Darker Than Purple

Chapters

Another Starless Night
The Payment For The Star's Demand
The First Step Of A New Life
Can A Blood Bond Be Hidden By A Mask?
The Dark Sister's Old Dream Fulfilled
Can The Stars Break Perfect Harmony?
Through The Smoke, An Ally Is Found
When A Calling Is Given, It Must Be Followed
Prologue

Another Starless Night

Luna had finished raising the moon and was going to bed. As Celestia was brushing her teeth, only focusing on her face in the mirror, while Luna stood behind her in the hallway.

"Goodnight Celesti-" She was cut off.

"Really?" Celestia replied. "Celesti? That's your new nickname for me? That's probably the weakest one you've got!"

Luna did not reply. There was awkward silence.

"Did I hurt her feelings?" Celestia thought, "I sure hope I didn't."

Celestia was shocked when she turned around. Luna was gone. Her crown was on the floor. There was a horse shaped hole in the ceiling above where she was standing.

"Oh no." She whispered to herself. The last time there was a horse shaped hole above where Luna was standing was a little over a thousand years ago when she was banished to the moon. Suddenly, a guard ran up to her frantically.

"Your highness," he said, "we're in big trouble."

"Why? What's happening?" She said with power, yet, with worry also.

"Everything in the Everfree Forest just died! Everything!"

"Oh no..." She said to herself. She bolted for the nearest window.

"Princess!" The guard yelled. She ignored him as she continued towards the window"

When she got to the window and looked out, she was distraught at what she saw. The stars were gone.

"Princess," the guard said, "what's wrong?"

"The stars are gone! Get Shining Armor!"

The guard left to retrieve Shining Armor. In about ten minutes, Shining Armor was there.

"Is this regarding the stars?" He asked.

"Yes. It is. Gather everypony from the Starfall division and bring them to the emergency meeting room!"

"But Princess, you disbanded the Starfall division years ago when Luna returned. Most of them aren't even in Canterlot anymore!"

"I guess that is a problem. Get everypony from the astronomic division. They're gonna be the new Starfall. Oh! And get the Everfree district military general here too! "

"Yes ma'am!"

Shining Armor did this and the meeting commenced. Celestia entered in the room and everyone stood up, put their hooves on their hearts, and began to recite the Pledge to Equestria, as per the norm in royal meetings.

"Stop!" Celestia said, "There's no time for any sort of formaility."

Everypony sat down.

"Alright," Celestia said, "Everything and everypony in the Everfree forest just died, and all the stars disappeared. And now you must know that along with the stars' disappearance, Luna has disappeared as well. I have some guards investigating it, but from the looks of it, she was sent to the moon again."

Everyone in the room seemed shocked and suspicious.

"Celestia," the Everfree general said, "You do know that it is treason to do that without reason? Even if you are a princess."

"General, are you implying that I sent her there again!? I signed that law myself! Why would I break it!? And even if I did, why would I tell you!? Do you take me for a fool!?"

"I honestly don't know why you'd tell us or why you'd break your own law, but who else could banish Luna to the moon? She's the second most powerful pony in all of Equestria, so it could only be you!"

The astronomics division discussed this amongst themselves, but they had no say in it, so they didn't seem to care too much. Shining Armor stood next to Celestia, but did not say anything about the potential treason she could've committed, since he knew that there were more important matters at hand.

"Oh, and I suppose you think I killed the Everfree Forest and destroyed the stars!? DON'T respond to that, because we have more important matters to discuss. I am going to have to create a new sky like I did a thousand years ago when Luna was gone. I have to create each new individual star. Each of these stars is a ball of raw magic, but it's special magic affected by space. Once it is created, it, not me, appoints a random pony with the powers of a contractor, and when they die, their star falls, so I have to create a new one. Since all the contractors of the past lost their powers when Luna returned, we disbanded the Starfall division that watched for falling stars. This is where you astronomic ponies come into play. As of right now, you are the temporary new Starfall division. Focus mainly on the stars. Meteors and solar flares are second priority until I can regather the old Starfall division. Now, Shining Armor, Everfree General-" She got cut off by the disgruntled and suspicious general.

"I HAVE a name you know. General Swifthead of Everfree."

"Yeah, ok," she replied, "General Swifthead, Shining Armor, you must create some sort of barrier around the Everfree Forest. Keep everypony and everything out of there. Also, watch out for contractors. They'll probably be using their powers for the first time, and some of their prices may be dangerous. I also need some guards to tend to me while I create the new sky, since this will drain a lot of my energy and magic. Alright, meeting adjourned."

Everypony left the room. As the new Starfall division went to their observatory, General Swifthead pulled Shining Armor aside in the hallway.

"Why didn't you say anything back there about Celestia's treason?" Swifthead said.

"First of all, that's just a theory. Secondly, there were more important matters at hand, so I didn't want the conversation to go off the rails."

"That's responsible. I guess that's why you're the head honcho. But still, what if it is treason? We need to act upon this immediately while her magic is drained so she doesn't banish us too! I'm calling an emergency general's meeting tomorrow, after the barrier around the Everfree is set up. We'll discuss it then. You should really come."

"Fine, I'll come. But I really don't think Celestia did anything wrong."

"Think about it. If she was sent to the moon again, who could've done it? And who could've killed everything within the Everfree forest?"

"It's actually about an 80 kilometer circular radius that covers most of the forest and some area outside. You should know that since we're setting up a barrier around it. We're calling it Hell's Gate."

"Doesn't matter right now. Nopony has that power except her. What if she did this so she could build an army of contractors?"

"It just doesn't make sense. Why would she do that? She already has everything, so what more could she need?"

"I don't know why, but the evidence just seems to add up against her. Just think about it. And remember. Luna's gone, so your wife is next in line for the throne. Be there tomorrow. The meeting will be in a tent near the barrier. Ok."

"Fine. I'll be there."

Spike gazed at the night sky as Twilight was getting ready for bed.

"Spike, you should've been in bed half an hour ago." Twilight said.

"I know. But you were right about the stars. They really are fun to gaze at."

Twilight joined Spike, bringing a telescope for her and for Spike. She set them down, and set Spike's up for him. They both began using their telescopes for their intended purpose. Twilight looked around at her favorite constellations. She stepped away from the telescope.

"Stay here, Spike I have to use the bathroom."

She did so. While she was washing up afterwards, she heard Spike yell.

"Twilight! Come here! Quick! Something terrible has happened!"

"Oh what now?" She thought. She walked towards him, thinking that it was just Spike being paranoid.

"Quick! Look for Orion's Belt! It's not there! I was looking at it, then I looked away, then I looked back and it was gone!"

"Oh come on Spike. You probably just accidentally moved your telescope when you looked away. Here, let me fix it."

Twilight got down to Spike's telescope and began to adjust it to see the Belt again.

"Hmm. That's weird. I can't seem to find it. Maybe it's just magnified too much."

"OR MAYBE IT'S NOT THERE!" Spike replied.

Twilight adjusted the magnification and looked around some more, still not finding anything. Spike started looking around impatiently, he looked left, he looked right, and then he looked up. Not only was Orion's Belt gone, all of them were.

"Uh, Twilight...."

"Not now, Spike. I'm trying to fix your faulty telescope."

"Forget that. Just look up."

"I don't see how that's gonna help, but whatever."

Twilight pointed the telescope upwards.

"All I see is the moon. Kind of looks like it did when Luna was there. Weird."

"No, Twilight, look up. Without the telescope."

"Fine."

Twilight did so.

"What the......." She said softly, aghast at the fact that there were absolutely no stars on such a clear and cloudless night.

"Spike!" She said, "get me my old nursery rhyme book and my Equestrian astrology book."

"Got it!"

Spike retrieved the books. Twilight opened the nursery rhyme book a rhyme called Starless Night.

"Spike, have you ever heard this one?"

"Nope."

"Didn't think so. It's in the 'Really Old And Rarely Used' section. Listen to it."

Twilight read the rhyme

"In the heavens there were two
they guided both the lights
One for sun and one for moon
One for day and one for night
But on the day that they would rue
The moon put up a fight
The sun would then banish the moon
On the Starless Night"

"Yeeeeaaaaaah," Spike said, "I've definitely never heard of that."

"Some scholars say that this rhyme was based on truth," Twilight replied, "and that there really was a starless night when Luna was banished."

Twilight then opened the astrology book to the unsolved mysteries section, then began to read an excerpt

"'Unsolved mystery #177, there is some astrological evidence to support that the stars disappeared for one night about a thousand years ago, and it is mentioned in a rather unknown nursery rhyme named Starless Night. While there is some evidence for it, there is also evidence against it, so this mystery remains unsolved.' Spike, it's happening again! Look at the moon! It looks like it did when Luna was banished! Look at the stars! There are none! Celestia banished Luna again and somehow did it without the Elements of Harmony!"

"But why would she do that?"

"I don't know! Write her a letter!
Dear Princess Celestia,
What in Equestria is happening? Why is this happening? Did you banish Luna again? And how did you do it without the Elements of Harmony? Why are the stars gone? Is this another Starless Ni-"

Twilight got shot by a thin beam of magic from the sky.

"What the? Ugh, anyway, keep writing.
Is this another Starless Night? And why did I just get shot by a random beam of magic from the sky? Please tell me.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

The letter was sent.

The Payment For The Star's Demand

Twilight Sparkle was disoriented by the whole occurrence of the stars disappearing and her getting shot by a magic beam, so she wanted to just go to sleep and think it through the next day. As she got into bed, she looked out the window and noticed something. A star. She looked at it to make sure it was real, and as she was doing this, another one appeared. Out of this other one, she could see a thin light like a laser shooting towards a cloud.

Suddenly, she heard a sound. A creaking sound. She slowly got out of bed to inspect it. She eventually ended up in her kitchen. With all the lights turned off, she turned on her horn magic as a light source. Right when she did that, the lights went on, frightening her. Out of this sudden fear, she attacked the source of the sound with magic.

"Ow!" Spike said as he was hit with the bolt of electricity, "I was just getting some water."

"Sorry, Spike. I thought you were evil or something."

"Giggle at the ghostie, Twilight. Just keep calm and giggle on. Say, is that some new kind of magic you learned?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well usually it's just your horn that lights up when you do magic like that. Your whole body glowed this time."

"What? That only happens when the Elements of Harmony are used! Spike, are you lying to me?"

"Why would I do that on a night like this. I lie sometimes, but not on a night when the stars have disappeared and you've become all paranoid."

"So my whole body glowed when I shot you with a bolt of magic?"

"Yup. But it didn't really feel like magic. More like electricity."

"Electricity? It's impossible to use raw electricity like that!"

"Hey, I calls it like I sees it."

Dropping the conversation, Twilight walked toward her counter and grabbed a knife. She slightly cut herself with it. She winced in pain and immediately applied pressure to her wound.

"What the?" Spike said, "Why the heck did you just do that?"

"I. I don't know. I couldn't help it. It was like I was forced to."

"Seriously, Twilight, you need to go to sleep."

"I know. I'll do it once I seal this up. Goodnight, Spike."

"G'night."

Spike left and Twilight used conventional magic to seal the wound up. She went upstairs and went to bed, watching new stars appear in the night sky.

A detective entered Celestia's room as she continued to create stars, and contractors.

"Princess, we found this letter addressed to you lying in the hallway. It's from Princess Twilight Sparkle. That is all."

The detective gave Celestia the letter and left. Celestia took a glance at the letter and immediately closed it up.

"Everyone out!" She said, "Now!"

All the guards in the room left suspiciously, closing the door behind them.

When she was sure everyone was out of the room, she opened the letter again and read it. When she read the part about the thin beam of magic shooting Twilight, she was shocked and slightly embarrassed at the fact that it was kind of her fault that this happened, but she had to get to business. She knew exactly what had happened. Twilight Sparkle had become a contractor. Celestia wrote a reply.

"Twilight Sparkle,
Equestria has changed forever.
A little over a thousand years ago, the Crystal Empire existed under a mysterious phenomenon known as Heaven's Gate. Every area inside this Gate experienced joy and happiness, but when it disappeared, the joy and happiness went away, and some ponies, including Luna and King Sombra, went mad. Because of their madness, they, along with everypony inside the gate, disappeared for a thousand years. All because Heaven's Gate disappeared. When Luna was banished, her night went with her. The only natural light of the night that stayed was the Moon. Thus, there was a Starless Night. Because the night sky was gone, I had to create new stars. Each star I created was a ball of raw magic in the sky. Sadly, with each new star came a price. Each star shot a random pony with a thin beam of raw, powerful magic, which made them contractors. Contractors are ponies with special powers that even I can't master without the Elements of Harmony. However, when they use their powers, they must pay a price that their body and mind forces them to do. Some would have to smoke, some would have to just to jumping jacks, some would have to cut themselves, and some even had to break their own bones. There were more prices than those, but I won't get into that. The stars also made dolls. Dolls are pony-like creatures that have little to no emotion. They are created to mimic the form of ponies, but can use special powers as well through a variety of mediums.
When Luna returned from the moon with the real night, I destroyed the fake one, removing all the powers of all the contractors remaining. But now, a new Gate has appeared, and this time, it is the exact opposite of the first one. This one is known as Hell's Gate. It appeared over the Everfree Forest and some areas around it. It killed everything inside. It also took away Luna somehow, banishing her to the Moon again, as you may be able to tell by the Moon's appearance. By taking away Luna, it too away the night sky, and again, I had to create another one, making new contractors.
Judging by your letter, you are now a contractor. You have a special power that will come naturally to use, but you will have to pay a price to use it. Your conventional unicorn magic will not be affected.
Since Luna is in the Moon again, the military thinks I did it. You and I know that only the Elements of Harmony, and apparently Hell's Gate, have the ability to do that. I overheard them scheduling a meeting to plot against me. Twilight, I don't think I have much more time as Princess. They're going to get propaganda out, and everypony is going to hate me and my allies, which includes you and your friends. They will revolt and may gain power. You must fight for what's right. Stop this meeting. It's in a tent near the border of Hell's Gate. But don't let them know this is you. Use a costume that disguises you completely. Protect yourself. Use your contractor powers if you have to.
Help me Twilight Sparkle, you're my only hope."

Author's Note

Yes, Twilight's payment is cutting herself. Just to make this clear, I am not trying to say anything at all against people who cut themselves. It's a serious problem, and is not to be made fun of. In no way do I intend to offend anyone who cut themselves, knows someone that cuts themselves, or is seriously depressed in any way.

The First Step Of A New Life

The next day came. Ponyville was buzzing with rumors of mystery. Some, particularly the ones who were up late enough to know about it, were talking about the lack of stars the night before. More were talking about how the Moon looked like it did when Luna was banished there, since the Moon is visible longer than the stars, and the stars were replaced and went unnoticed by most. Some even talked about how they felt weird beams of magic hit them in the night. Some said they felt it in their dreams, some didn't. Those who didn't dream about it were also talking about the starlessness of the past night, since they had to be awake to not feel it in their dreams. But the overall number for the ponies who were talking about being hit by magic beams was low, since only a few ponies became contractors.

Twilight Sparkle looked on from a window in her home. She overheard some of these conversations and could only wonder what was going on. She was, however, someone comforted by the fact that she wasn't the only one and that she wasn't going crazy. Spike walked in the room holding a letter received from Celestia overnight.

"Twilight," he said, "you got a letter from Princess Celestia overnight. You will definitely want to read it. It's very important."

She took the letter and read it. She was satisfied with having her questions answered, but she was more distraught. If she didn't take action, her way of life would entirely fall apart.

"Spike," she said, "this is important. If anypony asks where I am, say I'm either taking a shower or sleeping in because I'm sick and that I can't be bothered at all.

"So, you want me to lie?"

"Well. Um.... Yes. But ONLY if somepony asks."

"Ugh. Fine. What are you doing anyway?"

"I can't tell you right now, but I'll tell you when it's safe."

"Fine."

Twilight went to her closet to figure out some way to quickly disguise herself completely, since, per Celestia's request in the letter, she didn't want to get caught as Twilight Sparkle and ruin everything for herself and for her friends. At first, she only found some dresses and her Starswirl The Bearded costume from Nightmare Night, but none of those would com close to sufficing. After some digging, she found the perfect disguise. The Mysterious Mare Do Well costume. It completely covered her, and the identity of the pony underneath couldn't easily be pinpointed by the government, since Mare Do Well was portrayed by multiple ponies, and was very popular, causing ponies to buy and make their own Mare Do Well costumes.

Feeling nervous, anxious, and somewhat excited, she donned the costume for the first time in a while, knowing that the next thing she would be doing was legally treason.

Once she had the costume completely on, she used a teleportation spell to get her right outside the tent where they were meeting. She stood there for a second, then boldly entered the tent.

"General Buck Strongland of the Apple region?" General Swifthead said, at the end of taking roll call for his meeting.

"Present." General Buck Strongland said.

"Now that everyone is here, let us discuss the problem at hand. Princess Celestia. Clearly, she has banished Luna to the Moon again. Clearly, she wants to go back to the days when it was only her in the limelight, not her and her younger sister. Like it or not, that is treason. She's breaking her own law. It is our duty to punish her!"

"Wait a second," Shining Armor said, "wouldn't she need the Elements of Harmony to do that? That's how she did it last time."

"Are you supporting a traitor to Equestria?" Swifthead replied.

"I am pledged solely to the service of Equestria," Shining Armor replied, "I would never support a traitor, even if it was Princess Celestia. I'm just saying that we need to look at all sides of this before we condemn her as a traitor."

"I agree with you, Shining Armor," General Maple Silverhoof of the Vanhoover area said, "but General Nevermore of Baltimare and I have come up with some possible solutions for that."

"Go on."

"Well, you see," General Nevermore said, "we have determined that Princess Celestia most likely stole the Elements from the residences of the ponies that bear them using a teleportation spell."

"Those ponies don't just represent them," Shining Armor said, "they ARE them, manifested in pony form."

"We considered that as well," General Nevermore replied, "however, we have determined that the Elements are most likely manifested in gem form as well. We know that she did not steal the ponies that bear the Elements since one of our detectives discovered a letter from Twilight Sparkle asking Celestia about the disappearance of the stars, implying that she was still in Ponyville, since she sent a letter and was not involved herself. So Twilight Sparkle and her friends are clear, but we know that Luna is in the moon. Only Celestia has the ability to use the Elements of Harmony that way. The very facts that Luna is in the moon again and that Twilight Sparkle sent a letter prove that either Celestia stole the Elements of Harmony, or has gained enough magical ability to do it on her own."

"I hate to say it," Shining Armor replied, "I really do. But that actually makes sense in magical terms. But we still don't know why. I know Celestia, and that does not seem like something she would do."

"It doesn't matter," Swifthead said, "we have evidence."

Shining Armor sighed.

"Now," Swifthead said, "I have already hired some local kids as paper-colts to get our message of Celestia's tyranny out, so when everypony reads this, we'll have support. It's the perfect plan. We have support, she's weak since her magic is drained from creating the stars, and we have evidence."

"General Swifthead," Shining Armor responded, "we're all discussing a plan to take down the Princess right now, who isn't entirely proved to be a traitor. If we go through with this, isn't that treason?"

"Without proof, it's also mutiny," Swifthead replied, "but since Celestia is a traitor, legally, we're just muckrakers."

Suddenly, the entire tent began to glow purple.

"General Nevermore!" Swifthead said, directed at Baltimare's general, who happened to be a dark purple unicorn, "what are you doing here?"

"My horn's not glowing," Nevermore replied, "this isn't me."

"Well who is it!?"

The tent was raised from the ground and cast into the Hell's Gate are of the Everfree Forest, leaving the ponies inside of it still on the ground around a table.

"What is going on here!?" General Strongland said.

General Swifthead looked and saw who was causing this, the mysterious Mare Do Well.

"Somepony's dressed as Mare Do Well!" he said, "Probably one of Celestia's lackeys! Mare Do Well got very popular here in Ponyville not too long ago, so it'll be impossible to pinpoint who it is."

"Well, she looks female." General Nevermore said.

"And that's all we kno-" General Swifthead was cut off as he was picked up magically by Mare Do Well and brought towards her.

In a voice that sounded like a disguise, Mare Do Well said

"What are you planning!?"

"We're discussing plans to secure Hell's Gate!" Swifthead replied, obviously lying.

"WHAT ELSE!?!?!?!?!"

"I swear to Celestia, there's nothing else!"

Mare Do Well magically threw General Swifthead high in the air.

Twilight Sparkle thought she was in over her head. In the course of a day she had gone from a super safe job as the Princess of Friendship in service of Celestia to the dangerous job as half Princess, half vigilante, wearing a costume from a trick pulled on a friend a while back, now attacking military generals. Luckily for her, they still didn't know she was who she actually was, and they showed no signs of catching on. Her disguise, including the fake voice she put on, was working.

Her attack was getting intense. Using her magic, she pulled a general towards her.

"What are you planning!?" she said in a fake voice. She never thought that anything in her life would come to this, and usually wouldn't agree to be this audacious, but for her beloved mentor Celestia, it was worth it.

"We're discussing plans to secure Hell's Gate!" the general replied. She knew it was a lie. She had been listening in.

"WHAT ELSE!?!?!?!?!?" she replied.

"I swear to Celestia, there's nothing else!"

Still knowing that he was continuing to lie, she had to think of something fast to get him to confess something.

"Why would he swear to somepony who he thinks is a worthless traitor?" she thought. After thinking that, she came up with an idea based on something she read in a Mare Do Well fanfiction once. Fueled by adrenaline and adrenaline alone, she used her magic to throw him high in the air. As the wingless general flew in the air, screaming, the rest of the generals from the meeting, including Shining Armor, decided to attack Twilight Sparkle, AKA Mare Do Well.

She had no choice but to knock them out, and the only way she knew how to do that quickly was by manipulating electricity, which could only be done by her contractor power. Knowing that dirt doesn't conduct electricity, she curled up on the ground, allowing them all to be on top of her, which is when she struck. Her entire body glowed light blue, but only the glow of her eyes could be seen. Using her electric power, she knocked them all out and pushed their stunned bodies off of her.

As she did this, General Swifthead was already in the motion of falling to the ground. Right after Twilight pushed the stunned bodies off her, she got up and caught Swifthead with magic. When she caught the terrified general, she yelled in his face with her disguised voice,

"SWEAR TO ME!!"

"Fine! Fine!" he replied, "but don't tell anyone! This is classified information! We were discussing the possibility of a traitor within the high ranks of the Government and how we should deal with them! That's all I can say!!"

She dropped him on the ground, and for her own protection, stunned him with electricity as well.

When she was sure that he was stunned, she grabbed Shining Armor and teleported them both to her home.

Author's Note

Anybody get the not so discreet King of the Hill reference?
And does anybody understand why General Nevermore has that name?
And then there's the blatantly obvious Batman (Dark Knight) reference.

Can A Blood Bond Be Hidden By A Mask?

Twilight Sparkle returned to her home with her unconscious brother, via teleportation. She didn't know what to think about Shining Armor being at that meeting, since everyone there was bent on overthrowing Celestia.

"He was just there because it's part of his duty to attend military meetings." She thought, trying to reassure herself.

"Oh no! What if he was there so he could try and get Cadence in charge. She's next in line since Luna's gone!" Twilight thought, "Surely that can't be true! He's a good stallion with a good heart. He would never do that!"

She didn't have much time to contemplate these things, as Shining Armor showed signs of waking up. She took him to a closet and tied him up. She left him there and closed the door.

The time had come to pay her price yet again. She went to the kitchen and cut herself. She immediately did what she knew to do for cuts, and applied a tourniquet under her costume, which she kept on since she had to interrogate him.

Twilight Sparkle had never in her life imagined that she would have to become a vigilante. Now, everything she knew was changing, and she, of all ponies, was forced to become like this. She wasn't tough and wasn't strong, but she was smart, and she was magical. She had the capability of becoming a full-time vigilante with her skill set, but with her heart, she wasn't sure. But for this mission, she was in too deep to back out. Because of her brains, she knew that she'd have to instill fear in her enemies, but she was only able to pull it off because of adrenaline, and stuff that superheroes said and did in Spike's comic books that she read. She, being the smart pony she is, knew that this mission was too high-risk to back out of or stop at any point, so she kept her act up, but, even though she knew it may be necessary for the new state of the world that Hell's Gate had suddenly created, she didn't know if she could ever do this again.

She heard the sound of shaking and struggling in her closet, so she knew that Shining Armor was waking up. She put her mask back on and entered the closet. After closing the door, she turned the light on in the closet and removed the blindfold from Shining Armor's eyes and the tape from his mouth

"WHO ARE YOU!?" Shining Armor said.

"Who do you think I am?" Twilight responded in her disguised voice.

"You could be anypony in Equestria under that costume."

"Who do I look like to you?"

"You look like Mare Do Well."

"I am she."

"She's a fictional character. Who are you?"

"I already told you this. I am who I appear to be."

Twilight Sparkle didn't want to identify herself as who she really was. Obviously the main reason was for protection, but deep inside, she didn't want this vigilante to reflect who she really was, and she didn't want to identify herself as a hero that, on the inside, she could never adopt as a true part of herself. To her, she was not Mare Do Well, and Mare Do Well was not her. Mare Do Well was an entirely different pony.

"Ok, fine, whatever, 'Mare Do Well'," Shining Armor replied, "why am I here?"

"What was that meeting about?" Twilight/Mare Do Well said.

"Who's asking?"

"Mare Do Well is asking."

"And who are you working for?"

"I work alone! Answer the question or I'll kill you right now!" She was bluffing.

"Really?" Shining Armor replied, "You're going to kill the Captain of the Royal Guard? You're already a terrorist for attacking the meeting. You didn't kill anypony, and there's no evidence of attempting to kill anypony. In fact, you saved General Swifthead from falling to his death, albeit, you threw him in the air in the first place. But you killed nopony, so the most you could get is about twenty years. But if you kill me, you'll be executed immediately."

Mare Do Well began charging up, acting as if she was about to use her electricity powers to kill him.

"I'll tell you what the meeting was about," Shining Armor said, "but you're still a wanted terrorist."

"ANSWER MY QUESTION!"

"The generals, mainly Swifthead of the Everfree/Ponyville region, think that Celestia is responsible for banishing Luna to the Moon again, which is treason, even if Celestia did it, since there is no reason for her to do it. Seeing as how you're pretty well trained in magic, you probably know that that's only possible to do that using the Elements of Harmony. They were trying to present their excuses on how she did it without Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Right before you attacked, General Swifthead stated that he's already gotten his propaganda out to Ponyville in the paper. It's probably going to spread throughout Equestria, and they'll gain support. They claim they're just muckrakers, but really, they're liars. Really convincing liars too."

"Where do you side on this issue?" Mare Do Well responded, still using a disguised voice.

"Honestly, I don't think Celestia would do such a thing. There's no reason for her to do so. Their evidence is rather compelling, but you can just tell that they're liars. Either way, I am in the service of Equestria, not any specific ruler."

"Have you considered that if they overthrow Celestia, then your wife will be the next ruler?"

"They've tried to convince me with that, but they're just lying. If they succeed, they're overthrowing the Government themselves and making it a military run Government. I currently rank higher than Swifthead, but he'll probably become Führer, King, or whatever they want to call it. Is there anything else you want out of me?"

Twilight/Mare Do Well, being satisfied with what Shining Armor said, had to knock him out again. Which required electricity. She was forced to use her contractor powers again. She placed her hoof on Shining Armor's chest and shocked him unconscious. She then tied a bag with an air hole over his head, tied up his legs, and teleported him to the border of the Everfree, which was about as far as she had the capability of teleporting.

She was glad it was over. At least for now. She could finally take off the costume, which she did. Again, she had to cut herself to pay the price of using her contractor powers. She didn't want to have to get used to this, and didn't want to ever have to use her powers recklessly. She decided that next time, if there would ever come to be a next time, she would think EVERY decision through carefully, hoping to avoid this price.

She got a knock on the door. Since her costume was taken off and hidden, she was able to answer it. Snips and Snails were at the door.

"Ms. Sparkle," Snips said, offering her a newspaper, "would you like a copy of the new newspaper?"

She looked at the newspaper and saw the name, The Swift Report.

"Really, Swifthead?" She thought, "That's the best name you've got? Come on."

"How much is it?" She asked.

"Just two bits," Snails said, "and you'll want to get it fast! The Swift Report is taking Ponyville by storm!"

"Eh, why not? Give me two copies."

They made the exchange. She then closed the door and went to her study desk. She continued to think about the possibility of another dangerous mission like the one she just did. She thought about how she would handle it if there actually was a "next time".

She set the paper down and read the headline,

"Princess Celestia: Equestria's Greatest Traitor (With Evidence)"

There would be a "next time".

She wrote up a quick letter to Celestia explaining that this is the propaganda being spread, and had Spike send the letter, along with her second copy of the paper, to Celestia in Canterlot.

The Dark Sister's Old Dream Fulfilled

Celestia received Twilight's letter, along with the propaganda being spread about her that Twilight had attached. Celestia knew that her career would soon be over,, but when, she did not know. Until she read the propaganda.

"The Swift Report:
Princess Celestia: Equestria's Greates Traitor (With Evidence)"

She read through it, seeing all the compelling lies they told. With the evidence they presented, and knowing the Supreme Court of Equestria, she knew that this would be her doom.

As a little filly she was trained to become a princess. She worked hard for it, and gained it. She and her sister ruled all of Equestria. She was even given the responsibility of raising the Sun for the entire planet, not just Equestria. She lived for thousands of years. She made big mistakes too, including one that had repercussions that lasted a millennium, but overall, she was the greatest Princess Equestria had ever seen. Sadly, the mistake she made over a thousand years ago came back to haunt her again, even though the truth was being perverted. Now, she had to throw it all away, or risk the destruction of everything and everypony she knows and loves.

She penned a letter,

"Get the following message to the presses, and don't pervert it like you have already done with the facts regarding Luna's return to the Moon:

I, Princess Celestia, hereby resign all my duties as Princess of Equestria, including, but not limited to
-Governing ponies
-Raising and lowering the Sun for not just Equestria, but the entire planet.

Because of the wicked actions of the military, I have been made to look like a fool, and I am being forced to resign. This is my own decision, but if I didn't do this now, more awful things could've happened that could've put ponies in danger. If they are magically capable enough, I hereby place Princess Cadence in charge of the Sun, and Princes Twilight Sparkle in charge of the Moon. If they are not, then Luna's dream of an eternal night shall become true, and for the other half of the planet, there shall be an eternal day. Eternal, at least until the point of where somepony has gained powers like mine, but as for now, since I am being forced to resign, the Sun is no longer my duty,

No matter what propaganda is spread, I still love you all. Don't ever forget that.

Goodbye,

Celestia."

Even though it was just 4:00 PM, she began the longest night Equestria would ever see. If only Luna could see this, because she would finally have her dream of eternal night. Or at least a really long night.

Once the afternoon sunset was complete, she magically duplicated her letter and sent it to Twilight Sparkle, along with an explanation letter that read

"Twilight Sparkle,

My faithful student. I have loved mentoring you and making you into the mare you are today. Sadly, the military has gone insane and is forcing me to retire. With this retirement, I am also retiring my responsibility of raising the Sun. I have delegated the Sun to Cadence and the Moon to you, however, I know that neither of you are actually capable of doing so yet, and this was just a formal act. If you feel compelled to try, go ahead, but don't feel obliged.

Lastly, Twilight, I must tell you one last thing about contractors like yourself. You are going to lose your sense of morals. Friendship will remain, since it is the greatest magic of all, but morals will fade. I do not know how or when. It could hit you like a bomb, triggered by a traumatic event, or it could slowly happen. I am sorry, but this is what must occur, and neither you or I can stop it. I am sorry. You will still know the difference between right and wrong, and you will be able to choose sides, but when working for whatever side you're on, your morals will fade.

Twilight, I need you to fight on my side. Though I am physically gone from Equestria, we can still secretly exchange letters, so I will not be gone forever. You must stay with me and anonymously fight for what's right. Keep up your clean image as Twilight Sparkle, and as Twilight Sparkle, do what the people want of you. But as a contractor hero in whatever new identity you choose to be, I need you to help me in the fight for Equestria's salvation.

You don't have to. You can do whatever you want. But from a friend to a friend, an Equestrian to an Equestrian, we must fight for justice.

From now on, we are partners. I am not your mentor and you are not my student. I am not your princess and you are not my subject. I am not your senpai and you are not my kohai. I am not your ruler. We are now equal.

If we win WHEN we win this battle, the Sun will rise again.

Your faithful partner,

Celestia."

Celestia cried and sent the letter to Twilight Sparkle. She then gathered her necessities, packed them up, and said one last goodbye to the palace she once called home. With that she left.

She flew high in the sky, above where anypony could crash into her or interrupt her. Above all civilization, including any pegasus city. So many emotions rushed through her head. She didn't know where she was going yet. At this point, she was just trying to clear her head. She already knew that she would have to be a vagabond, but instead of thinking of where to go first, she just reassured herself by thinking of the promise she made Twilight, and how she could cope with it at the moment, high in the sky, above everything else.

"The sun will rise."

Author's Note

I know this is supposed to be dark, but I just couldn't resist from putting in the senpai-kohai thing.

Can The Stars Break Perfect Harmony?

Twilight sat in her home, resting and thinking about what had just happened.

"I am a terrorist," she thought, "for the love of Celestia, I am a terrorist."

She put a hoof to her face.

"I will never do this again."

She looked out the window.

"What a lovely sunset," she thought, "it's good to see Celestia at work even when she's in danger."

She gazed at the beauty of the incoming night.

"Wait!" She said to herself, "Spike!" She yelled across the hall, "What time is it?"

"It's 4 o'clock!" He replied.

"Oh no." Twilight whispered to herself.

She looked outside the window, seeing that the moon was almost out of sight. Spike joined her at the window.

"Sun's settin' rather early, don't ya think?" Spike said.

"You may not know this, but at this time of year, sunset begins at 5:15 every day. Neither princess has ever broken the schedule of sunset and sundown. And they've been doing this for thousands of years. Something is terribly wrong."

"Maybe this letter will explain it."

"Letter?"

"Yeah. While you were looking out the window, you got a letter from Celestia marked 'urgent' on it. I wonder what it says. There's actually two pieces of paper attached, so this must be REALLY urgent. Urgent means long, right?"

"No, it means really important."

"Eh, close enough. Here's the letter."

Spike handed her the letter.

She read it and became heartbroken. Her dear friend and leader was done. It was all over. Everything had changed. Her life had shattered. She fell on the ground, nearly fainting.

"Twilight!" Spike yelled, "what happened!?"

Twilight grew angry.

"The military overthrew Celestia. She resigned and fled Equestria."

"She WHAT!?"

"She gave power to Cadence, but I assume that the military is going to pervert it and say that she gave them power."

Spike became somber and worried.

"What are we going to do, Twilight?"

"We're gonna fight."

"How."

"Celestia is still with us. I don't know where she is, but she promised that she'll continue to send us letters, but we'll have to destroy them when we're done with them so the government doesn't catch us."

"Twilight, look outside!"

Twilight looked outside to see General Swifthead of the Everfree/Ponyville region announcing the news to the town.

"Citizens of Ponyville," General Swifthead said, "We are sad to announce that due to extreme stress from the recent events, Princess Celestia has resigned her duties. Since her successor, Princess Luna, has been sent to the Moon again for undetermined reasons, and Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight Sparkle are both too young to succeed her, she has delegated control of Equestria to the generals of the military. The Council of Generals has already taken a vote and has appointed me as Führer, with General Nevermore of Baltimare as my successor in the event of my death. This is the new permanent form of government in Equestria.

Since Celestia has resigned, she has also resigned her duties of raising the Sun and Moon, so until our astronomic and magic divisions in Canterlot have figured out a way to raise the Sun and Moon, we must remain in a temporary state of nighttime.

If you are wondering about your remaining beloved princesses, Twilight Sparkle and Cadence, they will remain in their positions of power, but will not become eligible successors until they have reached the proper age.

Finally, do not worry. We will rule this great land with peace, honor, and harmony.

As Führer of Equestria, I, along with the Council of Generals, promise all of you this, the Sun will rise again, no, the Sun never left us, for its light lives inside of those of us with peace and hope. But the Sun, the physical Sun, will rise again."

Twilight was sickened. Every word that came out of the mouth of the general was a lie. There is no law in Equestria regarding the age of a royal successor. Celestia did not delegate her power to the Council of Generals. She and Cadence would not be in any sort of power anymore. The military only wanted them to be there for show. To give the citizens hope in the government, by giving a false position of power to ponies that everypony adored. And there is no such thing as a "Führer of Equestria". Well, before this point there wasn't. Führer literally means
"tyrannical ruler". It wasn't a smart move on Swifthead's part to call himself that, but judging by the reaction of the citizens of Ponyville, they were only concerned about Celestia.

"This is ridiculous!" Twilight said, "Everything he said was a lie!"

"I'm sorry, Twilight," Spike said, "but I don't think there's anything we can do."

"I'm just going to go over to Pinkie Pie's. Maybe some cake will make me feel a little better."

Twilight and Spike went down to Sugarcube Corner to try and cheer themselves up with cupcakes, and of course, being in the presence of the Element of Laughter herself, Pinkie Pie.

"Hey guys!!!" Pinkie Pie said as Twilight walked in. All of her friends, except Rainbow Dash for some reason, were there.

"Hey everypony. I guess we're all here for the same reason."

"Lemme guess," Applejack said, "yer' down in the dumps 'cause Celestia resigned. That's why the rest of us are here. Except Rainbow Dash. I haven't seen her at all today."

"You're right," Twilight replied, "except it was more like she was overthrown."

"Whadduya mean?" AJ asked.

"The military has successfully pinned the re-banishment of Luna on her with false evidence. They were going to take her to the Supreme Court and charge her for treason, which it would've actually been if she had actually did it, but she didn't. Now she's been forced to leave so she doesn't get executed."

"Couldn't she just use her extreme magic to fight them all off?" Rarity replied.

"Usually, yes, but when she created all the new stars, her magic was drained. All the new stars are raw balls of magic."

"Hold up!" Pinkie said, "NEW STARS!?"

"Wait, none of you noticed that?" Twilight replied.

"Um, no," Applejack replied, "what are ya' talking about?"

"Well. This is secret information, ok? While Celestia would be fine with me talking about this, Führer Swifthead wouldn't."

"Gotcha," AJ said, "and seriously, Führer? If yer' wantin' ponies to look up to ya', don't call yerself 'Führer". Swifthead is crazy."

"I know, right? Anyway. Secret information. Luna was mysteriously banished to the Moon again. Nopony knows how, but it wasn't Celestia because the Elements of Harmony weren't used. When Luna was banished, her sky was banished with her. The Moon remained, but the stars disappeared. Celestia was forced to make a new sky to keep the population from going crazy. Each star is a ball of raw magic. The magic grows in power in its raw state, and each star shoots a beam of raw magic to a random pony, giving them special powers that not even the highest trained unicorns could master. But when they use the powers, they must each pay a price that their body forces them to pay. Each pony's price is different."

"So does everypony have these powers?" Rarity asked.

"No, just some of them."

"Hmm. Interesting," Pinkie said. She gave them all their cupcakes, "Here you are!"

"Thanks, Pinkie," Twilight said.

"You're welcome!"

"Are you gonna join us?" Twilight asked.

"Just a minute, I need to use the bathroom."

Pinkie went into the bathroom. When she came out, everypony else was shocked.

"Pinkie, are you okay?" Twilight asked. Pinkie's hair was flat and her face lacked any emotion.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?" Pinkie said in the most dull voice possible, "To get to the other side."

She sat down.

"Pinkie!" Twilight yelled. Pinkie did not respond.

"Pinkie!!!!" Twilight yelled over and over again. She glanced downwards and noticed that Pinkie had changed. Pinkie Pie's cutie mark was gone.

Author's Note

Happy 2016 everyone! I must say that this story is soon coming to an end. I actually wrote everything I've written in it like a year ago and got writer's block, then life hit my hard and I just lost interest and kind of forgot where I was going with it. I might end up finishing it, but idk, I'll have to remember the plot first. I have a few more chapters to post before I get to the end of what I've written though, so it's not over yet. I'll put it on hiatus after then and leave it up in the air and see if I continue or not. I've got another story with multiple chapters ready that I actually do have interest in continuing, but it's more light-hearted than this one. I also don't have a working computer right now, but I do have an iPad, so I can still write, but I prefer a computer. And writing isn't my life. Neither is this fandom. Writing is just part this fandom which is just a part of my life, so really, I don't know when the next time I write fanfiction will be. Maybe today. Maybe next week. I dunno. Anyways, I feel like this has turned into rambling, so I'll stop now. Enjoy the rest of this story :)

Through The Smoke, An Ally Is Found

"Goodnight," Pinkie said. She then went upstairs. Twilight felt devastated. She felt that she had lost Pinkie. After everything that had gone down in the past 48 hours, she had come to expect the worst of the worst. Now, Pinkie Pie's happiness was gone. She didn't know how long this would last, but she was deeply hurt by it.

Like a spark hitting a puddle of gasoline, Pinkie's random personality change ignited Twilight's stress, causing her to overreact. She bolted from Sugarcube Corner and flew to the clouds to get away. Running away from her friends in a strange time without even taking any aspect of the situation into consideration really was overreacting, but she didn't care. All the stress she had bottled up in the last 48 hours had finally exploded when Pinkie lost her cutie mark.

"What the?" She thought as she flew. She saw smoke rising from a cloud. Since fire rain only exists in books, well, for now at least since anything could happen, she went to investigate it. It was a thin beam of smoke, so it must of been a thin beam of fire. She began to notice that it came out in random puffs, confusing her even more. She was confused the most when she got to the cloud to see Rainbow Dash sucking and blowing on some burning leaf, which caused the smoke.

"Oh hey Twilight," Dash said.

"Get that thing out of your mouth!" Twilight said, "You're gonna burn yourself!"

"No I ain't. I've been doing this off and on all day."

"What are you doing anyway?"

"I got hit by a beam of magic, and suddenly I have the power to go 50% faster than I usually could. Obviously, I use that power frequently. Strangely, every time I do that, I got an unbeatable urge to go into the part of the Everfree that's still intact and get some weird leaf, roll it up in paper, burn one end, and suck the other. I don't know how it happened. But I think I'm like a contractor or something."

"How do you know what that is?"

"I read more than just Daring Do. It was mentioned frequently in some non-fiction book I read about Luna's banishment and the fake night sky."

"Wow. You knew more about it than I did."

"I guess that's pretty neat. So, how'd your mission go, 'Mare Do Well'?"

"What the!? How did you-"

"Saw the whole thing. I recognized your posture, mannerisms, and the fact that you stole Shining Armor. I was kind of surprised to see you use contractor powers, which made me doubt my original theory that it was you, but seeing the scars on you right now, and knowing that you'd never intentionally harm yourself like that and that you're too smart to cut yourself like that three different times in the same day, I have confirmed my theory. You've got a scar for each time you've used your power. Tough price. Did you get a cool power though?"

"I can manipulate electricity."

"Neat."

"No, not really. I have to deal with this curse for potentially the rest of my life."

"But you can manipulate electricity. There are so many things you can do with that."

"Like what, kill?"

"Well, yeah."

"Have you killed anypony yet?"

"What!? No! Of course not!"

"Man. If I were you I would've stormed into Canterlot and killed every single one of those jerks from the military. I don't believe any of their nonsense."

"So you know the truth."

"It's obvious. He called himself a Führer. It's obvious that he's evil. All the mindless sheep of Ponyville only cared about Celestia and the fact that the Sun will never rise again, neglecting the fact that the military clearly overthrew her somehow."

"Yeah that's entirely true. Her real letter of resignation said that she put Cadence in charge, but as expected, the military perverted it."

"Those creeps."

"Rainbow, you seem really angry and jerk-like."

"Why do you say that?"

"You're REALLY hating on the military-"

"Don't you hate them too?"

"Yes, but let me finish."

"Sorry."

"Anyway, you're really hating on the military, and you asked if I killed anypony. You know I wouldn't do that."

"Hmm. I dunno why I'm like this. I didn't notice."

Twilight sat there thinking.

"Oh no" Twilight said.

"What?"

"Celestia told me in a letter that contractors lose their sense of morals. Sometimes gradually, sometimes quickly. She said you can still have a viewpoint on things, you can still take sides and what not. But in action, you're ruthless."

"Looks like I lost mine quickly."

"It really does look that way. Say, before you get any worse, join me."

"In what?"

"You did see me attack the military meeting, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I'm fighting for justice. Celestia told me to attack them. She's still going to communicate with me secretly. Join us. We have to fight."

"Eh. I guess I have no reason to not join ya."

"And you're not gonna leave us, right?"

"Come on. I'm the Element of Loyalty. Of course I'll stay with you."

"Thank you."

"Any time."

"Now I gotta tell you about Pinkie Pie."

"Huh?"

"We were all down at Sugarcube Corner and-"

"You didn't invite me?"

"No. Nopony got an invite. We were just all depressed and wanted to drown our sorrows in frosting and laughter. We just all happened to go there at the same time."

"Ah. Ok."

"So, anyway, we were there, then Pinkie went to the bathroom-"

"Everypony poops."

"Rainbow! This is serious!"

"Sorry. Couldn't help it."

"Anyway, when she came out, she lost all of her spirit and happiness. Her hair was straight, her face was emotionless, and she told a terrible joke in an extremely dull voice. Then I noticed that her cutie mark was gone."

"What!? Gone!?"

"Yeah. She said goodnight to us and went upstairs slowly."

"Weird."

"I then overreacted and assumed that she'd be like this forever, which lead me to run out of there and fly into the clouds to get away from everything, then I saw a smoking cloud, which I wanted to investigate-"

"So it lead you to this cloud here, to see my sucking and blowing some weird leaf, and now you're explaining what we're doing right now."

"Yup."

"Well I better get home now."

"Ok. See you around."

"Peace."

Rainbow flew away. Twilight flew back to Sugarcube Corner and apologized for running away. She then flew back home and jotted down a quick letter to Celestia,

"Dear Celestia,

Pinkie Pie has turned dull.

She went into the bathroom as herself, then came out with straight hair, a dull voice, and no cutie mark. She told an awful joke, then left.

What happened?

-Twilight Sparkle"

She went to sleep.

When A Calling Is Given, It Must Be Followed

Author's Note

Well, this is it for now. I hope you enjoyed the story. It'll go on hiatus for now, since there's a chance I'll get back to it eventually, but as for now, this is it. I hope you enjoyed it so far, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
Go follow NixWorld, who made this awesome cover art over a year ago and has improved greatly since then with his awesome art.

When A Calling Is Given, It Must Be Followed

A week passed since the reappearance of Hell's Gate and the crazy day that followed. The Sun had still not risen at all since the day of Celestia's resignation. Reports appeared in the government run Swift Report that "The tyrant Celestia's refusal to raise the Sun caused many deaths of wildlife and forestry." Obviously this was a lie, since the wildlife and forestry were already killed by Hell's Gate, and Celestia was never a tyrant.

Twilight still hadn't gotten a response from Celestia about Pinkie, who was still in the dull, lifeless state she had turned into.

It was about noon, but only on the clock, since the Sun was gone. Twilight was eating lunch when Rainbow Dash bursted into her home, breaking a window.

"Rainbow Dash! What is wrong with you!?"

"Big trouble. You're in big trouble."

"What? What's wrong? And why do you smell so bad?" Rainbow Dash reeked of cannabis.

"I've been flying a lot, which makes me pay that stupid price a lot."

"Ok, whatever. What's wrong?"

"Since I got my epic speed power, I've been able to fly across the land a lot. I've been all over Equestria in the past week. In my travels, I've discovered that an anarchist group of contractors called Starlight Dawn has already developed. Obviously, since they're anarchists, they hate the government and absolutely every law they make. If there's a law, they're going to break it. Word on the street is that they're planning to attack you today."

"But I'm not really a princess anymore."

"But the government claims that you are."

"And they believe them?"

"I don't know if they believe the government or not, but they are against everything the government says and does, so if the government says you're a princess, then they will treat you as so."

Twilight looked outside her window and noticed a group of ponies hiding behind a bush.

"They're already here!"

"Go get your costume and stop these fools!"

"If I stop them while wearing my costume, the government's gonna figure out that I attacked them."

"Why?"

"I wore that costume attacking a government meeting. If I wear this costume while preventing an attack on someone they think is actually in the government, specifically me, the military is totally going to find out this is me."

"Well then. Yeah, we're in a real pickle here."

"Wait! I got an idea! Rainbow, get Spike and fly to Rarity's place, then you take Rarity, yourself, and Spike into a closet. I'm gonna be teleporting all of my important stuff into her house. Go! Now!"

"Why not Sweet Apple Acres? There's WAY more space there."

"Well. Um. There may have to be some lying involved to keep me hidden, and we both know that Applejack is the manifestation of honesty itself, so we have to stay somewhere else. With somepony who's generous enough to let us use her house."

"Seems to me that you're just taking advantage of her generosity to keep your precious books from getting destroyed."

"Well, um-"

She heard rustling in the bushes outside.

"GO! We'll discuss this later!"

Rainbow did so, grabbing Spike without explaining to him what was happening, and left for the Carousel Boutique.

She woke Rarity up when she came flying into her place of residence.

"Rainbow Dash! Spike! Why are you waking me up in the middle of the night!?" Rarity said.

"It's actually noon on the clock."

"Well it's midnight in the sky, so I have every reason to sleep to this time. Besides, I was up all last 'night' making dresses. Clients are just dying to have attire that matches the sky."

"Ok, whatever. This is an emergency. Twilight's house is about to get blown up. Get in the closet, NOW!"

"Why? Is this all some scheme to get me and Spike in a closet together?!"

"AH!" Spike yelled, "NO! IT IS NOT THAT WAY!"

"Not this time-" Rainbow said, getting cut off by Rarity.

"Not THIS TIME!?!?"

"Just listen to me," Rainbow Dash replied, "while that does sound like something I would do, this is an actual emergency. Twilight has some sort of convoluted plan for our safety and hers which involves us getting in the closet."

"Ugh. Fine. I don't know if I can trust you on this, but I can trust Twilight. Let's go."

They got in the closet. Spike peeked through the space between the floor and the bottom of the door to see a huge pile of books appear in the room, along with Twilight Sparkle.

"You can come out now!" Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Rarity opened the closet door and walked out to see a massive pile of books, some clothing, and some knickknacks.

"Oh my!" Rarity said, "What is this!?"

"Look out the window", Twilight replied.

They all looked out the window to see a glorious castle now set ablaze by Starlight Dawn.

"Oh, Twilight, darling, I'm so sorry," Rarity said, "you and your stuff can stay here as long as you want."

"Thanks, Rarity."

"Um, Twilight?" Spike asked.

"Yes?"

"Did you get my stuff?"

"All of it."

"Thanks."

Twilight became depressed, having to watch another home one of her homes get destroyed. Rarity tried to console her.

"It's ok, Twilight. It's ok."

Throughout the next hour, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle helped set up a temporary residence for Twilight and Spike.

"Thanks everypony."

"Man," Dash said, "it's still hard to believe that it's 1:30 in afternoon, but the moon is high in the sky."

Dash looked out the window and noticed that the contractors were now bringing mayhem across the whole city.

"Twilight, look at this."

She looked out to see the insane contractors. They were burning buildings, looting stores, and torturing ponies.

"Ah! These ponies are crazy!" Twilight said.

"Are we just gonna sit here and watch them destroy the city?"

"Uh, no! Go get some clouds and make it rain, specifically where the contractors are."

"Gotcha."

Rainbow flew out the window. Twilight then went to the closet and grabbed her costume.

"Mare Do Well?" Rarity asked, "Why are you putting that on? WERE YOU THE TERRORIST FROM LAST WEEK?"

Twilight replied in her disguise voice,

"Don't call me a terrorist."

Twilight grabbed a knife and left.

"Really," Rarity thought, "a fake voice?"

Twilight ran to the scene of the chaos. As she waited for Rainbow Dash to arrive with the clouds, she attacked multiple contractors, shocking them unconscious. Some of them began to gang up on her. Luckily, Rainbow arrived just in time to let the rain pour down. Before any contractor could us their powers on her, she used hers. Using the rainwater on the ground as a conductor, she shocked everypony unconscious. Or, at least she hoped they were unconscious.

This act scared the rest of them all off, except one. Twilight glanced over at the one who didn't run. He had used his power to weld a pony to a streetlight. He approached that pony with a shard of glass from a broken window. The pony screamed in horror. He came upon her and killed her, leaving her dead body permanently stuck to a streetlight.

For Twilight, it felt as if time had frozen. She watched as another pony was murdered in a perverted way by a perverted pony, and she couldn't do anything about it. She had seen the darkness within them that their powers caused. And since she was a contractor as well, this same darkness was in her.

Prologue

A little over one thousand years ago, the Crystal Empire existed within a mysterious area known as Heaven's Gate. It caused great joy and happiness. But when it suddenly disappeared, it caused some ponies to go crazy. Most didn't notice it, but those who did and went mad because of it happened to include Princess Luna and King Sombra. Because of their evil, they were banished, along with all of the ponies within the Gate.

Because Luna, the Princess of the Night, was banished, it caused a Starless Night. Since there were no stars or bodies of the night, Princess Celestia had to forge an artificial night. It took great power and great magic to do this. While she was able to keep the original moon, she had to create thousands of new stars. To do this, many ponies were randomly given special powers by the star. The powers of a contractor.

Each contractor had their own special ability that even the greatest unicorns couldn't master with regular magic. But each time they used that power, it came with a price that their body forced them to pay, thus, giving them the name "contractor". The price would vary from pony to pony. Some would have to just do jumping jacks, while others would have to break their own bones. There was a wide array of contract prices that would have to be paid. Nopony knew what would happen to somepony who didn't pay their price, but since their bodies forced them to pay their price, it wasn't a problem. Unicorns would still be able to use their magic without paying, but when they used their enhanced powers, the price would be paid.

The government tried to hide the existence of contractors from the regular population. If anypony ever had or witnessed a magical encounter with a contrator, they would have their memory of it erased and replaced by Princess Celestia herself. If somepony had an encounter with a unicorn contractor, their memories would not be erased since unicorns are magical anyway. The only circumstance where memories would be erased after a unicorn contractor experience is if the unicorn mentioned that he/she was a contractor, or if they witnessed the contractor paying their price.

Every time a contractor died, their star fell from the sky. Princess Celestia appointed a special division to watch the stars and report to her if one fell. Every time one fell, she created a new one, creating a contractor.

When Luna returned with the real sky, Celestia destroyed the artificial stars, revoking the contractor powers of anypony who had them. But now, a new Gate has appeared over the Everfree Forest, but this time, everything within the Gate died, having the opposite effect as Heaven's Gate. Because of this, the new Gate was named Hell's Gate. And because of this new Gate, which has the exact opposite effect of the first one, the night has disappeared again, taking Luna with it. Now Celestia must create a new night, again. As much as she hates to create new contractors, she must create a new night, which causes the artificial stars to appoint new contractors.

And one of them is Twilight Sparkle.