Chapters Secrets Shattered/Friendship Repaired
A Pegasus filly walked quietly through the Everfree Forest, her dark purple coat looking almost black in the shade of the Everfree trees. Soon, she stopped behind a bush and crouched down, a slightly angered expression showing. The filly could here the giggles of the infamous trio known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders coming from the clubhouse ahead of her. Shadow Vine absently brushed some of her long dark blue mane out of her eyes so that she could see the shadows from the crusaders in window. Once, she had thought about joining them, but she had changed her mind after seeing the reaction of a pink filly who had see her true form, she'd just have to find her cutie mark alone. That isn't true, you could try with your friends the more stable side of her mind said. She couldn't though, they weren't her friends anymore. They were running off a lot, granted she would to, but that wasn't the point. If they aren't your friends anymore, then why'd you agree to come to this meeting? the voice had a point there. Shadow had never figured out the origin of that voice, but she suspected it was her old self from before the Everfree took her under it's wing, literally and figuratively.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: ANDROID HUNTERS" came the voices of three excited fillies, one not as excited as the other two. It was only a few seconds after that when the three burst through the doors and landed in their respective places on their ride. Scootaloo soon shot off on her scooter, pulling the others along with her.
After following them with her light blue eyes until they were gone, Shadow quickly and quietly ran to the club house and entered, making sure to opened the nearby window so she could make a hasty retreat if necessary. After a moment, she sat down and began fixing her mane and tail, since they both got a lot of leaves and other things in them from her being close to the ground. Her mane was rather long, going down to nearly two inches above her hooves, her tail was similar though it went down to only an inch above the ground and held a slight curl at the tip. After finishing with fixing her mane and tail, she sighed.
"Now to wait for those two, what could even be important enough for Night to be determined to bring the three of us together in the same room?" she said with a faint hiss.
A Pegasus filly stepped out of her house miles away with a demonic growl. Her blue coat shined in the eerie light cast by the huge black gates nearby, through them, one could see pits with ancient evils in them and a huge three-headed dog standing guard. Lunar Fire took to the skies after a moment and shot towards the CMC clubhouse, a blazing trail of blue fire behind her. The air from her speed blew her light blue mane and tail; both a little shorter than shadow's, with her mane going down to four inches above her hooves and her thin tail going to half a foot off the ground; behind her. I can't believe Night, after abandoning us so many times, had the nerve to call the three of us back together Lunar giggled evilly as scenes of blood and torture passed through her head, she just loved seeing the fear on ponies faces when they saw the real her.
The Everfree Forest was bellow the Pegasus now, she had often seen Apple Bloom (a member of that group called the Cutie Mark Crusaders) and even Shadow Vine go in there for seemingly no reason. Granted, that wasn't as strange as the day she saw Shadow playing with Timberwolves. She had always loved the Everfree, it was a place where a magic close to Demon Magic filled the air. The Everfree was alive, everpony with half a mind knew that. She had heard several legends relating towards it, one of which was the legend of Sunny Town, a happy and prosperous town by day, a zombie infested village by night. There were other legends of course, such as the legend of the Everfree Goddess, Eternal River, who corrupted any who dared enter her domain, turning them into feral beasts.
Lunar Fire landed on the steps to the clubhouse and entered, finding Shadow already there. The two ex-friends sat away from each other and refused to make eye contact Night, this best be important.
Night Wind examined herself in a mirror in the cave that served as her home, she had decided to give her friends time to get there before her. Her dark magenta coat; her black mane with it's red streak, style of hanging from both sides of her head, it's length of a foot off the ground, and it's blue bow; her tail, which was the same and went to two inches off the ground with its own bow near her body; and her orange eyes. This was how her friends knew her, but she wanted them to know the real her.
After brushing her mane, Night flew to the clubhouse that they had met at in secret for the past two years. When she got there, she found exactly what she feared she'd find. neither of her friends were looking at her or each other and both clearly didn't want to be there, this saddened her. All of this could have been avoided if we had just told our secrets instead of keeping them she hated that fact almost as much as she hated bullies.
"Girls, I'm sure you're wondering why I called you both here." Night said as she took a seat.
"What I'm wanting to know is why you abandon us so much." hissed Shadow.
"She abandons us, well so do you." Lunar replied, which quickly sparked an argument since all three had left each other at some point or another.
It was only three seconds into the fight when Night intervened. "Quiet!! We only have about an hour to finish this and I'd like to get started now." she yelled, which quieted both of them down, Night rarely yelled.
"Now then, I called this meeting because I know all of us have secrets, and I think those secrets are what's pulling us apart. I don't want us hiding anymore, I want us to know each other's true self, not the lies we've woven. So who's going first?" Night asked.
"You thought it up, so you go first." Shadow said with another hiss.
Night nodded and closed her eyes. She imagined her real self wearing a costume shaped like her current form, she imagined slowly removing the costume to reveal her true self and then burning the costume. Red flames engulfed the filly quickly before dying down, revealing her real form. Her hooves had holes in them; she had fangs that were about the size of a bat-pony's; her wings were insect like, fading from silver at the base to purple at the tips; she had a saddle carapace that was blue; her eyes were slitted and red, with a faint glow; and her mane and tail had holes in them; she was a Changeling. Like her two friends, she lacked a cutie mark. When she spoke, a faint echo could be heard.
I was born to a mother from the Shock Hive and a father from the Dagger Hive. You may not know this, but hybrids between hives are absolutely forbidden. I ran away after being forced to watch my parents die. I ran to an old orphanage where my instincts allowed me to take on the disguise you've been seeing me in. I spent several years there before perfecting my changeling magic, well... perfecting it as best I could, and running away. The hives were after me and I knew it, so I ran into the Everfree. I've lived in a mini hive I built near the old castle since then. When I met both of you, I wanted to reveal myself, but I was too scared. The reason I ran away so much was because I had to feed. I didn't want to feed off either of you though because I was scared that I'd be caught and that you'd stop being my friends. I see now though that my secret was what began breaking our friendship apart.
When she finished her story, Night sat down and looked at her fiends, she didn't even bother with her disguise.
"Wow... I didn't realize that you went through all that." Lunar said.
After a moment of silence, Lunar decided that it was her turn. Her mane and tail became pure blue fire, though they stayed in the shape of her mane and tail with wisps of flames flowing off and some embers floating off; Her wings followed next, doing the same as her mane and tail and becoming the same fire; Her teeth then sharpened to points; her feathers sharpened; and her irises were encased in a very deep blue glow. briefly, two fangs unsheathed, then re-sheathed from her teeth.
I'm not actually a pony, I'm a demoness. I've been running from several darker demons for years now. I chose the form of a filly to hide, even though my home is literally five yards from the gates of Tartarus, it was the only way Cerberus would let me leave Tartarus. Demons have to eat the flesh of the species they've taken as their disguise, so that's why I ran away a lot. I have to eat ponies, which I really don't mind, but I would never eat my friends. I'm wanted by a lot of demons in Tartarus, but that's why I'm here as a filly. I wont leave any of you though, I promise.
Lunar finished her story and sat down.
Shadow was quiet for a moment before standing up and letting her illusion fade. Her irises were encased in a deep purple glow as purple mist began leaking out of the corners; her teeth sharped and fangs snapped out in a way similar to a cobra's before folding back against the roof of her mouth; her feathers sharpened and her wings changed to fade from dark purple at the base to dark red at the tips; and several dark purple vines (darker than her coat) with blood red thorns exploded out of her back before wrapping around her legs, tail, mane, body, and wings, then tightening to where the thorns penetrated her skin, though no blood came out.
"Whoa." Lunar said as she reached out to touch one of the vines, it quickly receded into Shadow's back.
"Please don't, I don't like ponies touching them." Shadow said in a suddenly shy voice, which caused Lunar to back down.
I wish I could tell you about what I was like before, but I have no memory of that time. I'm corrupted by the Everfree, the only filly in thousands of years to be as such. Since I was a filly, I kept my mind, to an extent. My earliest memory is when I woke up from the corruption and saw Eternal River, she's my mom now. At first, I tried to find friends in Ponyville, well... now the Harmony Kingdom, but the first pony to see my real form ran. She was a pink filly with a tiara, I think you'll like to know, Night, that it turns out she was a bully. After that, I started hiding who I really was. I ran away a lot though because I can't be outside a certain range of the Everfree for more than about three hours. Sorry for not telling you girls.
Once she was finished, Shadow sat back down.
"That's interesting... so, are we all still friends?" Night asked hopefully.
"Yeah." Shadow and Lunar said in unison.
"Yes!" Night jumped in the air, her wings buzzing happily, then landed and got a little more serious, "I need some parchment, a quill, and an ink well."
After getting the necessary items, Night explained that she was going to send a friendship letter to Celestia, seeing as it had practically become tradition for the entire Harmony Kingdom. She set the quill to the parchment and wrote.
Dear Princess Celestia
I know you don't know me, or even my friends, but we've been near the Harmony Kingdom for years now. Today I and my friends, learned a valuable lesson in friendship, one that will hopefully help us stay together until the end.
"When secrets are kept, friendships begin to shatter. When secrets are revealed, true friendships strengthen"
in short, never keep a secret from your friends, no matter how dark or minor they are, because all secrets can be a catalyst for the end of a friendship.
Your faithful subjects
Night Wind, The Forbidden One
Lunar Fire, The Devil Child
Shadow Vine, The Daughter of the Everfree
After finishing the letter, and having her friends sign it, Night used her magic to send it to Celestia.
Author's Note
Hope you enjoy.
don't forget to explain why you like/dislike this story
Now to sit back and wait for the likely flamers
The three fillies left the CMC's clubhouse about ten minutes later and headed into the Everfree.
"Why don't you like ponies touching your vines?" Lunar asked as she examined the sharp thorns on Shadow's vines.
"I don't like ponies being scared when they feel them, I don't even really like others seeing them." Shadow replied as her vines retracted into her back, a shy expression on her face.
The three walked in silence after that. Several trees or bushes would part as they came close. Shadow was quite, which wasn't normal for her. After about eight minutes, Shadow brought her vines back out and wrapped them in her preferred places along her body, wings, tail, mane, and legs. Most would have been in a lot of pain with the thorns stabbing into their body the way the thorns on her vines did, but she only felt comfort from it. As she walked, Shadow Vine closed her eyes. A lay-out of the Everfree around her lit into view behind her eyes as she let herself relax and just feel the ambient magic the forest held. The direct feeling of it had always been like a blanket to her,warm and soothing, even though the magic was wild and unpredictable to others.
Night was lost in her own thoughts as well, mainly the fact that she had managed to stop her friendships from crumbling around her. She noticed that Shadow was walking with her eyes closed and, if she wasn't mistaking, the vines around Shadow's body were looser and seemed to show her relaxation. Night thought about getting her friends attention so she wouldn't run into anything, but she thought better. Shadow was literally the daughter of the Everfree, it was unlikely that she'd do this without knowing what she was doing. Night wished she had a way to just relax, but she sadly didn't. Her thoughts wondered, as they often did, to when she had ran away from both her hives to escape the anger of the members of each. She had been severed from the Hiveminds rather quickly after her escape, which left her alone in her mind, something often considered the worst kind of torture a Changeling could go through.
Lunar, like her friends, was also lost in her own mind. She was happy that she had told somepony her secret, since it was hard to bare it alone for so long. She was actually still a little shocked to find that her two friends weren't real Pegasi either, at least, she was pretty sure Shadow wasn't considered a Pegasus. She glanced at the calm flames that were her wings, it had been a long time since she was out of her illusion in front of another filly or colt and she had to admit that she understood how Shadow felt about her vines, since Lunar felt similar towards her real wings. Her thoughts wondered to the powerful demon that she had ran from, she had changed her entire appearance countless times, but would it really be enough to stay hidden?
After an hour of walking, the group came to a stop, with Shadow finely opening her eyes allowing the purple mist to resume flowing from them. After a moment, several trees fell through the ground and a house began rising from the cleared area.
"Wow! How'd you do that?" Lunar and Night asked in unison.
"I didn't, I just asked mom to." Shadow replied as the house fully rose and they looked at it.
The house had black wooden walls with fires burning at the top, thorny vine wrapped around the entrance and the sides, and a blood red ring had lit up around the entire thing. The three fillies entered peacefully, getting a look at the inside. Inside, the house was even more demonic, the black walls held veins of lava, fires burned here and there, ancient Pegasi runes were drawn along the walls in the golden blood of Pegasi, books on ancient magics lined the walls and each had spiked spines. Along the floor, if one looked from above, was the ancient Pegasus rune that was the name of the Everfree Forest.
"Mom likes a demonic setting." Shadow said as a timberwolf cub came running in. Shadow explained that the cub was named Razor and was her pet. Her friends, predictably, were shocked to find that Shadow had a pet timberwolf.
A mare came in suddenly. She looked similar to an Alicorn. Her coat was black, it seemed to draw in the light around her; her mane was made entirely of black vines with light blue thorns; her wings were bat-like; her horn had blood stains on it; her teeth were sharper than anypony else's, with fangs folded against the roof of her mouth like a snakes; her hooves ended in four sharp claws each, though the claws were currently folded to look like hoof guards; her eyes glow red with the pupils shaped like four pointed stars; her eyes leaked the same purple mist as Shadow's; she had similar vines as the ones that made up her mane and tail coming from her back and wrapped around her similarly to Shadow's own; and her cutie mark was a blood red heart with vines wrapped around it and drawing blood. Needless to say, she was terrifying. Despite her appearance, Shadow ran up and hugged her, saying "Hi mom." when she did.
"That's your mom?" Lunar asked with a bit of shock, it took a lot to scare a demon like her, but Eternal River was doing just that.
"Yea. Mom, these are my friends Lunar Fire and Night Wind. Lunar, Night, this is my mom Eternal River."
The two other fillies just stared in fear at Eternal River. After a while Shadow got an idea and shot into the air to get in-front of her mom, asking if her friends could stay over for the night. Eternal agreed kindly and the three headed for Shadow's room.
Shadow's room was about as demonic as the rest of the house. It had the same black walls with lava flowing in them; several vines that matched the vines she had were along the wall; the floor was covered in Pegasus runes; her bed was mostly average with a spiked headboard and fire coming off the corners of the bed; there was a huge shelf on one side of the room that had several books of different kinds on it, though there weren't many books Lunar or Night had heard of.
"Come on girls, we should start having some fun." Shadow said happily.
Author's Note
Hope you enjoy.
don't forget to comment on why you like/dislike this story. Also, feel free to ask questions pertaining to this story.
Good fillies and Evil mares
"Would you girls like something to eat?" Eternal asked as she entered her daughter's room.
"Yea. Do you happen to have pony flesh?" Lunar asked.
"Some condensed love would be alright." Night was still a little fearful of Eternal River.
"I'll just take some apples from Sweet Apple Acres." Shadow said with a smile.
Eternal nodded as she turned and left, thinking back to when she first found the little filly that was now her daughter.
I walked towards my vine web after sensing somepony getting captured in it. Probably another teenager thinking they're tough enough to face the Goddess of the Everfree I thought angrily, I didn't like ponies trying to harm me, or really entering my home at all. I soon rounded the corner and found, not a teenager acting tough, but a little filly. Oh dear. that thought was sparked from the last filly to enter my domain and how that turned out, I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.
The filly was wrapped tightly by the black vines I used as a defense against intruders. She had a blue mane with a purple coat, she also had light-blue eyes. The filly was a Pegasus looking scared, her memories were likely already gone. I approached the filly and helped her out of the vines, once she was out, her coat and mane darkened with her eyes beginning to glow purple. Purple mist began leaking from her eyes as her teeth sharped, snake-like fangs formed against the roof of her mouth, and vines exploded out of her back. Her feathers had sharpened as well.
"H-hello?" the filly asked fearfully, her voice now having an eerie undertone, as she began backing away from me.
"Don't worry little one, mommy's hear. My little Shadow Vine." I said as I reached out with a vine and gentle wrapped the filly, Shadow Vine, up and brought her into a kind, motherly hug. Not many saw my kind side.
Eternal smiled a bit as the memory of that day replayed in her head. She had definitely made the right choice by taking Shadow in as her daughter, and both were happy because of it. Eternal proceeded to get the different foods her daughter and her friends wanted and bring them back to her daughter's room before heading back to her own room. While she was laying down in her room, a yellow mist entered and materialized into a scroll with a fiery sun emblem. Confused, Eternal grabbed the letter in her black colored magic and unrolled it.
Dear Eternal River, Spirit of Everfree
Me and my sister have been having unfortunate visions regarding the King of Shadows, he was defeated long ago, but it seams he's coming back. I urge you to prepare the Forest for any assault made by him, we must protect our dear sister's children at all costs. I've already sent letters to the Spirits of Chaos, Air, Magic, and Fire We must prepare, I foresee the Shadow King to be a far greater threat now then he was before. Do not tell others of this letter, this can not leave your home and must be destroyed.
Your sister
Solar Blaze, Spirit of Sun
P.S: I'm going to be sending Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, to a secluded location within your forest to practice the destructive power of Black Magic, so that she'll be stronger when the King of Shadow's returns, leave her a clearing with spell defenses to practice in.
Eternal looked the message over again to make sure she wasn't seeing things, Her and her sisters were isolated from each other, well, except those that were polar opposites. The message was definitely from Solar Blaze, and that meant this was no joke. Eternal silently put her forest on high alert and told it to warn her should the Shadow King enter. She also set up a safe clearing for Twilight to practice Black Magic in.
Crystal Empire
A dark, shadowy mist moved silently around the crystal castle, searching for it's prey. Four years, it had been four years since the demon that made up the shadow had been able to enter the empire. It had been two years since the demon had learned of the newest princess. The demon wanted its vengeance and to do that, it had to be able to get close to the newest princess. It entered the throne room quietly, it would need to wait for a vulnerability before striking.
A few minutes passed before Princess Cadence entered the throne room, followed by her husband. The demon waited until they weren't paying attention and struck, taking over Cadence with ease.
Sombra looked evilly at Shinning Armor's fearful look.
"What happened to you Cadence?" Shinning asked with a strong terror in his voice.
"Cadence isn't here anymore." Sombra said as he, or rather she, ignited her horn in black magic and put Shinning into a coma before checking herself over in a mirror.
Sombra's influence was clear. Her eyes had become red and slitted with the whites being green and with black mist escaping her eyes. Her body had several dark and evil runes of the ancient Alicorn language on it, all glowing with Demon Magic. Her teeth were sharp as well, finishing off the indications. Sombra thought things over for a moment and then used Black Magic to create a set of armor for herself, with a midnight black crystal heart in the center of the chest plate. Hmm, I need a new name, Sombra is too old... how about... Black Shard. Sombra, now Black Shard, thought as she reexamined her silver armor and headed off, she had an Alicorn to visit, one that was technically her sister-in-law.
Black Shard headed for the master bedroom, she was tired from the take over. As she walked, she cast an illusion spell that hid the indicators of her take over and then had a maid bring her a glass of coffee before getting to the room and laying down. Twilight could wait.
Canterlot Castle
Luna ran into the throne room, caring a pulsing sphere in her magic.
"Tia! I need to speak with you!" she yelled as she skidded to a stop right in front of her sister's throne. The white coated Alicorn looked down at her sister and asked what was wrong.
"I was dream surfing as always, several ponies in the Crystal Empire were dreaming of Cadence becoming a demon, that wouldn't be of note if one of the dreams wasn't an actual memory." Luna said as the sphere grew in size and played the dream.
In the dream, a crystal pony was walking through the castle before spotting a black shadow moving to the throne room, the pony was feeling kind of reckless, in part because of the strength the crystal heart granted at this range, so he followed it quietly until it entered the throne room, where he stopped and peaked in through the double doors. After a moment, Princess Cadence and Prince Shinning armor entered from a different door and sat down, it was only ten seconds later that the shadow struck and the stallion watched with terror as Princess Cadence became twisted by the evil shadow. It was then that the stallion ran.
Before either could speak, a letter with vines wrapped around it appeared in front of Luna, who grabbed and read it.
Dear Lunar rift, Spirit of Moon
I write to you in particular because, frankly, I don't really like Solar Blaze, actually, I hate her. I've prepared the forest, The King of Shadows won't be able to get far before I know. I've also increased defense around our sister's home. I write, however, to mention some things that I noticed during Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship's, visit that concern me.
The first is that some of the residents of Sunny Town have managed to pass their borders, this isn't good because I know my curse on them is still as strong as ever, I fear the the Shadow King's return seems to have given them strength.
The second mostly concerns you and Solar Blaze, I noticed during Twilight Sparkle's visit to the clearing to practice Black Magic that she seemed troubled by something. Whatever it is seemed to be important as she lost focus several times during her training, I know for sure that she doesn't usually lose focus without a distraction.
The last thing is that I will not be able to aid in the battle to come as I've taken on a daughter. I know you told me never to do anything that'd get me emotionally attached to a mortal, but she was corrupted by one of my traps and I didn't want her to go through what the last filly to get caught and corrupted had to. The last filly was chased by the entire town and they all tried to kill her. I couldn't bare knowing that'd happen to this new filly so I took her in as my daughter. I think the pain of losing her when she dies will be worth it in the end.
Your sister
Eternal River, Spirit of Everfree P.S: You really should think about adopting a daughter/son, It'll help you unwind and not be so boring and strict. The pain of losing her/him would be worth it for all the fun you'd have and all the love you and her/him would share.
The Harmony Kingdom
Black Shard smiled evilly as she approached the kingdom, which actually looked a lot like a mini version of the Crystal Empire. Several of the ponies were gathering around to meet her, all under the impression that she was the same Princess Cadence as before, all except a group of six ponies that seemed ready to kill her, that is.
Author's Note
Hope you enjoy, sorry for the lack of much that's interesting. I wrote this over three days and lost some of my original ideas during that time.
don't forget to comment on why you like/dislike this story
Black Shard stood in stunned silence as she beheld the castle in the center of what was once Ponyville. It was huge, with several floors and a crystalline exterior. There was also the tell-tale sign of a dimensional displacement field around the entire thing, meaning it was even bigger than it seamed.
"That castle's gotta be at least twice the size of the crystal castle, not counting what the inside probably looks like." She said with shock.
"Yep!" Twilight said from Black Shard's right.
When Black Shard turned, Twilight struck, sending them both into the ground nearby. Twilight's horn lit up in magenta Alicorn Magic as she prepared a powerful combat spell, before she released it though, she leaned in closer and spoke in a low hiss. "I never did like it when demons stole a living pony's body." was all she said before releasing her spell, causing a crater. Twilight flew into the air then.
"Ya really shoulda' known Twi would know the truth... Sombra." Apple Jack said before sending Black Shard flying with a strong buck to the back.
"It's Black Shard now!" the Queen of Shadows protested.
Rainbow intercepted her with a punch delivered at rainboom speeds, this was soon followed by several razor-edged gems from Rarity, then a party cannon to the face from Pinkie Pie, then an unnaturally violent punch from Fluttershy, then back to a blast from Twilight. This continued for about ten minutes before Pinkie decided to fire a second time and sent Black Shard into the ground.
"Pinkie! I said to keep to the pattern!" Twilight yelled angrily.
"Well keeping to a pattern was getting us nowhere! I say we just pound her to the ground and never let her get up!" Pinkie Pie said.
"THAT IS NOT A SOLID PLAN!"
Black Shard used the distraction to her advantage as she shot into the air and prepared a Black Magic spell, dropping her illusion in the process. Twilight began charging a spell as well. The two magics met in the middle as they were fired, resulting in an explosion that ripped apart some nearby buildings.
Spectral replications of the elements suddenly appeared on the mane six as they floated in the air. The elements charged for several seconds before releasing their power in a rainbow colored beam that soon struck Black Shard. Black Shard cried out as she was sent flying.
"There, that's done." Rainbow said angrily. A group of fillies that were hiding, however, noticed her clear wish not to be around the others.
"No it's not. The element's failed, and it's your fault!" Twilight motioned angrily to the other bearers. Angrily, the ponies flew off to the castle.
"They're keeping secrets, like we were. We need to help them, before the Shadow King, or rather Queen, returns." Shadow Vine said to her two friends from the safety of the bushes they had been hiding in. Despite Eternal River's efforts, they had found and read the letter. Her friends nodded and they snuck off.
The main six were in the throne room, arguing rather loudly, too loudly to notice the three fillies that had set up camp on some railing overlooking the thrones, about their failure and general distrust of the others.
"I aint talkin" Apple Jack said angrily when her friends asked her about why she would disappear on them several time a week. Rainbow gave a similar answer when asked about where she was during some weeks where she wouldn't show up at all or would suddenly leave. Rarity and Fluttershy gave the same answers when asked about there random shifts to much darker personalities. this was the same for Twilight when asked the same question as Apple Jack and the same response from Pinkie When asked about the screams ponies sometimes reported coming from under Sugar Cuber Corner.
"If we don't stop fighting, then we'll be unable to use the elements, now what are you all hiding?" Twilight asked angrily.
"We should ask you the same, Twilight." Rainbow said bluntly. This continued for another four minutes before the group departed.
A few minutes later, Shadow, Night, and Lunar were siting in the CMC clubhouse.
"We have to help then learn that keeping secrets wont help one bit if we're going to help them regain their friendship." Night Wind said to her friends while fixing the blue bow in her mane.
They took a while to think of what they could do and Shadow Vine eventually had an idea. They'd split up and try to figure out the secrets of one bearer per pony then they would share this knowledge with each other before going out and finding the others. Shadow Vine would go after Fluttershy since Fluttershy's home was close to the Everfree; Lunar Fire would go after Pinkie Pie since Lunar's demon magic would help her keep up with the reality bending mare; and Night Wind would go after Twilight since Night was strong with her magic and might need it for a quick escape.
The three took some time to prepare their plans and to set up a meeting time and place before they all departed.
A few more minutes later The door to the CMC clubhouse opened and three different fillies walked in.
"Hey what's that doin here?" a voice with with a bit of a country accent asked as her and her two friends spotted a piece of paper on the table.
Pony name: hint towards there secret/Filly Investigating
Twilight Sparkle: randomly running off, strangely demonic when angered/Night Wind, The Forbidden One
Fluttershy: randomly changing to a much darker and stronger personality/Shadow Vine, The Daughter of the Everfree
Pinkie Pie: screams coming from bellow Sugar Cube Corner, Cakes know nothing about it/Lunar Fire, The Devil Child
Rainbow Dash: Often disappears for weeks at a time with excuse of going to Cloudsdale/none yet
Apple Jack: Randomly runs off, strangely dark when angered/none yet
Rarity: Random times of extreme anger and seemingly feral nature/none yet
Meeting at CMC Clubhouse Friday at noon (right after CMC leave for crusading)
Shadow moved quietly around Fluttershy's cottage, it was nearly nighttime so she knew she'd be hidden. I doubt she'll just reveal her secret while the possibility of exposure is so great, hmm. Shadow sent a silent command to a nearby Manticore cub, as well as information of her plans to its mother and a small group of the most feared Everfree creatures. It wasn't long before the cub started crying like it was hurt.
Fluttershy came out soon after that and headed into the forest with a first aid kit. Shadow followed as she soon found the crying cub, who actually had a small scrape on its knee. Fluttershy fixed the cub up and it ran off, not two seconds later, a pack of Timberwolves came out of the bushes. The Timberwolves growled angrily as they approached. They said she seemed strangely anger prone. They also mentioned how shy she usually is. Fluttershy released a feral growl when one of the Timberwolves locked eyes with her.
Fluttershy's eyes began glowing a deep red as fangs unsheathed, her wings became bat-like, and her cutie mark changed to three bats. She hissed before attacking, quickly dismembering most of the first Timberwolf. What is with all these ponies with fangs? Shadow thought as she ran her tongue over her snake fangs. Fluttershy was soon on the last Timberwolf as she destroyed it, she looked around then returned to normal, looking around a second time before walking off.
"Sorry, you five." Shadow said as the Timberwolves rebuilt themselves. They gave a calm, musical, howl before walking off. To Shadow Vine, though, it was an 'It's fine'. Shadow pulled out a notebook and wrote down what she had found before leaving.
Author's Note
This is roughly how I'm going to have the next few chapters be set up. There'll be something related to the story in the first half of each chapter and at least one more secret revealed in the last half of each chapter.
don't forget to comment on why you like/dislike this story.
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Screams of Laughter, Prophesies of Magic and Friendship
Warning: the first half of this chapter includes graphic depictions of blood, some minor torture, insane Pinkie, and 'ponies' eating ponies. I personally doubt that this warning is necessary, but just in-case
Lunar Fire moved silently as she followed Pinkie to Sugar Cube Corner, she didn't need to be spotted. Pinkie was leading a Stallion that had showed up in the dead of night into the place, nopony knew he was even there. When the door closed, a light-blue outline symbolized Pinkie's position. I love demon marks. Lunar thought. She used her fire-like demon magic to teleport into the bakery in silence.
"Come on." Pinkie said to the stallion as she lead him to a rug on the ground.
In usual Pinkie style, Pinkie threw the rug in the air, opened a hatch that was bellow it, and then brought the stallion in. Lunar followed, ignoring the fact that the rug had been floating in mid-air for the past eight seconds, far longer than it had any right to. As she entered after Pinkie and the stallion, the rug fell, looking as if it had never been moved.
Lunar followed the two deep into the basement, where she began hearing the sweet cries of pain and agony associated with a pony being tortured. Once she got into the actual basement, she saw a scene that made her smile sadistically. Bodies lay strewn across the floor, some seemed stuffed with something other than organs. Body organs were lying on tables. A dress sat in the corner with several cutie marks making up the general dress and several dismembered wings sewn onto the back. 'Life is a Party.' was written in blood on one wall with several other dark phrases on the others. The floor was stained red with the blood of countless victims. The air smelled of death and gore, making Lunar drool at the sweet smell it created. Lunar's eyes fell on the stallion tied up to a wall, he was the one screaming, with Pinkie, covered in blood, standing right over him.
"I'll be right back, I seem to have ran out of knives." Pinkie said as she walked out, not even seeing Lunar. Lunar noted that Pinkie's eyes were glowing red, an indication of a soul that was demonic in nature yet pony in truth. She also noticed several nives embeded in different parts of the stallion, causing blood to drip down from the wounds.
"Please, help me!" the stallion cried out when Pinkie was out of hearing range.
Lunar chuckled as she approached, looking over the stallion. He really wasn't much, though she noticed that one of his wings was lying on the ground, bloody and blood from the point of former attachment was spraying onto it. Pinkie wont mind if I take a little bite, would she? Not giving it much thought, Lunar leaned in towards the stallion's good wing, as if she was going to pull of the ropes, and bit down on one of the more delicate parts of his wing, her sharp teeth easily pierced the skin as she ripped a chunk of flesh off before walking back to a corner and proceeding to eat the meat while listening to the stallion's screams. The blood made a wonderful sauce, as did the ambient fear that was around the piece. This, coupled with the cries of pain and fear from the stallion, made Lunar feel like she was in a fancy dinner, even though it would make most ponies sick.
"M-monster!" the stallion yelled as Pinkie came back in, looking shocked.
"Yep." Lunar finished off her small meal without care and looked at the confused Pinkie Pie.
Lunar just smiled at Pinkie and headed for the door, stopping and ripping another chunk off the stallion's wing, causing bright red blood to spill over the stained floor and enticing a scream of agony from the pony, before stopping at the door. She said "I like what you've done to the place, and this pony is simply delicious." then walked off. While Lunar walked, she pulled out her own notebook and wrote down, in very frightening and very vivid detail, what she had seen then added Pinkie's secret at the end. I hope she'll let me have a bite next time I come over .
Night Wind looked around the library part of the castle, she had been looking for Twilight, but she forgot all about it when she entered the huge library. She was reading through books faster than her target could ever manage, absorbing the information with a hunger almost matching her hunger for emotion. She was currently looking through the book of prophesies that had been in a thick glass case with a magic barrier around it. Strangely, she had been able to pass the barrier. Hmm, 'The Daughters of Harmony' this sounds interesting. she thought when she turned to that prophesy in particular.
When the Shadow demon rises, when the Elements fail, six fillies shall rise above the rest. One of forbidden love, one of ancient corruption, one of the devil, one of betrayal's wrath, one of the curse's power, and one of madness' reach. When these six come together in honest friendship, bringing the bearers with them, the demon of shadows shall fall and shall never rise again.
After that, there was a lot of blank space. Night realized, with some shock, that the blank space contained six magic signatures, three of which were familiar to her, though she couldn't quite place them. She scanned the signatures a few times to see what she could gather. The first was a Changeling signature and involved the title 'Daughter of Friendship'. the second one was similar to a Pegasus, but there seemed to be something uncontrollable about it 'Daughter of Kindness'. The third seemed to be a Demon, or rather it was the only being she knew who would have a signature that seemed so evil 'Daughter of Laughter'. The fourth was definitely a Pegasus, but the signature wasn't bound to a body, it was a ghost 'Daughter of Loyalty'. The Fifth was an Earth Pony, a powerful one at that and one that seemed cursed (indicated by the darker feel of the edges) 'Daughter of Honesty'. The last one was odd, the signature was a real magic signature, but it held an artificial note to it, likely either a golem or an Android (considering the recent discovery of Androids) 'Daughter of Generosity'.
Okay, let's see. The Changeling could be anyling, or rather it could if it didn't state 'forbidden love' so that would be almost any hybrid, but I only know myself as a hybrid and the signature is familiar. The second's hard to tell, i'll need to check Shadow's signature though since, again, the signature is familiar. The third, well, that's likely Lunar, she's the only demon I know of and her personality fits closely to the signature's level of darkness. The other three, I'm not sure, I've definitely felt them in passing, but that's it. With her general plan laid out, Night got ready to leave, until she heard hoof-steps. Night flew into the air and hid on a shelf, teleporting the book back to where it was originally, but not before magically copying the prophesy onto a piece of parchment and slipping said parchment into the folds of her tail bow.
Twilight soon walked in with an angered expression and some blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. She was soon pacing in annoyance. "I can't believe he had the nerve to use Cadence!" Twilight yelled angrily as Black Magic began leaking from the corners of her eyes and swirled around her horn. Soon, the Black Magic dyed down, replaced by a powerful fire-like magic that was her normal magenta. Demon Magic. Night observed. Twilight suddenly fired a powerful demon spell at a target that had appeared, incinerating the target and charring a small section of the crystalline floor. Night Wind watch with shock as ancient Alicorn runes lit up along Twilight's body, her eyes were encased in a magenta glow, with lighter coloring where her pupils and irises would be, her teeth visibly sharped, her feathers sharped, and claws shot out of her hooves (three claws each). An aura of darkness seemed to descend on her after that. Night watched as twilight summoned several targets and began firing at a rapid pace, destroying the targets and bits of the floor in the process.
Night had gathered enough and teleported out. When she reappeared, she was at the entrance to the castle and in her normal disguise. Night wrote down what she had learned and then flew off to her mini-hive, where she dropped the disguise, to await the day her and her two friends would meet back up and share the secrets that they had learned. Unknown to her, or to any of the three fillies, they had each been watched and the ones that had watched knew their secrets, but that was fine, they had no intention of revealing them.
Author's Note
Hope you enjoy (wow, I've said that way too many times)
don't forget to comment on why you like/dislike the story.
Scootaloo walked into the holding area of the Rainbow Factory, no fear, or really anything.
"Hello Absentia, I trust you're ready for your shift." Dr. Atmosphere asked as he hoofed Scootaloo the ripped and blood stained hoodie she had gotten when she made the deal, Absentia was her identity when she was working, none of the ponies that did her job used their real names.
"Ready as always, got any special requests?" she asked as she slipped into the hoodie and her entire body became transparent, including the hoodie.
"Nope, just make sure those failures are nearly scared to death." Scootaloo nodded as she seemed to vanish from sight, her hoodie following, well... it looked that way to any semi-sane pony, though Atmosphere could still see her (seeing as he had lost his sanity years ago).
Scootaloo walked along the the same path she had taken a year ago when she had been here because of her failure to pass her flight exam, as with every time she was on shift, she didn't bother opening doors and just walked through them. Some of the absolutely insane ponies gave her crazy smiles as she walked, this wasn't much of a surprise, she was the best ghost they had, too bad she'd never get a cutie mark, most likely. Scootaloo soon took her usual spot in the factory's processing bay, thinking back to when she had opened her eyes after Dr. Atmosphere had caught and killed her. He had acted kind and asked if she had any friends that'd miss her, to which she answered 'yes' when he heard that he had told her that she could sign a 'soul contract' and she would be able to be seen and heard by normal ponies.
He had then offered her a contract with the factory to aid them how she could until the factory collapsed, which she had been reluctant to do. Hide Atmosphere, however, had explained that it would help her get use to being dead, never aging, and never getting her cutie mark (though he had admitted that he wasn't really sure weather or not she would never be able to get her cutie mark). He had also explained that they actually only had six other's that had accepted and so if she did, then she would only come in once a week, since ghosts never get sick (at which time her main job would be to scare the fillies and colts as much as she could without giving them heart-attacks). After an hour of persuading, she had finely agreed and signed the contract, which she literally wouldn't be able to even think of defying.
Soon the failures came in, she recognized some of them, this wouldn't phase her though. Ponies would be right to call her an emotionless monster. After the usual speech, which she ignored, she went to work. Scootaloo walked over to a random filly and leaned down before whispering "You know, it's actually fun to be ground up." into the fillies ear, her voice, though, sounded hollow and empty with an eerie echo to it. The filly spun around fearfully as Scootaloo laughed manically, she had no emotions so faking insanity wasn't hard. Eventually the filly calmed down, though others were terrified by that point, Scootaloo made sure of it.
Scootaloo walked in front of the filly, gently brushing her tail along the filly's side, before stopping in front of her and using her spiritual magic, which was basically Necromancy, to hang herself from chains with her lower torso non-existent and her spine visible, with several organs on the ground, and a lot of blood. It looked extremely realistic (as if she had just had her lower torso violently ripped off), her hoodie had also become shredded in places as if she had gone through the grinder, since this was exactly what Scootaloo had intended. Scootaloo then let herself phase into visibility in front of all the failures. She just smiled before saying 'help me' in a voice that had a gurgling sound to it since she was now choking on her own blood (not that she had to breath), which poured out of her mouth. The failures all screamed, which Scootaloo put her chained hooves to her head from, this caused one to be nearly severed, the bloody bone visibly the only thing holding it on. The fillies screamed more.
"This is going to be you soon, please stop screaming." Scootaloo's head then fell off as the chains around her neck tightened, her head said how much that hurt before she vanished again and put herself back together, listening to the terrified failures brief screams before they all went dead silent. After looking at the failures, who were all frozen in terror, for a moment, Scootaloo flew up to Dr. Atmosphere and watched as they were killed off one-by-one.
Half an hour later, Scootaloo was putting a large amount of bits into her saddle bag, which had been left at the entrance to the chamber.
"That was wonderful Absentia, you literally scared them so much that they became statues. I swear that that batch of spectra is bright enough to light up all of Tartarus!" Dr. Atmosphere said excitedly.
"Just doing my job." Scootaloo said as the manager walked in, her features obscured by a full body suit and mask.
"I take it Absentia worked today?" the manager, who sounded familiar to Scootaloo, asked, likely having seen the spectra that had been produced. Then again, Scootaloo was pretty sure she could still see it glowing behind the walls.
"Yes she did! She froze those worthless failures and put on such a bloody show in doing so! I wish I could take a picture, but she wouldn't show up on the image!" Dr. Atmosphere was spinning insanely while cackling like the maniac he was.
"Well Absentia-" the manager said as she removed her mask, revealing none other than Rainbow Dash, "I gotta hoof it to you, you may have been a failure in life, but you're a master in death, I've never seen Hide this happy before." she finished, looking in the direction she thought Scootaloo was, though she was terribly off.
"Dash, you're the manager?" it was times like these that Scootaloo missed being able to feel emotions. Scootaloo phased into full view then as she took off her hoodie and hung it up.
"Wait, Scootaloo? You're Absentia?" Rainbow asked.
Scootaloo nodded as she pulled on her saddle bags, quickly apologizing for lying and saying she had passed her test. After that she explained that she had to get to the abandoned house she lived in and put her stuff away and mentioning that they'd talk about this later.
As Scootaloo walked off, she pulled out the notepad she had brought and wrote down what she had no doubt was Dash's secret.
Author's Note
Four down, two to go. It would seem the CMC have taken it upon themselves to find their sisters' secrets.
The chapters involving the CMC finding their sisters' secrets will also reveal their own.
so, quick recap on what the fillies have found so far
don't forget to comment on why you like/dislike the chapter/story
Apple Bloom stood at the entrance to Sunny Town, she had been wanting to talk with Mitta again for some time now and had finely found the town again. Apple Bloom reached up and removed her bow, tying the ribbon that made it up around her right foreleg before entering the cursed town. She didn't make it eight steps before Grey Hoof jumped out, in full cursed form, and took on a fighting stance.
"What brings you back hear Apple Bloom?" he asked sadistically. Apple Bloom was unimpressed.
"ah came ta talk with Mitta 'bout somethin', so none of your business Grey Hoof." Apple Bloom said, her accent fading near the end.
"Brave little filly."
"I have no reason ta be scared." with that, Apple Bloom walked past Grey Hoof, who attacked soon after, only to hit the ground from a sudden, violent, punch. Ignoring the shocked gasps that came from the ponies around her, Apple Bloom walked up to Roneo's house, bucking him out of the way, and entered, going strait to Mitta's room.
The house was pretty bad off, no surprise though, seeing as Apple Bloom saw through the illusion the town had. Apple Bloom bucked several boulders out of her way as she walked, eventually coming to a door, where she simply knocked.
"Come in!" Mitta called, her voice had the demonic echo of her true form.
Apple Bloom pushed open the door and walked over to Mitta, who wasn't bothering to hide her true form. Mitta cried out happily before pulling Apple Bloom into a hug that could and would crush bones. They exchanged greetings, then a laugh after Mitta heard what Apple Bloom had done to Grey Hoof and Roneo. Once that was done, Apple Bloom let her own illusion fade. Her yellow coat reverted to midnight black while her mane and tail became blood-red and her eyes began glowing red, hiding their real appearance. Unlike the other cursed ponies, Apple Bloom didn't have fangs, since she wouldn't need them.
The two talked for a while, relaying storied, even with the curse Mitta had some interesting tales, and talking about their occasional sightings of Ruby, who had made it a point to visit them as often as possible.
"Hey Mita?" Apple Bloom asked a few minutes later, her voice had a slight demonic echo to it now.
"Yeah?" Mitta asked, giving Apple Bloom her attention.
"I've been meanin' ta ask, why don't ya leave Sunny Town, even though ya could?"
"Oh, I guess I'm just scared of how ponies would react to my appearance." Mitta motioned towards her body.
Apple Bloom just nodded as she noted it was late and said her goodbyes. Heading outside, Apple Bloom was met with some of the residents of the town, all in their curse forms and all ready to attack. She just sighed as she pulled a knife out of her saddle bag and started cutting her way through the ponies. Eventually, she stopped at the crumbled gates, which had been intentionally destroyed to prevent her escape, she easily got around it though. On her way back home, Apple Bloom re-tied her bow.
Apple Jack, her coat darker with the Earth-Pony runes along her body glowing; her glowing orange eyes that, unknown to her, matched Twilight's; and her claws out; was walking through the Everfree, she was searching for something to eat. A random pony caught her eye suddenly and she went down low before approaching. Up close, the pony had flesh hanging off its body with bones visible and a red fire burning in its eyes. Must be one of those ponies from that town Apple Bloom was talking about, wonder how they taste she thought as she approached her prey. Once she was close enough, Apple Jack lunged, quickly biting into the pony's neck with her sharpened teeth and ripping a chunk out. She wasn't particularly found of the taste, rotten flesh wasn't the best after all. Taste aside, Apple Jack was happy to find that the pony felt pain, but didn't die. She began ripping more of the flesh off, even biting into some of the bones. after mostly devouring the entire pony, she got off and walked away, cleaning the blood off with her Demon Magic.
Unknown to her, however, a filly with a pink bow and glowing red eyes had watched the entire thing from the bushes. Apple Bloom smiled, whispering "so that's what ya've been hidin' from me." under her breath before reaching into her saddle bags and writing her findings down on a notepad.
Author's Note
Five out of six done.
remember to comment on why you like/dislike this story.
Sweetie Belle flew as fast as she could, having activated her wings, to the clubhouse, she had just learned that Rarity was a vampire and it was the day of the meeting mentioned on that note her and her friends had found in their clubhouse almost a week ago. Soon, she landed at the front door and walked in, finding three fillies she didn't recognize and both her friends, who were staring at her.
"What?" Sweetie asked, then she thought of something and spun her head around, finding that she forgot to disable her wings. "Oh, damn, I thought I remembered to shut those off. Well, seeing as we're learning other ponies' secrets, we should just get our own out there as well, but later." Sweetie added as her wings folded in on themselves and then entered a series of hidden panels, making it look as if they never existed. She then sat down next to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, sitting across from the other three fillies.
"So, which of you three put your names on this, wherever it came from?" Shadow Vine asked as she pushed the piece of paper towards the other group of fillies. On the paper was the following:
Pony name: hint towards there secret/Filly Investigating
Twilight Sparkle: randomly running off, strangely demonic when angered/Night Wind, The Forbidden One
Fluttershy: randomly changing to a much darker and stronger personality/Shadow Vine, The Daughter of the Everfree
Pinkie Pie: screams coming from bellow Sugar Cube Corner, Cakes know nothing about it/Lunar Fire, The Devil Child
Rainbow Dash: Often disappears for weeks at a time with excuse of going to Cloudsdale/Scootaloo, The Factory's Soul
Apple Jack: Randomly runs off, strangely dark when angered/Apple Bloom, The Dead's Child
Rarity: Random times of extreme anger and seemingly feral nature/Sweetie Belle, The Shadow of Life
Meeting at CMC Clubhouse Friday at noon (right after CMC leave for crusading)
"That was ma' idea, we were curious 'bout are sis'." Apple Bloom said. After a little talking, everpony revealed their true selves, dropping their illusions or telling their secrets.
When I went to take my flight exam a year ago, I failed. Failures aren't sent out of Cloudsdale though, they're sent to the Rainbow Factory, where they're ground up and their blood is used to make the spectra that creates rainbows. Anyway, I staged a rebellion when I learned this while there and I nearly escaped, but Dr. Atmosphere (A high ranking worker) managed to catch me and kill me. I woke up about four hours later to find that I was indeed dead, of course, I was devastated since I wouldn't be able to seen my friends or idol again (Actually, they wouldn't be able to see me). Dr. Atmosphere explained the concept of 'Soul Contracts' (Which are basically a contract a ghost can sign to allow them to interact with the living world at the cost of having to do whatever the contract states, so you know, I literally can't even think of breaking the contract) to me after that and offered me one in the very factory that killed me. I wasn't sure for a while, but I eventually decided to sign it. There are seven of us ghosts working to scare the failures in that factory (Fear makes the spectra brighter) so I only ever have to work once a week, the pay's good though. Literally, I was there yesterday and I walked out with about four hundred bits. We're paid based on how good the quality of the spectra extracted by the failures we scared is.
By the time Scootaloo had finished her story, her entire body had become transparent and her eyes had begun glowing with an orange light, there were actually a few books floating from her power.
Well, about three years ago, I entered the Everfree with Twilight. I'm sure all of us know the legends of the cursed village known as Sunny Town. Well, I followed Ruby (the filly that the town killed, which brought the wrath of Everfree down on them) into the town and I nearly died there. Mitta (Ruby's old friend, who was under a slightly different curse) stopped me at the gates to the town, when I was escaping from them, and explained that I wouldn't be able to run fast enough to make it out alive, to allow my escape and to save me though, she gave me a weaker version of her own curse. I can still get a Cutie Mark and I don't have fangs like the others do. Unfortunately, I still need to feed off the ambient magic a pony emits when performing there special talent if I want to stay 'living', I don't really think it can be called living though.
Apple Bloom dropped her illusion during her story.
"Oh, that's interesting, I've never actually been to Sunny Town at night, but mom says it'd be fun to fight them off, of course, she's the Goddess of the Everfree (the very one that cursed them to begin with) so I don't really know how I'd fair in that place." Shadow said as one of her vines wrapping around a juice box she had brought and brought it to her so she could take a sip.
"I wonder how a cursed pony like those in Sunny Town would taste." Lunar said with a distracted gaze.
Let me start by saying that the real Sweetie Belle died of a head injury near the Android capital (Yes, we have a capital). Anyway, this was way before she ever met ya'll. I was walking through the streets when she landed (apparently, she had a strong magic surge and it blew her about five-hundred feet in the air (She was already near the capital when that happened). Anyway, she landed in front of me, barely alive. We talked for a brief moment and I explained that I was an android (seeing as she would be dead and wouldn't reveal anything). When I told her that she had absolutely no chance of living, she asked me to take her place, which I did since I was needing to gather intel on the current state the pony race was in. When she died, I hid the body and went to sleep in the same place and position she had landed in. Rarity found me and, do to the head injury the real Sweetie sustained, I was able to pass my lack of memory of anything off as amnesia. I was also able to 'convince' the doctor that it was permanent. So, I'm still the Sweetie Belle you all know. That's also why I wasn't as enthusiastic about going Android hunting. We're ponies too you know, yet we're treated like we're evil just because we were created by some mad scientist.
Sweetie Belle had projected the entire story with a projector she apparently had. She was crying slightly near the end though.
"Sorry Sweetie, we didn't know, then again, I didn't know Scootaloo was dead and she didn't know I was cursed, so I guess it makes sense." Apple Bloom said.
"'When secrets are kept, friendships begin to shatter. When secrets are revealed, true friendships only strengthen.' That is the lesson that lead to this entire idea, speaking of which, we should get to that." Night Wind said, pulling out her notepad and the others' notepads before casting a simple copying spell and puting it all on a single sheet of paper, which she then scratched after reading the first few lines of Lunar's.
"Okay, I'll start, Fluttershy's a vampire." Shadow said, she had seen stranger.
"Hey so's Rarity." Sweetie added.
"Pinkie's got a semi-demonic soul... you should have seen the sight of her basement, all the blood, guts, organs, and bones. The amazing dress of cutie marks that she had. I actually took a bite out of her victim at the time, he was so good and had so much blood." The other four fillies became sick from Lunar's vivid description, especially when she pulled out photos.
"Dash is a killer two, actually, it turns out that she's my manger." Scootaloo, who didn't feel sickened by the images or description, said.
"Okay, well it turns out that Twilight's actually a demon." Night said calmly.
"So's Apple Jack."
A few minutes later, Sweetie Belle and Night Wind wrote several letters, and sent them.
Author's Note
Hope you enjoyed. I'll be posting another chapter soon that has all the letters in it and only the letters in it. I didn't feel like the letters should be posted in this chapter.
don't forget to comment on why you liked/disliked this story or just this chapter.
The tension in the library was, in Night Wind's case, literally thick enough to cut. The element bearers were almost all there, minus Pinkie. None of them looked at each other and none of them could see the SSF as they hid behind a series of bookshelves. Lunar was to Night's right, chewing on a severed wing she had found somewhere; Apple Bloom was right next to Lunar, just looking bored; to Night's left was Shadow, playing some game against a Timberwolf she had brought; next to her was Scootaloo, who was absently toying with her Spiritual Magic; and finely, Sweetie Belle was at the end, looking through thousands of holographic images and apparently chatting with one of her Android friends.
"I'm here... wait... what are you doing here?" Pinkie asked angrily after bouncing in with a tray of cupcakes on her back.
After the usual argument, Shadow stepped out from behind the bookshelves, followed by her group, and shut them all up back slamming one of her vines into the ground.
"Enough! Now, we brought you here for a reason, so listen." Shadow said, her voice having more of an eerie undertone than usual. After everypony quieted down, and Lunar finished her wing, Night spoke up.
"Now then, we know the elements didn't work on Black Shard, this is because your friendship is falling apart. I read in the elements guide available in this library that the Elements of Harmony are powered by Friendship, which means that when friendship fails, so do the elements. We've brought you all here to rebuild your friendship, as me and my two friends had to do a few weeks ago. So, any questions before we continue?" Night asked.
"Yea, why's Bloom an' er friends here?" Apple Jack asked.
"Because they aided us in finding the very secrets that likely keep you all here, and they're helpful in other ways."
After a moment of silence, Lunar spoke up by saying "No more questions... good. We've found that keeping important secrets from each other can cause friendships to begin crumbling. In-fact, we've sent a letter to Princess Celestia with this lesson. So, we're going to give our secrets, then you all are going to tell each other yours, not simple ones, but rather your deepest and darkest secrets (which we already know.)" with that, Lunar and her friends dropped their illusions and proceeded to give their stories. When she finished, Lunar walked over to Pinkie and grabbed a few cupcakes, which had been baked with pony.
"Your turns." Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle all said in unison.
Twilight went first, being the one most interested in friendship. Twilight entered the form Night had seen before speaking.
I likely have the most interesting. I found this body, dead, one night. the filly's parents didn't know just yet and I was running from something (I don't want to explain what just yet). So I decided that I'd do the family a favor and hide at the same time. I took over the filly's body, she was long dead, otherwise I wouldn't have done it. I disapprove of demons taking over living ponies' bodies. I've stayed in this body since it was a year old, I have no intention of leaving. The other part of my secret is something I don't really like, but I will wait until our battle with Black Shard before explaining.
Rainbow Dash followed by pulling out a blood stained lab coat and putting it on before speaking.
You can call me a monster if you want to, because I am. You can call me insane, because it's true. Hell you could call me a murderous, psychopath, I am. I don't kill for joy though, I kill to preserve Cloudsdale's reputation. I work at the very factory that killed Scootaloo, though I was unaware of her death until a few days ago. I'm the Rainbow Factory manager by the way. I started after my first Sonic Rainboom so you know. Of course, you'd want my reasoning, well think about it. If a Unicorn loses their horn, they often choose to die (It's literally an option for them after the surgery). If an Earth Pony loses their legs, they have the option as well, even Pegasi have it, but we find it to be better to let them feel like they're at least a little helpful by using their blood to make rainbows.
Fluttershy stepped up then, dropping her shy act and returning to her true form.
First I'll say, I've always been a vampire, I just hid it to have friends, I even came up with the shy act. I'm actually one of the guards at the Vampiric Empire. I think you can guess why I run off every now and then. My animals also know the truth. When you, Twilight, cast that spell, it revealed my true form and threw my instincts all over the place. I'll also say now, since I'm allowed and she wont protest, that Rarity is also a vampire, one I turned.
Apple Jack had a similar story to Twilight, leaving just Pinkie, who's mane and tail had deflated by then as she spoke very evilly.
Oh my story is the best. Murderer, monster, demon, devil, beast, lunatic, maniac all of them describe me perfectly. Unlike Dashie, I kill for the fun of it, I cut their destinies off, I turn the parts into dresses. I love to cut them up while they're alive, it's just so fun. You should see my lovely basement, all the guts all the gore. I love it, I love the screams of agony as I slowly kill my victims off, sometimes, I even take a bite from them. The best part though, is the fact that now I have a partner, if Lunar agrees of course.
Pinkie was laughing demonically, her red eyes glowing in the bright light, while she gently caressed a dagger she had pulled from nowhere.
After everypony had revealed their secrets, the elements formed around their bearers' necks, but they were different. Twilight's had demonic symbols around it, as did AJ's; Pinkies had blood veins running along it; Dash's had the Rainbow Factory logo etched into the lightning bolt symbol; Fluttershy's (Which was now her bat cutie mark) and Rarity's had sharper edges like the latches to an old cape. Suddenly, the elements began glowing and shot beams of their respective colors at the six fillies in the room. What happened next to all twelve was spectacular and strange at the same time.
Author's Note
Not my best, but oh well.
don't forget to comment on why you like/dislike the story, or just this chapter.
In-front of the six fillies, formed crystals that were shaped a lot like their personalities.
Shadow's crystal was a black heart with red vines around it, the crystal suddenly shot to her chest, where it settled and formed into a necklace. From the silver necklace, spread silver, spiked-vine like, lines that wrapped around her vines, wings, and body. A bat shape was outlined on her back (in-between her wing-joints). A pink bat-shaped crystal (basically an exact replica of the element of Kindness) embedded itself in the outline. On her flanks, formed sharp and wicked daggers with the lines spreading around them like sheaths. Finally, the lines spread to her head, where they formed the outline of a Timberwolf's head, only they stayed limited to the size of her head.
Much the same occurred for Lunar, just with a blue flame crystal for the center of the necklace, fire-shaped lines around her body, a set of claws instead of daggers, a general outline of her head with horns, and the light-blue balloon that was Pinkie's crystal.
Night's had a pink hole-filled heart with erratic lines along her body (including around her horn), a small scythe for a weapon, and a rather insect-like design for her head-piece. The crystal that was embedded in the outline on her back was of the Element of Magic. Night glanced at herself before a small flame started at the tip of her horn (it now had become rainbow colored). The flame was stationary for a moment before spreading rapidly down her horn to the tip of her tail. As the flame passed, her eyes began glowing completely red, a dark magenta carapace spread across her body, her fangs got longer and more frightening, her mane and tail restyled to match a normal Changelings (Or what most saw as a normal Changeling's), and her body lost a lot of its similarities of equines. Night briefly explained that it was a natural battle armor that all Changelings had.
Scootaloo's formed a cracked wheel and had the general concept of death; including scar like lines, scythes for weapons, claws, and skeletal shapes over her wings. The crystal in-between her wing joints was Loyalty. A skull design was her head-piece. Whenever Scootaloo shifted her appearance with her Necromancy, the lines would shift to match.
Apple Blooms had confusing lines and all, with three claw marks (Matching the claws on her hooves) for the primary crystal and the one in-between her shoulder blades was Honesty. Sweetie's followed a cybernetic theme with a memory chip for the primary crystal. The one in-between her wings (which she had reactivated) was Generosity. The lines changed as she activated and deactivated different features. Unlike the others, Sweetie Belle didn't have any weapons.
The main six weren't unaffected either, they all got similar armor with different weapons. Fluttershy and Rarity got wing-blades, Rainbow got a set of claws that doubled as a portable Pegasus Device, Twilight and AJ got claw reinforcements. Everypony looked to Sweetie Belle then.
The young android just smiled as her eyes were completely encased in red. heavy-duty-plasma-machine guns, miniature ion cannons, claws, blades, search and destroy drones, and countless other weapons all unfolded from different panels along her body, when she was done, she looked like a walking death machine. If the group didn't know about dimensional displacement fields, then they would have been more shocked.
As the group stepped out of the castle, they found non-other than Black Shard. Twilight got down low as she spoke.
"Been a long time... mother." The group attacked then.
Scootaloo swung her, necromancy infused, scythe with unnatural force, taking off one of the demon's legs for the eighth time. This was soon followed by Pinkie and Lunar with a combination of daggers, claws, and Demon Magic. Following this was two blasts of pure magic from Night and Twilight. After that, Apple Bloom and Apple Jack attacked with their claws, moving swiftly.
It took nearly eight minutes for Black Shard to finally stop her movement through the cycle of attacks, at which point she used a powerful Black Magic spell to nearly kill everypony.
Sweetie Belle growled as she fired thousands of plasma bolts per second, making sure not to slow down unless necessary. A cry of fear caught her attention though and she quickly left, making sure her team would be safe without her. What Sweetie found though, made her smile. She had nearly hit Diamond Tiara.
"Well, if it isn't the worthless organic life-form? I would love to chat, but I have a demon to destroy." was all Sweetie said before returning to the battle, leaving a fearful Diamond and Silver.
Scootaloo groaned as she sliced apart a demon that Black Shard had risen.
"Remind me again why I'm helping the living?" she asked.
"Because I'm you manager and your contract specifically says that you are to protect me and all Rainbow Factory workers at all costs." Rainbow said calmly. Scootaloo nodded as she removed her hoof and turned it into a spike before shoving it into Black Shard's chest.
The two Apples were working perfectly together, they would slice from separate sides and then come together for a double punch before returning to their sides. Shadow and Night had teamed up with Twilight and were bringing in a small army from the Everfree.
The battle was still strong two hours later. Twilight was now in a head-on battle with Black Shard while the others were working with a pack of Timberwolves to take down the army the shadow demon had risen. Twilight clashed with Black Shard several hundred feet off the ground, the two were both wielding flaming swords made of magic.
Scootaloo started forming chain traps with her power, using them to kill off several while the vampires worked to keep everything out of the sky, while also getting several free meals. Soon, the battle was dying down, Black Shard had to stop bringing in minions to conserve energy and the rest left it to Twilight to end the shadow demon.
Twilight growled as she began charging all of her magic, she would likely pass out from how much she was going to release. Night flew up and acted as a way-point as Twilight drew on the elements and daughters of Harmony to end it. The magic around her horn became so bright that it vanished from sight (Getting past the color spectrum) while she pulled in all her power, using it slightly to trap Black Shard. After a long moment, she released. The spell exploded, ripping past all of the barriers in the universe and obliterating Black Shard. Twilight fell to the ground, her body disintegrating to reveal the demoness that had used it for so long. She had black scales with sharp claws, her eyes (should they have been open) were the same as Sombra's. Her tail was three thin tails with metallic tips, and she had demon wins and a pair of horns.
Author's Note
Hope you enjoyed. Terribly sorry for the short battle, I was losing interest in this story and really wanted to get to the next one (Which isn't MLP related..
If it wasn't obvious, the SSF were the Daughters of Harmony.
don't forget to comment on why you liked/disliked this story, or this chapter (Which I'm sure you weren't as into as the other chapters)
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The Letters (You don't have to read this chapter as it is mostly to allow those that are curious to know what each letter from the previous chapter said.)
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle
I know what you really are, I have no intentions though of revealing it. Me and my five allies are sending this as a matter relating to the return of the Shadow King (or rather queen) currently known as Black Shard. As this material is sensitive, the six of us will only tell you to meet us in your castle's library at noon tomorrow.
I urge you to be there on time, as I don't want to send a scout to hunt you down. I will be honest here though, there is no way I'm letting you skip out on this meeting.
signed
Night Wind, strategist of the SSF P.S: I am aware that you are no doubt concerned about my secrecy, but I assure you that it is a necessity. Either way, I am willing to talk freely of my race (Changelings) to you when this is done and will answer all your questions regarding them truthfully. But only if I see you at this meeting.
Dear Rainbow Dash
You already know me, of course, but that doesn't matter. I request that you meet me and my group (not the normal one) in the Harmony Castle library at noon tomorrow. I will not mention your secret within this letter, but when you see my name then you'll know that I know it. Anyway, the matter of which I wish to discuss is one relating towards the issue of Black Shard, why she hasn't attacked yet is still beyond me. I have been told by the designated leader of my current group not to reveal the details of what I want to discuss until the meeting.
signed
Absentia, member of the SSF P.S: I will only talk more about our awkward encounter at our work after you show up to this meeting.
Dear Apple Jack
I know you, but I was told not to reveal myself just yet. I know your secret (the really dark one that involves ancient legends). My group (not my normal group) leader has planned a meeting tomorrow at noon in the Harmony castle library, you are absolutely required to attend. This meeting is one that regards Black Shard. I will be among five others that are the ones planing this meeting. I can't say anymore.
signed
Blood Bloom, member of the SSF P.S: This is a mandatory meeting
Dear Pinkamena Diane Pie
You don't directly know me, but I know you. I know what you hide. Anyway, there is a mandatory (for you) meeting in the Harmony Castle library tomorrow at noon. This meeting is regarding the recent return of the Shadow Demon Black Shard, formerly known as Sombra. I can't give you any details until the meeting begins. This is an important meeting so don't miss it.
signed
Lunar Fire, meeting/party planner for the SSF P.S: Please bring some cupcakes. I, personally would like some made from the ingredients in your basement (If you know what I mean)
Dear Fluttershy
I know who and what you are. My group is having an important meeting at the Harmony Castle library tomorrow at noon. This meeting will be regarding Black Shard's return and is not something I'll allow you to miss. Come prepared though as our discussion may make you thirsty (You know what I mean by that)
signed
Shadow Vine, leader of the SSF P.S: If you come to this meeting then I will be willing to help you learn more about the creatures in the Everfree, I know that you love animals.
Dear Rarity
You know me well, and now I know your dark secrets. There is a meeting tomorrow at noon in the Harmony Castle Library, you have to come. This meeting will regard Black Shard, so don't miss it. My group will be waiting for you. I will warn you that some of what we talk about might make you thirsty (You know exactly what I mean)
signed
Circuit Board, member of the SSF P.S: I actually have several thousand ideas for interesting new styles, I'm willing to share them with you and let you take credit, but only after Black Shard's defeat, which you must come to this meeting to be able to do.
Author's Note
A few things
Night Wind is the one that had them use some of the terms they used in their letters. This is because she doesn't want the main six to think fillies are who they're talking to. She learned from some spies (of all races) how to give the impression of powerful ponies being the writers
don't forget to comment on why you liked/disliked this story or just this chapter