. But don't worry, my trusted server. I'm sending you to a place full of reflections and where you're going to be able to feed and be strong enough to let go of there."

The Lord of Chaos giggled and then said to Fire Punch:

"You, send this mirror to the Crystal Empire."

"Of course, my Lord, but what part of the empire is that I'm going to send it?" Fire Punch asked.

"Ponies say I'm mean and cruel, but I'm going to show them that I'm not so bad as they picture me and make a small gesture of respect and generosity" the Lord of Chaos said, giving a slight laugh. "This mirror will be a gift for the beautiful and beloved Princess Cadance."

That made Fire Punch drop a smile and say:

"As you wish, my master."

In the Crystal Empire, the morning started. Cadance woke up and saw that Shining had already raised up, probably to treat Crystal Guard affairs. She got up and went to Gleaming Shield’s room to say hello to her.

"Hello, my little filly" Cadance greeted, giving a kiss on Gleaming’s forehead. "Did you sleep well?"

Gleaming giggled what made Cadance considered as being a "Yes".

Gleaming Shield’s foalsitter appeared and greeted Cadance with a bow:

"Good morning, Your Highness."

"Good morning" Cadance greeted her back. "Today I only have a few meetings this morning. My husband will also advance in his duties. If all goes well, we could be this afternoon with our daughter."

"As you wish, but if you need me, you just have to call me" the foalsitter said.

"Thank you" Cadance thanked.

Cadance and left for her royal meetings that she had to deal with. After the meetings that were scheduled, Cadance was preparing to meet with her daughter when a messenger pony appeared, carrying a big package.

"I'm sorry, your Highness" he says, approaching. "But I have a package for you."

"For me?" Cadance asked, surprised. "From who?"

"I don't know, princess" the messenger replied. "The sender is anonymous."

"Well, this is awkward" Cadance commented. "But you can leave it with me."

Using her magic, Cadance took the package and signed the delivery form. After the messenger had left, Cadance looked with curiosity to the strange package. She went to her room and there she unwrapped it: it was a beautiful wall mirror with a magnificent frame.

"What a beautiful mirror" Cadance admired. "It must be one of the most beautiful mirrors I've ever seen."

She looked around through her room and then hung the mirror.

"I think you're going to be right here."

After that, she looked to the mirror and combed her mane with a hoof, saying:

"I don't know why, but I think my reflection is best when reflected in this mirror. Well, it's time to go see my darling daughter."

And she left the room. Cadance barely knew, upon receiving that mirror, that she was allowing a fearsome villain from the solitary of Tartarus sent by the Lord of Chaos to subdue the Crystal Empire. The mirrored surface of the mirror began to reflect black smoke and red eyes showed up, while a laugh was heard.

Cadance was walking through the halls of the castle towards her daughter’s room, when she began to feel something strange. She had the strange feeling of being watched. Her feeling was right, because the same darkness that was in the mirror was now following Cadance, using her blind spots to go unnoticed, something he could without problems, as the castle, being made of crystal just like the whole empire, allowed him to such a thing.

The princess of love stopped and turned suddenly, but she couldn't see anything, as the Wraith could hide quite well. Taking advantage of it, the Wraith moved away quickly by the way Cadance was following. He could have started with the princess, but he knew that his power was not strong enough.

By the way, he found two guards and he decided to start from them. He approached their reflexes and wrapped them with his darkness. Through the reflexes, he could hit them. He started to suck all the joy and hope that exist in them and wrap them with their own sadness and despair. This caused a strong effect on them, which caused them to fall to the ground, feeling themselves so heavy and crestfallen. They pretty much were really motionless, having no desire to move. Even the crystal that was covering their body and the one that was under them have lost their light.

Cadance continued her way, but then a strange feeling she had felt moments ago returned to take her, but with greater intensity. That's when she found the two guards the Wraith had attacked and went to their edge running. When she got there, she asked:

"But what happened? Are you all right?"

One of the guards had the strength to lift his head to his princess and struggled to formulate the words:

"Princess... I don't know what's going on. Suddenly… we became pretty heavy and depressed. We can’t… even rise up."

"But how is this possible?" Cadance asked.

It was then that she noticed the ground where the guards were and saw how the crystal was, something that was immensely unlikely happen, unless...

"Oh no" Cadance said.

Opening her wings, Cadance started flying and began to cross the castle. It was then that she found many other crystal ponies that belonged to the Royal Guard and those who worked in the castle in the same situation as those that she had found, with the crystal also losing its light.

"But what's going on?" Cadance asked, worried. "Oh, no, Gleaming!"

And she flew rapidly towards his daughter's room and entered there in a sudden way and was shocked to see Gleaming Shield’s foalsitter lying on the floor in the same situation as the others. She went to her and asked:

"Are you okay?"

"Princess... I don't feel... very good" Gleaming Shield’s foalsitter said.

"Relax, everything will be fine" Cadance said.

And so Cadance went to Gleaming Shield’s cradle and became relieved to see that her daughter was fine. She was playing in her bed blissfully and did not seem to be noticing what was happening.

"But what's going on?" Cadance asked to herself.

The Wraith passed from the castle to the rest of the Crystal Empire and began to suck the happiness and hope of the ponies that he would find.

Shining Armor returned to Crystal Empire after patrolling around, making sure there was no villain sent by the Lord of Chaos. But when he entered in the Crystal Empire, he was stunned by what he was seeing. The crystal ponies, as well as any pony that was visiting the Crystal Empire, were all on the ground, motionless.

"Oh no" Shining said.

He approached one of the ponies and saw that he was alive, he only seemed to be completely unable to move. Shining noticed then that the crystals were losing their light in several places.

"Cadance! Gleaming!"

And, desperate to get back to his family, Shining started running as fast as he could towards the castle.

Cadance picked up her daughter and put her on her back and tried to fly out of the Castle as fast as she could.

"We have get out of here" Cadance said. "Obviously, there's something attacking us and that just may be one of the villains of the Lord of Chaos."

And the Wraith appeared right behind her, starting to chase her. Finally, he had achieved enough power for power attack, something he would be able to do once he had reached Cadance’s reflection.

Cadance was flying as fast as possible and that's when she finally noticed in the darkness that was stalking her, what made her move even faster, not only for herself but also for her daughter. She managed to reach the gates of the castle and got out of the castle, but was shocked by what she saw.

The crystal heart was rotating very slowly, seeming to be stopping, and its own light was fainting. The Wraith, taking advantage of this moment, managed to reach Cadance’s reflection and, with that, he began feeding from her joy and hope, which was something that Cadance had more than a normal pony. She began to feel weak and gave a groan, falling on the ground. Gleaming, in an unreflective way, opened her wings to get a soft landing. Viewing her mother lying on the floor, she went to her and called, looking a bit worried:

"Mommy?"

Shining ran as fast as possible until he had arrived to the castle. He saw Cadance lying on the floor with Gleaming beside, near the crystal heart, whose light was even weaker.

"Cadance!" Shining called. "Gleaming!"

"Daddy!" Gleaming Shield called, thrilled to see her father.

Shining embraced his daughter and said:

"I'm glad you're all right, my love."

Shining then turned to Cadance and asked:

"Cadance, are you okay?"

She lifted her head weakly and said:

"Shining... run."

"What?" Shining asked.

His question was answered when the Wraith appeared in one of the pillars of the castle. When he saw Shining, the Wraith started to go toward him quickly, but then Shining and Gleaming began sinking in the floor, disappearing, what made the Wraith to stop and look around. The prince and his daughter had disappeared.

When Shining realize, he was in the throne room of the castle of the Light Kingdom with Gleaming Shield. Twilight and Blue were there, as well as the Generals of Order.

"Shining!" Twilight exclaimed, going to his brother to give him a hug. "I'm glad you're okay!"

"But what happened?" he asked while Twilight picked Gleaming up with her magic. "Cadance?! Where is Cadance?!"

"Relax, my friend” Blue said, approaching and putting his hoof on his friend’s shoulder. "You have to take it easy."

"But where is Cadance?" Shining asked again.

"I apologize, Prince Shining Armor" Mirror Coat said. "But unfortunately I could only transport you and your daughter. It was too late for his wife."

"What do you mean?" Shining asked to Mirror Coat, standing up, in a bit snippy tone.

"What Mirror Coat is trying to say, Your Highness, is that Princess Cadance was already under the effect of enemy and because of that we could not bring her here" Golden Paladin explained.

"But that's exactly what I said" Mirror Coat said.

"Bro, why don't you just explain the technical stuff instead of the emotional stuff?" Purple Smoke asked.

"Yes, just leave that to the pros" Heartbeat added. "Not me, I'm more than a pro."

"Guys, what if we focus on what is more important?" Leaf Mane asked her.

"Yes, in particular what's happening to the Crystal Empire" Melody said.

"But what was that thing?" Shining asked. “I never saw anything like it.”

"The reason why Mirror Coat acted" Golden Paladin replied.

"It seems that the Lord of Chaos decided to attack the Crystal Empire" Twilight told. “Heartbeat’s alarm warned us of villain activity and Mirror Coat went to see what was going on."

"I got there as fast as I could and rescued those who still had not been affected" Mirror Coat said. "But I was only able to save small foals, including Princess Gleaming Shield, and you."

"But what was that?" Shining Armor asked. "It seemed like something was attacking from inside the crystals."

All exchanged a serious look, something Shining Armor noticed and asked:

"This is more than a simple villain, right?"

It was Mirror Coat who replied:

"He’s the villain of the solitary that I defeated. I would recognize his work anywhere. He is called the Wraith."

"The Wraith?" Shining Armor repeated.

"He's a dark being that feeds on happiness and hope and at the same time involves his victims with their own darkness" Mirror Coat explained. "I managed to imprison him in the Mirror Realm and isolate him in the solitary. The Lord of Chaos released him and must have sent the mirror where he is to the Crystal Empire and, once there, he began using the reflexes to move and feed."

"But, if you beat him once, you should get it again" Shining Armor said.

Mirror Coat thought for a moment and said:

"It will be a lot more complicated. Right now, he's not in this realm, but in the Mirror Realm. Although he would be on my territory, the Wraith is feeding constantly of the happiness and hope of the whole Crystal Empire, including Princess Cadance."

"And what does that mean?" Shining asked.

"It means he's getting stronger every minute" Golden Paladin replied. "We must hurry, before it's too late."

Shining Armor, Twilight and Blue Sword exchanged a look and then they asked at the same time:

"Too late for what?"

And the Generals exchanged a worried look between themselves.

The Lord of Chaos observed in his mirror the Crystal Empire, who was now lying in darkness and silence, with its inhabitants plunged into despair, including its princess. Even the crystal heart eventually stopped and its light eventually perish. That image made the Lord of Chaos drop a huge laugh.

"What a beautiful visage!" he exclaimed. "Look, Fire Punch, the Wraith knows how to work perfectly."

"Wow, I'm completely amazed" Fire Punch admitted. "I never thought anyone could do what he just did. He even managed to defeat Cadance. It's a shame he couldn't get Shining."

"Yes, Mirror Coat can be a problem" the Lord of Chaos said. "While the Wraith is within the Mirror Realm, Mirror Coat will have advantage. That's why I sent the mirror where the Wraith could be in a place full of love and joy. There, he will be strong enough to get rid of the Mirror Realm and haunt this world once again in my name!"

The Shadow That Lives in the Mirrors, Part II - The Mirror Realm

After Golden Paladin has explained what would happen if the Wraith had fed enough of the crystal ponies, Shining seemed to be even more nervous than he already was.

"If this thing will suck all my wife and the other ponies’ happiness to get out from where he is to only suck even more happiness, then we have to stop" he said.

"Of course, Your Highness, but you have to understand that..." Golden Paladin started.

"No, you have to understand that we must act now!" Shining exclaimed. "That thing has my wife and almost caught me and my daughter."

"Shining, please, take it easy" Twilight asked, putting her hoof over his brother’s shoulder to try to calm him down, while holding Gleaming Shield with her magic. "You need to calm down."

Despite not wanting to do it, Shining breathed and calmed down. When he saw that he was more quiet, Golden Paladin said:

"The Wraith is among the most dangerous villains of the Lord of Chaos. To combat him, we need to have all possible precaution."

"Besides, I doubt that your daughter was in a greater danger than you were" Mirror Coat said to Shining.

"And why is that?" Shining asked.

"Didn't you notice that all those I managed to rescue from the Crystal Empire were just small foals, like the little princess?" Mirror Coat asked.

"Wait, are you saying that the Wraith does not attack little foals?" Shining Armor asked.

"How is that possible?" Blue asked too. "If he is one of the most dangerous villains of the Lord of Chaos, why does he fail to attack a few little foals?"

Mirror Coat would respond, but Heartbeat jumped in and said to his brother:

"If you don't mind, Mirror Coat, I will explain, as it is more my area than yours."

It was hoped that Mirror Coat would disprove, but he only made an inviting gesture to his little sister and she explained:

"The Wraith has an immensely unique perception. He follows essentially his empathic capacity that is similar to mine. He can feel emotions, but it is only attracted by the negative ones."

"Wait, but I thought he fed on positive emotions" Twilight said.

"And he does, but is that fact that negative emotions make us grab harder at some positive ones, that makes the later more valuable and interesting to the Wraith" Heartbeat explained. "He is attracted by that. But little foals are naive and pure. They can't differentiate emotions as grown ponies do."

"That's why Gleaming and the other babies were not attacked" Twilight concluded.

"Yes, and, in principle, they should not be at risk before the Wraith" Melody said. "But the others do."

"Melody is right" Shining said. "We must save Cadance and the others as soon as possible."

Golden thought for a moment and then said:

"I and Mirror Coat will take care of that. Leaf Mane, you and the others will watch around the Crystal Empire and make sure the Wraith do not advance to the rest of Equestria, in case of he frees himself."

"Yes, Golden" she replied.

"Goldy, can't I go to the Mirror Realm?" Heartbeat asked. "Come on, I have done well and you may need my help."

"The only help you would be giving was to the Wraith, since you're a walking source of positive and negative emotions" Golden Paladin replied.

"You know what, I was going to take that as an insult... If it wasn't true" Heartbeat said.

And, having said this, she, Leaf Mane, Purple Smoke and Melody were gone.

Golden Paladin turned to Mirror Coat and said to him:

"Go on, Mirror Coat."

He waved and, using his magic, invoked a mirror that became a portal. But before they cross, Shining said:

"I'm coming with you."

The two brothers exchanged a look and then Golden Paladin said to Shining:

"I strongly advise against it, Your Highness."

"I don't care what you think" Shining said. "I'm going to save my wife."

"Shining, I don't know" Twilight said. "This villain is quite powerful. After all, it is one of the villains of the solitary."

"Yes, bro, who knows what could happen" Blue said.

"But I have to do this" Shining said. "Blue, what would you do if it was Twilight instead of Cadance. I bet you would do the same thing."

"Well, I think so..." Blue answered, who realized what his best friend wanted to say and encouraged him. "You're right, Shining. Good luck."

"Blue!" Twilight exclaimed, not wanting to believe her husband was allowing something like this.

"Twily, come on, have faith in your brother" Blue said. "I mean, you know him better than anypony else, even me."

Twilight looked at her brother who returned the look. It was true. Twilight knew quite well what Shining used to make to those he loved. She then smiled at him and said:

"Very well, but try to return in one piece."

"Thank you, Twily" Shining thanked. "An don't worry, I'll be back... and with Cadance. You can take care of Gleaming while I'm gone, can’t you?"

"Sure" Twilight replied, looking to her niece. "I bet she's eager to play with Star. Isn't that right, Gleaming?"

The little filly just giggled, while she clapped with the front hooves. Seeing his daughter smiling just gave to Shining the forces to do what he had to do. He turned to the General of Peace and the General of Knowledge and told them:

"I'm ready."

"Very well, I really hope you have made the best choice" Golden Paladin said.

And so, the two Generals and the prince of the Crystal Empire went through the gate created by Mirror Coat that crumbled into shards that disappeared, when the last of them crossed.

The Lord of Chaos saw that happening, something that left him somewhat satisfied.

"It seems that Golden Paladin will act as the stupid hero he is" he said, giving a slight laugh. "This couldn't be going better."

"Master, I don't understand why you're so happy" Fire Punch said. "After all, they can defeat the Wraith and put him in the prison-book."

"Maybe, but that's not going to happen as easily as you think it's going to happen" the Lord of Chaos replied, confusing Fire Punch. "The Wraith is immensely clever and power-hungry. Mirror Coat can be a problem since his reasoning is an obstacle to the Wraith. But Golden Paladin is another story. The General of Peace may be the most loyal follower of my brother, but there is one thing that puts him on the same level that a normal pony."

"And what is it?" Fire Punch asked.

"Emotions" the Lord of Chaos replied, in a malicious way.

"What do you mean?" Fire Punch asked.

"You're going to see" the Lord of Chaos replied. "As soon as they find the Wraith, the only thing we have to do is to wait for our beloved villain do what he does best and that he hit the right pony. If that happens, and given that he has in his possession the crystal ponies and their princess, the Wraith will be out of the Mirror Realm and he will wonder again in the pony world, spreading sadness and despair."

And the Lord of Chaos laughed.

When Shining crossed the portal created by Mirror Coat, he found himself in a huge place somewhat gloomy with what seemed to be mirrored surfaces in various ways.

"Wow!" he exclaimed. "Is this the Mirror Realm?"

"Yes, I'm always here when I want to travel between mirrors" Mirror Coat answered. "You know, the Mirror Realm is a realm that exists between all worlds. For this reason, the Lords of Order and Chaos use mirrors to travel all over the place."

Shining approached one of the mirrors and then he became amazed when he saw the throne room of the Light Kingdom castle, getting to see Twilight, Blue and his daughter, Gleaming Shield.

"This is really weird" he said. "And they don't know we're watching?"

"No, what makes the mirrors also perfect for spying" Mirror Coat explained, while he, Golden Paladin and Shining began to walk. "And that's how my library can get most of its knowledge."

"Despite not being a perfect method, Mirror Coat works hard to complete the rest" Golden Paladin said.

"Wait, does that mean that, in addition to organize all that information that is not only from the pony world, you also collect even more information that was not collected by the mirrors?" Shining asked to Mirror Coat.

"Basically" he replied.

"How do you do that?" Shining asked, amazed.

"I'm not going to reveal my secrets, but I can say that with effort and determination you can everything you want" Mirror Coat answered.

After a few seconds, Shining said:

"Wait, so the Wraith is stuck in here, isn't it? That doesn't mean he has access to all of this while he was in Tartarus?"

"Do you think I would be stupid enough to let him wandering around here for centuries?" Mirror Coat asked. “Of course not. As I said before, I locked him in a mirror that I isolate from the rest of the Light Kingdom. It's basically like a cell inside of a cell in Tartarus."

"I see..." Shining said, trying to see if he could understand that the General of Knowledge had just said.

They continued to walk through the Mirror Realm, with Mirror Coat outlining some shortcuts to get quickly to their destination. It was then that they stopped because they had reached the Crystal Empire. It could see that, since the area of the Mirror Realm related to the Crystal Empire seemed an exact copy of itself.

"Amazing" Shining said, being unable to get enough words for what he was seeing. "Simply... Wow!"

"I know" Golden Paladin said. "I was like that when Mirror Coat brought me here for the first time."

"Be careful" Mirror Coat warned. "The Wraith must be around here. The fact that we are not reflexes makes his influence stronger in us."

"I have to find and save Cadance" Shining said. "That is my main priority."

And he began to run towards the castle.

"Prince Shining Armor, wait..." Golden said, trying to stop him, but he didn’t managed to do that. "But what stubborn."

It was then that Mirror Coat felt a strange presence. He knew exactly what it was.

"I think we have more to worry about than a stubborn prince, Golden" he said to his older brother and leader.

"What?" Golden asked, but when he saw Mirror Coat’s expression, he realized what he wanted to say. "I see, he's close."

"It seems he intends to attack us first" Mirror Coat said. "After all, we are a bigger threat to him than Prince Shining Armor."

"How close is him?" Golden Paladin asked, adopting a more defensive and alerted position.

"Too much" the General of Knowledge answered. "We won't have time to assemble some trap."

"I was afraid of that" Golden Paladin said. "Mirror Coat, since you're not very affected by the Wraith, you will lead the attack. I cover you."

"It's ironic that I'm the best on defense and I will deal with the attack, while you take care of the defense" Mirror Coat commented.

"Everything is relative" Golden Paladin replied.

While the two Generals were preparing to face the villainous happiness sucker, Shining wandered through the part of the Mirror Realm that reflected the Crystal Empire. Along the way, he found crystal ponies, completely involved by their own sadness, in the Mirror Realm. He could think that has something to do with them being made of crystal, but then he noticed that there were also other ponies that were not crystal ponies, which led Shining to conclude that they were just reflections the Wraith had captured to suck happiness and hope.

Finally, Shining arrived to the crystal castle of the Mirror Realm that was as impressive as the original one. He saw Cadance from abroad as well as her reflection, both fallen on the floor. Unable to get to the real Cadance without Mirror Coat’s magic (which, seen in retrospect, it was stupid of him to have come without the two Generals), Shining approached her reflection and tried to wake her up.

"Cadance, my love, wake up" he asked.

With great cost, Cadance’s reflection began to open her eyes and she said:

"Shining?"

"Yes, it's me" he said.

"It’s so cold" Cadance said, weakly.

"I know, don't worry" Shining said. "I'll save you."

But the problem was that Shining couldn’t do it. He realized that he had to ask for Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat’s help, because they would be able to know what to do.

"Wait a minute" Shining said to Cadance. "I'll return in a minute."

And he started to go to the place where the two Generals of Order were.

Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat remained alert for any surprise attack that the Wraith could do. It was then that the Wraith appeared out of nowhere too close to them. He had a humanoid form covered with dark hooded cloaks of long, ripped black cloth. From what it could see, his skin was gray and decadent. His breathing was loud and painting and seemed to be sucking a lot more besides air.

He prepared to attack Golden Paladin, but Mirror Coat put himself ahead of his brother and used a mirror as a shield against attacks and then he released a beam of blue light from his horn against the Wraith that passed directly through the mirror. Unfortunately, the Wraith was fast enough to dodge and then went back into hiding.

"He is more careful" Mirror Coat observed. "Normally, an attack like that would hit him."

"It's been centuries since your last meeting" Golden Paladin said. "And don't forget that we spend most of that time interval trapped in stone."

"Yes, you don't need to remember me that" Mirror Coat replied.

The General of Knowledge sensed movement approaching and charged his horn with magic to attack. However, it was only Shining Armor that had come back to ask for help. Having almost launched the attack, Mirror Coat took a deep breath and annulled the magic that he was charging.

"Prince Shining Armor, you almost gave us a heart attack" Mirror Coat said. "We are being attacked by the Wraith."

"I'm sorry, but I need your help to try to save Cadance" Shining said. "I can't do it alone."

"That's why I wanted you to calm down" Golden Paladin said, while he looked around searching for the villain.

Mirror Coat approached Shining, lifted his hull and invoked a ball of blue light, saying:

"This spell will allow you to get into Princess Cadance mind. You can use it in reflections. To be able to wake her, you will have to make her face the nightmare that the Wraith is making her living. If you do that, maybe we can slow down his pace."

Shining received the ball of light and thanked:

"Thank you."

Having said this, he began to run back to where Cadance’s reflection was. The Wraith, having seen him, showed up and prepared to attack Shining, but the Generals were faster than him. Golden Paladin released a beam of yellow light that made the Wraith stop to dodge and Mirror Coat cast a spell that created blue crystals blocking the path by which Shining went.

"No way, your freak" Golden Paladin said. "You’ll stay here with us."

"Fine" the Wraith replied with his cold and mean voice. "That's enough for me."

Shining ran as hard as he could until he reach the place where Cadance’s reflection was. When he got there, he stopped for a while to catch my breath and then lifted the ball of light that Mirror Coat had given to him to save Cadance.

"I hope this works" he said.

Concentrating his magic on the horn, Shining accessed the power of ball of light whose intensity increased. Shining was flooded by a strange sensation as if he was diving in cold water and his body fell to the ground.

The truth was that his mind was transported into Cadance’s mind. When Shining found himself, he was what appeared to be the existing cave system under Canterlot. It was there that Cadance was trapped when Chrisalis took her place to try conquer Canterlot on their wedding day.

Shining could imagine how miserable and painful that memory had been to Cadance, knowing that the pony she loved was being used by one of the most despicable villains of the Lord of Chaos. And now, she should be feeling the same thing again. That was one more reason to Shining hate the Wraith even more.

The white unicorn started racing the roads of the caves full of precious gems. He had to find Cadance as soon as possible to free her of her bad memories that the Wraith was reviving in order to feed off her positive emotions feelings.

It was then that he began to hear sobbing. It was a sobbing of grief. Shining would recognize that sobbing anywhere, because it was a sobbing that was compelling him to go help its source without hesitation: it was Cadance’s sobbing. And, with this, he followed it.

The Lord of Chaos saw Shining running in Cadance’s memoirs of Cadance with his mirror. He laughed, as he watched the stallion trying to save the mare he loved.

"That’s right, my dear prince" the Lord of Chaos said with delight. "Go to help your beloved princess. Try to save her from her suffering. It doesn’t matter. When you bring her back to reality, nothing will matter, because, at that time, the Wraith will have enough strength to get out of the Mirror Realm and haunt the pony world. I can't wait to have Equestria kneeling before me, wrapped in its own darkness and despair."

And he gave a slight chuckle.

"But before that, we have some small details that can cause some trouble" the Lord of Chaos said.

He made the image reflected in the mirror change to the struggle that was going on between the Wraith and the two Generals of Order.

"First, we have to get rid of these two obstacles" the Lord of Chaos said. "But this is something that can be easily remedied. Maybe we can't affect Mirror Coat, but maybe we can get to the leader of the Generals."

And addressing to the Wraith so that he only could hear, he said:

"Wraith, deal first with the General of Peace. Lock him up in his own darkness."

"As you wish, my lord" the Wraith replied, while dodging the attacks of the two Generals.

And, having said that, he dived on the mirrored floor as it was water. With that, Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat placed themselves in an alert position, watchful to any movement that could be.

However, the Wraith, secretly, appeared behind Golden Paladin, preparing to attack him. He took the hood down, revealing his face that held empty eye sockets and a big hole with small fangs that should be his mouth. Mirror Coat noticed him and warned:

“Golden, watch out!"

Golden Paladin turned and came across with the Wraith, but it was too late. The Wraith, with his speed, bitted the General of Peace’s neck, who groaned in pain. Mirror Coat fired one of his beams of blue light, but the Wraith managed to dodge and hide, while laughing.

"Golden!" Mirror Coat exclaimed, approaching his brother.

Golden Paladin tried to keep balance, but Wraith’s bite began to affect him in the same way that the Wraith had affected the ponies. Feeling his energy being drained and a cold crossing him, Golden Paladin fell to the ground, semi-conscious.

Seeing that, the Lord of Chaos gave a huge laugh and exclaimed:

"Finally, the real show is about to begin!"

Prison-Book Escape

A few weeks had passed since the events with the Wraith, but the Lord of Chaos wouldn't let ponies enjoying peace for a long time. Under his orders, Chrysalis and her Changelings began attacking Ponyville, trying to feed from the villagers and also trying to catch Twilight's friends and bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

However, the Changelings had opponents that were making his mission difficult, like Thunder Night and Shadow Claw. Rainbow Dash also gave some of her punches, as well as Applejack. But that didn't stop the dark creatures of subdue and arrest the five bearers of the Elements of Harmony, who were with their necklaces. The two stallions were trying to go to help them, but the Changelings who they were fighting were not leaving them do it so. A wicked laugh was listened and Chrysalis landed in front of Twilight’s friends.

"Looks like you were caught by me" she said. "Finally, we will rid the Lord of Chaos from the scum that is trying to prevent him from conquer this world."

"Watch who are you calling scum, scum" Rainbow Dash replied, trying to break free, but in vain.

"You're not going to get away with this, Chrysalis" Applejack said. "Twilight and the Generals of Order will beat you."

"When that day happen, you won't be here to watch" Chrysalis replied, turning then to her subordinates who were arresting the five mares. "Deal with them!"

The Changelings prepared to begin feeding from the five mares’ love, when magic beams appeared suddenly and hit on some of the Changelings.

"What?!" Chrysalis asked, turning.

And she faced with Princess Twilight (wearing her Crown), Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Heartbeat.

"Hello, Chrysalis" Twilight greeted cynically. "Were you talking about me?"

"You..." Chrysalis said.

And, with an immense speed, Heartbeat knocked the other Changelings who were arresting Twilight's friend down.

"Girls, now!" Twilight exclaimed.

And, acting quickly, each of them put themselves up around Chrysalis who immediately realized what they were going to do.

"No…" she said. "Don't even think you're going to defeat me."

She tried to move forward Twilight to attack her, but Mirror Coat used his magic to create a defensive barrier that made Chrysalis be thrown to the ground when she hit it.

Twilight and her friends started to activate their elements, each one being linked by the rainbow tentacles coming out from Twilight’s crown. She then unleashed the power of her element, powered by others’, and launched a rainbow that hit Chrysalis that moaned, as she felt the elements’ power burning her skin.

When Twilight’s element’s power ceased, disconnecting the other elements, the Queen of the Changelings were lying on the ground, filled with burns caused by the power of the Elements of Harmony. Twilight approached her and said:

"I'm sorry, Chrysalis, but this comes to an end. You may have helped me in the struggle against Dark Hole, but I can't forget your crimes and the fact you serve the Lord of Chaos."

"You... you're going to pay for this" Chrysalis said, panting, to Twilight.

"I don't know that" Twilight answered. "But I won't let you hurt my friends and other ponies without paying the price."

And, having said this, Twilight invoked the cell blaster and, with it, started sucking Chrysalis to the life cell that was there. After arresting her on the life cell, Twilight invoked the prison-book and inserted Chrysalis’ life cell inside.

Realizing that their Queen had been captured, the other Changelings began to flee.

"Don't let them escape" Twilight said to three Generals who were with her.

"Certainly, Princess" Golden Paladin said.

And, after a few seconds, the three Generals had captured the Changelings who had attacked Ponyville with Chrysalis.

"Wow, and we couldn't even bring down so many at once in a minute" Shadow Claw said.

"After all, they are the Generals of Order" Thunder Night said, trying to hold not only the pain caused by the injuries he made in the fight against the Changelings, but also the burns he was getting from the sun.

Twilight hugged her friends and told them:

"I'm glad I made it in time to save you."

"Don't worry ‘bout it, sugarcube" Applejack said. "We would made it by ourselves."

"Yes, after all they were just a branch of Changelings" Rainbow said. "I can defeat an entire army sleeping."

"Girls, don’t be like that" said Rarity. "The truth is that we were in serious trouble. If Twilight and the Generals had not arrived, we'd be right now serving as a meal to Changelings."

"That's true" Applejack admitted.

"Thank you, Twilight" Fluttershy thanked.

"Yeah, and it was amazing when we beat Chrysalis using our elements to create that colorful rainbow that just makes me want to laugh a lot" Pinkie Pie said, excitedly. "You should have seen her face when the rainbow hit her. Wait, but you saw. After all, we were there too."

That did Twilight take a laugh and say:

"I'm just happy that we have finally defeated Chrysalis."

"Yes, I'd pay to see the Lord of Chaos’ face when we know we made him look like an idiot again."

And they laughed.

The Lord of Chaos and Fire Punch were seeing that, with the former not liking Rainbow Dash’s comment.

"It seems that Chrysalis also failed to defeat Princess Twilight and her friends" Fire Punch said. "But of course I already knew that she was going to lose. If I was still Dark Hole..."

But he didn’t finish, because he saw his master looking at him with his cold and hard look. Instead, he chose to say:

"You know, master, it's a little disappointing to see all the villains that you send falling like that, even when they are so close of concretize your will. It seems that there is no villain who can win your brother’s followers. And after so much work to draw up schemes and stratagems to conquer this world, after so many villains, even those of the solitary, all that is gone. Puff!

"Keep talking, Fire Punch and someday you’ll... puff, disappear!” the Lord of Chaos exclaimed, rising up.

That made Fire Punch tape his mouth with his hooves, as he shook with fear before the impetuosity of his lord and master. Ignoring Fire Punch’s state of fear, the Lord of Chaos said:

"I really need something to tilt the balance of power again in my favor."

"Like before, master, remember?" Fire Punch said.

"Before?" the Lord of chaos repeated.

"When it seemed that Princess Twilight defeated you when you tried to steel her star seed’s light, you riposted" Fire Punch said. "You took Tartarus and freed all the villains imprisoned. Of course, most of them were recaptured, even most of the villains of the solitary, and now you has almost no villains to use. But you showed to those followers of the Order what happens when they mess with the Lord of All Evil."

"Fire Punch, you..." the Lord of Chaos started, making then a thoughtful air. " You're probably right. What I did once, I can do it again. It will be like if history was being repeated."

"What do you mean?" Fire Punch asked.

"I'm going to open the prison-book and steal the life cells of my villains that were captured" the Lord of Chaos said. "I will get my army of villains again to attack the pony world of in a viler and crueler way."

"But, master, the prison-book is well kept in the Light Kingdom" Fire Punch said. "No villain of yours will be able to enter even in the kingdom. And even if they do, the prison-book is in the dungeon of the castle, guarded by Cerberus."

"You're right" the Lord of Chaos said. "I have to find a way to overcome these barriers first. But how?"

And, having said that, he made his mirror show the part of the dungeon where the prison-book was. Cerberus, Golden Paladin’s three-headed dog, was sleeping peacefully, while at the same time he was attentive to anything that could approach the cell where the prison-book was stored, along with the cell blaster and the life cells that have not yet used.

It was then that Cerberus’ three heads woke up and the big dog rose up, sitting and wagging its tail of contentment. The entrance door to the dungeon opened and Spike entered, carrying with great effort a huge bowl of dog food. Upon entering the dungeon, he landed it on the floor and dragged it to the edge of Cerberus.

"Here we go, Cerberus, this is your ration for today" Spike said.

When Spike stopped dragging the bowl to the place ahead of Cerberus, the three-headed dog started eating happily.

"That’s it, eat" Spike said. "You have to keep those evil villains that are in that book that’s in that cell. You know, we, dragons, used to be used as guardians of safes filled with jewels and precious stones. No one would steal any preciousness, knowing they would have to face a dragon to get there. Of course, according to the legend, after the Dragon King used his control over dragons to use us against the ponies, we lose that job."

But Spike noticed that Cerberus was still eating, like if he didn't hear him.

"But why am I talking to a dog? It's not like he knew what I meant."

And, having said that, he left.

"Oh, young dragon, Cerberus may have no interest in your words, but I have" the Lord of Chaos said, dropping a laugh. "You just gave me the best idea to steal the prison-book. And I'm sure you will give me a hand, or rather, a claw to help me."

"What do you mean by that, master?" Fire Punch asked.

"You'll see" he replied.

And, using his mirror, he tried to communicate with the villain that was going to help him realize his new plan.

"Dragon King" the Lord of Chaos called. "I summon you."

And it was then that reddish eyes, injected with blood, appeared and a rough and scary voice asked:

"What do you want, my master."

"Dragon King, your mission is to make the baby dragon that lives in the castle of the Light Kingdom to steal the prison-book so I can release all the imprisoned villains" the Lord of Chaos said. "And don't forget that failure is not an option."

"Control a baby dragon did not record any challenge to me" the Dragon King replied. "But how will he steal the prison-book if the Light Kingdom is where the Generals of Order and Princess Twilight live?"

"Using something to make them get out the Light Kingdom" the Lord of Chaos said. "Create a diversion that makes everypony leave it long enough for the baby dragon to take the prison-book to the border."

"Understood" the Dragon King said, whose image disappeared.

In the Light Kingdom, in the throne room, Heartbeat told everypony how she had captured the Changelings. Hearing her tell the story were all her General siblings, Twilight (who was sitting on her throne), Blue (who was next to her) and Star (who was in his mother’s lap).

"You should have seen" Heartbeat said. "I punched one and kicked another, and in a few seconds, all Changelings had been defeated."

"Aren't you exaggerating?" Purple Smoke asked. "Man, what cocky."

"The pot calling the kettle black" Melody told her, making Purple Smoke gave her a cold look.

"Well, obviously, you didn't do it all alone, Heartbeat" Leaf Mane said.

"And she didn’t" Mirror Coat said. "I and Golden took one or two down, each."

"What makes me the most effective" Heartbeat said.

"Well, if you want to put it in that way, Heartbeat, then I think Twilight was the most effective" Blue said, putting his foreleg on his wife’s shoulders. "After all, it was her who imprisoned Chrysalis."

"I have to agree with Prince Blue Sword on this" Golden Paladin said.

The other Generals nodded, agreeing, even Heartbeat.

"Mommy the best" Star said, hugging his mother.

"Thank you all" Twilight thanked. "You too, my little one. But the truth is that I couldn't have done it without the help of my friends."

"What would you not have done without the help of your friends?" Spike asked, coming into the throne room.

"I and the others defeated Chrysalis and I imprisoned her in the prison-book" Twilight said.

"Great!" Spike exclaimed. "It's more a villain down."

"By the way, Spike" Golden Paladin said. "How is Cerberus? With all my work I don’t see him very much."

"He's fine" Spike answered. "But I have a question for you, Golden. Why do I have to give to eat to that giant dog? After all he is your dog."

"Spike, don't say that" Golden Paladin said. "Cerberus likes you."

"If he likes me the same way he likes his food, so I'd rather avoid the dungeons until he gets back to Tartarus" Spike replied.

That made everypony laugh.

Suddenly Heartbeat’s alarm began to soar.

"Seriously?!" Heartbeat asked. "Can't we get some rest."

"It is the Lord of Chaos that we are talking about" Melody said. "I don't think he's going to give us pauses to rest."

"Is it another villain from the solitary?" Blue asked.

"I don't think so" Mirror Coat answered. "The alarm was not loud enough. I'll check."

And, using his magic, he created a mirror whose image divided into several factions that reflected different places of Equestia, all suffering from the same bad.

"Dragons?" Heartbeat asked. "Why do they have to be dragons? I hate dragons. They are ugly, greedy and fire-breathing animals that cannot stay calm when they see a jewel that doesn’t belong to them."

That made everypony look at her. Feeling herself watched, she asked:

"What?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but we have one of those ugly, greedy and fire-breathing animals right here" Purple Smoke said, motioning to Spike.

"Oh, of course" Heartbeat said, somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry, Spike."

"It's okay" Spike said. "I also think the same about dragons. Fortunately, I’m not like them."

"Spike, I think you're forgetting about the time you get so greedy that you ended up turning into a not so nice giant dragon" Twilight said.

"Come on, it only happened once" Spike said, making a look somewhat offended.

"And when you overloaded yourself to take care of Owlowiscious and the other animals just to get more jewels?" Twilight asked.

"Okay, twice" Spike admitted. "But that doesn't make me a bad dragon."

"Well, you're right" Twilight agreed. "It doesn't."

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I think we have more important things to care of" Golden Paladin said, motioning to the the Dragon attacks that was happening.

"Yes" Twilight said, a little embarrassed. "Apparently, there are too many places being attacked. It seems that we have to move all our forces."

"And you can count on me for this fight, my dear" Blue said.

"Thank you" Twilight thanked. "Heartbeat, can you take Star to his nanny?"

"Of course, Your Highness" she replied, saluting.

Twilight turned to her son and told him:

"Be a good colt, my son."

And she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Yes, don't give a lot of work to your nanny" Blue said, therefore misaligning his son’s mane, making him drop a sweet laugh.

Twilight gave the baby to Heartbeat that left the throne room with her super-speed, returning seconds later. The alicorn princess turned to Spike and asked him:

"Spike, can you take care of the fort?"

"Of course, Twilight" he replied, putting a firm stance. "You can trust me."

"Thank you" the princess thanked, turning then to her generals. "Let’s go."

Mirror Coat invoked one of his mirror portals and all those who were going to face the dragons came through it.

The Lord of Chaos, seeing that, became pleased to see that the plan was going perfectly.

"Perfect" he said. "The baby dragon will be alone in the Light Kingdom, while the others are treating the dragons the Dragon King sent to distract our beloved princess and her generals and friends. Dragon King!"

The Dragon King’s bright eyes appeared in the Lord of Chaos’s mirror.

"It's time" the Lord of Chaos told him. "Start the second phase of the plan."

"Certainly" he replied.

And his eyes disappear.

Spike was walking through one of the corridors of the castle, carrying a tray full of gems that he had picked up in the kitchen. He went through a light guard who greeted him:

"Hello, Spike."

With a full mouth and therefore unable to articulate words, Spike waved him, returning the compliment, and continued his way. After swallowing what was in his mouth, he prepared to put more gems in the mouth, when the Dragon King's voice echoed in his head saying:

"Listen to me very carefully, my young servant. You're going to do exactly what your rightful King will tell you to do."

Hearing the Dragon King’s voice, Spike entered in a kind of trance, with his eyes lighting up with a green glow.

"Yes, my king" he said.

In Equestria, the dragons were attacking everywhere, from Vanhoover to Appleloosa, which forced Twilight, Blue and the Generals to separate. All the other alicorn princesses also came to help, as well as Shining Armor and other members of the various Royal Guards and the Wonderbolts. However, the dragons were too many, all big, fast, strong and with their fire-breath.

In Baltimare, Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat were dealing with the dragons that were there. While Golden cast his magic beams, he said:

"You know, all these Dragons make me think."

Heartbeat appeared suddenly with her super-speed to help her two older brothers, asking:

"Are you thinking they are being controlled by some higher authority? Because if it that’s so, it can only indicate just one being that is able to control dragons and force them to do his will. We're dealing with…"

"The Dragon King" Mirror Coat said, attacking a dragon that was around.

"Hey, I wanted to say it!" Heartbeat protested.

"Yes, it can only be the Dragon King" Golden said, while attacking dragons. "Only through him the Lord of Chaos could control so many dragons. If it is him, then we need to find him as soon as possible. Heartbeat, will warn the princesses and then goes with Purple Smoke find the Dragon King. He has to be close."

"Yes, sir, Goldy sir" Heartbeat replied with a salute.

And, having said this, Heartbeat moved away at full speed.

Spike, under the Dragon King’s control, down to the dungeons of the Light Kingdom, where the villains were kept before Tartarus was created. He met with Cerberus that, seeing Spike, ran to him with a quite happy air and gasping of contentment, while shaking his tail happily.

"Subdue Cerberus" the Dragon King ordered.

"Cerberus, sit" Spike ordered.

Cerberus sat quickly. After Golden Paladin, Cerberus seemed to obey Spike better, since the two have created a kind of relationship of friendship, while the baby dragon was feeding the giant three-headed dog.

"Cerberus, lay" Spike ordered.

And Cerberus laid and, after that, Spike started petting him with his claws, something that Cerberus loved. But it was then that Spike reached the place that was one of Cerberus’ few weaknesses, something that could only be discovered playing with him. With Spike scratching beneath the middle head’s chin, the head that acted as the main one, Ceberus fell on the floor, asleep.

"Amazing" the Lord of Chaos said, observing the scene. "I never thought that Cerberus could be subdued in this way. Of course this can only be achieved if that mutt trust the person he faces."

"Very well" the Dragon King congratulated Spike. "Now, get the prison-book."

"Yes, master" Spike replied.

He advanced to the cell where the prison-book was. He went in there and found it, landed in a pillar. The cell blaster and a stack of empty life cells were also there, in another part of the cell.

"Master, why don't we take also the cell blaster?" Fire Punch asked. "After all, without it, our enemies will not be able to arrest the villains."

"That thing can only be used by the Generals and Twilight" the Lord of Chaos replied. "Nopony beyond them can even touch it. We will limit ourselves by the prison-book. That's enough for now."

Spike approached the pillar where the book was and picked it up. As soon as he did that, the Dragon King said:

"Now, take it to the border without anypony knowing and give it to the envoy the Lord of Chaos will send."

"Yes, master" Spike replied.

And, with this, Spike abandoned the cell with the prison-book, putting it in the middle of the jewels he was eating, and then left the dungeon.

"Now it’s time!" the Lord of Chaos exclaimed, rising up. "Fire Punch, get ready. The prison-book cannot leave the Light Kingdom without Princess Twilight and the Generals’ magic. You go there and get the prison-book. As soon as you have it in your hooves, open in. I don't care how. As soon as you do it, I will start to bring the life cells to here."

"Yes, master" Fire Punch answered, bowing respectfully his head.

As soon as he said that, Fire Punch disappeared.

Twilight, the other alicorn princesses, the Generals and all the others arrived to MacIntosh Hills, where Heartbeat and Purple Smoke were waiting at the foot of that chain of hills.

"We found him, he's..." Purple Smoke began.

And then a huge dragon landed in the area where they were. It was a giant dragon, a lot bigger than any full-sized dragon. His scales were red as a ruby and the spines on his back were extremely sharp. On his head, he contained two pairs of curved horns (the superior upward and the inferior downward), being that they were united in a junction located on the dragon’s forehead, seeming to be a kind of crown. That was the Dragon King.

"Right here" Heartbeat completed.

Those who did not know the Dragon King were quite impressed with his size and appearance.

"This Dragon is colossal" Shining said.

"I don't think that even describes what I’m seeing" Blue said.

"We meet again, Dragon King" Golden Paladin said. "We haven't seen each other in a long time."

"Since you put me in that filthy prison" the Dragon King replied.

"What do you wanted us to do?" Golden Paladin asked. "You enslaved your dragons and forced them to attack ponies. You condemned your subjects to live as greedy and fierce monsters."

"And that's the way it should be" the Dragon King said.

"You're wrong" Golden Paladin said. "But we can solve this in the best way. Send your dragons to retreat."

"No way" the Dragon King replied.

"So I guess we have no choice" Golden Paladin said. "Attack!"

And all who were there began to attack the Dragon King. However, he managed to sweep practically with all the Royal Guard and hit the Wonderbolts with his blazing fire that, despite it didn’t kill them, left them unable to continue fighting.

"Is this all you have to give?" the Dragon King asked.

He then faced the four alicorn princesses flying right in front of him.

"Don’t forget that you're also fighting alicorn princesses" Celestia said.

And, with this, the four mares launched their magic beams against the Dragon King.

Spike get out of the Castle and then of the Light Kingdom, walking toward the border of the dense forest. There, Fire Punch waited impatiently.

"Finally, your sample of dragon" he said, while Spike was approaching. "I thought you were lost on the way."

Upon reaching his edge, Spike extended the prison-book. Fire Punch received it, saying:

"Finally, the prison-book is under our power. Now, I just have to open it and the Lord of Chaos can take all the life cell."

But it was easier said than done, because, as much as Fire Punch tried, he couldn't open it.

"Damned book..." he said. “Open up!"

However, the battle against the Dragon King continued. The princesses were giving enough fight to him, since, together, they were very powerful. However, the Dragon King’s scales seemed to be able to withstand all attacks.

"I don't know how long they will hold him" Blue said. "We have to do something."

"Golden Paladin, how did you manage to defeat him?" Shining asked.

"Using the same strategy that we're about to use" he replied, turning to Purple Smoke that was sitting on the floor, motionless and with his eyes closed. "How are we, Purple Smoke?"

"I'm ready" he replied, rising up.

He opened his eyes and activated his magic. When he did this, he was involved by his purple smoke, something that predated any of his transformations. The purple smoke increased to proportions of the size of the Dragon King and, when it's gone, it could see that Purple Smoke had turned into the dragon, although the scales, instead of red, were purple.

"Princesses, out of the way" he said to the four alicorn princesses. "Now, I'm the one who will battle him."

They did so and the Dragon King said to Purple Smoke:

"If you think you can defeat me again, you're wrong."

"That's what we're going to see" Purple Smoke said.

And the two began their fight. It seemed to be well balanced, until the Dragon King use his fire breath, hitting Purple Smoke that hastened to retreat. Encouraged by the others, Purple Smoke opened his mouth and, instead breathing fire, he launched against the Dragon King his smoke that hit him and began to infect him with its toxins, something that left him a little dizzy.

"I managed to improve my transformation abilities a lot since the last time I saw you" he said. "I hope you enjoy the effects of my smoke."

Taking advantage of that moment of weakness of the Dragon King, the Generals of Order attacked him simultaneously. The attack was so strong that the Dragon King succumbed and fell to the ground, causing a loud bang. With his fall, Purple Smoke returned to his original form, panting for being tired of both the fight and the transformation. The Dragon King tried to get up, but Golden Paladin used his magic and gold chains appeared from the ground and arrested him.

"Game over, Dragon King" Golden Paladin said. "Now, you’ll go back to your cell and the dragons that are under your control will be released."

However, much to the surprise of all, the Dragon King laughed and said:

"It doesn't matter. Go ahead and arrest me. It doesn't really matter. It's too late."

"Too late for what?" Twilight asked, not liking the tone he had used.

But the Dragon King simply laughed. It seemed that he would not reveal anything. So Golden Paladin invoked the cell blaster with a new life cell and began to suck the Dragon King to there. After the process was completed, he tried to invoke the prison-book, but he didn’t manage to do it.

“Golden, what are you waiting for? " Leaf Mane asked. "Lock him up in the prison-book."

"I can't" he said, trying to invoke the prison-book again, but in vain.

"What do you mean you can't?" Melody asked.

"I don't know, it seems like..." Golden Paladin starte. "Someone took it of its place."

"But that's impossible" Mirror Coat said. "The prison-book is safe."

"Does this have to do with what the Dragon King said?" Celestia asked.

Golden Paladin meditated for a while and then he realized:

"Spike!"

And Twilight also eventually realize what he meant.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed.

On the border of the Light Kingdom, Fire Punch continued to try to open the prison-book. Then, with the defeat of the Dragon King, Spike was freed of his control.

"But..." he said, a little disoriented. "Where am I?"

And that's when he saw Fire Punch trying to open the prison-book.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed, advancing to the follower of the Lord of Chaos. "Hey, drop that book!"

Seeing that Spike was released and was advancing to him, Fire Punch mockingly said:

"Or what, runt?"

With only one hoof, Fire Punch stopped Spike touching him on the forehead and then pushed him against the floor, laughing at him. Infuriated, Spike stood up and said:

"You'll see."

And he breathed his fire. Having no time to dodge, Fire Punch used the prison-book for protection. The fire hit it and the book flew from Fire Punch, and in the air, it opened, falling open on the ground. It could see the cell that contained Oogie Boogie where the boogeypony was in front of the bars, curious about what was going on the exterior.

"Yes!" Fire Punch exclaimed.

"No!" Spike exclaimed.

The Dragon tried to take back the prison-book, but Fire Punch put himself in his path and stopped it.

"It's all yours, master" he said, looking at the prison-book.

Seeing that through his mirror, the Lord of Chaos says:

"Good job, Fire Punch."

And he raised his spear, starting the spell that would bring the life cells. And then, one by one, a lot of life cells started to coming out of the book. Fire Punch watched it with great pleasure.

Spike couldn't believe that he was seeing all the work that Twilight and the Generals had to capture all those villains was being undone and it was his fault. But he wasn't going to stand by and let the Lord of Chaos to take all those villains. By focusing on all the courage he had, Spike bitted one of Fire Punch’s fore legs, making groan of pain, and, taking advantage of this, Spike ran toward the prison-book, caught it and closed it, breaking the chain of life cells that were coming out. It could hear the sound of the lock of the book closing again.

"Your filthy dragon!" Fire Punch exclaimed, turning furiously to him. "How dare you to bite me and get in the way of the will of the Lord of Chaos?! You're going to pay!"

And he started heading toward him. Spike trembled scared, holding firmly the prison-book. It was then that something punched Fire Punch and he was thrown against the floor. It was Heartbeat who appeared quickly.

"No, you will" she told him.

Fire Punch tried to get up, but gold chains appeared and arrested him, in the same way as they arrested the Dragon King.

"Not so fast, Fire Punch" Golden Paladin said, appearing with his siblings, Twilight and Blue. "You're right where I want."

"I'm glad you are back" Spike said, turning to Golden Paladin. "I'm sorry, it’s my fault. I gave to Fire Punch the prison-book and accidentally I opened it with my fire."

Golden Paladin took the book with his magic and used the cell blaster to put the life cell with the Dragon King in there. After that, he opened it and watched it.

"Oh no!" he said. "About a third of the villains we captured was released."

"What?!" everypony asked.

"And the villains of the solitary?" Melody asked.

After a quick check to their cells, Golden Paladin said:

"Luckily, they're all here. Well, except Adagio, but without her sisters, her power is quite weak. But even so, the Lord of chaos recovered a lot of villains."

Fire Punch laughed, which made everypony turn to him.

"It seems that in the end, the Lord of Chaos managed to gets his way" he said. "Understand that there's nothing you can do to stop him."

"Your..." Blue Sword started, wanting to beat his old enemy.

But he was stopped by Golden Paladin who said:

"Don't waste your energy on him, Prince Blue Sword. He's not worth it. After all, I don't see his master trying to get him out of my chains."

That made Fire Punch undo your smile, realizing that Golden Paladin was right.

"Since you have so much interest in the life cells, then look at this one."

And Golden Paladin invoked a new life cell on the cell blaster, preparing to catch Fire Punch.

"May I have the honor, Golden Paladin?" Twilight asked.

"Of course, princess" he replied, extending to her the cell blaster.

Getting it with her magic, Twilight pointed the cell blaster to Fire Punch.

"Your days of freedom came to an end, Fire Punch."

And she began to absorb him into the life cell. He tried to resist, but in vain. When he was absorbed, Twilight sealed the life cell in the prison-book.

"From here he will not get out" Blue said.

"It seems that the Lord of Chaos will have to find a new company" Purple Smoke said, making everypony release a mild laugh.

In the Lord of Chaos’ room, he wasn't interested in saving Fire Punch. He and the Dragon King had been only sacrifices in his plan to retrieve the villains who had been imprisoned in the prison-book. Despite not being able to recover all of them, the Lord of Chaos was glad to have released at least a portion of them.

"Finally, my army..." he said, lining up the life cells he had stolen in the air.

Images of villains in them appeared holographically. Among the villains released, apart from Adagio, was Medusa, Oogie Boogie, Pandora and Chrysalis. The Lord of Chaos laughed while contemplating his rescued villains.

In the Light Kingdom, everypony was in the throne room, except Golden Paladin who went to guard the prison-book. He appeared and said:

"The prison-book is back to its place with its lock now being dragon-fireproof. I also woke Cerberus up and added some extra defenses."

"Perfect" Twilight said. "I think now will not have more escapes."

"I’m so sorry" Spike said to everypony. "If it wasn't for me, maybe this wouldn't have happened. I understand if you want to demote me from my position as Cerberus’ keeper, Golden Paladin."

"What are you talking about Spike?" Twilight asked. "It's not your fault."

"Of course" Blue said. "It was the Lord of Chaos, nobody else."

"They are right" Golden Paladin said to Spike. "After all, you're a dragon and dragons can't handle before the Dragon King’s manipulative power. You had no other choice. Besides, you protected the remaining life cells fairly brave."

"I did?" Spike asked, getting an approved nod from everypony, something that made him smile.

"And I might add that there's no one more suitable than you to deal with Cerberus" Golden Paladin said.

"Is that means I can keep my job as Cerberus’ keeper?" asked Spike excitedly.

Golden Paladin waved with a smile. That made Spike drop a roar of joy and then he hugged one of Golden Paladin’s forelegs, saying:

"Thank you, thank you, Golden."

But realizing what he was doing, he dropped him, blushing slightly and saying:

"Oops, sorry."

That made everypony loose a laugh.

Author's Note

This chapter was inspired by the episode "Villain Vault Escape" from the series Matt Hatt Chronicles.

It most be noted that Twilight and the Generals had captured other villains beyond the others referred in the story.

Cold Loneliness, Part I - The Beginning of the Storm

In the past,

In the past, Equestria at a time, when the Light Kingdom lived under the reign of Princess Aurora and before Celestia and Luna took their duty as regent princesses, was ruled by the latters’ parents, Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos. They were both alicorn, transformed by the Lord of Order years after the foundation of the Light Kingdom, having been chosen to rise up the Sun and the Moon respectively and ensure the balance between day and night.

One day, their two daughters, Celestia and Luna, who inherited the alicorn characteristics of their parents, played happily in the garden of their huge castle in Everfree Forest. It looked like they were playing hide and seek, but they were the ones who were seeking...

"Where do you think she is, Celestia?" Luna asked.

"I don't know, Luna” Celestia answered. "She should be here."

They passed through a bush that suddenly moved the leaves. Curious about what could have caused that, the two little princesses approached for a closer look and it was then that somepony appeared, throwing herself to them, what made them fall to the ground on their back. Celestia and Luna looked and saw a filly slightly older than both of them. She was an alicorn like them with a white coat, even whiter than Celestia’s. Her mane glowed and flowed like liquid silver and her blue eyes were like a sky.

"Ingrid!" Celestia and Luna exclaimed, sketching a huge smile.

"I got you" she said, getting out of them and letting the two princesses getting up.

After that, the three shared a big group hug. They were the three daughters of the King and Queen of Equestria and it seemed that nothing could separate them. But that wasn't true.

In the present...

In Tartarus, the Lord of Chaos descended to the solitary in order to release a one more villain who could finally give him the victory that he wanted. While he walked, he said:

"I have to admit. Without Fire Punch, this became quite tedious. After all, I don't have no one to discharge my anger."

And that's when he arrived to the two last cells whose doors he didn’t destroy yet: those that contained the villains that were defeated by Golden Paladin and Heartbeat.

"I never thought I'd have to use any of these two, but desperate situations call for desperate ways" the Lord of Chaos said. "Having only two options left, it's pretty obvious which one I should choose?"

And, having said this, he began to break down the door with Heartbeat’s Cutie Mark. When it fell shortly after, the Lord of Chaos entered in the cell. There was no one there except a pillar that had only a golden urn. The Lord of Chaos approached the urn and said:

"So this is where Heartbeat put you. Poor thing... Closed in an urn for over a thousand years. But what terrible fate. Fortunately, I can finally free you from this prison and grant you freedom."

Having said this, the Lord of Chaos took the urn, opened it and turned it upside down, making a white liquid being spilled on the floor. The fluid moved a few inches and then stopped, starting to lift and to shape. Soon, it was shaped as a pony with wings and horn, an alicorn. It was then that the liquid just turned into flesh.

In its place, there was now an alicorn mare whose coat was so white that glowed with a snow flake as Cutie Mark. Her silvery mane undulated as if it were liquid silver, adorned with a crystal crown, and her eyes were opened, revealing a deep shade of azure, where once were full of joy, only to now have sadness and loneliness.

Her mere presence made the air heavy and cold and ice began appearing throughout the cell. She looked around and then saw the urn that was at Lord of Chaos’s hands. She pointed her hoof and she created an icy wind that hit the urn, freezing it in such a way that it was destroyed and broken in a lot of pieces.

"I'm glad you're back... Princess Ingrid "the Lord of Chaos said.

"Princess Ingrid died" she replied, coldly. "Now, there's only the Snow Queen."

"Of course" the Lord of Chaos said. "It couldn't be otherwise."

"Why did you let me get out?" Ingrid asked.

"I need your help to rule this world" the Lord of Chaos replied, approaching Ingrid. "Of course, to do that, Equestria will have to fall. As well as your sisters."

"I have no sisters” Ingrid answered. "Not now, not ever."

The Lord of Chaos was pleased to see that the hatred that Ingrid had for her two sisters was still persisted.

"Good, that means you won't have problems in helping me" the Lord of Chaos said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to get involved in matters that have to do with Equestria" Ingrid replied.

And, with this, she began heading to the exit of the cell, but the Lord of Chaos appeared in front of her and said to her:

"I get it. I was betrayed by my own brother too. I understand your pain. But I can end it. I can end your pain, your suffering, your loneliness. I can make this world a better place."

"Destroying it?" Ingrid asked, a bit skeptical.

"Yes, destroying it" the Lord of Chaos answered.

When Ingrid was not yet convinced, the Lord of chaos said, while surrounding her:

"Didn't you like that all those who made you suffer to pay? Think about it. You could get Celestia and Luna who turned against you. You could get Heartbeat that imprisoned you in an urn for over a thousand years. You could get your revenge from everypony. And so I had destroyed this world, you can rebuild it with your ideals. Bring back the perfect life you had as a filly."

Those attractive words of the Lord of Chaos began to take effect in Ingrid who really was contemplate them and trying to figure out if she would be willing to follow the Lord of Chaos’ plan.

In Canterlot, Celestia was in the throne room when his sister, Luna, entered.

"Luna, are you awake at this time of the day?" she asked.

"I just needed a few hours of sleep" Luna answered. "Don't worry, sister. I'm well rested."

"Good" Celestia said, as they headed towards the balcony of the throne room and saw Canterlot in the light of that spring day where it could feel the arrival of summer. "There’s nothing like some quality time for us to spent together as sisters."

"Yes, you're right" Luna agreed.

But that moment was interrupted when heavy clouds filled the sky, hiding the sun.

"This is weird" Celestia said. "According to reports that I received from the pegasi, today it wasn't supposed to rain."

The clouds, instead of making rain fall, made snow fall, something that has left the inhabitants of Canterlot quite flabbergasted.

"Snow?" Luna asked, not wanting to believe. "When we're near the summer?"

That snow left Celestia edgy. It could not be the work of pegasi. There was something strange in that snow. Seemed like... magic. Then, to her shock, she realized who was behind that snow.

"No…" she said, stepping back. "It cannot be..."

"What's up, sister?" Luna asked.

But before that Celestia could say anything, a strong cold wind began to blow, turning that snowfall in a storm that made the two princesses back into the castle, squinting. When they were able to open them again, they found Ingrid, hoofs a way of them.

"Hello, my sisters" she greeted. "Miss me?"

"Ingrid?!" Celestia and Luna exclaimed.

"So, do you remember me" Ingrid said.

"How could we have forgotten you" Celestia said, advancing one step. "You're our sister. We love you."

"Of course, you love me so much that you left Heartbeat trap me in an urn and then put me in a cell in the solitary of Tartarus" Ingrid said.

"You left us no other choice" Luna replied. "You were out of control. We had to stop you somehow."

"And now the situation is reversed" Ingrid said. "To be able to achieve my goals, I will now to stop you."

"Goals?" Celestia asked, don’t liking it one bit. "What goals?"

"You don't have to worry about that" Ingrid replied while charging her horn with magic. "You won't be here when I achieve them."

Celestia and Luna exchanged a look and then the last said, moving forward:

"Please, Ingrid, whatever the Lord of Chaos said to you..."

But she didn’t finish, because Ingrid launched against her a magic lightning, with Luna puttin a hoof in front of her face to protect herself. As soon as she was hit in the foreleg, Luna froze, becoming an ice statue of herself.

"LUNA!" Celestia exclaimed, turning to Ingrid. "How could you do this, Ingrid? You're our sister!"

"Don't worry" Ingrid said. "She will be fine, as long as nothing happens to her. It is not that my intention is to hurt you so easily. But I have plans, plans that don’t need the interference of two certain alicorn princesses to be realized."

Having heard Celestia’s cries, a group of Royal guards entered, led by the captain who said:

"Your Highnesses, is everything okay?"

But before they could do anything, Ingrid launched her magic on them and also froze them. She turned then to Celestia, but saw that she was no longer where she was before, having taking flight from the balcony.

"There's no way you're going to escape me, sis" Ingrid said.

She also took flight and began a pursuit. Celestia was trying to fly as fast as she could, but the snow and the cold that existed due to her sister’s presence in Canterlot were hindering his breathing, she tired more quickly. Ingrid, on the other hand, just kept getting stronger and faster.

The Snow Queen released her magical beams against Celestia, trying to freeze her in the same way as Luna froze, but she could always escape. The ponies down there, wondered about what was going to be snowing like that, could see the fight that was happening above.

Ingrid was starting to get quite frustrated by her sister being avoiding her attacks, since in that snowstorm she had advantage. Using all her anger and frustration, she released more magic beam. Celestia tried to Dodge it, but, to her great shock, one of her wings was hit and frozen. Without it, Celestia began to fall, to the shock of everypony watching. Ingrid began to fly down to be at the same level as Celestia.

"This time, you cannot escape."

And, having said this, she launched its magic on Celestia and managed to freeze her. Before the ice statue could fall on the ground, Ingrid used her magic to keep it in the air and then took it back to the castle. Landing in the throne room, Ingrid put the ice statue of Celestia next to Luna’s, saying then, referring to them:

"You are very lucky you haven’t broken into a million pieces. However, I want you to be witnesses of the kingdom I will build, while you are trapped in the same way I was trapped for centuries. This world will know the real winter, a winter even more terrifying than the Windigo’s."

And, with this, she began to unleash her magic through her horn, while laughing evilly. That magic began to create ice that started covering all throne room and, shortly after, the whole Castle. The storm intensified and began spreading in all directions of Equestria, having Canterlot as its center.

In the Light Kingdom, preparations were being made in the castle for a large event that was bound to happen: Prince Star Knight’s first anniversary. Having a few days remaining before that day to come, Twilight had already called her friends to come help in the preparations.

Pinkie Pie was responsible for organizing the party, making sure everything was going perfectly, while Applejack was responsible for the catering and Rarity for the decoration of the Great Hall. Rainbow Dash would help in tasks that demanded her strength or her wings and Fluttershy was training the light birds, which lived within the borders of the Light Kingdom, so they could sing at the party.

The Generals were also giving their contribution. Golden Paladin would make sure that nothing and nopony would ruin the party to the little prince; Mirror Coat and Purple Smoke would each one make a little show of entertainment with the former using his mirrors and the last using his transformation expertise, using an assistant that would be who would be transformed (a way of Purple Smoke show that his abilities to transform other ponies had improved), and the one who had accepted his invitation to be his assistant was the most crazy and insane pony known in that world: Pinkie Pie, who said it would be fun to be Purple Smoke’s guinea pig (even, in her words, she wasn’t a guinea pig); Melody would also act at the party, singing the happy birthday song to Star with Fluttershy’s birds; Leaf Mane would bring beautiful plants to decorate the Hall to give a more natural look, like ivy and colorful flowers, and Heartbeat was dealing with the gift from the Generals to Star. All Generals said she was the best at giving gifts, because she knew always what gift a pony would like to receive, although she kept it a secret so that all would know at the time of the party.

During a break, when everypony sat down at the table to eat a small snack with tea and cookies, Twilight said to her friends, being next to her husband, Blue:

"Thank you very much for helping me, girls. I know that’s a long way between Ponyville and the Light Kingdom."

"Don't be ridiculous, Twi" Applejack said. "We would give an entire lap around tha pony world jest tah take a snack like this with ya."

"So I had to get out of Ponyville a few weeks before you get the snack" Pinkie Pie said. "And this is just counting only traveling on land, because there would be also the seas and the oceans."

"No one can go around the world so fast" Heartbeat said. "Well, I can, but..."

"It was jest a figure of speech" Applejack answered them.

"Oh!" the two exclaimed.

"But then why didn't you say so?" Heartbeat asked.

"Yes, Applejack, you know by chance that when you say something with the wrong words you can create misunderstanding?" Pinkie Pie asked.

That made Applejack to pass her hoof though her face, while everyone else laughed.

"But continuing with our original conversation, I have to say, Twilight, that doing the trip in the Light Express makes it much faster and comfortable" Rarity said.

"Yes, even my foal agrees that was a very comfortable trip" Fluttershy said, passing her hoof by her big belly.

"It's hard to believe that Thunder Night left you come without him" Twilight said to Fluttershy.

"Yes, when Twilight was a few weeks of having Star, I wouldn't leave her side even for nothing" Blue said.

"Well, he also wanted to come, but he had to go take care of some things in Hollow Shades, as after the wedding he will come to live with me" Fluttershy said. "However, there was no problem."

"Yes, that's because it took us a little while to arrive" Rainbow Dash said. "Imagine if I could fly at the same speed as that train? I would be the world's fastest pony."

"Technically, the second fastest" Heartbeat corrected. "I am the fastest pony."

"I bet I can beat you in a race with my eyes closed, Heartbeat" Rainbow Dash said. "After all, you're nothing but a filly."

That left everyone in suspense.

“Rainbow Dash, please tell us you didn't say that" Melody said.

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I can be faster than this little filly? But of course I can."

Heartbeat contorted her face, angry. The ground started to tremble slightly, as she began to unleash her unstable power. All ponies, except Rainbow Dash, found shelter under the table, not wanting to be in front of Heartbeat right now.

"You're going to be sorry for challenging, Rainbow Dash!" Heartbeat exclaimed.

"I don't think so" she replied, grinning provocatively. "I think you're the one who will regret for challenge me."

"Going to a race?"

"Anytime, anywhere."

"Cool, a race!" Pinkie exclaimed, coming out under the table. “Who wants to bet? I bet two bits on Heartbeat."

"What?!" Rainbow Dash asked, not wanting to believe. "You're going to bet on her, Pinkie?!"

"No offense, Dashie, you know how I love you, but I can't deny the evidence that Heartbeat is faster than you" she replied. "Besides, she is more scary than you."

After what Pinkie tell, Heartbeat turned to her with a smile and said:

"Oh, thank you, Pinkie. That's the nicest thing anypony said to me today."

And with Heartbeat calming down, the earthquake stopped, which made everypony go out safely under the table.

"Wow, that was close" Purple Smoke said.

"We were sav’d by Pinkie" Applejack said. "But who would have guess’d. This is one of tha few times that happens."

It was then that the doors of the Great Hall opened and one of the guards appeared, carrying with his magic a big, rectangular, brown package.

"I'm sorry, but a package came to Miss Heartbeat" he said.

He hadn't even finished the sentence when Heartbeat appeared right next to him, using her speed.

"Good, my order arrived!" she exclaimed, getting the order with her magic, while the guard got out.

"You see?" Pinkie Pie asked to Rainbow Dash, referring to Heartbeat’s speed, something that made the pegasus roll her eyes.

"What is that, Heartbeat?" Twilight asked.

"It's just a little thing that I ordered to made with something I found" she replied.

"Little?" Purple Smoke repeated. "You've got to be kidding. This thing is anything but little."

"It's Star's birthday gift" Heartbeat said.

That captured Purple Smoke’s interest and he asked:

"And what is it?"

But that earned him one of Heartbeat’s piercing looks which made him swallow and say, while he sat:

"Forget my question."

"Well, I'll put it in my room and hide it very well" Heartbeat said. "Don't even try to look for it because you will never find. Until the party, that is."

And, having said this, she went out of the room.

"Damn, I wish I could know what is that thing" Purple Smoke said.

"You might as well give up trying to guess" Melody said. "Have you forgotten what happened the last time you tried to find out what Heartbeat would give to Princess Aurora on her birthday?"

That made Purple Smoke have a shudder and say:

"I don't even want to remember."

"What happened?" Twilight asked, curious.

"Let's just say it wasn't pretty" Melody answered.

"I said I don't want to remember" Purple Smoke said to Melody. "Can you stop talking about it?"

And that made all laugh.

But the happiness was short-lived when Heartbeat’s alarm started to sound.

"What?!" Twilight asked. "Seriously? When it's very little time for Star's birthday?"

"The sound that alarm is doing, it seems to me that is one of the villains from the solitary, right?" Blue noted.

"You're right, Prince Blue Sword" Golden Paladin replied. "It is precisely that. And, given that there's only two left, there is no reason to celebrate. I just hope it's not who I'm thinking."

"Are you referring to the villain you defeated?" Twilight asked.

But Golden Paladin didn't answer her, which was odd because he always answered her, even if it was something he didn't know or preferred not to give his reply.

"Mirror Coat, what villain is?" the leader of the Generals asked.

Mirror Coat’s shone with a light blue glow for a few seconds and, when they returned to normal, he said:

"Oh no, it's the Snow Queen."

"Ingrid" Golden Paladin said. "So now it's her."

"But who is she?" Blue asked.

"Ingrid was defeated by Heartbeat" Leaf Mane said. "She's pretty powerful."

"I just heard my name" Heartbeat said, entering the Great Hall. "Who's powerful?"

"Ingrid" Melody replied. "The Lord of Chaos freed her."

"Princess Ingrid?" Heartbeat asked. "Well, it was to expect. After all, the Lord of Chaos is running out of resources when it comes to the villains from the solitary."

"Wait a minute" Rainbow Dash said. "Mirror Coat just called her Snow Queen, but Heartbeat called her Princess Ingrid. But who is she anyway?"

"It's an alicorn Princess, just like Princess Twilight and the other princesses" Golden Paladin answered.

That information left everyone amazed.

"Wait, ya mean there's an alicorn princess helpin’ tha Lord of Chaos?" Applejack asked.

"Technically, she's a fallen princess" Heartbeat said. "She handed the light of her star seed at the Lord of Chaos’ service."

"She's very powerful," said Leaf Mane. "It's known as the Princess of Winter. The Lord of Order planned her birth so she could compensate my powers’ flaws in the balance of seasons. For that reason, my power over nature is not strong enough against her power over ice as fire and ice are my only weakness, acting as key drivers of its renewal. She also could withstand the attacks of all of us, but, fortunately, Heartbeat defeated her by imprisoning her inside a special urn."

"But what does she want?" Twilight asked.

"In my opinion, revenge" Golden Paladin replied.

"Against who?" Blue asked.

The Generals traded looks with each other, as if pondering if they should answer Twilight’s question.

"I hate when they do that" Rainbow Dash said.

Finally, they seemed to agree to answer. Golden Paladin said:

"Mainly, against whom she thinks that betrayed her, the ponies that share the same blood as her."

"Siblings?" she asked. "But who?"

"The only alicorn princesses at this time that existed at the time when she was captured by Heartbeat” Golden Paladin answered. "She is Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s older sister."

That information got all flabbergasted and speechless.

"Hold on a second" Pinkie Pie said, while she drank all her tea and then spat it out at once.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this first apart from the chapter that portrays Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s older sister, Princess Ingrid, a.k.a. Snow Queen. I also made Pinkie Pie’s last line look like what she says in the episode "Magical Mystery Cure" when Celestia says Twilight is a Princess now.

Cold Loneliness, Part II - The Domain of Winter

The Snow Queen was alone sitting on the highest point of the castle of Canterlot, contemplating her power moving forward through Equestria, involving everypony and everything in her eternal winter. It wouldn't late until everypony know the coldness of her loneliness and have their hearts frozen, in the same way as her heart was.

However, seeing everything going on, made her remember the reason she was doing it all this.

In the past,

The young Ingrid, having reached adulthood, was walking happily in the green fields of Unicorn Range. Then she saw him. He was a beautiful young unicorn about her age. He had an orange coat equal to the color of the sunset, a mane that seemed the sea rippling and eyes that looked like two full moons immensely bright.

Seeing him, she felt her heart increasing its beats and a lump in her stomach, but all these feelings made her feel immensely well. Was she in love?

In the present...

Ingrid tried to fend off those memories. It was something that was now in the past. She now should focus in the present and in her future. To stay focused and away from any thoughts that could warm up her cold heart, she began to sing. It was a sad song that reported all her loneliness and bitterness. It was a song she composed during her confinement in Heartbeat’s urn.

When she finished, she felt her heart more relaxed and relieved. Although once those memories that she was repressing had left her immensely happy in the past, now it only disturbed her focus. It was something unpleasant to do, but necessary.

"What a beautiful song" a voice nearby said.

Ingrid turned and faced the Lord of Chaos, hovering in the air at some distance from each other.

"What are you doing here?" Ingrid asked.

"I just came to admire this magnificent vision" the Lord of Chaos answered, watching the snow and ice covering Canterlot and its surroundings. "This is a work of art that must be seen at live instead through a mirror."

"I'm glad you like it" Ingrid said. "I'm just starting."

"I'm sure you are" the Lord of Chaos. "And I’m sure I will. But don't forget one thing. There's still more alicorn Princesses. They can cause problems."

"No" Ingrid replied. "I'm not going to freeze more alicorn princesses. Celestia and Luna had it coming, but I'm not going to attack more fellow alicorn princess of mine."

"You have no choice" the Lord of Chaos said. "When they find out what you did to your sisters, they will do the possible and the impossible to stop you."

Ingrid said nothing. After all, she didn't want to hurt anypony else of what was needed. She had frozen her sisters, but was to avenge what they had done to her. Ingrid knew she could defeat the other alicorn princesses without resorting to her freezing powers.

Noticing the great dilemma that Ingrid was having, the Lord of Chaos said:

"Don't forget you put your light at my service. You chose to serve me and that's what you're going to do. You will freeze the other alicorn princesses to contain their light. In this way, you can have the kingdom you so wanted, at the same time get rid of my enemies as soon as your magic starts to affect them."

Remembering that she had really put her power at the service of the Lord of Chaos, Ingrid had no choice but to accept his orders.

"For who should I start first?" she asked.

"Good girl" the Lord of Chaos said. "You will face the alicorn princess who is closer. She lives in the North of Equestria, in the Crystal Empire. Her name is Princess Cadance, the first alicorn descendant of your family since Luna. I wish you good luck."

And, having said this, he disappeared.

Ingrid sighed before the hard work that was ahead of her. She then stretched her wings and took flight, heading north.

In the Light Kingdom, everypony were still recovering from the shock that Celestia and Luna have a sister that they did not know.

"But why is it that I never knew about the existence of this sister?" Twilight asked. "Why Princess Celestia never mentioned her to me?"

"Did she ever tell you about Luna when she was still imprisoned on the Moon?" Golden Paladin asked.

Now that he'd ask that, Twilight noticed that Celestia also never had told her about Luna.

"The reason why almost anypony know of the existence of Princess Ingrid, besides us, it's because Princess Celestia and Princess Luna wished so" Golden Paladin said.

"They didn't want to live with the fact that they have been forced to betray their older sister soon after she succumbed to darkness" Mirror Coat said. "The same thing happened when Luna turned into Nightmare Moon."

"But what happen’d tah her fer her tah be corrupt’d?" Applejack asked. "Somethin’ must have happen’d."

"Please, it's obvious that she allowed herself to be seduced by the Lord of Chaos’ power" Rainbow Dash said, noticing then that her friends were looking at her in a disapproving way. "What?"

“Rainbow Dash, that was really rude" Rarity said. "Even for you."

"But it's true" Rainbow Dash said.

"Not always" Melody said. "Sometimes a weak spot is just enough, a weakness. Being in our moment of vulnerability, the powers of darkness can be pretty tempting."

"Don't forget that Arbor also wasn't bad at first" Blue said. "It was the combination of his love for his subjects and his anger at ponies that triggered his alliance with the Lord of Chaos."

"And Princess Luna felt that her work was not appreciated by ponies" Twilight said.

"And don’t forget that Shadow Claw was transformed involuntarily by the Lord of chaos into a monster that almost brought the eternal full moon night" Rarity said.

"Okay, I get it" Rainbow Dash said. "Can you stop giving me examples?"

"Answering to your question, Applejack, we don't know very well" Leaf Mane said. "Celestia and Luna asked the Lord of Order to keep the reasons for Ingrid have been corrupted in secret, even from us."

"Even the information related to it in my library is sealed" Mirror Coat said.

"But why?" Fluttershy asked. "Why didn’t they want anypony to know what happened?"

"Maybe they don't want us judging Princess Ingrid wrongly" Heartbeat said. "So we can accept her in case she comes back to the good side."

That made everypony turn to her. Feeling observed, Heartbeat said:

"What? I am an empath. I feel things."

"If so, then she must have done something really, but really, but really, really bad" Pinkie Pie said. "Did I already said it could have been really bad?"

"Yes, Pinkie, but Ah think that once would have been enough" Applejack replied.

"If she is planning revenge of Celestia and Luna, then we have to stop her" Twilight said.

Mirror Coat’s eyes returned to shine with a baby blue brightness and when they returned to normal, he said:

"I'm afraid that it is too late."

And, having said this, he invoked a mirror that reflected the throne room of the castle of Canterlot, where Celestia and Luna were completely frozen, something that shocked everypony.

"It can't be ..." said Twilight, approaching the mirror. " Princess Celestia... Princess Luna..."

Tears appeared in Twilight’s eyes. Blue approached her and put her hoof on her shoulder. Feeling the touch of her great love, Twilight embraced him, while crying.

"Don't worry, Princess" Golden Paladin said. "We can still save them. Since their ice statues continue intact, there will be hope of rescuing them."

Having heard Golden Paladin’s words Twilight recomposed herself and wiped away the tears.

"You're right, Golden Paladin, I can't cry now" she said, starting to show her decided side. "We have to stop Ingrid now."

"Yee-haww, now ya sound’d tha Twilight we know" Applejack said.

"Let's defeat this Snow Queen" Rainbow Dash said, suspended in the air, giving a few punches in the void.

"Mirror Coat, can you find her?" Twilight asked.

"I can try" he replied, carrying his horn with magic.

The image in the mirror changed, just to show all Equestria. It could see a large white spot in the center that was constantly expanding.

"But what is that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Duh, obviously that is the Snow Queen’s power that is spreading throughout all Equestria as her power strengthens, something that was accelerated when she froze Princess Celestia and Princess Luna” Pinkie Pie replied.

That made all the ponies turned to Golden Paladin who answered:

"What she said. Ingrid’s ice can even freeze star seeds, preventing their light to shine."

"Wow, Pinkie, how did you know that?" Rarity asked.

"Just a hunch" she replied, with a smile.

"I found her" Mirror Coat said.

And he made the image approach quickly and then they all saw her flying quickly to North, while letting behind a trail of snow and ice.

"Where tha hay is she doin’?" Applejack asked.

"If she keeps heading north, there's only one place where she can go" Golden Paladin said. "The Crystal Empire."

Upon hearing that, Twilight held her breath and said:

"She's going after Cadance and Shining Armor."

"Of course, if she freezes another alicorn princess, the greater will be her influence" Golden Paladin said.

"But that means..." Purple Smoke began.

"That after her, Princess Twilight is the next victim" Golden Paladin completed.

"That means we can't have Princess Twilight coming with us" Melody said. "We will only hasten Ingrid’s work."

"No way" Twilight said. "I'm coming with you."

"But, Princess..." Melody started.

"Stop, Melody, it won’t matter" Golden Paladin said. "You should know Princess Twilight. She is too stubborn, one of the things that differentiates her from Princess Aurora.”

"Furthermore, the Light Kingdom’s borders would not protect her" Heartbeat said. "After all, Ingrid is just being manipulated by the Lord of Chaos. She's not a dark being. It’s her negative emotions that drive her power, but she is still technically a being of the Order. She can come in."

"Following this reasoning, making Princess Twlight to stay here would put the Light Kingdom and all its inhabitants in danger" Mirror Coat concluded.

Melody tried to refute, but she didn’t found anything to counter what her siblings had just said and so she said:

"Yes, you're right."

"Well, if everything is discussed, so let's go" Twilight said.

She started heading to the exit, but it was then that Leaf Mane stopped, starting to moan in pain.

"Leaf Mane, what is it?" Golden Paladin asked.

And it wasn't just her. Heartbeat also led a hoof to her chest, while she began to pant.

"Heartbeat" Golden Paladin said. "But what's going on?"

"I don't know" Leaf Mane said, while trying to hold her pain. "I feel a great pain. And it's getting cold."

"I also feel what Leaf Mane is feeling" Heartbeat aIS. "However, it is a slight pain, but it seems that my power is being drained out."

"Mine too" Leaf Mane said. "It was like when Arbor attacked my matrix.

Hearing this, Mirror Coat turned to the mirror that he had created and made it change its image.

"Oh no," he said.

"What now?" Golden Paladin asked.

Mirror Coat showed the image that was in the mirror. It was the cave where Arbor was doing his duty as Leaf Mane’s matrix. Ingrid’s ice had managed to break into the cave and was occupying it, having begun to freeze Arbor.

"Damn, Ingrid’s ice reached Leaf Mane’s matrix" Golden Paladin said. "If Arbor freezes completely, the same will happen to her."

"That's not all" Mirror Coat said, while various images from various parts of Equestria dominated by the Snow Queen appeared.

Everything was covered with several layers of snow, but that was not the worst. The ponies, even sheltered in their homes, began to feel the cold penetrating in their hearts and they themselves began to freeze.

"Oh no!" Fluttershy exclaimed, horrified by what she was seeing. "That's terrible!"

"And Ponyville?!" Applejack exclaimed. "How's my farm? My family?!"

"And my sister?!" Rarity exclaimed. "And Shadow Claw?!"

"And Scootaloo?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"And Thunder Night?!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"And the Cakes?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "And the twins? And my family? And my friends? And all ponies which may become my friends, but that may not be my friends anymore if they are frozen solid?!"

And she started to cry a lot. That made everyone look at her, what she noticed and stopped of crying.

"What?" she asked. "Too much?"

"Unfortunately..." Mirror Coat said, making appear the image of Ponyville and Hollow Shades, both under the domain of Ingrid’s magic."

"We have to help them" Applejack said. "Mirror Coat, take us there."

"Unfortunately, Ingrid's magic is too powerful in Equestria" Mirror Coat saod. "She managed to block all the mirror portals between the pony world and the Mirror Realm."

"Besides, I don't know if it would be a big help if you were there" Blue said. "You would only be able to freeze with them."

Twilight's didn't say anything, because she knew that Blue was right.

"Now, we have to worry about Cadance and Shining Armor" he said.

"You're right, Prince Blue Sword" Golden Paladin said, turning then to Heartbeat. "Do you have enough power to take us to the Crystal Empire?"

"I don't have my full speed, but I think I can take you quickly to there" she replied.

"Perfect" Golden Paladin said.

"I'm going too" Leaf Mane said, barely standing.

Fortunately, Applejack hastened to go help her.

"It's better if you stay here" Twilight told her. "My friends are going to take very good care of you. Isn't it, girls?"

They all waved, something that made Leaf Mane smile.

"Let's go" Twilight said, and she, the other Generals and Blue started to head to the door of the Great Hall.

It opened and Spike appeared, saying:

"Hi, guys, I just ended of taking care of Cerberus for today, though it was a bit hard when he wanted to play. But now I am ready to help with the preparations for the party."

"I'm sorry, Spike, there's an emergency" Twilight said, as she left. "There's no time to explain. Bye!"

Spike was baffled by that sudden exit and then looked and saw Leaf Mane’s fragile air and the others’ preoccupied air.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked.

At the Crystal Empire, Cadance and Shining were on the main balcony of the Castle, observing the crystal ponies making their life.

"Sometimes it feels so good these moments of peace" Cadance said.

"You bet, I don't think anything's going to ruin our peaceful day" Shining said.

But he was greatly mistaken. Suddenly, the Crystal Empire was enveloped by a snowstorm that entered, making the Crystal ponies go to their homes.

"But what the hell..." Shining Armor said.

Their vision was obscured by the ice and the snow, but then they faced with Ingrid, which was hovering in the air.

"It can't be" Cadance said, not wanting to believe. "Another alicorn Princess?"

"Are you Princess Cadance?" Ingrid asked.

"Yes, I am" she replied. "And who are you?"

"I'm the Snow Queen" Ingrid replied. "And I'm sorry."

"For what?" Cadance asked.

"By this" Ingrid responded, charging her horn with magic.

Before Shining could do anything, Ingrid hit Cadance and she froze quickly.

"Cadance!" Shining exclaimed, turning to Ingrid, also charging his horn with magic. "You're going to pay for this."

But the Snow Queen was faster and he also froze.

"And now one more to go" Ingrid said.

"Ingrid!" a voice called.

Ingrid turned and saw, at the base of the Castle, Golden Paladin, Heartbeat, Mirror Coat, Purple Smoke, Melody, Twilight and Blue.

"Enough of this madness" Golden Paladin said.

"Defrost my brother, Cadance, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna" Twilight demanded.

Ingrid ignored her and said, addressing to Golden Paladin, remaining in the place where she was:

"Golden Paladin, but what great displeasure in seeing you again and your brothers. Especially your sweet and irritating youngest sister who imprisoned me."

"It's good to see you again, Ingrid" Heartbeat said.

Ingrid then put her eyes on Twilight and noticed that she was an alicorn princess.

"And I see you brought me an alicorn princess" Ingrid said. "She is quite alike Princess Aurora."

"I'm her reincarnation" Twilight answered her. "And, as Princess of the Light Kingdom, it is my duty to stop you, Ingrid."

"Snow Queen" Ingrid corrected gruffly. "But it doesn't matter. You're not going to have more opportunities to call me by my real name. It's time to freeze."

"We are not going to let you" Golden Paladin said.

But it was then that ice appeared on the hooves of all Generals and Blue, immobilizing them. Taking advantage of the fact that they were entertained trying to break free, Ingrid charged her horn with magic and shot at Twilight. She reacted, responding with her own magic. The two spells collided and started to measure forces. Twilight tried to hold out, but Ingrid was too powerful.

"Go, Twily, you can do it!" Blue exclaimed.

However, Ingrid used more magic, thus subjugating Twilight’s, causing a small explosion that threw Twilight against the ground.

"This is the end" said Ingrid, charging her horn.

"No, Twilight!" Blue exclaimed.

Using all his willpower, Blue tried to break free from the ice that was holding him. Then it started to crack.

"Goodbye!" Ingrid exclaimed, casting her magic.

Twilight closed her eyes, as she prepared for the impact. But Blue managed to break free from the ice that was holding his hoofs and he ran to protect Twilight. He launched himself in the air until he was between the spell and Twilight, leaving everypony in suspense. Ingrid's spell ricocheted in Blue, hitting him in the temple, and causing it to hit the ground a few hooves away, creating a large amount of ice crystals. When she open her eyes, Twilight saw Blue lying on the ground.

"Blue!" Twilight exclaimed, while hoisting Blue head. "No, Blue, please!"

Seeing that gesture of love, Ingrid was perplexed. She never thought that Unicorn would put himself in her way to save Twilight. But why?

She began to feel her heart starting to beat faster and faster. Ingrid couldn't believe she was feeling your emotions starting to release. Suddenly, for a moment, looking at Twilight, she was looking to Celestia.

Her head looked like it was about to explode. She felt that she was losing my mind. She took the hooves to the head, saying:

"No! Stop! Leave me alone!"

And, having said this, she walked away, flying as fast as possible. With her departure, the ice that was holding the generals broke. Released, they went to Twilight and Blue. She was cried, while she saw the blow that the Snow Queen had done. The ice there began spreading, albeit slowly.

"Please save him" Twilight pleaded to the Generals with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Princess, but we don't have the power to do it" Golden Paladin replied.

"You may not have it, but I have" Heartbeat said. "Despite everything, I still have magic to help Blue. After all, he hasn't been completely turned into ice."

"Can you help him?" Twilight asked.

"Of course" Heartbeat replied, making Twilight smiling while she kneeled before her and took one of her hooves. "But I'm going to need to borrow some of your love for Blue."

"Sure" Twilight said. "I give you anything you want, but please save him."

"I just needed to hear these words" Heartbeat said, smiling.

Heartbeat’s began to shine and then she put them on Blue’s chest, just above the heart. It was then that heat began to scroll through him and the heat melted the ice that was beginning to possess his body. The blue unicorn prince opened his eyes and asked, confused:

"What happened?"

Seeing that Blue was fine, Twilight embraced him and said:

"Blue, I'm glad you're okay?"

"I'm glad you're happy, Twilight" Blue said, with some difficulty. "But I wonder if you could drop me so I could breathe."

Realizing that she was squeezing Blue, Twilight dropped him, blushing, and said:

"Sorry."

But, instead of a hug, Twilight gave him a kiss on the lips, something that made Blue smile and she smiled back.

While flying back to Canterlot, Ingrid tried to regain control, singing her song again. However, the silence which had established with the Snow Queen’s winter took her music to the Crystal Empire, and was then picked up by Melody’s sensitive ears.

Upon hearing that song full of sorrow and bitterness, Melody felt an immense pain in her head, making her moan in pain.

"What's going on, Melody?" Golden asked.

"It’s Ingrid" Melody said. "She's singing... Her song... It’s hurting me."

"But how?" Twilight asked.

"I see" Mirror Coat said. "It has to do with the fact that there are no natural music."

"What?" Twilight, Blue and Purple Smoke said, not having understand.

"I understand" Golden Paladin said. "The sounds of nature are the basis of all the music. But winter is a season where silence reigns. That's when the sounds of nature ceased until the arrival of spring. No sound, no music and no music…"

"No General of Music" Purple Smoke said. "Melody's matrix must had freeze due to this."

"And also made her even more sensitive to negative music" Golden Paladin said. "We have to go back to the Light Kingdom. Melody will need all the heat you can get. But after that, we will have to figure out a way to stop Princess Ingrid before she causes even more damage."

"And I think I know how" Heartbeat said, adopting a thoughtful air.

Author's Note

As you can see, I used more Pinkie Pie’s know lines. Futhermore, I also posted a song from the series Mermaid Melody in english cover that I though that would be perfect.

Cold Loneliness, Part III - The Forgotten Memories

Twilight, Blue and the Generals returned to the Light Kingdom. They went to the nursing room, where Leaf Mane was with Twilight’s friends. Seeing them getting in with Melody weakened, Applejack asked:

"So, how did it go?"

"Nothing good" Twilight answered, motioning to Gleaming Shield that had been rescued after their parents had been frozen.

"Oh my goodness" Fluttershy said. "Does that mean..."

"Yes, the Snow Queen caught my brother and Cadance" Twilight said. "Spike, can you take Gleaming to Star. The nanny can take care of her too."

"Of course, Twilight" Spike replied, receiving Gleaming. "Come on, girl."

The young dragon took the baby alicorn. After they left, Twilight said:

"Melody, I think you'd better go to bed."

"But, Princess, I still can..." she started.

"No, Melody" Twilight said. "Despite the damage to your matrix is indirect, unlike to Leaf Mane’s, you shouldn't make efforts. Please, rest."

Unable to rebut Twilight’s decision, Melody nodded and Purple Smoke took her to one of the beds.

"What happened with Melody?" Rarity asked.

"Ingrid’s magic has affected her matrix" Twilight replied. "I'm afraid this is just the beginning."

"Yes, but, if the Generals fall, the defence of the Light Kingdom will also fall with them" Blue said.

"You don't have to worry about that" Golden Paladin said. "At least with me and Mirror Coat."

"Ingrid’s magic does not affect our magic in the same way as it affects the magic of those who are in direct contact with nature" Mirror Coat explained.

"What are you saying?" Purple Smoke asked, after taking Melody to a bed. "My magic is in direct contact with nature and I'm perfectly fine."

It was then that he gave a big sneeze and, with a small burst of purple smoke, his ears became yellow. He gave another sneeze, creating another explosion of purple smoke, and his tail became shorter and after another one his mane had a style only used by a mare.

"Something tells me you have your powers out of control" Mirror Coat noted.

"I have not" Purple Smoke replied. "It was just some sneezing, nothing more."

But he gave another big sneeze and, after an explosion of purple smoke that covered his whole body, he became a little gray mouse.

"I don't know why, but I think it's a good look for him" Heartbeat commented.

"Oh, I don't know, I think a purple mouse would be much better" Pinkie Pie said.

And Purple Smoke took another sneeze (which sounded squeal because he was a mouse) and his fur turned purple.

"That's better" Pinkie Pie said.

Using his magic, Golden Paladin returned Purple Smoke to his pony form again and told him:

"The fact that ponies are also freezing is disturbing also the magic of their Cutie Marks and how you're connected to the magic of the Cutie Marks…"

"I know, my matrix was also affected, just like Melody’s matrix was" Purple Smoke answered. "I'm going to bed before my cold gets worse."

And, having said this, he advanced to an empty bed.

"I think you should get some rest" said Twilight to Blue. "After what happened."

"I'm fine, Twily" Blue guaranteed. "You don't have to worry about."

"What happen’d tah Blue?" Applejack asked.

"He was grazed by the Snow Queen’s magic when he tried to save me" Twilight replied.

"What?!" everypony asked.

"But why aren't you frozen solid?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Fortunately, Heartbeat managed to break the magic" Twilight explained.

"He still wasn't fully frozen" Heartbeat said. "Besides, it was your love that saved him, Princess Twilight. Love generates enough heat to melt Ingrid’s ice."

"That means you can undo her magic" Rarity said.

"No, I can't" Heartbeat said. "I can only undo it partly or if the process is not complete. Only she can do it.

"But for that, she will have to accept the love back into her cold heart" Golden Paladin said.

"Something that is virtually impossible to happen" Rainbow Dash said.

"Not exactly" Heartbeat said.

That made everypony turn to her.

"What do ya mean?" Applejack asked.

"When Blue saved Twilight, I could feel it" Heartbeat said. "That act somehow messed with her. I felt her emotions vibrating. I think we can get to the reason for her sadness. Probably what drove Princess Celestia and Princess Luna turning their back on Princess Ingrid."

"But I thought this information was sealed" Twilight said.

"And it is" Mirror Coat said. "There is no way to recover, unless the Lord of Order or the princesses allow that."

"Maybe in your library" Heartbeat said. "But maybe we can find the answers in Ingrid’s emotions. After all, emotions are linked to memories."

"Are you saying what you mean?" Golden Paladin asked.

"You bet" Heartbeat said. "It's in the matrix."

In the castle of Canterlot, Ingrid entered in the throne room, where her sisters were, frozen.

"I don't understand!" she exclaimed, sitting on Celestia’s throne. "How can I have fail?!"

She looked at Celestia and then appeared in front of her and said:

"Why?! Why do they do this one for the other?! Why sacrifice themselves like that?!"

But Celestia, being frozen, did not respond. Ingrid turned back and said:

"I won't let them cum with me in this way. I'm going to the Light Kingdom and I will freeze every piece of it. I will cover this world in the silence of my eternal icy winter!"

And, having said this, Ingrid took flight and left the castle, heading south, towards the Light Kingdom.

Seeing this in his mirror, the Lord of Chaos laughed and said:

"That's right, my dear. Go, freeze everything in your way. Freeze the original star seed be and I can rule this world totally and completly."

And he laughed hugely.

In the hallway outside the ward, were Heartbeat, Twilight and Golden Paladin. The Princess asked to the General of Affection:

"Wait, does that mean you're going to use your matrix to find out what happened between Ingrid, Celestia and Luna? Why didn't you say that early?"

"I never thought I could have access to their emotions" Heartbeat said. "After all, Celestia and Luna are frozen and that prevents me from feeling their hearts. Why do you think that my power is weakening because of Ingrid being freezing the hearts of the ponies? About Ingrid, let’s say that the fact that she represses her emotions kept me from me to connect myself emotionally with her, but that all changed."

"How?" Twilight asked.

"I think that had to do with the fact that Prince Blue Sword saved you, Princess Twilight Princess, from Ingrid’s attack" Golden Paladin said.

"That’s right" Heartbeat replied. "Like I said, I felt her emotions vibrating as if Blue’s act of saving Twilight had been a great emotional shock. Her secret is unfreezing her own emotions."

"I see" Twilight said. "This emotional shock allowed you to feel her emotions, which may allow you to connect with her."

"Therefore, it's time to go to my matrix" Heartbeat said. "To my room!"

She tried to use her speed, but when she did it, she just tripped and fell.

"Heartbeat, are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Yes" she replied, rising up. "But I don't understand. Why have I lost my speed? There was no frozen hearts enough to block my speed."

"I think I can answer that" Mirror said, approaching.

"What do you mean?" Heartbeat asked him.

"Look at this" Mirror Coat said.

He invoked a mirror that showed to Heartbeat something that left her speechless.

"It can't be..." she said.

Twilight looked and saw what Mirror Coat wanted to show a Heartbeat. It was the Oasis of the Heart that was completely covered by a layer of ice that blocked its brightness.

"The oasis of the Heart..." Twilight said, not wanting to believe. "It’s frozen."

"It seems that Ingrid’s power arrived there” Golden Paladin noted.

That seemed to have irritated Heartbeat who said:

"Ok, now this is personal. To my room!"

But then she turned to Golden Paladin and asked him:

"Can you give me a ride? My legs are shorter than yours."

Ingrid flew as fast as she could towards the Light Kingdom. She was already starting to cross the dense forest on Equestria’s southern border, freezing the plants with thorns that it had.

While she flew, Ingrid couldn't resist thinking about what had happened at the Crystal Empire. The way Blue protected Twilight remembered to her what happened hundreds of years ago.

Twilight, Heartbeat and Golden Paladin walked through the hallway towards Heartbeat’s room. The General of Affection was in his older brother’s back who had agreed to give her a ride. While they walked, she kept asking the same question to Golden Paladin:

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"For the umpteenth time, the answer is no" Golden Paladin dsif. "The way from the ward to your room still lasts a few minutes."

"A few minutes?" Heartbeat repeated, not wanting to believe. "How do you handle with walking without speed?"

That made Twilight drop a laugh. Just like Pinkie Pie, Heartbeat always could make her laugh in a serious situation like that.

They arrived at Heartbeat’s room. Upon their arrival, she jumped from Golden Paladin’s back and said:

"Finally, I was beginning to think that we would only arrive in the next century."

"You're welcome" Golden Paladin said, sarcastically.

Heartbeat advanced to the door and opened it. When she entered, Heartbeat was speechless for what she found, as well as Twilight and Golden Paladin. Heartbeat’s room, that always displayed an extremely joyful and colorful air, full of living toys and candy, was shrouded in silence and darkness.

"My room" Heartbeat said. "It's horrible!"

"Heartbeat" Golden Paladin said. "You can get it as soon as we stop Ingrid."

"

You're right" Heartbeat said. "So let's do it."

She advanced to the tapestry with golden ornaments. Twilight always wondered about may be behind it. Using her magic, Heartbeat made the tapestry fall and reveal what it was hiding. It was a huge door, but with no lock and a knob or a handle. Heartbeat passed the tip of her horn along the length of the door and Twilight could hear several clicks, something that wanted to say that the door was unlocking. Finally, the door has been completely unlocked and opened.

"Come on" Heartbeat said to Twilight and Golden Paladin, doing an inviting gesture.

And she came in. Twilight and Golden Paladin followed her and, when they entered, they were stunned by what they were watching that was what appeared to be a gigantic room, where there was a maze full of shelves where in each one were several orbs, black and white, and the last being the ones that were in majority.

"Heartbeat, what is this?" Twilight asked.

"This is the room of my matrix" Heartbeat explained. "Here they are the physical form of the souls of all sentient beings, whether they are bad or good."

"And let me guess" Golden Paladin said. "Your soul is your matrix."

"That's right" Heartbeat answered. "It’s right in the middle of the room. But of course that is well protected by a barrier. Not to mention the fact that the matrix is in the center of the Light Kingdom. So my array is extremely well-protected."

But then they saw some of the white ball freezing.

"Hurry, hurry" Heartbeat said. "I know where Ingrid’s soul is."

She jumped on Golden Paladin’s back and he and Twilight started running, following Heartbeat’s instructions on the way forward. Finally, she told them to stop and, when they did, Heartbeat said, pointing, while getting out from her brother’s back:

"It’s there."

They looked and saw a soul that changed colors between black and white.

"Why is it changing color like that?" Twilight asked.

"It means that her soul is divided" Heartbeat replied. "Even though she is working to the Lord of Chaos, what makes her soul being black, she still has the light of the Lord of Order, what makes her soul being white. It makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Yes, indeed, it makes sense" Twilight said. "Heartbeat, do you mind if I go with you?"

"Of course not" Heartbeat replied. "But try not to get away from me when we go in. Normally, the entry into a soul is quite complicated, especially in one like Ingrid’s."

"Okay" Twilight replied. "Do you come with us, Golden Paladin?"

"No, Your Highness" he said. "Unfortunately, I have to stay. I have to pay attention in case of Ingrid attack. Right now, not counting the Light Guard and your friends, there are only Mirror Coat and me to protect the Light Kingdom."

"Very well" said Twilight. "I'm counting on you."

"Don't worry" Golden Paladin said, doing a salute. "I will give my best."

Twilight nodded and then she said to Heartbeat.

"Let's do it, Heartbeat."

"Very well" she said, touching in Twilight with her hoof. "Let's go into the Snow Queen’s soul."

She charged her horn with magic and casted a spell that made her and Twilight shine a reddish glow and then they disappeared.

"Good luck, Princess" Golden Paladin said.

And then he started heading to the exit of the room.

When Twilight gave for herself, she was in the middle of an area where she couldn't distinguish neither the floor nor the ceiling. In fact, she was in the middle of what should be a huge ice storm.

"Hello?" she called. "There is somepony here? Heartbeat, where are you?"

Suddenly, she felt a strong grip on her heart. It was a grip that seemed to stop her from breathing. Her body started to get cold, numb. It seemed that the darkness was taking over her and that Twilight couldn't resist.

It was then that she felt a warm touch touching her on her shoulder. When this happened, the tightening disappeared and Twilight could breathe again and she felt her body recovering the heat it had lost. In addition, the snow that was surrounding her started to slow down to a stop. Twilight saw it was Heartbeat who had touched her.

"I told him to be careful" Heartbeat said. "The entries in a soul are always quite difficult."

"What was that?" Twilight asked. "He looked like it was going to freeze me."

"It was the surface of Ingrid’s soul, where the coldness that covers her heart is" Heartbeat said. "But it doesn't matter now, because we're in. What if we look for the memories we want?"

Twilight noticed then the place where they were. It seemed to be just like the room of the matrix, but, instead of white and black orbs, it had them in five different colors: yellow, blue, purple, green and red. Some had only one color, but others seemed to have two or even three.

"What orbs are these?" Twilight asked.

"Memories" Heartbeat answered. "Each memory is linked to an emotion and every emotion is linked to a different color: yellow for joy, blue for sadness, purple for fear, green for disgust and red for anger."

"Amazing" Twilight said. "So this is the inside of a soul."

"Yes, I know" Heartbeat said. "But we have no time to lose, Princess. We must find what we came for."

"You're right, Heartbeat. Come on."

And the two began to search.

Golden Paladin left the room of Heartbeat’s matrix and the door closed after he came out of her room and, when he did it, Mirror Coat appeared and said:

"Mirror Coat, we have a problem."

"What's the problem?" Golden Paladin asked.

"Ingrid is approaching" Mirror Coat said. "I managed to spot her from the Mirror Realm. I think she comes to finish what she started."

"Well, we have no time to lose" Golden Paladin said. "You and I are the only Generals able to face her now. Prepare the defences. I'll gather the Light Guard."

Mirror Coat waved and walked away. Golden Paladin ran down the hallway to find Blue.

"Prince Blue Sword, I'm so glad to see you" he said.

"What's going on, Golden Paladin?" Blue asked.

"The snow Queen is approaching the Light Kingdom" Golden Paladin said.

"What?"

"There's no time to explain. As Captain of the Light Guard, you will have to gather all the guards you find and go to the border of the dense forest. We must prevent Ingrid to advance."

"Very well" Blue Sword said, mobilizing to go get the guards.

"I just hope we can hold on until Princess Twilight and Heartbeat arrive" Golden Paladin said.

Ingrid was about to reach the Light Kingdom. She began to see the area where everything started to be illuminated.

"It’s there" she said, outlining a frivolous smile. "Finally, the Light Kingdom."

It was then that she hit in something that shot her back.

"What the..." she started.

Advancing a little, she extended a hoof, and then she felt a hard surface. It looked like glass. She realized soon who would be behind that protection.

"Mirror Coat, do you think this is going to stop me?" she asked. "You're quite wrong."

And, having said that, she focused her magic and invoked a huge storm that began to involve the protection around the Light Kingdom. For a while, it looked like it wasn't happening nothing, but then the protection started to freeze and eventually began to crack and shattered into a million pieces.

"Okay, no more setbacks" Ingrid said.

She advanced, but it was then that a magic beam was fired against her, forcing Ingrid to dodge and land. She faced Golden Paladin and Blue Sword, accompanied by the Light Guard and Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who had come to help, while Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were taking care of the Generals affected by the Snow Queen’s magic.

"You're not going to move forward, Ingrid" Golden Paladin said. "This you can believe."

"Don't make me laugh, Golden Paladin" Ingrid said. "You and Mirror Coat may not have been affected by my magic, but that doesn't mean you are stronger than me."

"That's what we're going to see" Golden Paladin said. "Why don't you attack?"

"If that's what you want, so that's what I'm going to do" Ingrid said.

And she prepared to face them all.

In Ingrid’s sould, Twilgiht and Heartbeat were looking for the memory they wanted and then the last said:

"I think I've found it!"

Twilight, when she barely heard this, she went to Heartbeat that was holding with her magic a blue and red orb.

"Is this the one?" Twilight asked.

"I think so" she said. "At least, my empathy power says that. For the color, it’s a sad memory and at the same time has a lot of anger. This means it’s a memory about betrayal."

"It seems to me to be the right one" Twilight said. "Let's see it."

"Very well" Heartbeat said. "Get ready, Princess Twilight. I'll make you see what's inside of this memory."

"I'm ready," she said.

And, with this, Heartbeat concentrated her magic and Twilight shone with a bright red glow and she was absorbed by the orb.

Author's Note

The idea of the orbs with Ingrid’s memories was taken from the movie Inside Out.

Cold Loneliness, Part IV - The End of Winter

When Twilight gave for herself, she was in a place that she recognized as Unicorn Range. She suddenly heard hoofsteps and saw Ingrid appearing. She was very joyful and with a real smile that could be seen in her face. The young Princess of the Light Kingdom was quite surprised to see how happy Ingrid had been, questioning how she could have become the Snow Queen. She knew that memory was the key and followed her.

They continued walking for a few seconds and then Ingrid stopped suddenly and her happy air quickly became a shock air. Twilight looked to where she was looking and was shocked too.

It was Celestia who was accompanied by a young unicorn stallion (the same one that plagued Ingrid’s memories after she froze her sisters). They seemed to be very happy. Twilight managed to see the love that was going on between them. She smiled, realizing that Celestia, like all ponies, had felt in love. But her thoughts were interrupted by Ingrid who exclaimed:

"What’s the meaning of all this!"

That made Celestia and the stallion to turn and see Ingrid.

"Ingrid?" Celestia asked, while she and the stallion rose up. "What are you doing here?"

"The question is what are you doing here?" Ingrid said, advancing, with her voice starting to get filled with anger. "With the stallion I love."

That made Twilight to gasp. Celestia and Ingrid were in love by the same stallion?

"Ingrid, I didn't mean this to happen in this way" the stallion said. "But I just like you as a friend. Celestia is the mare I really love."

"No, Day Glow, it can't be" Ingrid said. "We knew each other first. We created a link first. I love you."

"I know this must be very painful to you, but believe me" Day Glow said. "I also thought that you and I could be more than just friends. I really did. But I met Celestia and I fell in love."

"No, no…" Ingrid said, turning her back, trying to pretend that she hadn’t listened what he had said. "It can't be true."

Seeing that her older sister was suffering terribly and feeling sorry for her, Celestia moved a bit towards her and said:

"Ingrid, sorry, my sister, I didn't mean to..."

"Who are you calling sister?" she asked, turning to Celestia, full of anger. "You're not my sister. You're a traitor!"

"No, Ingrid…" Celestia said, trying to calm Ingrid down. "Please, let's just talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about" Ingrid replied. "I have nothing to talk to you. In fact, right now, I just want you gone."

And, having said this, Ingrid charged her horn with magic, much to Celestia and Day Glow’s shock. It was then that Ingrid shot to Celestia a white magic beam. That made Twilight cover her mouth with the hooves and hold her breath.

"No!" Day Glow exclaimed.

And he put himself in front of Celestia and he received the damage of Ingrid’s attack, right in the heart.

"Day Glow!" Celestia shouted.

Ingrid was also in shock with what happened. Day Glow fell backwards and Celestia caught him, smoothing his fall.

"No, please, Day Glow, say something!" Celestia exclaimed, as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Celestia..." he said weakly, while lifting his hoof and passed it through her face. “I love you..."

Celestia put her hoof on his and said:

"I love you too. Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

But Day Glow, due to Ingrid’s attack, began to freeze. Seeing that, Celestia said:

"No, no ... No!"

She tried to use her magic to stop the freezing, but to no avail. Day Glow became completely frozen and then he shattered into many pieces.

"NO!" Celestia exclaimed, full of deep sadness.

Seeing that, Twilight couldn't even react. She had never seen Celestia that way.

Celestia then turned to Ingrid with her eyes full of tears and asked her sadly:

"What did you do, Ingrid?"

Still stunned by what she had done, Ingrid felt an immense pain in her heart, which led her to hold herself in a way to be able to contain the pain she was feeling. All that made snow beginning to fell and then she was surrounded by it with a strong wind. When everything stopped, Ingrid had disappeared.

When Twilight found herself, she was in what appeared to be the top of a mountain, where there were a snowstorm, perhaps caused by Ingrid’s sadness, who stood nearby crying.

"Why did he do that?" she asked, while whining. "Why did he sacrifice himself for her? Why did he love her and not me?"

See Ingrid, Twilight couldn’t left feeling sorry for her. She couldn't imagine what she must had felt. Now she understood why she ran away after she hit Blue after he saved Twilight. He made her remember that horrible memory.

So Ingrid rose up, stopping her crying, and then said:

"It doesn't matter. He is dead, as well as Celestia to me. She's going to pay. She's going to pay for all this."

The storm intensified and Ingrid shouted:

"She's going to feel the anger of the Snow Queen!"

With that, Twilight came out of her memory, returning to the place where her memories and Heartbeat were.

"So, Princess, did you find anything?" Heartbeat asked.

"I don't want to believe what I saw" Twilight said. "It was ... surreal."

"What?" asked Heartbeat, curious. "You're killing me with curiosity, you know?"

But Twilight didn't had time to say anything, because there was a green and red light and an orb of the same color appeared, starting to go to the vacant spot on the shelves. It should be a new memory. After it had settled, Heartbeat used her magic to bring it to her and, closing her eyes, she accessed to its content and then said:

"Oh no... Ingrid is on the Light Kingdom about to fight against Goldy, Miror Coat, Blue, the Light Guard and your friends, Applejack and Rainbow Dash."

That was bad. They had to stop Ingrid from freezing the Light Kingdom. If she managed to do it, she was sure the Lord of Chaos would take control of that world. Twilight thought up a way to stop Ingrid. She concluded that the only way was if she realized her mistakes. She looked around and then she saw a yellow orb. According to what Heartbeat had said, this color represented joy. Then she had an idea.

"Quick, Heartbeat" Twilight said. "Gather all Ingrid’s happy memories as you can. We're going to stop her."

"Yes, sir, ma’am, sir” Heartbeat answered, making a salute.

At the border, Ingrid began to fight against all those who were challenging her. But it seemed that even the combined strength of two generals (since Mirror Coat was there having joined to fight her after his defense has been surpassed) and two Elements of Harmony were not match for the strong magic of the Snow Queen. Alone, she managed to freeze half the guards and could defend herself from any attacks that theyr launched against her.

"Take that!" Rainbow Dash said, trying to kick at Ingrid in mid-air.

But Ingrid created a barrier that defended her from Rainbow Dash’s attack and, with her magic, she threw her to the ground. Applejack went to her and ask her:

"Rainbow, are ya okay?"

"I think... so" she replied, standing up and massaging the head. "But she knows how to throw ponies with great strength."

One of Ingrid’s attacks came towards them, but Mirror Coat appeared and defended them with his own defensive barrier.

"I suggest you to save your comments for after the fight" he said to the two mares. "If we survive to it."

Ingrid kept attacking, freezing ponies, one by one. She then saw Blue and recognized him as the one who protected Twilight. Seeing her, memories about Day Glow appeared suddenly on her mind, including that when he sacrificed himself to save Celestia from her rage attack. She could not allow Blue to be alive, because he was the one who made her remember the reason that made her become the Snow Queen. She began to prepare a final attack against him, while avoiding the attacks that were directed to her, but then a voice said:

"Stop, Ingrid!"

She stopped her attack and looked, as well as the others. Twilight approached flying, along with Heartbeat on her back, with the last bringing her saddlebags.

"Twilight?" Blue asked.

"But what are they doing here?" Golden Paladin asked.

"Ah don't know, but Ah think Twilight has somethin’ in mind" Applejack said. "Ah know that look pretty well."

"Good, I bet she managed to find a way to stop this crazy princess" Rainbow Dash said.

Standing a few hooves away from Ingrid, the Snow Queen told to Twilight:

"So you finally decided to stop hiding behind your bodyguards. But it doesn't matter if you hadn't. After all, I could pass for them anyway."

"This has to stop, Ingrid" Twilight said. "You have to stop."

"No, not as long as there is light that can threaten me" Ingrid said. "Not while I'm suffering."

"But your suffering can end, Ingrid" Twilight said. "Don't you understand? Freeze this world will not make you forget what happened to Day Glow."

Listening Twilight mentioning the stallion she loved, Ingrid became atonic.

"How do you know about Day Glow?" she asked.

"When you hit Blue after he protected me from your attack, your soul became vulnerable and that enabled Heartbeat and I to go in there" Twilight said. "I know why you made this. I understand the reason."

Ingrid did not answer immediately, having been completely surprised that Twilight have been able to get into her soul and find the reason of her suffering. But, refusing to show any weakness, she regained her composure and said:

"If you know, then you understand why I have to do this."

"No, Ingrid, you don't" Twilight said. "What happened is in the past. There is nothing you can do to change it. You can keep blaming Celestia for what happened, but that doesn't justify that you have to hurt others."

"I just remove the obstacles that lie between me and my goal" she said. "I have no other choice."

"What about all the innocent ponies who were caught in the crossfire?" Twilight asked. "Don't you realize that your magic is feeding of your sadness in such way that you ended up losing control over it?"

"Nonsense" Ingrid said. "I have complete control over my powers. Don't allow a brat like you, who barely discovered her potential, to tell me that I don't have control over my magic!"

"Look around!" Twilight exclaimed. "You're making the world covered by your winter, not only Equestria. Your magic affected this world in such a way that eventually affected the matrix of four Generals of Order. This will not only affect the pony world, will affect all Creation. The Lord of Order will be too weakened to face the Lord of Chaos. He will not to be able to protect his work. Billions and billions of lives will be at risk."

Twilight's words seemed to affect the little compassion there was still in Ingrid. She began to realize that Twilight was right. She was getting out of control. She had to stop it. She couldn't let her revenge harm innocent lives.

"Don't listen to her" the Lord of Chaos’ voice said in her mind. "She just wants to save all those who you froze, including your sisters. She wants to save the ponies that betrayed you and caused you immense suffering."

Unfortunately, the Lord of Chaos’ words seemed to affect her even more. Ingrid exclaimed:

"No! Celestia and Luna have to pay! Celestia took the stallion that I loved from me and asked Heartbeat to arrest me. Luna was at her side. She stood that traitor. They deserve to be frozen!"

"I'm sure Celestia made what she made because she didn't want you hurt other ponies and yourself" Twilight said. "Luna helped her for the same reason. After all, I'm sure they still love you."

"YOU LIE!" Ingrid yelled.

"No, I'm not lying" Twilight said. "I know Princess Celestia. She took care of me and taught me everything I know about magic. She showed me the path that I’m walking now. Ingrid, Celestia didn’t lose only you. She also lost Luna once. She banished her to the Moon after Luna refuse to leave the day rise up and she saw her become the Nightmare Moon, in the same way you turned into the Snow Queen. And when Luna regretted everything she did, Celestia received her with open hooves, happy to retrieve one of the sisters she had lost. I'm sure she will be happy too if you come back to her. And I think you know that."

After saying that, she waved to Heartbeat and she, with her magic, made about half a dozen of yellow orbs coming out from her saddlebags. She sent them to Ingrid and made them surround her. Ingrid looked confused to the orbs and, through them, she began to remember all the happy memories that she had with her sisters, all the games that they did together, all the laugher they gave together, all the joy they lived together.

Remembering all that, Ingrid felt an overwhelming feeling of warmth in the heart. She managed to feel once more love and compassion. Extending her forelegs, she grabbed one of the orbs and then embraced it, saying with a smile:

"My sisters."

That orb began to shine brightly just like the others and their light began to melt quickly the ice that was around. The guards who had been frozen were unfrozen, for their great happiness. Ingrid landed, while the orbs disappeared inside her. Twilight landed too, with Heartbeat jumping to the ground and then she said to Blue, Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat, Applejack and Rainbow Dash:

"I think it's all okay now."

"Wow!" Blue exclaimed, approaching Twilight. "Simply, Wow! You're wonderful, Twily."

"Ya bet" Applejack said to Twilight. "Ya jest defeat’d the Snow Queen."

"Well, Applejack, I didn't beat her" Twilight said. "I only made her realize that what she was doing was not right."

"It doesn't matter" Rainbow Dash said. "That was awesome!"

"Indeed" Golden Paladin agreed. "Princess, you managed to warm the Snow Queen’s cold heart, something that neither Heartbeat could do."

"Because I could not access to her soul" Heartbeat defended herself. "The only thing I could do was imprisoning her and look that even that took some work. And don't forget that Princess Twilight just managed to sympathize with Princess Ingrid thanks to my empathic abilities."

"I have to admit" Twilight said. "I couldn't have done it without Heartbeat."

"It has its logic" Mirror Coat agreed.

"You see, even Mirror Coat agrees" Heartbeat said.

That made everypony loose a laugh. Twilight turned and saw Ingrid looking at her. Twilight went to her and, when she got there, Ingrid asked her:

"Do you really think Celestia and Luna will forgive me after all I've done?"

"Of course" Twilight replied. "The only thing you have to do is show your repentance and undo everything you've caused."

"I think, for that, I will have to come back to the castle of my sisters" Ingrid said.

"And I think I can help you with that" Twilight said, turning to Heartbeat. "Heartbeat, how's your speed?"

And, when she had just finished answering, Heartbeat appeared right in front of her, answering:

"Now that you warmed Princess Ingrid's heart, a lot better."

"Good, because I need you to take us to Canterlot" Twilight said.

Then Heartbeat took Twilight, Ingrid, Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat to Canterlot. They entered in the throne room, where there the frozen two alicorn sisters, as well as the captain of the Royal Guard and some guards, were. Ingrid advanced to her sisters and told them:

"I beg you so sorry, especially you, Celestia. I didn't want things coming to this."

And then she charged her magic and, combining it with the love she felt for her sisters, she began to absorb all the ice surrounding the throne room. Soon everything started to unfreeze, including the guards and their captain and then Celestia and Luna. When unfrozen, they saw Ingrid who smiled at them. Realizing that they had recovered her older sister, Celestia and Luna embraced her. Feeling the warmth of the hug of her sisters, Ingrid closed her eyes of contentment, while continuing with her magic of absorption.

All the snow and ice in the castle, in the city and across Equestria began to be quickly absorbed by Ingrid. All the ponies were immensely happy to see that dark winter dissipating and the warmth returning to their hearts. While this was going on, the plants that had been frozen were coming back to life, as well as the music of nature, and the magic of the Cutie Marks started to shine once more with the hearts of ponies unfreezing. Even Leaf Mane’s matrix was unfrozen. This made the affected Generals recover quickly. Ingrid’s magic continued until it reached the Crystal Empire, where Cadance and Shining were unfrozen and the Oasis of the Heart recovered the beauty it had before. In Canterlot, Heartbeat felt it and said:

"Finally! I can feel my power coming back completely!"

"That's because everything Princess Ingrid made was undone by her magic" Mirror Coat said. "Even the Crystal Empire."

"That means Cadance and Shining Armor are back to normal" said Twilight, satisfied. "Heartbeat, could you take Gleaming Shield back to the Crystal Empire?"

"Right away" she said. "I’ll be back in a few seconds."

And she went out quickly and, true to her word, Heartbeat returned after about fifteen seconds.

"I'm sorry for the delay, but I had to wait that Gleaming had said her goodbyes to Star" she said.

"It's okay" Twilight said, dropping a laugh.

The three alicorn sisters ceased their hug and then approached and Celestia said:

"Twilight, I can never thank you enough for what you did."

"It was nothing, Princess Celestia" she said. "I was just doing my duty."

"No, you did much more than that" Luna said. "You reunited us with our older sister, freeing her from the anger she had."

"Yes, for that I will be eternally grateful to you" Ingrid said. "And I can start my regret telling you where Tartarus is."

"Wait, you know where my prison is?" Golden Paladin asked.

"I can still feel the Lord of Chaos’ presence" Ingrid said. "Can I use this to tell you where he is and, consequently, Tartarus."

That made everyone exchange glances and smiles. Finally they could reclaim what was taken from them.

The Lord of Chaos saw it through the mirror and said:

"Damn you, Ingrid. I can't believe even the Snow Queen didn’t serve me to anything. On top of that, they are coming here."

He thought for a while and then he giggled and said:

"So? This will not do any good to them. They can have this place. It doesn't matter. It won’t be useful if it is empty."

And, having said that, he got up, made her mirror disappear and then he headed to the solitary. He advanced through the corridor until he had reached the cell with Golden Paladin’s Cutie Mark. He pointed his hand and the door easily crumbled into dust and the Lord of Chaos came in.

It was dark in that cell, immensely dark. However, it could see an equine figure at the center of that cell. He was kneeling, with lots of gold chains locking him on the legs, trunk and snout.

"Look at you, all confined" the Lord of Chaos said. "Apparently, Golden Paladin had restricted your movements in a way that even the other Generals didn’t do with their respective villains. These chains are his unbreakable chains, the ones he used to arrest the villains of Tartarus in their cells. However yours are special. It takes a lot more than the key to get them out. Luckily for you, I have exactly what you need."

Raising his hand, he created a sphere of darkness, saying:

"The Wraith might not have been able to fulfill his mission, but at least gave me what I needed to set you free: the darkness of the General of Peace, something I got when the Wraith put Golden Paladin under his influence."

And, having said that, he released the darkness to the chains and, with this, they simply disappeared.

"I hope your revenge will be quite delicious to you" the Lord of Chaos said.

And, having said this, he came out of the cell, while giving a laugh and disappearing.

The villain that he had freed rose up and opened his eyes, revealing two eyes that glowed with a dark blue light.

The Seventh General of the Light Kingdom, Part I - The Story of a Corrupted General

With Princess Ingrid’s information about the location of Tartarus, Golden Paladin, Heartbeat and Mirror Coat went to there. They reached the floating prison and entered.

"Finally, we are in Tartarus" Golden Paladin said. "It feels so good to be back."

"I don't understand what you see in this place" Heartbeat said to her older brother. "It's so dirty and... Well, I'm trying to find a word to say that this place gives me the creeps, but I can't find one that fits."

"Look" Mirror Coat said, pointing. "It’s the key."

He was right. The key was inserted into the stone pillar that opened the solitary. The three rushed over there and Golden Paladin took the keep. By doing this, the key flooded with a black aura that later became yellow, just like Golden Paladin’s magic aura. With this, the walls, the floor, the ceiling and the cells of Tartarus retook the color they had before the prison was taken by the Lord of Chaos.

"Now, I have Tartarus under my control once again" Golden Paladin said. "Come on, let’s unpack everything."

And, having said this, he invoked Cerebrus that, by order of his owner, returned to his guard post (this time on the inside of the entrance, as Tartarus was flying), and later he invoked the prison-book and, with this, he made it rise into the air, causing it to flip through, and all the life cells which were inside came out flying and each of they went to a different cell in accordance with the villain that they contained, and, once inside, they released their respective villain, causing the chains of the cells to hold them. The bars then appeared, sealing them completely.

"Ready" Golden Paladin said, picking up the prison-book. "Now everything is as before. Well, almost everything."

And he looked at the pages which were containing the villains of solitary.

"The only missing here is Adagio" Golden Paladin said, looking then to the cells that were around. "As well as a third of the villains imprisoned."

"Don't worry, we get them" Heartbeat said. "We've done it once... actually more than once, but we can get them."

"Heartbeat is right" Mirror Coat said. "The only thing we can do now is holding the bad guys that we have."

"You're right" Golden Paladin agreed. "And I'm going to start by linking the prison-book to Tartarus. Thus, any villain who is catch and put in the book will come automatically to here. Of course, getting out will have to be in the old way. This will allow me to put the key in a place where nobody, not even the Lord of Chaos can get."

"Speaking of the devil" Heartbeat said. "Don't you think this place is too quiet. I mean, we should be supposedly re-conquering Tartarus."

"You're right" Golden Paladin said, looking around. "It seems that the Lord of Chaos is not here. I can't feel his presence.”

"It's almost as if he wanted us to regain the control" Mirror Coat said.

That's when an idea arose in Golden Paladin’s mind. Did he leave Tartarus because the prison no longer served for nothing to him? If that were true, then...

"Oh no" he said. "No, no..."

"What's the matter, Goldy?" Heartbeat asked.

But he did not answer, because he started downing the stairs that led to the solitary. Heartbeat and Mirror Coat exchanged a look and then followed him and all three went down until they get to the hallway with the six cells where they and the other Generals had arrested the most dangerous villains that they had faced. Golden advanced to the one that had the door with his Cutie Mark, but when he got there, he just found a shattered door and an empty cell.

"No…" Golden Paladin said, not wanting to believe.

When Mirror Coat and Heartbeat arrived on his edge and saw the empty cell, they were a little shocked.

"This is not good" Mirror Coat said.

"Goldy, what do we do?" Heartbeat asked, immensely worried.

Golden Paladin thought as fast as he could, but he couldn't think in anything. The Lord of Chaos had released the biggest threat he could ever release. That would put at risk all that he, his brothers and Princess Aurora had built and that had been recovered with a lot of effort by Princess Twilight and her friends.

"I don't know" he replied. "Honestly, I don't know."

"You don't know?" Heartbeat asked, beginning to panic. "How can you not know what to do?! You're our leader, the General of Peace. You should..."

"Calm down, take a deep breath, Heartbeat" Mirror Coat said, trying to calm down her younger sister who was starting to hyperventilate. "Come on, breathe with me."

Mirror Coat helped Heartbeat to breathe deeply a few times until the little General of Affection was calmer.

"Are you calm now?" Mirror Coat asked.

"Yes, thank you, Mirror Coat" she thanked.

After that, Golden failed to get a concrete plan, but he knew what he was supposed to do.

"We're going back to the Light Kingdom" he said. "We must protect Princess Twilight at all costs."

The other two nodded their heads.

Before they leave, Golden Paladin used his magic to transfer the life cells of the solitary villains who were still in inside odf the priso-book in their respective cells and only freed them from the life cells when the doors were once again recovered. After this, the three disappeared.

After Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Heartbeat had left to retrieve Tartarus, Twilight returned to the Light Kingdom, using the portal that Mirror Coat had created for her. She was with her friends and husband preparing the rest of the preparations for Star's birthday party.

"I can't wait for the party" Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh, me neither!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Wait till you see what I have planned. There are great games, super-duper-delicious food and drink and a piñata!"

"Pinkie, this is Star’s first anniversary" Twilight said. "I don't think we need a piñata."

"What?!" Pinkie Pie asked, as if Twilight said the biggest mistake of all. "Me? Planning a party without a pinata? Never!"

"Pinkie, I'm just saying..." Twilight started.

"I know what you're trying to do, Twilight" Pinkie Pie said. "You are trying to make me go against my personal rules of party organization that specifically says that all the parties I host must have mandatorily a piñata."

Twilight turned to the others and asked them:

"Are you following this?"

The other shook their heads.

"Twilight, I think you're missing the point" Pinkie Pie said. "Pinatas are very important in a party. In fact, I even wrote and published a book that talks about the undeniable benefits of having a piñata at a party."

"A book?" Twilight repeated. "But when did you..."

But she didn't finish the question, because Pinkie placed ahead of Twilight a book that she took with her magic and then read the title:

"The Indisputable Benefits of Having a Piñata at a Party. Wait, when did you published this?"

"Duh, last week, silly billy" Pinkie Pie answered. "And you call yourself a book lover."

That made Twilight take her hoof to her face.

In that moment, there was a flash and Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Heartbeat appeared.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here, Heartbeat" Pinkie Pie said. "Twilight doesn't want a piñata in Star’s party."

"What?!" Heartbeat asked, looking shocked. "But all parties must have a piñata. It is in your book! By the way, I loved chapter ten."

Twilight didn’t know what was stranger: Pinkie having published a book without her knowing or Heartbeat knowing about it and have already read it.

"Please, focus, Heartbeat, there's no time for playing around" Golden Paladin scolded in a rough way. "We have very important and serious things to do. Princess Twilight, do you know where Leaf Mane, Purple Smoke and Leaf Mane are?"

"Well, they came out as soon as they regained their strengths" Twilight replied. "I think each of them had business to attend to, as their respective matrix almost froze."

That answer didn't seem to please Golden Paladin who said:

"Damn, just when I need them, they are not here! Mirror Coat, come on, we have to strengthen the defense. After that, let's get those idiots. Prince Blue Sword, as captain of the Light Guard, I suggest you to come with me."

And, having said this, he left the throne room, followed by Mirror Coat, which seemed to be a little intimidated by Golden Paladin (something that was unusual, given the fact that Mirror Coat rarely expressed his emotions), and Blue Sword, that looked very confused.

"Ok, that was weird" Rainbow Dash said. "And even weirder than the fact that Pinkie Pie have published a book."

"You’re right, I've never seen Golden Paladin so nervous" Spike said.

"Heartbeat, what's wrong?" Twilight asked to the General of Affection. "Did something happened in Tartarus? Did you failed in retrieving it from the Lord of Chaos?"

"No, actually it was pretty easy" Heartbeat replied.

"Good" Twilight said, relieved.

"However..." Heartbeat started.

Twilight realized that she shouldn't have been relieved so soon and then asked:

"What?"

"It turns out that the Lord of Chaos already knew we were coming and got out of there before we could face him" Heartbeat said.

"Oh, that coward ran" Rainbow Dash said mockingly. "I bet he was afraid of getting a good lesson."

"Not exactly" Heartbeat said. "You know... We went to the solitary and... Well, it turns out that..."

That's when Twilight started to realize what Heartbeat was trying to say and said:

"Heartbeat, don't tell us that the Lord of Chaos freed the last villain of the solitary."

"Ok, so I won’t tell that the Lord of Chaos freed the last villain of the solitary" Heartbeat said. "Oops, I think I just said it, didn't I?"

"Perfect, just what we needed" Twilight said, nervously. "More one villain out of the solitary. I think Star won't have his first birthday party, after all."

"Come on, sugarcube, don't be like that" Applejack said, putting her hull over Twilight’s shoulder. "Ya're going tah see that that will not goin’ tah happen."

"Applejack's right, Twilight" Fluttershy said.

"Of course, we have to have faith that we can defeat this villain before the party" Rarity said.

"Yes, like we did with all these so-called super-villains" Rainbow Dash said. "After all, we beat almost all of them. This new villain can't be that bad."

"Actually, he can" Heartbeat said.

"How so?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, let's just say that this villain is worse than the others we have ever faced" Heartbeat said. "Worse than the Sirens, worse than Arbor, worse than the Queen of Hearts, worse than the Wraith, worse than the Snow Queen."

That made Fluttershy gulped and then said:

"I don't like the way this is going.”

"Come on, what villain can be worse than all these other villains?" Rainbow Dash asked, casually.

"Well, maybe a corrupt General of Order" Heartbeat replied.

That left everypony virtually astounded.

"What?!" asked Twilight. "A corrupt General of Order?! What do you mean?!"

"Well, it's a General of Order that abused his or her status and powers" Heartbeat explained.

"I know what corrupt means" Twilight said. "What I want is that you explain why did you and your siblings never told me that there was a corrupted General of Order."

"Well, because it is perhaps the biggest shame for the title of General of Order" Heartbeat answered. "After all, we are the biggest followers of the Lord of Order. Being a corrupt General is not exactly what it wants to know if you want to have a good reputation among ponies."

"But you and your brothers know that this will not affect my opinion on you" Twilight said. "You could have told me."

"Yes, but there's another reason we haven't tell anything" Heartbeat said.

"Ok, come on, what is that reason?" Twilight asked.

"It turns out that the Lord of Order did not sent six Generals to help Princess Aurora in the construction of the Light Kingdom" Heartbeat replied.

"Wait, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Twilight asked.

Heartbeat nodded, knowing that Twilight had already noticed. The other also realized that and it was Applejack who said it first:

"The Lord of Order sent seven Generals of Order to help Princess Aurora and that seventh General is the corrupt General who was released from Tartarus."

And the sound effect of suspense sounded again and it could be seen that it was caused by Pinkie Pie that had connected a Gramophone that had brought to the party.

"Pinkie!" everypony exclaimed (except Heartbeat).

"Sorry" she said, embarrassingly.

"But how can this be?" Twilight asked. "From what we could see, there is no sign indicating that there were seven Generals of Order in the Light Kingdom."

"That's because we erased any trace of him and the ponies who knew about him are gone know, except for maybe me and my brothers" Heartbeat replied.

"But what exactly happened?" Twilight asked. "How did this General do to become corrupted?"

"Well, this is not a story that I really like to share" Heartbeat said. "But since I started, I think it’s better tell it anyway."

She took a deep breath and told:

"His name is Perfect Scale, Scale to friends, and he was, and still is, the General of Balance. He had the power to counterbalance our powers. I have to admit, with him around, we felt quite comfortable in using our powers, because we knew he was there to help us correct any imbalance that could arise. Anyway, centuries ago, after Princess Aurora and her tribe have arrived to the land where the Light Kingdom would be built, the Lord of Chaos sent seven of his Generals of Order to help her: me, Goldy, Mirror Coat, Leaf Mane, Purple Smoke, Melody and, of course, Scale. Following the orders that it was were given to us, we helped Princess Aurora. In fact, Scale contributed greatly to the construction of the Light Kingdom. It was he who created the Diamond Heart so the Light Kingdom could be stable and absorb any energy, including mine."

"Wait, so he created the Diamond Heart?" Twilight asked. "Amazing!"

"Yes, I know" Heartbeat said. "He was the key piece that allowed us to be an infallible team. You know, he had an unique kind of magic, even more unique than ours."

"But what happened to he end up imprisoned in the solitary if he was so special?" Spike asked.

"Precisely because he's special that he was corrupted" Heartbeat replied. "He fell to the greatest and most deadly sin that exists: pride. He became increasingly vain about his own power and its importance until he decided it should be him to control all the other attributes of the other Generals."

"Seriously?" Rainbow Dash asked, nothing impressed. "But what a cliché."

"Rainbow" Twilight said, in a reproving tone, before turning to Heartbeat and ask. "But how would he manage to get your attributes? Controlling you?"

"No, worse than that" Heartbeat replied. "He wanted to steal the light of our star seeds."

That made the six mares and one dragon exchange glances and then Fluttershy asked:

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you all know that star seeds are the reason we exist, right?" Heartbeat replied. "It happens that their shells give us a solid body. As long as nothing happens to a star seed’s shell, the being it is linked can exist. However, it is the light that gives us life. Without it, we're not more than just lifeless stone statues, unlike if we stay without our star seeds. If the light from a star seed is absorbed by another, then the last receives the vital force and capabilities of the former."

That explanation had baffled everypony, except Twilight that seemed to follow her reasoning.

"Say it again, but more slowly so that we can process" Rainbow Dash asked.

Heartbeat rolled her eyes and said:

"If a star seed absorb the light of another, it will have the powers of the last. Without the light, we turn into statues."

"Ah!" Twilight’s friends exclaimed.

"Why didn't you say so?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Anyway, what happened when Princess Aurora sealed the star seeds of the Light Kingdom in the Jewel of Life, her star seed was destroyed and its light remained free to find a new star seed that could sustain it, namely yours, Princess Twilight."

"So what you're saying is that Scale intended to steal the light from all the Generals to keep the power over their attributes?" Twilight asked. "But can he do that?"

"I told you he had a power even more unique than ours" replied Heartbeat. "But he didn't want only the Generals’ light, he also wanted Princess Aurora’s."

"He wanted to rule the pony world" Twilight realized.

"Exactly" Heartbeat replied. "He wanted to create a perfect balance, but his vision of perfect balance was twisted and that led us to act against him. The rest of the Generals of Order, I including, challenged him in a terrible battle and Golden Paladin was who managed to defeat him and imprison him. In fact, he was the first villain that we arrested, initially in the dungeons of the Light Kingdom, before we had transferred him to the solitary of Tartarus. From the moment that we defeated him, we could keep him subdued and under control."

"Until now" Twilight said.

"Yes, until now" Heartbeat replied.

"And what will he do now that he's free?" Twilight asked.

"He will finish what he started" Heartbeat replied. "Capture every special lights that exists in this world to control it and cast it in what he believes to be the perfect balance."

Melody had just come out of a cave hidden in Neighagra Falls, saying:

"Fortunately, everything is in order with my matrix. Now I can say that I'm completely recovered."

"I'm glad to hear you say that... little sis" a deep but cold voice said.

Melody froze upon hearing that voice, it was a voice that she hoped never to hear again. She turned and faced an unicorn stallion with the same structure as Golden Paladin’s. He had a duke blue coat with a scale as Cutie Mark, cerulean and platinate blue mane and distant dark blue eyes.

"Scale..." Melody said, starting to retreat nervously. " What are you doing here?"

"That's how you greet your long-lost brother, dear Melody?" Scale asked, advancing to her.

"You were supposed to be arrested" she said, continuing to retreat.

"Yes, but I'm not" Scale said. "All thanks to the Lord of Chaos."

Melody retreated so much that she collided with a rock that stopped her from retreating more. Scale put himself in front of her and put his hoof under Melody’s chin and continued:

"And now that I'm free, I can resume my perfect plan."

"Please, Scale..." Melody begged. "Don't do this."

"I'm sorry, dear sister" he replied. "But I can't stop now."

And, with this, he carried his horn with magic and hit Melody that moaned in pain, while the flower that contained her star seed appeared and opened up, revealing it. An intense orange glow flooded the region. After this, Scale’s flower also appeared and opened up, revealing his star seed, that had a dark-blue glow. It was then that Scale’s star seed began to absorb the light from Melody’s, something that was causing to the General of Music a bigger pain.

The time has come in which Scale’s star seed absorved all Melody’s light, whose star seed was completely empty. The two star seeds returned to within of their respective flowers which closed and disappeared. Scale retreated, while Melody turned completely into statue. However, unlike her statue at the fall of the Light Kingdom, it was made of black stone, instead of orange.

"I can feel it" Scale said. "I can feel your power flowing through my veins, Melody."

Scale then crooned a little and his voice resonated magically, in the same way as Melody’s voice used to do.

"The power of Music is mine" Scale said. "One down, a few more to go."

Author's Note

Finally I reached my last villain in this story!:pinkiehappy::yay: I hope everypony had become surprised for discovering that the villain that I was saving to the end was a seventh General of Order.:pinkiegasp::pinkiegasp: I still have a lot of work with this last chapters, but I can assure you I will do my best to make this last chapters the best of this story.

The Seventh General of the Light Kingdom, Part II - The Stolen Lights

Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Blue Sword tried to increase the Light Kingdom’s security, with the General of Knowledge creating his special barrier and with the Captain of the Light Guard tightening the security even more, especially around and inside the castle. When they met with Golden Paladin in front of the entrance of the castle, Mirror Coat was the first to speak:

“Golden, I took care of strengthening my part of the defenses of the kingdom."

"And I put more guards watching the outside as the inside of the castle, just like you said" Blue Sword said.

"Yes, but it’s still not enough" Golden Paladin said.

"Not enough for what?" Blue asked. “Golden, you made us reinforce all the security of the Light Kingdom, but you didn't explain why."

"Actually, I know the reason" Mirror Coat said.

"Okay, you didn’t explain me why" Blue rephrased.

"Prince Blue Sword, believe me when I tell you that the Light Kingdom is in great danger" Golden Paladin said. "The threat that hangs over us is even greater than any villain the Lord of Chaos could send."

"What?" Blue asked.

"You will soon find out" Golden Paladin replied.

“Golden, I think it’s better to tell him" Mirror Coat said. "As you just said, he will find out sooner or later."

But Golden Paladin didn't answer him, simply looking away.

"Tell me what?" Blue asked.

"The imminent threat is the last villain of the solitary" Mirror Coat said. "The villain Golden Paladin defeated."

"This villain must be immensely dangerous for us to take all these security measures" he noted.

"Unfortunately" Mirror Coat answered. "He's one of ours. A General of Order."

That left Blue speechless.

"A General of Order?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

"It's a rogue General" Mirror Coat told. "His name is Scale, Perfect Scale, and he is the General of Balance and one of the Generals that the Lord of Order sent to build the Light Kingdom."

"But I thought he just sent six of you to..." Blue started, which then realized. "Oh..."

"You understand now, don’t you, prince?" Mirror Coat said. “Scale rebelled against us. He wanted to steal our powers, and we had no choice but to..."

"That's enough, Mirror Coat" Golden Paladin ordered. "We don't need to recall the memories of the past."

"But, Golden..." Mirror Coat started.

"I said enough!" Golden Paladin exclaimed, in a way that made Mirror Coat be silent. "Now, get the others, before it's too late."

Without any alternative, Mirror Coat nodded, saying:

"Anything you want."

And he invoked a gate and crossed it.

Blue for a few seconds, observed Golden Paladin. It should be quite painful for him to be fighting one of his siblings. He wanted to say something, but Golden then said:

"I think I found a way to increase our defenses."

And, having said that, he charged his horn with magic and he made appear in the air several pieces that Blue recognized as pawns of chess, either red and white. Suddenly, the pawns increased in size until they are twice the size of a pony, the same size as the pawns of the chessboard that protected Golden Paladin’s star seed when he, Twilight and the others went in the demand of waking up the Light Kingdom.

It was then that the pawns started moving on their own, marching in a line towards the various limits of the Light Kingdom. The light ponies, seeing those stone warriors moving forward, realized that something was going on and sought refuge in their respective homes. Blue was impressed as Golden Paladin had turned small chess pieces in warriors easily.

In Everfree Forest, Leaf Mane was in the cave where her matrix. She was checking, seeing if everything was fine with Arbor, watering him and talking to him a little.

"I'm sorry you have been frozen. The Snow Queen caused great damage to nature. But don't worry, everything's fine now. Princess Twilight was able to stop her and convinced her to leave the dark side."

She put her hoof on Arbor’s truck and said:

"Thank you for everything you've done to protect nature that we both love."

"But what sentimental" a voice said.

Leaf Mane turned and saw, to her great shock, Scale at the entrance.

"Scale?" she asked, not wanting to believe. "What are you doing here?"

"Melody asked the same question when she saw me" said Scale. "I mean, before I absorb her light."

Leaf Mane couldn't believe what she was hearing. Scale had stolen Melody’s light?

"No…" she said. "Your monster!"

Using her magic and her anger, Leaf Mane used her magic to create roots and directed an attack on Scale, but his horn created an energy pulse which, upon reaching the roots, made them burn.

"When are you going to learn, Leaf Mane, a direct attack does not work with me?" Scale asked. "Not when I can negate it so easily."

And, having said this, he launched against Leaf Mane a sonic scream that hit her and launched her against the end of the cave.

"Impressive" he said, referring to the scream he just did. "You've seen, Leaf Mane? Our dear sister Melody has an amazing voice. I mean, she had."

Leaf Mane tried to get up, but Scale quickly approached her and held her against the wall.

"Don't even think about it" Scale said. "Don't do anything stupid. You'll just spend energy unnecessarily. And here you don't have the Sun to recharge your batteries."

The General of Nature tried to break free from Scale, but she couldn't because he was too strong.

"Be quiet" Scale said. "This won't take long. It will only last the time to absorb your light."

And, with this, Scale started the same procedure he did with Melody. He hit Leaf Mane with his magic, making her star seed appear. Scale’s star seed also appeared and began to absorb Leaf Mane’s light, leaving the star seed empty when it was over. The two star seeds came back to within their respective owners and Scale left Leaf Mane, while she turned into black rock. Having finished his work over there, Scale began heading to the exit of the cave.

Knowing that Leaf would be certainly in the cave where her matrix was, Mirror Coat went to there, entering through the nearest natural reflex, since the protection around the matrix prevented him of teleporting directly to there from the outside. But when he arrived to the crater, he saw somepony leaving the cave and, instinctively, he hid. He then saw Scale coming out of the cave.

"Oh no…" he said, realizing what should have happened.

After Scale had disappeared, Mirror Coat, making sure it was safe, advanced to the cave and entered there, getting shocked when he found Leaf Mane petrified.

"No, Leaf Mane..." he said, approaching his sister and touching the cold stone that covered her body. "Don't worry, sister. I and the others we'll go to help you."

He invoked a shard of mirror and using a spell, he moved Leaf Mane into it. After that, he disappeared.

Mirror Coat, using a tracking spell through the reflexes, tried to find Melody. It was then that a gleam appeared in Neighagra Falls. He went there only to find Melody also petrified. Studying the chronology, he realized that her light was stolen before Leaf Mane’s. He transferred Melody to another shard in order to take her to the Light Kingdom.

That meant that Purple Smoke was the last remaining General that Scale probably didn’t find, except for him, Golden Paladin and Heartbeat. He had to find him before Scale did. And, using his tracking spell again, he tried to find Purple Smoke.

The General of Talent was at that moment wandering in his purple smoke form near Baltimare, when he felt somepony around, as if he were being followed. He returned to his pony form and laid still. Purple Smoke could hear hoofsteps approaching behind and, when that somepony was close enough, he turned with his horn charged with magic and ready to attack. But he stopped when he saw it was just Mirror Coat.

"Whoa, take it easy, okay?" Mirror Coat said. "It’s just me."

"Mirror Coat" Purple Smoke said, blocking its magic. "Are you crazy? Don't you know you can't approach ponies like this?"

"I'm sorry, but I was trying to get to you as urgently as possible" Mirror Coat said.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "If you're going to tell me that you, Golden and Heartbeat recovered Tartarus, you could wait until I got back to the Light Kingdom of light, couldn’t you?"

"No, I couldn't" Mirror Coat answered. "There is an emergency and..."

"Seriously?" Purple Smoke asked. "You stalked me to tell me that there's a villain alert?"

"It’s not any villain" Mirror Coat said.

Purple Smoke sighed and said:

"All right, tell me, who is it this time?"

"Scale" Mirror Coat answered.

That answer left Purple Smoke perplexed.

"What?!" he asked. "Scale? But it can't be. He was arrested. Even he was even more imprisoned than the other villains of solitary. Not even the Lord of Chaos could break Golden’s chains. Unless he used his own magic."

"Yes, but there was nopony in his cell" Mirror Coat said. "But the worst is not that."

"What, it gets worse?" Purple Smoke asked.

"He's already managed to get Melody and Leaf Mane" Mirror Coat said. "He stole their lights."

"Perfect" Purple Smoke mumbled. "Just perfect."

"That's why I'm stalking you" Mirror Coat said. "Golden Paladin wants us in the Light Kingdom to protect ourselves and Princess Twilight."

"Let's go then" Purple Smoke said.

"Go where?" a voice asked.

They turned and saw...

"Scale" the two generals said at the same time.

"Hello, my dear brothers" Scale said, turning then to Mirror Coat. "I thought that was you who was watching me. What, you thought I wouldn't notice your presence. Don't forget that now I have Melody and Leaf Mane’s powers. I could hear you and the trees told me where you were going. I knew you'd take me directly to Purple Smoke."

"You're going to pay for what you did to Melody and Leaf Mane" Purple Smoke said, charging his horn with magic.

"Calm down, Purple Smoke" Mirror Coat said, also charging his horn with magic. "You know what he's capable of."

"Yes, I am capable of do many things" Scale said. "But I'm able to do a lot more than I was capable of doing before you had imprisoned me."

And he charged his horn with magic that adopted a greenish color.

"He will use Leaf Mane’s power!" Mirror Coat exclaimed to Purple Smoke.

The two felt a tremor beneath them and have moved away from the place where they were. A huge tree began to grow rapidly and it used its branches to catch Mirror Coat and Purple Smoke. The tree managed to catch Mirror Coat, but when it was trying to catch Purple Smoke, he turned into smoke. However, flowers showed up and blossomed. In doing so, they freed pollen that, contacting with Purple Smoke’s smoke form, made him return to his pony form.

"What?!" he asked, not wanting to believe.

And the tree was able to catch him too.

"Did you really think I'd forgotten your smoke form?" Scale asked. "By joining my magic with Leaf Mane’s, I was able to negate it. That's why I chose to follow Mirror Coat instead of finding you myself, because you never stop still on your smoke form. And now, I have two lights for the price of one."

He approached Purple Smoke and said to Mirror Coat:

"If you don't mind, Mirror Coat, I’ll take care of you after Purple Smoke. I'd rather start from the entrance."

"Hey!" Purple Smoke exclaimed, offended.

"Stay away from him, Scale" Mirror Coat said. "He is our brother."

"I don't care" Scale answered, reaching Purple Smoke. "As long as I can put this world in perfect balance, it doesn't matter what I have to do, even if, for that, I have to sacrifice my own brothers and sisters."

And with that, he turned to Purple Smoke and, using his magic, he made the General of Talent’s appear and then his own, starting then absorbing Purple Smoke’s light. When he finished, Purple Smoke turned into a black statue. Then Scale turned to Mirror Coat and said to him, while approaching:

"Now it's your turn. It's time for me to gain knowledge."

Scale started to make Mirror Coat’s star seed to appear, but nothing happened. It was then that Mirror Coat started to crack and then he shattered into shards. It was a glass clone.

"Very smart" Scale said, keeping a serene air. "Using your old tricks. Very impressive."

And that's when one of the shards stood in the air, headed to Purple Smoke and absorbed him in the same way that Leaf Mane and Melody were absorbed. After that, it advanced a few hooves and was picked by Mirror Coat that created a portal quickly and passed it, undoing it after that.

"Mirror Coat, you never disappoint" Scale said. "It will be a pleasure when I absorb your light, as well as Golden’s and Heartbeat’s. But until that happens, I will strengthen me in another way."

In the throne room of the castle of the Light Kingdom, Golden Paladin and Blue Sword entered, after they have done the best they could to strengthen the defenses of the Light Kingdom.

"We did what we could" Golden Paladin said. "Heartbeat, now it's your turn to strengthen the defense."

But he then noticed the serious look that everypony had.

"What's going on?"

"Goldy, don't be mad, but I told everyone about Scale" Heartbeat confessed.

"You did what?!" Golden Paladin asked.

"Don't be mad at her, Golden Paladin" Twilight said. "We insist with her to tell. After all, we have the right to know."

"No, Princess, I have to disagree with that" Golden Paladin said. "The less you knew, the better. It would mean you wouldn't want to join the fight and be in danger."

"What danger?" asked Blue. "Wait, are you saying that this Scale also wants Twilight’s powers."

"You know about Scale?" Heartbeat asked.

"Yes, Mirror Coat told me before going to pick up the other Generals" said Blue, turning then to Twilight. "Twily, if this is true, then I agree with Golden Paladin. You can’t participate in the fight."

"Blue, I'm not going to let my kingdom in danger just to protect myself" Twilight said. "And I'm sure Princess Aurora would do the same."

"That's why Princess Aurora is no longer here with us!" Golden Paladin exclaimed, something that made everypony look at him.

"Wow, I didn't expect this" Rainbow Dash commented to her friends.

Realizing how out of control he was getting, Golden Paladin calmed down and then said, in a calmed way to Twilight:

"I apologize for my behavior, Princess Twilight."

"It's okay, Golden" Twilight said. "I get it. After all, we are under threat from one of your siblings. I know it is not being easy to you."

Before more words could be spoken, Mirror Coat appeared, panting.

"Mirror Coat, what happened?" Twilight asked, worried.

"I thought I told you to bring the others" Golden Paladin said.

"And I was trying to bring them" Mirror Coat said. "But it was too late."

"Too late?" Applejack repeated. "What do ya mean?"

"I mean this" Mirror Coat said, invoking the three shards that he used to collect his petrified brother and sisters.

Using his magic, he made the three generals whose lights had been stolen, something that left everypony horrified.

"No…" Golden Paladin said. "He stole three special lights."

"Melody… Leaf Mane... Purple Smoke... " Heartbeat said, sadly.

"Wait, but they shouldn't have another color?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes, when we come into the Light Kingdom to try to awaken you, you weren't black statues" Pinkie Pie said. "I mean, you were statues but you had another color."

"That happened because, though we didn't have our star seeds at the time, they still had their lights" Mirror Coat said. "But when they are stolen and the star seeds are empty, then their owners become black statues. And I was close to be one myself. Scale captured me when I went to get Purple Smoke, but I managed to escape while he was steeling Purple’s light. I couldn't do anything to save him."

"You don't have to feel guilty, Mirror Coat" Twilight said. "You did everything you could."

"Besides, if he had gotten your light, he probably would try to invade the Light Kingdom through the Mirror Realm" Blue said.

"Not exactly" Mirror Coat replied. "Since our last fight with Scale, I made a spell that prevents anypony who get my light of passing through any defenses I've created at that moment. It means that even if Scale gets my light, he will have to invade the Light Kingdom in the old way."

"Wow, I didn't see that coming" Rainbow Dash said.

"Well I saw" Heartbeat said. "Mirror Coat was always the best when it comes to deceive others."

"Yes, it was a great move" Golden Paladin said. "But still, Mirror Coat, don't get caught. Your light will only leave Scale stronger and we don't need that."

"Don't worry" Mirror Coat said. "I won’t."

"Can I ask you a question?" Spike asked.

"What is it, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Now that the Generals that are left are all here, what Scale will do now?" the little dragon asked.

That was a good question.

In Canterlot, Celestia, Luna and Ingrid were in the throne room, receiving visits from ponies of high society who came to greet Princess Ingrid and congratulate her return.

"I'm immensely glad to know you, Princess Ingrid" Fancy Pants said, while making a bow to the ex-Snow Queen. "It's an honor."

"Thank you" Ingrid thanked, making a nod.

Fancy Pants then started heading to the exit.

"I'm glad these ponies are being so nice to me in this way after all I did" Ingrid said to her sisters.

"Forgiveness is one of the qualities of our subjects" Celestia said.

"You may don’t have their full forgiveness for your actions, but believe me when I say that what you did will stay in the past" Luna said. "I know from own experience."

Ingrid waved with a smile. It felt so good being next to her sisters and feel their support. He was an idiot for ever had doubting the love that they felt for her.

It was then that another pony entered in the throne room and advanced to be ahead of the three alicorn sisters. He made a bow and said:

"It's an honor to meet you, Princess Ingrid."

"Thank you" she thanked.

"Of course it is also an honor to meet you too, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna” the pony said, rising up.

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked. "We've already met."

"I don’t think so" the pony said. "After all, I was imprisoned in a cell before the Lord of Order had given to your parents the special lights of the Sun and the Moon."

And, having said that, purple smoke wrapped him, what made the three sisters to retreat. When the smoke disappeared, Scale appeared. Seeing that, the guards tried to intervene, but the General of Balance, used Leaf Mane’s power to create a tree similar to the one he used to attack Mirror Coat and Purple Smoke, trapping them and using the pollen from the flowers to put them to sleep.

"Who are you?" Celestia asked. "And how can you be using powers that only the General of Talent and the General of Nature have?"

"To the first question, I answer that my name is Perfect Scale" Scale replied. "I understand the reason why you don’t recognize me, since my brothers and sisters and Princess Aurora did not allow future generations didn't know about me. But, to satisfy your curiosity, I tell you who I am. I am the General of Balance, the seventh General of the Light Kingdom."

"The seventh General?" the three sisters asked, confused.

"That's right" Scale said. "As for the second question, I have Purple Smoke and Leaf Mane’s powers, as well as Melody’s, because I absorbed the light from their star seeds."

That made the three princesses hold their breath.

"And I'm here to absorb your lights so I can put this world into a perfect balance" Scale said.

"That will not happen" Ingrid said, in a determined way. "We're not going to let you steal our lights."

"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do to stop me" Scale said.

"You want to bet?" Luna asked.

"Ingrid, Luna, let's do it" Celestia said.

The three alicorn sisters carried their horns with magic and then released a magic beam each other that joined to form one stronger beam. However, Scale used his negating magic to block the attack.

"That's all?" he asked.

And he gave a supersonic scream that made the three princesses wrench in pain. Then he used Purple Smoke’s toxic smoke to weaken them.

"I told you I was going to absorb your lights" Scale said, advancing towards Luna. "It was inevitable."

And he made Luna’s star seed to appear and then he began to absorb Luna’s light.

"Luna!" Celestia and Ingrid called, failing to get up because of the toxic effects of the smoke.

Scale absorbed all Luna’s light and she turned into black rock.

"You could simply not having offered resistance" Scale continued, advancing then to Ingrid.

He made her star seed (whose light was silver) appear and then absorbed her light from her star seed, making Ingrid be turned into black stone too.

"But you had to fight" Scale said, using his magic to summon a root that got involved around Celestia and lifted her until the two stay face to face. "What pathetic you are."

"I may not know who you are exactly" Celestia said, without showing any sign of fear. "But I can assure you one thing. You won't win."

"That's what we're going to see" Scale said. "Well I'll see it, but you don't."

And, with this, Scale also absorbed the light from Celestia’s star seed, also turning her into black stone. After absorbing the lights of the three sisters, Scale disappeared.

Author's Note

I changed the color of the black chess pieces into red due to future stories I am planning.

The Seventh General of the Light Kingdom, Part III - The Rise of the Forgotten General

In the throne room, the Generals thought in what Spike had asked about what Scale would do now that the three other Generals and Twilight were within the Light Kingdom.

"I think Scale will try to strengthen his power to have the strength to face us" Golden Paladin said. "He knows that I, Heartbeat and Mirror Coat are more powerful than Melody, Leaf Mane and Purple Smoke."

"But how will he do that?" Twilight asked.

"Probably it will absorb more lights" Blue Sword suggested.

"Probably" Golden Paladin said. "But I don't know."

"You know I don't usually say this, but I have a bad feeling about everything" Mirror Coat said. "From what we know, Scale can be up to something big right now."

Something out there caught Heartbeat’s attention and she went to the nearest window and, when she looked to the sky, she was in suspense.

"I think I know how he's going to collect more power" Heartbeat said to the others.

"How?" everypony asked in unison, turning to her.

"The answer is in the sky" she said, pointing.

Everypony went to the window and they became as amazed as Heartbeat became.

"Holy Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

The truth was that the sky was virtually split in two, where one side was day and the other was night.

"The sky…" said Twilight. "What happened to the sky?"

"Of course" Mirror Coat said. "How could we forget that?"

"No…" Golden Paladin said, receding. "No. It can’t be."

"There's somethin’ ya're not tellin’ us?" Applejack asked.

"Apparently in a hurry to reunite all the Generals to protect the Light Kingdom and Princess Twilight, we forgot there are more special lights outside our borders" Mirror Coat said. "The star seeds of the alicorn princesses."

"Wait, does that mean what I think you mean?" Twilight asked, starting to feel heartbroken.

"Unfortunately, yes" Mirror Coat said. “Scale must have stolen Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s lights. Probably even Princess Ingrid’s."

That news left everypony shocked, but not more than Twilight.

"No…" she said. "It cannot be... Princess Celestia..."

"Take it easy, Twily" Blue said, putting her foreleg over his wife’s shoulder to comfort her.

"How can I calm down, Blue?" Twilight asked to her husband. "My teacher just had her light stolen by a crazy General. And it was not just hers. Luna’s too. And Ingrid’s."

"Hey, don't worry, Twilight, we're going to get their lights back, as well as the other Generals’" Rarity said.

"Yes, we just have to have positive thinking" Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, it works every time with me" Pinkie Pie said. "A positive thinking for day, followed by a big smile and a slice of chocolate cake it is all I need for my day run immensely well."

"Pinkie Pie is right" Rainbow Dash said. "And that is something that leaves me speechless. I'm sure we're going to kick this Scale’s ass and retrieve all the lights that he stole."

"Ah echo Rainbow Dash’s words" Applejack said. "We have tah have hope."

"Yeah, Twilight" Spike said. "Don't lose heart."

Twilight was touched by everyone’s desire to support her. A little smile appeared on her face and she said:

"Thank you, guys."

Golden Paladin approached Twilight and told her:

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I should have known that he was going behind the other alicorn princesses. After all, I am the General of Peace.”

“Golden Paladin, it's not your fault" Twilight told him. "I know you've been too concerned with the defence of the Light Kingdom. Besides, we are talking about one of your brothers."

"Yes, big bro" said Heartbeat. "I also didn't think that Scale could go behind the lights of the other alicorn princesses."

"I have to agree with Heartbeat" Mirror Coat said. "There's too much going on."

Golden Paladin, feeling better, smiled and said:

"Thank you."

It was then that Twilight realized something.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed. "If he captured Princess Celestia and the others’ lights, so he must go after Cadance and Gleaming."

"You're right, Princess" Golden Paladin said. "Then I will ensure that Scales do not get in the Crystal Empire."

"Wait, Goldy” Heartbeat said. "I'm faster. I can get there in the blink of an eye."

"No, I will" Mirror Coat said. "My defensive magic is the best among us. Furthermore, between the three of us, your lights are more powerful than mine and not risk further decrease of our defenses, if Scale can get my light."

"No, Mirror Coat..." Golden Paladin said.

"It's the most logical decision" Mirror Coat said. “Golden, you know that I follow always the logic. And it is telling me that I should go instead of any of you."

Golden Paladin hated to admit it, but Mirror Coat was right. They had to stop Scale to get more lights for his collection.

"Go get them, but bring them immediately to the Light Kingdom before Scale reaches the Crystal Empire" Golden Paladin said.

"I will be as fast as possible" he replied.

And, having said this, he created a portal and crossed it.

"Goldy..." Heartbeat said.

"I know" he said. "We must prepare ourselves for the worst."

"That means Mirror Coat won't get them, isn't it?" Twilight asked.

"The odds are against us, Princess” Golden Paladin replied. "But don't worry. It doesn’t matter what happens. We will defeat Scale and return all the lights that he stole."

Twilight sincerely hoped that Golden Paladin had just said would really happen.

In the Crystal Empire, everypony noticed and talked about the divided sky between day and night, even Shining and Cadance, who were on the balcony of the castle, were watching it. Gleaming Shield was also there, lying in her stroller.

"But what the hell is going on?" Shining asked. "How can it be day and night at the same time?"

"I don't know" Cadance said. "Shining, do you think something happened with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?"

"Probably" Shining said. "But I'm not sure."

"But I have" a voice said to them.

They turned and saw Mirror Coat getting in the balcony.

"Mirror Coat" Cadance said. "I'm glad you're here. Can you tell us what's going on?"

"Unfortunately, this is the work of the last villain of the solitary of Tartarus, the villain that Golden Paladin defeated" Mirror Coat said. "And unfortunately this villain is a General of Order."

"A General of Order?" Cadance and Shining asked at the same time.

"But what do you mean?" Shining asked.

"It's a long story" Mirror Coat answered. "But now we don't have time for it. Princess Cadance, you and your daughter are in danger."

"What kind of danger?" Cadance asked.

"This rogue General intends to take over all the special lights of this world" Mirror Coat said. "Lights that only the Generals of Order and the alicorn princesses have."

"Wait, does that mean..." Cadance started.

"Yes, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, as well Princess Ingrid, lost their lights to this brother of mine" Mirror Coat confirmed. "But it's not everything. He also stole Melody, Leaf Mane and Purple Smoke’s lights. He intends to take over the two existing special lights in the Crystal Empire before progressing to the Light Kingdom."

"He's going to have to go through me if he wants to steal the lights of my wife and my daughter" Shining said.

"I admire your heart, Your Highness, but this villain is extremely dangerous and powerful" Mirror Coat said. "You wouldn't hold him for more than two seconds. No, the only thing to do is go to the Light Kingdom. At this point, it is the safest place in this world."

Shining and Cadance exchanged a look and then waved to each other, agreeing with the opinion of each other.

"Very well, Mirror Coat, take us there."

"Yes, Princess" the General of Knowledge said.

But when he started to perform the spell, a voice asked:

"You're leaving so soon?"

They turned and saw Scale at the entrance of the the balcony. He said:

"I barely got here."

"Scale" Mirror Coat said.

"Mirror Coat, we meet again" Scale said to his brother. "But now I can assure you that you're not going to escape. Your tricks won't work against me a second time."

Mirror Coat couldn't believe it. He was so close to take Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor and Princess Gleaming Shield to the Light Kingdom. Scale really knew how to appear in the most inopportune moments. But he couldn't escape now with them. Not when Scale could deny his magic. Mirror Coat had no other option. He had to face him and hope that he could escape.

"Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor, grab your daughter and run" he said.

"What?!" Shining asked. "We can't leave you..."

"Yes, you can" Mirror Coat replied. "This is a family matter. Furthermore, I cannot allow that Scale get more power than what he already has. Go!"

Being unable to argue with Mirror Coat, the couple went to the exit of the balcony, with Shining taking Gleaming on his back. Mirror Coat stayed tuned, hoping that Scale did something to stop them from escaping, but it didn't happen.

"You let them go" he noted.

"Because what I need now is your light, little brother" Scale said. "I can take care of them later."

"I will not allow that" Mirror Coat said. "I will fight this craziness of yours."

"Will you?" Scale asked in a cynical tone. "Don't make me laugh, Mirror Coat. We both know that you can't beat me. The only one who did that was Golden, and he had help from you and the others."

"But that doesn't mean I can't try" Mirror Coat answered.

And, having said this, he fired a magic beam against Scale that was caught out of guard. But he was quick and he used his magic to block the attack.

"Not bad" he said. "Not bad at all. You've been practicing. But now let me show you how it's done."

He charged his horn with magic that adopted the color of Princess Ingrid’s magic aura. Scale was about to use her magic over ice.

As Mirror Coat predicted, Scale used Ingrid’s magic. Fortunately, Mirror Coat created a magical shield to protect himself.

"You can protect yourself as much as you want, Mirror Coat" Scale said, continuing attacking. "Your little shield won't protect you forever from my attack."

He was right. Mirror Coat could feel his defense starting to sag. He had to think towards something and fast. However, he couldn't think in anything. Scale knew his illusion powers and he was sure that he would be aware of any attempt to escape using any of his tricks.

It was then that Scale’s power, which was originally Ingrid’s, began freezing Mirror Coat’s shield until freeze it completely. After that, the shield simply broke up and, without his protection, Mirror Coat was struck by Scale’s attack who froze completely.

"Finally, I was able to get you, Mirror Coat" Scale said, catching his breath. "Now your light and your knowledge are mine."

The General of Balance approached Mirror Coat and charged his horn, ready to make his spell to absorb the General of Knowledge’s star seed’s light. The ice covering Mirror Coat broke and he moaned, while his star seed appeared. Scale also made his appear and he began to absorb the light from Mirror Coat. When it was over, Mirror Coat turned into black stone. After absorbing Mirror Coat’s light, Scale gave a groan, while a huge headache overwhelmed him. He smiled, as he felt all the knowledge of Mirror Coat and Mirrored. Scale giggled and then said:

"So this is what it feels like to have all the information running in the brain. It feels awesome."

After a few seconds, Scale recovered from the headache and then said:

"Let’s go then take the two small lights that I have left to get in this place."

And, having said this, advanced through the path Shining, Cadance and Gleaming Shield had taken.

After they escaped, Shining met some guards and then they conducted Cadance and Gleaming to the latter’s bedroom.

"You two come in here and take cover" Shining said to Cadance. "I and the guards will stay here to fight that crazy General."

"No, Shining, you can't" Cadance said. "The Generals of Order are too powerful for you. You can’t..."

"Don't worry, everything will be fine" Shining assured her. "Our only concern now is to keep our daughter safe."

Despite knowing that Shining couldn't defeat Scale, Cadance waved, because she knew he was right about protecting their daughter. And so she and Gleaming entered in the bedroom. After entering, Cadance put her daughter on her bed with bars.

"Mommy..." she said, showing a Gleaming with an air terrified.

Trying to reassure her daughter, Cadance smiled and said to her:

"Everything will be fine, my dear. Don't worry. Mom will be here with you."

It was then that they started to hear a huge commotion coming from the outsied, like the noise of weapons and groans. Cadance was sure it was Scale. He must have beaten Mirror Coat and now came after her and her daughter.

Suddenly, the room doors opened and Shining appeared, having been thrown from the outside and dropped a few hooves from the door.

"Shining!" Cadance exclaimed.

"Daddy!" Gleaming Shield shouted, crying.

Scale came into the room and said to Shining:

"Your attempt to catch me is really pathetic."

"I will show you who is pathetic" Shining mumbled, starting to get up.

He tried to attack Scale again, but the General released Ingrid’s magic and managed to freeze him.

"No!" Cadance exclaimed.

She tried to attack, but a root appeared suddenly on the floor and wrapped her like a snake wraps its prey. Gleaming Shield cried harder.

"Please, princess, don't complicate things" Scale said, starting to come in. "Someone can get quite hurt."

"Don't get close" Cadance said, fearing for his daughter. "Stay away!"

But Scale ignored it and continued to advance. Upon reaching the edge of Cadance, she prepared for the worst. But it was then that Scale turned to Gleaming Shield and charged his horn with magic. The star seed of the little alicorn appeared, shining with a color very similar to her mother’s.

"No, Gleaming!" shouted Cadance. "NO!"

Scale absorbed Gleaming’s light and she was petrified in black stone.

"NO!" Cadance shouted, terrorized by seeing her own child losing her light, turning then to Scale with anger in her eyes. "YOU MONSTER!"

"Monster?" Scale repeated. "Me? Please, Princess Cadance. I'm not a monster. I'm just somepony who wants to put this world in a perfect balance. However, for that to happen, sacrifices must be made."

He put his hoof under her chin and added:

"Sacrifices like you."

And, having said this, Cadance’s light was absorved, turning her into black stone statue after that. Scale could feel all the power he had acquired.

"Amazing" he said. "This is amazing. I can feel the control of this realm in me. This realm is almost completely dominated. I've only got four special lights. And these lights are in my old home... the Light Kingdom. It's time to claim them. Now that I have Mirror Coat’s light, I can easily enter into the Light Kingdom."

Scale, using the power of Mirror Coat, invoked one of the mirror portals and prepared to cross it, but, when he tried, he simply failed.

"But..." he said.

He extended a hoof and touched on the portal. He could feel a glass surface preventing him from crossing the portal. It was then that he realized what his brother had done.

"You set it up your defences to work independently in case your light be captured" Scale said, referring to Mirror Coat. "Impressive, Mirror Coat. You never cease to amaze me. But if you think a bell jar is going to stop me from getting what I want, you're quite mistaken. I have enough power to break all the defenses of the Light Kingdom. If I have to do things the old-fashioned way, so that's what I will do."

And, having said that, he teleported himself.

In the Light Kingdom, all light ponies had taken refuge in their respective homes. The threat of the seventh General had reached the entire Kingdom. The only ponies that were abroad were the Royal Guards, led by Blue Sword, which had their armor placed. They were behind the pawns that Golden Paladin had revived and enlarged. Golden Paladin and Heartbeat were in midair using their levitation spells, looking at the borders of the Light Kingdom.

A sense of unease invaded them. They know what it meant.

"It seems that Scale already captured most of the special lights of this world" Heartbeat said. "The only ones remaining now are here."

"It means that he's coming" Golden Paladin said, feeling then a presence approaching the barriers that protected the Light Kingdom, reformulating after that. "No, he’s already here."

And Golden Paladin was absolutely right. Right on the edge where the first barrier of the Light Kingdom began, Mirror Coat’s barrier, Scale appeared. He could see Golden Paladin and Heartbeat staring at him and, cynically, waved them with a smile. Then he said, charging his horn and starting to shout a magical beam against to Mirror Coat’s barrier. The barrier still hung in there for a while, but ended up with cracks and then broke.

“Scale broke Mirror Coat’s barrier" Golden Paladin said. "Heartbeat, I need you, Princess Twilight and Prince Star Knight to go to the Diamond Domain. Protect them religiously. "

"Understood," she said, moving away quickly.

Scale advanced towards Heartbeat’s protection and, with a little more effort used in Mirror Coat’s barried, he also managed to break it.

"You're making this too easy, little siblings" Scale said, while advancing to the last barrier, Golden Paladin’s. "You're disappointing me."

He reached Golden Paladin’s barrier and tried to destroy it. But, when he tried, the Magic ricocheted and was returned. With quick reflexes, Scale managed to block his own attack.

"I see" he said, with a smile. "Very well thought, Golden. But it is not enough to stop me. Not when I have all this power."

And, having said this, he returned to launch a new attack that was returned when ricocheted in Golden barrier Paladin. However, instead of blocking it, Scale used Mirror Coat’s magic to reflect back the attack. The attack started being ricocheted between Golden Paladin’s barrier and Scale’s defense for some time, but eventually the Golden Paladin weakened and was eventually destroyed. Smiling, Scale advanced.

He reached the border of the Light Kingdom and then he encountered the army of white and red pawns. Golden Paladin landed in front of them and said to Scale:

"It's better to you to stop here, Scale" Golden Paladin said. "I'm not going to let you get in."

"You know, Golden, I'd ask you with what army you'd face me when you had said that to me, but I see you already have one" Scale said, without undoing his smile.

"You still can rethink on this, Scale” Golden Paladin said. "Please give up this sick idea to absorb special lights and return what you stole."

"I didn't steal anything, Golden" Scale replied. "I just took what should be mine. This world is completely unbalanced. The work to place this world again in perfect balance it once was is just mine and, for that, I will have to collect all the special powers that I can."

"Then you leave me no choice" Golden Paladin said. "We must fight."

"I didn't expect anything else" Scale replied. "Come on. Let's see what the great General of Peace can do."

And the two generals looked at each other intensely, preparing to face each other.

The Seventh General of the Light Kingdom, Part IV - The Fall of the General of Peace

The long-awaited fight between Golden Paladin, the General of Peace, and Perfect Scale, General of Balance, was about to begin. The two looked at each other intensely, hoping one of the two that the first step. It was then that Scale exclaimed:

"Draw!"

And he shot a freezing beam against Golden Paladin, but he was quick to teleport a few meters in the air, using his levitation spell to keep himself in the air, and Scale’s spell hit one Golden Paladin’s pawns that froze and broke into several pieces. With that attack, Golden Paladin ordered their pawns to advance, something that they did, as they started to draw their swords to attack Scale that started to defend himself and at the same time attack the white and red pawns. While this was happening, Golden Paladin went back behind his army of pawns, where Blue and the Light Guard awaited.

"What do you want us to do, Golden?" Blue asked to the General of Peace.

"At this moment, nothing" he replied. "Let me first take care of him. In addition to the fact that I'm the only one who can defeat him, we've got history."

"But..." Blue started.

"Prince Blue Sword, you must worry about keeping the light ponies safe" Golden Paladin said. "That's all I ask you. For now, Scale won't care about them. All he wants is the special lights of this Realm. He doesn't want to care about eternal lights such as the normal light ponies’. But, if they get in his way, I'm sure he will take them from there and not in the nicest way. And you have to live because Princess Twilight and your child will need you."

Blue hated having to avoid fighting this way, but Golden Paladin was right. The light ponies were also in danger. Maybe not now, but eventually they would be. Besides, how Scale had now most of the special lights of that world, he was immensely powerful. The prince waved to the General and then turned to the Light Guard and told them all:

"You heard what the General of Peace said. Protect all civilians and avoid going into combat with the General of Balance."

"Yes, sir" they answered.

And, with this, each of them went off in different directions to make sure that all civilians were kept safe. However, with all that, Blue couldn’t avoid in expressing concern about Twilight and Star.

Following the orders of his brother, Heartbeat headed where Twilight and Star were: in the throne room. Since she heard that Scale was right behind her and his son, Twilight went get the little colt, in order to protect him from the evil General. Her friends were also there with her.

"Don't worry, Twilight, everythin’ will be fine" Applejack told her, trying to calm her down.

"Yes, you'll see that Golden Paladin and Heartbeat will kick the ass of that sample of General" Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, I wouldn't use the words Rainbow Dash used, but I have to agree with her" Rarity said.

"And I with Rarity" Spike said, making one of his passionate glances to the white unicorn.

"Yes, Twilight, you will see that everything will be okay" Fluttershy said.

"I’m already seeing Golden Paladin defeating this meanie Scale as he did many, many, many years ago and shut him down in a cell again, and then we make an immense party to celebrate our wonderful victory over all the villains that the Lord of Chaos sent" Pinkie Pie said.

After all that, Twilight did not fail to give a smile, as she watched Star ahead of her forelegs, playing with some toys like chess pieces that Golden Paladin had given to him.

"I know you want me to look on the bright side" Twilight said. "But the truth is that I'm not able to do that. This is not a villain like any other. We are talking about a General of Order, one that is more powerful than others and that can deny their capabilities and absorb their lights."

At that time, Heartbeat entered and said to Twilight:

"Princess, Scale reached the Light Kingdom."

"What?!" she asked, approaching the General of Affection. "And what's the situation?"

"Goldy is trying to contain him" she replied. "He should get him for a while, but, honestly, I don't know if he will get it. Scale has never been so powerful."

"So I'm going to fight him, if he can get pass through Golden Paladin" Twilight said. "Heartbeat, I need you to take care of Star."

"No, Princess, I can't do that" she said. "Your light and the young prince’s are too much precious, especially yours. It’s your light that keeps control over all the others. If Scale is able to capture you, then it will be the end of everything."

"So I have to stay behind while everypony struggle to protect me?" Twilight asked.

"That is exactly what will happen" Heartbeat replied. "And don't try to complain. I have orders from Goldy and my duty as a General to protect you at all costs. If you try to refute, I have to force you to come with me, and that's something I don't want to do."

Twilight tried to say something, but she couldn't think of anything that could convince Heartbeat to let her join the fight against Scale. Applejack put a hoof over her shoulder and said to her:

"It seems that ya can't win this battle, sugarcube."

Without any alternative, Twilight waved to Heartbeat.

"Great, let's go get you and the young prince to your hideout" Heartbeat said.

"And we're goin’ with ya" Applejack said, while others waved.

"I don't know" Heartbeat said. "I think you should find your own hiding place."

"Hey, we will protect our friend and it is not the General of Affection that will stop us" Rainbow Dash said.

Others seemed to share the same thought that Rainbow Dash had, even Fluttershy.

"You know, I could easily stop you" Heartbeat said and then she looked to Twilight who waved to her, as if asking for them to come with them. "All right, you can come with us. It’s your lights and your lives."

And, with this, Heartbeat headed to the exit of the throne room. Twilight, using her magic, took Star and put him on her back and followed her, followed by her friends.

Golden Paladin continued his fight with Scale. He watched as his army of pawns struggled against him. However, it didn't take long until all the pawns fall, made in pieces, and Scale pass through them.

"Seriously?" he asked to Golden Paladin, while shaking the dust off his shoulder. "This is everything you can do, Golden? Use a bunch of pawns to stop me?"

"I didn't expect them to defeat you" Golden Paladin replied. "But I was hoping that they would slow you down long enough for me to prepare myself for you."

Scale giggled and then said:

"Dear brother, if I were you, I'd deliver the special light inside of you. You don't have a chance against me after I have absorbed the lights of four Generals and five alicorn princesses."

"By the way, you will pay for that" Golden Paladin said. "How could you do what you did to our brothers and sisters? To the alicornio princesses? One of them was still a baby!"

"Well, you look like Mirror Coat" he said. "He also made the same speech. So, I'm going to tell you what I said to him: As long as I can put this world in perfect balance, it doesn't matter what I have to do, even if, for that, I have to sacrifice my own brothers and sisters.”

"So, I’ll also do the same" Golden Paladin said. "As long as I can protect the Light Kingdom, Princess Twilight and all ponies, I don't mind sacrificing my brother, even though he was the one who I admired."

And, having said that, Golden Paladin used his magic to turn his horn into a sword of yellow light.

"Pretty words" Scale commented, doing the same thing, only that his sword was dark blue. "It is a pity that they won’t turn real."

And, with that, the two started a battle, using their horns like swords.

Meanwhile, Heartbeat led Twilight, Star and others to the foyer and then turned to the figure of relief of Princess Aurora and the Generals of the Light Kingdom (with the exception of Scale). Seeing it, Twilight realized where they were going to.

"Wait, you're going to lead us to the Diamond Domain?" she asked to Heartbeat. "I thought that Scale was the one who created it."

"Yes, but after he was defeated, my siblings and I sealed the main entrance and created the one that is linked to the figure" she replied.

"Wait, does that mean we're going to the Diamond Domain?" Rarity asked, giving then a little scream of excitement. "I can't believe it! I always dreamed of going there from the moment Twilight told me about it!"

"Rarity, calm down" Applejack said. "Remember that we are here tah accompany Twilight tah protect her, not tah admire tha diamonds."

"Yes, you're right, Applejack" Rarity agreed, composing herself. "You're absolutely right."

And after this, Heartbeat turned to the figure and released a magic beam to Princess Aurora’s horn and her eyes began to shine. They were then teleported to the tunnel leading to the entrance of the Diamond Domain. They walked through the tunnel until they get to the door, where Heartbeat entered her horn in the groove, which made the door be covered by a red glow and it opened, revealing to everypony the Diamond Domain. Rarity nearly fainting from bewilderment to see such beauty. Even Rainbow Dash was speechless.

"This..." Rarity stuttered, trying to find the right words to say and looking everywhere with their eyes sparkling. "This is... There are no words."

"Ah have tah agree with Rarity" Applejack said. "This is really somethin’."

"No kidding!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "This place is still brighter than a room full of fireflies."

"Yes, it's so beautiful" Fluttershy said.

"I never thought there was such a place under the Light Kingdom" Spike said.

"I have to admit, this is pretty awesome" Rainbow Dash admitted.

"That's because you haven't seen the Diamond Heart" Twilight said, while trying to keep Star on top of her back.

She then took them to the place where it was the thing that kept the Kingdom Light on its fundations.

"Oh... sweet... Celestia!"exclaimed Rarity, not wanting to believe my eyes. "This is the biggest diamond I've ever seen!"

"Well, this is awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Yes, we know it is" Heartbeat said. "But I think it's better to stay attentive. After all, we don't know when Scale will realize where we are."

Golden Paladin and Scale continued their fight, creating immense sparks due to violent shocks of the swords created by magic.

"Give it up, Scale" Golden Paladin said. "I've always been better than you fencing."

"That's why I need to be smarter" Scale said. "After all, when outnumbered, cheat."

And, having said that, he prepared to give a supersonic scream. Seeing that, Golden Paladin pulled away as far as he could and threw himself to the ground, covering the ears, while Scale casted a powerful scream. Golden Paladin lasted as long as he could while Scale was screaming.

After this, Scale tried to attack Golden Paladin with his sword, but General Peace was fast enough to cast a protective barrier that protected him and kept it active until he strike another blow that made Scale back down. Realizing that Scale would use every trick he could to catch his light, Golden Paladin decided to use a trick of his own. He began to gain access to his magic.

“Golden, Golden "Scale said, advancing a few steps in the direction of his brother. "How much longer are you going to keep this?"

"Until I make sure that I stop you from being a threat to the Lught Kingdom and to this world" Golden Paladin said.

Scale heard heavy hoofsteps behind him. He turned and faced with a chess white pegasus that had twice the size of a pawn. Before Scale could react, the white pegasus grabbed him and raised him, trapping him. Scale tried to free himself, using his magic, but Golden Paladin said:

"That won't work. This white pegasus is reinforced with a special magic that I created based on your magic. You're not going to get out of there."

Realizing that Golden was right, Scale stopped with his attempt and asked:

"Why keeping this? You know it's useless. I am more powerful than you."

"You can have power, but I still have my principles" Golden Paladin replied. "I promised that I would protect this kingdom and this world and that's what I'm going to do."

"And you promised that to who?" Scale asked. "Your girlfriend?"

That question seemed to have upset Golden Paladin.

"How do you..." he began.

"How do I know your little fall?" Scale asked. "Please, little bro, I absorbed Mirror Coat’s light, remember? What I don't understand is why her? I know that she was beautiful, but I always found her a little... pretentious."

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Golden Paladin exclaimed, full of anger, approaching Scale. "You don't know her. You don't know how she was!"

"Yes, you're right" Scale agreed, always smiling. "But I know what she was for you? You know what? Weakness. Love is weakness."

"Love is not weakness" Golden Paladin said. "You should know that. It’s what the Lord of Order teaches to all of his Generals."

"Yes, but I'm not like the other Generals" Scale said. "And you know what? The Lord of Order’s lesson is completely wrong. And I'll prove it to you, showing you how love made you lose to me."

And, having said this, he began to laugh, while he started to crack and crumble in shards. Golden Paladin couldn't believe it. That was one of Mirror Coat’s tricks and he had fallen on it, lowering his guard. When he find himself, a tree began to grow around him, while arresting him inside its trunk and knocked out the white pegasus. When it stopped growing, only the head and the front hooves of Golden Paladin were visible. He tried to move, but he couldn't move any part of his body that was within the tree. The real Scale approached and said:

"I told you love was weakness. You couldn’t distinguish me from my clone."

"You're not going to get away with this" Golden Paladin said. "You'll go to pay for your crimes!"

"That's what we're going to see" Scale said, getting face to face with his brother. "But, now, dear brother, it's time to get even."

With this, Scale began again the process to steal the light from the star seeds. He invoked his and Golden Paladin’s and absorbed his yellow light. Once finished, Golden Paladin was turned into black rock. Scale took a few seconds to try to control the immense power that Golden had, but then said, smiling:

"Finally, I got Golden Paladin’s light. Not only I managed to get revenge for what he did to me, as I am also less than a step closer of getting what I want. Now, there are only three more special lights to go."

And the General of Balance began heading to the Castle. Along the way, he found some guards fulfilling what his captain had told them to do: protect the light ponies. How Golden had said to Blue, Scale had no intention of going after the light ponies for now. He was too focused on his goal of getting all the special lights. However, there were some daring guards who tried to attack him, but with only a gesture, he took them out of the way with telekinesis or froze them. When he entered in the foyer of the castle, he tried to feel the last three special lights that left. It was then that he felt an attack in his direction and created a barrier that protected him from that attack.

"You have to be pretty naive to believe that an attack like that would stop me" he said.

"Well, you can't blame me for not trying" a voice said.

And Blue appeared.

"Ah, Prince Blue Sword, I imagine" Scale said. "The husband of the famous Princess Twilight, the carrier of the original star seed."

"You know who I am?" Blue asked.

"Now that I have access to all the information in the Mirrored Library, yes" Scale replied. "Tell me, prince, where's your dear wife and baby son?"

"I will never tell you where they are" Blue answered, putting himself in combat position. "And if you want to reach them, you have to go through me first."

Scale smiled and asked:

"Do you really think showing courage is enough to defeat me? You don't have a chance against me. I defeated Golden. There’s no longer a pony that can take me down."

"That's what we're going to see" Blue said.

He used the same spell Golden Paladin used to create a sword of light of the same color as his magical aura. After that, he started running in the direction of Scale, ready to attack him. Scale smiled mockingly and, using Golden Paladin’s tallents he had acquired from his light, used speed to get to Blue Sword by surprise and used the General of Peace’s force to give to the prince a strong punch in the stomach, which made him give a groan of pain, while the sword of light that he invoked disappeared. Blue fell on the floor, with the forelegs wrapped around his belly.

"I told you so" he said. "There is no longer any pony that can face me. Now, if I may, I have a collection of lights to complete."

And, having said that, Scale threw Blue telekinetically against a wall. The unicorn prince fell to the ground, apparently unconscious.

Scale tried again feel the presence of the special lights that were missing, however, he couldn't find them in the Castle. Apparently, Heartbeat had managed to hide herself with Princess Twilight and Prince Star Knight somewhere. But where?

It was then that a little voice began whispering to his ear. He knew perfectly well that voice and a smile drew in his face.

"So you are there" he said. "I must say, sister, it was very well thought. But not enough to fool me."

And he turned to figure where Princess Aurora and his six siblings were.

In the Diamond Domain, they were all silent, waiting for any response from the battle that was going on above. The silence was such that Rainbow Dash began to feel almost exploding.

"Oh come on!" she exclaimed. "How longer do we have to wait?"

"Calm down, Rainbow Dash" Applejack said. "Don't forget that we are dealin’ with a General capable of absorbin’ tha lights of tha star seeds."

"Yes, just try to relax" Rarity said. "Find something to pass the time."

"I'm sorry if I'm not like Pinkie Pie who likes spending time playing with foal toys" Rainbow Dash said cynically.

It was true, Pinkie Pie was playing with Star with his toys in a way that only a foal could play.

"Heartbeat, you are the most powerful of Generals" Rainbow Dash said. "Why don't you go there and deal with that crazy brother of yours?"

"Of course, if you want that I lose control of my powers and annihilate whatever's nearby" Heartbeat replied.

"Rainbow, please, take it easy" Twilight said. "I know that is costing you a lot to be here and do nothing, but we have to be patient. Furthermore, I should be more nervous than you. Don't forget that Blue's there."

That made Rainbow Dash stop because she realized how Twilight was upset because she didn't know how Blue was.

"I'm sure that nothing bad will happen to him, Princess" Heartbeat said. “Scale won’t do anything to him, if Blue doesn’t get in his way. Which, now that I think about it, it is something that Blue certainly would do. But, princess, right now, you have to worry about your son. Don't forget that he is also a target to Scale, just like you."

Twilight looked to her son, who was playing, ignorant to what was happening. That made Twilight realizes that Heartbeat was right.

"Yes, you're right, Heartbeat."

"Of course I have" she said. "Besides, this is the safest place. It's not like Scale will show up here right now."

"Are you sure, sis?" a voice asked.

That made everypony look and, much to their shock, they saw Scale a few hooves away.

"Because I believe that finding you was actually quite easy."

And he laughed.

Author's Note

I hope you had enjoyed this chapter very much. I can’t believe we almost finishing! You cannot miss the next chapter, where we will see the defeat of Scale. See how Twilight will deal with this threat.

Don’t forget to vote in your favorite villain in this story (aside from the Lord of Chaos) in my new poll in http://www.poll-maker.com/poll478564x00574f07-19. You can vote until three of them.

The Seventh General of the Light Kingdom, Part V - When the Seed Breaks

Author's Note

This is the last part of this special chapter. I hope you enjoy read it. Don't forget to vote in your favorite villain in: http://www.poll-maker.com/poll478564x00574f07-19

The Seventh General of the Light Kingdom, Part V - When the Seed Breaks

Seeing Scale there, in the Diamond Domain, Twilight reacted immediately, taking Star and putting him behind her with magic, something that seemed to worry the little foal.

"Scale" Heartbeat said.

"Hello, little sister" Scale greeted, without undoing his smile. "How are you?"

"I'd be better if I knew you were still in your disgusting cell chained with unbreakable chains all over your body" Heartbeat replied gruffly.

Scale giggled and said:

"I've always loved your sense of love. But I always wondered how it I could be to be like you. Looks like I won't have to wait much longer. When I absorb your light, I can finally know what makes you so special. And, after you, I can absorb shortly the Princess’d light, and then her little foal."

He took a step forward, but when he did it, Twilight’s friends put herself in the way.

"First you have to go through us" Applejack said.

"Yes, nobody touches our friend without tasting the flavor of my hooves" Rainbow Dash said, raising her hooves.

"Why you, common ponies, get always in the way of the powerful ones?" Scale asked. "Anyway, I don't have the patience to deal with you, so…"

And he charged his horn with magic and it was then that each of Twilight’s friends, including Spike, were telekinetically launched against a large diamond growing in the ground and then strong vines created by Leaf Mane’s magic appeared and tied them against the diamonds, creating then flowers that opened and launched a pollen that made them fall asleep. Seeing that, Star started getting scared and started crying.

"No!" Twilight exclaimed, turning then to Scale. "You're going to regret this."

"But I didn't hurt them" Scale defended himself. "Not even your pregnant friend. But I cannot allow obstacles in my way."

"How did you get here?" Heartbeat asked, moving to stay ahead of Twilight and Star. "We destroyed the original entry and created a new one."

"Heartbeat, don't take this in the wrong way" Scale said, moving a few steps. "The idea of hiding out in the Diamond Domain was not bad at all. But I think you forgot one small detail. It was me who created the Diamond Domain, as well as the Diamond Heart. Even with the new entry, I could find it, because it's it who called me."

Those words seemed to have some significance, because Heartbeat become bewildered when she heard them.

"No…" she said.

"So, you got it" Scale noted.

"What?" Twilight asked, who didn't understand anything. "What did you get, Heartbeat?"

"The Diamond Heart..." she said. "It is..."

"My matrix, yes!" he exclaimed, with a laugh.

Twilight realized then the reason for Heartbeat have stayed that way. The matrix of the Generals were only known by the Generals they belonged to and the Lord of Order, in a way to stop the Lord of Chaos to find them and weaken his brother. She knew that the Generals of Order had a deep connection with their respective matrices and, if the Diamond Heart was really Scale’s matrix, so it told him where Twilight, Star and Heartbeat were.

"I can't believe you couldn't get it" Scale said to Heartbeat, cynically. "After all, the Diamond Heart is what prevents the Light Kingdom from collapsing, even with your small outbreaks. By the way, I hated it when your little nightmares almost destroyed my diamond."

"For the record, that was the Lord of Chaos and Oogie Boogie’s fault" Heartbeat replied.

"It doesn’t matter" Scale said. "What matters is that the Diamond Heart's still in one piece, as well as my power. And hat power is about to be increased with the last special lights that are left in this world."

And he looked to Heartbeat, Twilight and Star in a greedy way, then continuing:

"I can't wait to put the pony world in perfect balance."

"That’s never going to happen!" Twilight exclaimed.

"No, Princess, it will happen" Scale assured her. "The Lord of Order created this world and those around it to be in perfect place, freed from the darkness of his brother. But his creation has been corrupted and it is necessary a firm hoof to bring back the paradise."

"Scale, I understand your desire to bring back the perfect work of our master" Heartbeat said. "But you're doing it in the wrong way. Absorbing the special lights will not solve anything."

"You're wrong!" Scale exclaimed, replacing his evil smile for an air of mock and disgust. "But what does a General like you have to say about the subject? You and the others do not take your work seriously. Your duty as Generals of Order is fight the darkness of Evil, something that you don't seem to be doing well. When the Lord of Chaos dominated the realms around the pony world, you preferred to seal them rather than clean up the mess that his villains made. You preferred to put the dust under the carpet rather than clean it! Well, if you don't know how to perform your job, then I'm going to do it. And, when I have all the special lights, maybe I will start for destroying the influence the Lord of Chaos has in this world and maybe then go to Wonderland to break the curse that the Queen of Hearts casted. I will make this world and others better when I get the absolute power. The Lord of Order will have pride of me and I will become his only General."

When she heard that speech, Twilight couldn't help but sympathize with Scale. After all, he just wanted to help defeat the Lord of Chaos once and for all. But he left his own obsession with the balance and his thirst for power take over him, which meant that his ideals were distorted.

"The Creation doesn't need Generals like you" Scale continued saying to Heartbeat. "Now, I can clearly see that, at least since I absorbed Mirror Coat’s light. I can see your dirty secrets."

"Secrets?" Heartbeat asked, slightly nervous. "What secrets?"

Scale giggled and said:

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. You know, I'm shocked by the secrets that you keep hidden from each other. Like the one you and Mirror Coat share."

That seemed to have left Heartbeat hugely nervous. Her nervous was such that a diamond that was growing on a wall nearby broke into a thousand pieces.

"But of course, that does not compare to our General of Peace's little secret" Scale continued. "It's not that you and the others didn't know, Heartbeat, but I was quite surprised because you didn’t share this information with Princess Twilight."

Heartbeat became even more nervous than before and Twilight exhibited a confused look.

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, turning then to Heartbeat. "What is he talking about, Heartbeat?"

"What do you think, Heartbeat?" Scale asked to his sister, cynically. “Should we tell her the truth?"

Hearing how Scale said that and seeing his mischievous smile, Heartbeat felt her anger starting to flow. Her horn began to accumulate a great amount of magic and then she released a magical beam at high speed against Scale. Combining his magic with Golden’s, Scale created a powerful shield that managed to stop her attack. But Heartbeat seemed really determined and did not cease the attack, continuing to increase its potency. Scale could feel the shield weakening and then decided to join Mirror Coat’s magic that mirrored the shield which absorbed Heartbeat’s attack and then returned it to her. Heartbeat was hit and thrown strongly against a diamond nearby.

"Heartbeat!" Twilight called, while firmly embraced her son who was crying because of everything that was going on.

"Not bad, sis" Scale said. "I have to say, you are the most powerful of Generals. You almost got me. But you forget that direct attacks do not work against me. Especially after I have absorbed Mirror Coat’s defensive power. Well, I think this is the time when I absorb your beautiful light, dear sister."

He began directing to Heartbeat, but Twilight could not allow him to do it.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Leave her alone!"

Scale stopped and turned to Twilight and noticed the look she had. He recognized that look. He gave a slight laugh and then he told her:

"You are just like her, Princess Twilight. Just like Princess Aurora. Always willing to protect the others. Now I understand what Golden Paladin felt about her."

Upon hearing that, Twilight asked:

"What do you mean?"

"That little secret that Golden Paladin has and that few know about" Scale said. "He loved Princess Aurora."

Twilight gasped when she heard that. Golden Paladin was in love with Princess Aurora?

"I think he was fascinated by her beauty and personality" Scale continued. "You know, I can't help but wonder if he has not projected the feelings he had for her in you. What makes sense, since you're the reincarnation of the great love of his life."

The confusion and the stunned invaded Twilight’s mind. What Scale said was true?

Suddenly, a pulse of red magic hit Scale and threw him against a wall and then a lot of loose rocks fell on him. Heartbeat approached Twilight and told her:

"Don't listen to him, Princess Twilight. What he said isn't true. Yes, Goldy loved Aurora, but he doesn't love you."

"How can you be so sure?" Twilight asked, uncertain in what to believe.

"Because I'm the General of Affection!" Heartbeat exclaimed. "Besides, I know Goldy better than anypony else. He loved Princess Aurora, but he knows that you're not her. You can be her reincarnation and have the light of original star seed, but he knows that you're not her. You are equal, but at the same time different. Besides, he knows that you love Blue and that you wouldn’t abdicate that for nothing. The only reason for him to protect you are respect, friendship and desire to protect the Light Kingdom from falling again. Please don't let Scale’s words affect you, that's what he wants."

Heartbeat's words were heard religiously by Twilight who understood they were true. Smiling, she waved, something that made Heartbeat smile too.

"Great, now we have to beat my brother" Heartbeat said.

"But how do we do that?" Twilight asked. "We can't defeat him and those rocks won't hold him forever."

Heartbeat thought for a while and then had an idea.

"I think I know" she said. "It's a little risky, but worth a try."

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Princess, you have to absorb my light and combine my power with yours and use it against Scale" Heartbeat said.

"What?!" Twilight asked, not wanting to believe that Heartbeat was suggesting something. "But, if I do that, you're going to..."

"I don't care" Heartbeat said. "I've been turned into stone before."

"But it's not like that" Twilight said. "Steal the light from a star seed is… Well, I don’t know what to say."

"I know, but it's the only way we can defeat Scale" Heartbeat said. "My light is the most powerful among the Generals. If you combine it with the light of the original star seed, you will have enough power to defeat Scale."

Following that logic, Twilight concluded that Heartbeat was right, but even that Twilight would agree, there was a problem.

"But I can't do it" Heartbeat said. "You and your siblings said that Scale’s magic is unique."

"Yes, but only between the Generals" she replied. "But Scale’s power comes from the Lord of Order and the power of the original star seeds is above the power of the star seeds of the Generals of Order. You can do it, Princess Twilight. I know you can."

Twilight looked to Heartbeat that seemed to be completely sure about what she was saying. Although she think that plan was too risky, Twilight consented with the head, saying:

"Let's do it."

"Great" Heartbeat said. "But first, I have to warn you. Be very careful when dealing with my powers. They will tempt you in ways you can't even imagine. Whatever happens, don't listen to your emotions in the matters that involve the use of my power, okay? Your conscience must have the last world."

Although Twilight didn’t understand what Heartbeat said, she waved to her, showing that she would remember those words.

Twilight turned to his son, who had a great scared air. She took him with her magic and came to him, saying:

"Don't worry, honey, everything will be okay. Mommy will protect you."

"Mommy..." the little colt said.

And, using her magic, Twilight approached Star of a diamond and used a spell to put him inside, safe.

After that, Heartbeat then extended her hooves and Twilight held them with hers. After that, Twilight tried to focus, focusing on the desire to absorb Heartbeat’s light, while focusing her magic. It was then that her horn was surrounded by her magical aura and Heartbeat’s star seed appeared, shining with its red light. Shortly after, Twilight’s star seed appeared, filling the place with its pure and intense light. She began to absorb Heartbeat’s light and the General started moaning lightly, while the process was done. When it was over, the two star seeds went back to their respective flowers that disappeared. Heartbeat, exhausted, let herself fall on her hooves and looked to Twilight with a smile and told her:

"Now, it's all in your hooves."

And she turned into black rock.

Having received Heartbeat’s magic, Twilight felt a strange feeling in her. It was kind of a pain in her guts. It burned and was cold at the same time. She was happy, but for some reason, she also felt like she would explode with anger. It was as if her emotions had been wild.

The rocks covering Scale exploded and the General of Balance arose from the smokescreen that followed it. He then noticed in Heartbeat and then managed to detect her power in Twilight.

"But what have you done during my absence?" he asked.

"We were... preparing ourselves... to you" Twilight said, trying to still control Heartbeat’s immense power. "Now that I have Heartbeat’s power, I'm going to stop you."

Scale giggled and said:

"Despite everything, I absorbed ten different lights. I have a clear advantage. But fight against someone with the power of the original star seed and the red star seed will be a good challenge."

In the foyer of the castle, Blue recovered his senses, feeling the pain of the injuries he had suffered in his meeting with Scale. He then looked and saw the figure with the image of Princess Aurora and her six Generals destroyed, revealing a tunnel. Blue knew that tunnel lead to the Diamond Domain. Did Heartbeat take Twilight and Star to there and Scale discovered that? Before that idea, Blue had no choice but to find the strength to get up and move towards the tunnel. He had to save his wife and son.

In the Diamond Domain, the battle between Twilight and Scale was about to begin. She was the first to attack, throwing a magic beam against him, but Scale was able to defend and counterattack. Twilight turned and took off and launched more magic beams, this time combining his magic with Heartbeat’s. Scale also released a magical beam that collided with Twilight’s. The two beams began to measure forces, with each one struggling to get through the other.

Blue reached the Diamond Domain and was astonished with what he saw. The five mares and dragon who were his friends and Twilight’s were bound to diamonds with vines and unconscious, as Heartbeat was petrified in black stone and Star Knight was safely inside of a diamond. But what was more shocking was the intense struggle that was going on between Twilight and Scale.

The General, trying to defeat the Princess as soon as possible, put more energy in his attack that began to supplant Twilight’s. She, feeling it, just got a lot weaker, which made her down the altitude until finally landing. Finally, Twilight couldn't take it anymore and stopped with her attack, which made her being hit by Scale’s attack and thrown against a diamond.

"Twilight!" Blue called.

Scale approached her with the speed that belonged to Golden and told her:

"Now, if you don't mind, I'll take the two lights inside of you and then I'm going to take your son's light and so keep the absolute power over this world."

"No…" Twilight said, gasping.

Scale began to charge his horn with magic, but Blue, watching it, started running to there, screaming:

"STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE!"

And he gave a strong shove on Scale that was thrown a few hooves away.

"Blue" Twilight said. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" he asked, helping Twilight getting up. "I'm here to help the mare I love."

That made Twilight smile. That altruistic behavior was one of the many things that she loved in her husband.

Suddenly, a force threw Blue against a wall, holding him there. It was Scales, using telekinesis.

"Blue!" Twilight called.

Scales arrived quickly in front of Blue and told him in a tone immensely annoyed:

"You're really a great trouble, aren't you? You should have been dropped in the foyer instead of coming down here."

"You don't scare me" Blue said. "I will never be afraid of a pathetic villain like you."

"That's what we're going to see" Scale said. "And you know why? Because this pathetic villain is about to put you out of existence forever."

And he charged his horn with magic and, painfully to Blue, he made his star seed show up. Since Blue became a light pony due to be living in the Light Kingdom, his star seed purchased the eternal white light common to any light pony.

"No!" Twilight exclaimed.

She tried to prevent Scale, throwing him a strong attack, but Scale conjured a protective barrier that blocked Twilight’s attack. Star could see the scene and said sadly, as if he was trying to call:

"Daddy!"

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked to Scale. "Scale, I'm telling you. If you dare to absorb his light…"

"Absorb?" Scale repeated, without stopping looking to Blue. "Who said I would absorb his pathetic light?"

"So what are you going to do?" Twilight asked, who didn't like the way things were going.

"I'm going to do something much worse than absorb his light" Scale replied. "I will destroy his disgusting star seed. When that happens, the light will simply dissipate and the one once known as Blue Sword will disappear forever."

And he gave an evil laugh.

Hearing that, Twilight was unresponsive. Blue would disappear forever? It was as if somepony was pulling out a piece of her.

"Let's begin, shall we?" Scale said.

And he began to throw a beam from his horn that hit Blue’s star seed. That made the prince start moaning in agony. Soon, cracks begin to appear in the star seed.

"BLUE!" Twilight yelled.

The fear of losing Blue and the anger she felt about Scale by making the ponies she loved suffer started to boil inside of Twilight. It seemed to be something that she couldn't control. Heartbeat’s power made everything worse, intensifying the fear and the anger in an exponential way. It was a matter of mere seconds till Twilight lose control over his own magic.

"LET HIM GO!" she cried out to Scale.

And with a gesture, she threw the General of Balance against the wall opposite to the one where Blue was, holding him. That allowed Blue to be released, though his cracked star seed continued visible. Then, Twilight put himself ahead of Scale with a speed that was characteristic of Heartbeat.

"How is it possible?" Scale asked, failing to understand how he could be overwhelmed so easily. "I absorbed more lights. I should be more powerful."

It was then that he noticed the intense red glow in Twilight’s eyes. They were eyes filled with anger.

"Oh no, it's the emotions" he said.

"You're going to pay for everything you've done!" Twilight exclaimed, making Scale’s star seed appear. "It's time to make you pay."

And with this, Twilight began to attack directly Scale’s star seed, who also started moaning in agony, while his star seed began to stay with cracks. Blue, seeing Twilight doing that, couldn't believe. That was not the sweet Twilight he knew and loved. It seemed to be a terrible dark version of her, as if she was being controlled by her own darkness.

"No, Twilight, stop!"

He tried to move, but it seemed that the damages caused to his star seed had limited his movements.

"He has to pay!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I know that, but look at what you're doing" Blue said. "You're about to do to him what he was about to do to me. Twilight, if you don't stop now, you’ll become what he is. Don't let him change what you are."

Blue’s words made Twilight hesitate, ceasing the attack that she was doing to Scale’s star seed.

"So, you're not going to continue?" he asked. "It seems that the princess of the Light Kingdom is not that tough as everypony thinks. Princess Aurora would not have hesitated to eliminate a threat to her kingdom, but it seems that her reincarnation is not trying to do the same thing. You're nothing but a shadow, a cheap imitation."

But Scale’s words had an even greater impact in Twilight, who failed in making his anger stop from growing. She prepared to cause further damage to his star seed.

"NO, TWILIGHT!" Blue Sword exclaimed.

When Twilight was about to attack once more, a little voice was heard calling:

"Mommy!"

That made Twilight look and saw that it was Star, who was watching from the diamond where Twilight had placed him.

"Mommy!" he called again.

From his little horn, Star released a small but intense light which reached Twilight. She then began to remember her happy memories of her true self. It was then that Heartbeat’s words sounded in her head: Your conscience must have the last world. The princess realized that there were other ways to end a threat to her kingdom that did not include becoming what she abhorred the most. She drifted away from Scale, who were released from Twilight’s telekinesis, and she ran up to her son. Getting there, she used a spell to free him and, when she held him in her hooves, Twilight told him:

"Thank you, my son."

And the two gave a big hug, with Star rubbing his face to his mother’s soft coat. Twilight then teleported herself and Star to Blue’s edge and the three gave a family hug.

"What would I do without you two?" she asked to her husband.

"Well, I don't think your life would be as wonderful as it is now" he replied.

That made Twilight release a laugh. Then her eyes went to Heartbeat. Seeing her turned into stone, Twilight realized that she still had another job to do: release and return the lights that Scale had stolen. She turned to him, approached him, saying:

"It's time to return what you took."

And, having said this, she began to use the spell that would take Scale’s stolen lights and return them to their respective owners. Scale’s star seed, although cracked by the abuse it suffered from Twilight, still glowed brightly. It was then that ten lights with different colors left. Twilight then concentrated and made her own star seed appear and made Heartbeat’s light leave it, collecting then the star seed.

With the ten taken lights now released, Twilight made them return to their respective owners. Heartbeat’s went straight to her and her star seed appeared, receiving the light. After that, the stone statue started to crack and became Heartbeat, whose star seed was collected. Realizing that she had been released, she turned to Twilight and told her:

"You did it!"

"Yes, with a little help" Twilight replied, making a gesture to the two stallions of her life.

The other lights soon returned to their respective star seeds. Once they did that, they released their owners, which have shown a great happiness to see they were freed. In addition, with Scale defeated, everything he had done was undone, like all those that he had frozen and who were subsequently unfrozen, or like Golden Paladin who has been released from the tree where he was stuck. Twilight’s six friends who were bind were released and they finally woke up. Seeing Twilight with Blue, Star and Heartbeat and Scale on the floor with his star seed cracked, Applejack asked:

"We've lost somethin’?"

That made everypony released a laugh. It didn't take long until the other Generals show up and make a bow to the royal family of the Light Kingdom.

"Thank you so much for everything you have done" Golden Paladin said.

"Golden, there's no need for these formalities" Twilight said, asking the Generals to stand up, something that they did. "We did everything together."

That made the Generals give a smile among them.

"And what's going to happen to that scum?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"He will be punished severely" a voice replied.

They turned and saw the Lord of Order appearing.

"Master" the non-corrupted Generals said, making a bow.

"Great, now you appear" Rainbow Dash said directly to the Lord of Order. "Couldn't you have come sooner?"

"Not while there was hope" he replied, looking then to Twilight, Blue and Star. "Something that apparently there was."

He turned to Scale and told him:

"Now us, Perfect Scale."

He approached him and, using his telekinesis, the Lord of Order lifted him in the air, holding him against the wall.

"It seems that sometime in the solitary of Tartarus weren't enough for you, and it seems that no punishment is" the Lord of Order said.

"Please, will you spend the part of the sermon?" Scale asked.

"Whatever you say, I shall communicate your punishment" the Lord of Order said. "Perfect Scale, from today on, you will no longer be the General of Balance."

That communication had shocked everypony, especially the Generals, as none of their group had never been removed from the position of General, but Scale was the most shocked.

"What?!" he exclaimed. "No, please! You can't do that!"

"I can, I will and I'm doing it” the Lord of Order said.

And he made a gesture and Scale’s light got out of his star seed and ended up in the Lord of Order’s hand. Without the light, Scale turned into black stone.

"Master" Golden Paladin called. "What are you going to do with Scale’s light?"

"Well, I'm going to create a new General of Balance, obviously" the Lord of Order replied. "Somepony more trustworthy than Scale."

"Oh, how exciting!" Heartbeat exclaimed. "A new General!"

"This isn’t a new one for centuries" Melody said.

"I wonder who will be" Purple Smoke said.

"You won't have to wait too long" the Lord of Order said. "I've decided who will inherit the light of balance."

And he turned to the royal family of the Light Kingdom, approached and then extended the light that was Scale’s to Blue.

"Me?" he asked to the Lord of Order.

"I can't think of anypony better" he replied. "You've proven your worth in several times. You managed to retrieve Golden Paladin’s star seed, passing its last defense; you tried to save Princess Twilight from having her star seed revealed by Fire Punch, risking becoming a dark pony; you saved Heartbeat from the nightmares created by Oogie Boogie, saving the Diamond Heart, and, today, you helped defeat Scale and also stopped Twilight from making the biggest mistake of her life. Given all this, I believe you will be a great General."

Despite the tempting invitation, Blue did not feel able to accept such a task. It was then that Golden Paladin said:

"It would be an honor to have you among our fraternity, Prince Blue Sword."

The other Generals nodded, agreeing.

"Completely" Heartbeat said.

"Come on, man, accept it" Rainbow Dash said. "It's not every day you have the opportunity to become a General of Order."

"He's the one who has to decide, Rainbow" Rarity said.

Blue tried to think quickly in a reply. He turned to Twilight, hoping she could help him, but she just gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him:

"The choice is yours to choose and doesn’t matter what you choose. I will always be by your side. As well as Star.

Star Knight hugged his father who hugged him back. It was then that Blue Sword decided:

"I accept."

"Very well" the Lord of Order said.

And he directed the light to Blue’s star seed. The light entered into the star seed and, doing so, it adopted Blue’s magic aura’s color. Its brightness then intensified and the cracks that have been created in the star seed disappeared.

"Congratulations, Blue Sword, from now on, you're the General of Balance" the Lord of Order said.

After he said it, Blue was bathed in hugs from Twilight, Star, Heartbeat, Leaf Mane, Melody, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike (Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Purple Smoke were the only ones who didn't join the group hug).

"I think now I can call you brother, isn't it?" Heartbeat said.

"Yes, I think so" Blue Sword replied.

"Hey, you know what this needs?" Pinkie asked.

"A party!" everypony exclaimed.

"Hey, I wanted to say that!" Pinkie Pie replied.

That made everyone come loose a lot of laughs.

Epilogue - Heartbeat's Special Gift

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

The Prison of Tartarus

Months had passed since the Light Kingdom was reawakened and Princess Twilight Sparkle had taken its leadership, along with her husband, Prince Blue Sword. Since this had happened, the world couldn't be more at peace. The Light Kingdom emitted its light, reaching the ponies’ hearts and purifying them slowly. The Generals of Order helped in this task, using their abilities to do so.

Heartbeat could balance the positive and negative emotions of the ponies so that none could cause no harm; Melody could enthrall everypony with her voice and her music, spreading calm and tranquility to create harmony; Purple Smoke helped the young foals to find their talents, although he did that discreetly and invisible, in addition to being the official Cutie Mark designer; Leaf Mane was the one responsible of making the coexistence between ponies and nature more enjoyable, besides having assumed her task as the main responsible of the season changing and guardian of the forests; Mirror Coat was the librarian of the Mirror Library and the one who organized all information that entered there, besides being responsible to share that information with the other beings and Golden Paladin had the responsibility of keeping the peace among the ponies and the other magical creatures and ensure that no war lasts for too long.

However, Golden Paladin has a different task that was more important than any other of his tasks. He has the mission to prevent all the villains that amazed that world and were now arrested into the greatest prison there, Tartarus, of stay free and come back to torment those who were once tormented by them. In fact, Tartarus was created by the General of Peace and its guardian, Cerberus, was Golden Paladin’s dog which was created by him on purpose to prevent that nothing and nopony from enter or leave unless its owner or other representatives of the Order. But of course there were other secrets in Tartarus.

On a dark night, months after the restoration of the Light Kingdom, Golden Paladin was waiting for somepony. It was then that, from the earth, arose a polished light blue metal mirror and this began to shine, becoming a portal. From it, Mirror Coat appeared bringing a pony as a prisoner, with his hooves connected to each other with chains and with a bag over his head.

"You took to long" Golden Paladin said to Mirror Coat.

"You know I have a lot of work with everything that has accumulated in the library over a millennium" he replied. "If you want to change jobs, just tell me."

Golden Paladin sighed and then said:

"Let's finish this."

They then entered in the cave with Mirror Coat holding the prisoner, who seemed to be doing enough strength. Then they began to hear growls. That made the prisoner remain motionless. It was then that Golden Paladin whistled three times and then they began to hear heavy steps and it was then that the guardian of the gates of Tartarus, Cerberus, appeared. He was running to Golden Paladin and then sat down, staying with his three tongues out. It seemed he was glad to see his owner.

"Hello, old friend" Golden Paladin greeted. "Long time no see."

The three heads barked in unison and Golden Paladin began to scratch his belly, something he received with immense pleasure.

"I never realized what you see in a monstrous dog with three heads" Mirror Coat commented. "If I'm not too fond to Orthrus..."

"But you don't have to like him, Mirror Coat" Golden Paladin replied. "You take care of your books and I take care of my prisoners. Which reminds me. Cerberus, memorize."

Cerberus then approached the prisoner and the three heads began to sniff him out, something that left the pony uncomfortable. After the Cerberus stop sniffing, he erected the heads and they barked together, what seemed to meaning he had understood.

"Good boy" Golden Paladin said. "Now, take us to the gates."

Cerberus began heading to where he was and Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and the pony followed him. They came to an end of the cave where there was huge gold gates.

"I can't believe you got this with so little security" Mirror Coat commented.

"What matters is the quality and not the quantity" Golden Paladin replied, who addressed to Cerberus to give him fondles. "And Cerberus has done a great job as a guard."

"Except for the part where he abandoned his post once” Mirror Coat commented, in a cynicism tone.

"Before he was a guard, he is a dog" Golden Paladin said. "All dogs need exercise."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Let's end this conversation and end up with what we came here to do."

And then Golden Paladin’s horn began to shine and then in front of him appeared a wonderful key that, surrounded by Golden Paladin’s yellow magic aura, inserted itself in the lock of the gates and then ran to the left. It was heard a click and then the gates began to open up, revealing something that was immensely spectacular and, at the same time, completely terrifying: the prison of Tartarus.

Just ahead of the gates there was a huge moat, big in width, infinite in length and with a river of lava in the bottom. On the other side of the moat, there was what looked like a huge golden tower, full of light. On the walls, it had what appeared to be cells, due to the bars. Larger cells were at ground level, while the lowest were over, always in descending order.

After Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and the mysterious pony arrived to the side of the moat, the General of Peace acceded to his magic and then yellow bricks came from the lava and began to form a bridge that connected each side. Once the bridge was ready, the three advanced and, as they did so, the bricks that were left behind fell and returned to the lava, so that, when they reached to the other side, there was no more bridge.

Then they continued to advance through the cells. In the largest cells, there was what appeared to be large creatures, whose eyes which appeared in the shadows were following them. It was then that one of the creatures released a torrent of fire that, upon reaching the bars simply didn’t pass, having reached a kind of magical barrier.

"I never get tired of watching the attempts of your prisoners" Mirror Coat commented, seeing the creature to cease fire.

"Thwarting their attempts is the only way to keep them where they are" Golden Paladin replied, while they continued to walk. "All the cells are properly prepared to accommodate each prisoner. The bars are also impenetrable, whether on the inside as on the outside."

They passed a large cell whose interior was a small water-filled moat. From the water gigantic tentacles arose and went in the direction of the two Generals of Order and their prisoner, but when they touched in the bars, they led with an electric shock that made them back off and go back into the water.

"Yes, I can never get tire of seeing this" Mirror Coat sighed.

They stopped and then Golden Paladin charged his horn once again with magic and then a pillar came up beneath them and brought them up, stopping in front of a cell with the perfect size to hold a pony and it was empty. After that, Golden Paladin invoked the same key and used it to open the gates of Tartarus and then its blade entered in one of the bars. The blade got in magically in it and then the cell just opened and Golden Paladin turned to the mysterious Pony and told him:

"Welcome to your new home. Make yourself comfortable, because you’ll stay here for a long time."

He took the bag off the pony’s head, revealing that it was Fire Punch, whose mouth had been magically sealed. Golden Paladin pushed him into the cell and after Fire Punch entered, the four chains that were holding his hooves annexed to the ground. After Golden Paladin closed the cell, the bars shone with a bright yellow, before Golden Paladin had removed the key. He then waved to Mirror Coat and he undid the magic that sealed Fire Punch’s lips. Once he was free from the spell, he began to say, exalted:

"You're going to regret bitterly for this! You can’t hold me here!"

"After all you did, believe me, the Lord of Order was very merciful" Golden Paladin replied. "Mirror Coat, recalls to our latest guest the reasons for we brought him to here."

"Well, where do I start?" Mirror Coat asked ironically. "Besides the fact you are an active servant of the Lord of Chaos, you did, well let's see… Oh, I know! First, you tried to conquer Equestria, using Princess Twilight and Prince Blue Sword’s marriage for that, not to mention that you stole all princess’ love to strengthen yourself. Second, you helped the Lord of Chaos in trying to steal the original star seed’s light and thus condemn the world to darkness and I would add the fact that you've turned innocent ponies into dark pony. And third... Well, you're the biggest jerk I've ever met and we don't want to suffer any more of your mannerisms and temper tantrums. Now, you're going to piss off the other prisoners, which will be beneficial, because their torture will be bigger."

That made Fire Punch look hastily to Mirror Coat. Golden Paladin then said to him:

"Now, I hope you to be a well-behaved pony and don't try anything funny. Believe me, you won't get out here. This cell will make sure you don't use any of your tricks to escape. Although, I think you’re not a threat anymore, without your wings and that horn you had, isn't it? But, if that happens, believe me it will be a lot worse. This part of Tartarus is a luxury compared to what's down there."

There was an exchange of hostile stares and then Golden Paladin turned back and then the pillar came back down and went back to solid ground. As they walked to the exit, Mirror Coat said:

"Well, you shouldn't really like the guy to threaten him with the solitary."

"He has to learn who's in charge here" Golden Paladin replied. "This is my prison, my responsibility."

"Yes, but..." Mirror Coat started. "You just threaten a prisoner with the solitary as last resort, because you don't like to go there because..."

"Don't you dare finish that sentence" Golden Paladin ordered.

Mirror Coat fell silent for a few seconds and then said:

"As you wish."

Golden Paladin continued to advance and Mirror Coat, after giving a sigh, followed him. They reached the moat and, while crossing the bridge, Mirror Coat asked:

"Will you go to the Great Galloping Gala tonight, in Canterlot?"

"Of course I will" Golden Paladin replied. "The prince and the princess will go to, so I have to go. You never know when the Evil can strike."

"You know, you should have more fun" Mirror Coat commented.

Upon arrival at the gates, Golden Paladin turned to Mirror Coat and asked him:

"You? Telling me to enjoy myself? Are you right, Mirror Coat? Since when did you care with the other’s amusement? You are the most geek of all of us. "

"I know that my idea of fun is different than the most of the ponies" Mirror Coat answered, while they go out of Tartarus and Golden Paladin began caressing his three-headed dog. "But I know you, brother, and I can tell when the excess work begins to change you."

Golden Paladin sighed and turned to his brother, admitting:

"You're right. I need to relax. I can go to the gala in duty, but that doesn't stop me from being able to have some fun. "

"This is the Golden Paladin I know" Mirror Coat replied. "Well, I'm leaving."

"See you at the gala?" Golden Paladin asked, while Mirror Coat began heading to the exit.

"Are you kidding?" Mirror Coat asked, continuing to walk. "I have a library to organize."

And, having said that, he waved to Golden Paladin, while continuing to walk, and then disappeared. Golden Paladin giggled and then turned to the Cerberus and told him:

"Well, lad, the owner have to go. Take care of this and keep doing the good work."

The Cerberus responded with a bark, coming from each one of the heads, and then Golden Paladin also began heading to the exit of the cave.

Sitting on his throne, the Lord of Chaos was seeing through one of his mirrors Golden Paladin leaving the cave where the entrance to Tartarus was.

"So that's where Tartarus is" the Lord of Chaos said. "A place full of the most dangerous and evil followers of mine. I've got what I need, at least in terms of information. All I need is one more thing, the thing that will allow me to complete my goal."

And, with a snap of fingers, he made the image of Golden Paladin’s key appeared.

"As soon as I get my hands on Tartarus, nothing and nopony will stop me from smite everything and everypony I want with my anger and revenge. Nopony laugh at me. Everypony will pay for everything!

And then he gave the most evil of all his laughters.

Author's Note

I hope you had enjoyed this first of many chapters. This was just an introduction and I'll try to post new chapters as soon as I can.

The Predators of the Night, Part I – The Alpha

The Lord of Chaos was in his room in Tartarus, sitting on his throne, trying to think in a new plan. After the failure with the Krylock, he had to come up with a better plan. He had to choose a better villain.

It was then that the door to his room opened and Fire Punch came in, cautiously, saying:

"Master, I…"

"Shut up, you idiot" the Lord of Chaos answered sharply. "Can't you see I'm thinking?"

"I'm so sorry, your lordship" Fire Punch said, bowing his head respectfully. "But I was wondering, since you have nothing to me, I could go for a brief walk around the exterior. It’s almost dark and, tonight, it's full moon and I like make walks on a night like this to clear my head. "

When he listened what Fire Punch had just said, the Lord of Chaos lifted his head. An idea began to form in his head. Seeing the Lord of Chaos was staring at him, Fire Punch asked:

"Is something wrong, sir?"

"What did you say?" the Lord of Chaos asked to his subordinate.

"Uh, I asked you how you were..." Fire Punch started.

"No, idiot! About the moon."

"Well, I said the moon would be round tonight and…"

But the Lord of Chaos, raised his hand, causing Fire Pinch to shut up, and adopted his thoughtful air.

"Sir, did I say something wrong?" Fire Punch asked.

"No, my dear Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos replied. "Actually, you gave me a great idea."

"I am very happy to hear that, master" Fire Punch said, happy. "Does that means I can go out and…"

"Don't push your luck" the Lord of Chaos answered him.

That made Fire Punch stay quiet again.

Leaning against his chair, the Lord of Chaos made a gesture, making one of his mirrors appear and then the image of a stallion earth pony appeared. He was very attractive, having the same size as Shining and Blue. He had a dark moderate red coat, a very dark desaturated red mane, slightly desaturated orange coatless hooves and golden eyes. His Cutie Mark was a full moon behind three small clouds.

"Yes, my lord?" he asked, making a bow.

"Hello, Shadow Claw, how are you?" the Lord of Chaos asked.

"Better now that I'm free and not in my cell" Shadow Claw replied. "All because of you."

"Fire Punch, let me introduce you Shadow Claw, one of your fellow villains" the Lord of Chaos said.

"Uh, hello, it's a pleasure to..." Fire Punch started saying to Shadow Claw.

But he simply made a canine growl to Fire Punch that made him stop and say:

"Okay..."

Shadow Claw turned to the Lord of Chaos and asked him, making a bow:

"What do you want, my master?"

"I need you for my new plan. Bearing in mind that tonight the moon is round, your skills will be useful."

"Yes" Shadow Claw answered. "What do you want me to do?"

"Something that will certainly spread the chaos" the Lord of Chaos replied "And, at the same time, you may have the opportunity to take revenge against who arrested you."

That made a naughty smile appear on Shadow Claw’s face. He said:

"It seems excellent to me."

It was full moon night in Hollow Shades. Thunder Night was wandering around in the dark forest, enjoying his night off. With him was one of his thestral friends. Both had been talking about the big event that was going to happen.

"Do you really go see the Summer Sun Celebration?" Thunder Night’s friend asked.

"Yes, Fluttershy invited me" he replied. "And Princess Luna gave me these nights off, so…"

"Yes, but, man, you know what the Sun does to us."

"Don't worry. I can handle a little sun. This is not the first time that I'm a long time under it. Besides Fluttershy will introduce me to her friends."

"I still can't believe you two are dating for almost a year and she hasn't introduced you to her friends" Thunder Night’s friend said.

"Fluttershy is very shy and reserved" Thunder Night replied. "Besides that, with the problems that happened with the return of the Light Kingdom and Princess Twilight now living there, she has been putting off."

It was then that they heard a scream coming from a certain distance.

"But what was that?" Thunder Night’s friend asked.

"Somepony needs help" Thunder Night said.

And then he and his friend went rescue the pony who needed help. When they arrived, they were shocked with what they saw. One of the ponies who lived in the village of Hollow Shades was lying on the ground, unconscious, with bites on his body. At his side, were two ponies and a thestral, both Thunder Night’s acquaintances, but they were different. Their ears were pointy and wider, and the thestral’s tail was now covered by fur. Their hooves were missing and now they were feet with sharp claws and the teeth were razor-sharp now. They eyes had now a yellow iris with narrow pupils and the sclera was black.

"But what the hell..." Thunder Night’s friend started.

They then turned to the two of them and started snarling them.

"I think they are not recognizing us" Thunder Night’s friend said.

"But what happened to them?" Thunder Night asked.

"I happened to them" a voice said.

The two looked at each other and then are faced with Shadow Claw, being that he had the same look as the other three, although much more intimidating.

"Who are you?" Thunder Night asked.

"My name doesn't matter" Shadow Claw answered. "What really matters is that you're going to call me your leader."

"Yes, sure" Thunder Night said ironically.

"Don’t you believe?" Shadow Claw asked. "Your friends also didn't believe me until I made them think in a different way."

"What did you do with them?!" Thunder Night asked.

"What I’ll go to do with you" Shadow Claw replied. "I'll give you a new life. Watch how this pony joins my pack."

He gestured to the pony lying on the ground. It was then that the full moon came out from behind the clouds and lit up everything it could reach, including the pony. It was then that his body began to change, starting to look exactly like the others, while his wounds healed. His yellow eyes opened and he stood up, starting then howling. The others followed his example. Thunder Night and his friend were astounded by what they had just seen.

"Now, it's time for your conversion" Shadow Claw told to Thunder Night and his friend. "Attack!"

And the turned ponies and the thestral started running in Thunder Night and his friend’s direction.

"Run!" Thunder Night exclaimed.

The two started running as fast as they could, but it seemed that they weren't able to distance themselves from the more they ran, most they tired, but the creatures didn’t seem to be tiring.

Thunder Night’s friend, so tired he was, began to slow down, which was fatal, because the creatures that were once their friends, got him. Realizing that, Night Thunder tried to help him, but Shadow Claw appeared in front of him with an amazing speed, saying while the caught thestral was being bitten:

"Your friend is mine now. There's nothing you can do."

Thunder Night looked and then he saw with horror his friend becoming the same kind of creature than the others.

"But don't worry" Shadow Claw continued. "You will join him soon."

Knowing he couldn't do anything about the turned ponies and thestrals, Thunder Night continued to flee. Shadow Claw smiled and he and his monsters followed him. While he ran, Thunder Night realized he had to go ask for help. He couldn't go to the village because it would only put the others in danger, so he realized it could only go out of Hollow Shades.

He ran to the edge of the forest and, upon arriving there, he saw that the sun was starting to rise up. He got out of the forest, being hit by the sunbeams and feeling the painful effect that they caused. When Shadow Claw and his followers arrived at the end of Hollow Shades, they stopped when they saw the Sun rising up.

Thunder Night dared to take a peek back and then saw, to great amazement, that, when the Sun barely touched them, they came back to normal, including Shadow Claw. For a moment, he thought his friends were coming back to normal, but they remained alongside Shadow Claw, as if they were in a trance state. He knew his thestral friends wouldn't follow him under the Sun and it seemed that Shadow Claw was not able to follow that way. Thunder Night then opened his wings and flew as far as possible.

In the Light Kingdom, Twilight was sitting on her throne with Blue by her side, while Mirror Coat and Golden Paladin were at the end of the stairs to the throne. The General of Peace had been explaining how had obtained the objects to arrest the villains. After explaining how he did it, he tried to explain how they worked.

"Every life cell can contain one and only one villain" he said, showing some life cells. "They can adapt to the villain which hold in order to disable any form of escape, in the same way that the cells of Tartarus work."

"And how does the cell blaster work?" Blue asked.

"Well, the cell blaster serves to accomplish the capture and, of course, we need to put the cell on the front tip" Golden Paladin replied, invoking the object. "For that, you need to load the cell blaster with magic, something that can only be done by me, Princess Twilight and the other Generals of Order. In the hooves of another pony will be useless. Is a way to limit the users to the Lord of Chaos can’t stop us."

"And after capturing the villain, we arrest it in that book, right?" Mirror Coat asked.

"Yes" Golden Paladin said, calling the prison-book and grabbing it with his hooves. "It has an unlimited number of pages that are used to trap the villains."

He opened a specific part where one of the pages was a cell with iron bars where there was the Krylock. It seemed to be a kind of window, because they could see the Krylock moving from one side to the other in the cell. On the aside page was the identification of the creature.

"It is a way to keep them captive until we recover Tartarus" Golden Paladin continued. "It can withstand the power of any life cell."

"Doesn't sound very difficult" Blue commented. "We just have to find the bad guys and then we use the cell blaster to arrest them."

"It won't be so easy, Prince Blue Sword" Golden Paladin said, while making the summoned objects disappear. "For starters, most of the villains are not like the regular ones. They are evil and intelligent beings, perhaps more than the enemies you've ever faced. And now they have their master’s help, so the task will be even more complicated. In addition, it is necessary to weaken the villain in order to be easier to absorb them into the life cell."

"For more powerful a weapon is, there are always setbacks attached with it" Mirror Coat commented.

"Golden Paladin, where will you put the life cells, the prison-book and the cell blaster?" Twilight asked.

"In a vault placed in the deepest part of the dungeons, immune to any access from the inside or from the outside without being with magic from an order servant, namely mine, yours, Princess, and of my siblings’" Golden Paladin explained.

"Wait, we have dungeons?" Blue asked, not wanting to believe.

"They are underneath the kingdom” Mirror Coat answered. "They were used prior to the creation of Tartarus. Since then, they were no longer necessary and the ponies ended up forgetting its existence, except us, of course. "

"I also put Cerberus guarding the vault" Golden Paladin added. "Don’t worry, Princess Twilight, because Melody and I assure you that, in that hallway, no music will be heard, not even hers."

"I trust you, Golden Paladin" Twilight said.

It was then that the same alarm that rang when Krylock attacked Ponyville played again, although with less intensity than last time (Heartbeat had corrected taht part of her spell).

"The alarm" Twilight said. "There is a villain activity. On top near the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Take it easy, Twily" Blue said. "It could be a coincidence. We don't know if Ponyville will be attacked again."

"You're right, but, nevertheless, it is my duty…" Twilight started.

"Don't worry, Princess" Golden Paladin said. "We will discover what it is and we'll try to work things out."

"Yes, let's go watch the celebration" Mirror Coat said. "After all, we're the General of Peace and the General of Knowledge."

Although Twilight was still apprehensive with everything, she eventually accepted, waving. The two generals then turned, while Mirror Coat invoked one of his mirror portals and the two passed through it.

"Well, we better get packing to go to Ponyville" Blue said.

"You're right" Twilight answered. "There's so much to organize. I can't believe that Princess Celestia has put me in charge of the celebration organization."

"She knows how much you love to have an excuse to go to Ponyville" Blue said. "Which is good, because, after the celebration be organized, we can have fun as a normal family: you, me and Star."

That made Twilight smile and say:

"Yes, you're right."

In Ponyville, the sun was already high. Fluttershy was in the middle of her task to feed her animals.

"Alright, little ones" she said to a few birds, while she put food into their houses. "Here's your food."

The birds were soon eating and then Fluttershy put on the ground bowls full of a lot variety of food.

"You can also come eat too" she said to the other animals, which started eating, even Angel ate his food, passing to appreciate better the vegetables.

Fluttershy observed them eating satisfied. It was then that somepony knocked heavily at the door, something that made the yellow pegasus startle. Hesitant, she approached the door and slowly stretched the hoof to the doorknob and pulled it, opening the door. She was shocked when she faced with Thunder Night lying on the ground barely conscious, full of wounds and completely exhausted.

"Thunder Night!" she exclaimed, crouching to stay at the same level as him.

Thunder Night then raised his gaze to Fluttershy and told her with a smile:

"I’m glad to see you. I thought I couldn't get here in time."

"Thundy, you have been flying again during the day" Fluttershy said, helping Thunder Night to get in, repairing the burns he had through his body. "And it was for a long time, as far as I can see. What was wrong with you?"

"Believe me, I didn't want to do it" Thunder Night replied, moaning slightly due to the pain he felt, while Fluttershy helped him lay down on the couch. "I had to run away from Hollow Shades."

"Run away?" Fluttershy repeated, while she was in a rush to close all the curtains, so that the room could be dark enough for Thunder Night. "What happened?"

Thunder Night took a few seconds to answer, due to his injuries, but then he said:

"You won't believe what happened?"

But before he could say anything else, he fainted.

"Thunder Night!" Fluttershy called, extremely worried about her coltfriend’s health.

She led her hoof to his forehead and she saw that he was burning with fever.

Shadow Claw came to Ponyville via train, going to the village, and started to see the ponies preparing things for the long-awaited Summer Sun Celebration. The stage with the statues of the Sun and the Moon was already ready. Seeing all that, Shadow Claw felt a frenzied anger appearing. But he managed to control himself, remembering the important mission that the Lord of Chaos had given him.

During the conversation between Shadow Claw and the Lord of Chaos...

"What's on your mind, master?" Shadow Claw asked.

"The Summer Sun Celebration will be on the third night of this full moon week" the Lord of Chaos said. "It's the perfect opportunity for your revenge against Celestia, the one that put you in a cell in Tartarus for centuries."

Shadow Claw's face twitched with rage and then he asked:

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to make a pack of pony-wolves and then to kidnap Celestia before she lifts the Sun" the Lord of Chaos replied. "It is crucial to do it in that moment."

"What do you want me to do to her?" Shadow Claw asked.

"Whatever you want" the Lord of Chaos replied, making a naughty smile appear on Shadow Claw’s face. "But make sure she does not escape nor be able to use magic. So the Sun won’t be able to rise up and all the world will be plunged into an eternal night, an eternal full moon night."

"And Princess Luna?" Shadow Claw asked. "She can't control the Moon. And there is also the other princesses, and one of them is the Princess of the Light Kingdom."

"You don't have to worry about her, about both of them" the Lord of Chaos replied. "I know exactly what to do."

Shadow Claw was ready to crank his master's plan. With his ponie-wolves ready to convert more ponies in the next night, he would have an army to be able to capture Princess Celestia. However, he had to study the ground well and ensure that everything was fine.

He looked around. All the ponies were immensely busy trying to prepare the Summer Sun Celebration, but were also quite excited, maybe due to the fact that the four alicorn princesses would occupy the event. It was then that his eyes found a mare that he found truly interesting.

It was Rarity who was heading to her shop, carrying bags full of fabric. She could take a few of them with her magic, but she had to take the others on her back, something that looked like she was not enjoying it at all. Shadow Claw made a smile. He could be on a mission, but why shouldn't he entertain himself a little while waiting for the Summer Sun Celebration night? Especially with a very beautiful mare.

"I can't believe my luck" Rarity said, while she was trying to keep the bags over her back balanced. "I have nopony to help me take the bags and I have a lot to do with the decor. Of course Applejack and Fluttershy are busy with their chores for the celebration and Pinkie Pie's out there being... herself. But Rainbow Dash could give me a hoof, since she just has to keep the sky clear, but no, the lazy girl has to rest on top of a cloud..."

But it was then that she tripped lightly, making her drop the bags that were on top of the back.

"Good, it was just what I needed" Rarity mumbled.

She prepared to pick up the bags, when some hooves caught them first and raised up.

"Here you go, miss" a deep and smooth voice said.

Rarity looked and then faced Shadow Claw. How she didn't know who he really was, she didn't hide her reaction on meeting a stallion so handsome as Shadow Claw. What she particularly loved in him were the deep eyes and his energetic and seductive smile that made her smile, too, although embarrassingly.

"Oh... thank you very much" Rarity thanked, as she prepared to receive them.

"No way" Shadow Claw said. "A young and beautiful mare like you can't carry that much weight."

"Oh, thank you" Rarity thanked again, blushing slightly. "You are a true gentlecolt."

"Please, is part of the rules of good manners" Shadow Claw answered. "I can't let you hurt your beautiful hooves."

And he then took one of Rarity’s hooves and kissed it, making her give giggles.

"My name is Shadow Claw" the pony-wolf presented himself. "What's your name?"

"R-Rarity" she stuttered.

"Rarity..." Shadow Claw repeated, massaging Rarity’s hoof with his other hoof. "The name lives up to your beauty. You are a rare and beautiful flower amidst many other normal flowers."

Rarity wanted to pass out, hearing all the praise that Shadow Claw was doing to her.

"That's very nice of you, Mr. Shadow Claw" Rarity replied.

"I’m just telling the truth" he replied. "Now, let me help you take these bags."

Shadow Claw then took Rarity’s bags to Carousel Boutique.

"Well, here we are" said Rarity, while she and Shadow Claw got in. "I know it's not very big, but at least it has a lot of style."

"I agree" Shadow Claw answered, landing the bags. "Taking into account who lives here."

That made Rarity give another giggle.

"Mr. Shadow Claw, you’re very flattering" she said.

"Please, Mr. makes things very formal" Shadow Claw said, approaching Rarity. "Just call me Shadow Claw."

"Well, whatever you want… Shadow Claw" Rarity replied.

The two looked at each other intensely. They then approached each other and, when they were in front of each other, their muzzles began approaching. It was then that...

"Rarity, I'm home!" a voice said.

The doorbell rang and Rarity distanced herself from Shadow Claw, going to her little sister who had just arrived.

"Sweetie Belle, I thought you were going to Apple Bloom’s house" Rarity replied.

"I was to go, but Apple Bloom had to go help her brother and sister because the Summer Sun Celebration" the filly replied.

She then noticed Shadow Claw.

“Who is he, sis?” Sweetie Belle asked.

"My savior" Rarity replied. "He helped me bring the shopping bags."

"I just did what anypony would done" Shadow Claw said. "Well, I think it's time to go."

He took Rarity’s hoof and kissed it, causing her to blush and make a charmed smile. He then passed by Sweetie Belle who couldn't stop observing her. After he left, the filly said then to her older sister:

"I don't like him."

"Sweetie, don't be rude" Rarity said, using her magic to get what was in the bags and places it in its place. "Shadow Claw is a true gentlecolt."

"He may be so, but I still don't like him at all" Sweetie Belle said. "I hope you're not planning to meet him again."

And having said that, she went upstairs to go to the bedroom she occupied when she was in her sister's house.

"Fillies..." Rarity said.

Shadow Claw left Rarity’s boutique and advanced towards the outskirts of the village, where the Everfree Forest was. When he got there, he found a pony covered by a cloak waiting. He advanced to him, and when he got there, the pony said:

"You're late."

"Let's just say I had... a compromise" Shadow Claw replied.

Then the pony took the hood of his cloak, revealing Fire Punch.

"This is not the kind of walk that I was expecting, but at least I can be out of Tartarus and still do a favor to our master" Fire Punch said.

"Enough talking, Fire Punch" Shadow Claw said gruffly. "Give me what you came to deliver me."

“As you wish, little doggie” Fire Punch said, smiling.

Fire Punch then took from his cloak a little ancient chest that Shadow Claw received.

"Finally" he said, smiling. "With this, I will be able to regain the power I had once."

"I hope you have lots of fun" Fire Punch said, putting the hood. "But don't forget to do what the master told you to do."

And it was then that Fire Punch was involved in darkness and disappeared.

"You don't have to worry about" Shadow Claw said. "My plan will succeed and not only will fulfill the Lord of Chaos’ will, as I will have also all what I wish."

And he laughed.

Author's Note

And this is the first part of this special chapter. The second will be post soon.

The Return of the Sirens, Part IV - Rainbooms VS Dazzlings

Everything was ready for the Autumn Equinox Ball and, consequently, to the final battle of the Battle of the Bands. The ponies were beginning to fill the seats in front of the stage. The royal family also took up their seats in the royal tribune. Among the royalty were: Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor and Blue Sword.

"Well, but who would say we are about to watch a battle of the bands" Shining said. "I always thought Melody didn’t like that kind of thing."

"Yeah, me too" Cadance said. "It's a little strange."

"Strange is an understatement" said Luna. "We met Melody there a long time and she never liked a music competition."

"Maybe she decided to try new things" Celestia said. "After all, sometimes the competition can be healthy."

Blue was the one who said nothing. He knew Twilight was trying to solve a problem that had arisen in Melody’s studio. She had told him not to worry, but it had already spent a lot of time.

"Are you okay, Blue?" Shining asked, noting the thoughtfully air of his best friend.

"What?" He asked, before awakening to reality. "Yes I am."

"It's a shame that Twilight couldn’t have come to watch this" Cadance said. "She would enjoy it so much."

"Yes, maybe" Blue said, somewhat nervously.

The Lord of Chaos watched the scene with great joy.

"Within a few minutes, Fire Punch, the Sirens will perform and recover their original power" he said. "And then we will attack the Light Kingdom in full force. Purple Smoke and Heartbeat will not have the slightest chance, and when the Light Kingdom fall into my hands, I'll take the original star seed from Princess Twilight and this world will be mine!"

And he laughed.

"But, master, what about the other alicorn princesses?" Fire Punch asked. "They will be able to get in the way. Not to mention Shining Armor and Blue Sword and the Royal Guard."

"Do not worry your little brain with that, Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos replied. "It's handled."

Then the stage curtains opened to start the end of the Battle of the Bands, Trixie and the Illusions appeared and started acting with "Tricks Up My Sleeve".

Under the stage, the Rainbooms (with Twilight back to her true form) were all seated and quiet due to being attached. That stage was built so that nothing could broke it, not even magic. But there was one of them that was not quiet: Rainbow Dash. She kept moving from one place to another trying to break into either the trapdoor as the door, but always without success.

“Give it up, Rainbow Dash” Applejack said to her. “Ya've been tryin' at this fer hours. It's not gonna open.”

Rainbow Dash so stopped, convinced finally she wouldn’t manage to open the door.

“Maybe it doesn't even matter that we're trapped down here” Twilight said, saddly. “I don't think the counter-spell would have worked anyway.”

“Of course it would have work’d, Twilight” Applejack said to her, with a smile, putting a hoof on her shoulder, turning them to Rainbow Dash with a no so happy face. “Assumin' a certain band member didn't try tah hog tha spotlight tha whole time we were tryin' tah play it!”

“Hey, if you wanna tell Twilight she's getting a little too caught up trying to be the new leader of this band, you don't have to be all cryptic about it” Rainbow Dash said.

That made Twilight’s guilt come up and she retreated against the wall against her, while Rarity advanced and told to Rainbow Dash:

“She was talking about you, Rainbow Dash!”

“Me?!” Rainbow Dash asked. “I'm just trying to make sure my band rocks as hard as it needs to!”

“OUR BAND!!" the other four exclaimed, for Rainbow Dash’s annoyance.

“But how did this happened?” Twilight said to herself, against the wall. “I should know what to do. How could I not know what to do? How could I have failed like this?”

Meanwhile, her friends started a arguing.

“It might've been yer idea tah start a band, but it's not jest your band, Rainbow Dash!”

“I'm tha one who writes all the songs!” Rainbow Dash said.

It was with that last drop that Fluttershy finally exploded:

“I write songs! You just never let us play any of them!”

“I had the most perfect outfits for us to wear!” Rarity said.

“Again with tha costumes!” Applejack said, rolling her eyes. “No one cares what we're wearin'!”

“I care, Applejack!” Rarity answered her. “So sorry if I enjoy trying to make a creative contribution to the band!”

“Hey, Anybody here remember fun?!” Pinkie asked, yelling, appearing in the middle. “I'll give you a hint: It's the exact opposite of being in the Rainbooms!"

“I wish I never asked any of you to be in my band!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed to her friends.

“I wish I'd never agreed to be in it!!” Rarity answered.

“Me neither!” Applejack and Fluttershy agreed.

And the five began to argue intensely. They didn’t know, but, in doing so, they were generating a great amount of negative energy that began to ascend to the stage.

"Look at that, Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos said, seeing the five friends arguing. "It appears that their dear friendship it’s about to crumble like a house of cards, while Twilight Princess does nothing, full of guilt and self-pity."

"Amazing" Fire Punch said. "With all that negative energy..."

"Yes, certainly the Sirens will have enough energy to spread disharmony throughout this world, a world that I will rule."

And he laughed.

On stage, Trixie and her band were finishing their performance, doing it with a huge explosion of fire fireworks that captivated the audience who applauded them.

They went to the backstage where the Dazzlings were waiting their turn to act. As she passed by them, Trixie told them haughtily:

“Try to top that.”

“Oh, gosh!” Adagio exclaimed, sarcastically. “I don't know if we can!”

She and her sisters laughed, but Adagio quickly stop it and the three noticed the amount of negative energy that was coming under the stage where the Rainbooms were, what made them change evil smiles between each other.

Then came their turn, entering the stage singing, while everypony turned their attention to their performance and in complete silence, looking immensely fascinated by the Sirens’ voices. The Dazzlings, as they sang, absorbed all the negative energy generated by the Rainbooms.

"Well, those girls are really good" Shining commented. "They sing very well."

"In fact" Cadance agreed.

But Celestia and Luna didn’t say anything, they were more concentrated in the Sirens that in their performance. Then, to their great shock, they recognized them.

"Oh no, this is not good" Luna said.

"What's up?" Cadance asked.

"We have to stop those ponies" Celestia said.

But before she or her sister could do something, the royalty was surrounded by nothing more and nothing less, than Golden Paladin, Mirror Coat and Leaf Mane.

"I don’t think so, Princess Celestia" Golden Paladin said. "You won’t go anywhere."

Celestia then noticed the green glow that the three generals’ eyes had.

"Golden Paladin, but what's wrong with you three?" Blue asked.

"They are not theirselves, Blue Sword" Celestia said. "They are being controlled."

"Controlled?" Cadance asked. "By who?"

"By the Sirens" Celestia said.

Under the stage, Twilight’s friends continued arguing and generating more negative energy, while the Princess of the Light Kingdom remained motionless with her head down and leaning against the wall. Then a voice called:

"Twilight."

She lifted her head and saw the Order of the Lord sitting beside her.

"Lord of Order!" she exclaimed, before returning to her sorrow. "I'm so sorry. I disappointed you. I disappointed everypony."

"Why do you think that?" the Lord of the Order asked.

"Because I could not stop Dazzlings and now they will recover their power and conquer this world to your brother" Twilight replied.

"Twilight, you can’t let me down, because I know you can reverse the situation" the Lord of Order said.

"How?" Twilight asked.

"To begin with, you have to stop it" the Lord of Order said. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself. This doesn’t solve anything. And second, you can solve that."

He pointed to Twilight’s friends. When she saw her friends arguing, she was shocked.

"My friends..." she said. "But how...?"

"I think you were too busy doing the song to stop the Dazzlings, that you didn’t notice what was happening between your friends" the Lord of Order said. "The divisions that were emerging between them and the Dazzlings explored and played with.

Then Twilight realized it.

"That's why they made us to pass to the final" Twilight said. "They wanted Trixie to prevent us from perform so my friends could turn against each other and so they could feed from their negative energy."

"Did you remember the lead that I gave you about Melody’s secret?" the Lord of the Order asked.

Twilight thought for a bit and then realized it.

"My friends... They are the answer."

"Yes, but for the magic to happen, there must be harmony" the Lord of Order said. "Small discussions can strengthen relationships. But to do so, they will have to be treated and cured. Otherwise, even the slightest wound could infect and contaminate the entire body."

Twilight realized what he meant and then told him as she arose:

"I will not let that happen."

"This is Twilight I know" the Lord of Order said.

"But why are you helping us?" Twilight said. "I thought you'd let us solve things by ourselves."

"My brother decided to turn the game by starting using the top 6 of Tartarus" the Lord of Order answered. "I know he just bring this war to a new level which can lead to the complete corruption of this world. I cannot let that happen. And I hope you don’t let it too."

And having said that, he disappeared.

“Stop!” Twilight exclaimed to her friends, managing to stop their arguing. “You have to stop! This is what they've been after all along! They're feeding off of the magic inside us!”

“How can they be usin’ our magic?” Applejack asked. “It's tha magic of friendship.”

“Ever since you started this band, you've been letting little things get to you” Twilight said to her friends. “I also can't believe all this tension was happening right under my nose and I didn't realize it until it was too late. But now I see that if you don't work out even the smallest problems right at the start, the magic of friendship can be turned into something else. I'm supposed to be the one with all the answers. And all I've done since I got here to stop the Dazzlings is let you down. I still have a lot to learn, but I know I can count on my friends to help me find them.

Twilight’s words seemed to have reached her friends who exchanged their angry faces for smiles full of joy. Then Twilight told to all:

“C'mon! We need to get out of here!”

And the six together tried to break down the door, but that was when it opened and Spike appeared.

“Spike!” the six exclaimed.

“Sorry I took so long” Spike said. “But Purple Smoke and Heartbeat only realized you were trap a few moments ago. Normally, it’s Mirror Coat that does this kind of things. They send me to release you, as they were still trying to recover Melody’s voice and also afraid of the Sirens’ voices.”

It was then that Twilight hugged Spike and said to him:

“Thanks, Spike, you’re teally a good friend.”

“Come on, y'all!” Applejack said to her friends. “Time to prove we've still got the magic of friendship inside us.”

“And there's only one way to do it” Twilight said.

“We're getting the band back together?” Pinkie Pie asked.

We're getting our band back together” Rainbow Dash answered, what make Pinkie Pie extremely happy.

“Whee!” she exclaimed.

“Which version of the counter-spell are we going to play?” Rarity asked.

“I don't think it matters what song we play, as long as we play it together as friends” Twilight said.

“I know just the song” Rainbow Dash said in a way that made her friends wondering if she went to suggest some of her egocentric songs. “Fluttershy's written a really great one.”

That made the little and pregnant yellow pegasus to smile with tears on her eyes.

“We're about to save the world here” Applejack said. “Personally, I think we should do it in style. Rarity?”

“I thought you'd never ask!” she exclaimed, going to get her cloth cart where she had her last and final costumes to her friends to wear.

The Dazzlings continued to sing their song, fascinating everypony as royalty couldn’t do anything because they were surrounded by the three Generals.

At the top of a building nearby, the Rainbooms appeared with the dresses that Rarity had created and with their instruments to play. But there was a problem.

“How are we supposed to play over them from up here?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh, by the way, Melody said to me to give you this” Spike said, taking an orange light ball. “She said that would be usefull.”

It was then that the light ball raise in the air and formed a big stereo that marveled the Rainbooms.

Then something began to happen. The Dazzlings’ power reached its peak and they launched into the air great red sound waves that put the ponies who heard them in a trance state. They also began to glow with a red light while being lifted into the air and enveloped by the light. When it cleared, the Sirens appeared with a new look. Their manes were fluid and on their backs it had emerged translucent fin-shaped wings.

However, something interrupted their immense happiness of having their power in full. It was a song that was completely opposed to theirs and that was beginning to drown out their voices. The Dazzlings looked around to see where it was coming from and then Aria pointed to a building and they saw the Rainbooms playing and singing a song written by Fluttershy with Twilight as the lead singer. Their song began to release the ponies of the trance state and make them concentrate on their music.

When Rainbooms reached the pinnacle of their song, they managed to free the magic Melody had given to them that involved them in rainbow light that changed their appearance, giving them rainbow-marked coats, manes and tails.

When she saw how much they were taking that seriously, Adagio said with a smile:

“So the Rainbooms want to turn this into a real Battle of the Bands? Then let's battle!”

She, Aria and Sonata continued to sing, recovering the ponies’ attention. So their power took such high proportions that their eyes became completely red, while their pendants were connected by a spark of magic that created an explosion of light, turning the Sirens into their true forms with tail fins instead of hind legs and with their pendants attached to their chest, to the great shock of the Rainbooms.

The Dazzlings advanced against them, surrounding them, which generated some concern between the Rainbooms. When the Sirens were preparing to attack, Pinkie Pie began to play intensely her drum, which made the stereo release amplified sound waves that made the Sirens disperse and cancel their tackle. Rarity played her keytar, releasing several diamonds like her Cutie Mark that hit Aria, causing her to retreat. Fluttershy shook her tambourine, creating a great amount of butterflies made of pink light she launched against Sonata that roared when she felt them. Twilight achieved a high note that invoked several stars of white and violet light that launched against Adagio.

But she would not allow the Rainbooms to win and then she also reached her highest note that launched sound waves that scattered the stars and made Twilight protect herself and be dragged a few feet back. She scowled at Adagio, but Sonata and Aria joined her and the three sang the same high note, releasing more sound waves that pushed Twilight further back, while she and her friends were trying to protect themselves from the power of the Sirens’ voices. It was then that the strength was such that the Rainbooms were thrown to the ground, while Twilight dropped the microphone that fell on the ground some distance from them.

It seemed that the battle was decided, with the Dazzlings exhibiting big smiles. Then, it happened. Somepony came up and grabbed Twilight’s fallen microphone, while a song began to play through the stereo. Everypony looked and saw with great joy that it was Melody who started singing, having recovered her voice. Twilight and her friends were immensely happy to see her, but the Dazzlings twisted their angry face when they saw their old enemy.

Melody encouraged Twilight and the other and then the princess and the General began to sing together while the others continued to play their instruments, also adding their voices to the music. The Dazzlings attacked again, but the combined voices of the Rainbooms and Melody create a burst of colored light that hit the Dazzlings and made them return to the stage, returning to their hybrid form, while the ponies were freed from the influence of the Sirens, including the Generals.

With Melody singing again, her light intensified and so did Twilight’s and the other’s and the seven were raised off the ground with them launching into the air a rainbow that formed a ball of colored light where wings of pure light appeared. The ponies in the audience sang with them, as well as the royalty. The Dazzlings could not believe what they were seeing, but became without reaction when they saw that from the ball of colored light appeared an alicorn of white light with a fluid rainbow mane which launched a rainbow from its horn that hit them and involved them in an explosion of light.

When the light faded with the end of the song, the Dazzlings were fallen on the stage floor, back to their earth pony forms. Their pendants were lying on the ground, completely shattered and with the magic within them dissipating. Seeing this, the Dazzlings rose, with Adagio taking the shards of her pendant, and tried to sing again. But instead of sing with melodious and mesmerizing voices, they sang with shrill and tuneless voices that made the audience booing them. They started throwing food against the Dazzlings who rushed to leave, but their path was blocked by Purple Smoke and Heartbeat.

"Look who we got here, Heartbeat" Purple Smoke said. "The Sirens."

"I think you mean the new birds of our cage" Heartbeat said.

"Yes, you are quite right" Purple Smoke said.

He invoked the cell blaster and shot at Sonata, that started to be sucked it into the cell life that was there. When she was completely sucked, Purple Smoke invoked the prison-book and put the life cell in there. Adagio and Aria tried to escape, while Purple Smoke imprisoned Sonata, but Heartbeat, using her speed, blocked their way and said:

"You're not going anywhere."

Purple Smoke threw the cell blaster to Heartbeat who caught it with her magic and then fired it against Aria, who was sucked into a new life cell that was put inside the prison-book.

Adagio tried to run from the other way, but she came across with Melody, who was accompanied by the Rainbooms.

"I don’t think so, Adagio" Melody said. "You're not going anywhere."

Heartbeat passed the cell blaster to Melody who, with it, began to suck Adagio into another life cell which has placed within the prison-book.

"And the Sirens return to their place" Melody said, going to see each Siren within their respective cells.

Fluttershy took a piece of the pendants laying on the floor and said:

“Guess that explains why these were so special to them.”

“Without those pendants and the magic they contained, they're just three harmless ponies.”

“Well, although I don’t like musical competitions, I have to say” Melody said, while she made the cell blaster and the prison-book disappear. “It seemed we have our winners: the Rainbooms”

“Yes!” Rainbow Dash, exclaimed, making everypony turn to her. “Well, I mean, that’s cool.”

That made everypony laughs. It was then that Trixie appeared and said to the Rainbooms:

“You may have vanquished the Dazzlings, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

She created a smokescreen that made everypony cough. When the smoke dissipated, Trixie wasn’t there anymore, again.

“She's gone!” Pinkie Pie and Heartbeat exclaimed, leading their hooves to their mane.

“No she’s not” Purple Smoke said. “She’s over there.”

He pointed to Trixie that was running away.

“Hey, we wanted to say that!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“Yeah, you ruined everything!” Heartbeat said.

"Although we have to thank Melody, I think we also have to thank you, Purple Smoke" said Twilight. "After all, you cured Melody."

"Oh, it was nothing" he said. "I said I could cure her."

"The truth is that he just discovered the cure due to an accident" Heartbeat. "It was just lucky..."

But before she could say anything else, Purple Smoke covered her mouth and said:

"Can you shut up, please?"

The others laughed and then Melody said:

"Well, there is still some time before the equinox. Why don’t you go enjoy the ball before returning to one last performance?"

"Of course, since you join us" Twilight said.

"You bet I will."

And then everypony returned to the ball with Twilight going to Blue, hugging him immensely and dancing with him until the time came that Celestia made the sun come down from the sky and Luna made the moon rise, causing the two sharing the sky at the same time. This made the moon absorb the last rays of sunshine and take an orange color that enchanted everypony, especially the couples. After this, Twilight and her friends went to the stage where they, along with Melody, made the first musical performance of autumn.

The Lord of Chaos filled with rage when he saw that happening, making Fire Punch find a hiding place, as always.

"I can’t believe that not even the Sirens were able to give me the control of this world!" he exclaimed. "We were so close!"

He then calmed down and said:

"But if they think that it’s over, they’re so wrong. I still have other villains in solitary that are waiting for the moment of their freedom, adding the ordinary ones. And nothing and no one, not even my brother, will prevent me of getting what I want!"

The Shadow That Lives in the Mirrors, Part III - Waking Up From the Nightmare

Shining continued to advance through the system of caves created by the Wraith in Cadance’s mind in order to make her relive that painful memory that was being imprisoned by Chrisalis so she could take her place and feed from the love Shining felt for her. The white unicorn ran as quickly as possible, while searching for his beloved.

"Cadance!" he called. "Cadance, where are you?!"

He followed Cadance’s cry until he found a chamber where Cadance was there, sitting crying.

"Cadance" he said, smiling. "Finally, I found you. I..."

But he didn't finish, because, when Cadance turned to him and saw him approaching, she rose up immediately and said with fear in her voice, as she stepped back:

"No! Stay away! Don't come close to me!"

"Cadance, what's wrong?" Shining asked, not understanding what was going on. "It's me. Shining Armor."

"No, you'll not fool me" Cadance said, continuing to retreat. "You're not Shining Armor."

"What are you saying?" Shining asked. "It's me."

"No, you're not" a voice said.

Shining turned and faced a second Shining, who appeared nearby, saying:

"I'm Shining Armor."

"No" a third Shining said, also appearing. “I am.”

"No!"

When the real Shining found himself, he was seeing about a dozen of Shining Armors, all looking alike. However, Shining managed to realize all those Shining Armors had devilish smiles and a greenish aura in their eyes, the same aura that the Changelings had. He realized that Cadance should be being plagued by those Changelings who pretended to be the stallion she loved. He had to convince her that he was the real one and that he was there to save her.

"Cadance, don't listen to them" Shining said to her. "I'm the real Shining."

"No, you’re not" a Changeling said. "I am."

"No, I am."

"It's me!"

"You're wrong!"

Hearing all those Shining Armor saying to be the real one, Cadance was so confused that she covered her ears with her hooves, not wanting to hear them anymore.

Shining realized that if he wanted to convince Cadance he was the real one, he had to tell her something that only two of them knew about each other, something about their background, a moment that meant so much to both.

"Do you remember our first date, Cadance?" he asked, raising his voice as much as he could so she could hear him. "I took you to all my favorite places in Canterlot. That bookstore where I used to buy books to read to Twily, that antique shop. Blue’s family’s restaurant."

Cadance, listening what Shining was saying, put down the hooves to be able to hear him better.

"I remember exactly what you ate back then like it was yesterday" Shining continued, smiling before those past memories. "It was a salad, tomato and daffodils sandwich. You ordered the same as me because I made it sound so delicious."

Upon hearing that, Cadance stood up and began approaching Shining with a atonic air, ignoring the other Shining Armors who tried to convince her that they were the real one.

"And when you told me that Twily had told you how I obtained my Cutie Mark, you said it was an act of sheer bravery and love. When you said that, I blushed a lot. I felt embarrassed for your compliment. But nothing compared with the end of that day, when I took you to my special place, a place I've never shown to anypony else before you."

Cadance, continuing to hear that, began approaching Shining at a rusher pace. He continued:

"I took you to that place on the mountain where we could see the whole city, including Princess Celestia raising the moon. In fact, I carried you there, at some point, because you started feeling tired. There, I declared my love, offering you that blue lily as a sign of our eternal love. And then you kissed me and I felt that kiss was the sweetest kiss I've ever received."

Finishing, Shining saw Cadance right in front of him, watching him. He could see the brilliance that was in her eyes. It was the same that she had when she looked at him with affection and tenderness. He realized that she had finally recognized him.

"Shining..." she said.

"Yes, Cadance, it's me" Shining said.

And so, Cadance gave to Shining a kiss on his lips, a kiss that Shining responded with one of his own. While they were exchanging their passionate kisses, the Changelings who pretended to be Shining to trick Cadance started disappearing one by one until none was left. The loving pair finished their love caresses and Cadance said to Shining:

"I love you, Shining."

"I love you too, Cadance" he replied.

And a white light appeared and overshadowed everything. Shining returned to his body and aroused, while he saw Cadance also rising up.

"Cadance, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied.

Cadance looked around and noticed her true self that was outside of the Mirror Realm.

"Wait, that's me?" she asked.

"It’s your true self" said Shining. "The Wraith brought your reflection, that is you, here to suck your positive emotions."

"Wraith?" Cadance asked, confused.

"It's a long, complicated history" Shining said. "But, in short, all this is the work of one of the villains of the solitary of Tartarus. He's trying to break free from the prison where Mirror Coat put him. Wait, that reminds me. Now you're free, his power must be weakened. We can defeat him and arrest him. Come on, Cadance."

And he began to run towards the place where Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat were fighting the Wraith.

"Shining…" Cadance started, but without effect.

She smiled, realizing that was really Shining, and followed him.

The Lord of Chaos and Fire Punch saw them and the later said:

"I can't believe that idiot was able to break Cadance free of the Wraith’s influence. Looks like our friend is not so powerful as he seems to be."

"We all have our faults, Fire Punch" the Lord of Chaos replied. "You should know that. Even I have a flaw or two. However, as I said before, it doesn't matter that Shining managed to release Cadance. At this point, the Wraith should already have enough power to leave the Mirror Realm and haunt Equestria once again."

And he gave a devilish laugh.

Mirror Coat tried to fight with everything he had. Now that the Wraith had caught Golden Paladin, his power had increased immensely, as well as his speed, something that was beginning to frustrate the General of Knowledge.

It was then that Mirror Coat noticed that the Wraith’s movements had been slower a bit, wondering if Shining managed to release Cadance. His answer was answered when the two began to arrive.

"I see that you managed to do it, Prince Shining Armor" Mirror Coat observed, while Shining and Cadance approached.

"Yes, and now he's not feeding from Cadance’s positive emotions" Shining said.

"That's good, but it doesn't solve our situation" Mirror Coat said, making a gesture to Golden Paladin.

The couple was stunned when they saw Golden Paladin, the leader of the Generals of Order, under the influence of the Wraith.

"Oh no!" Cadance exclaimed, not wanting to believe.

"The Wraith got him?" Shining asked.

"Unfortunately" Mirror Coat answered. "That bastard became even sneakier."

"This is the result of centuries stuck in a mirror" the Wraith replied downing to a few centimeters off the ground. "Now that I have the General of Peace under my power, there's nothing you can do."

"You want to bet?" Shining asked.

And he and Mirror Coat fired their magic beams, but the Wraith managed to stop them with a simple movement of arm, much to the shock of the two unicorns.

"You ponies are so naïve" the Wraith said. "I am now too powerful for you can hurt me. In fact, I'm powerful enough to be able to escape from this prison and finally get a decent meal."

"No!" Mirror Coat exclaimed, starting to charge his horn with magic to stop him.

However, the Wraith held his hand and released a quantity of energy that threw Mirror Coat, Shining and Cadance against the floor. The Wraith laughed and said:

"There's nothing you can do to stop me. Even you can't stop me now, Mirror Coat. Not when I'm in my best shape."

He approached the nearest mirror and touch it with his hand. It began sinking in the glassy surface. He was beginning to cross the border between the pony world and the Mirror Realm.

"What do we do now?" Cadance asked.

Mirror Coat began thinking in all possibilities, but he couldn't find any plan that would work. They couldn't stop the Wraith. Not while he had all that power under control.

But, suddenly, he had an idea that maybe could work.

"I had an idea, but it can be risky" Mirror Coat said.

"What do you mean with risky?" Shining asked.

"If it doesn't work, we will only strengthen him even more" Mirror Coat answered.

"What?!" Shining asked.

"It's the only way" Mirror Coat said. "Besides, we don't have any other choice."

"What are you thinking, Mirror Coat?" Cadance asked.

"Princess Cadance, you must use your magic in the Wraith" Mirror Coat said. "You may be just a reflection of the true Cadance, but you still have the same power as her. Feed him with positive emotions until he can't take it anymore."

"I see" Cadance said. "That will make him to lose control and his own power will turn against him."

"Precisely" Mirror Coat said. "But, as I said, if it doesn't work, we will only be strengthening it even more."

Cadance mused for a moment and then nodded. He turned to the Wraith that was starting to go through the mirror to the pony world. She called:

"Hey, Wraith."

He turned to her who replied:

"You're not going to leave without a goodbye gift, do you?"

And, having said this, she launched against him a magic beam from her horn, hitting him.

"Have you lost your mind, young princess? Don't tell me those moments under my influence have damaged your reasoning. You're just giving me more power."

Cadance continued with what she was doing, while the Wraith, with satisfaction, absorbed all that magic. The princess of the Crystal Empire began to reach her limit and ended the magic beam, kneeling on the floor by exhaustion.

"Wow, what refreshing" the Wraith said, apparently unscathed. "But now, if you excuse me, I have new places to go, a lot of power to collect and a lot of misery to spread."

And he laughed as he went back to the mirror and starting the process to free himself. But it was then that he felt something weird inside. All the energy that he had stolen, all the positive emotions from his victims, seemed to be starting to burn within him, as if it was burning him from the inside out.

"But what's happening to me" he said, as he carried his hands to his stomach. "What is this?!"

"Apparently, you haven't changed a bit, don’t you?" Mirror Coat said, approaching with Shining and Cadance behind. "You bite off more than you can chew."

"You..." the Wraith said, while trying to deal with the pain he was feeling. "This is your work?!"

"Let's just say you are reaping what you sow" Mirror Coat answered. "I'm not the one who defeated you, Wraith. It was your unreasonable greed and gluttony. You could have rejected that amount of power Princess Cadance gave you, but you ignored your own limits and now you're about to lose everything... again."

The Wraith tried to do something against Mirror Coat, but the pain he was feeling was preventing him from do it. The heat was increasing every time and he could feel his body starting to sag. The only way to survive that was releasing all the power he had acquired, but he would be imprisoned. But, if he didn't it, he would surely explode. He had no other choice.

He lowered his hood and started kicking for his mouth all the energy he had stolen. The energy, that took the form of white smoke, started coming out and headed to its respective owners. Most started heading to all ponies present in the Crystal Empire that the Wraith had attacked. A bit went to Cadance, which began to shine and then disappeared, having returned to her true self, and another bit was for Golden Paladin, who awakened and stood up, feeling a lot of headaches.

Seeing that everything had returned to normal, Mirror Coat invoked the cell blaster and advancing to the Wraith, which was lying on the floor, helpless, he said:

"This is a lesson to you, Wraith. It doesn’t matter how powerful you are. Until you learn to control your own nature, you will never be able to overcome me."

And he started to suck him into the life cell in the cell blaster and, when the process ended, Mirror Coat put it in the prison-book.

Twilight and Blue waited in the throne room, where Gleaming Shield and Star Knight played happily. Those two foals loved when they played together.

It was then that a mirror appeared and, from it, Mirror Coat, Golden Paladin and Shining appeared.

"Fortunately, you arrived!" Twilight exclaimed, going to embrace her brother.

"So, how'd it go?" Blue asked.

"We captured the Wraith" Mirror Coat announced.

That caused an immense happiness to Twilight and Blue Sword.

"Yes, although I haven't done much to help" Golden Paladin replied, in a somewhat cold way. "Actually, I just messed up more than I helped."

And, having said that, he went out of the throne room, leaving Twilight and Blue speechless.

"But what's the matter with him?" Twilight asked.

"Nothing, Your Highness" Mirror Coat replied. "Let's just say that this mission has affected Golden Paladin a lot that usual."

"Wow, I never thought anything could affect the General of Peace" Blue said.

Seeing how Golden Paladin had left the throne room, Shining realized that, while he was under the influence of the Wraith, he had surely revived their worst memories, such as Cadance. What memory could be so terrible to be able to affect the General of Peace like that?

Shining's thoughts were interrupted when Mirror Coat asked him:

"Prince Shining Armor, do you want me to bring you back to the Crystal Empire with your daughter? I assume you want to go home to see your wife."

"Of course, Mirror Coat" he replied. "Please."

He waved and then he invoked another portal that would lead Shining and Gleaming back to the Crystal Empire. Using his magic, Shining took her little filly and prepared to cross the portal.

"Give my regards to Cadance, BBBFF" Twilight told to him.

"Yes, my friend" Blue said. “Mine too.”

"I will" Shining said. "Bye."

And so, Shining and Gleaming passed through the portal to the Crystal Empire.

Golden Paladin had left the throne room and went straight to his room. He got in there. Golden Paladin’s room was lit by a yellow light and it could see some armor against the walls and some weapons and shields hung on the walls too. His four-poster bed was made of golden metal and near his bed, was a table with two chairs, where there was a chessboard.

The General Peace walked to the table where the chessboard was and with a sudden sweep of foreleg, he overthrew the chessboard and the pieces to the floor, full of rage. Then he heard a knock on the door and it opened revealing to be Heartbeat.

"Hello, Goldy" she greeted him. "Can I come in?"

"Go away!" he exclaimed, with abruptness. "I don't want to see anypony right now."

Normally, it would think that it would be some kind of retaliation on Heartbeat’s part, maybe a cry or an outbreak of anger, but she, surprisingly, remained peaceful. She advanced into her older brother’s bedroom. Seeing her coming in, Golden said, keeping his blunt tone:

"What are you doing? I told you to leave!"

"I know what's going on with you, Goldy” Heartbeat said, approaching." Mirror Coat told me what happened in the fight against the Wraith."

"Mirror Coat should worry about sticking his nose in books from his library instead of sticking it in the others’ affairs" Golden Paladin said.

"That’s right, Goldy, free all the anger you feel" Heartbeat said, putting herself ahead of Golden Paladin. "Release all your frustration. You're going to feel a lot better."

"What are you talking about?" Golden asked. "I'm fine. In fact, just peachy.

"We both know that's not true" Heartbeat said. "And it's time to let your heart speak for you."

And she put her hoof on Golden Paladin’s shoulder. Feeling Heartbeat’s touch, Golden Paladin felt its empathetic effect, something that brought up emotions that he sought to hide.

Tears came to Golden Paladin’s eyes, starting his sad cry. He sat on his bed while he let their sadness coming out.

"It's all my fault" he said. "It's all my fault. If I had been stronger. If I had finished with everything when I could. Maybe none of this would happen with us... with the Light Kingdom... with her..."

Heartbeat sat next to her brother and embraced him, saying:

"That's right, release everything, Goldy. I'll be here for you. I will collect your pieces. Don't worry."

And so, Heartbeat continued to comfort her heartbroken older brother.

In Tartarus, the Lord of Chaos seemed to be on the verge of having another one of his bursts of fury that he used to have when one of his plans failed. Fire Punch was aware of this and had already put himself in a position where he could defend himself.

"I can't believe ... that the Wraith also failed to me" the Lord of Chaos said. "One of my most terrifying villains."

The Lord of Chaos pressed his hand with an angered strength. Fire Punch was shaking just imagine what could happen.

However, much to his surprise, the Lord of Chaos started laughing and, when he stopped, he said:

"It doesn't matter. Because this failure will only increase even more my desire for revenge. Furthermore, at least one satisfying thing for me happened with this plan. It seems that our dear Golden Paladin isn't the same foolproof General. That means that things in the near future will be able to work in favor of me."

And he laughed.

Author's Note

I know some of you are asking about what Golden Paladin was talking about with Heartbeat. Well, that's something that will be answered in my story The Legend of the Light Kingdom