Waking up in Equestria

Rainbow Dash flew as fast as she could through the dark forest, looking for a way to escape the canopy overhead to the safety of the open sky as her heart raced in throat. She had barely escaped the two black shadows that set on them at their camp site just moments ago. They had heard a horrible wailing sound and then two figures appeared in the middle of the camp, reaching with their long black arms while their narrow pin heads swayed back and forth. Rarity and Fluttershy had been the closest to them and in horror she watched them vanish when the creature's long trident tipped arms touched them. But vanish wasn't the right word... more like vacuumed up. Rarity's body had grown small and narrow before she was drawn into the black void of the creature that had touched her.

Twilight had been fast, leaping up and firing off a spell from her horn almost before Rainbow even knew what was happening. The flash of red light streamed out in a beam, striking the creature who had taken Rarity square in the chest with the full brunt of her power. But nothing happened. Her spell simply vanished into the back mass. Seconds later, Twilight was gone.

"Go Rainbow! I'll hold em..." but that was as far as Applejack got. She, along with Pinke Pie, who hadn't even moved from her bedding near the fire yet, were next to be sucked into the black void they carried with them. Rainbow Dash was alone and facing two nightmarish creatures who had just wiped out her out her whole group of friends along with The Elements of Harmony in a matter of seconds. Left with no idea how to deal with them, she took to her wings and flew off before she could be taken as well.

Tears began to well up from her eyes as she dodged first one tree and then the next through blurred vision. Her friends... gone. Her whole world was suddenly turned upside down. They had always been a team, without them, she was lost. She couldn't face this danger alone. Twilight was the glue that had held them together, made them powerful and yet not even Twilight's magic had hurt those things. Without her, she felt hopeless.

She saw through watery eyes a break in the canopy just big enough for her to fit through and she shot through it, gaining the sky and freedom from the claustrophobic forest. She stopped far above the treetops and hovered, letting her emotions take over for a bit. She wept, curling into a ball in the sky thinking about her friends and if she'll ever see them again.

"Twi...." she sobbed. "Please... Celestia, no..."

Her tears fell through the air, smattering on the leaves below like rain.

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A small firefly watched Rainbow Dash from below, just above the tops of the trees. It had flown very hard and with a little help from magic had managed to keep up with the swift pegasus... but just barely. It had been at the campsite when it was attacked and it's two yellow eyes, one larger than the other, had seen everything transpire with a horrid sense of fascination and morbid curiosity. It didn't like what was happening to the ponies, no... not one bit. But it wanted to see how things would progress a little further before it considered acting out on it's own. It knew that, for the moment, nopony was hurt and the Darklings were sent simply to fetch The Elements of Harmony by their new master, not to kill them. No... their master wanted to do that himself in his own way.

It was rather disappointed with how swiftly the Darklings had accomplished their mission, too. It had hoped to see the power of the group again but now was forced to wait and follow Rainbow Dash instead. It watched her cry above it for a while, almost caving in and flying up to comfort her but resisted the temptation. It would spoil the fun if it was drawn into this conflict to early. It listened patiently to the somber rain created by the pegasus in mourning and waited for it to stop.

Eventually, the she ceased her crying and hung in the air looking to the south. She wasn't the most observant thing, the firefly thought. She should have seen that fortress long ago but only now was noticing the blackened walls and towers in the moonlight. The windows set in regular intervals along it's walls and peaks glowed a deep blood red from the light within and was visible even at this distance. It sat squat and hulking on the top of the ridge above the treeline, brooding in the pale light surrounding it like a moody teenage filly who didn't get her way. Even for the firefly who was accustomed to chaos and disharmony... the place was unsettling.

Rainbow Dash began to move south towards the Fortress of Denholm, and the firefly followed.

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Quickfire.

That was all Rainbow Dash could think of. Quickfire was behind this... he had to be. She probably should get help. She probably should enlist the bucking royal guard. There were a lot of things she should have done but instead she flew towards the fortress on the high ridge in front of her alone with revenge in her heart. He started this... now he was gonna get it.

She approached the outer wall carefully, not knowing if there were more of those black shadow things around or not. Sticking to the hard brick wall vertically, she chose the nearest opening and carefully pealed back the red, thin tapestry that hung over the window on the inside.

Beyond was a large room with a single narrow long table that had several high backed chairs around it. Tapestries of purple hung from the walls in dusty cocoons of cobwebs. The massive fireplace at the far end of the room was dark and cold. Nothing moved. She slipped inside and began to look for Quickfire.

Dash had entered on the top floor, and after an exhaustive, painfully slow search found no living thing save for a single firefly that followed along in her wake. She had batted a wing at it out of pure frustration but had missed, promising to swat the thing if it came near her again. The next two lower floors also turned up nothing. No sounds were heard, no movement sensed. It was as if the place was abandoned... but then who had lit all these torches?

The fortress was basically a square with long narrow rooms at the edges and smaller square ones in the middle separated by a hallway. You could fly along this hallway unbroken, making four of the same turns to end up right back were you started. There was a faded red carpet on the floor that was dingy and eaten away, showing bare patches of rotten wood underneath every few feet. Light was cast by hanging fixtures of black iron that held massive torches that someone had lit throughout the place and in every room. The whole fortress smelled of ancient dust and stale air, even though the windows had been opened on the outer wall. It ticked Dash's nose as she disturbed the carpet and purple tapestries in the hall with her wing's air flow.

She moved down, floor by floor along the staircase that ran down one side of the building and there was no change in layout... no change in decor. For a while she didn't even know if she really was moving someplace new and her only saving grace was she had never closed any of the doors she had opened. As long as she was opening them... she knew she was making progress. It was deathly silent around her, time seemed to stand still as she crept from room to room... floor to floor.

Finally, she came to a level where the center was open, looking down on what she assumed must be the ground floor below her. Crumbling statues of ponies lined the walls in faded alabaster alcoves lining the outer walls. There were no doors here, only the catwalk that enclosed the opening below looking down onto the rubble and debris that had accumulated over the years and the massive hanging cobwebs that covered everything. On one end of the walk, a massive grand staircase descended with the same faded red carpet pulling up from the edges.

It was here she heard the first sounds of heavy metal doors closing from below and away. Something was in here with her... and she wanted it's head on a platter.

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The first thing I felt was the hard stone under my back, pinching my wings against my shoulder blades. Jesus, that hurt.

I sat up wide eyed and looked around, remembering everything exactly as it had left off. The shadow creatures, the three girls disappearing into it and myself charging at it from above, swinging with everything I had at the two white eyes. There was a cold feeling still on my right hand where it had impacted but other than that, I felt fine.

"Mason!" I heard Scootaloo's voice and turned towards the source.

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were in a very old looking, black metal cage on the floor on the opposite side of the room from me about 20 feet away. My heart jumped when I saw they were alright, looking at me with wide fearful eyes but smiles on their faces none the less. I was in a cage that looked just like theirs. Not very wide, just enough for me to lay down and tall enough to stand up in. Placing my hands on the bars, I felt the rust and aged roughened texture under my fingers. Giving an experimental tug, I got pretty much exactly what I expected. It was solid.

"Scoot! You guys alright?" I called out.

"Yeah... are you?"

"I think so."

"What happened?? What was that thing?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I dunno. You haven't seen it again?"

"No"

We looked at each other, helplessly separated and trapped in our prisons with nothing to do but wait. The room we were in was very large, our voices echoed deeply in the darkness above and around us. Tall stands held torches that cast globes of yellow light in pairs down the middle of the room, illuminating ours and three other cages that sat empty. The cages were arraigned in a semi circle around an obsidian pedestal that held an intricately carved red box about the size of a shoebox. It's lid was closed and gave no indication of what was inside. The pairs of standing lights ran away in an isle across the vast, flagstone paved room to a door on the far side.

We sat miserably for some time, impossible to tell really how long we were there while we waited for something to happen. We tried to talk, but the echoes and the room itself seemed to stifle the desire to make noise. I had asked if Sweetie Belle had tried to use her magic to open the cages but she reported that her magic didn't work on it.

My head pinged against the bars and I slumped into them. With no idea where I was, no clue of how I got here or even if I was going to make it out... I'd begun to wish I'd flown just a bit longer this morning to experience that freedom some more. When I thought I couldn't get any more miserable, the wailing started again.

It was deafeningly loud and came from what seemed like thin air right in front of the box on the pedestal. I clamped my hands over my ears, seeing the fillies doing the same. It grew to a fever pitch before the shadow creatures appeared, suddenly and without warning they materialized by the box on either side. They looked exactly the same as the one that had been at Sweet Apple Acres, long arms with three finger like digits, narrow bodies and pinched heads that swayed side to side on thin stalks of a neck. The wailing stopped as suddenly as it began and in the silence, the two beings began to move noiselessly with jerky, twitching movements.

They shuffled to the empty cages that swung open soundlessly. When they both stood ready, their arms rotated backwards and fluttered behind them, heads falling backwards to lay against their shoulders limply. Out of their bodies came thin streaks of color and light that landed in puddles on the floor. An orange and white one first, then a pink and purple one landed in the other. One of the shadowy beings then popped out of existence but the other stayed, depositing another single pool of yellow in to the remaining barred cell before it also vanished with no noise. The whole scene was unsettling and disturbing, causing me to recoil against the far side of my own prison to get as far away as possible. The fear and revulsion eventually subsided and I looked to the three cages that now stood closed... but not empty.

The light within the pools had faded some but not the colors. As I watched, the shapes of familiar ponies began to fade into existence laying in the puddles. Twilight and Pinke Pie, Applejack and Rarity, then finally Fluttershy all grew distinct and solid before my eyes, prone in various states of unconsciousness. Our friends had been captured as well.

My stomach dropped, realizing that not even this group could overcome whatever power was at play here. We really had no hope of escape if The Elements of Harmony were this easily taken. Already Scootaloo and the others had begun to cry as they came to the same conclusion. We were doomed.

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A slow, steady weight seemed to be growing on Rainbow Dash's mind and body as she trailed the hoofsteps on the bottom floor. The closer she got to their source, the more she felt it. What started as a buzzing, slightly sick feeling in her head now had spread out over her whole body causing her head to droop and her ears to flatten. She couldn't even fly at this point but instead resigned herself to stalk her prey on hoof, trying to ignore the growing feeling of disease. If her last act was to tear out Quickfire's throat with her muzzle... then so be it. She moved down a narrow hall that ended in a T and her heart jumped when she saw him, a blur of dark purple and orange that moved by to the left at the end of the hallway.

There you are...she thought to herself. The waves of discomfort increased as she moved quickly now towards her prey, stopping at the intersection to peek around the corner. A dark, stone door was ajar down at the end of this new passageway and she moved silently to it. She could hear his hoofalls echoing in a massive room on the other side and she pushed her weight against the cold stone behind her just enough to allow her to slip inside.

Two rows of standing torches marked an isle way that stretched out in front of her across the room, ending in five cages. Dash couldn't tell if anything was in them from here, but it didn't matter. Slinking around the dark edge of the room, she kept her eyes on Quickfire who had stopped near the cages. She paused, fighting the sensation of sickness that washed over her again. It was getting hard to focus now but she steeled herself. "No time for wussy stuff, Dash" she told herself. "You have to pay him back..."

She was coiling up, getting ready to charge with everything she could muster when a tiny yellow light blinked at the end of her nose. That bucking firefly was back! Irritated, she swatted at it with her hoof. Dash had missed again and the firefly moved up, drifting behind her where she quickly forgot about it, focusing on her prey again.

A stinging pain on her ear jolted Dash out of her concentration. She flicked her ears in reflex to fling off whatever was there but froze wide eyed when she heard the tiny, articulate voice in her ear.

"Wait..."

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The pony that entered the room long after Twilight and the others woke up had to be Quickfire, I thought. He fit the description Scootaloo had given me with that striking orange mane and tail matched with a dark purple coat. His eyes were a pale green that showed almost no black as the rest of the ponies I'd met. The color was matched by a large amulet he wore around his next that glinted yellow flecks of torchlight in brilliant sparkles as he moved. My friends all shrank back in the cages with lowered heads when he approached. It didn't look like they were scared... it looked like they had suddenly become ill.

He wasn't a large pony, about the same size as Twilight and the others. He lacked the heavy build that I'd seen on stallions but made up for it with a sinuous lean body that looked dangerously fast. He regarded Twilight and the others before turning his attention to me. He came right up to the cage, close enough for me to touch and I fought the urge to reach out and throttle him.

"So you're the human who brought about the downfall of my father." he remarked in a calm and even toned voice. "Funny... I expected so much more than this." his eyes traveled down to my feet and then back up to my eyes. "My father was a great pegasus. Loyal to the true blood and the only one who stuck up for the purity of Equestria!" his manner had become dark and spiteful. "Now it is up to me..."

"Quickfire..." I said.

"Yes. You know I'm half tempted to keep you alive, human?" his eyes narrowed. "I can smell my father's blood in you... you might just make a great servant in my new kingdom... with some proper breaking in."

I didn't say anything. We were in deep shit right now and it wasn't time for witty hero lines. Besides... I was to scared to come up with any. He sized me up one more time before turning towards the box before the cages on the pedestal.

"No, I think I'll simply turn you all into Darklings." he put a hoof on the box and caressed it's dull red cover. "It's such a shame they're only good for one use. It gets harder and harder to find willing participants when the outcome is a painful death." he smirked

"Quickfire..." Twilight struggled to her hooves. "Let us go... you don't have to do this."

"Oh, Twilight... The Element of Magic. Not much use now, is it. Do you feel that, Princess Twilight?" he stepped towards her, causing her to fall back again in shuddering wracks of sickness. "These lands have gone too long without a good dose of righteous and deserved hate. Your bodies and minds don't know how to deal with a blast of it anymore. You've all become weak and soft... You're powerless against it." he chuckled grimly.

"Brother..." a small voice said. Quickfire turned his attention to Scootaloo who was curled in a ball on the floor of the cage, shaking.

"Please... I don't wanna die." she said softly.

"Ha! Scootabrat..." he spat on the ground. "You've been dead to me since the day you were born" He moved towards her cage and placed a hoof on the lock. A snicking sound reached my ears and the door swung open. Looming over the three cowering fillies, he gloated.

"None of this would have happened if you hadn't come along! In fact... I think I'll do you first in honor of my father!" he began to laugh.

I sucked in a breath to yell and stopped when I small brilliant yellow light flared in front of my nose. It was a firefly... but it had arms that were waving madly and two large yellow eyes that looked just like...

"Discord.." I whispered.

The firefly zoomed around and I felt it light on my ear with an insane tickling sensation. His voice, tiny and small but still very much his began to speak.

"Listen, human. We don't have much time. Your cage is unlocked and help is nearby. Get the amulet away from him and get it out of here! The amulet is The Element of Hate and it's sapping our power!"

Quickfire's back was to me as he lorded over Scootaloo in her cage, still laughing. My heart, pounding in my throat, jumped up another notch when I pushed against the bars and they swung open easily. A sense of overwhelming pressure hit me at the realization that this was all up to me right now. I had to come through this time.

Pushing off with my mind, I gained my wings and shot towards the figure that was reaching for Scootaloo, aiming my outstretched hands for the thin green item around his neck. I would have gotten it, but Sweetie Belle's face betrayed the surprise. Her eyes grew wide and happy when she saw me, causing Quickfire to turn.

A quick lash of his hoof against my shoulder while he ducked changed my momentum and I spun off into the darkness, landing cruelly on the flagstones that erased the skin of my arm.

"Well.." he called out to me. "So the human is immune... interesting." he stepped back away from Scootaloo's cage and fixed his eyes on me. Spreading his wings behind his back, he lowered his head in challenge. "Well come on then, human. Show me how you bested my father."

"Careful, Mason" Applejack cried out.

Quickfire took to his own wings and shot at me like a cannonball. I barely rolled out of the way, not even having enough time to gain my feet before I saw him change direction in a skillful tight turn that I could never dream of accomplishing. I was outclassed severely by him and I knew that flying against his skill would be like flying against Rainbow Dash, but only worse.

Again he dove, this time striking me square in the chest with his front hooves sending me sailing back towards the semi-circle of cages where my friends watched. The breath left my body but unlike the fight with Whipwind, I never impacted the ground. My wings had taken over this time and held me up at the last second, sparing another crushing blow.

Quickfire landed in front of me, head lowered and eyes squeezed to narrow mean slits of pale green that glowed in harmony with the amulet around his neck.

"This is it... this is the human caused my father to be imprisoned? You're pathetic. You fly like a newborn FOAL!" he reared up and charged again. I braced myself to absorb his impact but Quickfire was hit from the side just before he got to me.

Rainbow Dash was on him, her fore-hooves clutching at his neck for the amulet weakly like she barely had enough energy to keep her eyes open. I moved quickly to jump on the pile, landing with my own fingers seeking the element desperately. He thrashed under our combined weight bucking and twisting, throwing Rainbow Dash off to the side where she curled into a ball retching. It was just enough time for me to finally get my fingers around the amulet. I felt my nails dig between it and his purple coat and I clutched tightly before yanking my arm back.

A bolt of terrific pain slammed into my body, no wings could save me this time as I slammed into the ground in front of Scootaloo's open cage from the force of the shock. I shook my head, trying to clear my vision while my whole body buzzed with pain from a thousand different places. Quickfire stood tall above me, surrounded by a sickly green, fiery aura. His eyes glowed brightly same green as if lit by two lanterns inside above a menacing smile. I was dazed and unable to move beyond rocking back and forth on my wings below him.

"Now this ends..." he spoke in a voice that had changed. It was deeper, somehow more present as it reverberated around the room.

"No!" My friends called out from the cages, to weak to stand.

His aura intensified, gathering it's light in front of him while the glowing green eyes widened. I had a mad thought that whatever was gonna happen, was probably gonna hurt really really bad. I was closing my eyes against the coming pain and then a felt a warm soft body embrace me.

Scootaloo had crawled out of the cage and had dragged herself over to me. She wrapped her front hooves around my neck and whispered "I'd rather go with you"

I rolled to the side, dragging her into a clutching embrace and burying my face in her neck. I didn't want to die, but I would rather die with her in my arms like this than any other way. "I love you Scootaloo." tears running down my face.

"I love you" she cried into my ear.

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Twilight watched helpless as Quickfire towered over Mason and Scootaloo. She tried to stand again, but the sickness that had overcome her was just too great. Her horn wouldn't work either as she laid on her side watching the end draw near and she closed her eyes... she didn't want to see it.

"Wha...." she heard Quickfire say a moment later in surprise and she opened her eyes again.

A ball of pure white light surrounded the prone forms of Mason and Scootaloo, pulsing out bigger and brighter in a heartbeat rhythm. When it touched Quickfire, he shrank back in pain and fear, frustration growling from his throat.

"What is this!?" he shouted. A stream of green energy shot from the amulet around his neck, striking the white shell and dissipating over it like a stream of water on the back of a bowl. The white dome grew once more, and then flared out in a brilliant explosion, filling the whole room with a pure light that hurt her eyes.

The sickness was instantly gone. Twilight felt her power surge through her body once again, unleashed and heavy in her horn with potential and eager willingness to do what it was here to do. Her friends rose to their feet, exiting the open cages and joining together once again as The Elements of Harmony. She understood perfectly what had happened... and she knew beyond a doubt that yes, Mason loved Scootaloo like only a true pony could. It was the power of their love that had saved them all.

Quickfire shrank against the bars of Mason's cage, his eyes wide with fear and confusion. "How.... How did... "

"Love. Only the true love of two special someponies could stand against the element you've claimed. There's no room for your hate here in Equiestria, Quickfire. So say hi to Tirek for me!" she cried out in victory, rearing back on her hind legs and casting the spell that triggered the incredible power of the six ponies combined.

He shrieked in pain as the rainbow light struck him, shattering the amulet weakened by the power of Scootaloo and Mason's love. The portal to Tartarus yawned opened behind him, Cerberus's three grinning faces panted in eager anticipation of a new playmate. Quickfire was flung backwards like a rag doll through the opening... and was gone.