Dark Secrets

by SwiftShad0wWing1

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, King Sombra, Main 6
Length: 4882

Rainbow Dash isn't your ordinary pegasus. She has a secret ability that ponies thought only unicorns and alicorns could posses. Magic! Not magic like Twilight's though, Rainbow's is stronger. And dark magic.

Rainbow Dash isn't your ordinary pegasus. She has a secret ability that ponies thought only unicorns and alicorns could posses. Magic! Not magic like Twilight's though, Rainbow's is stronger. And it's dark magic.

Sorry I suck at descriptions

So I had a weird dream where I saw Rainbow Dash ruling the Crystal Empire like Sombra did and thought, "Hey would it make a cool story if Rainbow Dash was secretly King Sombra's daughter and had a stronger version of his abilities?" So here it is! Not too harsh in the comments please, this is just an experimental story to see where it goes. Helpful advice is always welcome though! :scootangel:

Published 2015-05-30 02:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2017-01-21 18:08:33 UTC

Chapter 1

Author's Note

So this story is just a test run. I repeat, a TEST RUN! If people like the story I will continue it.

Let me know how to improve my writing and/or story! :pinkiesmile:

Chapter 1

A lone figure was sitting on a cloud facing north, her prismatic mane blowing in the faint breeze. Her gaze was settled on the northern horizon where somepony with only her gifts could see the sparkle of the Crystal Spire in the moonlight. It was only a month ago that she and her friends had defeated the mad King Sombra. The pegasus knew she should feel at least some guilt or sorrow, but she felt none. He had been a cruel tyrant, and Rainbow Dash had seen first hoof what damage he could do. She flexed her cyan wings before jumping off the cloud into a glide. With the wind helping her along, she flew towards her cloud home at the edge of Ponyville. "Maybe with him gone I can tell my friends," she whispered, her eyes turning crimson for a millisecond.

***

"RAINBOW DASH! DASHIE WAKE UP! IT'S SUPER-DUPER IMPORTANT!" A high pitched voice reached Rainbow's ears as her eyes cracked open. She groaned as the sunlight filtered through her curtains in strips across her face. However, hearing her friend calling to her, she got up and walked over to window. She opened the curtains and took in a deep breath of fresh air.

Sticking her head out the hole she spied her bouncy friend Pinkie Pie, "What's up Pinkie?"

"Twilight wants us to meet at the library because, she said that Princess Celestia wanted to talk to us! What do you think it's about? *GASP* Maybe she wants to create a holiday just for us since we save the day all the time!" The party pony started to ramble on about what the holiday should be called.

"Right... Meet you there Pinks." Without waiting for a reply the mare pulled her head back into her house. I'll tell them about it after our meeting with Celestia. The pegasus shivered at the thought of what the Sun Princess might do if she found out Rainbow's history and what she could do. Pushing the thought to the back of her mind she prepared to take flight.

Rainbow leapt from the edge of her cloud home and took off in an easy glide. The wind ruffling her feathers slightly, she tilted her wings for a lazy loop. She didn't want to crash... again. As she continued on her flight, a large oak came into view. Its leaves bright green and shifting in the breeze that her wings created as she flew by. A few feet above the ground she pulled her wings to her sides and landed gracefully on her hooves. Before she could even knock Pinkie opened the door and pulled her inside.

"Everyone here?" Twilight asked as Dash blinked from the sudden speed that was used to pull her through the door and into the center of the room. Everypony mumbled something to signify that they were present. "Good, the princess said it was important so we have to hurry," and without any other warning her horn lit up. Her magic encased all of them and with a quiet pop they were all teleported to Canterlot Castle.

***

After the dizziness faded Rainbow realized they were in the throne room. All three princesses were present and waiting their arrival. "Greetings my faithful student," Celestia said with her usual smile, but it quickly faded to a more serious face.

The lunar princess glanced at her sister before she spoke to the six ponies - and one dragon, "We have discovered something that we thought had vanished long ago. Before Nightmare Moon took over our mind, there was another princess. Sombra's daughter. We thought she had died in the war Sombra brought to us, however, her magical signature was picked up at the Crystal Empire."

Oh shit... Was all that ran through Rainbow's mind as her friends gasped in shock.

Chapter 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3

A cyan pegasus walked through the halls of the Crystal Palace. Instead of a bright sky blue and prismatic mane, her coat was unusually dull and her eyes were snake-like and crimson. Her hoof-steps were unusually silent as she went down the dark hallways. Guards didn't even notice her as she passed them. 'I forgot how weird it is to use my shadow walking around other ponies,' was her only thought as she turned a corner and exited the castle through an open window. Out in the moonlight her colors returned and she flew into town before landing in an alley.

Rainbow Dash looked at all the buildings as she passed and remembered her days as a foal. She used to play in town with the other children when her and her father got into a fight. Her memories were interrupted by a Crystal Guard, "Hey! What are you doing out here?" Dash turned around and took him in. He was a fairly large pegasus, he had a gray coat and a cropped brown mane.

"Sorry, just for a midnight stroll. Felt a little cramped in the castle."

"Due to the threat nopony is allowed outside after 10 'o clock. If you will please follow me-" The guard was cut off by Dash, well, dashing away. She chuckled to herself as she flew low against the buildings, blending in with the shadows. She felt kinda bad about just ditching him, but she wanted to explore her old home.

"This place hasn't changed much," Then she thought about it, "Well okay, I guess it has." Rainbow was currently walking around the back of the castle, her eyes a pale crimson as she used her magic to blend in with the darkness. She found a crack in the castle wall. It was just barely big enough to fit a filly maybe Scootaloo's size in it. But Dash knew what was inside. She forgot about her magic being detected as she focused and her form became completely shadows. She slipped through the crack, it carried on as tunnel that went underground before opening into a small cavern.

Dash let go of her magic and her hooves touched the stone floor. Inside the cave there was a small stream with rare crystals growing form the wall her it entered. There were also a few toys that had decayed in the millennium they endured without a caring touch. A breeze blew in from the tunnel, ruffling her feathers as she looked around her old safe haven. She would go down there as a filly to get away from everything, it was one of the few places her father's guard didn't know about. Her ear twitched and she realized the shadow's position were changing, meaning that the sun was rising. With barely a thought, shadows consumed the mare and she was back in her room in the castle.

Author's Note

Hello! So I know it's been awhile. I don't have regular access to a computer considering my laptop does't work anymore. Also, I know i suck at pacing stories, but I have mild writer's block. :applejackconfused:

If you find any mistakes please comment and i will fix them as soon as I can! Also if you have an idea that you think might help the story don't e afraid to PM me! 'Cause honestly, i don't really have anything planned out for this one. :twilightblush:

Chapter 4

It was around noon when Rainbow walked into the throne room. Her friends were already waiting, a little impatiently, for the colorful pegasus. "What's up?" She asked, knowing full well why they had serious looks.

"Traces of dark magic were found around the castle last night," Shining Armor answered, causing Rainbow to feign shock. "The guards followed the trail to a crack in the wall, we are currently trying to make it wider so we can investigate." The Guard Captain looked a little worried, but who could blame him? A pony thought long dead was really alive and in his home. "Maybe you three should go and looking around town, see if you can find any clues."

So the mares and baby dragon set off. "We should split up," Twilight stated, "Rainbow you take the Southern District, Pinkie the Western, Spike you take the Eastern, and I will take the Northern District." Spike saw a flaw in the plan, but didn't know whether he should speak up or not sense Twilight was the one giving he plan. Luckily for him Pinkie spoke up.

"What if we see the mystery pony? How do we get your attention? *GASP* I can give you each a mini party cannon! That way if one of us sees the mare we can blast her! She would be really confused and think we were throwing a party, but really we would be helping to arrest her!" She looked like she was about to continue when Rainbow put of hoof in her mouth.

"I don't think that will work Pinkie Pie. Just yell something, I'm sure the nearby guards will come running." The others saw the logic in this (which was weird sense it came from Rainbow Dash) and set off to search their respective districts.

Dash was lazily flying over the south end of the empire as she was instructed to. She didn't bother looking for clues, knowing the only ones she left were we magical essence. "I gotta remember how to not leave that behind," She thought aloud to herself. Her ear twitched as she heard laughter from a few blocks away. The blue mare landed silently on a rooftop and watched some foals play-fight.

They were pretending to fight King Sombra. "Stop you evil king! Or I will be forced to defeat you!" A white earth pony filly with a red mane yelled. She was speaking to a dark blue unicorn colt, his brown and black mane hanging down in his eyes slightly.

"Never!"

"This let's fight! Cm'on guys!" The little filly was now instructing two more foals to help her. One was a yellow pegasus filly with a blue mane and the other was a blue pegasus colt with a yellow mane. Dash would never admit it, but she had a soft spot for foals. She chuckled quietly to herself as the foals wrestled. It didn't take long for the unicorn to be pinned down by his friends. He gave up and they went running down the road to find something else to do.

After a couple laps around the Empire Rainbow Dash flew back to the castle. Her friends were disappointed to hear she didn't find anything. She started to wonder when she could tell them. Or if she could tell them without being arrested, or worse, killed.

Author's Note

Hello! I am SO sorry I haven't updated in forever. My aunt is moving states so I have to help her pack. This chapter isn't long at all (just like my other chapters), but i promise I'm trying to work on that. Chapter 5 is being written right now, but sense I have to help my aunt, probably won't up for another few weeks. But you guys are used to me not updating, huh? I'm rambling now, bye! And thanks for reading!

Chapter 5

Twilight and Shining were both pacing the length of the room. One was thinking of ways to catch their mystery culprit and the other was thinking of what to do with her. Twilight was mumbling things to herself about how to subdue the mare. "Maybe we could set up traps throughout the city and around the castle?" There was little logic to the plan and the purple unicorn could obviously tell the others thought so. She sighed as saw their looks, "No, she uses shadow teleportation. She's obviously a power unicorn if she can teleport and use the shadows to move."

Rainbow Dash looked up at the word unicorn. How surprised would they be to find out Sombra's daughter was a pegasus and not a unicorn, thought the cyan pony. She decided to speak up, as she was only one who hadn't contributed to the plan yet. "Her magical essence is strong, but from what you said, it seems like she s holding back her power." Everypony looked at her in surprise. She realized she had just sounded like an egghead unicorn. "What? My dad was a unicorn, I know a thing or two about magic." There was some truth to that, her dad was after all the most powerful unicorn during that era, if one didn't count Starswirl the Bearded.

"Rainbow's right," Shining stated although he sounded unsure, "Whoever this pony is, she is very powerful, maybe even as powerful as Twily. We have to be careful. I want a guard with each of you at all times. Preferably a unicorn with skilled magic." Rainbow was about to protest but decided against it. That didn't stop her from grumbling under her breath though.

They met their guards after dismissing the meeting. Twilight would be followed by a guard who went through training with Shining Armor. He had a dust colored coat and light brown main with a red streak; his name was Morning Strike. Pinkie's guard was, thankfully, a patient stallion by the name of Golden Ray. He was a rather tall unicorn with a sandy yellow coat and golden mane. Finally Rainbow Dash's guard. He was a stern on stallion. His name was Steel Streak His fur was a dark gray, almost black with a jet black mane that had a single white streak in it. His blue eyes were cold and said he didn't tolerate nonsense. This is gonna be a long day, Rainbow thought had she left the castle, Steel Streak close behind.

Author's Note

HOLY SHIT I AM SO SO SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN LIKE EVER! I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND IF YOU HATE ME! I have no excuse for not updating except for after I moved and got everything settled I kinda forgot my account and fimfiction existed. I will try to update more now that I remember about it. (No promises)
So enjoy this LONG overdue chapter, and I will immediately get started on the next.

Chapter 6

The Elements of Harmony were once again walking throughout the empire trying to find clues. Or two of them were, Rainbow was trying to figure out how to lose her guard. Which was kind of hard when you were the most colorful pony within a 100 mile radius. Thinking fast she ducked into one of the few alleys and sunk into the shadows. "Miss Dash!" She heard Steel Streak call before he poked his head around the corner. He had a scowl on his face as his eyes scanned the shadows, passing right over Rainbow Dash. His horn lit up with a pale blue glow and after another quick scan of the alley he turned away, looking grim.

"Well shit, he probably traced my magic. I really gotta start hiding that. If only I could remember how..." She started to mumble to herself as she shadow-traveled to the edge of the empire. Her mind was racing with a multitude of things. Spells her father taught her, ways to convince her friends it was a false alarm, ways to tell them she was Sombra's daughter, and other things along those lines. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the hoof steps coming her way. Which is probably why she jumped a good 5 feet in the air, unfurling her wings to keep from falling as she did so, when a sharp voice spoke next to her.

"Miss Dash it is unwise to run off, or fly, with this threat right over our heads. There were traces of dark magic not ten feet away from where you disappeared! I must ask that we go back to the castle for the day," his tone suggested that he wasn't asking, but more telling her to go back. The Pegasus grumbled, but agreed seeing as she had no way to tell him there wasn't actually a threat without giving herself away. The trip back was silent and rather awkward in Rainbow's opinion. But she didn't feel like starting up conversation and neither did Steel Streak.

The others had a very uneventful day as well. The guards left them on their own, probably off to report to Shining. The girls, plus Spike, sat in Twilight's room. Said unicorn was talking about the mystery mare (of course) and she was quickly approaching lecturing egghead mode. "C'mon Twilight, nothing has happened so far, so why panic?" Spike asked, the party pony and stunt flier agreeing with him. Twilight, however, did not agree.

"Panic? Panic?! I'm not panicking! At least not yet. This is very important Spike! A unicorn who was thought dead is actually alive! And her magic is just as strong as her father's! Who, need I remind you, is King Sombra!?" She looked on the verge of hyperventilating. The baby dragon tried to calm her down while Dash opened her mouth to reply, but Pinkie beat her to it.

"Spike is right Twi, she hasn't done anything or hurt anypony yet. Plus, if she does hurt anypony Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy will be on the next train over so we can kick some evil pony butt!" Even though it wasn't much Pinkie's statement seemed to calm the purple pony down. She nodded her head and sat back down, thanking her.

"We should get some rest," she started, "I'll see you girls in the morning. Perhaps we can just walk around tomorrow and relax, as much as we can with danger around possibly every corner." Rainbow rolled her eyes at her friend but voiced her agreement before trotting out the door and down the hall to her own room. She had thought about sneaking out again, but thought against it and decided to just sleep through the night. There was always tomorrow for reminiscing.

Author's Note

See? What did I tell ya? Started immediately on the next chapter and it's already finished! :pinkiehappy:

Not my best work, none of this is... :twilightblush: But I'm still trying! I will try to be a better author and improve my writing skills (essays are more my thing, not stuff that involves imagination like this), and my updating. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

A little filly of about 10 was playing with an old beat up stuffed rag doll. It was a dragon with green scales and red spikes. She was smiling as shew flew around the throne room with the toy pretending to be fighting off evil monsters. When suddenly her ear twitched and she looked towards the darkest corner of the room. "Dad would never know..." She told herself as she trotted over to it. She tilted her ear towards the ground and listened. Soon the conversation the in War Room flowed through her mind.

"But sir, it would be suicide to attack Canterlot. The Solar Sisters are much more powerful than their father was. We must train more, and acquire more soldiers if you wish to proceed," General Shockwave's voice sounded first. It sounded like they were discussing another war. She didn't understand why her father was so bloodthirsty. It seemed as if he started another battle every day.

"Then get more soldiers and train harder! We must strike soon, they will not be expecting it. Celestia will mostly likely believe us to rest after out victory against the Gryphons. And once you finish here come to the throne room, it is time for Rainbow's daily lesson." King Sombra did not sound happy as he snapped at his General. The filly let out a groan of annoyance at the mention of her lessons. The king thought she should have lessons on combat and battle strategies. She was extremely skilled in combat and rather good at strategies, but her father still thought she needed to improve. She walked towards the center of the room as she heard the dark unicorn's hoof steps outside the door.

"Why do we need another war so soon? We just won a war, let the soldiers rest!" Were the first words she spoke when he entered the room.

"Were you eavesdropping? Do you need to be reminded of what I do to eavesdroppers?"

"I'm just asking why you insist on spilling so much blood!," she was rather smart for a 10 year old, and she knew that there was no reason for war.

"It needs to be reminded to everyone that the Crystal Empire is the strongest and will remain that way!"

"Everypony knows how strong we are! You don't let them forget! One day your thirst for war will get you killed," her crimson eyes burned brightly in the dim room as she glared at her sire. His equally red eyes stared right back.

"To your room now. Your lessons are cancelled. I will send an escort to get you once you have thought about your actions." Rainbow Dashe let out a snort at his words, but listened anyways. She remembered what happened last time she disobeyed, the scar on her flank wouldn't let her forget that mistake.

*

Rainbow sat up in bed. She glanced around the room wondering where she was at, then remembered she was back in the Crystal Empire. Sunlight was filtering in through the window and birds were chirping outside. At least it wasn't a particularly bad memory, she thought as she pulled herself out of the bed. She shook out her coat before opening her door and walking to the dining hall for breakfast. The cyan pony then ate a heaping plate of pancakes and hay-bacon before trotting to the throne room to wait for her friends. Once there she sat in the same corner where listened in on her father talking to General Shockwave all those years ago. She decided to focus of ridding herself of her magical trace. That way if she used her magic again, which she had a feeling that she would, no pony would be able to tell it came from her. Although she doubted they would believe that a daredevil pegasus could have magic just as strong as, if not stronger than, an alicorn princess.

Dash closed her eyes and went inside her own mind to feel for her magic. It didn't take much considering she still hid the presence of it. She remembered the lessons of her magic instructor who taught her how to hide her magical essence. She pictured a large clear bowl of water. The top of the bowl had clear water that represented normal pegasus things; flying, weather work, the usual. But currently it had darkness billowing within its crystal depths and that symbolized her magic. Black magic, much darker than normal unicorn magic. She focused her breathing and took deep even breaths. Slowly she concentrated on sending the black liquid to the bottom of the bowl, hiding the presence of her magic from others. Of course she could still call upon the power if she wanted, but now others wouldn't be able to tell she had done so. Slowly the darkness sunk until it was just a thin layer on the bottom of the bowl. She opened her eyes just before her ear twitched and she heard laughter from down the hall. The laughter alerted her that her friends were arriving so she removed herself from the corner and sat next to the window and waited patiently for them to enter the room. She could relax a little now that she didn't have to worry about the magic being traced back to her.

Author's Note

Hey guys! Long time no see, eh? At least I didn't wait months before updating this time! Tried to make it longer this time. Only succeeded in doing so by about 300 words but hey! Progress is progress. So enjoy and let me know what you think! :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 8

Author's Note

HELLO! I AM SO SORRY! :raritydespair::raritycry::fluttercry:

Right, so if you read my blog post then you know why i haven't been updating. I said i would have this out yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to read it over yesterday to it's being posted today. I think I did pretty good for picking the absolute WORST time to start writing again. I had the writing version of my english end of course tests Monday, practice tests in biology Teusday, yesterday, and today, and i have my english multiple choice EOCs spread out over three days next week and my biology EOC Thursday, so I'm swamped with work. BUT! I felt I had to make it up to you guys and at least post a chapter after promising I would (no matter how small it was). :twilightsheepish:

I'm going to try to post reguarly now (no promises), but that probably won't happen until testing is done. :ajsleepy: So enjoy this chapter I will post the next one as soon as possible! :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 8

When Rainbow's friends entered the room they were a bit surprised to see her there, but did not comment. Shining Armor and Twilight looked a little frustrated, so Rainbow could only assume that they had been bouncing ideas off each other on how to catch the mystery mare. Pinkie, as usual, as skipping into the room while whistling a happy tune, and Spike just looked tired. Cadence was glancing at her husband and sister-in-law, probably going over their ideas and comparing them with her own.

"So... Morning- er afternoon?" Rainbow said in way of greeting.

Everypony seemed to sober slightly at her voice and exchanged their own greetings. They sat in front of the thrones and looked at each other expectantly. The three unicorn guards that had previously been assigned to the three mares entered and took positions at the back of the room, apparently already having their orders from Shining. The Prince looked slightly troubled as he spoke, "More magical essence was found in town," Rainbow feigned worried as the others gasped at his words. "Guards have been positioned in every district and patrols have been doubled, but I don't know if it will be enough." At his defeated tone and worried look Rainbow felt kind of bad for not telling them.

Should I tell them now? Or wait a little longer, until I'm positive they won't react badly? The pegasus was having an internal debate with herself as everypony else spoke their ideas aloud of what to do. By the time she decided it was better to wait the meeting had finished and everypony was getting up. "So what now?" Dash pretended to have been paying attention as she hopped down the little stairs in front of the throne and headed towards the doors.

It was Twilight who replied, "We are going to walk around town and try to relax for today. With our guards of course!" She hastily added the last bit as if the thought of walking around without their guards was the worst idea ever. Dash nodded in understanding and followed the purple unicorn outside. They walked in tense silence, the only sound being the strange squeak that always comes from Pinkie when she bounces instead of walks. It was rather awkward since everypony was on high alert and constantly expecting a random pony to come out of the shadows and try to kill them.

Rainbow decided enough was enough and spoke her mind, "If you keep acting like you're gonna be attacked at every corner then you're never gonna relax! Just chill out and enjoy the day like we planned." The purple unicorn that currently looked like a walking anxiety attack turned to glare at her colorful friend. She opened her mouth to retort, but then seemed to realize that Dash was right; she needed to calm down.

"Fine. I'll try to calm down. Besides, with our guards that mare can't do anything to us!" Twilight didn't sound very convinced at the last part, and Rainbow would hate to tell her that she could get rid of the guards in ten seconds flat (with her wings tied and eyes closed if she wanted), so she just nodded and continued trotting along side her friends.

"Does this mean we get to explore the entire empire?!" Pinkie asked with a huge grin.

"Uhh... I don't think that's what Dash meant by relax Pinkie..." Spike replied from her seat on Twilight's back. "We're just walking around town, right Twi?" The purple and green dragon turned his attention to the mare he was currently sitting on.

Twilight nodded in agreement, "Right! So let's get started on our relaxing day." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes with a small grin. She followed the two mare and baby dragon into the heart of the empire.

Relaxing is the last thing on my mind... was her final thought before she banished everything bad from her mind and tried to have a good time with her friends.

I Aplogize For Being An Ass

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