A Tale of Tyrants and Ponies
Chapter 1: A Date with Destiny
“B-but I thought we were friends!”
“Please… let them live.”
“All her anger, her rage and hatred, are dedicated… to destroying you.”
“You made this personal, Princess. Not me.”
“I won’t fail again!”
“You will die quickest.”
You know, a lot of ponies have asked me why I’m called the Tyrant Pony. Those who don’t know the story don’t understand why I’m hated. I could start when I was just a child, but that might be too far back. I could start at my encounter with chaos, but I don’t think that’s when it all started. It started the day I got my smile.
Now, don’t ask me where I got the cloak I was wearing at the time. To be honest, my memories before that day are rather fuzzy. I remember living in the Everfree Forest, but I could have very well started in the desert. All I can say is that I started that day with a purpose: I was going to venture out into Ponyville.
I didn’t really have a reason, no desire for companionship, no hunger for a special Ponyville food, but I did have to get out of those trees. I guess you could call it wanderlust, if you believed in such a thing.
For a while before then, I had been training myself to blend into the background. It was a survival skill in the forest, and it helped in Ponyville as well. I intended to have no unexpected contact with anypony.
Of course, looking back on it, I could have been fooling myself. It’s possible that I was noticed by everypony, but they merely decided not to initiate a conversation, the embarrassment of Zecora still fresh in their minds. At the time though, I was rather proud of myself, as I passed the local bakery, that I had passed unnoticed among the local populous. Of course, that didn’t last.
“Surprise!”
“Gah!”
I jumped backwards as a smiling pink pony appeared from practically nowhere and started talking at a mile a minute. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! I saw you wandering around Ponyville, and I was like, 'I don't recognize that pony!' which is different because I know everypony in Ponyville! Then I remembered that whenever I don't recognize somepony in Ponyville, it's usually because that somepony is new! Like this one time, I met this Unicorn named Twilight Sparkle..."
As the pony before me went on and on, telling me all about her adventures in friendship, I tried to gather my bearings. I wasn't really expecting anypony to talk to me, let alone tell me their whole life story. To be honest, I was kind of frightened. I tried to sneak away, but the crazy pony reappeared in front of me, once again from seemingly nowhere, without even pausing her story.
"...and now she's an Alicorn princess! Which reminds me, I need to get more glitter. Oh, you're going to have so much fun at your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!"
"NO!" I exclaimed at the mention of a party. Pinkie Pie looked at me with an understandably confused look. After a moment of silence, I sighed and explained how I wasn't yet comfortable around large crowds.
"Oh!" she exclaimed with comprehension, "I see. You don't have much self-confidence, do ya?" I nodded. "Well, we don't need to have a lot of ponies to have a party. It can be just the two of us. Ooo! We could have a lunch party at Hayburgers!"
Frankly, I was exasperated. Here I was, telling her that I didn't like crowds, and she's inviting me out for lunch at a well known public restaurant. However, before I could protest, she spirited me away to the edge of town.
At the Hayburgers, I was mortified. In the course of only a few minutes, I could tell that the extreme personality of my companion tended to draw the eye of anypony within earshot. I could feel the eyes of the other patrons of the restaurant drawn towards us as she played with her happy meal toy and I unsuccessfully tried to melt into the floor.
"...and so I said, 'Oatmeal, are you crazy?' and then- say. Are you okay?" she asked, "You haven't touched your cupcake."
"Look," I said, "you may be used to everyone staring at you at all hours of the day, but the fact is that I am not, so if you wouldn't mind, please turn down your voice a few decibels."
The pink pony blinked after a second, and smiled. "Oh you silly filly," she said, "nopony is staring at us, because nopony is here!"
"...Pardon me?"
"Just look around you!" I did, and Pinkie was right. Not only were we the only customers, but it looked like even the cashier was on break. "Nopony ever comes in this time of day," she explained, "they are usually too busy with their jobs. Besides, most ponies prefer home-made lunches anyways, but nothing's too good for my friends!"
I was silent as the gears turned in my head. I reasoned that the only way she would have known that their wouldn't be anyone there would be that she had lunch there before at that exact time. This surprised me. From everything she told me about herself, I never would have imagined that she would ever want to be alone.
"Why are you doing this?"
She looked at me with confusion and said, "What do you mean?"
"The meal, the party, the cupcakes that I still don't know where you kept on you your body...why are you trying so hard to be my friend?" I looked down at my uneaten meal. "I mean, I've always thought a friend is someone who understands you, and you don't even know my name. Yet you decide that you want me as a friend. Why? I'm nobody special..."
Pinkie put her hoof on mine. I looked up and saw the most intense eyes I had ever seen. "You are the most important pony in the world." she said, keeping my gaze transfixed on her, "Don't let anyone tell you differently."
We stayed like that, staring silently into each other's eyes, for about five minutes.
Then, all Tartarus broke loose.
Without warning, a dragon crashed through the roof of the restaurant. This particular dragon was known as the Jabberwocky, and had a reputation in Equestrian for being the only dragon exiled from the Dragon Lands for the sole purpose of being completely insane. The insane dragon started thrashing around wildly, driven mad by the unfamiliar surroundings.
Pinkie Pie, being a reasonable pony, albeit a strange one, did the most logical thing she could in that situation.
She yelled, "EVERYPONY PANIC!!!" and ran for the door.
Unfortunately, before she could reach it, she tripped on a piece of debris and slid across the floor, face-planting herself on the wall beside the door. And I, despite the seriousness of the situation, realized how ridiculous it was to be the victim of a random dragon attack on the first day that I venture out of the relative safety of my forest, and have lunch with a completely insane pink pony. Consequently, I did nothing except giggle at Pinkie's pratfall.
It was at that moment that I realized that I couldn't remember that last time I smiled, much less giggled. Yet there I was, doing both because of one mare. I turned to the Jabberwocky and smiled, Pinkie's words of encouragement echoing in my ear. If I truly was the most important pony in the world, it was time I proved it.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was trying to calm herself down. She pulled a brown paper bag out of her mane to breathe into. When that failed to calm her down, she popped the inflated bag and hiccuped.
"Okay Pinkie Pie, calm down," she said to herself, "you've faced worse than this. Calm down? You expect me to calm down? The only reason you survived previously was because your friends were with you! That's it! I'll go get Twilight! But what if she can't get here in time? PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER MAN! Gee, it's gotten awfully quiet all of a sudden."
Pinkie looked back to find that the Jabberwocky was no longer moving. Instead, I, cloak shed, was staring in the dragon's eyes, as if daring him to make a move. This was the first time Pinkie had seen me without my cloak, and she noticed that my fur was as green as freshly cut grass, and my brown mane was smoothed forward, yet still had a roguish charm. Finally, the dragon blinked.
I smiled with confidence, and held out a large, green crystal, which the Jabberwocky eagerly lapped out of my hoof. "Now leave." I said. And without question, the Jabberwocky flew away. I exhaled the breath that I had been holding for that past five minutes. I was not sure that would work, but it would.
I looked back and saw that Pinkie Pie was still staring in awe at me. I also noticed that my flank, which had been blank before that day, was now sporting a smile with a single drop of blood dripping from the mouth. I soon realized that the blood wasn't a wound, but a part of my new cutie mark.
"Pinkie Pie," I said as I spend my Pegasus wings, "thank you for the lovely lunch. We'll finish our date later."
As I flew off, Pinkie, still awestruck, slowly processed my words. When she finally comprehended their meaning, her eyes grew as wide as plates. "That was a DATE?" She exclaimed, but at that point, I was out of earshot.
As for me, I was filled with a confidence I had never known before. I was excited to find out what I was going to down next, for at the time, I had no idea. I'd like to say I went on to become a powerful member of society, earning the respect of both Equestrian society and the princesses, and that was the end of it. However, this wasn't an ending. This was only the beginning.
A Tale of Tyrants and Ponies
Chapter 2: Rise of a Tyrant
Fast forward a few months and the world moved onward. The escapades of the Princess of Friendship expanded dramatically. I had heard tales of the equalists, the griffons, and even the yaks. I figured that at this point, Pinkie Pie had forgotten all about a certain green stallion, what with all her new adventures.
"Surprise!"
"Hey Stranger! Haven't seen you in a while!"
I slumped over in disappointment. My attempt to surprise Pinkie Pie in front of her bakery, as a reference to how she first met me, was met with failure. However, I perked up when I realized that she remembered me.
"By the way," I said, "sorry I bailed on our date last time."
"Yeah...about that..." she replied nervously, "I never really meant for our lunch party to be anything other than, well, a welcome party."
"I know that, but I feel bad about leaving my own welcome party early. At least let me make it up to you tonight."
I noticed her cheeks turn a slightly darker shade of pink, but she still seemed hesitant. Time to bait the hook.
"Of course, I understand if you are busy tonight," I said as I sultered past her, "but it will be a shame if I had to go to the carnival alone..."
"Did you say carnival?"
I turned back, a sly look in my eye. "One of the best! I saw them setting up on the way here."
"...Ferris wheel or roller coaster?"
"Both."
"Meep!"
"Cotton candy sticks with every flavor of the rainbow."
"Cotton candy..."
"Cheesy carnival games with oversized stuffed animals as prizes."
"Stuffed animals..."
"Balloons of every shape and size, custom twisted by clowns."
"Balloons..."
She was practically drooling by this point. "And for lunch..."
"There's lunch?"
"Hot, sugary, funnel cake."
I could see Pinkie's face contort as she considered any reason why she couldn't go. Finally, after a full minute of mental debate, she ran into the bakery yelling "Givemeafewminutestogetthedayofftherehadbetterbecottoncandy!"
Hook, line, and sinker.
As I waited for Pinkie, I saw a shadow move in the nearby alleyway. Good, I thought, took him long enough.
"They say the diamond dogs howl at the moon," said the being in the shadow.
"You know," I replied, "nopony is around. You don't have to speak in code."
Silence came from the dark. "They say the diamond dogs howl at the moon."
"Only when Luna wears her socks. Happy?" My companion seemed satisfied. "Have all the preparations been taken care of?"
"Everything is as you ordered. The castle team have their weapons, and all my men are in position."
"Good. Proceed as planned." The shadow did not move. "Is there something else?"
"Sir, I would like to make a personal request."
"Go on," I said, intrigued.
"I would like to alert the Princess of our presence before the attack." I chuckled with amusement. "I know it makes no tactical sense, but it is tradition for my people to alert our enemies beforehand. All this sneaking around does not come naturally to us. We are not changelings."
I thought for a moment. "No, you're not." I replied, "Tell Twilight Sparkle. But wait until a few moments before the signal." I smiled devilishly. "Tradition aside, I want tonight to be perfect. Tonight, Equestria will know my name."
"I'm ready!"
I turned and saw Pinkie Pie beaming at me and holding a collectable cup. I assumed it was for drinks. I sensed my ally leave the shadows behind me, and breathed a silent sigh of relief as I moved to escort my date to the carnival.
The date went off without a hitch. Pinkie Pie was just as excited for both the Ferris wheel and the roller coaster. Surprisingly, they actually did refill Pinkie's collectable cup, even though it was from another carnival. They hadn't been servers very long, I could tell.
Pinkie was certainly having fun. She won a ball-throwing game and gave me a small white Pegasus doll. Despite having a blond mane, I noticed that the doll looked like Pinkie Pie, but I think it was supposed to be one of the Wonderbolts or something. It was about three in the afternoon when we sat down for lunch. Unlike last time, I was able to participate in the conversation. “So wait, you went all the way to Yakyakistan, and ended up joining a band?”
“Yep! We made several successful albums, two live-action movies, and one animated feature!” she said, scarfing down another funnel cake, “Although, I think my acting career was more satisfying than my music one. Still, it was fun to meet Ed Sadleven!”
“Wow. That’s a busy afternoon. Do you still keep in touch with your bandmates?”
“Well, two of them were murdered during their solo careers, but I’m good friends with McColtny!”
I giggled at the thought of Pinkie playing drums, though I wasn't too surprised. Then I noticed how quiet she got. "Um," she started hesitantly, "I just want you to know, I'm glad I came. I've never been on a date before, and I was a little nervous at first." She smiled warmly. "But I'm glad I came here with you."
It was, admittedly, hard to take her seriously when she was wearing a balloon hat, but I understood how she felt. Looking down at the doll she won for me, I suddenly lost my appetite.
"Hey Pinkie," I said, "let's go check out the house of mirrors."
"But I'm still hungry!"
"You've eaten three funnel cakes and two sticks of cotton candy already. Give your stomach a chance to digest that."
"Oh, fine." As she got up, she smiled at me again.
In the house of mirrors, my mood improved somewhat. Something about seeing distorted versions of myself calmed me down. Pinkie certainly was having a blast.
"Ooh!" she exclaimed, standing in front of one mirror, "Check it out! I'm fat! Ha ha, I guess the sweets all caught up to me. Now I'm tall and thin, like Celestia! 'Twilight, go save the world while I eat cake!' Gasp! This one makes me look like a colt! Check this out!" She looked around, realizing that she was alone. "Hello?"
"Over here," I answered.
She wandered into a circular room where all the walls were mirrors. Another mirror slammed shut behind her. She looked around, and realized that she didn't know how to get out. "Y-you're starting to scare me!" she stuttered.
"Pinkie," a voice said all around her, "I haven't been completely honest with you."
All at once, Pinkie's reflection disappeared, replaced by my own charming visage. "I...I don't understand."
"The fact is, my dear," my voice rang around the room, "you are the element of laughter. You make people smile, even in the worst of situations. I should know, you even made me smile. In other words, you are an obstacle." My reflections donned a smile that made Pinkie's blood run cold.
"Okay, joke's over! Come on out now!"
"Do I look like I'm joking? The fact is, you ponies have become complacent in peace. Someone needs to shake things up, to inject some new...blood in the system, as it were."
"And you think you can do that?"
I chuckled. "Hardly. But I will be doing the injections. And if you still haven't figured it out, let me explain. I'm going to take over Equestria. And I'm starting with Ponyville."
My reflection's chuckle turned into a full scale laugh, one best used when you can't be stopped and you want to drive that fact into your opponent's brain. "I...I'll stop you!" Pinkie Pie blurted out, "No matter how many reflections you have!"
Suddenly, the room got very quiet. "Reflections?" I said, hovering just above her head, "They aren't reflections."
The pink mare looked up at me, then back at the glass as the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She stood helplessly as my "reflections" reverted to their original form, giving my changeling allies the chance to smash through their stations and attack.
Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle was enjoying her own lunch across town. She had no idea what Pinkie was going through, but she was about to have her own concerns.
"I need to speak with you, Princess."
Twilight looked up from her sunflower-seed sandwich and glanced around the crowded restaurant. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a hooded figure sitting behind her.
"Don't turn around!" the figure snapped. The alicorn's eyes went back to her sandwich. "He could have spies everywhere."
"Who are you?"
"My name is not important. But what I have to say is. Your beloved Ponyville is about to be invaded."
"Invaded? By whom?"
"By a pony who feels nothing but contempt for those around him. He wishes to take over the world by plunging it into darkness. He has raised two armies against the world, with him at the command of both."
"I don't understand. Who are we talking about?"
"Somepony who commands the very crystals beneath our hooves."
"...Sombra?"
The hooded figure chuckled. "The difference between him and Sombra is that Sombra wanted slaves. He only wants to watch the world burn. He calls himself...the Tyrant Pony."
The purple princess looked at her sandwich, wishing her appetite would come back. "And why are you telling me all of this?"
"It is tradition among my people to warn the enemy before an attack."
"So, you're friends with this tyrant?"
"Princess, I don't think he has friends."
Twilight suddenly noticed that the lighting had changed, the normally ambient restaurant lights taking on a reddish hue. That's when she heard the screams from outside. She rushed out, and saw perhaps the scariest thing she had ever saw. The moon had been moved to directly in front of the sun. The resulting eclipse left the sky blood red.
Ponies were starting to panic. The flower ponies wailed about the "end times." And amidst all the confusion, the princess noticed a cloaked figure leave the restaurant behind her. She turned and stepped on the cloth, determined to find out who had spoken to her. What she saw took a full minute to process.
At first glance, the creature looked like any other alicorn, albeit a male one. He sported a red coat with a black mane with shades of white down the sides and a black goatee. However, upon further inspection, one would notice the white fangs poking out from underneath his lip along with the bat-like wings that framed both sides of his body.
Twilight could hardly speak. "Y-you're...a vampony..."
"The king of all vamponies." the creature said as he spread his wings, "And now it is time...to step into the light."
All at once, buildings lit up in flames as the Vampony army leapt from the shadows to attack the panicked populace.
Having hastily escaped me and the changelings, Pinkie Pie breathed a sigh of relief as she exited the house of mirrors. That breath quickly caught in her throat when she made a startling realization. It wasn't the eclipse, she could deal with that in due time.
It was the fact that the rest of the carnival staff were changelings too.
Everywhere Pinkie Pie looked, the servers were reverting back to their changeling form, the clowns were reverting, even the game hawkers were reverting. Suddenly the loss of her balloon hat didn't seem that important.
She ran for the exit. No changeling tried to stop her because I had ordered it so. I wanted her all to myself.
The carnival was a field away from Ponyville, so Pinkie Pie had always to gallop once she left the carnival grounds. However, before she could get halfway there, a wall of crystal rose up in front of her, causing her to skid to a halt.
"Going somewhere?" I said, peeking over the wall. "I want you to show you something."
With a stomp of my hoof, my chaotic powers erupted, as did a pink crystal throne from beneath Pinkie's hooves. The throne lifted high into the air on a pillar of crystal. When it finally stopped, she looked out and saw Ponyville ablaze.
Pinkie was stunned. Her mouth hung open in shock as I flew around her. "Beautiful, isn't it?" I said, "The changelings were the tough one to convince, but the vamponies leapt at the chance to challenge Equestria. And Ponyville is just the beginning. Soon, Canterlot and even the Crystal Empire shall be under my control."
I looked at the pink mare who was staring at me with disbelief. “B-but I thought we were friends!”
"Friends?" I scoffed, "Don't you ever listen? I told you, a friend is someone who understands you. You don't even know my name." Pinkie didn't know how to respond. "Perhaps, then, you can answer a simple question. Tell me, what is your purpose?"
As I flew away, I turned back to look at my date. "It's Trouble Maker, by the way. My name is Trouble Maker."
After the changeling invasion, many guards were said to have nightmares about being swallowed up by a swarm of bugs. High level military officers have said that the the Chrysalis's army was the most horrific fighting force to date.
Those officers were never in a vampony attack.
The vamponies had been the subjects of many a campfire story and what is truly known about them comes from their mythology, only half about which is real. For example, their poor sunlight resistance is very true. I have seen a vampony nearly burst into flames during the day. In contrast, the garlic allergy does not exist in all vamponies, and even then the worst symptoms are sneezing and runny noses.
Furthermore, they are as related to vampire fruit-bats as diamond dogs are to timber-wolves. What made them perfect for my purpose was their heightened speed, senses, and strength. In short, a single vampony will cause a panic. An entire army will cause utter chaos.
Frankly, I don't care how fast Rainbow Dash thought that she was. There was no way she could have defeated an entire army of vamponies in time. Of course, that didn't stop her from trying.
She was flying over Ponyville when the eclipse happened and it wasn't long before she leapt into action against the creatures of the night. The young flyer had been waiting for this moment, dreaming of a battle where she could fight against impossible odds like the pegasus warriors of old. For a moment, she reveled in the fight.
Her revealing, however, was short lived as she heard a familiar voice calling to her. She turned around to see her adopted little sister, Scootaloo, trapped in the top floor of an already burning building. "Scoots!" she yelled, "I'm coming!"
But before she could rush to rescue the little filly, three more vamponies tackled her, trying to avenge their beaten comrades. As they attempted to hold the cyan pegasus down, the flames leapt around the building, and the orange pegasus inside pawed at the window with her hooves, ignoring the searing heat, as if trying to get out herself to help her hero.
"Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow spun around like a tornado, throwing her attackers off of her. Looking up to acknowledge the cheers of her number one fan, she sped towards the building to rescue her sister.
She never got as far as the front door.
The fiery building collapsed, sending flames, sparks, and smoke dancing in all directions. Rainbow dash had to cover her face with her wing, leaving a few feathers subject to the burning embers. When the smoke cleared, the pegasus dared to look. All she saw was the flaming rubble that had once been the apartment of her adopted sister. No feathers. No hoof. No Scootaloo.
"No...SCOOTALOO!!!"
Rainbow Dash's cry pierced the air like a knife. She sat on her haunches and stared at the rubble, trying to find some sign that she was wrong. All the fight ran out of her. Her assailants had fled, thinking her too pitiful to fight. The element of loyalty had lost her loyal sister. It was the sound of her name being called that snapped her mind back to reality.
Fluttershy ran up to Rainbow Dash, out of breath and barely able to speak.
"Rainbow...fire...cottage...animals...vamponies...hurry...please..."
Rainbow understood immediately. "Lead the way." She would mourn her sister later. She was needed elsewhere.
Unbeknownst to either pony, once they were out of sight a lone vampony rose from the rubble with an unharmed but unconscious Scootaloo tucked under his wing. This was, believe it or not, by design. I had ordered that no one be killed by the attack. Nopony would get off that easy.
Attacking Ponyville was hardly my only goal. I also had plans for the young dragon known as Spike.
He was at the castle during the attack, as I had expected. Of course, if he hadn't, my plans wouldn't have gone as smoothly as they did, but a few well placed comics made sure that he was in his room when the attack began and Twilight ran to check on him.
"Twilight!" he exclaimed, rushing forward to hug his friend, "What's going on out there? I heard screaming, and yelling, and when I looked outside the sky was red and the town was on fire! And-"
Twilight placed a hoof on her ward's mouth. "Calm down Spike. I'll explain everything, but right now we need to alert Celestia."
"Right!" Spike snapped into super-assistant mode and ran to his desk to get a quill and paper. "Ready!"
"Dear Princess. As you no doubt have noticed, the moon has drifted inexplicably in front of the sun. I believe that this event and the current attack on Ponyville have been orchestrated by a pegasus named Trouble Maker, otherwise known as the Tyrant Pony."
"Woah woah woah... a single pony caused all this? One pegasus moved the moon?"
"Don't interrupt Spike." The young dragon went back to writing. "Unfortunately, said attack on Ponyville is more than we can handle at the moment. I'm afraid that I must request aid from you and the royal guard. Be warned, we are facing a powerful army. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle."
No sooner had Spike sent the letter off in a poof of flame then a vampony crashed through the window. The grey vampony with a black mane looked at his surroundings. When he noticed the Princess, he rushed forward and grabbed young Spike before he could react. The vampony held one of the claws on his wing, adorned with a sharpened diamond covering, to the dragon's throat. He stared at the alicorn in the room.
"Twilight...help..." Spike sputtered.
The princess stared at the vampony intruder. "It appears we are at an impasse." she stated coldly.
"It appears we are." the intruder replied, "I doubt I could fight both of you without causing significant harm to myself."
"And I don't know if I can kill you before you kill me. I'm not even sure if you count as alive."
"So how about we try this." The vampony backed towards the window. "I leave now with this dragon as my insurance. If you attack me from behind, I will kill him. But this way, both of us get out unhurt."
The princess thought for a moment. "Agreed. A princess has to stay alive for the sake of Equestria. Take him."
"Twilight...no..."
As the vampony left, Twilight refused to look in the eye of her broken-hearted dragon.
Okay, before you dislike the story for an OOC Twilight, I would just like to point out that Twilight? The one who gave up Spike to the enemy? Changeling. I had plans for the little dragon that required his loyalty, but more on that later.
The changeling agent smirked as the first part of his mission completed. He walked to the front door of the castle, reverting back to his original form as he went. His partner was waiting for him.
"Did everything go as planned Three-of-Five?" his partner asked. This was before the changelings had official names, though some have nicknames for themselves.
"I told you," the double-agent replied, "call me Iwata. You're Double-Dee, I'm Iwata! Clear?"
"C-clear! So...how d-did it go...Iwata?"
The changeling smirked. His partner looked terrified. "Perfect. I like to think I did a fantastic Twilight Sparkle. Did you lay the explosives?"
"Y-yes...yes I did."
"Good. Let's blow this love-fest."
The duo exited the castle and ran to rejoin their comrades, but Iwata turned back. "What are you doing?" Double-Dee said, "We have to get back to the others! The Queen doesn't want anyone of us caught!"
"You go on ahead. I'll stay behind to watch the fireworks."
"I'll get in trouble if I left my buddy behind!"
"Just tell them I ran off while you weren't looking." He turned back to his comrade and grinned evilly. "I want to see her face."
The saner changeling looked into his partner's eyes. They were with filled with determination. Double-Dee knew he wasn't going to win that argument.
"Your obsession is going to get you killed," he said as he turned away.
"Tell my queen that I love her." Iwata said as he turned to the castle.
As his partner ran away, Iwata found a vantage point where he could see everything that transpired in front of the castle, yet be invisible to anypony who wasn't looking, not to mention out of the blast radius of the explosive crystals I provided them. In other words, he found a bush to hide in.
Well, they can't all be shadow-dwellers.
The crystals had a timer on them, so Iowata knew that if she didn't show up in time, he will have stayed behind for nothing. However, a few minutes before the explosion, Twilight Sparkle arrived.
She and her friend Rarity had just left the Carousel Boutique where they saved a weeping Sweetie Belle. As they paused in front of the castle to catch their breath, the young filly, who had been riding on Rarity's back, said, "I swear...I didn't cause the fire this time...please don't be mad..."
Rarity levitated her sister of and held her tight. "I'm not mad," she said, "the important thing is that you are safe. That's what counts." Sweetie Belle nuzzled against her sister.
"I'm gonna go get Spike," the real Twilight Sparkle said as she opened her castle door, "then we can all join the evacuation and..."
I admit, I'm not sure how she sensed my exploding crystals. Perhaps she smelled the magic housed in them. Perhaps she sensed that the magic was specifically chaos magic. Perhaps there was a voice in the back of her head that yelled "Run, you purple-plotted princess, RUN!" Whatever the case, she was able to throw a shield up around her and her friends right as the castle exploded. If she hadn't, my "no killing" rule would have been broken in the worst way. I'll have to thank that voice someday.
Since I was the one who made the crystals, I added an e tea feature. As the dust was clearing, the secondary explosives shot up like fireworks and created an explosion that looked like my cutie mark. I "marked" my territory as it were.
What? That was funny and you know it.
Twilight Sparkle, however, was not concerned with fireworks as she realized that a magical explosion, rather than a purely heat based one, was more likely to harm a particular dragon inhabitant.
"SPIKE!"
As the princess searched the rubble for any sign of her number-one assistant, a hiding changeling almost giggled with glee.
Meanwhile, the king of the vamponies flew towards Sweet Apple Acres where the Apple family had gathered to figured out what they hay was going on.
"Greetings," he said, getting the Apple family's attention, "I am Alucard, king of the vampony race. I come before you to-"
He was interrupted when Applejack walked up and bucked him in the face.
"Ah want answers!" Applejack said, holding her hoof against the collapsed vampony's head, "You can start with the eclipse and why Ponyville's on fire!"
"Yeah! And what's with that explosion?" Granny Smith added.
"And th' creepy smile where the castle used to be!" Apple Bloom included.
"Eeyup." Big Mac finished.
"Honestly, Apples, I expected better than this."
And really, I did. When I arrived at the farm, I'd hoped that my ally be treated with a king's respect. I told him he should have worn his crown.
Applejack took one look at my cutie mark and understood. "Ah take it you're th' brains of this here operation?" she asked.
"I am," I replied, "and I promise that if you get off my ally, we will explain everything." The rest of the Apple family eyed me suspiciously. I raised my hooves. "I swear, I have now violent intentions. I simply want to talk."
After a moment Applejack let Alucard stand up. "Y'all want to talk?" she said, "Talk."
"Simply put, Ms., Applejack, was it?" I started, "I'm here because I have raised two armies, one of which is comprised of vamponies."
"Contrary to popular belief," Alucard said, "Vamponies don't drink the blood of other ponies."
He picked an apple from the tree using his very long tongue. As he sucked it's juices, I continued. "The fact is, an army, even a vampony one, runs on it's stomach. I need to feed my army."
"And Ah'm guessing you want us ta do it."
"Well, you are the biggest apple supplier in the area. If it's a question of money, name your price, I'll pay double if I have to."
"Money ain't the problem. The problem is th' army it's feedin'! Vamponies are trouble enough, but Ah could look past that were it not for the fact that you're currently burnin' mah hometown!"
I paused, not expecting her to connect the dots so quickly, and snickered. Alucard stayed silent as I walked towards the Orange pony. "Applejack, I've done my homework on you Elements of Harmony. Your element is honesty, not loyalty. And to be honest," I leaned in close. "you'd be better off joining me now while you have the chance."
"Forget it!" Apple Bloom said, jumping in between us, "We would never betray our friends!"
"Not even for an insubordination cutie mark?"
"Ah don' know what that word means!"
Applejack facehoofed. "Now look here," Granny Smith put in, "Applejack may be th' element of honesty, but Ah'm the owner of Sweet Apple Acres! And Ah say, we ain't doin' business with varmints like you! Not for a hun'red bits! Not for a thousan'"
"Well, I mean, if we half to haggle-"
"NO HAGGLING!" Applejack yelled as she stomped her hoof for emphasis, "Now Ah'm gonna give you both to th' count o' three to get off mah farm." Alucard stayed silent.
"You didn't let me-"
"One."
"If you would just list-"
"Two."
"Fine then. Alucard?"
The vampony king spit all the seeds from his apple into Applejack's, Apple Bloom's, and Granny Smith's faces. "Eeew," Apple Bloom whined, "was that s'posed to be an attack?"
"No," Alucard replied, "merely a distraction."
"Help!"
The Apple sisters turned to find their granny in a headlock by who they thought was their brother. It was actually the changeling queen who had infiltrated the family nearly a week before. To my delight, she revealed her true form with a terrifying "Eeyup."
"Chrysalis?" Applejack exclaimed, "You mean I fell for your changelings tricks? Again?"
Chrysalis scoffed. "Compared to imitating the princess of love, this was a piece of cake. Just stand there, be strong, and say a measly two words! Not to mention all the love I had to eat." She grinned. "You don't even realized how many mares are secretly in love with him. Well, secret to him at least."
"Give me back my brother!" Apple Bloom yelled as she charged the changeling queen who threw her against a tree.
As the filly was knocked unconscious, I tried diplomacy once more. "Now. As I was saying-"
"Chrysalis, you better let go o' mah granny right now, or I swear to Celestia, I will-"
"LISTEN TO ME!!!"
Everybody retreated away from me at my outburst. I was tired of everypony talking over me. Especially Applejack. I took a deep breath. "I tried...to be nice. I offered you a chance to join the winning side. And you. Didn't. LISTEN!" I directed my attention directly at Applejack. "I was GOING to say that if we had to haggle, I should increase my position. Then, we would take Granny Smith hostage in exchange for your services, and when all is said and done, my army would be fed, and you would be rich. But NO!"
Applejack was visibly sweating. "So here's my last offer. Run. Take your sister, forget your brother, leave your granny, and run. Run as far into the Everfree Forest that you can until you look back and realize that you've forgotten why you were running. And when fillies and colts look at your STUPID HAT they'll know you as the only pony smart enough to never. Stop. Running."
Applejack gulped. "And if I don't?"
I grinned evilly. "Then I will make you and your sister wish you were dead."
Applejack looked at my two army generals. She then looked at Granny Smith who gave her a look that said she could take care of herself. With a sigh of resignation, she gathered her sister and started galloping off.
"This isn't over!" she called behind her. I grinned.
I was counting on it.
For a while my generals eyed me suspiciously. I think they half-expected me to snap at them too, but I didn't. I merely asked, "How much of Ponyville do you think has evacuated?"
My generals breathed a sigh of relief. "About half." King Alucard said.
"What should I do with the grandmother?" Queen Chrysalis asked.
I thought for a moment. "Leave her with her grandson. "Then go join your people and begin phase two." I flew towards Ponyville. "I'm ending phase one."
High over Ponyville, I clapped my hooves together and begun. My abilities at the time allowed me to manipulate crystals much in the way King Sombra did. This allowed me to create a fortress of crystal just by thinking of it, and I started with the outer wall, cutting off the ponies' escape route.
As I looked down, I saw that one light-purple, unicorn filly was trying crying because her mother was trapped on my side of the wall. I reveled in her sadness.
My conquest of Equestria had begun.