Troubles of Equestria: Book One: The Third Duel

Chapters

Just Getting Started (Chapter 2)
The Darkness Within: Part 1 (Chapter 3)
Hearth's Warming Day (Chapter 3.5)
The Darkness Within: Part 2 (Chapter 4)
The Arrival (Chapter 1)

Just Getting Started (Chapter 2)

[On the way to the Hospital with the Mane Six and others]

“Explain to me exactly what happened.” Luna asked Fluttershy and Rarity, as they passed by streetlights in a rush, riding inside of the rather large ambulance that was carrying their four friends. Celestia was quite sure that having 4 patients in a single ambulance was quite the hazard, but she shook it off, as they needed attention this very minute. As she stared outside of the window into the dusk of night, she knew now is when “it” truly started…

Rarity took a deep breath, and then explained the events, making her voice slow and crystal clear. As Rarity finished her explanation on the violent events that had just occurred, Celestia and Luna shared glances, a worried look on their faces.

“We’re sorry, young ones. We haven’t been totally honest… There’s something that we should’ve told you back in the main office… It’d be best to wait until the others are conscious.” Principal Celestia explained, examining the unconscious members of the Mane Six.

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Luna asked, wanting to get her companions immediate attention. “Goodness, we’d have been better off transporting them ourselves. Why do we even hire you?” Luna asked, frustrated at their lack of progress.

The stallion driving looked tiredly back at her. “Sorry ma’am, traffic is horrible tonight, for some odd reason.” He spoke with a tired voice, careful not to show any signs of disrespect.

“Traffic? Is that the issue? Why didn’t you say so!” Luna exclaimed, as she made her way to the front of the ambulance. As she sat in the passenger seat, she stuck her hand out the window. A majestic aura of night blue and stars enveloped her hand. Soon, the ambulance was covered in the aura as ripples covered the night sky. Soon, the cars flooding the streets were suspended in the air slowly.

“And with the bidding of the moon, gravity shall be temporarily distorted. Now floor it, driver!” Luna said, smiling over at him. The stallion just grinned and saluted, as the ambulance took off at a speed that even startled Principal Luna.

[Somewhere farther, yet dangerously close]

Four shadowy figures – three feminine, and one very tall and masculine – sat in a room. “Where is she? Goodness, can’t even make it on time to a meeting she organized…” One of the shadowy figures spoke, yawning in a bored manner.

“Quiet, she’ll come. Besides, she’s our only chance to redeem ourselves. Be patient, this isn’t wasted time in the slightest.” The female in the middle spoke, a smirk being just barely visible on her lips.

At that very moment, the door to the room swung open, and light was cast inside. A cloaked figure walked inside. As she removed the hood of the cloak that familiar white hair with pale blue highlights was revealed.

“Trixie… Finally decided to show yourself, have you?” one of the feminine voices spoke, rising out of her seat.

“Apologies for my tardiness, I merely had some… Points I wanted to get across, is all.” Trixie spoke, removing her cloak completely and setting it on the backseat of a sofa. “So… Have you reached a decision yet, outcast?” Trixie asked.

“Humph. You’re one to talk. Look at yourself.” The feminine voice spoke, coming face to face with Trixie. The shade of the room still covered her face and hair, concealing her identity still. “In any case, why do you need our help, exactly? It’s not quite as if you’re not powerful enough to rid them of their lives anyhow.” The figure stated.

“Surely you’re aware that it’s just not the girls that must be dealt with. Trust me when I say that no matter how pathetic that lot is, they’re more special than what meets the eye. Simply put: I can’t do this alone.” Trixie spoke.

The figure chuckled. “The Great and Powerful Trixie needs help, hm? What exactly is in it for us if we do decide to help?” The figure asked.

“Well, if my memory serves me correctly, you and your sisters are quite inclined to accumulation of power… If this succeeds, we’ll have all the power we could ever wish for. Enough to conquer existence itself. We could spin the reels of time if we so wished. So you decide if that kind of power is worth it to you.” Trixie spoke, her grin widening as she spoke.

“Hehe… Sounds very appealing and tempting. We’ll help, under one condition: we get to enact our revenge on the very same girls that interfered with our plans.” The figure spoke.

“Excellent… Seems we are allies then.” Trixie said, as her amulet glowed a hue of red, showing, very briefly, the facial features of the three feminine figures:

The one standing and conversing with Trixie had raspberry-colored eyes and orange hair with brilliant yellow streaks and her skin was a pale yellowish color; her face had a smirk on it, and her features seemed rather sinister.

The one to her left had light-purple skin with mulberry-colored eyes and a moderate purple hair-color with aquamarine streaks; her face was bored, and she was more focused on her nails than anything else.

Finally, the one to her right had raspberry-colored eyes, just as the first. Her hair was a light arctic blue with almost midnight blue streaks with an arctic bluish white skin color; her face had a rather innocent grin on it, seemingly unaffected by the sinister atmosphere.

“But allow me to make one thing clear.” The feminine figure spoke up once again, as the hue died down, and the faces and figures were shrouded in shadow once again. “These are my sisters. Their lives matter to me; yours does not.” She spoke, her tone more sinister than ever.

Trixie looked her up and down and snorted. “Humph. I’d watch what you say to me. You know not of what I could have done to you; you girls were more wanted than I. You’ve been offered a great opportunity, and I expect you to treat it as such.” Trixie started, slipping back on her cloak.

“If you don’t, I’ll take it you wouldn’t want the privilege, and seeing as how you already know so much about my plans…” Trixie continued, putting her hand in the air.

“I’d just have to make sure that pretty little head of yours couldn’t let it slip out.” She spoke, balling her hand into a fist suddenly while imitating the sound of a crushing skull. “So please, don’t make me regret helping you girls out.” She finished. Just before she walked out the door, she turned once again, this time to the masculine figure.

“Tall, grey, and handsome. I called you here for just one piece of instruction.” Trixie spoke. The figure got up and bowed. As he bowed, he looked up, and all that was seen in the darkness was a short gray beard.

“I need you to keep in close contact with them. If you fail, this whole operation fails, are we clear?” Trixie asked.

“Crystal, my dear.” The figure said, standing up from his bow. “I shall get to work immediately then. I believe I have a date with one now.” He spoke, snapping his finger as he disappeared into nothingness, leaving behind only sparkles and a cloud of dust.

“So, girls, I take it I have your alliance then?” Trixie asked, putting her hand on the doorknob and twisting it.

“Obviously.” The girl spoke.

“Good, I’ll be off to recruit my other contact then.” Trixie stated.

“Don’t forget. You three play your part soon as well. Do not fail me, or the consequence will be critical. You are each responsible for playing a large part in the events soon to occur. If you fail, I fail, and I am not happy with failure.” Trixie spoke, slamming the door shut behind her as she left.

“Alright girls… Let’s make this happen.” The same feminine voice spoke, cracking her knuckles, as the other two agreed.

[Back with the Mane Six and the two Principals]

“Girls, you’ve gotta move faster, your purple friend needs attention pronto!” The paramedic shouted at Fluttershy. Fluttershy, Rarity, and the two principals were helping the paramedics roll their companions to a vacant emergency room, and they were all moving as fast as they could.

Finally, they reached an emergency room and barged in, rolling the stretchers in one by one. “Nurse Derpy, we need anesthesia, stat!” Doctor Whooves shouted, as he walked in to start treating the patients, noticing the hustle and bustle.

Rarity and Fluttershy decided to share the guests’ lounging couch in the room, and as they laid over each other, both of their eyelids grew heavy. They would soon fall asleep.

Celestia walked over to her prized pupil and gazed over her. She was riddled with bruises, cuts, and other injuries. The worst was the one on her forehead, which was still bleeding, even though scabs and crusted blood attempted to stop the process.

As Celestia stared down at her, her sister came and touched her shoulder. “Don’t worry, sister. They will be alright.” Luna said. “It could’ve been worse.” She finished, as she too, stared upon Twilight’s injured body.

“That’s just it, Luna. It could’ve been worse… What happens when we’re not around to help?” Celestia asked, biting her bottom lip. Luna put her back against the wall and examined everyone. “They will just have to be capable of taking care of themselves, I suppose.” Luna said, nonchalantly, hinting at something.

“But are they ready to trek the depths of Tar-“ Celestia started, but was interrupted by her phone ringing. “Uno momento.” Celestia said, fishing her phone out from her pocket. She walked a few steps away from Luna, while still overlooking the treatment of her companions, just to make sure everything was going as it should. Though, she was sure they’d be doing their jobs flawlessly, considering that two high-tier authorities were overlooking the process, and that their patients were the Elements of Harmony themselves.

“Hello?” Celestia asked, holding the phone to her ear.

“Celestia, oh my! Is it true what you said in your voicemail?” Discord asked. Static could be heard in the background, as if there was some interference.

“Yes Discord. Where in the name of the Sun were you when I called?” Celestia asked, thoroughly annoyed that he hadn’t shown up.

“Forgive me, dear. I just had some… Affairs to attend to, is all.” Discord said, taking a long pause to choose his words carefully. “Are the young’uns alright?” He asked, concern on his voice.

“We’re not sure. None have regained consciousness yet. It’s quite worrying.” Celestia said, overlooking the girls once more. Doctor Whooves was working fast. It seemed they didn’t have many doctors on hand at the moment.

“Oh my. I do hope Fluttershy is okay and that the others’ wounds aren’t too serious...” Discord said with concern on his voice.

At that point something clicked in Celestia’s mind, and she eyed Luna, raising her eyebrow. “Discord…?” Celestia started.

“Yes, Principal?” Discord answered.

“… How exactly did you know the girls were injured at all…?” Celestia asked, still staring at Luna.

… [Silence] …

“Well, of course it’s due to my innate ability to sense chaos. Those six reek of the stuff, so it wouldn’t surprise me.” Discord said, after nearly ten whole seconds of grueling silence.

Celestia walked over to the nearby window and sat on the sill, staring out into the darkness of the night. “I see.” is all she said, biting her tongue, and keeping her thoughts to herself.

“Well, I’ll be over shortly then. I’d like to check up on my friends.” Discord said.

“See you when you get here. Goodbye.” Celestia said before promptly pressing the red button on the device. Soon, she was lost in her thoughts. Something didn’t sit right with her.

Luna joined her sister on the windowsill. “I couldn’t help but overhear you were talking to Discord. Why did you look so puzzled earlier?” she asked.

“Luna, I… Oh what the heck, I’ll say it. Something about Discord just now didn’t sit quite right.” Celestia said.

“Oh, did I hear my name?” Discord spoke. His voice was in the thin of the air.

“Discord? Eavesdropping is not nice, you know.” Luna said, looking around. Soon, the seven-foot tall figure materialized in front of the two women.

“Nonsense, I just got here.” Discord replied, taking a humble bow. “On a different note however, it doesn’t seem the girls are faring too well. What exactly did happen?” Discord queried.

“It would seem Trixie is out for revenge because of our banishing her.” Celestia said.

Discord hummed and massaged his gray beard. He walked over to Applejack and examined the nasty and crusted wound that lay on her forehead. “Trixie did all of this?” Discord asked, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“To this innocent bunch? That seems quite implausible.” Discord said, turning back to the two principals. He wanted to wake Fluttershy to speak with her, but decided against it, seeing as how she was resting so peacefully with her friend.

“That’s just it… We’ve never encountered this kind of brutality. Something’s off. What’s more, the suspicions of the new Alicorn were true, according to the words of Rarity and Fluttershy.” Celestia spoke, as Luna nodded in agreement.

The uttering of her name seemed to stir Fluttershy, as she attempted to rise up and yawn, forgetting Rarity was interlaced with her. Immediately, both fell off the couch.

“Think you can give a warning next time Fluttershy?” Rarity asked in an annoyed grumble, rubbing her side.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry Rarity, I didn’t mean to.” Fluttershy apologized, quickly getting on her feet to help Rarity up. As Fluttershy was helping Rarity up, her eyes met with Discord’s, and she immediately flung her hands away from Rarity, and Rarity fell back on her bottom.

“O-oh! Discord! H-hi, I didn’t see you there!” Fluttershy squeaked in a surprised tone, fixing up her hair and trying to make her clothing proper, a tint of red on her cheeks due to her early-morning appearance.

“How rude!” Rarity grumbled again, before getting up herself and dusting her dress off and taking a seat, folding her arms.

“Oh, you’re awake my dear. No need to get flustered over your appearance, you’re beautiful no matter how you look.” Discord spoke smoothly, smiling enough for his canines to show. Fluttershy stared at the ground, her cheeks exceeding the shade of a red-hot tomato.

“T-thank you.” Was all Fluttershy could squeak out. Rarity simply rolled her eyes as the principals chuckled.

Celestia looked around and noticed that the doctors had done all they could for the moment.

Applejack was simply given a head-wrap with bandages; half of her face was covered with the white wrapping in a diagonal-manner. Rainbow Dash had her left wing wrapped in bandages and had some straps and band aids over other various parts of her body. She also had her right leg wrapped completely in bandages and hoisted up. Pinkie Pie had simply gotten her abdominal area wrapped to help heal her back from the impact to the wall.

Celestia realized Twilight had received something worse than the others though. Just judging from her injuries, she knew that Trixie held a special grudge against her… But why? Did Twilight really have anything to do with all of this? She did irresponsibly take the Amulet and planned to use it for bad after all...

At some point through the whole hustle and bustle, they had covered Twilight’s body in bandages from head to toe; only a slant of space revealed her eyes and her lips, and barely some of her purple skin. She currently had an oxygen mask over face, and seemed to be in the worst condition. Even in unconsciousness, her face still wrenched in pain.

A groan was heard in the far off corner, and all was silent as one of the figures rose. The rainbow-haired girl was easy to recognize. All eyes fell on her. As soon as she regained consciousness, she immediately looked up at her leg and ripped it down from the hoist as it plopped down on the bed.

Her velvet-colored eyes met with the rest, and went back to the wall in front of her. She slowly shifted her legs off the bed and prepared to stand.

“Oh no no no! Let’s not do that, that’s not good for your leg!” Fluttershy spoke, rushing to Rainbow Dash. However, before Fluttershy could nurse her, Rainbow Dash stood up on both legs and hissed lightly. She walked over to Twilight, despite the injury of her leg.

Rainbow simply stared at her, then looked back to Fluttershy. “Did Trixie do this, too?” she asked. Her face was hard to read. It seemed… Neutral. Fluttershy simply nodded.

Rainbow clutched her fist hard. “I see.” Is all she said. Rainbow walked over to the nearby window and opened it wide. “I’m going up for some fresh air.” She stated, beginning to lift her first foot onto the sill.

“Are you okay hun?” Rarity asked.

Rainbow rested on the sill for a few seconds, her hair covering her face in a shadow. The wind blew through the silence.

“Fine.” She said after a few seconds of silence. Soon, she jumped and all that was heard was a whoosh and flapping of wings. Soon, a blue blur zoomed past the window, headed straight up.

“Delightful.” Discord stated, breaking the silence.

“What a tough girl. Walking on her injured leg and flying with an injured wing.” Luna commented. “Clearly though, she’s upset.”

“To be expected. If there’s one thing dear Dashie hates, it’s losing. And we all lost quite horribly. Six to one, no less.” Rarity stated, crossing her legs.

“I see. Someone will need to get her when the rest are conscious then.” Celestia spoke.

…

“I can’t believe she did that…” a small voice was heard. All eyes went to the source: Pinkie Pie, who had just woken up, it seemed. She was hugging her knees to her chest and staring straight ahead of her.

“I can’t believe after all I tried… I tried to be friends…” Pinkie said, threatening to cry. The others eyed each other.

“Darling, please don’t feel that way. Clearly, Trixie is in a terribly different kind of mind-state.” She began, making a loop with her fingers. “It’s not your fault.” Rarity finished, rising out of her seat on the couch and walking over to Pinkie, resting her hand on her shoulder.

“I t-tried… I thought we could be friends…” Pinkie squeaked.

“Oohh, honey…” Rarity said lowly, holding her in her arms. Pinkie hissed immediately though, as Rarity had hugged her from behind, on her wounded back. “So sorry!” Rarity gasped, deciding quickly that simply sitting on the bed with her would suffice.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you Pinkie, but people like that weren’t meant to have friends.” Celestia spoke.

“She’s right. It’s okay Pinkie, you have great friends here anyway.” Fluttershy softly said.

“I’ll especially make her pay.” A voice said, dragging attention to her now.

Applejack stood, already on her feet and cracking her knuckles. “I’ve got two knuckles here that’d like to repay some favors.” She said, clearly agitated.

Discord teleported in front of Applejack and lowered both of her fists with two of his fingers. “Now, now, let’s not get too hasty.” He spoke, lightly pushing Applejack’s forehead, causing her to easily lose balance and fall back on her bed.

“First off, you’re not healed yet, that looks like a nasty head injury.” Discord began, holding one finger up. As he brought up the second, he spoke again. “And second, who’s to say Trixie won’t just thrash you guys around again?” Discord spoke, much to the annoyance of Applejack.

“Discord, that’s not nice!” Fluttershy scolded, as Discord backed away from AJ, grinning.

“Nice or not, he makes a fair point. Let’s not get hasty, okay Applejack?” Luna said, standing over her bed.

AJ sighed heavily. “Fine. But we’d better be getting her back, or I don’t think I’ll be able to rest properly at night.” She said.

“Well, you are the only ones I’d believe could combat her. So you’ll have the chance, without doubt.” Luna spoke. AJ nodded, clearly content with the details.

[About 15 minutes of talk and such later.]

The room had been quiet for quite some time. All were quietly awaiting Twilight’s arrival into the realm of consciousness, but it seemed like she wouldn’t be stirring anytime soon.

“So she got it pretty bad, huh?” Applejack asked, standing over Twilight’s bed next to the others. They nodded.

All of their hands rested on the edges of the bed, hoping that Twilight would awake. Soon, colored energies started to flow from their hands and into Twilight’s body.

An unnatural force started to circulate around Twilight, evident from the sheets around her starting to flap.

Soon, everything stopped suddenly, and all shared quizzical looks.

“She’s still unconscious.” Pinkie said, disappointed. Though, she had spoken too soon.

Twilight finally started to stir. She groaned and sat up, then looked around. Her eyes watered.

“Y-you guys are okay!” Twilight said, sniffing, rubbing her eyes and smiling widely.

“I was so worried!” she said, starting to stretch over to hug them.

*Crack*

Everybody cringed at the sound as Twilight gasped in sharply, falling back into the bed and squeezing her eyes tightly shut. “Probably best to just lay down for a bit then.” Twilight spoke jokingly with a half-cringe from the pain.

“Twilight, we’re so glad you’re okay!” Fluttershy beamed. “You had us so worried!”

“Twilight, we are so very happy that you’re not too horribly injured. You had us quite concerned.” Celestia spoke, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Thanks guys. I think I’ll be fine.” Twilight said, eyeing around the room. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?” she asked.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie took part in the confusion, looking around briefly and quickly realizing that Rainbow-Dash was indeed missing.

“If you would, Fluttershy?” Luna asked. Fluttershy nodded and went over to the window. Timidly, she slid her two legs out the window and extended her wings. Soon, she was gone out the window and started flapping slowly to the top, where Rainbow had gone.

[Another place farther, yet dangerously close]

A feminine figure could be seen waiting in a room, tapping her foot impatiently. Her face was not visible, as the view was shown with her back facing the camera. She looked down at her wristwatch and read the time, making an exasperated sigh. The figure had very light-lavender skin, and her hair, a moderate purple with pale light-blue streaks.

“Oh calm down, you’re not very busy anyway.” Trixie said, commenting on her impatient behavior. She had slipped into the room without alerting the girl.

“Trixie, whether or not you think I’m busy, I do not have time to be wasting with the likes of you. What could you possibly want?!” she spoke, clearly agitated.

“Humph. I see you’re impatient, so I’ll jump right into it. I need your help defeating The Elements of Harmony.” Trixie stated simply, leaning on the wall coolly.

The figure chuckled, and then hunched over laughing. “You?! Trixe? Defeat them? AHAHA! Don’t make burst a spleen laughing!” she said, finally recovering. “You were thwarted by mere tricks, don’t get ahead of yourself hun.” She stated.

“You’re one to speak,” Trixie started, as the camera slowly revolved, revealing the face of the figure. “Starlight Glimmer… Your plans failed horribly, twice at that.” Trixie stated, clearly annoyed by her behavior.

“Oh, but I got farther than you ever could, dear. I practically had Twilight on her knees. I only had to put up the charade because we would be stuck for eternity in time. That's not quite the way I imagined my plans.” Starlight stated smugly. “In fact, I should warn you to stay away from them, because they’re my prey. I will have my revenge, and if you get in my way, I am willing to quell all competition.” Starlight stated, getting ready to leave.

Trixie stood in front of the door. “You’re making the same exact mistake those three girls did. Join me, or rot with the rest.” Trixie stated coldly, as her amulet and her eyes glowed a crimson red.

“Oh? Is that a challenge? Do you really think you co-” Starlight started, but was quickly interrupted with an elbow to the chest, sending her flying back and crashing into the wall, making a crack in the wall.

Falling onto one knee, Starlight glared at Trixie. “So I see you’re serious about this… What a foolish mistake for a weakling like yourself.” Starlight stated, disappearing from her spot and lunging at Trixie with her fist.

Trixie countered, delivering a powerful knee to Starlight. As she fell back from the hit, Starlight disappeared into sparkles and dust.

“Oh?” is all Trixie could mutter, searching the room.

“Up here!” a voice from the roof said. As Trixie looked up, a figure was zooming down towards her. Trixie quickly jumped back to evade, as Starlight smashed into the ground, sending a shockwave through the room.

“To be expected from an Arcane Human. Hm, guess I’ll return the favor.” Trixie stated, as four more versions of herself split from her original self.

“What? But duplication is a high-level magic spell! The last I checked, you weren’t capable of that! Not even with the Amulet’s powers…” Starlight mused.

“Which one is the real me? Can you afford to find out…?” the Trixies asked in unison.

“Easy; only one of you are physical. The rest are just distractions. There’s no possible way you can make physical matter out of nothing. Not even you could be that powerful.” Starlight stated with a smirk on her face as she prepared herself.

3 of the Trixies dashed at Starlight. Using her magic, tossed a desk into one of the copies, and sent it flying back into the wall as it disappeared into nothingness.

“A fake!” Starlight yelled, as she pulled up a shield in front of one of the other Trixies, and prepared to physically block the other. However, the Trixie that she had blocked off with the magical barrier broke through it with ease, and kicked Starlight back.

“Aha, so you’re the real one then!” Starlight stated, quickly recovering and rushing at that Trixie. Suddenly, another one appeared in front of her.

“Guess again!” Trixie said mockingly, delivering a straight punch to Starlight, pushing her back into the wall again.

“Gah!” Starlight yelled, holding her nose as red liquid dripped from it.

“T-this makes no sense! She shouldn't be that powerful!” Starlight said frantically, staring at the four figures closing in on her.

Two dashed straight at Starlight at incredible speeds. As Starlight pulled up another magical barrier, they both changed directions and went for her sides, something she wasn’t expecting.

They both uppercut her into the air. The other two Trixies jumped up above the now airborne Starlight Glimmer and linked their fists together.

“Bye-bye!” both Trixies stated, chuckling. In an instant, both of them brought their linked hands down into Starlight Glimmer’s head, sending her smashing down into the ground, creating a hole in the hard-wood floor.

Starlight got up from the rubble with wounds and scratches all over. All four Trixies stood at her four separate ends, mocking her.

“How’s that for weak?”

“Who’s the weakling now?”

“Hah! How pathetic.”

“And to think I thought more of you.”

Starlight simply stood there, balling her fists. Soon, a light turquoise magic aura enveloped her fists.

As the four Trixie’s closed in, the mocks still going, Starlight yelled, “ENOUGH!” as a ball of energy was released from her, blowing back all the Trixies with great strength.

When the dust and debris cleared, the real Trixie could be seen standing at one end of the room.

“I’ve had enough! Your insolence ends here!” Starlight exclaimed, as she was covered in a light-turquoise aura and a forceful wind filled the room. She suddenly dashed at Trixie with incredible speeds, her fist cocked back for a devastating punch.

Trixie simply inched to the side, dodging Starlight’s attack, and sent a devastating punch to her gut, forcing Starlight to her knees. Trixie then picked up the gasping Starlight by the neck and slammed her into the wall.

Starlight struggled within Trixie’s grasp. “H-how could a weakling like you be this powerful?!” she said through gasps for breath as she tried to rip Trixie’s grasp from her neck.

Trixie simply smirked as she dropped Starlight and threw off her cloak, extending her Alicorn wings.

“Do you understand now? The power that I could grant you?” Trixie asked, her grin wide.

“All I ask in return is for your help and loyalty…” Trixie said.

Starlight rubbed her throat, tears on the edges of her eyes and a strand of saliva hanging from the corner of her lip due to being choked.

Starlight coughed before speaking, “I suppose I’ll just have to join you then, if it means I can attain the power I need… But promise me one thing.” Starlight requested, holding up one finger.

“Save a special seat for my revenge against those meddling idiots.” She spoke, standing once again.

“Certainly.” Trixie spoke, smirking as she helped up her new ally. Her amulet glowed a bright crimson red once again.

"If I can attain an Alicorn status while having the knowledge of the time spell, I can easily become the most powerful entity to exist! Hah, this'll be easy..." Starlight thought to herself.

"Oh, and if you think those little time tricks you tried with Twilight will work on me, think again; I'm not quite as unaware nor as unprepared as she is." Trixie spoke, her voice turning bitter.

“Come now, I actually have a job for you as we speak.” Trixie said, donning a sinister smile.

[At the rooftop of the hospital, with Fluttershy and Rainbow-Dash]

Fluttershy landed softly at the top and spotted Rainbow at the edge of the far-side, sitting on the ledge. She seemed to be shivering, but it wasn’t cold. It wasn’t even chilly. Fluttershy walked over and sat down next to her, staring into the night with her friend.

After a few minutes of silence, Rainbow Dash finally decided to break the silence. “I’ve… I’ve never been scared before, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash spoke.

Fluttershy simply looked at her quizzically.

“I’ve never, ever, ever, been scared before… But Trixie… Trixie instilled something different in me, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash said. As she spoke more and more, the shivering became more apparent, and that’s when it hit Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was scared. Her, of all people?! It didn’t quite process with Fluttershy, Rainbow was the bravest, most foolhardy person she knew.

“The red glow in her eyes… The excitement in her voice as she fought… How out skilled I was… And her sheer power… I mean, she wiped the floor with us, and barely broke a sweat! What if next time, she really does think of kil-” Rainbow Dash rambled. She was interrupted, however, by Fluttershy pulling Rainbow into her chest in a hug.

“Hush now, quiet now, everything will be quite alright.” Fluttershy spoke quietly. She stroked her hair. “Be calm. Nothing like that will ever happen.” She continued, speaking softly and comfortingly. “Besides, you’re the most confident and bravest person I know. If anyone could stand up to Trixie, I’m sure you’re one of them.”

A deep red hue grew on Rainbow’s face as she breathed softly, listening to Fluttershy. Shaking her head, Rainbow-Dash quickly pushed away from Fluttershy and stood up, facing away from her.

“Y-you’re right.” Rainbow spoke lowly. Then, her head lowered. “However…” Rainbow started, still staring at the floor. Her fists balled up and shook. “I’ll make sure she pays… What she did Twilight and the rest? Unforgivable! I won’t let that happen again!” Rainbow said, her hands shaking.

Fluttershy noticed blood drip from Rainbow’s hands. She was balling them so hard that her nails drew blood.

Regaining her thoughts, Rainbow-Dash looked up again and reverted to normal behavior. “Let’s go back already.” She stated, walking to the edge on the side they came up. Turning to Fluttershy, she held both arms out and stood on the edge.

“H-hey, Fluttershy?” Rainbow spoke very lowly, a red tint starting to grow on her cheeks.

“Hm?” Fluttershy responded, getting up herself.

“T-thanks… For the whole comfort thing… I…” Rainbow-Dash squeaked the last part.

“… Really needed that…”

*Fwoosh!*

Rainbow-Dash took off downwards in an instant, too embarrassed to stay in Fluttershy’s presence. Fluttershy just smiled at the area where she stood. “You’re welcome, Dashie.” She spoke quietly, before spreading her wings and timidly taking after Rainbow.

[Back inside of the hospital room]

Rainbow-Dash swooped in athletically, doing a duck-and-roll through the open window. She saw the rest of them awoken, and standing over just one bed. The chatter seemed lively.

“Yo!” Rainbow-Dash exclaimed, waving casually and walking over. As the others moved to the side and turned to look at her, her eyes fell on Twilight.

“You’re okay!” Rainbow exclaimed, running up to the bed with her arms extended, preparing for a hug.

*CRACK, CRUNCH!*

A blood-curdling shriek could be heard emitting from Twilight’s mouth, as her body laid stiff in Rainbow’s arms. The others’ pupils dilated as they covered their eyes when the sound released.

Rainbow-Dash immediately let go and looked around in horror as she realized what she had done wrong. Several nurses and doctors flooded the room to see the problem.

Rainbow-Dash bowed repeatedly, saying “I’m so sorry” faster than anybody thought possible. She kept bowing, hitting her forehead on the ground repeatedly, clearly embarrassed by the event.

“Rainbow-Dash, stop! It’s okay, it didn’t hurt that bad.” Twilight lied, the tears still welling up in her eyes.

Rainbow looked up and wiped off a few beads of sweat with a cliché “phew”. A spot on her forehead had grown red from the short-span of abuse. The doctors and nurses quickly filtered back out, concluding that the problem wasn’t as serious as the scream.

“So if I may ask,” Fluttershy started, finally joining the group. “What exactly have you been withholding from us? I-if it’s okay with you to tell us…” Fluttershy asked Principal Celestia.

“Withhold? What does she mean?” Applejack asked, placing her hands on her hips and eyeing Celestia and Luna.

“Secrets?! Being kept from me?!? IMPOSSIBLE!” Pinkie screamed, regaining her excitement.

“Children, there is something that I purposely kept from you, simply because I didn’t think you were ready to know. Applejack, the oldest, 18 years of age; Rarity, also 17 years of age; Fluttershy, 16 years of age; Pinkie Pie, 16 years of age; Rainbow-Dash, 16 years of age; and finally, the youngest, Twilight, a mere 15 years old… Unfortunately, time will force you all to mature when I tell you this.” Principal Celestia began. The others, even Pinkie Pie, paid attention quietly, their faces focused on Celestia and Luna.

“There are things you are all yet to learn about this world, however, I’m afraid you will have to learn all-too-soon that this world isn’t all butterflies and happiness as it seems… It would seem that you Six have already acquired a delicate taste of that.” Celestia began, gesturing to their wounds.

“If you could even call that delicate.” Discord commented.

Celestia ignored Discord and continued. “However, there’s more to come. You Six, for whatever reason, play a large part in a series of events that are going to play out for these next few months, years even… And…” suddenly, Celestia froze up, as if she didn’t want to say the rest.

Principal Luna put her hand on her shoulder, and cleared her throat.

“You Six, over this period of time will face a multitude of challenges and obstacles, and it’s only fair that we let you know what it will entail, as per my visions.” Luna began, holding up three fingers.

“First thing you should know; you will have to choose and make many hard decisions… Lives will be lost, and you won’t be able to save them all, but you can choose who to save. It will be at your hands who lives, and who dies.” Luna said with no hesitation or pauses. Dramatic gasps filled the room.

“Second: those closest to you will be ruthlessly targeted, just as you have been.” Principal Luna stated bluntly. Her eyes focused on Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow-Dash. “Yes, even your little Crusaders… In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if moves are already being made. Pinkie, not even your Cake friends are safe. They will not show remorse, even for the babies, Pound and Pumpkin Cake.” Luna stated bluntly. Applejack tightened her fists, Rarity gasped, covering her mouth, and Rainbow-Dash stood there, surprised. Pinkie Pie just looked on curiously.

“Third: One of you… Will die. There will be an ultimate sacrifice.” Luna finished, closing her eyes.

“Oh my…!” Fluttershy gasped quietly, dropping to her knees as tears threatened to fall.

Applejack simply tipped her hat over her eyes, her face showing no emotion.

Rarity stood there with her hands over her mouth.

Pinkie Pie stood there, obviously confused.

Rainbow-Dash stood with her mouth agape, the unbelievable news shocking her.

Discord simply yawned and floated around, observing.

Twilight simply laid in bed; her face was unreadable. It showed emotion, but an unknown one. Despite the pain she had to endure, Twilight slipped her legs off of the bed and stood. All eyes fell on her.

“Do you… expect me… to believe that?” Twilight asked flatly, looking Principal Luna straight in the eye. Before Luna could respond, Twilight continued.

“You truly expect me to believe that that’s what will undoubtedly happen? As if something can’t be done?” Twilight continued.

“Search your history, Luna; Our history… When Discord first arrived, was it not thought to be our total doom? But who ended that? You and Celestia did!” she said quietly, walking towards Luna.

“When Discord came again, he had you two beat, and it was thought to be the end for our way of life as we know it! Who broke that prediction?! We did!” Twilight said, her voice growing louder as she kept on her path to Luna.

“When Tirek arrived, and our annihilation, enslavement, and extinction were sure to come, who stopped him?! WE did!” Twilight yelled, now face-to-face with Luna, who listened intently.

"Everything that's been tossed at us, who handled it? All of us did! And we sure as heck won't be beat now!" Twilight stated, passion on her voice.

“You know, I’ve heard far too many times from many creatures that we’ve interacted with that humans are far too weak, too simple, to possibly change anything… But no, I believe we are the strongest beings to ever walk the plane of existence. Not because we’re strong, fast, agile, or smart… But because we have the ability to change our fate and destiny… We hold that power!” Twilight said, looking up to Luna with tears welling in her eyes.

“So do you really expect me to believe we can’t do anything about the lives at stake, especially our own and those close to us? Because if you do, then I’d have to-!” Twilight continued, but then she quickly recalled the authority she was speaking to and shrank.

“I-I’d have to… Respectfully disagree, Princess.” She finished, turning around and folding her arms.

The room fell silent, and all were surprised at Twilight’s little outbreak.

“I agree!” Fluttershy, of all people, boldly stated, stepping up first.

“I’ll be darned if I didn’t agree myself.” Applejack stated, stepping up with Fluttershy.

“Well, of course we’re not gonna let any of that happen, sillies!” Pinkie Pie stated in agreeance.

“As if I’d let anyone else get hurt.” Rainbow-Dash confidently stated, holding her fist to her chest.

“I do quite agree with Twilight. We won’t be letting anything of the sort happen.” Rarity bravely stated. She and Fluttershy eyed each other, nodding. Suddenly, both of their phones buzzed at the same time, and they both took it out to read the texts.

“I see you have made your foolish decisions. Then you may rot with the rest of them.” Is what the text read. Both assumed it was Trixie, and decided to just ignore it. It was quite obvious that they wouldn’t abandon their friends.

Principal Luna simply crossed her arms and stared at the Six. In a few seconds, a large grin appeared on her face. “Sparkle, I like you. I like you a lot.” She stated.

Celestia started to giggle, then started laughing out loud in a hysterical fit as all eyes fell on her, extremely confused. As she regained composure, she walked over to Twilight’s side and put her hand on her shoulder.

“If anybody had to lead the team that would quell this rising evil, I’m so very glad it’s you, Twilight, my faithful student. Your intellectual outtake on things never ceases to surprise me, my pupil.” Principal Celestia said.

“T-thanks P-P-Principal Celestia…” Twilight spoke, her voice sounded like it was struggling.

“Twilight?” Celestia asked. As she turned to look at her, Twilight was stiff in pain, having moved while she was still so heavily injured.

“I think I need an escort back to the bed, if that’s alright…” Twilight asked.

Celestia just chuckled and sighed, as a mystical gold aura enveloped Twilight and gently placed her back into the bed.

“Thanks.” Twilight said in gratitude to her help.

“In any case, you girls will need to be prepared for the events that will transpire, and we,” Celestia started, slinging her arm around her sister. “Have most certainly prepared for that. Say, Twilight, have you ever heard of that notorious demon, Aperture?” Principal Celestia asked her faithful student.

“Well of course I do. The Demon Aperture, a god amongst the Tenrem; he was forcibly pulled from his world by an evil human by the name of Lucas who wished to use Aperture’s power to aid him in his struggle to reshape the world in his own vision, his enemies being Organization X, who wouldn’t allow him to do this. Aperture would go out of control, and soon unleash havoc and destruction on a major scale across the planet. However, the legendary group of heroes, Organization X, would make a temporary alliance with Lucas, and the leader of Organization X, a charismatic young boy by the name of Ty, would absorb Aperture and would be responsible for being the Demon’s prison.” Twilight said in a quick succession. “Was that all right?” she asked, beaming at her teacher.

Principal Celestia nodded, astonished that Twilight had such extensive knowledge on a long-forgotten myth. “But what about Aperture? Isn’t the whole story about him and the world of Organization X all myths and legends of a time long ago?” Twilight asked.

“Actually, Aperture exists…” Celestia spoke.

“Really?! A fearful and powerful ancient being like that really exists?!” Twilight asked, horror written on her face. Celestia simply nodded.

“Yes, within the deepest depths of Tartarus, the being Aperture lives. In fact, Celestia and I are the ones who imprisoned him down there. His existence is known only by us, so know that it takes great trust to let you all know of this.” Principal Luna spoke.

“I see, and we’re eternally grateful for the trust or whatever, but what exactly does this have to with our preparation against Trixie?” Rainbow-Dash asked impatiently.

“Aperture is sealed within the Mirror of Destitute, trapping him in a lone black abyss, the Dimension of Destitute, until further notice. Luna and I thought about it very hard, and he seems to be the only one capable of training you in the short-span of time that you girls have.” Principal Celestia spoke.

“Through that mirror, he is capable of pulling entities from a multitude of existing dimensions. If we can get his help, he will be able to find your perfect mentors.” Celestia continued.

“Really? That seems a bit too convenient.” Twilight said.

“Granted, you will have to make your way through Tartarus and deal with an all-powerful and tricky demon, but not to worry, we will accompany you throughout your journey to Aperture.” Luna said.

“But for now, I believe it would be imperative that we all got some sleep.” Celestia said, gesturing to the clock, which read “1:53”.

“Holy moly! One fifty-three in the morning already?!” Pinkie exclaimed, as she hopped into her bed, pulling the covers over her. “Time to sleep, or else we won’t have any energy for tomorrow!” she yelled, snuggling in bed and making loud snore sounds.

“Pinkie has a fair point. It sounds like tomorrow will be a big day; we should all get some rest.” Applejack stated, removing her hat and placing it on the head of her bed-rest.

“Fair point. I guess we’re crashing then.” Rainbow-Dash stated, flopping onto her bed.

“Alright, then it’s settled! Let’s all get up bright and early to start our day tomorrow!” Twilight said, pulling the covers over herself as well.

“Great, we’re left to share the guest-lounging chair.” Rarity spoke, stretching out over the fluffy couch, and patting the small space left next to her for Fluttershy, as she reluctantly climbed in with Rarity.

The two Sisters of Day and Night both took seats on opposite sides of the windowsills, folding their arms and leaning back on the wall.

Soon, all inhabitants of the room would fall into slumber, save for the tall one who quietly made his way out of the room…

[A few hours later, within the Sparkle Residence]

Thumping and shifting could be heard in the halls of Twilight’s new mansion.

A figure rose from the sheets in the room. As the figure turned on the light, he was revealed.

It was Spike; he arose from his slumber and was shirtless. The young 9 year-old boy had very light lavender-ish-colored scaly skin, with his chest and abdomen being rough skin, colored a pale-ish green. As the young boy stepped out of the bed, it could be seen that he had claws and spikes ranging from just above his forehead to the end of his short but thick tail, getting smaller and smaller from each scale to the next.

The noises continued as he yawned and scratched his back. “Twilight, are you finally home? I hope you’re not too mad, but I slept in your bed.” He called out, walking towards the door groggily.

No response…

“You know, you could text me or something when you’re gonna have an impromptu sleepover or something!” he called out beyond the door.

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and a figure walked through. As the light shone on her, it was none other than Trixie.

“So sorry, Spike, but it seems that Twilight is too busy having a sleep-over in the Medical Center.” She said with a smirk on her face. Owlicious stared down from its secluded spot near the roof.

“So very sorry you had the unfortunate luck of being related to that runt in any way.” Trixie said, walking up to a terrified Spike, who prepared to defend himself.

[At Sweep Apple Acres’ Farmhouse]

Big Macintosh fell to the ground, bruised and beaten, as an orange-haired feminine figure stood above him triumphantly. Winona skittered away from the figure in fear.

Applebloom scooted back until she hit the wall. She glanced over at Granny Smith, who had fainted, and then at the unconscious Big Mac.

She then fearfully stared at the attacker who was now walking towards her as she screamed for help.

[Within Rarity’s Boutique/Home]

“Haha, you’re a lot more fun than my sister usually is!” Sweetie Belle laughed, playfully pushing the older figure next to her.

“And you’re certainly more fun than my stuck-up sisters!” the cerulean and light-blue haired figure laughed back.

“I think we’re gonna be great friends!” both said in unison, tossing up an enormous amount of glitter all over the place, much to the dismay of Opalescence.

[At Sugarcube Corner]

“But…” Mrs. Cake started, falling flat on the ground, now unconscious.

“Why…?” Mr. Cake finished, joining his lover.

The purple-haired figure casually walked over their unconscious bodies, yawning. She then began to ascend the stairs of the place, headed towards the origins of the annoying crying sound of babies as Gummy stood on the counter, watching.

[Within Rainbow-Dash’s Floating Home]

Scootaloo sat on the ground in front of the TV, playing games late into the night. Tank sat next to her, dozing off to sleep.

“Man, without Rainbow-Dash here to send me to bed, I can stay up as late as I want! This is pretty awesome, eh Tank?” Scootaloo excitedly stated, glancing over at the tortoise, who was basically already asleep.

Scootaloo shrugged. “Meh, didn’t expect a tortoise to keep up with me anyway.”

“Shouldn’t you be asleep, young one?” a figure said, walking into the room.

“R-Rainbow-Dash?!” Scootaloo exclaimed, jumping up from the games she was playing and bowing in apology.

“I’m sorry!” she said, looking up. She quickly realized that it wasn’t Rainbow-Dash.

“Wait, who’re you? And how the heck are you up here if you don’t have wings?” Scootaloo asked, getting in a defensive stance.

“My name is Starlight Glimmer, honey. Let’s not get so defensive now, you don’t want to complicate things.” She spoke in a soothing tone.

“I don’t care who you are, I don’t know you and you’re trespassing. Now leave, or face my wrath!” Scootaloo spoke, holding up two fists.

“Oh please. Come now, little one, if you come along quietly, there won’t be any trouble.” Starlight spoke softly.

“You asked for it!” Scootaloo yelled, running at Starlight. She was quickly stopped in her tracks by the familiar turquoise aura. Tank watched lazily, having been awoken from the commotion.

“You’re going to quickly learn your place, child.” Starlight spoke, as her soothing tone and behavior quickly went to sinister and cold.

[Finally, within Fluttershy’s humble abode]

A familiar rabbit detested heavily against the tall figure entering the home.

“What’s that you say? Make myself at home?” the gray-skinned figure said, picking up the rabbit by its feet.

“Don’t mind if I do!” he exclaimed happily, snapping his claws, making the arrangements of the room float around chaotically.

[Back with the Mane Six and the two Principals in the Hospital]

Twilight walked around the room, pacing and thinking hard, evident by the intense look on her face. The clock read “5:16”.

“Hm… Even taking in all those factors… No, that would mean… Hmmm…” Twilight mused out-loud, still pacing. Everyone else was sound asleep, even the two Principals.

Luna was noticeably bothered in her sleep, probably getting more visions of the potential future.

Suddenly, Twilight’s phone went off, loudly, shaking everyone out of their slumber.

“What is that racket?!” Rarity yelled out, pulling off her nightshade and looking around.

Fluttershy was also startled by the sound and looked for the source.

Pinkie woke up calmly. “What? Isn’t this how you guys usually wake up?” she asked casually, yawning.

“Sorry! That’s my phone!” Twilight yelled, rushing to her bed, searching through the sheets for the device.

“Goodness, Twi, find that thing already!” Rainbow-Dash exclaimed, covering her ears with her pillow.

“Got it!” Twilight said. She stared at the phone for a sec. It read “Unknown” on both the Caller I.D and the location.

“Well? Answer it already!” Applejack commanded.

Twilight tapped the green icon on the screen.

“Y’ello?” she asked.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Twilight Sparkle.” An all-too-familiar voice spoke.

“Trixie?!” Twilight exclaimed, as all eyes on the room went to Twilight.

“Put it on speaker!” Celestia commanded, as Twilight obeyed immediately.

“Why yes, it is the Great and Powerful Trixie, at your service. Speaking of service, I’m taking good care of your little boy, Spike.” Trixie stated, as screams of detest and screams for help were heard in the background. Twilight's eyes widened, as she stared outside the window into the dawn.

“Remember when I said I’d be back?” Trixie asked with a smug tone.

“Well, rest assured, I’m not alone this time.”

*click*

Trixie hung up.

“Well that’s no good at all!” Applejack stated, getting out of her bed and putting on her signature hat, her face growing serious.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy exclaimed (or at least, if you can count Fluttershy’s exclamations as such).

“I know.” Twilight said simply, slipping on and buttoning up her shirt over her bandaged body.

“Principal Celestia, Principal Luna, I’m going.” Twilight said, a determined look on her face.

“Injured like that? Are you sure?” Celestia asked. Twilight simply nodded in response.

Rainbow stretched and yawned. “Looks like it’s go-time then!” she said, finishing her stretch.

The others also prepared to leave.

...

Suddenly, Applejack’s phone rang.

“Yep?” Applejack asked as she answered, putting the phone on speaker.

“Applejack, help!” Applebloom screamed over the phone.

“Applebloom?! What’s going on!” Applejack yelled back, stopping all processes.

Some shuffling was heard over the phone.

“If you wish to see your dear little sister or your grandmother and brother, I’d suggest coming home right away.” A voice spoke, before a click was heard, indicating a hang-up.

“This just got super-personal.” Applejack stated, lifting her sleeves.

Principals Luna and Celestia eyed each other urgently, as both lowered themselves from the sill.

“Alright then, looks like we’re splitting into teams.” Twilight said.

“Pinkie, Rainbow-Dash, you’re with m-” Twilight started, but was interrupted by Rainbow-Dash’s phone ringing next.

Everybody in the room eyed each other suspiciously.

“Hello…?” Rainbow-Dash inquired, putting the phone on speaker as well.

“Hello there. Just an old friend leaving off a good ‘ol message.” The voice spoke.

“LET ME GO!” Scootaloo screamed in the background. She sounded like she was in pain.

“I really do insist that you find your way home immediately if you want to secure this undisciplined runt’s life.” The voice spoke, before a click was heard.

“Oh, this just got 20% more personal!” Rainbow-Dash snarled balling her fists hard.

"Was that...?" Principal Luna mused out-loud.

“Anybody else got any phone-calls coming?” Twilight inquired, eyeing the three who hadn’t received any yet.

Rarity’s phone rang as well. “Sweetie Belle!” she gasped, quickly fishing out her phone and answering the call.

“Hey there! Your little sis and I are having a real swell playdate! Come join us soon!” the voice said playfully, with a giggle.

“Seriously Rarity, come play with us! We may have caused a bit of a mess, but I think you’ll have fun too!” Sweetie Belle said with excitement in her voice.

“Sweetie Belle, wait, who is that person?” Rarity asked. As she asked, a click was heard.

“I don’t like this one bit.” Rarity sighed.

“Me next, me next!” Pinkie yelled with enthusiasm, as her phone rang. She quickly answered the call.

“Lemme guess, lemme guess! You want to meet me at Sugarcube Corner for a super awesome get-together playdate?!” Pinkie enthusiastically screamed/asked over the phone.

“Sure, whatever.” The voice boringly replied, hanging up.

“Sweet!” Pinkie said, ducking her fist.

Finally, Fluttershy’s phone rang. She timidly answered the call.

“H-hello…?” Fluttershy greeted.

“Hello dear. I thought you might want to come home for a tea party I set up especially for us. I’d hurry over if I were you, Angel doesn’t seem too happy.” Discord said in a flat tone.

“Angel? Discord, if you hurt him I’ll-!” Fluttershy started, but stopped as soon as she heard the click.

“If he hurt him, I’ll make him pay!” Fluttershy quietly yelled.

Everybody was fumed and ready to go, but Twilight stopped them.

“Wait, don’t you guys see? We’re being lured separately… I don’t think we should split up.” Twilight stated.

“Whoever is on the other side waiting for us is probably experienced at what they do, and is more than ready to win. Trixie carefully planned this out. I think the best course of action would be to strategically plan something out. They want us to go alone.” Twilight stated.

“Understand this one thing Twi.” Applejack started, as she walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, her hat still tipped over her eyes, casting a shadow over her face.

“Once you mess with family, there’s no space for rationality and the sorts.” AJ stated, walking right past Twilight and out of the door.

"Wait...!" Twilight called out hopelessly.

“Sorry Twi, but I’m with AJ on this one. Whoever that jerk is, they’re gonna pay for touching Scootaloo!” Rainbow-Dash angrily stated, whizzing past Twilight swiftly.

Twilight sighed in defeat as she stepped to the side; Rarity and Pinkie Pie quickly flooded out as well to go to their respective homes.

Twilight, after pondering for a little while, decided she'd go to.

“Twilight Sparkle, wait.” Principal Celestia said.

Twilight stopped and looked back at her with a “what?” face.

“I shall come with you. I think you will need the assistance considering your current condition.” Celestia spoke, referring to her injuries.

“Thank you, Princess. I appreciate it.” Twilight said, as she walked out, Celestia following closely.

“I suppose that means I’ll accompany you, Element of Kindness.” Luna spoke softly, lifting off of the windowsill. Fluttershy simply nodded in response as the two walked out.

[At Rainbow-Dash’s Home in the Clouds]

Rainbow-Dash rushed into her home, searching every room, but to no avail. All she found was Tank, who seemed to really want her attention.

“Sorry, not now boy, I’ve gotta find-” Rainbow-Dash began, but was interrupted by a familiar voice screaming her name.

Rainbow-Dash rushed outside, onto the exterior of her home.

“Scootaloo, where are you?!” Rainbow-Dash yelled.

“Back here!!!” she screamed.

Rainbow rushed around behind the house, and found her, both of them.

“You!” Rainbow-Dash exclaimed. “What are you doing here, and with Scootaloo?!” Rainbow-Dash angrily yelled, pointing at her.

“My oh my, of all the people they made me deal with, it had to be the ruffian.” Starlight Glimmer yawned, holding Scootaloo up by the back of her clothes. Scootaloo swung her hands and feet, to no avail.

“Hands off, creep!” Rainbow-Dash commanded, taking a few steps forward to Starlight, making Starlight take a few back to the edge. She held Scootaloo over the edge, and Scootaloo went dead-silent with fear, her pupils dilating in fear of the height. "I should've known your turn to good was too good to be true!" Rainbow-Dash yelled angrily, baring her teeth.

“If my intel serves me correctly, I understand that this runt can’t fly, correct? Would be a shame if I dropped her on accident.” Starlight spoke sinisterly, holding Scootaloo even farther out over the edge.

Rainbow-Dash leaned towards Starlight with a hateful glare, her teeth showing, and her fist balled. Scootaloo was being held over the edge, fear written all over her, while Starlight wore a calm smirk in her savvy businesswoman suit.

-The camera froze here, the situation being outlined in detail…-

[In Rarity’s Boutique/Home]

Rarity barged in frantically, worried for her younger sister’s safety, despite the warming message she received. To her surprise, she came in to a messy home, with her sister playing with a figure that seemed to be Rarity’s age.

“Oh, goodie, you came!” the purple-haired girl exclaimed, noticing Rarity’s presence.

“Now the real fun begins!” she said excitedly, clasping her hands together.

Something was very familiar about the girl, however.

“Wait, aren’t you… One of them?” Rarity asked, her mouth agape.

“Sonata Dusk of the Dazzlings, at your service!” she exclaimed, standing straight and saluting goofily.

“What are you doing here, dear? Aren’t you all powerless now without your amulets?” Rarity asked, curious to her motives.

“Oh, we don’t need those stinky things anymore. As for why I’m here… Well…” she started, getting up and pulling Sweetie Belle close to her.

“I’m here to forcibly take your little sister into our custody and hurt you real bad if you resist, kay?” Sonata spoke with an innocent voice, giving an even more innocent smile to top it off. Despite the innocence and playfulness in Sonata's voice, Rarity immediately caught the vibes Sonata was sending off, and stood in a defensive position. Sweetie Belle looked on both with an intrigued look, the events happening all-too-quick for her to process.

-The camera froze here, the situation being outlined in detail…-

[With Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres]

Applejack ran across the field frantically. She spotted the farmhouse, and it was on fire, which horrified her.

“Please be okay!” Applejack stated, now running even faster towards the farmhouse. However, she was stopped by Winona’s bark.

She turned, and there was Winona. She whimpered briefly, and ran away, leading Applejack to the orchard. Applejack quickly glanced between the farmhouse and the orchard where Winona was headed.

“I hope you’re leading me somewhere good, girl!” Applejack stated, taking trust in her dog, and running after her.

As she ran, she noticed that someone had set their beautiful orchard ablaze. Whoever did this was going to severely pay the price. While running, her injuries also came to mind, as she noticed a woozy feeling in her head and her view randomly became hazy; she noticed herself stumbling a few times while she ran.

Soon, two figures lying in the grass began to come into view. Winona reached them and licked at the two feverishly and desperately.

“Mac, Granny Smith!” Applejack yelled, sliding next to them and shaking them.

No response…

She felt for a pulse, and with a heavy sigh of relief, she concluded that both were alive after feeling that small pulse.

Sinister laughter could be heard on top of the nearest tree, one of the few that hadn’t been caught ablaze. Applejack looked up and saw her sitting on top of one of the tree-branches, facing her with her legs crossed.

Applebloom was slung over her shoulder, clearly unconscious and injured.

“You! Are YOU responsible for this?! I thought we got rid of you sirens!” Applejack exclaimed furiously, walking closer.

“Think again.” She said, switching her folded legs.

“Adagio Dazzle, still hitting hard!” she said with a smirk.

“You’re gonna pay for this you stinking varmit! And I mean you’re gonna pay real good!” Applejack yelled.

“Try me.” She said calmly, smiling down at Applejack.

The blazing orchard behind her set an eerie and sinister glow on Adagio, while Applejack held a fist towards Adagio, getting ready to engage.

Winona watched intently, guarding the two unconscious Apples.

-The camera froze here, the situation being outlined in detail…-

[At the Sugarcube Corner]

Pinkie Pie walked into the bakery and immediately noticed the wreckage. She walked through, musing over every bit of destruction.

“Must’ve been one heck of a party…” she muttered to herself. Though, the fearful look on her face hinted at a different tone of emotion.

She then came across the unconscious Mr. and Mrs. Cake, which she looked upon with a face of what seemed like horror.

“You came.” A voice said from behind the counter. Pinkie immediately recognized the voice.

“Aria Blaze, at your service or whatever.” She said, yawning. She had the two baby Cakes unconscious and laid out on the counter.

Pinkie stared at the four unconscious members of the room, studied the room itself, then gasped in horror as she looked at Aria Blaze and pointed at her. Aria simply smirked.

“You partied without me?!? That’s no fair!!!” Pinkie yelled, stomping the ground and obviously upset.

Aria facepalmed and said, “You may actually be more of an idiot than Sonata.”

Aria stood behind the counter with her hand over face, and the two sleeping babies were next to her on the counter. Pinkie stood just ahead of the two unconscious parents with an unimpressed frown and crossed arms.

-The camera froze here, the situation being outlined in detail…-

[Within Fluttershy’s humble abode]

“Oh my!” Fluttershy commented as she walked in along with Principal Luna, and immediately started floating about randomly, now being in Discord’s chaotic environment.

“Ah, I see you’ve decided to join us.” Discord said, sitting at the floating table. Angel floated just near him, trapped in a metal cage.

“Care for some tea?” Discord asked, with an uncomforting smirk.

Discord smirked behind a cup of tea, as Fluttershy stared at him curiously. Luna clearly looked unimpressed while Angel attempted to gnaw out of his metal prison. All were stood-up in different directions, due to the random alignment of gravity within the room.

-The camera froze here, the situation being outlined in detail…-

[Finally, at Twilight’s Mansion]

Twilight and Celestia walked inside cautiously, within the large main hall now.

“Welcome home, Twilight.” An all-too-familiar voice stated. Twilight and Celestia looked around for the source.

“Mmph!” was heard above them, and as they looked up, they noticed Spike hanging from the ceiling by a rope, his mouth gagged.

“Over here Sparkle.” A cloaked Trixie said, suddenly appearing in front of both Twilight and Celestia.

“Trixie, let us release Spike and go home peacefully, I don’t want this to end badly for anyone.” Twilight spoke, a serious look on her face.

“Take him if you can. However, I don’t think I can allow that…” Trixie stated.

Twilight prepared to jump for Spike, but quickly sensed dangerous intent, and as she brought her focus back down to Trixie, she noticed Trixie dashing at her. Trixie had her palm out, facing Twilight while she was running, and a red magic aura formed claws over Trixie’s fingers.

Twilight just barely dodged, evident by the pieces of bandage on her chest, along with clothing, be shredded right off.

Trixie turned around, and faced Twilight with a crazy and sadistic look in her eyes.

“I suppose we’re doing this the hard way then.” Twilight sighed heavily, dropping into a fighting stance.

Trixie stood, a crimson red glow emitting from beneath her cloak and a crazy grin on her face as Twilight held both fists up, facing Trixie with a determined look on her face. Celestia stood farther back, her arms crossed, simply observing the events. Spike hung over all of them, dangling and still making muffled “mmphs!” as he watched the intense situation.

-The camera froze here, the situation being outlined in detail…-

To be continued…

The Darkness Within: Part 1 (Chapter 3)

“Unfortunate that we had to meet again so soon.” Trixie spoke. The tips of her fingers still had makeshift and deadly claws on them from her

crimson magical aura.

Twilight said not a word as she watched Trixie carefully. One thought came to her mind though… How was she able to manifest something physical with magic? She looked down at her shirt and bandages, and sure as her sight, they were shredded right off. Yep, definitely physical... Twilight looked back up at Trixie with a glare.

Trixie simply smiled at Twilight in response. “Come now, Sparkle. You won’t even speak to me? But here I was, thinking we were friends!” Trixie spoke, feigning surprise.

“I mean, leaving me to rot away in the streets and all, we had to be great acquaintances.” Trixie spoke, slowly circling Twilight.

“You brought that on yourself, and we both know it. You let your sense of superiority take over.” Twilight said, tracking her movement.

“Tsk tsk tsk. Even so, it’s hard to believe that in such a world of butterflies and happiness that people like myself are left to suffer…” Trixie spoke. Her smile turned bitter.

“But if the few should have to endure the cold harshness of life, so should everyone else. All for one, and one for all, right, Princess?” Trixie said, glancing over at Celestia.

Twilight noticed that Celestia had not responded to Trixie, but rather kept a blank face, as if she were thinking.

“Enough of that though. I suppose you’re wondering why I decided to see you again so soon… After all, it wouldn’t exactly be fair to just kill you so soon while you’re weak and injured.” Trixie spoke. Twilight twitched.

That word… Kill. It worried Twilight how she could say that so casually. “So… To what do I owe this occasion?” Twilight asked curiously, being careful not to let her guard down.

Trixie dug under her cloak and skillfully flipped out a sheathed needle that had a jet-black fluid in it. She flicked the needle and then smiled at Twilight.

“You see, I’m not a liar and bluffer like most other enemies would be.” Trixie started. “You are special, and many but yourselves know this… You host a power that others would actually kill to achieve. I hate to admit it, but you and your pathetic little friends could actually match me, if you weren’t so ignorant.” Trixie spoke, still flinging the needle around on her fingers.

“This is a special serum that will… Bring forth your very dormant inner-Darkness, so to speak.” Trixie stated, starting to walk towards Twilight. “In other words, it will awaken that Demon inside of you.” Trixie continued. Twilight backed away as Trixie advanced.

“And what exactly does this have to do with anything?” Twilight asked, her back now against a wall.

“Evil is inclined to power. It’s what we hunger for.” Trixie began again. She then clutched something under her cloak, and as she pulled it out, the Alicorn Amulet was visible for all eyes in the room to behold.

“This Amulet, a very special amulet, is so very powerful, especially when an Alicorn itself wields it. This may very well be one of the most powerful artifacts discovered. If I were to also harness that power inside of you… I’m sure you see where this is going.” Trixie said.

“What could you possibly want with all this power?” Celestia asked. Trixie turned back and looked at her.

“Telling you that information is useless.” Trixie said.

“It’s not like you would understand anyway…” Trixie mumbled, with a solemn look.

Twilight and Celestia shared glances.

“This serum isn’t just to make sure I obtain more power, but to make you realize how resorting to an evil power can really throw you off track. If I fall, I’m taking you with me, Sparkle. And since I’ve already fallen…” Trixie said, now turning back to Twilight.

Twilight clicked the puzzle pieces together. “You’re saying that the Darkness will corrupt me then?” she asked. Trixie nodded, a smile on her head. “Finally, you’re understanding. You’ll understand the hate I faced; nobody will help you, and nobody will want anything to do with you.” Trixie said.

“But why exactly do you need to do this? Couldn’t you simply harness the power in some ritual or something?” Twilight asked, curious as to the effort she was putting into this.

“Twilight, there’s a motive to every method. Besides, even evil people need their entertainment too. Maybe mine will be watching you suffer with that Demon until I’m ready to collect.” Trixie stated in a slightly sadistic manner.

“Take a long drink of the bitter brew you conjured, Sparkle. Soon you’ll be gulping down the cup.” Trixie stated, removing her cloak, revealing a variation of her classic wizard’s outfit; it was the same design, and the hat stayed, except this time it was separated into pants and a V-cut shirt that extended into two separate pieces, reaching her calves. She then conjured the hat out of nothingness, then put it on, tipping it over her eyes.

Trixie then started walking slowly towards Twilight, as she unsheathed the needle, and the jet-black fluids swished around. Soon, the walk progressed into a run, and Twilight prepared to defend herself.

“Adagio, you’d better get down here and explain yourself right now!” Applejack yelled up to her furiously, absolutely seething with rage.

Adagio seemed surprised by that statement as she jumped down, Applebloom still slung over her shoulder. “I-I’m so sorry!” Adagio said, seemingly devastated at realizing just what she had done. “I-I hadn’t even noticed… I wasn’t in my right state of mind, please forgive me!” Adagio said, getting on her knees with a pleading tone on her voice.

Applejack stared at her strangely. “I bet that dirty low-down Trixie done gone hypnotized ya or something…” Applejack said sympathetically, walking towards her and starting to kneel.

[Everything goes into slow-motion, and eerie silence flows]

Adagio suddenly grows a sinister smile as she reaches into the inside pocket of her jacket. In one swift movement, she tosses Applebloom’s body back and then unsheathes a needle with jet-black fluid, lunging at Applejack with the needle.

Applejack just skims by the needle, avoiding it, and jumping back from Adagio.

[Everything returns to normal]

“You dirty stinkin’ rotton low-down…!” Applejack yelled.

Adagio shrugged. “Eh, it was worth a try.” She said, standing in front of Applebloom’s body, holding the needle.

Applejack looked at the blazing orchard, back to Mac and Granny Smith, and finally at Applebloom. Veins started to become apparent on her body.

“You come in my home, hurt my folks, and destroy my life’s work?!” Applejack yelled, cracking her knuckles and neck.

“What a mistake.” Applejack mumbled, then dashed at Adagio.

Adagio hadn’t dare moved, and just smirked as she picked up Applebloom. Just before AJ’s fist hit her, she held up Applebloom in defense, her smile wicked.

Applejack stopped immediately, and Adagio kicked her in the chest, pushing her back.

“You disgust me.” Applejack spat, as Adagio ran at her again. Applejack put her fists up to counter, but Adagio held Applebloom up again, and AJ froze in her tracks, as Adagio tossed the unconscious girl in the air and then elbowed AJ further back, making her skid across the ground.

AJ got up, her head injury starting to make her dizzy again. She wiped the corner of her lip and looked up again, seeing multiple figures. “Looks like you’re not quite ready to be fighting yet, huh?” Adagio asked, holding Applebloom by her collar.

Applejack needed to get Applebloom away from that siren… She briefly stumbled from her dizziness. That injury is bad news…

“What makes you say that?” Applejack asked, shaking her head and regaining full control of her senses. “Nothing at all.” Adagio remarked, chucking Applebloom’s still unconscious body at Applejack as she dashed directly behind it.

“Tch!” Applejack hissed, getting ready once again.

“You can’t seriously be this dense.” Aria sighed, removing her palm from her face and staring at Pinkie with a bored expression.

“What do you mean?! The evidence is clear! You obviously partied without me!” Pinkie said, pointing at the mess.

“I feel so sorry for you, kid… You're way too innocent.” Aria mumbled under her breath.

“Huhm?” Pinkie asked.

“Nothing.” Aria retorted. “Say, you wanna have a real party?” she asked, a smile growing on her face.

Pinkie nodded excitedly, jumping up and down and squealing.

Aria slowly pulled out a needle with black fluid in it, flicking the top and smirking back at Pinkie. Pinkie’s excitement immediately drained.

“Whoa-ho-hoooo there, partner! That’s not my kind of party.” She said, shaking her hands and head furiously.

Aria couldn’t help but chuckle at her innocence, but wondered how the innocent creature knew of such things. No matter.

“Isn’t that a shame…” Aria said lowly, creeping up to Pinkie with the needle held out. Pinkie slowly crept back.

In a sudden instant, Aria was in front of Pinkie, lunging at her with the needle. Pinkie, in an even quicker instance, simply grabbed a cake and blocked the needle.

“Hey, calm down! I told you, that’s not how I party!” Pinkie complained, annoyance on her voice as she peeked over the cake.

“Quick, are you?” Aria said, annoyed. She immediately swept with her feet, and Pinkie jumped above them. Aria then quickly jumped up at her in the air, lunging again, but Pinkie flexibly leaned back in mid-air, going into a back-flip and landing down gracefully.

“Seriously, you’re persistent. I told you, I can’t party like that!” Pinkie said, now getting very annoyed. “You’re gonna force me to do things I won’t like if you continue!” Pinkie warned.

“Try me.” Aria yawned. In an instant, she appeared behind Pinkie, and aimed the needle at her neck. “She’s fast!” Pinkie said out-loud in a squeal, immediately ducking and jumping back.

“You brought this on yourself!” Pinkie said, hitting a red button on the wall. In an instant, about 5 pink cannons folded out of the wall, aimed at Aria. Aria looked around at the cannons, her expression unchanged.

“Fire!” Pinkie screamed, as the cannons aimed at Aria.

*Boom!*

The room cleared of the smoke eventually, and Aria was seen, covered in bits of cake and lots of frosting. With a slightly annoyed look on her face, she wiped the matter off of her face.

“I knew you were too much of an imbecile to actually do something.” She said, walking up to Pinkie once more, her clothes messy with the sugary goodness on it.

“Well, you failed to show me anything interesting here today.” Aria began, stretching and yawning casually. “Guess it’s time I actually end this then. Such a shame too, you were actually quite fast. Could’ve made for an interesting battle.” Aria continued, flicking the needle again. “Oh well.” She sighed, as a faint red aura glowed around her.

“I’m afraid this is where I get on with it.” Aria said, as she disappeared from her spot once again. Suddenly, she appeared right in front of Pinkie, and in an incredible display of speed, the needle was already lodged into the side of Pinkie’s neck.

Pinkie herself hadn’t even noticed until Aria violently pushed down on the pump of the needle, forcing the jet-black fluid into her veins. Pinkie squealed, falling onto her knees and holding the spot on her neck as a bit of blood leaked.

Aria patted herself off, still messy with frosting, and started heading back to the counter to pick up the two babies, tossing the needle onto the floor. Suddenly, a powerful aura blasted her back into the wall. Aria got up immediately, shaking her head.

She stared at Pinkie, who was emitting the forceful power. Suddenly, it died down immediately in an unnatural manner. Pinkie still held her neck, her hand shaking. She stared up at Aria with fearful eyes, her pupils shaking in terror, as she felt the essence of the fluid awakening a long suppressed force…

“W-what have you done?!” Pinkie said, the pain on her voice apparent.

“Oh calm down… It’s not that serious.” Aria yawned, dusting off her back from the crash into the wall.

“N-no… You don’t understand! You meanie, you jerk, you imbecile!” Pinkie yelled, holding her neck still.

“You don’t know… You don’t know what you unleashed… H-how could you? I try so hard to keep it under control…” Pinkie said, her voice getting croaky.

Pinkie’s hand shook more, and soon, the wound that the needle made started leaking a jet-black aura, much like the fluid that had gone there. The jet-black aura was let out in a line that slowly and more powerfully filtered out, wrapping itself around Pinkie, slowly making her disappear into the black cloud.

As the aura lessened in intensity, and died down to a faint black aura with just a slight shade of pink in it, the new Pinkie was revealed. Her hair was no longer extravagant and exotic, but was in a straight manner, hanging down to her shoulders. Her face had no smile in yet, it seemed void of any happy emotions. She looked up at Aria with tired and baggy eyes. It seemed that even just her presence and aura put weight in the room, as Aria was sure that her body got heavier.

“And who in the world might you be?” Aria asked, her expression still bored, despite the events that transpired.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie. Aka, your soon-to-be worst nightmare.” Diane spoke, looking up at Aria, still holding no emotion. “Waking me will be your worst and final mistake.” Diane finished, starting to walk up to a rather uninterested Aria.

Rarity and Sonata stared at each other, while Sweetie Belle just kept glancing back between the two, the intensity intriguing her.

Rarity gestured Sweetie over to her, keeping her guard up. As Sweetie was about to walk over, Sonata held her still by the shoulder.

“Tsk tsk tsk, I can’t allow that. Didn’t we just go over this?” Sonata said, chuckling innocently, holding Sweetie close.

Sweetie Belle thought nothing of it, and just figured that she and Sonata were just that good of friends now.

“What exactly are you trying to accomplish here? Sweetie Belle has nothing to do with the likes of you.” Rarity said, inching closer, slowly.

“Sweetie Belle has everything to do with everything, silly!” Sonata said playfully, watching Rarity carefully.

“Aren’t you a bit old to be playing with children anyhow?” Rarity asked curiously.

Sonata simply chuckled and kept innocently smiling at Rarity.

“What do you hope to gain by working for Trixie, hm Sonata?” Rarity asked.

“Well, with all that power, do you know how much free stuff I could get? Like all the ice cream in the world for all my good friends, hehe!

Wouldn’t you like that Sweetie Belle?” Sonata said, smiling down at Sweetie. She nodded, licking her lips at the thought.

“Won’t you be my friend too?” Sonata asked, holding her hand out towards Rarity.

Rarity outstretched her hand, and as Sonata’s hand intertwined with hers, Rarity flung her back and then ran to Sweetie Belle quickly.

She hit Sweetie Belle’s forehead mildly. “Don’t you know better than to talk to strangers? Let alone play with them and let them into your home? Sweetie Belle, I am more than disappointed.” Rarity scolded.

“Ow! But she was so friendly! And how could she be dangerous? I mean, look at her.” Sweetie defended.

“Sweetie, you don’t understand. Where do you think I’ve been the past day or so? That woman is so very dangerous, and you don’t even know it.” Rarity informed.

“Aww, that wasn’t very nice.” Sonata complained, taking some green thread out of her hair and getting up.

“Didn’t I tell you bad things would happen if you didn’t leave things be?” Sonata said, chuckling

“Now I’ve gotta do this the hard way… Tsk tsk tsk.” Sonata said, shaking her finger at Rarity.

“Say, I don’t suppose you’d let me just inject this into you real quick, huh?” Sonata asked with pleading eyes, now holding the needle that the others had.

“Dear, have you lost your marbles? Of course not!” Rarity said, pushing Sweetie Belle back gently and standing in front of her defensively.

“Meh.” Sonata shrugged, holding the needle up.

“I’ll have you know, I’m quite skilled in the martial arts!” Rarity said threateningly, as she stood defensively.

“Oh? I practiced that too!” Sonata said excitedly, as she ran to Rarity.

Rarity breathed in slowly, closing her eyes. She opened them again, and then focused on Sonata.

Sonata threw a quick straight at Rarity’s face, but Rarity tapped Sonata’s fist to the side with the palm of her hand, making Sonata miss her completely. Rarity’s eyes flashed a bright green briefly.

“Strange…” Sonata said to herself, shaking it off. She turned back to Rarity and kicked at her. Rarity blocked it with her wrist, and then quickly used her magic to hurl several items at Sonata, all of which stopped just short of her, floating in orbit around her.

“Did’ya forget that sirens have magic too?” Sonata chuckled, hurling the items back at Rarity even faster, who simply dodged them, breathing a quick sigh of relief.

Sonata quickly glanced down at her watch. “Oh, would you look at the time! Sorry, gotta wrap up this playdate gals!” Sonata said sincerely, dashing at Rarity again.

Rarity put her defense up, but Sonata quickly maneuvered behind her in a graceful twirl. She then used two fingers to jab specific points on the triceps of Rarity’s right arm, making the spots she jabbed bruise slightly, and making Rarity’s right arm go completely limp.

Rarity immediately swung behind her in fear with her good hand, but Sonata quickly ducked under and jabbed her left leg, making Rarity lose feeling in her leg and fall.

“Tsk tsk tsk, for someone skilled in the martial arts, your reaction time is way off!” Sonata teased, flicking the needle and getting it ready.

Rarity tried her best to crawl back, but Sonata sat on top of her, straddling her and stopping her movement.

Rarity blushed slightly, still struggling. “This kind of position is so unladylike! Get off of me this instant!” Rarity yelled, struggling to slip away as Sonata gripped the needle firmly.

Sonata said nothing, as she took both of Rarity’s hands and pinned them down above her head.

Sweetie Belle watched, intrigued at the events. “This looks a lot like those magazines you had Rarity, except without the needle.” She said, chuckling.

“Sweetie Belle, we agreed to not talk about those ever again.” Rarity said very quickly, the blush on her cheeks growing hotter. Sonata simply laughed and brought the needle close to her neck.

“Wait, Sonata! You don’t have to do this.” Rarity said desperately, pulling her head away from the needle.

Sonata ignored her, and Rarity felt the needle touch her soft skin.

“I can’t believe I’m gonna do this, but…!” Rarity said, looking straight into Sonata’s eyes. She brought her head up slowly, and then suddenly…!

*Smack!*

Rarity had bashed her head into Sonata’s, making her fall back off of Rarity. A bruise now lay on both of their foreheads. Rarity tried her best to stand on her weak limbs. They wobbled like jelly as she hobbled over to Sweetie Belle.

Before she could make it to Sweetie, Rarity saw Sonata’s face appear in front of hers upside down. Sonata was using her magic to float in the air upside down.

“Silly marshmallow, that hurt me real bad, see?” Sonata said, her smile gone as she pointed to the bruise on her forehead.

“Silly, silly marshmallow.” She repeated, as she held her fingers up to Rarity’s face. She flicked Rarity’s nose in an amazing display of strength, making Rarity slide back slightly as she held her nose in pain, red fluid leaking from it.

“Now we’re definitely gonna get rough.” Sonata said, her laid-back behavior a thing of the past.

She dashed at Rarity, her expression now serious. She cocked her fist back to punch, but as Rarity brought her hands up in defense, she faked out and swept Rarity off of her feet. While Rarity was falling back in the air, Sonata brought her hand down towards Rarity’s neck, with the needle still in her hand. It seemed that Rarity was done for…

Rainbow-Dash growled at Starlight, who still held Scootaloo over the edge of the cloud that Rainbow’s place of residence resided upon.

“Oh no!” Starlight said in a scared voice, trembling.

“I’d calm down if I were you! I might just get too scared and drop her!” Starlight teased, chuckling right after she finished her sentence. Scootaloo clung to Starlight’s arms, shaking in fear.

“You know what Starlight, I knew that your conversion to good was way too convenient to be true! But of course, Twilight wouldn’t listen! Agh!” Rainbow-Dash complained out loud, thinking of how to retrieve Scootaloo without causing any complications.

Starlight nearly doubled in laughter, finally removing Scootaloo from over the edge. “Did you seriously think I was good? Really, you believed that story?” Starlight laughed some more. “Do you think I’d learn how to manipulate time and be so easily defeated? You bunch are more dense than Queen Chrysalis’ body, my goodness.” Starlight mocked, as she held Scootaloo close to her.

“You know, you’ve got a lot of talk for someone who’s resorting to a hostage threat!” Rainbow snarled, taking a step forward. Suddenly, Starlight held Scootaloo over the edge again, and she screamed.

“Rainbow-Dash!” she yelled, helplessly. Rainbow quickly stepped back again.

“You understand the basis of a hostage situation, no? I have something you want, so you do something that I want, in exchange for having what you want.” Starlight explained calmly.

“What exactly do you want then?” Rainbow questioned, raising a brow. Starlight pulled out the needle and tossed it to Rainbow-Dash, who carefully caught it.

“I’d say what I want here is quite obvious.” Starlight simply said. Rainbow-Dash simply stared at her strangely.

“You know, Pinkie told me about these kinds of things before. You people are sick.” Rainbow said in disgust.

Starlight Glimmer sighed. “No, you imbecile, it’s not that kind of needle.” She said. Unbeknownst to her, Rainbow-Dash was devising a plan.

“I see… So, you just want me to inject this stuff?” Rainbow-Dash asked, swishing the black liquid around. “What’s in it anyway?” she asked curiously.

“That’s none of your business. If you wish to see this runt live, then you’ll do it. Try anything funny, however, and this little girl will see the ground approach swiftly.” Starlight said coldly.

Rainbow-Dash thought for a second. She knew that she would be fast enough to catch Scootaloo if she were to simply dash for it, but what would Starlight do? She needed a way to subdue her so that she wouldn’t impede her process of rescuing Scootaloo.

“Oh forget it, leave strategy to Twilight, just wing it Dashie!” Rainbow thought to herself, rashly.

“Fine then. I guess there’s no other choice…” Rainbow-Dash said, flicking the needle into the air. In an instant, she caught the needle by the tip, and tossed it at Starlight like a throwing knife. As she tossed it, she took off at an incredible speed towards Scootaloo and scooped her up in her arms, now flying high above Starlight.

Starlight looked back up at Rainbow, fear in her eyes. She slowly felt for the needle that was lodged in her neck, then continued shaking in fear.

“Hah, not so nice on the other end of the stick, is it?!” Rainbow-Dash mocked. Suddenly the fear was replaced with cockiness, and soon, the Starlight started chuckling.

“Oh? Isn’t it now?” she said with a wild smirk, as she poofed into nothingness, the needle dropping in her place. Rainbow-Dash could hear Starlight’s voice. It sounded very close, but she couldn’t make out where it was.

“Did you seriously think I was that easy to defeat?” Starlight chuckled, her voice seemingly floating in the air, next to Rainbow’s ear. “You are a fool, Rainbow-Dash… You only endanger ‘her’ life more.” Starlight Glimmer spoke, referring to Scootaloo.

Rainbow-Dash scouted the area, clutching Scootaloo in her arms tightly. She was surprisingly silent.

“Did you think someone who figured out how to spin the reels of time could be so easily thwarted?” Starlight mocked, laughing more. “Take a closer look, imbecile.” Rainbow-Dash looked around but saw nothing.

Rainbow-Dash looked down at Scootaloo to make sure she was doing okay. Scootaloo looked up at her with a sinister smirk, and soon, Rainbow-Dash felt a whole new aura emanate from her.

“You’re not…!” But before Rainbow-Dash could complete her thought, the little Scootaloo jumped off of her wrists and blasted Rainbow-Dash into the hard-as-concrete clouds below with a destructive blast of magic.

Rainbow-Dash got up, dusting herself off, slightly injured. “How in the…?!” Rainbow questioned at the flying Starlight Glimmer. “But, I thought magical clones couldn’t do physical things!” Rainbow questioned, baffled.

Starlight smugly made an aura of magic envelope her hands. It was rich and thick, and flowed majestically. Rainbow-Dash was no arcane human, but she knew powerful magic when she saw it.

“Physical clones are no struggle when you’re talented, dear.” Starlight spoke calmly, smugly smiling down at her.

“But what about the shape-shifting?! How in the world could you do that?” Rainbow-Dash asked, very confused.

“The changelings were a valuable asset…” she explained, blowing her fingernails.

“I hate to say it dear, but you’re absolutely out-matched here.” Starlight said, holding her palm towards Rainbow-Dash. “And even so… Time dictates that you are too hardheaded, so you’ll have to learn it the hard way. Just sit there and watch.” Starlight said, as Rainbow-Dash was covered in Starlight's turquoise-colored aura.

Rainbow-Dash immediately fell to the floor, feeling as if the world was on top of her. All she could do was lift her head and watch Starlight, as she seemed to be opening something.

“Fooled by a simple cloaking trick, hah! Trivial.” She said, as a piece of the air literally dissipated, and in front of Rainbow’s eyes was Scootaloo, who had her mouth taped. She was fighting wildly, not at all caring that she couldn’t even fly.

Why hadn’t Rainbow noticed earlier?! She felt like an idiot! Of course, Scootaloo was a tough kid, she wouldn’t even be scared by something like this!

Starlight grabbed the floating Scootaloo by the back of her shirt collar. She was still in her fluffy, warm pajamas, flailing about as Starlight held her. “Well, you screwed up, Miss Rowdy.” Starlight said, as she lifted one finger, making Scootaloo slip a little.

“Try and save her if you can…” Starlight said, slowly releasing her grip.

Rainbow-Dash tried her hardest to get up, but with the weight of the aura around her, moving was hard.

“Oh yeah… Moving will be quite hard when there is an atmosphere of nearly 100x gravity around you. You know, I’m actually surprised that none of your bones immediately cracked under the pressure. I actually thought that would paralyze you for good.” Starlight said, as Rainbow-Dash got a chill from her total disregard of her life.

“Huhm. I guess you lucked out then, you are definitely stronger than you seem.” Starlight said. Rainbow-Dash looked up at Starlight Glimmer in a new light. Things started to click in her mind… Principal Luna’s words flooded back to her mind: “Lives will be lost… Those closest to you will be ruthlessly targeted…”

Rainbow-Dash struggled to get up. It was apparent from the veins that were now popping out all over her body. She finally struggled onto one knee.

Starlight let another finger slip. “To think you were so foolish as to believe you could defeat me! What a stupid way to waste one of your closest’s life.” She said, as Scootaloo still fought hopelessly.

“Let me go, you jerk!” she said, flailing about.

“I will soon, if you keep acting that way.” Starlight snarled.

Starlight’s words were getting to Rainbow-Dash. She tried her hardest to get up, now fully standing. Veins were now fully visible all over her.

“You look like a pack-mule!” Starlight laughed, as Rainbow-Dash struggled still.

“Uh-oh!” Starlight faked, letting another finger slip. Now, only two held onto Scootaloo. It was only at that point did it truly register to Scootaloo that she was in danger, as her fighting became more frantic.

Rainbow-Dash took a single step. All that was on her mind was that she somehow had to save Scootaloo. She wouldn’t have any deaths on her hand, not if she could help it!

“You’re a real dirty player, you know that?!” Rainbow yelled, despite being under an extreme struggle to move. She took yet another step. They seemed so far with this weight on her. But she had to do it, Scootaloo was in danger!

Starlight let another finger slip, and the only thing holding Scootaloo up now was her finger under the fabric. Only now did Scootaloo’s eyes fill with fear, and did Rainbow-Dash realize that her efforts would be futile.

Rainbow-Dash’s heart began to fill with fear again. How would she tell the others of her blunder? It was her fault for going in without a strategy, after all. She could’ve simply just injected the little harmless needle! Why did she have to be so hardheaded!?

“Scootaloo, listen to me!” Rainbow-Dash yelled, struggling to even stand, her veins still popping out. “You need to do something important for me, Scootaloo. Can you please do your big sis a favor?!” Rainbow yelled desperately; fear of Scootaloo’s death now truly entered her heart.

Scootaloo looked upon Rainbow-Dash with her big saucer-eyes.

“Fly, Scootaloo! Try your hardest to fly! For me, just try Scootaloo!” Rainbow-Dash cried out.

“I-I’ll try…!” Scootaloo said, looking down and gulping. She could feel Starlight’s finger slowly slipping.

“Starlight, is it too late?! Is it too late to get the needle!?” Rainbow asked, desperately.

Suddenly, Rainbow-Dash saw Scootaloo fall, watching her scream as her wings flapped frantically. She was descending fast, but her flapping slightly delayed the descent.

“Oops!” Starlight said, feigning surprise.

“Scootaloo!” Rainbow-Dash yelled, feeling her muscles near their limit from the stress.

“If you can reach the needle in time and inject the substance, I may just relieve that aura so that you may save her.” Starlight said, now reclining upon a cloud. “I’d hurry though, I’d say she’s about 20% of the way to the ground.” She said, winking at Rainbow-Dash, who despite the burning and tightening of her muscles, now struggled towards the nearby needle.

Principal Luna crossed her arms and raised her brow at Discord. “What exactly are you up to, you troublemaker?” she asked, suspicious.

Fluttershy awkwardly floated around in the chaotic atmosphere, but Luna was used to Discord’s tricks from their last encounters, so she was able to stay in motion.

Discord calmly sipped his tea, then smiled back at Luna. “Oh come on Principal Luna, have I not proved my being reformed? Cut me some slack.” He said, pouring 2 more cups of tea.

“Come, sit down, enjoy some tea.” Discord said, gesturing to the 2 steaming hot cups of tea.

“Discord, n-not to be rude but my friends are in danger, and y-you’re kind of wasting our time!” she yelled as best she could, still trying to maintain her balance through the rotating house.

“Oh calm down girls, just sit down for some tea.” Discord said, snapping his claws, returning the house to normal, as things suddenly fall right back into place.

“I… I guess we could have just one cup…” Fluttershy said, shrugging and taking a seat. Principal Luna sighed heavily, before dragging up a seat.

They all sipped tea calmly. Discord struck up small-talk with Fluttershy, while Luna tried her best to calmly drink her tea.

…

After about two minutes of calmly sipping tea, Principal Luna slammed her teacup onto the table, and stood up.

“Enough of this! Discord, what is going on? You’re much too calm, and I know that you know for sure something is going on here!” Luna exclaimed, now out of her seat, losing her cool.

“Whatever do you mean?” Discord asked, with a face of innocence.

“Argh! Something told me this would be a waste of time! Come, Element of Kindness, we must go!” Principal Luna said, in a frustrated manner, grabbing Fluttershy’s arm and dragging her to the door.

“O-oh, okay…” she said, not having much of a choice.

Discord snapped his claws and the door that Luna was headed towards disappeared, trapping the trio within the house. Luna turned back to Discord with a growl and glare.

“Leaving so soon, dears?” Discord asked. “Afraid that Trixie and others will hurt your dear friends?” he continued. “Maybe you should be worried about other things.” He said menacingly, holding the cage that Angel was in.

“Discord…?” Fluttershy mumbled, confused at his change in behavior.

“I am a human being, capable of doing terrible things.” Discord recited, standing up, seven feet tall, nearly towering over Luna and Fluttershy. He now looked as menacing as he sounded.

He held Angel in the cage. “Say, if you leave, I can’t guarantee his well-being, you know?” Discord stated, shaking the cage, much to Angel’s dismay.

“Discord, what do you think you’re doing?” Fluttershy scolded, in Angel’s defense. “You put him down!”

Luna put her hand on Fluttershy’s shoulders, signaling for her to back down. “I see… So how did they convince you?” Luna asked. Discord raised a brow at her.

“How did they convince you to join their ranks?” Luna asked, folding her arms.

“Oh, silly Luna.” Discord said, teleporting just in front her, floating upside down in her face. He playfully flicked her nose, then stood upright on the ground again. “I was never actually good. Do you think being imprisoned in stone for 1,000 years could just be forgiven by becoming ‘pals’?” Discord said, chuckling.

“Don’t be ridiculous dear. There’s a time and place for everything, it was simply a while until the opportunity presented itself.” He continued, circling Luna.

Fluttershy watched in disgust and betrayal. They had been toyed with all this time! And Twilight was the only one that was ever actually suspicious of Discord, but nobody ever believed her… Fluttershy started to feel bad.

“I can’t believe you Discord!” Fluttershy said softly.

“To think that I had even developed some feelings for you…” Fluttershy continued a bit softer.

Discord walked past the folded-armed Luna and kneeled down to Fluttershy.

“You know, Fluttershy, those feelings don’t have to disappear.” He said soothingly, lifting up her chin with his paw. “If you looked down deep enough, I’m sure you’d like to join me, wouldn’t you agree?” He said. Fluttershy was taken aback by Discord’s sudden movement, but unbeknownst to her, Discord held in his other hand, a needle.

“Kindness, look out!” Luna yelled, dashing in an incredible display of speed to knock it out of Discord’s hand. But as she approached the needle, she was, for some odd reason, overtaken by an intense fear and backed away from it.

Fluttershy hadn’t noticed Luna, stuck in her own world with Discord. Discord brought his lips to Fluttershy’s, and Fluttershy melted into Discord’s sensation. Unnoticed by Fluttershy, Discord had a small smirk, as he injected the needle into Fluttershy’s neck.

Fluttershy pulled back, and she and Discord stared into each other’s eyes. Luna watched with great intrigue. As they stared at each other, Fluttershy’s features became more sinister, and the Vampire Bat dwelling within her made itself more apparent/dominant for the time-being.

“Oh, how I’ve waited to meet the real you, Flutterbat.” Discord spoke affectionately, smiling. “Is that so?” Flutterbat spoke, with a seductive tone. Her movements and tone were much more woman-like and confident than Fluttershy’s own. It was as if this was a whole new person.

Flutterbat took the palm of her hand and caressed Discord’s cheek. She then pulled him in for another kiss. Luna watched, confused at the events. What the heck exactly was in that needle? A love serum, perhaps? No… Something strange happened when she almost made contact with it… That stuff was something special.

After she pulled back, she winked at Discord. “A thank you for completely freeing me. That primitive limitation that was on me when I first formed was certainly not representative of the real me.” Flutterbat said, referring to her first arrival into existence on the orchard.

“However…” she said, raising a finger. “You’re a fool if you thought that I’d ever join you, or the likes of Trixie. You all hold no worth to my endeavors.” She said slowly and elegantly.

“Come Principal, let us dispose of him and move to help the others.” Flutterbat spoke.

“Hmm… Strange, Trixie said this serum would render their state of mind completely different for at least a little while,but this new Fluttershy is something entirely different.” Discord mused.

“Wait, Element of Kindness. I have some questions, first.” Luna said, holding her hand in front of the already advancing Flutterbat.

“Discord, what was that you injected into her?” Luna questioned.

“Didn’t you know, Luna?” Discord asked, a large smile on his face.

“Didn’t you know the Tantabus had such special properties?” Discord grinned.

“The Tantabus?! But, how! I imprisoned it within myself ages ago on the night where it almost escaped!” Luna exclaimed.

“Tsk tsk tsk, Principal,” Discord began, shaking his claw at her. “Nothing is impossible, especially when you’ve had time to plan. It wasn’t that difficult to extract, really. You see, the Tantabus simply needed a catalyst to escape your inner-self.” Discord explained. He held open his palm, and a strange, night-like fire of magical aura burned his hands.

“It would seem that a god of chaos was just the thing to do it.” He said, chuckling. “It’s such a shame that it won’t do me any good though. My darkness never quite left me. Not after those one thousand dreadful years, simply waiting day after night with no movement, nobody to talk to, and being forced to be some attraction for ungrateful students?! Bah, nonsense, all of it!” Discord exclaimed.

“You know why you got that punishment Discord. You deserved nothing better.” Luna said in a scolding manner.

“Believe what you’d like, but it’s all too late. Things are already falling into place nicely, I can just smell all the chaos ensuing.” Discord said, sniffing the air.

“Hmm. So what exactly did the remnants of the Tantabus do to Fluttershy? Why is she like this?” Luna questioned.

“All it does is awaken the Darkness within the host. This form of the Tantabus is more like a virus that awakens it’s little mommy virus, waiting to spring open from the catalyst that’s holding it, nurturing it.” Discord said, mimicking a nursing mother in a comedic manner.

“And that’s exactly what it did to Fluttershy.” Discord said. Flutterbat listened, yawning.

“Wait, you mean… The Tantabus will awaken the Darkness in the other five?” Luna asked.

“If the others succeed, sure.” Discord said.

“That’s very, very bad… None of them are mentally stable, and Diane…” Flutterbat suddenly donned a look of horror. “Princess of the Night, we must leave immediately! Diane, she cannot be left alone!” Flutterbat exclaimed urgently.

“What?” Luna asked, confused.

“There is no time!” Flutterbat exclaimed, smashing a window with a nearby heavy book. “Follow me, quickly!” Flutterbat exclaimed, as Luna glanced between Flutterbat and Discord urgently. Releasing a heavy sigh, Luna went halfway out of the window, then turned back over her shoulder.

“This isn’t over Discord.” Luna said, before taking off after Flutterbat.

Discord pulled on his peculiar beard, chuckling lowly.

“You’re right… This is far from over.” He said to himself, picking up the rattling cage that Angel was bashing against to try to escape. As Discord walked off, thoughts of Flutterbat entered his mind again. She was one enthralling character, even more so than he had first thought. “She would be perfect…” Discord mused, shortly before snapping his claws and disappearing in a cloud of sparkly dust.

“Oh? Is that so?” Aria yawned at the new Pinkie Pie. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, you’re nothing I need to worry myself with.” Aria said, stretching as she patted the rubble off of her, then walked back to pick up the Cake babies.

Suddenly, an invisible force washed over Aria, one that she knew all too well. But this time, it was much stronger than any she had ever encountered… Stronger than that of Trixie’s own… It was the fearful intent of pure evil, but that one was almost an intent of pure, blood-thirsty evil; the one that one commits simply for the heck of it… That was the invisible force she felt, and it was all directed to her, the only other conscious being in the room.

For the first time in a long time, Aria’s face showed emotion; it showed one of worry. Aria stared upon this new Pinkie Pie. She looked sinister, with that sadistic smile, and straight, long hair.

“You know… I can’t allow anyone that hurts family to walk away with all their limbs intact.” Diane spoke in a monotone manner, finally looking up fully, removing the hair that covered her face. Her sinister features were now much clearer: baggy and tired eyes, a mouth twisted into a toothy and sadistic grin, and eyes that were seemingly void of emotion.

Aria watched her, feeling only slightly worried.

“I see you’re taking me a bit more seriously now. Did the feeling of a killer’s intent clue you in, imbecile?” Diane said, chuckling, as she let her limbs hang unnaturally.

Aria shrugged. “Whatever you are, I can guarantee you won’t be enough to beat m-”, Aria was interrupted by Diane slashing at her throat with a sharp knife (which she picked up from behind the counter), to which Aria barely dodged with a sudden flexible lean backwards. The knife just grazed the side of her chin, making it leak a little blood.

In the next instant, Diane had Aria in a half-hug, with her arm intertwined with Aria’s own, pulling her close, which prevented her from moving. Aria felt something soft and wet graze against her fresh cut, making it burn a bit as she hissed from the sensation.

“It’s been so long… Since I’ve tasted blood so good.” Diane whispered into her ear. Aria got chills from the proficiency of Diane's movements.

“Gosh, you simpletons make it so easy.” Diane chuckled, holding Aria close, as she held the knife high in the sky in her other hand.

“What will you do, siren?” Diane questioned, clutching the back of Aria.

“I will lunge briefly… How do you intend to not get impaled by this knife?” Diane questioned again. Aria stayed quiet, and only her fear-induced heartbeat was heard, which excited Diane even more.

Aria felt Diane lunge through muscle movement, and in an instant, pushed Diane back with great force, which brought the knife closer, but left just enough space for Aria to bend to the side, making it so the knife only partly injured her side.

Diane stood at the back of the room, licking the blood off of the sharp edge of the knife, humming in delight.

“The blood of those who fight back is always more delicious… You just work up an appetite earning it, know what I mean?” Diane said, chuckling innocently like Pinkie Pie.

Aria finally lost her boredom, and looked at Diane with focus, as she clutched her side. Tiny drips of blood leaked from between her fingers at the spot she held.

“Aww, are you injured?” Diane said, commenting on the injury she had on her side.

Aria spoke in a more controlled voice than her bored one. “This is nothing. We’ve gone through much worse.” Aria said, denouncing Diane.

“Hehe… Let’s see if you can say the same when we’re done here!” Diane said, dashing once more towards Aria. Aria simply held her side in wait…

It seemed over for Rarity, as Sonata brought the needle down towards Rarity. But in an incredibly quick act of defense, Rarity grabbed a magazine and the needle stabbed into that, just barely missing her neck.

Rarity and Sonata were in a cliché struggle, as Sonata pushed down, and Rarity pushed back. However, Sonata was much stronger, evident from the needle slowly going down towards Rarity’s soft skin.

Sweetie Belle looked around frantically. She couldn’t let her sister get poked by that needle! She read lots about what happens to poor victims of the needle.

“Raaaahhhh!” Sweetie Belle roared in that cute little-kid voice, as she slammed the needle in the magazine away with a rolling pin.

Sonata glared at Sweetie Belle, and upon her really registering that it was Sweetie Belle, made a warming smile. “Sweetie Belle, just let things be, it’ll work out, trust m-” Sonata began, but was interrupted by a kick to the chin, making her fall back, as Rarity got up from the ground.

“Sweetie Belle, cover your ears. Anything this woman has to tell you isn’t good.” Rarity said. Sweetie Belle obeyed and plugged her ears with her fingers. Sonata got up, rubbing her chin.

“Make this easy and simple, won’t you?!” Sonata said, getting frustrated. “I don’t wanna do this the mean and hard way, okay!?” she exclaimed.

“You waltz into my home and demand my family and expect me to not retaliate? Just who do you sirens think you are?” Rarity questioned rhetorically, putting her hands up defensively once again.

Sonata simply got up and picked up the needle out of the magazine. She looked back at Rarity, her smile thinning… “Alright then, marshmallow girl. I tried to make things easy, but I guess everybody likes a challenge then, huh? So we’ll do this the hard way.” Sonata said.

In an instant, Sonata disappeared. Rarity looked around frantically, and soon, she noticed footsteps on the roof above her, but it was too late; as she looked up, she received boot to the face from the descending Sonata, which smashed Rarity into the ground, hard, breaking the floorboards and stunning her.

While Rarity was on the ground, she felt a cold metal inject an oozy liquid into her neck. She hissed, and held the spot on her neck. The dust cleared, and Rarity noticed her vision was blurry.

“W-what did you do to me?” Rarity questioned, trying to stand. She found her vision blacking in and out, however.

“Sorry, I have to go now…” she heard a drowning voice speak. Rarity was stumbling all over the place, the serum taking its effect on her harshly, as her body heavily disagreed with it.

“Rarity…!!!” she heard Sweetie Belle yell, just barely making out a taller figure carrying a smaller one over their shoulder. The smaller one was reaching out towards her.

“Rarity, no! I don’t wanna leave! I’m sorry, come save me!” Sweetie Belle screamed, pounding on the back of the bigger figure.

Rarity tried to pursue the two, but her head throbbed, and vision swayed this way and that. As she tried to exit the door to chase after them, she lost balance, hit her head on the doorframe, and lost consciousness in the messy house.

“Sweetie… Belle…” were the last words to exit Rarity’s mouth as she fully slipped into the realm of unconsciousness.

Applejack stood there clutching her arm, injured and pretty tired due to the dirty tricks Adagio was using to beat on her.

“You’re not much for strategy, are you? What a shame.” Adagio mocked.

“You’re one scummy little pest, y’know that?” Applejack said angrily, as she prepared to defend again, tightening her dusty and ragged hat.

“Hah, get used to it, bub. Life ain’t fair.” Adagio spoke, with a hint of bitterness.

Applejack growled at her in response.

“You know…” Adagio began, holding Applebloom’s still unconscious body by its clothing. “It’s about time somebody show you lot that you won’t always be top-dog.” She finished with a smug attitude.

Applejack noticed that the ground beneath was now dry and cracked, being sucked of its prosperity from the blazing orchard. It was brittle and cracked now. That’s when an idea hit Applejack.

“Don’t be so cocky.” Applejack stated looked at her smirking. “We’ve only just begun!” she said, balling her fist. Adagio eyed her, preparing herself.

Using as much strength as she could muster, Applejack cocked her arm high, then smashed the ground with her fist!

*Crack!*

The pieces of the separate earth around Applejack and Adagio all leveled out of position, making Adagio lose balance, and drop Applebloom. In one fell swoop, Applejack dashed and grabbed Applebloom before she could hit the ground, then jumped off of the levelled ground at the area.

She laid Applebloom down next to Big Mac and Granny Smith. She then looked at her now bruised and scratched fist, which had bits of red on it. She nodded approvingly, telling herself it was more than worth it.

“Well done. The ‘ol primitive farm girl actually came up with a good strategy. I commend you.” Adagio said, clapping behind her.

Applejack rubbed her nose in confidence of the compliment. “I wouldn’t be so cocky if I were you. Now I can actually fight.” Applejack said, holding both fists up. “There’s nothing but us, and the barren field that you created. Let’s see how you fare then.” Applejack said, dashing at Adagio.

“Your mistake here is believing that I rely on such tricks to win a battle.” Adagio said, ducking beneath Applejack’s punch and connecting her arms around Applejack’s waist from behind.

“But that’s so very untrue.” Adagio finished, lifting Applejack up over her head, then smashing her back down into the ground behind her, headfirst.

Applejack stood up, more dizzy than ever, since her previous head-injury was still affecting her.

“Rule number one; don’t head into a battle with an injury such as yours. That is elementary.” Adagio said, dashing at Applejack. She then elbowed at Applejack’s head, but AJ caught it in the palm of her fist, now holding on to Adagio’s arm.

“You expect me to not come and save my family from the danger they are certainly facing?” Applejack said, now starting to spin Adagio around in many circles in an amazing display of strength, gaining momentum.

“You’ve got a thing or two to learn about how this world works, missy!” Applejack yelled, now jumping into the air, both of them spinning at great speeds in vertical manner, in a mix of Applejack’s yellow-ish hair, and Adagio’s orange-ish hair. In in an instant, Adagio was seen, flying out of the mix of color, and smashing into the ground, with Applejack in the air, her hands extended, and her face scrunched in a frown.

Applejack landed, and then walked to Adagio with an unforgiving look on her face. “You know, you have some nerve; coming into my home, destroying it, using such dirty tricks to fight, and then spouting all this damn cocky nonsense. The likes of you tick me right off, y’know.” Applejack spat, standing over the hole that Adagio lay in.

In an instant, Applejack saw a blur headed towards her, and held her palm out in defense, catching Adagio’s fist, creating a small gust of forceful wind. Adagio then cocked her other fist back, and shot it forward, but AJ caught that one too, creating another forceful gust of wind. As if on second-nature, both pulled their heads-back, hands locked, and then bashed each other’s foreheads against one another. They both pushed against each other in a struggle.

“You shut your mouth! We do what we have to to survive in a world where we’ve been exiled and thrown from society, so you have no right to judge our actions, living it good up here!” Adagio said, growling, and pulling her head back and bashing into AJ’s again.

“You think by destroying someone’s life work, that you can what? Redeem yourself?! What kind of sick beings are you lot!?” Applejack yelled, pulling her own head back, and bashing into Adagio’s.

The two struggled more, and the force of it all started to raise little pebbles and debris around them. Applebloom and the others started to come to with all of the racket.

“Sis…?” Applebloom muttered, rubbing her eyes. She then doubled over in pain, as she felt the bruises and scorches over her body remind her that she was injured in painful throbs.

“You’re entitled! A mindless little servant, in service to something you couldn’t even comprehend! You’ll all learn soon, it’ll all change for the better!” Adagio yelled, bashing her head into AJ’s again.

“Entitled? Are you joking? You lot sicken me to the core! This is our life’s work, and I’m entitled by protecting it?!" AJ yelled furiously, bashing her head into Adagio’s harder than ever. Adagio, however, did not flinch, and this time, grew very angry.

“Who’s to say YOU didn’t destroy OUR life’s work, huh?! Do you know how LONG we were seeking a way back to our homeworld!? Does your THICK-HEADED lot of friends even know WHY we were banished?! We were meant to reform! We spent hundreds of years here doing that, and what were we granted with? Abandonment and lack of acknowledgement! How are we treated for defending our life’s work?! With banishment and absolute disregard from any that recognized us!” Adagio said, now pushing Applejack back but slowly.

“Do you know how long our sisters and I wanted to go back home?! DO YOU IDIOTS KNOW ANYTHING?!” Adagio yelled, furious, pushing AJ back further and further.

“You all come and ruin our effort to get back home, destroy our only means of obtaining the power to do so, and then call yourselves heroes for destroying hundreds of years of work, so you should be lucky I don’t do the same, and EXPEL YOUR ENTIRE PATHETIC LINEAGE FROM THE FACE OF EXISTENCE!!!” Adagio yelled, absolutely furious. She pulled her head back, and then in a powerful movement, pulled AJ’s arms towards her, while bringing her head forward, smashing their heads so hard that hers immediately bruised and leaked a bit of blood. Applejack took it worse however, and flew back far, skidding across the ground. She stood up, stumbling, then fell back over again, her head injury affecting her.

Adagio drew in a long and calming breath. She then walked up to the toppled AJ. “You all think life is so perfect, huh? You wonder why people are evil. You think villains are born, hm?” Adagio asked, now picking Applejack up by her hair and stomping on her hat.

“Villains aren’t born, they are formed by the evils of the world. And somehow, you lot contribute to lots of that. You’re not all as good as you think.” Adagio spat, flicking out a needle.

Applejack watched hopelessly, drained of strength.

“AJ!” Big-Mac yelled, trying to get up and run to AJ, but falling over again, too injured to move properly.

“Big sis!” Applebloom yelled, running towards her as fast as her little feet could take her, despite her bruises and various first-degree burns.

Adagio then stabbed the needle violently into AJ’s neck, squeezing the substance into her veins. She then tossed Applejack back, not even bothering to take the needle out.

“Even with all that hardship… You can’t possibly expect anything good out of this, you old troublemaker! For goodness sakes, you hurt an innocent child!” Granny Smith yelled, shaking her cane.

Adagio glared at her. “This doesn’t concern you.” Adagio simply said. She gestured towards the still-blazing orchard that now filled the sky with smoke. “I believe you have matters to attend to anyhow.” She said.

Applebloom shook Applejack, hoping for her to return to consciousness. “Wake up; you’ve gotta wake up sis!” Applebloom said hysterically, frantic at the events.

Unbeknownst to Applebloom, Adagio walked up behind her.

*Thonk!*

Applebloom fell unconscious once again as Adagio’s knuckle came into contact with the back of her skull, and Adagio slung the little girl over her shoulder, and began to walk away. Big Mac silently overcame his injuries, and started to run at Adagio.

Adagio smiled and breathed a sigh of pity, as she silently laughed to herself. “Simpleton.” Is all she muttered to herself.

As soon as Big Mac was as close as she would allow, she shot her elbow back into his stomach, making him double over, gasping for breaths. He looked up at Adagio, who had one hand on her hip, and one hand securing Applebloom.

“Leave this message for Applejack: If you wish to see Applebloom ever again, I’d suggest getting to Twilight’s mansion in about the next 15 minutes.” Adagio recited.

“I’d say it’s about 20 minutes before I make it there, so I’d wake her up fast, if I were you.” Adagio said to the groveling Big Mac, who could only look upon her hopelessly. Adagio walked off, leaving behind her a destroyed home that took generations to build. The blaze of the orchard once again set an eerie and sinister glow on her frowning face, and defined the features of those behind her.

Rainbow-Dash struggled, and just as her muscles reached the maximum, she fell next to the needle. In one last display of strength, she grabbed the needle and stabbed it into her neck, squeezing the liquid into her body.

“Now release the aura! Aren’t you a lady of your word?!” Rainbow-Dash yelled, tears protruding from her eyes. Part of it was fear of losing Scootaloo, and part of it was the painful struggle she just endured.

Starlight smiled and released the aura. “Good luck… She’s already done for.” Starlight laughed manically. “She’s about to go ker-splat!” Starlight continued laughing.

Rainbow-Dash took off so incredibly fast that a Rainboom occurred right from the instance where she flew from. “I am NOT losing her!” Rainbow-Dash thought, blazing down towards the earth after the screaming Scootaloo.

Rainbow-Dash saw the approaching ground, and a terrible realization kicked in; she knew that she couldn’t save her. She could catch her, but she wouldn’t be able to divert in time. Tears welled in her eyes thickly as she tried to go faster.

She saw the only clear solution… Scootaloo would live, but she’d have to pay for her rash acting earlier, even if it meant she wouldn’t live to protect Scootaloo.

“Dammit…!” she said, seconds from Scootaloo reaching the ground. “I’ll have to take the impact then… And save her. Is this the sacrifice Luna meant?” Rainbow-Dash mused, seeing the quickly approaching ground beyond Scootaloo. She was ready to pay for her mistake…

Suddenly, a yellow and midnight blue blur zoomed by and rescued Scootaloo just in time. Rainbow-Dash slowed down and landed on the ground in a smash, not being able to stop the speed she was moving at.

Shaking her head, she wondered what happened, as she looked around frantically for the young girl that grew to her like a sister, despite her new injuries.

“Scootaloo?!” Rainbow-Dash yelled out. Starlight had descended from the clouds herself, laughing. “My goodness, did she vaporize upon contact with the ground? Haha, how pathetic of you, Rainbow-Dash! Couldn’t even save your little girl!” Starlight mocked.

“You may have failed, but we haven’t.” a familiar voice spoke, above Rainbow-Dash and Starlight. Both looked up to see a flying ‘Fluttershy’ and Principal Luna. ‘Fluttershy’ was holding Scootaloo, who clung to her chest in fear, having experienced near-death.

“It is not yet your time, Element of Loyalty.” Luna said, almost as if reading the thoughts of the terrified Human Pegasus.

Rainbow-Dash looked up at Luna and Fluttershy as tears welled in the corners of her eyes. She wiped them away quickly. “Y-you guys…” she breathed in relief, calming down her heartrate.

“She’s okay…” Rainbow-Dash thought, kneeling due to losing feeling in her legs from the nervousness of the situation. It seemed she truly wasn’t ready to die.

“You! Why is it that the bad never truly convert to good?!” Luna groaned, gesturing to Starlight. “We will have to just dispose of you ourselves then!” Luna said, beginning to fly down to Starlight. ‘Fluttershy’ grabbed her arm though, and shook her head.

“We have bigger matters to attend to, trust me, Principal.” ‘Fluttershy’ said urgently. Rainbow-Dash and Starlight glanced at each other, both confused.

“Dashie, will it be satisfying to leave Scootaloo here?” ‘Fluttershy’ asked, in a surprisingly loud voice, prying her off and placing her down on the ground, not far behind Rainbow-Dash.

She nodded. “Good. Principal Luna and I shall be off.” ‘Fluttershy’ said. She then eyed Starlight.

“Be careful with that one, rainbow-girl. She’s more powerful than she looks.” ‘Fluttershy’ warned, taking off with Principal Luna at a speed that Rainbow-Dash was almost sure Fluttershy was even too scared to accomplish.

Nevertheless, she turned to Starlight and sent a death-glare.

“Seems you struck luck.” Starlight said, lowering herself down in front of Rainbow-Dash.

Rainbow felt a new power surging through her… A dark one, but she couldn’t help it. She would embrace it. She would make Starlight feel fear, just as she made Scootaloo feel fear.

Rainbow-Dash’s skin started to don a light-pink glow. “You’re going to pay for that, you damn jerk!” Rainbow-Dash growled, kneeling as the power surged through her. Her skin started to steam, and streaks of a light-ish red were seen over her body and face.

“Oh, am I now?” Starlight asked. Rainbow-Dash looked up at her with a smirk.

In an almost unconceivable display of speed, Rainbow-Dash was seen in front of Starlight, hovering in the air with her fist cocked back. Starlight had no time to react, as all that was seen in her chest was the indent of a fist, as she flew far back, sliding over the concrete and smashing into the wall of a building.

Starlight got up, injured and confused. She was sure she hadn’t seen the girl move, so what in the world could that have been?

Rainbow-Dash hovered there, her glowing skin releasing lines of steam. It seemed that she now had the personality of a whole different person in her.

She held up 3 fingers to the confused Starlight. “Three minutes. Survive that long, and you’ll win.” Rainbow-Dash spoke, confusing even herself, though she didn’t show it. How did she know that?

“Oh? You must be quite confident you can end this quickly then.” Starlight chuckled, her confidence still bright.

In an instant, Rainbow-Dash was gone from her spot, moving at a speed that Starlight’s eyes literally couldn’t track, rendering RD ‘invisible’.

Suddenly, she appeared in front of Starlight, slightly above the ground, with her fist cocked back again. Starlight quickly pulled up a defensive shield, which was cracked immediately, the indent of a fist in it as well.

The shield dissipated, and Rainbow-Dash landed onto the ground. “Oh, I get it now…” Starlight said, her eyes flashing a turquoise color, similar to that of her magical aura.

“You’re simply forcing your blood to move 2.5x as fast, resulting in a better reaction-time and muscle activity,” Starlight began, seeming to come into a sort of trance of childlike curiosity, as she held her hand out towards Rainbow-Dash. “The light-pink glow is and steaming skin is a result of how hard your body is working, and the red streaks are evidence of your early corruption.” Starlight continued in her trance-like state. Rainbow-Dash raised her brow at that part. “It seems as if you don’t actually punch, simply because you move so fast. The force of your punch is enough to cause devastation, rendering you lethal at hand-to-hand combat, even from a slight range.” Starlight finished analyzing Rainbow-Dash.

She then stumbled, and nearly fell over. She quickly regained her balance however, holding her head in both hands, falling out of her trance.

“So you figured out the basics of what I can do. How will that help you?” Rainbow-Dash asked, disappearing again. Starlight smirked.

Rainbow-Dash appeared behind Starlight, a leg quickly approaching her head. Although it didn’t soften the impact, Starlight caught the leg and growled in pain as Rainbow’s shin connected with her cheek.

“That wasn’t a simple analyzation, you fool.” Starlight said, struggling against Rainbow’s foot. She clutched her leg harder, as small streams of turquoise flowed from off of Rainbow-Dash and onto Starlight.

Starlight grinned widely at Rainbow-Dash. “That was my one-way ticket to borrowing the power I now understand!” Starlight laughed, as her body now too, started to glow a light-pink, and steam started to emanate from it. She, however, did not have the red streaks.

Starlight gained the strength to lift Rainbow-Dash, and tossed her into the nearest wall, cracking it. Rainbow-Dash fell out of the wall, kneeling and panting.

“Hah, looks like you’ll need more than three minutes. And by the looks of it, it would seem your body can’t handle such pressure for long.” Starlight said, dropping into a physical fighting stance.

Diane slashed at Aria wildly, while Aria dodged all the slashes, just barely missing each strike. In a sudden moment, Aria caught Diane’s wrist. “Sheesh, talk about a close shave.” Aria said, her boredom completely gone at this point.

“Any idea where I can get my nails sharpened too?” Aria said, digging her rather sharp fingernails into Diane’s wrist, drawing blood.

Diange giggled at the gesture.

“Masochistic, I see. Shame, you’ll learn to hate pain soon.” Aria said, hauling Diane through the air and into a nearby display set, making her smash into the glass. The long knife lay on the ground. Aria quickly ran to pick it up.

As she focused her attention back onto Diane, she already had another knife in her hand, and was running back towards Aria, her grin wild.

Both clashed the knives. “You know, this is very dangerous. One wrong move, and either of us could be dead.” Aria said surprisingly calmly. Diane licked her lips in an almost seductive manner in response.

“Just the way I like my battles.” Diane said, her eyes growing a blood-thirsty look.

Diane pulled back, then lunged at Aria’s throat. Aria simply dodged, and then slashed back at Diane’s chest. Diane barely attempted to dodge it, only pulling back slightly as the knife grazed her chest. Nothing but bloodlust was on her mind now.

Catching Aria off-guard with the lack of attempt to dodge, Diane was able to attack at Aria ruthlessly. Aria could only dodge and defend against her onslaught, as all that was heard were a slew of swipes, flapping clothes, and metal clashing metal.

Aria tripped up and lost her balance slightly, resulting in her missing a defend against one of Diane’s lunges.

*Schling!*

…

“You’re good.” Diane chuckled. Aria was unable to block the lunge, so instead of letting the knife hit her neck, she used her forearm to slow the knife, and then completely stop it by quickly pulling her own knife into the ridges of Diane’s.

Blood dripped onto the wooden floorboards, drop by drop.

“This is fun and all, but I’m afraid you’ve messed up for good now.” Diane stated, to the surprise of Aria. Diane’s leg was in between Aria’s own two legs, and in one instant, Diane dragged her foot back, making Aria fall down on her back. Diane then mercilessly began to bring down the knife to the Aria who could only bring her hands up in defense.

*swoosh!*

Before Diane could do any real damage, however, she noticed her hand being stopped by a powerful, midnight blue magical aura.

Diane smiled hopelessly, not even having to look to realize who was impeding her endeavors here.

“Here to lock me away within a nightmare again, Princess of the Night?” Diane asked, getting up off of Aria, who was breathing heavily. Aria got up and dusted herself off, wrapping the wound on her side and forearm with white bandage that she pulled from her pockets.

Principal Luna and Flutterbat materialized within in the room suddenly.

“Not at all, Pinkamena. I no longer have the ability to do so, unfortunately.” Luna spoke. “It was stolen from me.” She informed.

“Oh? Is that why the Tantabus woke me from the dreams with a new host? I see.” Diane mused.

“That siren is lucky you saved her when she did. I was about to carve her apologies into her arm for hurting my dear little friends.” Diane said, glancing over Aria, who was tending her wounds.

Flutterbat walked up to Diane and frowned, folding her arms and raising a brow. “Are you gonna give us any trouble, ‘ol Miss Crazy?” she asked.

Unexpectedly, Diane flung her hands around Flutterbat and nuzzled her neck. “Of course not, hun!” Diane said, arousing the attention of Luna, who raised her brow at the event.

“Good girl.” Flutterbat said soothingly, kissing her on the cheek. Diane purred into her neck affectionately.

“So I guess even the darkest of beings are capable of such emotions, huh?” Luna mumbled lowly to herself.

Diane yawned, then looked sadly at Flutterbat. “I’m getting tired… That means I’ll be going soon…” she said sadly. Flutterbat patted her head comfortingly.

“We’ll see each other soon, don’t worry.” Flutterbat said, yawning.

“Pinkie Promise?” Diane asked, holding out her pinkie.

“Pinkie Promise.” Flutterbat said, locking their pinkies, as both toppled over one another.

Luna stood there, feeling confused; she had so many questions. How was it that those two knew each other? Why was Flutterbat capable of calming such a bloodthirsty beast? And just what the heck was going on with the rest of her friends?

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie came to, shaking their heads.

“Ugh… Why does my mouth taste like metal?” Pinkie questioned, tasting her mouth.

“Actually… It tastes like that time I licked my cut…” Pinkie thought suspiciously. Suddenly Pinkie’s eyes grew wide, and then she shook her head, shaking it off.

“Fluttershy? What are you doing here?” Pinkie questioned, helping her up.

“Did we party super hard or something, cause this place looks like it just had an aaawesome party!” Pinkie said excitedly.

Fluttershy stood, only the lips of Discord being on her mind, as for her, it felt like it happened merely seconds ago. A blush grew red-hot on her cheeks.

Luna then remembered that they were also confronting a siren here. She quickly scouted the area, and saw a figure hopping out of the window with a baby-basket in her hand. She gasped.

“Elements of Laughter and Kindness, listen and listen close! I have no time to explain, but we must pursue that woman that is escaping outside, this very instant!” Luna said.

“Oh, I’m sorry Miss Nightmare Mare, I can’t move or fly very fast.” Fluttershy said softly.

Pinkie Pie seemed to hyperactive to grasp the severity of the situation, and Fluttershy was of no help.

“Argh, if you want things done…” Luna grumbled, picking the two up in her magical aura, and swooping off a great speed through the sky in pursue of the Aria Blaze, the siren.

Applejack awoke, the smell of smoke getting to her. As she got up, a wet rag slid off of her forehead. She saw Big Mac hard at work with several emergency service authorities, clearing out the fires of the orchard, and she couldn’t help but clutch her fists hard as images of Adagio flooded back into her head.

She felt a stinging throb in her neck, and touched the spot, reminded of the needle she was injected with.

Applejack turned and noticed Granny Smith to her far-side, overseeing the process.

“G’Smith!” Applejack exclaimed, running up to her and hugging her. “You’re alright!” she said in relief.

“Oh, I’m glad you’re okay too, AJ. But Applebloom…” Granny Smith said. Applejack had noticed her disappearance.

“Say no more Granny Smith. Where’d she take her?” AJ questioned urgently. “She said she was off to Twilight’s mansion.” Granny Smith said. “A-Applejack… You’ll be careful, won’t’cha?” Granny Smith asked, worried for her well-being.

“I know you’re heroes and all that, but I’ve never seen such a fearsome foe…” Granny Smith said, her old body shivering for the first time in a while. “It gave me chills.” Granny Smith honestly stated.

Applejack patted Granny Smith’s shoulder, tilting her hat over her eyes with a reassuring smile.

“If there’s anybody that’s up to this, it’s my friends and I, Granny Smith. Don’t worry about us.” Applejack said, getting ready to turn and head off. As she walked, she took one glance back at the efforts to quell the fire that plagued the orchard.

She wished she could help, but her sister’s life was much more important. Her eyes met with Big-Mac’s, and both nodded at each other, a look of determination on their faces.

“Right. You take care of the fire, I’ll get our sister back!” Applejack thought out-loud, running off towards Twilight’s mansion.

Rainbow ran at Starlight in incredible bursts of speed, throwing slews of punches and kicks that Starlight did her best to dodge.

“Get ‘im Rainbow-Dash!” Scootaloo cheered in excitement, the events pumping her up.

Starlight caught Rainbow-Dash in a counter, sweeping her punch to the sky and then sending a punch to RD’s gut. Rainbow-Dash flinched, but that didn’t stop her from upper-cutting Starlight, to which Starlight responded by kicking Rainbow-Dash in the chest.

Rainbow-Dash slid back slightly, then dashed at her again. The exchange of blows went on for about another minute, until both stared at each other, Rainbow-Dash panting, the steam on her body beginning to dissipate.

“Seems you are out of time.” Starlight chuckled, as Rainbow-Dash kneeled, panting heavily, and coughing. She was sweating heavily. Forcing her body to such limits affected her negatively in the end, as she found that her body now felt heavy, and her muscles ached like nothing else.

Starlight dispelled her own power, the steam and glow of her body dissipating. As she did, she too, began to feel the effects of using the power. She was not as physically built as Rainbow-Dash, so it affected her worse. She coughed, and felt blood leak down from her mouth. She wiped it off and stood tall.

“Looks like I’m not the only one it negatively affected, hehe.” Rainbow-Dash said, between pants and gasps for air.

“Yes, but I am not as weak as you. I can endure much more, despite what it seems.” Starlight said.

“Well, you’re done for. If you wish to see this runt again, I’d suggest crawling over to Twilight’s mansion soon.” Starlight said, walking over to Scootaloo, who backed away from her. However, she was held still by Starlight’s magic, which was too strong for Scootaloo to overcome.

“I-I’m not done yet!” Rainbow-Dash said. But truth be told, whatever that power did to her body, it sure did stress it, and as Rainbow-Dash stood, she stumbled over and fell again.

“As I thought.” Starlight said, dragging Scootaloo through the air alongside her.

“Let me go! Rainbow-Dash will beat you, just you wait and see!” Scootaloo yelled.

Starlight snapped her fingers, and Scootaloo’s lips attracted to each other like magnets. “You’re much too loud.” Starlight simply said continuing to walk.

Despite her weakness and pain from the battle, Rainbow-Dash got up and flew towards Starlight, her fist cocked back. However, she was much too slow and pained from the battle to be quick enough.

Starlight turned and side-stepped out of the way from Rainbow-Dash, holding a powerful blast to her chest as she was passing by; the magical destructive blast exploded into Dash’s chest, and she flew back into a wall, colliding with it, and falling unconscious.

“Great, now I’m stuck with two bodies, and this one’s slightly heavy.” Starlight grumbled, as a magical aura enveloped Rainbow-Dash and her body was carelessly dragged across the ground behind Starlight.

As Starlight made her way to the mansion, slightly injured, passerby on the street looked on with fear, avoiding her entirely. Starlight couldn’t help but chuckle at the things she heard as she passed.

“Isn’t she like, good now?” one man asked.

“I thought she and Alicorn Twilight made up!” a mail-pegasus gasped.

“Someone call Celestia and Luna!” a woman gasped, grabbing her phone out of her waist-pocket.

Starlight walked on, head held high. “Fools. You’ll all know soon.” She mused, continuing on to Twilight’s.

Rarity came to, rubbing her head. She looked upon the ruin of her home and the state of disarray it lay in. Fixing the house would have to wait though, for Sweetie Belle was in trouble. The fight flooded back into her mind, as she felt a stinging throb in her neck.

She rubbed her neck, then got up. “Where did they go?” Rarity thought out-loud, rubbing her head more. She walked out and closed up her home/shop.

“Twilight will know what to do.” She said, making her way towards Twilight’s.

Trixie ran at Twilight, lunging at her with the needle. Twilight ducked underneath it, then used her magic to hurl several heavy items at Trixie at high speed.

Trixie turned and slashed clean through the books and wooden planks with her makeshift claw, made from her magical aura.

Twilight got a shiver. “Do not get hit by that claw.” Twilight thought, making a mental note.

“Twilight, why do you struggle? As you saw last time, you are horribly outmatched.” Trixie asked, running at her again. Twilight jumped over Trixie with extra height, with the help of her wings, and then shot a destructive beam of magic at Trixie, which Trixie simply deflected using a magical shield.

Twilight hovered above Trixie, flapping her wings. “Why?” Twilight asked. “I struggle because somebody needs to struggle for the better.” Twilight said.

“How cute!” Trixie said, balling up a small red blast of destructive magic. She shot the ball at Twilight, who dodged it. Upon dodging it, Trixie had disappeared. Twilight searched all over the ground.

“Sparkle, behind you!” Celestia yelled.

Twilight turned just in time to defend against Trixie’s vertical kick with her forearm. The impact, however, still blasted Twilight down into the ground, slightly injuring her.

“Forgot I was an Alicorn too, Sparkle?” Trixie questioned, flying down towards her, the hand with her claw cocked back.

Twilight, having only just recovered, barely dodged, the claw grazing her arm. In a creative and swift display of strategy, Twilight shot at Trixie while dodging, but Trixie simply fell backwards, losing all footing with the ground. It seemed that she left herself defenseless, as she was just falling backwards towards the ground.

Twilight took this chance and brought her fist down towards Trixie. However, in an even more impressive display of strategy (and combat prowess), Trixie took one of her hands and slammed it on the ground, giving her body some ground and leverage, and then swung her feet into powerfully into Twilight’s face, sending her flying back.

Twilight gasped in pain as she hit the wall, her injuries from the last encounter, making themselves apparent. She stood again swiftly, despite the throbbing pain.

Trixie still stood on her one arm, using her other to keep her star-based wizards’ hat on. She smirked upside-down at Twilight. “Two encounters, and still, none have laid not even so much as a finger upon me.” Trixie spoke, now flipping on to her feet agilely and gracefully.

“How fitting.” She said with a grin.

Principal Celestia was about to step in, determining that she couldn’t let Twilight fight with those injuries. However, as she was making her way over, a force-field stopped her, and she heard a “tsk tsk tsk” from the thin of the air.

“Now, now, Principal; isn’t it rude to intrude on such one-on-one encounters?” an all-too-familiar voice said.

“Discord, show yourself! This is not the time!” she said angrily.

“If you wish, my dear.” He said, materializing in front of Celestia.

“What in the blazes of the sun do you think you’re doing?! Drop that barrier this instant!” Celestia ordered.

Trixie chuckled, not taking her eyes off of Twilight.

“Finally decided to show, Discord?” Trixie said, a smile on her face growing.

“But of course my dear.” Discord replied.

“Are the others on their way?” Trixie asked.

“It would seem so… I can just smell the delectable chaos headed this way!” Discord said in a delighted manner.

Twilight and Celestia eyed each other, realizing what was going on.

“Wait, Discord, you don’t mean…?” Twilight said, pointing between him and Trixie.

“Oh yes, he certainly does mean.” Trixie said, chuckling.

“But I thought-!” Twilight started, but was interrupted by Discord.

“Ah-ah-ahhh! You thought wrong, Sparkle. Trixie, get on with it, the others will arrive soon.” Discord said, shaking his paw at her.

“I’m the one in charge here Discord, let’s remember. Nonetheless, your time is up Twilight.” Trixie spoke.

“If you were finding me a challenge earlier, then you’re in for some trouble, because I was just toying with you.” Trixie stated, running at Twilight, who prepared herself.

Trixie was far from Twilight, but as she ran, she held her hands out behind her.

“Force!” she said, and the runes on her hands activated, pushing her with great velocity into Twilight. Trixie collided with Twilight, knee-to-chest, badly hurting Twilight when she collided with the wall. Twilight’s injuries were bad enough, and she found herself unable to move after such a powerful impact.

Trixie walked over to Twilight, who was leaned back against the wall, and injected the serum into her neck, like what was done to the others. Twilight seemed unaffected.

“Twilight, are you okay?!” Celestia called, banging on the forcefield. Discord dropped the barrier, and Celestia rushed over to Twilight, shaking her.

Twilight looked up at Celestia, her face scrunched in pain, and her face dirtied from debris from the hole that was now in the wall.

“I’m… I’m fine.” Twilight coughed softly. Truly, she wasn’t fine. Twilight didn’t usually fundament herself upon pride, but how was it that both times she was so helpless against Trixie? She couldn’t stand to think of what would happen if she didn’t get stronger… All her friends, everyone she knew…

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Adagio said, walking into the huge room that they lay in. She had the bruised and scorched Applebloom slung over her shoulder.

“I did it just as you requested.” Adagio said, mercilessly tossing Applebloom's body under the hanging Spike and standing with Trixie and Discord at the far-end of the room.

“Excellent.” Trixie commended.

“Though, I see you had some resistance.” Trixie said, commenting on the bruise upon her forehead.

“Simply some points I wanted to get across, is all.” Adagio said, mimicking Trixie.

“Wait, the Sirens?!” Twilight gasped.

Adagio smirked over towards Twilight. “Didn’t think we’d be back after you screwed up our plans a while back, huh? Guess who thought wrong?” Adagio said triumphantly.

“But… How…?” Twilight questioned. She was ignored, however, as three entered the room in an excited burst.

“Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie yelled, sliding across the floor. Fluttershy calmly flew in and tended to Twilight with Celestia as Luna walked in, panting, tired from escorting the two at such high speeds.

“Where is she?! I’m sure I saw her come here!” Luna said frantically, eyes locking upon Trixie, Discord and Adagio.

“You…” Luna said with a tone of despise. Her glare harshened when she noticed the hanghing Spike and the injured and unconscious Applebloom.

Luna walked over, but Trixie gestured for Luna to stop. “Don’t confront us here if you wish for the well-being of the younger ones.” Trixie said calmly, sitting down upon a desktop, folding her legs.

Luna hadn’t exactly seen them be threatened, but seeing as Trixie had already done so much… She backed down.

Aria Blaze soon came walking in with an annoyed look on her face and a small basket of two crying babies. “For the love of Tartarus, Trixie, you know I hate babies!” she said dropping the basket near Applebloom and plugging in some headphones to her ear.

Trixie giggled shortly. “Seems like you had some complications too.” She said, commenting on her wrapped side and forearm.

“Nothing major. Wasn’t a complication that I couldn’t handle.” She said, eyeing Pinkie Pie, who was too busy conversing with the others to notice.

…

After a few minutes, Applejack walked in, and her eyes met with Adagio. The room was met with an eerie silence as Applejack balled her fists. Luna grabbed AJ’s wrist however, and calmly explained the situation, telling her to sit down with them. Applejack, much to her own dismay, had no choice but to follow her instruction.

Adagio and Applejack locked gazes in intense glares as Applejack sat.

“Is there some sort of history between you and her, AJ?” Twilight asked.

Applejack scrunched her fingers into her palm harder, her fist shaking. “She burned my orchard.” Applejack simply said.

Twilight and Fluttershy gasped, while Pinkie Pie seemed to not notice, in her own little world.

“Oh? Seems like the party started. They do always say to be fashionably late.” Starlight said, walking in. She used her magic to mercilessly toss Rainbow-Dash across the ground, making her skid over to Applejack’s feet.

Applejack had to be held back by Twilight and Fluttershy, as she was more than ready to fight again at this point.

“Applejack, don’t! Think of Applebloom!” Twilight said, through her struggle to hold AJ back.

Applejack eventually calmed down, helping to tend to Rainbow-Dash, as Scootaloo was placed next to Applebloom and the twins, trapped under Starlight’s aura.

Rainbow-Dash came to, and then frantically got up, looking around. She hissed as she felt the scorch marks on her chest, where the magical blast hit her.

“Scootaloo!” Rainbow-Dash said.

Starlight snapped her fingers and allowed Scootaloo the courtesy to speak.

“Rainbow-Dash!” she replied, trying to break free of Starlight’s magic.

“Scootaloo, I’m sorry I couldn’t save you! But I will, soon! Just sit tight for your sis, okay?” Rainbow-Dash said. Scootaloo nodded. “I knew you had a plan, Rainbow! Knock ‘em dead!” she said, not at all feeling any worry. However, Rainbow-Dash now felt the worry of living up to Scootaloo’s expectations.

Sonata now skipped in, a crying Sweetie Belle above her, held in place by magic.

“Sweetie Belle?! What’ve you done with Rarity!?” Rainbow-Dash asked, rolling her sleeves.

“Oh, the silly little marshmallow?” Sonata chuckled in a childlike innocence. “She’s just taking a teeny weeny little nap, see? She’ll be here.” Sonata said, walking the frantic Sweetie-Belle over to the rest of the villains and children in the far-end of the room.

“Scootaloo?” Sweetie-Belle asked, sniffing. “They came for you too?” she asked, wiping her eyes.

“Yeah, but don’t cry Sweetie-Belle! They’ll save us.” Scootaloo comforted, more than sure that their friends were worthy.

Rarity soon after walked in, her right arm and left leg still weak from her encounter with Sonata. “You best believe we will!” Rarity said, immediately charging after Sonata.

“Wait, Rarity, no!” Twilight yelled, remembering the threats Trixie made. But as she ran, she smacked into an invisible magical barrier, just before she reached Sonata.

“Lucky enough for you, I decide to take counter-measures.” Trixie said, now beginning to stand, unfolding her legs. Discord stood with her, snapping his fingers as Angel and the cage he was in materialized into his palm.

“So… We’re all here.” Trixie said, as she cut down Spike from the ceiling, and held the terrified boy/dragon hybrid in her arms.

Adagio Dazzle, Discord, Sonata Dusk, Starlight Glimmer, and Aria Blaze stood beside Trixie, lined up in front of the magical barrier, all with sinister features, smirks, grins, and for Aria, simply the intent of evil leaked off of her.

"So you want your friends and family back, I’d assume." Trixie said, patting Spike's head with an uncomforting grin.

Rainbow-Dash punched at the barrier, making it ripple and crack only slightly.

“What do you think?!” Applejack said hitting the barrier with her fists, then leaning on it. Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy stood next to Rainbow-Dash and Applejack, each in front of their respective captor.

“You’re not going to get away with this, I’d like you to know that Trixie.” Twilight stated angrily, as she stared upon the terrified Spike, slapping her palm hopelessly against the barrier.

“Well, I’d take that as a yes then. If you wish to see these pathetic little things ever again…” Trixie began, ripping the seal that she had over Spike’s mouth. He screamed for Twilight, trying to escape Trixie’s arms, but she held him firm.

“Then you’ll do your best to follow the set of instructions that I’m going to give.” Trixie stated, as all listened intently.

“Find us in these next 5 days. When you do, bring with you the means to fight. If you fail to show up, or fail to show any worthiness in combat, your own life, as well as the child’s will be forfeit.” Trixie stated coldly.

Her glance switched specifically from Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity.

“This will root out the warriors, from the weaklings who have no right to see what I bare for the future.” Trixie said.

“If there are any change in instructions, you will be notified. Oh, and do keep in mind that we are human-beings as well. Do enjoy Hearth’s Warming as a day off from the 5 days you’ll have. Use it well.” Trixie said.

“That will be all. This was a swell get-together, wouldn’t you agree?” Trixie asked, holding her palm out into the air, as the red aura enveloped it.

“But it’s time that we depart.” Trixie said, bringing her hand down to the ground.

“Twilight, no!” Spike yelled, hands outstretched.

“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle cried.

Scootaloo sat with her arms folded and a sure grin on her face. “See ya in six days, sis.” She said.

The cake babies cried, as Angel rattled his cage in frustration.

Applebloom came to seconds before the departure, and weakly muttered, “A…J…?”

As Trixie’s hand hit the ground, a poof of smoke filled the room, and as it cleared, they were gone.

…

“So what now?” Rainbow-Dash said, sitting on the ground.

“I don’t know…” Rarity sighed, sitting down as well.

“Well, we’d better find them soon then. I don’t wanna spend Hearth’s Warming without my ‘lil sis.” AJ stated, sitting down as well.

Pinkie Pie excitedly sat on her knees. “Oh, em, gee! I totes forgot Hearth’s Warming is 2 days!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Fluttershy quietly sat down with them.

Twilight dropped to her knees though, head hung low. “Principal Celestia… Do you remember when you asked if I was okay?” Twilight said, her voice low. Celestia kneeled next to her.

“Yes, is something hurting?” Celestia asked soothingly, over the chatter of the others, who devised plans and the likes.

“Yes…” Twilight said. She never really made pride one of her fundaments, but this was different. Twice in a row, she had been flawlessly beaten by Trixie. Twice in a row, she had watched as those who needed her get injured, while she was powerless to stop it. That wasn’t supposed to happen; a leader wasn’t supposed to be so helpless.

She clutched Celestia’s forearm. “Teach me to get stronger Celestia…!” Twilight started, sniffing as she felt the inevitable tears roll down her cheek.

“Teach me to combat her, Celestia…!” she sniffed again, the tears coming heavier.

“But most of all… Teach me to protect my friends and family, so that they cannot be stolen from me!” Twilight said even louder, reaching the point of silent sobs.

“Spike was the only one that spent Hearth’s Warming nights with me… The only who made me feel at home in place of my parents’ absence… I want to be able to protect all that I love, and more! For the love of the Sun, Celestia; a leader shouldn’t be this weak. Please, teach me to be strong like you!” Twilight cried out, holding her face in her palms.

Celestia wrapped Twilight in her wings and arms.

“Fear not, my pupil. I will try my best to help mold you into the person you desire.” She said hugging Twilight close, comfortingly. Twilight’s sniffs slowed down, and so did her silent sobbing and the heaving of her chest.

“I will do everything in my power to make sure you become the leader that Equestria has never had; the leader that Equestria deserves…” Celestia mumbled lowly, hugging Twilight tighter…

[The scene outlined here, detailing Celestia hugging the crying Twilight with her arms and wings...]

Hearth's Warming Day (Chapter 3.5)

Warning: There are very suggestive themes ahead, I would recommend an age of 17+; but really, who actually even follows age restrictions on the internet anyhow…?

The crying of two familiar babies could be heard over the festive music through a festively decorated room.

“Somebody shut those babies up! My goodness, they’re such a racket.” Aria Blaze complained, covering her ears.

“Oh, don’t be like that sis! They’re just hungry!” Sonata cheerfully said, taking 2 milk bottles and stuffing it in their mouths. They sucked happily, calming down. “See?”

“Why do the babies have to stay here? Why can’t we just leave them in the room with the children, for the Sun’s sake?” Aria groaned.

“You don’t just leave babies without adult supervision, silly!” Sonata said, in a mother-like tone.

“Whatever… You’re barely mentally older than those three anyway.” Aria grumbled, taking a sip of the glass of wine that sat on the table.

“Cheer up Aria, it’s Hearth’s Warming Day!” Sonata said happily.

“Oh, she’s just a bit sour that ‘ol pink girl got one over on her.” Adagio said, poking at Aria’s wrapped forearm. Aria swatted away Adagio’s arm, and huffed.

Starlight walked into the room, and sniffed the air, the aroma of tasty treats making her smile.

“Well aren’t you three having fun?” Starlight said, walking into the room and taking a seat. She leaned back in the chair, sighing in relief. “Isn’t it nice to have a day off from doing evil and stuff?” Starlight asked.

Adagio chuckled in response, pouring her a glass of wine. “Sure is. Wonder if they made any progress on finding us?” Adagio questioned.

Starlight shrugged, sipping the wine. “Beats me.”

“Oh. My. Goodness! It’s Hearth’s Warming Day and we’ve made absolutely no progress on finding them!” Twilight said frantically, rubbing her hair rapidly, pacing around the room.

“Chill, Twilight. Celestia and Luna said they’d handle it. We do have to go to Tartarus after all, and speak with this Aperture fellow.” Rainbow-Dash said, floating above her.

“Try and enjoy the party, Cadence tried hard to set it up, y’know.” Applejack said, putting her hand on Twilight’s shoulder.

“I just don’t understand why we’re not doing something now!” Twilight said, calming down slightly.

“Oh, don’t you worry none, sugarcube. Celestia and Luna promised to help us while we recovered, and I’m sure they will. Besides, you’re the last one that needs to recover, and then we can leave. Doctor said you should be fine by tomorrow.” Applejack said, patting her shoulder.

Pinkie Pie tapped Twilight’s chest, to which she responded with a hiss, due to Trixie’s knee to her chest. She then slapped her back, making Twilight hiss more, this time from the impact to the wall.

“We can’t do anything while you’re like that, you silly billy!” Pinkie said playfully, taking a bite out of a brownie.

Twilight frowned at her slightly, not approving of her way of showing her that she couldn’t do anything yet.

“Pinkie, how many of those have you had? We don’t want you to have another sugar-rush.” Rarity said, shivering. “All those… Dirtied dresses…!” Rarity mumbled, holding herself.

Applejack laughed, patting Rarity on the back for comfort.

“What?? I only had 13!” Pinkie said, chuckling.

All of the Mane Six chatted in the room, as Celestia and Luna walked in. Pinkie ran over to greet them, in hyper mode.

“So glad you could make it! Here!” Pinkie said, putting plates of cake in both of their hands, with a fork in each. “Get comfortable!” Pinkie said, zooming off to put on some music.

While others chatted, Celestia walked over to a rather nervous-looking Twilight. “Something the matter, my pupil?” Celestia asked, sitting next to her.

“It’s already Hearth’s Warming Day, and we’ve made no progress on finding them! Celestia, I don’t mean to sound rude, but what exactly have you been doing these last few days?” Twilight asked.

“Oh you know, handling the school; I’ve appointed Ms. Harshwhinny as assistant principal…” Celestia said, laying back in a relaxing manner, bobbing her head to the music.

“Is that all?” Twilight asked impatiently. Celestia smiled at her.

“I also invited Zecora over, since you wanted to talk to her. Sunset Shimmer is also visiting from her dimension to help us in the search for Trixie and the rest.” Celestia said. “Oh, and I also prepared your things for the trip to Tartarus, essentials and such.” She said nonchalantly. “All overnight, might I add?” Celestia stated.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, calming down. “Great, so when are they arriving?” she asked.

“Tonight, to this party. Along with Zecora.” Celestia said. Twilight hugged Celestia suddenly.

“Thank you so much Celestia! I’ll try to enjoy myself until they arrive then… Then we can actually discuss some plans for that trip to Tartarus.” Twilight said, donning a frown on her face as she thought.

“And then we can enjoy Hearth’s Warming, like we’re supposed to?” Celestia asked.

“And then we can party, yes.” Twilight smiled.

[In an entirely new corporeal world]

Six figures sat in the room, lively with chatter. The area resembled Twilight’s mansion greatly. The room was decorated with skulls, crimson-glittering laces, torn and ravaged sheets, dark lighting, and other dark-themed things of the sort. In the middle of the room, was a small fountain with red liquids pouring from it. Sinister, slow, and eerie music played, but was catchy nonetheless.

Only 3 of the figures could be clearly seen. Two were recognized as Flutterbat and Diane, and the other resembled Rainbow-Dash, but her skin steamed, and crimson streaks were apparent all over her body. Her skin, just as Rainbow-Dash’s when under the Dark influence, glowed a light-pink.

“Why are we here again? Now that the Tantabus freed us, shouldn’t we be making quick work of the real world?” the one resembling Rainbow-Dash said, as she got up, heat noticeably resonating from her.

“Now, now, Perfidious. Let it wait a bit, hm? It is Hearth’s Warming Day, after all…” Flutterbat said, sipping a glass of red liquid.

She folded her legs. “Even we must enjoy such events, don’t you agree, Diane?” she asked. Diane frowned slightly.

“I’d rather be shedding blood, but a celebration with you works out too.” Diane said, drinking her own glass of red liquid.

“So, when is it exactly that we shall regroup in the real world?” Perfidious asked.

A girl with Twilight’s hair cackled in response to her question. Her hair was messy, and covered her the upper half of her face. Her smile was twisted and made her seem more than crazy. She sat in a throne, decorated elegantly with red-painted skulls.

“Soon, yes, soon… The time isn’t right, though. For now, let us celebrate our escape from the nightmares.” She said, biting into a crunchy skull-shaped treat.

“Why exactly are we letting her lead us anyway? She always seems like she’s off her noggin.” The one representing Applejack spoke.

“She may not look it, but she is the smartest and most logical one here.” Flutterbat said, switching her crossed legs. She then glanced over at her. “That also makes her the most dangerous…” Flutterbat thought to herself, taking another sip out of the glass.

“Besides… We wouldn’t quite let you lead us, Duplicity. You’d lie to us faster than Diane here would slash a throat.” Perfidious spoke, picking up a glass of red liquid. The liquid noticeably bubbled in her hands.

“Aren’t you one to speak? I may be deceitful, but there is none as disloyal as you.” Duplicity spoke.

Perfidious grunted, gulping down her boiling drink, then smashing the glass into a sharp edge. “What was that?” she asked. Duplicity sat there, calmly eating her velvet-cake with her fork.

“Now, now… Let’s enjoy the party folks. Everyone loves a good fight, but now’s the time for celebration!” spoke a chalk-white skinned girl, resembling Rarity.

“Not now, Umbra. I feel like somebody has a little too much to say.” Duplicity spoke, growling.

In an instant, the glass in Duplicity’s hand shattered, making her hand bleed.

All eyes turned to the culprit; the girl resembling Twilight.

“Enjoy the party, hm? You wouldn’t want to anger me.” She spoke, only her lips being seen; her hair still covered her face.

Duplicity frowned, and simply wiped wrapped her hand up with a piece of cloth she tore from her pants.

“Told you… Nightmare isn’t a pretty ordeal when she gets angry.” Umbra spoke.

“A toast, ladies.” Nightmare spoke, raising her glass of red liquid, and walking up to the other five.

“To what?” asked the others, holding up their glasses as well.

“To the beginning of a new end… The real world shall feel terror!” Nightmare declared, as she parted the hair from her face, revealing one crimson eye, and the other a pure sky blue. Her smile was twisted in a crazy, deranged manner.

*Clink!*

All tapped their glasses with one another, and took a drink.

The room was chatty, and surprisingly festive for room filled with villains.

“Hah! You wouldn’t believe the look of hopelessness that farm girl got after she realized it was over for her.” Adagio laughed, drinking more wine. She was noticeably getting more influenced.

“I met a really cool girl, but now I think she hates me.” Sonata said, sobbing and throwing her head into Aria’s lap.

Aria rolled her eyes. “And now you see why Sonata’s not allowed to have any alcoholic content.” Aria sighed, as Sonata sobbed into her thighs.

Starlight laughed, sipping out of her glass, and taking a bite of cake. “I see. How peculiar.” She said, a smile on her face.

Trixie opened the door to the room, and all eyes fell on her, silence filling the room.

Trixie awkwardly walked to the coat stand and removed her galaxy-themed blue jacket. She sat down next to the other four, and poured herself some wine, taking a sip. The quietness of the room got to her.

“Oh come on you guys, lighten up. Even I can take it easy on a holiday.” Trixie said, slicing herself some cake.

“Really? You, taking it easy? You literally became the most ruthless person I know overnight, Trixie.” Starlight said.

Discord materialized within the room; he wore a formal black-and-white tuxedo with a black tie. “Oh, you’ll find her to be quite the delight, actually.” He said, slicing a piece of cake, and taking the whole cake, leaving back just the slice. Adagio glared at Discord, who shrugged.

“No worries, I came prepared.” Trixie smiled, reaching into a bag by her feet, and pulling out a plate of new cake.

“In dedication to our newfound power!” Trixie said, in a triumphant laughter, as everyone, save for Discord, took another slice of cake.

The room returned to its chatty banter, a night of festivities waiting ahead.

[In the room a few doors down from theirs]

“What!? They kidnapped us?!” Applebloom squeaked. The injured parts of her body were covered in bandages treated with ointments to help the burns heal.

“We’ve gotta get outta here!” she yelled, banging on the door and pulling at the knob.

“Don’t bother.” Sweetie Belle spoke solemnly. “Whole place is sealed with some super powerful magic.” She explained, sitting on the ground hopelessly.

Scootaloo and Spike ate hungrily at the treats that were left on a short table in the middle of the room for them.

“C’mon you two, cheer up and join us, the food’s great!” Spike said, with a full mouth.

“Yeah, come on!” Scootaloo encouraged, biting into a piece of blueberry pie.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle glanced at each other, then walked over to the short table.

“At least they’re not 100% heartless…” Sweetie Belle mumbled, biting into a cake and smiling.

Applebloom took a bite out of some Apple pie. “I guess we can make this work…” she said, in an unsure manner.

The Mane Six plus the two Principals all chatted, enjoying treats and the sorts. Twilight seemed to have finally calmed down a bit, a smile on her face as well as she chatted.

“So, how do you guys think the little ones are doing?” Rarity questioned.

Applejack hummed. “Well, they’re not completely heartless, I don’t think they’d have guts to truly make a child suffer, despite the injuries on Applebloom.” She stated. “I mean, they were nice enough to allow us a day off.” She concluded.

The others nodded in agreement.

The doors to the room swung open, and a white-haired girl with black stripes and ebony-colored skin walked in. Her hair was in a subtle Mohawk which extended into straight hair, touching her shoulders. On her forearms, neck, and feet were extravagant decorative gold bracelets, loops, and necklaces. She had an African vibe about her.

She was followed by the lady that they all knew as Sunset Shimmer.

Twilight was the first to greet them, running up to them and shaking both of their hands excitedly.

“Zecora, Sunset Shimmer, it’s been a while!” Twilight said excitedly, receiving a hug from Sunset Shimmer. The others got up to greet as well.

“Yes, it is good to you as well, Twilight; I’m quite glad that I could attend this party tonight.” Zecora smiled.

“Twilight, it’s been forever! So, I assume these are your dimension’s Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow-Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, huh?” Sunset asked, shaking each of their hands.

“You betcha!” Applejack laughed. “So you’re the one who got our favorite Alicorn mixed up in some otherworldly stuff, huh?” she said, in a playful banter.

“Oh that?” Sunset said, waving it off. “Nah, I’m done with that stuff now. Actually, the main reason I came is because my old mentor,” Sunset Shimmer began, walking over to Celestia’s side. “Good ‘ol Celestia invited me to help out.” Sunset finished. Her face dropped from its happy mood.

“You know, Twilight, Celestia informed on what’s going on here… I didn’t think that you had so much evil here. I can’t stay for long, because my dimension needs me too, but I will do what I can while you and your friends seek Aperture within the depths of Tartarus.” Sunset explained.

“I am eternally grateful, Sunset. Thank you.” Twilight sighed. She then turned to Zecora. “So… Zecora, why exactly does Trixie Lulamoon possess the Alicorn Amulet?” Twilight asked, curious as to how it got out of her care.

“You see, Twilight, it was night like this; except that it was not as festive, and things were amiss.” Zecora began, as focus turned to her.

“One fair night, I handled my endeavors; the amulet shook and rumbled, causing a tremor. I studied it within my hut, trying to figure out what could be making it go amuck. Behold, the very same Trixie Lulamoon, blasted my door down with a large ‘kaboom!’ Struggle as I might, I was no match for her in a fight. The Amulet, however, was locked and sealed; furious as she would be, I knew it was the Amulet I would never reveal. However, after a devastating claw to my chest,” Zecora spoke, pausing to lift up her shirt, showing 3 long scars across her chest. “and a threat to slash up the rest, I quickly found the fear needed to confess.” Zecora explained.

Twilight sighed. “So she’s been at this for a while, huh…? Why didn’t you inform us Zecora?” Twilight asked.

“Injured, beaten, and within deep forestation, one of the hardest things to achieve is communication.” Zecora said, looking down.

“Zecora, was she an Alicorn at the time she confronted you?” Principal Celestia asked, drinking another cup of apple cider.

“If she was, I would not know; under her cloak, everything was hidden below.” Zecora replied.

“If that Amulet was reacting like that at the same time as her appearance, I’d say that she was an Alicorn… But where? Where would she have gained the means to transcend?” Twilight questioned herself out-loud.

“Alright, alright, enough of the boring stuff, hm? I like to spend my Hearth’s Warming Day with a little more celebration, y’know?” Rainbow-Dash said, yawning.

“Agreed.” Rarity said, as Fluttershy nodded in agreeance as well.

“Alrighty then, it’s settled. Say, who’s ready for some good cider?” Applejack asked, digging into a large bag, and taking out 3 cases of one-dozen apple-cider. The case read “Hard Cider”.

“Um, Applejack, aren’t we a bit young for that stuff?” Twilight asked.

Applejack smiled, and winked at Twilight. “Tonight, we’re as old as we want to be.” She laughed hardily.

“Actually-” Principal Celestia began, planning to deny them, but Luna held her shoulder.

“Let them have this night, Sister. You yourself told them in the Hospital that these events would force them to mature. Let this be their first night of maturation, hm?” Luna compromised. Celestia sat back in her chair, slowly nodding in agreement.

“I suppose you are right, Sister. I will allow them this luxury.” She replied.

“Alright girls! It’s time for the real party!” Applejack said excitedly, popping open a bottle of Hard Apple Cider, as it fizzed over.

Sonata laid in Aria’s lap, now asleep with a drunken tiredness. Aria was asleep herself, her elbow on the table, and her head in the palm of her hand. Adagio fell asleep lounging on the couch. Trixie and Discord were the only ones awake.

They each poured yet another glass of wine, and toasted, each taking a drink.

“You are quite the holder of alcohol, Trixie. I picked up the strongest wine I could find too, how is it that you’re not drunk yet?” Discord questioned, his words slightly slurred.

“Oh no, I am damn hammered.” Trixie responded, giggling in an almost uncontrollable manner.

“I just don’t act much differently.” She said, crossing her legs.

“You certainly are more pleasant when under the influence.” Discord said, as he downed his glass.

Trixie downed hers as well. “Well, Discord… It was fun, but I think now, I’ll just…” Trixie said slowly, as she fell over on her back, snoring.

Discord laughed, as he picked up the half-full bottle of wine, walking over to the nearby door, and leaving the room. "Lightweights." he mumbled, walking down the hall.

He went a few doors down, to check on the younger ones, and found them all snoring on the floor, messy with frosting, and the area trashed.

“Ah, such good, chaotic kids.” Discord sighed, closing the door and magically sealing it once again.

He returned to the former room, going over to the window, only slightly tipsy.

He took a large swig from the bottle, and wiped his mouth, staring out into the night with a smile. He looked at the great town of Equestria, lit through the night. It had grown much from the rural area it used to be. Although it was still very small and quaint, it had come a far way.

Discord’s smile turned more sinister, as his beady red eyes glowed.

“Small communities grow great through Harmony. Great ones fall to pieces, through Discord.” He recited, stuffing his hand into the pocket of his suit, bringing the bottle to his lips once again, as his red irises glowed in the darkness, defining his more sinister features.

Sunset sat and talked with Celestia, catching up, both sipping on bottles of hard apple cider. Principal Luna and Zecora sat not too far away, speaking of Arcane magic and the sorts over bottles of hard cider as well. The room was transferring through shades of different colors, and was very dimly lit, with the occasional flash of colors on selected areas, via the cliché disco-ball at the top of the room.

The Mane Six, having only just having actual alcohol, were faring a bit more hectically.

First off, Applejack was slow-dancing with Rarity in the middle of the room, in quite a sloppy manner as well, under the influence of the content in their drinks. Rarity grinned at Applejack.

“Y-you know… You’re ashually pretty cute for a rough ‘ol farm girl…” Rarity said, leaning closer. Applejack slightly scrunched her face at the smell of alcohol, but didn’t care much, as she was influenced herself. She pulled her close and spoke lowly.

“You’re not sho’ bad yourself, sugarcube” Applejack said, in a slur. Suddenly, both tripped over each other, with Rarity landing on top of Applejack.

Rarity grew a seductive grin, and grabbed Applejack’s collar, pulling her lips closer with a tug…

…

Pinkie Pie was talking to Fluttershy hyperactively farther off in the room. She was taking swigs of the hard apple cider, giggling uncontrollably.

“P-Pinkie Pie, I think you’ve had enough…” Fluttershy said, barely even affected by her drink, considering she only had a few sips out of the bottle.

“I think you’ve had too little!” Pinkie Pie said, grabbing the bottle out of her hand.

“Down the hatch!” Pinkie Pie said in a total-hyper active manner, shoving the tip of the bottle into Fluttershy’s mouth and emptying the contents in, as Fluttershy was forced to swallow.

Fluttershy ejected the bottle from her mouth, coughing as some of the liquid drained from the corner of her lip.

Pinkie Pie calmed down, watching the liquid leak down her mouth.

“You’ve gotta a little something there…” Pinkie Pie said with a suggestive voice, tackling a detesting Fluttershy down onto the ground.

"P-Pinkie Pie...!" Fluttershy gasped, her face pink, as Pinkie crawled over her in a suggestive manner, a devious smile on her face.

Pinkie Pie only chuckled and leaned down towards Fluttershy, slowly closing the distance between their lips.

…

Twilight calmly sipped at her hard apple cider, only slightly tipsy, as she read a book titled, “The Depths of Tartarus”, written by Starswirl the Bearded himself.

Suddenly, Rainbow-Dash came hobbling over, clearly drunk. “Hey, Twi… What’re you, up to?” Rainbow-Dash asked, barely managing to take a proper seat by Twilight.

Twilight scrunched her face, waving her hand. “Gosh Rainbow, you reek of alcohol!” Twilight said, not taking her eyes off the pages of the book.

“And you reek of sexy.” Rainbow-Dash said smoothly, smiling at Twilight.

Twilight blushed deeply. “Um… What?” Twilight squeaked, looking up beyond her book.

“Did I shtutter? I alwaysh did find the nerdy typesh real cute, y'know...” Rainbow-Dash said, with a drunken smirk. Rainbow-Dash leaned towards Twilight, as Twilight backed away, standing up and finding her back on the wall.

“Nuh-uh Rainbow-Dash, you’re under the influence and-!” Twilight began, but in an instant, Rainbow-Dash had planted her hand on the wall beside Twilight’s head, pinning her to the wall.

Twilight’s went silent.

“Come on, we can have a little fun, hm?” Rainbow-Dash said, licking her lips.

“U-uhh…!” Twilight stuttered and stammered, overwhelmed by her flirting.

Twilight’s face went entirely red, as she could feel Rainbow-Dash’s hand touch the part of her thigh that was just below the edge of her skirt.

Rainbow-Dash brought her face close to Twilight, enjoying her small, uncontrolled breaths, with a smirk.

Twilight no longer cared for the horrible smell of alcohol, caught in her own little world, experiencing her first bit of intimate action.

Rainbow-Dash chuckled, as she rubbed her thigh, and brought their lips closer, as Twilight closed her eyes and dropped her book…

[Back into ‘that’ corporeal world]

Flutterbat, Diane, Perfidious, Duplicity, Umbra, and Nightmare all sat at one table, enjoying glasses of red liquid and meat. Nightmare was at the end of the table, in a luxurious crimson cushioned seat, that resembled the throne. In the middle of the table was a large velvet cake with crimson-colored frosting on it. All ate and talked in a lively-manner.

Flutterbat held up her glass, and hit with a fork three times, issuing silence. All eyes turned to her.

“Let us all celebrate in honor of our reawakening! Let us enjoy ourselves in celebration of the very last night our pathetic catalysts will enjoy. But most of all, let us enjoy the reincarnation of our one and only leader, Queen Nightmare!” Flutterbat said, raising her glass high, as the others raised their glasses as well, in a toast, all except for Nightmare.

The others cheered, but silenced themselves, as they noticed Nightmare do nothing but stare at Flutterbat, her face hard to read. Flutterbat gulped, her arm still held high in the toast. Her facial features were still arranged in a way that hinted at derangement, but her overall emotion was impossible.

She then held her glass high, closing her eyes. After a few seconds, she opened them, revealing the sky-blue and crimson-red orbs, and her lips twisted into that familiar deranged smile, as she giggled in a surprisingly calm manner.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself…” she said, as thunder struck, and lightning flashed by the window.

[The scene drew out here, all that could be seen was Nightmare in the eerie, dimly lit room, half of her face lit, revealing her facial features that screamed “deranged”. Her legs were crossed, and she smiled crazily directly at the camera. The other five all had on sinister features as well, staring down towards the camera, with Flutterbat’s features being far more subtle.]

The Darkness Within: Part 2 (Chapter 4)

(This chapter is quite long… May I suggest book-marks?)

The room lay in shambles, and the Mane Six were out on the middle of the floor in more-than-questionable positions. Adding to the questionability was the untidiness and messiness of their hair and clothes. Some of them even had tidbits of underwear showing, and clearly had a crazy party.

Despite the raunchy positions that the Mane Six were in, the four other, more mature figures in the room simply decided to ignore it, as they all sat at a common table, discussing things.

“We need teams of two… One of you Principals need to stay here, while the other helps those girls with their trek through Tartarus.” Sunset Shimmer suggested.

“That is not a bad idea at all Sunset Shimmer, I feel that your plan is truly the winner.” Zecora said, drinking from her glass of water to help sober up. All four participants at the table had ruffled and frizzled hair and slight bags under their eyes, a price to pay for drinking and staying up late.

“So… Which one of us helps the girls through Tartarus?” Principal Celestia queried, with her own glass of water in hand.

“I’d say that you and Zecora head down into the pits of Tartarus with them. You two have much more extensive knowledge on demons and such than Sunset Shimmer and myself.” Principal Luna declared. “Sunset Shimmer and I shall lead the search for Trixie and the rest. Sound good?” Principal Luna asked. The other three figures nodded, agreeing.

“Great. When do you think we should begin?” Principal Luna questioned.

“As soon as the others wake up would be best; but for now, allow me to close my eyes for some rest.” Zecora said, leaning back against the wall tiredly.

“Agreed, I really do need some sleep.” Sunset Shimmer yawned, putting her head on the table.

The two Principals sighed, eyeing each other. “Leave it up to the adults to take care of things.” Principal Celestia moaned. Her sister laughed and nodded at her in an unspoken agreeance.

“Yep… Well, I’ll go and get some leads on Trixie’s whereabouts. I assume you shall prepare the girls for their trip to Tartarus, yes?” Principal Luna asked.

“Yep… Let’s meet back in here in 2 hours? I say that should be enough time for them to rest.” Principal Celestia proposed.

“Sure… Then we can explain the plan in detail. Meet you back here, sister. Oh, and please do promise to be careful in Tartarus… We both know the kinds of beings that roam those fires.” Principal Luna said in sincere worry.

“I will, sis. I will…” Principal Celestia said, avoiding her gaze, as she downed her glass of water and straightened the tie on her formal suit. “I’ll see you in a bit.” She said, walking out with a comb in her hand to rid herself of the morning look she had.

Principal Luna nodded, as she leaned back in her chair, thinking closely on where Trixie could possibly be staying. She got out a paper and withdrew a pencil from her breast pocket, as she wrote and sketched quietly…

[Nearly four whole hours later]

All participants of the party were sound asleep in the room, including Luna, who leaned back in her chair oddly, breathing softly. Celestia finally walked back in, looking quite tired and exhausted. She donned a face of horror and betrayal as she spotted Luna, sleeping comfortably.

“Luna!” Celestia said aloud, flicking on the bright lights of the room, feeling betrayed. Luna stirred, and eyed Celestia drowsily. “What happened to adults doing adult things?” she asked, hands on her hips.

Luna chuckled, although still slightly drowsy. She rubbed her eyes, and then spoke. “Oh come on sis… I’m a Princess of the Night, what makes you think I wasn’t doing something useful in my dreams? The Tantabus only allowed me to enter other peoples’ dreams; I have a much more extensive set of abilities through dreams, y’know.” Luna explained, shaking her finger.

Celestia pouted at her, clearly annoyed. “Well, it’s nice to know you could work and sleep too…” she said, as Luna glanced over at the clock. She raised a brow.

“Weren’t you supposed to return two hours ago?” Principal Luna questioned. Celestia simply ran her fingers through her hair in a nearly frustrated manner.

“Yep… Things happened. I got dragged all over the place by several organizations and such… I had to inform people of the situation and let them know why two of the major figures in this quaint town have suddenly gone AWOL.” Celestia explained. “There was also the whole talk with several corporations about why their property was damaged… Talks about repairing buildings, sidewalks, and calming the citizens from disturbances… Ugh, the sooner this is over, the better.” Celestia said, sighing and taking a seat.

Principal Luna yawned and stretched. “Sounds like you were busy… Let’s wake the others and get to work then.” Luna said, using her magic to flick on the light. Both Celestia and Luna cringed slightly when they saw the girls lying in such… strange positions. Nonetheless, the light began to stir them from their drunken slumber.

Twilight was the first to stir. A blush immediately grew on her cheeks as she stared into the sleeping Rainbow-Dash’s face, who had her arms around her. Twilight shakily grabbed Rainbow’s arm to move it off of her so that she would be able to get up, but Rainbow-Dash’s eyes fluttered, just barely. She then started to bring her face closer to Twilight’s.

As her eyes fluttered open more, Rainbow-Dash realized what she was doing, and her eyes shot wide open, staring at Twilight as her cheeks grew red in embarrassment. In an instant, she simply ducked her chin to her chest and awkwardly rolled horizontally away across the ground. Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle, as she stood up, pulling her skirt down completely and dusting herself off.

Fluttershy awoke next, waking up to Pinkie Pie sleeping right on top of her. She blushed lightly, and then frowned when she realized that Pinkie Pie was drooling on her hair, and that she still smelled of the harsh beverage. Fluttershy poked her cheek, wanting her to get off so she could get up.

Pinkie Pie opened her eyes, and stared at her. Fluttershy simply smiled back sheepishly under her gaze. Pinkie Pie suddenly grew an ear-to-ear smile, and brought her face close to Fluttershy’s so that their foreheads were touching.

“Wasn’t last night fun!? We did so many things!” Pinkie Pie said, smiling into the incredibly red face of Fluttershy. Fluttershy simply covered her face in embarrassment as Pinkie stood up, smiling at her companions within the room.

Finally, Rarity had awoken, finding herself laying side-to-side with Applejack. As Applejack came to, Rarity playfully poked her nose playfully, and muttered. “Your freckles are adorable, wouldn’t you know it?” she said, winking at her.

Applejack blushed heavily and simply laid on her back, using her hat to cover her embarrassed face.

Celestia was about to speak, but Rainbow-Dash interrupted her.

“Okay, okay! Before anyone says anything, can we all just not talk about last night?” she said, a blush still evident on her cheeks. Everyone nodded slowly in agreement.

“Glad to see everyone is awake. Enjoy your Hearth’s Warming night?” Celestia asked sincerely.

The girls simply nodded. Twilight ruffled her hair in a frustrated manner, however.

“Is this what a hangover feels like? My goodness, I feel like I need to sleep for at least another 16 hours…” she said, groaning.

“I must agree; the feeling is quite unpleasant.” Rarity agreed, as she sat back against a wall.

Fluttershy quietly nodded her head in agreement. Rainbow-Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack, however, seemed to be just fine with the aftereffects of consuming the substance.

“With adult activities come adult consequences. I’d shake it off, girls. We’ve got a busy few days ahead of us… Have you forgotten?” Celestia asked, her face growing serious.

With those last three words, the atmosphere of the room suddenly went from cheery and calm to serious and focused. Sunset Shimmer and Zecora had awoken at this point as well, joining the awoken inhabitants of the room.

Principal Celestia grabbed a remote that seemed to just conveniently pop into existence, which turned on a conveniently placed T.V that was on the far-wall of the room. The T.V fizzed on, as Celestia quickly flicked it to the news channel.

“According to Principal Celestia of the famed Ponyville School, the destruction you’re seeing here was caused by the first encounter between Trixie Lulamoon and the Elements of Harmony in what was described as a harsh and violent scuffle.” A news reporter said, hovering over the aftermath of the battle.

A picture of Trixie with an evil grin under her brown cloak showed up on the screen. “Cameras were able to catch a clear shot of the perpetrator at hand, and it is advised that all officers and physical authority confront and apprehend her at all costs. Extreme caution is highly advised.” The news reporter stated.

“Cameras were also able to catch some of the events that occurred as well. Although blurry, it did capture what it could!” the news reporter said excitedly, as images rolled and short, low-quality clips played.

“The annoying one goes first.” Trixie said. "Huh?" was all Pinkie could utter before she was picked up in Trixie's pale blue magic. At this moment, everything went slow-motion as Trixie hurled Pinkie with great speed towards the brick wall at the back of the park. As Pinkie collided, she made a shriek of pain and despair that echoed through the air. As Pinkie slid off and fell on to her side, she fell unconscious.

Pinkie Pie’s upbeat manner and behavior noticeably drained as the scenes played in horribly low-quality. Just the noises heard was enough to remind her of what Trixie had done…

Trixie brought her elbow vertically down into the back of AJ's head, HARD. AJ flew face-first down into the concrete, and the concrete even cracked slightly from the impact. As AJ punched at Trixie, she missed completely, just missing her neck. "H-huh?" AJ mumbled, slurred still. Trixie just chuckled softly and poked AJ's shoulder, pushing her backwards. AJ lost her balance, and as she fell on her back, she lost consciousness. Moments before AJ hit the ground, everything slowed again before AJ's face was shown; AJ had a few streams of blood running down her face due to Trixie, and was clearly out-cold.

Applejack’s hands balled into fists, as they noticeably shook. Her hat casted an eerie shadow over her eyes, which were leaned in a bitter crave for revenge.

Without warning, Trixie teleported in front of Fluttershy and back-handed her violently. "As an inferior being and an excuse for an acceptable human in this world, you shall not address me unless I address you, understood?" Trixie said to Fluttershy, who furiously nodded in fear, scooting farther and farther back until she hit the brick wall where Pinkie was and just started sobbing silently.

Fluttershy cringed at the sight, and unconsciously brought her hands to her face to cover up the embarrassment she felt at her uselessness. She made a silent vow to not be so weak next time, as one of her fists balled up forcefully.

With great speed, Trixie dashed behind Rainbow, and jumped off of the ground again, doing a few diagonal flips to gain momentum, and then kicked the incoming Rainbow Dash down into the ground hard, making Rainbow skid and roll and tumble a few times, even crashing through a seesaw, before sliding to a stop. Rainbow tried to get up, but soon collapsed under the pain, and fell unconscious. Her body was layered with bruises, cuts, and scars.

Rainbow-Dash huffed at the sight. Though, inside, she was uneasy all over again. The combat prowess almost unnerved her. Trixie wasn’t just another villain, clearly…

Next shown was Trixie inaudibly yelling, which Twilight and Rarity (as they were the only ones conscious at the time) assumed to be Trixie’s rage-induced rant.

Trixie picked up Rarity in her magic and tossed her into the poles supporting the swings, injuring Rarity quite badly with a few bruises and cuts from the impact and fall.

"Don't address me. Just like that yellow one over there, you're too inferior to join in this conversation. Be quiet, observe, and stay in your lane, marshmallow." Trixie spoke harshly.

Rarity frowned, crossing her arms. She awkwardly averted her gaze from the TV, her incompetence embarrassing her. Just as Fluttershy, Rarity too made a vow to not be so useless.

"I am the beginning of your end, Sparkle." Trixie spoke in a sinister voice, much less high-pitched and more calm than her usual one, as her smile grew more sadistic and the amulet glowed a bright crimson. Twilight was quickly pushed with great force back down into the ground, crashing into the centerpiece of the playground, crashing through multiple conjunctions of wood, hard plastic, and metal. Twilight lay unconscious, various bruises, cuts, and other wounds lay all over her. Some parts of her clothing were even stained red.

Twilight shivered, remembering the pain and fear she felt. Her stomach lurked, and her eyes drooped in a sort of anxious fear… She was going to have to take whatever that thing was on… It surely couldn’t be Trixie anymore. Not even Trixie could’ve possibly become so ruthless on her own… right?

“They’ve made us a news story?” Applejack thought out-loud.

“Apparently so.” Luna mumbled, watching the TV. The news report went on, flicking to a scene of the aftermath of the park.

All turned their attention to the television once again.

. . .

“As you can see, our heroes, the Elements of Harmony, went through a great ordeal. This once beautiful park has been reduced to rubble, and is reminiscent of a battleground. But that’s not all. Heading over to Reporter 2 in the air balloon, we can overlook the damage that was further caused by Trixie Lulamoon and her collaborator’s efforts.” The news reporter said, as the scene flicked to another reporter, hovering above the city.

“Yes, it’s true. From what Principal Celestia herself has told us, Trixie Lulamoon is not working alone. As told from a pedestrian who actually witnessed the defeat of our beloved Element of Loyalty, one of Lulamoon’s partners is the very same Starlight Glimmer who was thought to be reformed!” the reporter said excitedly.

The TV flicked to the report of the pedestrian.

. . .

“Yeah man, it’s true! I saw it with my own eyes; she had this steaming skin and this like, super cool pink glow! And anyone with a brain would’ve swore that Starlight was gonna get it! Then all of a sudden, Starlight gets this pink glow too, and after some awesome fighting, we were all struck with this crazy fear-induced awe! Rainbow-Dash, the mighty myth-breaker of the Sonic Rainboom was being dragged across the concrete over to Alicorn Twilight’s mansion, beaten unconscious! It was bazongas man!” the guy said, tugging on his frizzled hair from the excitement of it. The scene changed again to the reporter.

. . .

“Moving on, according to fans of Rarity’s boutique, they were appalled to find the place in an absolutely deplorable condition, with clear evidence of some kind of scuffle taking place within. More on this with an observing… stalker?” the news reporter said confusedly, as scenes changed to a rather shady looking figure. It was unknown whether or not the person was male or female, and the voice was distorted.

. . .

“Hey, don’t say it like that! It’s not like I’m the first person to stalk the beautiful goddess! Gosh, our Element of Generosity is so hot!” the figure said with a grin.

“The story, sir?” the reporter asked, awkwardly fixing his tie.

“Right, right… So here I am, doing what I do, and I notice her, of all people, rushing to her boutique! Of course, I follow… Luckily, the shades were up, so I witnessed it all! Rarity got in a fight with Sonata Dusk, that ‘ol siren! Things seemed all nice and bubbly at first, but then all of a sudden, fighting broke out, and before I knew it, I saw Sonata walk out with Generosity’s little sister slung over her shoulder! About 10 minutes later, Rarity herself stumbled out after her. It was pretty bonkers. I would’ve seen more if I wasn’t focusing so much on Rarity though. I mean, you should see the way her curves are defined when sh-” the man was cut off as the reported cut his feed.

. . .

“Yes, so there we have it. Sources also tell us that our Element of Kindness, Fluttershy and Lord of Chaos, Discord were in the mix, as well as Alicorn Twilight and Trixie Lulamoon at some point. Though, we have no significant news on this, Principal Celestia herself confirmed it. What we do have more interesting news on, however, is of our beloved Element of Laughter!” the reporter said.

“According to Mrs. Cake of the Sugarcube Corner, she witnessed our very own Element of Laughter and source of joy, Pinkie Pie, in a dangerous struggle with Aria Blaze of the Sirens we thought were defeated for good!” the reporter said, the scene switching to the report of Mrs. Cake.

. . .

“I… I’m not sure what I saw… It looked like Pinkie Pie, but it didn’t feel like her… She had this blood-thirsty look in her eyes, and this really scary, sadistic smile… When I awoke, all I heard was that she couldn’t let anyone leave with their limbs intact if they hurt family or something like that…” Mrs. Cake spoke, bags under her eyes. The ordeal seemed to haunt her.

“When I looked up, Pinkie Pie, or… whatever that person was, sent off this nasty invisible force… It was like intent! Just from feeling that force, one could immediately begin to understand the bloodlust in her being. It was… something else.” Mrs. Cake continued, shaking as she remembered the events.

“They clashed knives for a while, and just before our ‘lil ‘ol Pinkie could land a devastating strike, Principal Luna and that yellow Pegasus flew in and stopped her. Everything after that is… fuzzy.” Mrs. Cake said, shaking her head and stepping out of view of the camera. The scene once again changed back to the reporter in the air balloon.

. . .

“There’s the story at Sugarcube Corner! Last and most tragic, here is our story with our Element of Honesty, Applejack over at the Apple Orchard, with Yours Truly.” The reporter said. The camera zoomed into the view behind him.

“Doing our normal rounds around the city in the balloon, we witnessed a great fire in the city! Rushing over, we noticed a few bodies laying on the ground, and two figures clashing with each other. Before tuning in, we quickly alerted emergency services to alleviate the fire.” The reporter started, as the camera overviewed the charred orchard. About 60% of it was burnt to no return.

“When we were able to tune in, we noticed Applejack clashing with the leader of the Sirens, Adagio Dazzle. The clash seemed heated and emotional, evident from the passionate yells heard as they locked horns in fierce headbutts. Eventually, Adagio would prove too much for our Element of Honesty, and would be cast aside like insignificant memories. Soon, emergency services would arrive, and alleviate the unconscious Applejack, before she awoke and rushed to pursue her attacker.” The reporter said. The camera focused back on him.

. . .

“Here, we have our final report, with Principal Celestia herself.” The reporter said, as the camera scrolled next to him; Principal Celestia was seen, sitting gracefully on the edge of the balloon. She glanced at the camera, being cued on.

“Citizens of Equestria, know this; Trixie Lulamoon, Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, Aria Blaze, Discord, and Starlight Glimmer have made themselves our enemies. If you are to locate any of these six, we urge you to not confront them and to contact authorities immediately. We can handle it much better. Do not be afraid, my children. We and the Elements of Harmony are working hard to dispel this evil. Carry on with your lives as you normally would. We apologize now, and in advance, for damages to the city and any inconveniences caused. We will apprehend these evildoers, and see that justice is brought to their step. Celestia signing off.” She said with a small salute, falling off the edge of the balloon and into the sky, as she swooped off through the airs, flapping her wings.

The camera returned to the reporter. “But the question all of us ask ourselves is: just how well will they handle it? As we saw, they made quick work of our beloved Elements not once, but twice. Just what is going on? What will happen? Stay tuned over these next few days to find out. Channel 6 News will be back with an update on-” the news reporter started, but Celestia clicked the TV remote, turning the television off.

The Mane Six all stared at the blank screen, faces showing different effects of defeat and anxiousness.

Twilight looked back at Celestia with a serious gaze. “Celestia, when do we begin our trip to Tartarus? I want to personally see that Trixie is brought down for what she’s done.” Twilight said, her voice quiet.

“As soon as all of you are ready; I’ve already prepped the necessities for the trip.” Principal Celestia said.

“What about finding Trixie’s gang? Who’ll handle that then?” Applejack asked, curious as to how they would accomplish that.

“Worry not, Element of Honesty. We’ve decided to split the adults into teams. I will lead the search along with Sunset Shimmer, while my sister and Zecora will help you descend Tartarus to find Aperture.” Principal Luna informed. Applejack nodded, content with the plan.

“Well? What are we waiting for then? Let’s go!” Rainbow-Dash said, walking out. Rarity, however, stopped her, sniffing her shirt and then dramatically holding her nose in a feigned disgust.

“Not while we stink of that hard cider. Let’s clean up first, hm?” Rarity proposed.

“Agreed… There are a multitude of washroom facilities in my mansion. How about we all go clean up, and then get going?” Twilight agreed.

“No, you’re all fine. Have you forgotten that you’re going to the depths of Tartarus? You will only dirty yourself again anyhow. There is no time for such commodities. Time is of the essence, and you all have no idea how much time you will spend down there. Just get going, I’m sure your hygiene is not so important for the moment.” Principal Luna said in disagreement, urging them to leave.

“Agreed. Come, my students. My Sister is correct, time is of the essence, and we must depart. Form up on me, let depart.” Principal Celestia said, walking out of the door, followed closely by Zecora.

All of the Mane Six excluding Twilight gave quick goodbyes and followed Celestia. Twilight stayed back, giving Sunset Shimmer a hug.

“Guess this is goodbye so soon, huh?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

“Only for a little while, Sunset; we’ll see each other soon, our trip won’t take long… I hope.” Twilight said, giving her goodbyes to Sunset and Luna.

“Oh my, Twilight Sparkle! Do not forget that I’ve designated our regroup point at the school’s statue; it is imperative that she knows this, as your journey back will most-likely be a rushed one.” Principal Luna informed. Twilight simply nodded, putting her hand on the knob of the door, walking out.

Before leaving, Twilight said one last thing. She stared back in the room with an unreadable face. “You two; I don’t mean to pressure you, but you have the lives of very important people on your lives… Do not fail us.” Is all Twilight said before disappearing out of the room.

Sunset Shimmer and Principal Luna eyed each other, nodding.

“Okay then; first thing’s first, Sunset Shimmer. I’ve noticed some things within my dream plane, and I’ve gotten some leads. There are several places where I can sense Discord’s use of the Tantabus. We’ll start here.” Principal Luna said, putting her finger down on her sketched-out, simple map of Equestria. Sunset Shimmer nodded, following along…

“What? What do you mean?” Trixie asked, baffled at the information Discord had just revealed to her.

“I witnessed it myself. They are soon to leave this plane for some time. They wish to go to Tartarus… They’ve left finding us up to the Princess of Night and that ‘ol Sunset Shimmer.” Discord said.

Trixie hummed, deep in thought.

“Sunset Shimmer, hm? Think she’ll still appeal to the idea of evil?” Adagio asked, a cunning smirk on her face.

“Not likely. She’s one of the very few that had a taste of real power, and turned it down to be good… She’s gone.” Starlight Glimmer said, staring out of a window in boredom.

“They must really not care for the well-being of these young ones then…” Trixie stated. “Those two will not be enough to stop the six of us, even if they can manage to locate us.” She continued.

“Any idea what the lot wants within the depths of that Dark World?” Trixie asked.

Discord half-shrugged. “A conference with some demon named Aperture. Not sure though, I haven’t heard of him before, and I’ve been around for ages.” He said.

Trixie laughed hysterically. “Haha! What a way to waste lives!” she said, still laughing. “That demon is nothing but some myth! Those fools!”

Trixie laughed more. “Poor things… I didn’t want to kill so soon, but I suppose it’ll be the trigger we need…” Trixie mumbled.

“Aperture is real, just a little FYI, Trixie.” Starlight said, blowing on her nails.

Trixie looked at her with great intrigue, and walked right up to her. “Explain. Now.” She said, with a very intimidating tone.

“I’ve met versions of him, through my dimensional timeline ordeals. Very cryptic, powerful, and crafty demon. Though, he seems restrained, somehow, as if he can’t tap into the power he holds… Probably best that it stays that way.” Starlight said.

“Hmm… Although I doubt their ability to make use of that Demon, I cannot take the chance that they will. Sirens, do you believe you can pursue them in time before they leave?” Trixie requested.

Sonata groaned. “But I wanted to see Sunset Shimmer again!” she complained.

“No; if my hypothesis is correct, then this is a battle you’ve already lost Trixie; there is no telling how to even track this Aperture, or even the Mane Six through such a chaotic plane… We should stay here and further prepare our already-developed plans.” Discord said, tugging on his white beard.

Trixie stood silent, indecisive.

“Discord is right. If we are all not here, then there is a good chance that the imbeciles might actually overpower us; the Princess of the Night and Sunset Shimmer are not like the children; they know the ins and outs of a real battle.” Starlight said. “As much as I hate to admit it, we need to take this L. Our presence will be much more needed here.” She explained.

Trixie sighed hard, and nodded her head. “That stupid demon had better put that power I gave him to good use then; I didn’t go through those cursed lands for no darned reason.” Trixie grumbled, slamming the door shut behind her as she left.

“Demon? She couldn’t mean… Nah, Celestia locked him up!” Discord thought out-loud to himself. Starlight eyed him, thinking something similar.

“So? Think they’ve found any of the numerous clues we left around?” Starlight asked Discord, shortly after she left the room.

Discord clapped with a delighted smile. “Ooohhh, I hope they did! I put extra care into putting together the perfect little scavenger hunt.” Discord said with glee.

“Okay girls, all set?” Principal Celestia asked.

“Think we’re all set, Principal.” Twilight said. She then patted the backpack she had on, which seemed surprisingly flat for something that was to carry 3 days’ worth of provisions and necessities.

“You sure these bags have everything?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, I gotta second that. This thing seems really flat, and I eat like… lots.” Pinkie said, making a wide gesture with her arms.

Principal Celestia smirked knowingly. “Why don’t you all have a look inside, hm?” she offered.

Pinkie was the first inside her bag, as she made out inaudible words of amazement.

As they all searched inside the bag, they found that the inside was infinitely bigger than the outside, and stacked with all sorts of goodies and necessities.

“It’s like a home on my back!” Pinkie said, trying to get inside the bag. Principal Celestia hastily pulled her out with her magic.

“A simple distortion spell; I just played around with space and gravity for a bit until this was possible. No extra burden, and all the supplies we need. Now let’s get going; the Gates to Tartarus lie beyond the Everfree Forest… Don’t get caught off-guard.” Principal Celestia warned.

“Not to worry my companions; I know that forest a mare knows her stallion.” Zecora stated. “Though, the Principal is correct; letting your guard down in there could make for a wreck.” She said.

“Yeah, yeah. We all know about the timber wolves and other monstrosities. But uh, can we get moving already? You’ve said it yourself, we don’t have much time!” Rainbow-Dash said impatiently.

Celestia and Zecora nodded at each other and started to walk, with the Mane Six following closely behind.

[Some minutes later, upon the outskirts of the Everfree Forest]

“Remember, we must move silent, quick, and avoiding of conflict; for even now the clock that determines the fate of your friends and family ticks.” Zecora stated, hastily swiping past the bushes into the forest, as the rest followed her lead.

“S-so… On a scale of one to ten, how certain do you think it is we’ll encounter any conflict in this forest?” Fluttershy asked nervously at the rather dim setting of the forest.

“Oh, that’s an easy ten out of ten; this forest serves as many monsters’ den.” Zecora said, causing Fluttershy to shiver nervously.

“It’s okay Fluttershy. We won’t let no harm come to ya.” Applejack said comfortingly, as Fluttershy nodded, her nervousness dropping.

“But beware, this is the home of the timber-wolves, so take care; they may be preparing even now, with us unaware.” Zecora stated.

They all nodded, moving quickly through the forest.

“So… Do you think we can stop by the poison jokes again? Huh? Huh? Those things were a great laugh!” Pinkie Pie said, hopping up and down around Zecora as they walked. Zecora simply smiled at the hyperactive girl and shook her finger.

“We have no time for a matter so trivial; the moments ahead of us are much too pivotal.” Zecora said, denying Pinkie’s request.

“Aww man! But those things were fun! I mean, Fluttershy’s voice got all deep!” Pinkie Pie said in a feigned deep voice as she smiled in Fluttershy’s face.

“And Twilight’s magic was all blfft, just like my tongue!” Pinkie Pie said with laughter, now hopping around Twilight.

“And Applejack got all tiny and cute! It was adorable!” Pinkie Pie laughed, poking Applejack’s shoulder as she crossed her arms and looked off the other way with a slight blush.

“And then Rainbow-Dash’s wings got all weird! Ah, good times, good times… Man, Spike should’ve been there with us in that poison joke! Spike wo-” Pinkie continued, but stopped in her tracks.

“Oh right… Spike…” Pinkie Pie said lowly and sadly, as they walked on through the forest.

Twilight simply put her hand on Pinkie’s shoulder as they continued to walk.

The sad mood, however, was replaced with a more focused one as the shuffling of shrubbery could be heard within the darker confines of the forest around them.

As they all continued their trek through the eerie forest, wood could be heard cracking and stretching, and bushes moved. It sounded as if there was a gathering of pure wood. All kept quiet and focused, knowing that they were now being stalked.

Communications were now done through hand-signs and gestures. A clearing was seen through the thick forestation of the Everfree. Through the other side, in front of a barren array of mountains, was a giant, sleeping, three-headed dog in front of a fiery gate.

“I can’t believe it! We made it without meeting any mean ‘ol monsters!” Fluttershy exclaimed, running out into the sunlight of the opening, glad to be out of the scary, dark forest.

As she ran, all the others witnessed an unnatural amount of wood slither across the ground after her at a great speed. It didn’t quite register to them until the massive amount of wood started to form something in front of a now terrified Fluttershy.

As the largest timber-wolf ever seen formed in front of them was seen, Fluttershy stood there, now in the shadow of the large beast, absolutely frozen by fear.

The beast roared a deafening cry so devastating that the vision of all bodies present distorted and the ground shook. The beast snarled, and then lifted its front-paw over the frozen Fluttershy’s head.

“Holy wackamoly! That thing’s gonna crush Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie yelled with excitement, dramatically holding her cheek.

“That’s not good…!” Rainbow-Dash stated, as she took off, leaving the others in the gust of wind. “Flutters, move!” Rainbow said in advance, but Fluttershy was frozen in fear.

Rainbow-Dash wasn’t sure she was gonna make it in time, as the beast began bringing down its paw.

*swoosh! crash!*

Just in the nick of time, Rainbow-Dash pulled Fluttershy from her spot, just as the wolf crashed its foot into the ground, blasting Rainbow-Dash and Fluttershy into the trees, forcefully, slightly injuring them. As the beast lifted its paw and set its sights to the two girls, a small hole in the hard earth could be seen, making Rainbow-Dash gulp at its strength.

“What do we do?” Twilight asked frantically, trying to restrain the beast with her magic.

“I have never encountered one of this size; come now girls, simply try not to meet your demise!” Zecora stated, as she bravely dashed towards the beast, her signature brown cloak flapping around her.

Suddenly, Zecora jumped high in the air, as she dug into her cloak. She seemed to magically float in the air, as her brown cloak fluttered coolly around her. From the darkness of her cloak, she pulled a glass vial that contained a clear liquid that burned a purple flame.

“Taste the ascended flame, beast; may they consume your body like a feast!” Zecora cried out, hurling the small vial at the wolf. As the vial landed upon the shoulder of the dog, it exploded colossally, creating a noticeable gap in the shoulder of the beast. The explosion also created a flame that began to burn away at the wolf’s body.

The wolf roared into the air, as it focused its green eyes on Zecora. With a snarl, the beast ran towards the floating Zecora, its fangs bared.

“Zecora, move!” Applejack yelled, starting to join the fray as she rushed towards the wolf.

Zecora simply smiled, as she started to fall towards the ground. The beast lunged at her with its large teeth, but it just missed her, as she grabbed onto its chin. However, the beast was up to her shenanigans, and swung its head, making her fly back through the air.

Moving quickly, the beast dashed towards Zecora and opened its teeth-covered mouth, intending to eat the woman.

Zecora, realizing that there was no escape from this one, simply devised a plan swiftly. Mustering all of her strength, just as the beast got her into its mouth, she kicked the largest canine tooth out, and jabbed it into the roof of the (poor) beast’s mouth to prevent it from being able to bite down and eat her.

As Rainbow-Dash got back up finally, she watched with awe. “Whoa, she’s definitely stronger and more skilled than she looks! We’d never be able to pull off something with that kind of finesse…” Rainbow-Dash commented.

“She’s really brave too.” Fluttershy added on quietly, holding her injured arm.

The rest of the Mane Six watched her, surprised that the isolated forest girl had such prowess in combat, especially against such a big beast.

As the beast groaned in pain, Zecora stood on the outskirts of its mouth, and chuckled triumphantly. “Come now all of you, let’s not delay! I will most certainly need help with this fray.” She said, as she jumped from the beast’s mouth.

“Oh yeah! Time for some action!” Rainbow-Dash said excitedly, flying to the beast as she quickly evaded its paw-swipe. She then flew towards the beast’s core, cocking her fist back. In a swift move, she flew right through the core, ripping the wood apart. The beast roared in pain again, growling at RD.

“Come on Rarity, don’t just stand there!” Rainbow-Dash invited.

“You know what, I think I’ll stay right here. You guys look you’ve got this.” Rarity said, protecting her clothing and hair. She seemed rather nervous about the dangerous encounter.

Applejack chuckled. “Typical Rarity, always avoiding the dirty work.” She said, as she jumped high in front of the timber wolf, giving its jaw a solid punch which knocked loose a fair amount of wood, bringing its attention to Applejack as it tried to crush her under its paws. Applejack quickly evaded with running and tuck-and-rolls.

Twilight started to walk up, but before continuing, put her hand on Rarity’s shoulder and spoke lowly. “We’ll all have to fight soon, Rarity… Whether you want to or not.”

Rarity watched Twilight strangely, as she flew off, her lavender magical aura covering both of her hands.

“Come now, this beast will soon be gone! With the flames, and our teamwork, this won’t take long!” Zecora said, as she jumped out of the way of a paw-smash, now climbing atop the beast.

Twilight flew high, and formed a rich magical aura in her hands, and aimed at the beast. Celestia soon came up next to her and did the same, smiling at her student.

“Guess I won’t sit by either. This should finish it.” Celestia stated.

“Alright. Guys, keep it distracted!” Twilight yelled down to Rainbow-Dash, Zecora, and Applejack, who nodded, attacking the beast more.

A few more hits, roars, and dodges later, and the aura in Celestia and Twilight’s hands were oozing with power, evident from the drops of magic that were coming out of it.

“Guys, we’re ready, move!” Twilight and Celestia yelled in unison, both aiming at the beast.

As all backed away from the beast, the beast seemed to get extremely annoyed and furious, as it let out another roar so deafening that it distorted the vision of all bodies present. Suddenly, as it looked around at its opponents, its green eyes went to eerie red ones, as it growled lowly. It seemed calmer, somehow.

“Now!” Celestia yelled, as both Twilight and Celestia let out a powerful destructive beam of magic that collided with each other into a super beam of lavender and gold, aimed at the large timber wolf.

The timber-wolf simply powerfully roared at the beam, as it distorted into several different beams, two of the smaller beams knocking Twilight and Celestia back into the ground, as they crashed hard into it, making a small trench.

Another one of the beams went off and zapped the Cerberus guarding the gates to Tartarus. It got up with a yelp and growled at the wolf, which it presumed to be the culprit. As it tried to run towards the wolf, it got yanked back by a chain that held it to the gates of Tartarus. It growled, baring its teeth, as it watched the events unfold.

“That beast is smarter than it seems; using the power of its roar to distort the beam.” Zecora stated, watching the injured Twilight and Celestia get up from their ditches.

“You guys… Will have to do this on your own… That beam was more powerful than we thought… We need a little time to recover.” Twilight said weakly as she kneeled on one knee, clearly injured. Celestia stood, but looked just as injured.

“Alright guys, looks like it’s just us. Let’s do this!” Rainbow-Dash said confidently, weaving in between its paw swipes, which became faster and faster. She began to frantically dodge the beast’s swipes.

“Um guys! A little help here? This thing got like, a speed boost or something!” Rainbow-Dash said, her face twisted in focus as she dodged the beast’s swipes. It had gotten so fast that what was seen was simply apparitions of Rainbow-Dash and the paw swiping after her.

“I am coming my rainbow-haired friend; this beast will not be your end!” Zecora said, running at the beast as she jumped high, digging into her cloak once again. However, the beast’s speed caught up with that of Rainbow-Dash’s, and Rainbow-Dash was sent back down towards the earth with a powerful swipe, crashing into Zecora on the way.

Both collided with the ground violently, skidding across the hard earth. They too, were injured from the hit, and were temporarily out of action.

“Dashie, you alright?!” Applejack yelled back. However, as she turned her attention away from the battle, the beast slashed her with its claws, pushing her back against the ground and injuring her chest.

“Whoa there, far enough, bub!” Pinkie Pie yelled, rolling up a large pink cannon decorated with flowers. It was aimed directly at the large timber wolf.

“You’ve got one chance to stop before this thing goes off!” Pinkie Pie said, a serious look on her face.

Twilight, although injured, chuckled nervously. “Pinkie, don’t tell me that’s just cake or something…” Twilight asked in a face-palm.

Pinkie ignored her. The beast roared at her, rubbing its paw on the ground as it got ready to charge.

“Your choice, bub.” Pinkie Pie said, as she pulled on the string, and a large cake flew out towards the beast that now began to charge.

Everybody face-palmed at Pinkie Pie’s innocent pacifist-type attitude, as they saw the cake fly towards the now charging beast.

However, as the cake collided with the beast, it made a nasty smack sound, as the wood of the beast cracked and shook. The cake was baked hard, and was weaponized. However, undeterred by the cake, the beast chomped through it and charged at Pinkie.

Pinkie was able to do nothing, as it smashed the cannon underneath its paw, the force sending Pinkie back next to Twilight and Principal Celestia.

Pinkie Pie got up, shook her head, and smiled hopelessly. “That did almost nothing, huh?” Pinkie Pie said, in a disappointed tone.

Twilight comfortingly put her hand onto Pinkie’s back.

“Pinkie, I know you don’t like to fight, but some things require a bit more… vigor than that. This is serious, and I hate to say it, but you’ll have to drop the whole niceness thing for a while if we’re gonna get through these ordeals.” Twilight said, as Pinkie stared at the ground still.

Celestia chimed in. “It’s true. Whether you like it or not, if you wish to protect those you love, the only we will get through this one is with an acquisition of a taste for battle.” Celestia spoke.

Pinkie Pie’s frizzy and extravagant hair drooped ever-so-slightly at hearing their statements. “I’ll… try, I guess…” Pinkie muttered lowly. She didn’t like violence; she believed most things could be resolved in mostly nice and pleasant ways. I mean, they had the dragon, the cockatrice, the gargoyle, and countless others! She wanted this beast to be no exception.

Rarity, the only one who hadn’t participated in the fight, witnessed things go south more quickly than she could comprehend, and reluctantly decided that she would have to join the fray.

Covering her hands in her light blue magical aura, she walked up to the beast and shot it with a blast of destructive magic, burning away some of the wood on its face. It turned its attention towards Rarity.

“Now now, how about you learn to behave you rowdy thing! Look at the mess you’re causing! And hurting my friends? Absolutely unacceptable!” Rarity said, scolding it.

The beast turned down towards her and attempted to crush her under its palm. Rarity, not expecting it to react so quickly, just barely jumped out of the way, the force making her skid across the ground. As she got up, the paw was already headed down towards her.

Applejack, despite the bleeding slash on her chest and injuries from skidding across the ground, dashed and shoulder-bashed Rarity out of the way as the paw came down upon her.

*SMASH!*

Dust flew, and Applejack had seemingly disappeared beneath the beast’s paw.

“Oh my goodness, gracious me! Applejack!!” Rarity yelled, worried for her well-being.

However, as the dust flew away, Applejack was seen, her arms bulked, and veins popping all over her body as she struggled to keep the beast from crushing her. She was on one knee, both palms on the paw of the beast, holding its massive weight and strength.

Rarity quickly ran at the beast to help, her palms covered in the magical aura once again, realizing Applejack was still there.

“No!” Applejack said, as Rarity stopped in her tracks. “I’ve got this…” she said, her voice strained due to her struggling.

“If I can’t beat some brainless beast…” she started, as the veins became even more apparent. She slowly began to stand, the beast’s paw still over her head.

“Then how will I ever save…” she continued, as she got up further and further. Suddenly, Applejack’s eyes turned a crimson red, much like the hue of the beast’s own eyes. A powerful, orange fire suddenly exploded into existence over both of her fists.

“Applebloom?!” Applejack yelled with great strength, as she fully stood, tossing the beast back onto its hind legs. As she tossed the beast, the large flames that covered her hands were clearly seen, and her crimson eyes made Applejack out to be an entirely different person.

“You’ve caused enough trouble! Begone with you!” Applejack said in a rather city-like accent, as she ran at the beast, who was still on its hind legs.

With a powerful jump, Applejack was in front of the beast’s core, her fist cocked back. As she pushed her fist forward and made contact with the beast, it made a large force that blasted a large hole in the beast’s core. The force was covered in fire, which ate away at the beast slowly as it wailed and whined, thrashing away on the ground, the fire eating away at it.

Applejack landed on one knee gracefully. As she got up, she tilted her hat over her crimson red eyes, creating an eerie shadow over face; a scorch lay on her hat from where she touched it, as the flames still covered her hands. The beast lay just behind her, now motionless, as Applejack’s powerful fire ate away it.

“My goodness, Applejack! You… you did it somehow!” Rarity said, in disbelief that Applejack was able to blast such a hole in the beast with a single punch.

Applejack looked at Rarity with those crimson eyes, her face showing no emotion.

“I didn’t do it for you.” She said, staring at Rarity with her crimson red eyes. Rarity cocked her head to the side slightly, confused.

“Applejack?” Rarity asked, her head tilted in confusion.

Applejack’s eyes flashed back to their original green color as the flames on her hands dispersed into the air. She immediately grabbed her head and fell onto one knee.

“Applejack!” Rarity said again, running to her and holding her shoulders. “Are you alright? What’s wrong?” Rarity asked, worried for her. “Did you stress yourself too hard?” Rarity asked again.

“It’s like… Something tried to share my consciousness… Or steal it.” Applejack mumbled lowly, beginning to stand.

“Huh? Dear, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked, standing up with her.

“N-nothing… Maybe I ‘oughta be more careful, I just think my head injury isn’t all the way healed yet.” Applejack said with a slightly nervous chuckle, tapping her head.

“I… suppose so.” Rarity said, shaking it off for now. The others ran up to the two, in awe at how Applejack just dispatched of the beast.

“Holy cramoly Applejack!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

“You were all like,” Pinkie Pie started, turning her voice a bit deeper like AJ’s.

“If I can’t take down this pup, how’m I gonna save ‘lil A-Bloom?!” she said in a horribly feigned accent, acting out what just happened.

“And then you were like, WHAM!” Pinkie Pie yelled excitedly, copying Applejack’s punch.

Applejack chuckled quietly, hiding her blush underneath her hat. "Aw, shucks, it weren't nothin' special." she said, as her accent thickened with her flustered-emotion.

Celestia watched Applejack strangely as the others congratulated and thanked her.

“Something’s off… That may have been Applejack’s body up there, but that sure as heck couldn’t’ve been Applejack herself… They’re not capable of such power. What exactly did this serum do to them? As far as I can tell, it wasn’t exactly bad…” Celestia mused, in curious thought.

Zecora tapped Celestia’s shoulder and nodded her head in the direction of the portal as she walked on, indicating that they should hurry; time was of the essence, after all.

“Applejack, I don’t know how you pulled it off, but you took that thing out in a devastatingly amazing display of strength. I personally congratulate you on that. However, children, time is of the essence, and we must continue on. Let us go.” Celestia said, as she moved on towards the large three-headed dog.. The others quickly followed.

As they got to the Gates of Tartarus, the Cerberus stood in front of them, just as large as the timber wolf, and growled lowly. It brought its head low, right in front of Celestia who was in the lead of the group.

“At ease, Cerberus.” Celestia said, putting her palm on one of the heads of the beast, tasked with guarding the doors to Tartarus for eternity.

“They are with me. We require entry into the cursed lands you guard.” Celestia said, as the large three-headed dog gave Celestia a soft lick.

“What? She tamed that thing?” Fluttershy said in amazement.

“It sure looks like she did…” Applejack answered.

The Cerberus, after a few short inaudible whimpers to Celestia, stepped out of the way to allow the group entry.

“The Cerberus wishes us the best of luck, children. Let’s not disappoint.” Celestia said, standing in front of a demonic double-door. They were crimson red, with 8 square sections on it, each with a demonic golden-gilded horn protruding from them.

“You think they’d like, step their game up for the decoration to the pathway to such a scary and evil place.” Pinkie commented, as she stared upon the door in the middle of a plain mountainous field.

“I don’t think whoever made the gate would like for it to be easily discovered Pinkie. Probably why it’s beyond the Everfree Forest anyhow.” Twilight said, in a matter-of-fact tone.

Pinkie simply nodded slowly, deducing that Twilight’s theory made sense. “Okey dokey lokey!” she said in agreement.

“Cerberus. Open the doors.” Celestia said. The Cerberus walked up to the gates and stood on both hind legs, each of its front paws on either door.

“Stand aside children. Opening the portal to Tartarus is never something that is safe.” Celestia said, standing back, as the others followed suit.

With a large heave and huff, the doors started to grind and rumble as the Cerberus pulled it open, grinding against the earth. As it fully opened, a multitude of spirits and ghouls attempted to rush out, which the Cerberus’s two far-heads quickly devoured, preventing their escape. The Cerberus’ chains and collars clinked and clanked as it moved.

“Man, Cerberus never gets any less cool. Seeing him in person is always awesome! This time is no exception.” Rainbow-Dash said, in awe at the sight.

All that was seen now was a distorted portal; upon the other side were the cursed, fiery lands of Tartarus.

Cerberus stood aside to let the group through.

“Alright guys… This is it. Are you all truly ready?” Celestia said.

All nodded, determined looks on their faces.

“I’m… I’m not really good with these kinds of speeches like Luna is but…” Celestia began, her voice taking on a more emotional tone rather than her serious and more leader-like tone. This sparked the interest of her young audience.

“We are about to trek into the lands of Tartarus.” Celestia continued, turning and looking at the group of children that followed her.

“To these lands I’ve been; they are unforgiving and evil. There is no room for weakness.” Celestia spoke, her eyes on Fluttershy and Rarity.

“There is no room for kindness.” She went on, now looking at Pinkie.

“There is no room for fear.” She continued, her eyes on the whole group, mostly focused on Twilight.

“One little mistake, one wrong show of gratitude, one wrong step, and Tartarus will chew you up and spit out your bony remains. You are to trust nothing and nobody in this land; you are to move quickly, discreetly, and mercilessly; you are to move as if you are an inhabitant of the land itself. Understood?” Celestia finished.

“Understood, Celestia.” Twilight said, as the rest nodded. Their faces were all ones of determination and focus. This trek would be their key – their ticket – to victory, and so, they planned to treat it with the effort and determination it would need and deserve.

“Come then. Let us locate Aperture, and let us get you the combat prowess you will all surely need. Are you all ready to progress through the portal?” Celestia asked, as the portal behind her buzzed and hummed deeply.

“I… I s-suppose so…” Fluttershy said quietly, looking around at her companions for their ready signal as well.

“If we must; I will stop at nothing to save poor, defenseless Sweetie Belle!” Rarity said, proclaiming her readiness.

“If this is the only way I can get revenge on that stinkin’ siren and save Applebloom, then you’re darn right I’m ready!” Applejack said, with a determined smile.

“I was born ready! Let’s do this!” Rainbow-Dash said confidently, her arm on her bicep in a flexing position.

“I’m ready like Big Betty serving confetti in the deli!” Pinkie Pie said with a silly salute, making little sense as usual.

Twilight stared at the portal, as her eyes flashed two familiar colors; one a crimson-red, and the other a pure-sky blue. She shook her head, holding her temple for just a second, and spoke.

“I’m… I’m ready.” She said, looking up with determination. “For Spike!” Twilight went on, her eyes bent in determination.

“I am ready as ever; I will stop at no end to help my very best friends in their endeavors.” Zecora stated, in her African vibe accent.

“Good. Then let us go.” Celestia said, turning back around and walking straight up to the portal. Just before she made contact with it, she turned over her shoulder, and nodded. The others nodded back. As Celestia turned once again and finally walked through, the others followed suit.

[As the Mane Six walked in through the portal, the Cerberus closed the large gates behind them creating a cliché, eerie screech, followed by the slam, shutting off the camera’s view in Darkness…]

[Within the mysterious, ethereal world]

The inhabitants of the room were hard to see, as the room they resided in was still deprived of light, and as such, lighting was very dim.

“Feels like it’s nearly time to wake up…” Flutterbat spoke, hanging upside down from a wooden frame upon the roof. Her eyes were closed, and her smile short and content. A metal staff about the length of her body was strapped to her back. On both tips of the staff were light-blue indents that glowed and crackled occasionally with a silent zap of blue electricity.

“Is it? Nightmare?” Perfidious asked, as she leaned back in her chair coolly, her skin glowing a light-pink color and steam emanating from all parts of her body.

Nightmare giggled in a way that made all inhabitants of the room uncomfortable; she truly was the definition of deranged. Looking up from her throne, she opened those two eyes… One crimson red, and the other a pure-sky blue.

“It’s true… Won’t be long now…” Nightmare stated.

She opened the palm of her hand, as a jet-black, liquid-sphere, appeared in her hand. It spiked out on all directions at random moments, as if unstable.

“Can you sense it? It won’t be long now, before we have our chance, Umbra.” Nightmare spoke, as her smile grew, in that twisted manner. Her hair was still messy and untidy. She soon crushed the ball in her hand, as the substance leaked through her fingers.

“Yes, darling. But how boring! These monsters won’t equate to Trixie and her fellows. Perfidious and Diane are lucky, they got to spar with a real challenge! I need a good fight.” Umbra spoke, wrapping her fists in white bandages. Her eyes were an emerald green glow.

“I second that. I expected that wolf to be a bit more enduring, but nope, one little punch, and boom! I mean, I actually barely even got to get a stretch out of that. It was barely a fraction of the strength I could muster…” Duplicity spoke in a rather disappointed tone, as her hands burned a calm, orange flame.

“I’ll tell you what… I wanna meet this Aria Siren again… She knows how to handle a blade!” Diane spoke, clapping her hands together, amused.

“I would’ve been able to have more fun if my stupid catalyst wasn’t so weak! Bah, can’t even handle a 2.5x as fast body-rate. How pitiful.” Perfidious said, as the steam on her body released in higher levels, indicating her annoyance. She huffed, as loads of steam puffed from her lips and nose.

“Now, now… Let’s all calm down, I didn’t even get to do anything fun either.” Flutterbat spoke. In an instant, Flutterbat had a sharp blade poking at her throat.

“But, you did kiss that stupid gray human though!” Diane said, her voice with a hint of disappointment.

“Now, now, what did we say about sharp objects, hunny?” Flutterbat said soothingly, tipping the blade away from her throat, which in turn, poked into her finger, causing it to bleed.

“Besides,” Flutterbat continued, as Darkness shrouded around her, enveloping her. As it dispersed, she was gone.

In an instant, she was behind Diane, with her arms slung around her shoulders, and her mouth lay close to Diane’s neck.

“Nobody tastes better than you do… It’s not as if I could ever give you up.” Flutterbat cooed, as her canine teeth poked about at the paled-pink neck.

“Alright, alright, enough of that mushy crap.” Umbra stated crudely, tightening the bandage on her fist, as she ripped off the straggler of it.

Flutterbat released her grip on Diane, who could only stare at the wall, her breathing slightly hyped.

“You’re such a bore Umbra… Or do you want attention too?” Flutterbat spoke, looking at Umbra in a seductive manner, licking her lips.

“You keep that body, and your fangs far away from me. I know what you do to those stupid enough to fall into your allurement. I don’t know why you haven’t sucked Diane dry yet, to be completely honest.” Umbra said in a hostile manner, glaring at her with those emerald green eyes.

“Aww, don’t be like that. Besides, Diane is special; you could be too, y’know.” Flutterbat spoke, with a wink.

Umbra scoffed in response.

“Enough.” Nightmare said, as the eyes fell on her.

“Be focused and ready. All of you.” Nightmare said, standing from her throne.

“Of course, my liege; you have our power.” Flutterbat stated, with a formal bow.

“And with it, let us have great pleasure in making an entire new world suffer! And may our power grow ever-stronger.” Nightmare said.

“So… This is nice.” Sunset Shimmer stated awkwardly, as she hopped over multiple rooftops, with Luna flying just above her. They were forced to take this route, as the citizens of the Equestria Town were either too intent on getting info out of Luna, or stalking the clear oddity known as Sunset Shimmer.

“You don’t talk any more than you used to, huh Luna?” Sunset Shimmer said with a faint smile as she quickly vaulted over a ledge onto the next rooftop.

“No more than I need to, usually. Besides, I’m trying to concentrate.” Luna said simply.

“I see. Just thought there’d be more time to y’know… Talk a little bit, seeing as how this is the only time I could return for a while…” Sunset Shimmer stated.

“I see… What’s on your mind?” Luna asked, attempting to fulfill her wish.

“Well…” Sunset Shimmer stated as she weaved past a few walls and obstacles upon the rooftop, before jumping over to the next and changing directions with Luna.

“As I previously stated, my dimension needs me. You remember, right?” Sunset Shimmer began.

Luna nodded, her eyes on the streets below them. “Yes, I remember. On the night of the party when you arrived is when you mentioned this, correct?” Luna asked.

“Yuh-huh!” Sunset said with a grunt, as she quickly vaulted over a high-wall. Luna suddenly dived down, as Sunset Shimmer followed her, landing on the ground from the rooftop with a thud from her boots, as dust flew around her briefly.

“Sorry to interrupt, but for an Arcane Human, you possess incredible physical ability. What is your secret?” Luna asked, as they walked down a more intimidating part of their fair town; even the most innocent of places had the bad backdrafts.

“The state of my world has required that I grow stronger with time. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.” Sunset Shimmer said, as both arrived at a small cavern. The cavern looked torn down and abandoned, yet there was traffic in and out.

Both Sunset Shimmer and Principal Luna stood on the outskirts of the cavern to finish their conversation.

“Oh? Do explain.” Luna said, her interest perked.

“Well, you see, some nasty force is stirring up hate in my world. Everything anybody ever knew about friendship and love seems to be gone. Some, even our very own Twilight Sparkle, have begun to disregard love and friendship, and are caught in their own selfish endeavors. Although it’s not progressed to a level as bad as the evil you all face, I fear that it will quickly transgress to such a point rather quickly.” Sunset Shimmer explained.

“Is that so? Well, former student, you have my word that we will attempt to get help to you at our latest convenience.” Principal Luna stated.

“Thank you so much! No offense, but my dimension’s version of you guys and Celestia are… incapable, to say the least. As a world that exhibits much less magical power, it’s hard to actually pinpoint such things alone, so I’m eternally grateful for the promised help. But enough of that, let’s get back to the task at hand.” Sunset Shimmer stated.

“Understood and agreed. Now let us-” Principal Luna began, but was interrupted by a man shoulder-bumping her out of the way.

“Watch where you’re standing, woman.” The man started, looking them both up and down. “Two pretty girls like you shouldn’t be roaming these parts, hehe.” He said in a scruffy voice, going into the cavern.

“Oh, that rude little…!” Sunset remarked, walking after him. Luna quickly grabbed her arm and shook her head.

“Remember, the plan is that we go in and ask nicely. If feminine charm doesn’t work, then we’re allowed to provoke the denizens. I didn’t pick out these outfits for nothing.” Luna said, gesturing towards their choice of clothing: each wore mini-skirts and rather alluring tight-fitting jackets. Protruding from the mini-skirts were leggings that were about thigh-length. Luna kept classy with short-heeled shoes, while Sunset Shimmer simply had a variation of her heeled-boots; these ones were jet-black, however.

“It is never a good feeling heading into places like this dressed like this…” Sunset Shimmer stated.

“Well, I figured we’d start small; if any would know where that ruthless Trixie is, why wouldn’t it be a hotspot for notorious baddies to hang out?” Luna said, with a half-shrug.

“Fair.” Sunset Shimmer stated. As both of the females walked in.

[As they both walked in, the inside seemed to be a paradise, and was much more majestic than what the exterior displayed. The majestic lights and glamor of the interior soon blinded the camera…]

The Mane Six, with Celestia and Zecora leading them, all stood within the lands of Tartarus. For a land that was described as cursed and evil, the creatures they saw did not look appalling or necessarily demonic, even.

However, everything in the land did give off an incredible sense of evil that caused even Applejack and Rainbow-Dash to shiver, despite the fiery hot temperatures of the lands.

“Remember children, trust nothing and no one. This is the land of the condemned. Move with me, and move quickly.” Principal Celestia said, bravely walking through the creepy denizens of Tartarus which stared at the group with different looks. Some stared with hate and jealousy, others with awe and surprise. Quiet, excited mumbles were heard all around them as they walked on.

“Isn’t that Princess Celestia?” a small imp-like creature whispered in a hush.

“Think she’ll free anybody today?” a shivering small humanoid with three eyes asked.

“That stuck-up old skank? Don’t get your hopes up.” A pale aquamarine-colored human spoke. He looked bitter and dried out.

“Celestia, are you sure some of these people belong here? I mean, some of them don’t even look so menacing.” Twilight said, unsure of whether or not they deserved such punishment; these lands were very harsh.

“Every being here that Luna, myself, or any other Alicorn have banished here deserve to be here. Trust me on this, Sparkle. They know what they’ve done, and must wait for their annual day of judgement by Luna, Cadence, and Myself if they wish to be freed. One day, you too, will learn of what it is to banish people to such a realm, my pupil.” Celestia spoke, walking past and ignoring the gossip of the denizens of Tartarus.

“I see…” Twilight gulped. She had almost forgotten of her Alicorn status. Soon, she too, would have to take up such great responsibilities.

“We must find the Doors of Ultimate Judgement. It is known as the worst and final level of Tartarus, reserved for only the most impure and evil and heinous creatures. Aperture is the only-known creature to have been put there by our hands.” Celestia spoke.

“Excuse me, but how are we to know that this Aperture fellow will even help us if he’s such a dastardly creature?” Rarity queried.

“Yeah; who’s to say he won’t just deceive us and escape? He is like, super powerful, isn’t he?” Rainbow-Dash added on.

“For starters, although Aperture is impure and evil, he is a rational demon; he knows he is trapped within the Mirror of Destitute, and is powerless; furthermore, he has no reason to turn you down, as this is not the dimension he dwells in. Even if he refuses, he will not be able to do anything. And if he does refuse, than I shall simply give him an offer he cannot refuse.” Celestia said, walking with a look of determination as they reached a descending, fleshy staircase.

“Come, we must descend to the very lowest level of Tartarus before we may reach the D.O.U.J. Do not drop your guard; rumor has it that only the most heinous reside in those fiery pits below.” Celestia said.

“The what now? The heck is a dowje, or whatever you just said?” Applejack asked.

“Why, that stands for Doors of Ultimate Judgement, obviously! Silly ‘ol Apple Girl!” Pinkie Pie said in her usual, banter-full tone, poking AJ’s nose.

“Right…” Applejack said in a dragged-out tone.

“So, Celestia, while we walk-and-talk, I have some questions.” Twilight said, figuring that she’d make the walk interesting with some dialogue as they trekked deep down within the pits of Tartarus.

“Whoa there, honey! Look my way!” a guy hooted out with a laugh, watching Sunset and Luna.

The bartender of the cavern, a middle-aged, light-red skinned woman, greeted Sunset Shimmer and Principal Luna.

“What can I get you two beautiful ladies?” she asked.

“A tropical cocktail for me. Make sure the alcoholic content is tapped up a bit, hm?” Principal Luna said, grabbing the attention of several inhabitants of the bar. Both males and females alike gave lewd stares at her. Principal Luna played extra alluring, crossing her legs and leaning over the counter. She propped up her bust by putting her forearm underneath her chest.

“A simple glass of wine will do it for me, thanks.” Sunset said, as she received some looks as well. Though, none as lusty as the ones Luna got.

“These people are just screaming ‘shady’…” Sunset mused silently, feeling uncomfortable as the bar went quiet around them.

As Luna put up a few bits for the drinks, a rather large man sat down next to her and offered his own bits. He was tatted head-to-toe with tattoos of various things, most of them depicting gryphons in various immoral acts. He wore a tank-top and cargo pants, despite the cold of the season. He was clearly built, and must’ve stood tall at about 6 feet, 4 inches. He had a folded pair of fluffy wings, and a tail with a familiar bush at the end of it.

“The usual.” He said in a burly voice.

“Oh great, it’s the leader of the Gryphon Gang; what’re you here for, Metal Beak?” the bartender asked in a stressed tone.

“You know it’s that special week, woman. Do I have to remind you what happens if we don’t get paid in time?” he said menacingly, as she poured him a glass of a dark green drink and handed it to him.

“N-no sir… We’ll have it ready before your week’s stay is over.” the bartender said, quietly retreating to the back where she cleaned some glasses.

“Oh, a tough gang-leader, huh?” Principal Luna said, taking the toothpick and olive out of her cocktail-glass and biting it off seductively.

She leaned over and traced her hand over his biceps. “I do like a notorious man…” Principal Luna purred. The man chuckled lowly and grinned. “I bet you do.” He replied.

“Duuuude, that’s Principal Luna, cooing over some gang member! Oh man, wait till this hits the social medias!” a woman could be heard gossiping in the recesses of the cavern.

Sunset Shimmer quickly pulled Luna to the side and whispered harshly.

“With all due respect, he looks like a bully! Shouldn’t you be putting him in his place?” Sunset asked. Luna smiled and shook her fingers, uttering a ‘tsk tsk tsk’.

“We are looking for shady people. First we try the feminine charm to get information easy, then we can bring them to justice. Priorities, Sunset Shimmer; he won’t be leaving here with the thought of coming back, rest assured.” Principal Luna explained, leaning back to the man, Metal Beak. She pulled Sunset Shimmer closer.

“Meet my friend here. Isn’t she the cutest little thing?” Principal Luna asked, posing suggestively with Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer said nothing, as her cheeks heated up with pink.

“That’s nice, sure, but I’m really into older women, like yourself… Tell me a little bit about yourself, girl. You must be important; people seem to be making quite the big deal about you talking to me.” Metal Beak spoke, his elbow resting on the counter.

“Older women… Bah!” Sunset Shimmer muttered, walking off. She looked around the bar for someone shady she might get information from. She soon spotted a pale-pink colored girl, about her age, sitting all alone in the corner of the cavern. She strode over to give her some company.

As Sunset Shimmer sat in the booth next to her, whispers arose.

“Guess she doesn’t know…” one man in the next booth spoke.

“Yeah… That’s their underdog.” A woman said quietly, pointing to the girl Sunset sat across from.

“Oh man, the Gryphons are gonna chew her up too, if she’s seen with her too long…” another woman said, sipping her drink.

“You… You shouldn’t be seen with me… Don't you hear them...?” the girl muttered to Sunset lowly, in a sad tone.

“Why not? Are you like, a killer or something?” Sunset Shimmer asked with a half-shrug.

“No…” she said quietly.

“Oh? So what’s your story then? Why can’t we be friends?” Sunset Shimmer asked, sipping the glass of wine she brought with her.

The girl sat there quietly, fidgeting shyly.

“Well, I’m not going anywhere until you talk, so fidget and play silent all you like.” Sunset Shimmer said, leaning back, her glass of wine in hand, as she looked back, eyeing Principal Luna still flirting with the man.

“I’m the child of a rich family that lives in Manehattan…” the girl said quietly, speaking up. Sunset’s attention perked up.

“Do continue.” Sunset urged.

“I didn’t perform to their expectations, so as soon as I was old enough, they kicked me out and bought me a house here… Now I live off of checks they send me…” she muttered quietly, looking around.

“Wow, that’s quite sad; haven’t you tried to get help or anything?” Sunset Shimmer asked, with a sincere voice of worry.

“I would but…” she spoke, her voice reaching a hitch.

“They threatened to get me if I do…” she said, looking down once more, as her head hung low. Her straight, black hair hung over her face.

“Who’re ‘they’?” Sunset Shimmer queried.

“The Gryph-”, suddenly all went silent as the doors slammed open, and three female gryphons walked in the cavern. The two behind the leading gryphon wore black tank-tops and similar cargo pants to Metal Beak.

The leading one wore silky jet-black bandana on her head, and a black sports bra, showing her fit core and rather toned muscles. She wore black cargo pants and a small sleeveless/shoulder-less jet-black leather jacket that went to only her waist. On her hands were simple black combat gloves, which were fingerless. On the back of the palm of the gloves and on the knuckles/finger sections were small spikes. She looked dangerous. As fate would have it, her eyes immediately landed upon Sunset Shimmer and the girl…

“Ohhh, so that’s how you and Luna were able to harness the powers of the Elements singlehandedly.” Twilight said, with a satisfied voice. They were descending another set of fleshy steps.

“Say… Who do you think made Tartarus? Or how did it end up here?” Twilight asked.

“As with many realms, nobody will ever know their creator. However, whoever created Tartarus certainly had in mind that it was meant to imprison the truly evil until their day of reformation. This has been a long passed tidbit of knowledge through the lineage of Alicorns.” Celestia said, as Twilight nodded, listening intently.

These little learning sessions always fascinated her. The others behind her, however, were not quite as interested, as their attentions were set more on the rather… dark sense of decoration Tartarus had: fleshy walls decorated with soft lines of red mushy stuff, burning eyeballs provided lighting where the natural hellfire couldn’t illuminate, and the creatures that roamed around were now far from just simple oddities; the deeper they descended, the more they realized how scary Tartarus really was.

“We’re approaching the final level. Get ready, children.” Celestia said, as they reached the final steps and a long, wide corridor.

“Okay, last question then! What did Aperture do to deserve such a punishment?” Twilight asked, her curiosity at its peak.

“That is… a question I cannot answer, deepest apologies, my pupil.” Celestia said, her head hanging slightly. Twilight let out an annoyed groan.

“I understand.” Twilight said simply, even though she’d really rather here about what could’ve possibly been done to receive such punishment.

“Look, ahead! I didn’t know Tartarus had guards?” Twilight stated, pointing to two humans that were standing on either wall of the corridor. Each held menacing halberds and wore light, metal armor, and seemed to be Earth Humans.

“They don’t…” Celestia said, as she raised a brow in caution. As the group approached them, the two guards, who’s faces were covered by their helmets, stood in their path, blocking the way.

One of them chuckled, and spoke. “Well, well, well… If it isn’t our ‘ol Princess Sunbutt.” He said.

“Wonder what brings her here?” the other spoke, eyeing the group.

“We are headed to the D.O.U.J. Now move out of the way, subjects.” Principal Celestia spoke with authority.

“Oh no, we better move dude! Our princess commands it!” one human spoke, cracking up in laughter. The other laughed with him.

“You’re not passing here. Sorry, but only those with actual authority can pass through here, missy. You and your little posse had better turn around, if you know what’s good for ya.” One of the men spoke, as they held their halberds in an ‘X’, blocking their path.

“Yeah. From what I see, you’re not a denizen of Tartarus, so death for you would be quite… tragic.” The other spoke in an indifferent tone.

Celestia sat in thought for a second. After a few seconds, she decided that there’d be no other way.

Celestia bravely walked up to the two, as her golden aura began to envelope her body.

“Whoa there, woman! What’d we just say!? You trying to get yourself killed?” one of them asked, as both pointed their halberds to Celestia.

“Celestia, be careful! Those men seem ruthless, and their blades are far from dull!” Zecora warned, as she approached with Celestia, in case backup was needed.

Celestia walked on, now a serious gaze on the two, as the golden magical aura lightly enveloped her body.

“She’s asked for it! Go, get her!” one man asked, as he swung the halberd at Celestia.

Before the man could even comprehend what had happened, Celestia ducked under the sloppy slash, and had her palm in front of the poorly armored man’s chest. A golden, glowing ball soon grew in her palm, as the man looked down in fright.

“Wai-!” the man pleaded, but couldn’t even finish, as he was blasted back into the wall with great force, his armor scorched from the magic attack. He laid, unmoving; probably in too much pain to move.

“Oh, you’re screwed now!” the other said, as he lunged directly at Celestia’s exposed back.

Celestia simply sidestepped, inching past the blade, as she brought her elbow into the handle, snapping the handle in half as the part with the blade broke off.

The man backed away, unnerved at the Celestia’s skill.

“Did you think me defenseless? How ignorant.” Celestia said, as she teleported behind the unsuspecting man, and delivered a powerful chop to his neck, as he dropped unconscious.

Celestia stood back as normal, no longer in a fighting stance, as she walked on calmly. The others watched her with intrigue.

“Come children, do not stand there. We have progress to make; the D.O.U.J is just within the room at the end of the corridor.” Celestia said, pointing at the large doorway which led into an unbelievably large room.

As they approached the doorway, pictures of Tirek in all his glory were seen. However, this went absolutely unnoticed by the walkers of the corridor.

They entered the corridor, and were now in a room where there was just a fiery sky with no roof in sight. The room was large, and at the back of it, was a throne. The throne was surrounded by a multitude of different types of humans, and other magical creatures, such as gryphons.

Surprisingly, none of these ones were clad in armor like the guards of the corridor, they simply wore combat-related clothing and a few were equipped with shoulder and knee pads; however, some were armed with dangerous weaponry. Some of the weapons blunt, some of them bladed.

As the being in the throne stood, noticing the presence of others, the faces of the Mane Six, including Celestia and Zecora lit up in a sort of surprised disbelief.

“He’s still…?!” Twilight muttered inaudibly.

“T-this can’t be…” Fluttershy muttered, cowering behind the group.

Celestia walked forward, her stare hard.

“Well, if it isn’t my little captors.” Tirek spoke with an amused tone, as he stepped down his throne, the creatures making way for him.

He stood tall at nearly 10 feet, compared to Celestia’s 6. He looked strong as ever, but for some reason, was not standing 50 feet tall like the last time (Do keep in mind, that in this universe, he is simply a demonic humanlike creature, with two legs and two arms).

“Tirek! How did you escape the prison?” Celestia asked.

“Oh, the Gates of Tartarus may be able to hold me, but a simple magical prison is nothing that can’t be done through with time… Have you already forgotten how long it’s been, Princess?” he spoke, with a smile.

“Tirek! To think we’d see the likes of you here! Are you still up to your old ways?” Twilight said, her teeth gritting instinctively.

“My, if it isn’t the very one who defeated me… Greetings, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” He greeted, a grin growing onto his face.

“Don’t greet us like we’re buds, pal! You know what you did.” Rainbow-Dash spoke, standing up.

“Wait a sec… I can sense that power, but how come you’re not all big like you used to be?” Twilight asked, curiously.

“I have found ways to compress my power; it got quite tedious walking around being the size of a mountain.” Tirek explained. Applejack, however, couldn’t care less about what he had to say.

“Listen, don’t get in our way. We want to head to the D.O.U.J and want nothing to do with ya. Clear?” Applejack stated, walking ahead of the group.

“I can’t allow that, girls.” Tirek said, as he grew a smirk. Several of the humans and creatures now surrounded them, chuckling.

A single changeling, about 4 feet tall, flew up and sat on Tirek’s bulky shoulder, crossing his legs. He was full-clad in combat gear; he wore a flak jacket with metal shoulder-pads. One of the shoulder pads was spiked, and significantly more bulky. He also wore combat pants with metal knee-pads, and combat boots. On his hands, he wore fingerless combat gloves that were spiked on the back of the palm and fingers. On the back of the palm, in the middle of the ring of spikes was a metal plate. The attire was jet-black, to match his skin. It was clear that the small changeling was built as well, as he had bulky shoulders and arms for his size. There was no doubt that the changeling was dangerous.

“Hey, Sunbutt! Remember me?” The changeling called out, waving his hand with a smile. He sounded very, very young, with a childlike voice.

Principal Celestia looked up and shook her head, confused.

“Of course you don’t! You just mercilessly throw all of us into Tartarus, don’t you? Name’s Skrix, in case you forgot.” the changeling spoke, as his face turned bitter.

“You changelings know what you did, don’t give me that mess!” Celestia yelled, her eyes on the creatures that surrounded them.

“Yeah, right; then why am I the only changeling here? You know what, forget it.” Skrix spoke with an eye-roll. “Sic ‘em boys!” he spoke, his smile returning, as he ordered the humans to attack.

All of the surface-dwellers formed an inner-circle, their backs against each other.

“This is looking like an issue. There must be like a hundred of them, and only eight of us!” Fluttershy yelled, her fists up high, despite her clear fear.

Zecora smiled confidently, as she eyed Fluttershy from her peripheral vision.

“Do not stand there in affright; the numbers only make this a fair fight.” Zecora said cofidently, as she too, held her fists high.

“I like the way you think, Zecora; let’s get ‘em.” Applejack said, as the minions slowly, and cautiously approached the surface-dwelling humans.

“Girls, do you think you may be able to handle this alone?” Celestia asked in a low whisper, as she eyed Tirek and the changeling on his shoulder, Skrix.

“I dunno… They don’t look too tough, I suppose. I mean, we’ve beaten a horde of changelings before, so this can’t be that different, right?” Twilight said, looking at the mass amount of enemies that surrounded them.

“Great. Then Zecora and I will have to leave you and take on Tirek and Skrix; it would be bad if we were tired out from this fight before confronting those two; they seem too powerful to wait on.” Celestia said, as she looked around, keeping her eyes on the ominous faces that surrounded her.

“Celestia, you make a very good plan; come, let us go kick Tirek and Skrix’s cans!” Zecora said lowly, as both left the inner-circle, walking ever-closer to the hostile minions. Both the Mane Six and the surrounding minions watched in intrigue.

“Ready?” Celestia asked, as she grabbed both of Zecora’s hands.

Zecora nodded. Celestia picked her up and started swinging her around, faster, and faster, and faster! As Celestia let her hands go, Zecora flew off towards Tirek at great speed. In midair, Zecora aimed her foot at Skrix, successfully kicking him off.

However, while both were still in the air, Skrix grabbed hold of Zecora’s shin, and tossed her into a wall, before crashing into the ground.

Celestia simply jumped over the crowd, and flew towards Tirek, who put his hands up defensively.

“You fools, don’t just stand there! KILL THEM!” Skrix yelled, standing up as he faced Zecora, annoyed that they had not yet moved.

Suddenly, several humans charged at the Mane Six.

“Weapons free, boys!” one of the men yelled, as he swung a halberd at Twilight, who ducked under it and shot him back with a blast of magic.

“Alright girls! It’s go time!” Twilight said, her face now twisted in focus.

“Alright!” Rainbow-Dash yelled excitedly, as she flew fast and roundhouse kicked one of the soldiers, making their weapons fly into the air as they flew back, crashing through others.

“This won’t be tough.” Applejack said with confidence, as she side-stepped the attacks of two more men, and then smashed their heads together, knocking them out.

“Easy for you to say!” Fluttershy said in a scared, quiet yell, as she ducked and dodged the slashes of a man who was attacking her; the girl was agile.

“Oh my, this looks messy!” Rarity said, as she ducked under a swipe of a halberd, her hair barely missing it. “Please, watch the hair!” Rarity said, as she punched the man in throat, causing him to drop his weapon and flop on the ground, gasping for breath.

“Whoa guys, chill out!” Pinkie Pie screamed out, just barely inching by the attacks of a man and woman that stabbed at her.

“So this is Tartarus, hm? Grown adults, looking to kill children at the bidding of some demon and a changeling? You all are pathetic.” Twilight said, as she flew high, holding her hands out. Two large balls of magical energy grew in her palms.

She pulled them together as she released a large beam of magic at one part of the crowd.

However, three Arcane Humans jumped in the way of it, pulling up a gray magical ward that deflected the beam, making it hit Twilight, which sent her crashing back into the ground. Twilight stood up, her chest smoking from her own attack.

“Humph!” she said, as her fists tightened again.

“Careful guys, they’re not all Earth Humans.” Twilight said, watching the smirking, ominous figures that surrounded them.

“Kinda figured that out already!” Rainbow-Dash said, as she was high in the sky, in combat with three others.

[With Celestia+Zecora and Tirek+Skrix, not far off.]

Celestia flew towards Tirek, one hand extended towards him, while the other was pulled back, a golden, glowing ball of destructive energy in it.

“Fool.” Tirek said, as that familiar red ball of magic with black sparks appeared between his horns. He shot out a devastating beam, as Celestia held her other palm out, and did the same. A large explosion ensued, which Celestia used to subvert and keep flying towards Tirek.

Celestia flew behind Tirek, and held her arm around his neck, while pressing a ball of magic to his back.

“Surrender now, and things can be easy.” Celestia said into his ear.

Tirek simply grunted, as he rolled his eyes. In an instant, he elbowed Celestia square in the gut, as Celestia slid back, creating dust beneath her feet. She kneeled for just a few seconds, attempting to catch the wind knocked out of her.

“Surrender? In the plane that I now rule? Now you’re spouting nonsense.” Tirek stated.

“You’ll just be defeated like last time, Tirek! How arrogant are you?” Celestia spoke, standing up at full again.

“The Elements of Harmony will simply subdue you; do you not understand the blunder you create for yourself?” Celestia asked, as she stood in a defensive position, the two circling each other.

“The Elements of Harmony are not synonymous with this world. Did you think they would work in Tartarus?” Tirek spoke, as his grin grew. Celestia fell silent.

“Do you realize your blunder, Princess?” Tirek said with an amused laugh, as he charged at Celestia.

. . .

“You changelings never will learn; no, not until you all begin to burn.” Zecora stated, as she stood straight, her brown cloak enveloping her body, in contrast to the changeling who stood in a fighting stance.

“More cryptic nonsense. Don’t waste my time, woman!” the changeling said in his childlike voice, as he ran to Zecora.

Zecora stayed silent, as she watched the young changeling approach her. “Idiotic fool; you are just being used for a tool.” Zecora stated, as the changeling kicked at her.

Zecora blocked the kick with her wrist easily, as she used her other hand to punch him in the chest, sending him skidding back on his feet. Zecora then ran at him, hand cocked back.

“Do not think I will treat you even close to mild, simply because you stand short and are clearly a child.” Zecora warned, as she got ever-closer.

Skrix recovered quickly, and sent a straight punch to Zecora, which Zecora blocked with the palm of her hand, before gasping.

As they both stood there, Zecora with an angry frown, and the changeling with a knowing smirk, blood dripped from Zecora’s hand.

Skrix chuckled. “Tsk tsk tsk. Those spiked gloves’ll getcha’!” he said, grinning, as his other hand grew a dark green aura.

Zecora’s eyes widened, as she forgot that changelings were capable of using magic as well.

As the changeling put his hand to her chest, Zecora could do nothing. The changeling blasted her back with a powerful display of magic.

Zecora sailed through the sky, her signature brown cloak now partially burned, as her body smoked from the attack.

Gracefully, Zecora back-flipped to level her body out, and landed gracefully, clutching her chest.

Zecora hissed, feeling the scorch marks that were now on her chest. “I’m gonna enjoy this; we don’t get a lot of visitors like you down here.” Skrix spoke, cracking his knuckles, as he charged towards Zecora.

[Back with the Mane Six…]

Rainbow-Dash, was in aerial combat with three other Pegasus Humans; they all wielded blunt objects, such as maces and war-hammers.

“Bring it!” Rainbow-Dash taunted, as two flew at her. The first swung his hammer, to which Rainbow-Dash simply flew back and disarmed the man by grabbing the handle of the hammer and elbowing the man, forcing him to let go of it.

Using the metal handle, Rainbow-Dash uppercut the man powerfully, as he fell towards the ground, presumably knocked out.

The other swung his mace at her head, as RD ducked. “Bad move.” She said, as she brought the end of the hammer flat into his chest, which made a nasty smack sound as he was sent flying into the ground with a crash.

“Hey guys, backup up here!” the last one, a female called out, as four more opponents flew up to confront the cyan-colored Human.

“This isn’t good, I’ll be too tired to fight if I keep up with this!” Rainbow-Dash thought to herself, dropping the heavy hammer and holding both her fists up.

. . .

Fluttershy wasn’t faring any better; she was frantically dodging the attacks of the single man that pursued her. “Can’t we,” Fluttershy began, ducking under a swipe of his halberd.

“Simply just,” she continued, jumping above the low stab that the man executed.

“Talk about this?!” Fluttershy screamed, finally finishing her sentence, flexibly leaning under a swipe, as bits of hair were swiped away, indicating how close her head was to being gone.

The man charged at her again, while Fluttershy frowned.

“I suppose not!” Fluttershy gasped, as she rolled out of the way of the man smashing at her with the weapon. She quickly picked up a large rock and hurled it at the man’s nose, causing him to pause all movement.

He then slowly fell back, unmoving, as his nose leaked blood. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief, but was quickly turned back into defensive mode as three more approached her, grinning.

“Oh dear…” Fluttershy mumbled.

. . .

Applejack smirked, as she watched three more men approach her. She side-stepped one, who lunged at her with a spear, and tugged the spear bringing him closer; she then head-butted him hard, immediately knocking him out-cold.

Applejack picked up the spear and held it just beneath the bladed tip. Using the blunt side as a weapon, she smashed the head of one of the men, denting the metal pole.

The other man watched her, unnerved by her strength. He backed away, not quite wanting to confront her. Out of nowhere, a large, burly man stepped up, pushing the other man out of the way forcefully.

He had no weapon, only ragged clothes and large fists. He stood at nearly 8 feet tall, compared to Applejack’s 5 foot, 10 inches.

“Think you’re strong, kid?” he spoke with a deep voice.

“I’d like to think so.” Applejack spoke with a smirk, tipping her hat.

“Try me then.” He said with a grin, he ran towards Applejack, the ground shaking as the heavy man stomped on his way to Applejack.

. . .

Rarity seemed girly and rather defenseless, but she was making it quite evident that looks were deceiving, as another man charged at her.

The man stabbed at her with a spear, as she agilely jumped above the stab and ran across the spear’s length, drop-kicking the man in the face.

“Stay back, all of you! I’ll have you know, I know various forms of the martial arts!” Rarity said in a threatening manner, as she stood defensively, a cluster of humans surrounding her.

Ignoring her threat, two woman ran up to her with daggers and slashed at her. Skillfully, Rarity back-flipped, simultaneously kicking the dagger out of one of the woman’s hands. As the dagger fell through the air, Rarity jumped up and grabbed it.

“Stay back you! I’m armed!” Rarity threatened again. The other chuckled, as she ran at Rarity, stabbing at her with the dagger. Rarity side-stepped the woman and bashed the hilt of the dagger into her forehead, hard, knocking her unconscious.

The other woman ran at her as well, as Rarity threw the dagger aside.

As the other woman punched at Rarity, Rarity caught her fist and twisted it, forcing the woman to kneel in pain. As the woman knelt, Rarity lifted her leg, and kicked her in the neck with her shin, as the woman skidded back, unmoving, most likely knocked out.

“Who else wants some?!” Rarity yelled, now in the heat of the battle.

. . .

Twilight was in a bout with the three Arcane Humans who seemed to be skilled in magical talent.

Dodging the punch of one, she quickly pulled up her own magical shield to block the beam that another shot at her.

The one that just punched at her decided to sweep at her legs, as Twilight jumped up, aiming her hand down at the woman. Before the woman could react, a lavender ball of magic exploded in her face, as she was left unconscious, her body smoking.

Twilight wasted no time in confronting the other two, as she dashed towards another one, her hand outstretched. The man, unsuspecting her sudden assault, could do nothing as Twilight grabbed him by the collar and smashed him into the wall.

She then turned to the last one, another woman, who called for backup as three more joined her, the four slowly forming a closed diamond around Twilight.

“We’re gonna just be tired out at this rate…” Twilight thought, looking to-and-fro, her teeth gritted in focus.

. . .

“Guys, can’t we settle down and have some cake or something?” Pinkie Pie asked, as she jumped back from the two assaulters that attacked her, pulling out a plate of cake.

“C’mon now, I don’t wanna have to actually fight you…” Pinkie Pie said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “Fighting’s bad!” she continued.

The two men ignored her, charging again with their halberds.

Pinkie ducked under the first one, dropping her plate of cake, and jumped above the smash of the other one, landing on the tip of the halberd, in turn causing the handle to swing up and smack the woman in the face, knocking her out.

“Oopsies! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Pinkie Pie said, looking at the unconscious woman.

“You will be!” the man said, swinging his halberd at the unsuspecting Pinkie Pie.

Just as she Pinkie noticed, it was barely enough time; she attempted to dodge, but could only partially do so, as she was still sent back by a powerful swipe to the upper right portion of her chest.

As Pinkie Pie slid back on her feet, she looked up at the man with an unforeseen look; instead of pain, or disbelief, or even anger, her whole being had changed.

As she held the bleeding wound, she looked up at the man with an amused grin, as a jet-black aura faintly covered Pinkie Pie’s body…

[Back with Celestia+Zecora and Tirek+Skrix.]

Skrix charged at Zecora, who prepared to defend. As the changeling was in front of Zecora, he quickly used his wings to divert to the side of her, and powerfully shoulder-bashed Zecora with his spiked shoulder-pad, further injuring Zecora as she rolled back over the ground.

Zecora quickly recovered, and held her now scarred arm. With a glare, Zecora charged at the changeling, who simply dodged by jumping over Zecora with the help of his wings.

However, he didn’t jump high enough, as Zecora jumped as well, grabbing hold of his boot. With a few powerful swings, Zecora let go of Skrix, sending him crashing and skidding across the ground.

Giving no time for recovery, Zecora immediately began to charge at Skrix, taking another vial from within her partially burnt cloak. This one had a cold mist emanating from it. As Skrix got up, he noticed the vial flying towards him.

He quickly jumped back, as the vial landed and popped in front of him. He didn’t jump far enough, as the entire ground around him was frozen up to his ankles, restricting his movement.

“Grr…!” he grumbled, holding his palms out and shooting small beams of magic at the approaching Zecora, who effortlessly dodged them.

Zecora jumped high, hovering only slightly above Skrix, before she flew down towards him with great speed, her foot extended.

Skrix could only watch, his teeth gritted, as Zecora approached.

*SMASH!*

Zecora had delivered a powerful kick to Skrix, evident from the small crater that he laid in, his face twisted in pain. He coughed up blood, as Zecora jumped back, watching him.

He got up, but then quickly fell back down on all fours, coughing more as he clutched his chest, attempting to catch his breath.

“You… Are definitely… About to DIE FOR THAT!” Skrix yelled furiously, as he suddenly appeared in front of Zecora.

He punched at Zecora’s face, which Zecora simply ducked under.

Suddenly, he brought his knee up, smacking it into Zecora’s chin, which made her stumble back.

In an instant, he dug his hand into his boot, and got out a black hilt. As he flicked it, a sharp blade flipped out, shining in the light of the natural hellfires that were in the cursed lands.

Before Zecora could even realize Skrix moved, Skrix was executing an upward slash towards Zecora’s throat. Zecora, with a lean back, just barely dodged the attack, as the knife scraped her cheek, and cut off a significant portion of her beautiful black hair with white stripes.

“Be careful with that knife; you would not want to take a life!” Zecora stated, jumping back as he swiped at her with the blade. She felt blood leak down her cheek, before quickly wiping it away.

“After what you just did? I definitely want to take your life!” Skrix yelled, running at her with the blade in hand.

“Do you understand what is meant by life and death? Do you understand what it’s like to witness someone take their last breath?” Zecora warned, inching past a lunge from the young changeling.

“I understand that I want you to die!” he said, swiping at her once more, this time, cutting off a bit of her cloak.

Deciding there was no arguing against it, Zecora stayed silent, dodging the boy’s attacks.

Zecora removed her cloak and balled it up, just as Skrix lunged at her again; on Zecora’s waist was a belt with many tiny vials tucked inside. There were also straps and belts all upon her chest and thighs containing vials as well. Zecora caught the blade inside of the cloak, and kicked the cloak-stabbed dagger into the sky.

Both looked up at the dagger, and then at each other. Skrix struck first, delivering a punch to Zecora’s face with his spiked glove. Zecora quickly recovered and grabbed his hand, lifting him and then smashing him into the ground.

Zecora then quickly took out a vial that seemed to be literally swishing with fire. As Skrix got up, he was met with this vial mere centimeters from his face. As it made contact with him, a large explosion ensued, as Zecora shielded her face from the fiery blast.

Zecora caught the dagger that fell from the sky, as she held it defensively.

From the fire and smoke, rose a persistent, young changeling. His confident grin and cocky demeanor were now gone, as he walked towards Zecora, the smoke trailing off of him.

“Playtime’s over.” He said simply, his voice sounding much more mature.

Suddenly, he appeared in front of Zecora, elbowing her back, as the dagger dropped from her hands.

Not even bothering to pick up the dagger, he dashed at Zecora again, and twisted around, attempting to hit Zecora with a powerful back-hand.

Zecora caught this in her fist, but Skrix was ready, as he quickly head-butted her. As Zecora stumbled back, Skrix charged at her, picking her up in a display of strength.

He kept charging, going faster and faster, with Zecora in his grip, as Zecora smacked and smashed his head and backside. Suddenly,

*smash!*

Skrix had smashed her into a wall. As Zecora was bouncing off the wall, Skrix removed another black hilt from his other boot, flicking out another blade.

“They were twin blades!?” Zecora thought, as she fell towards the ground, still immobile in the middle of the air.

Before she could move Skrix lunged the dagger towards her.

*ϟschtk!ϟ*

Skrix had impaled Zecora back into the wall with the dagger. Zecora let out a sharp “Ack!” as the knife entered the upper-right region of her chest.

Zecora could not move, as the dagger had gone through her, and pinned her to the wall. She held the area in pain, as blood stained her clothes.

“Y-you know not what you’ve done…!” Zecora gasped, the pain overpowering her.

“You will not have this b-battle won…” Zecora stated, as she struggled to move.

Skrix grinned, as he used magic to pull the other blade towards him. He looked at Zecora with his now scorched and burnt clothing, smoke still emanating from it. “Is that so?” he said, playfully flipping the blade up and down as he stared at his victory.

. . .

Tirek ran at Celestia, as Celestia prepared to guard. Tirek jumped high, and fell towards Celestia, his hands interlocked.

Celestia quickly jumped back, just before Tirek smashed the ground, causing a shockwave to travel across the ground that would’ve surely damaged her.

Tirek looked up at Celestia with a grin, as he jumped again, fist cocked back, aiming at Celestia who was in the air.

Celestia barely dodged Tirek’s punch with a lean back. She then used his fist as leverage to pull herself above the large demon, and aimed a golden ball of magic at him from above.

Tirek did nothing but smirk, as he disappeared and appeared above Celestia. “He moves fast!” Celestia thought, thrown off by the sudden display of speed.

Celestia looked up above her, only to be met with a destructive beam of magic by Tirek which sent her crashing down into the ground.

As she looked up, Tirek was already flying down towards her. Celestia could only side-step out of the way, as the shockwave blasted her through the air.

Forcing her eyes open, Celestia saw Tirek already running at her as she sailed through the sky.

“He’s fast; relentless too!” Celestia thought, as she brought herself to a full-stop using her wings.

“This will go south fast if I don’t step it up!” Celestia thought to herself, as her body was enveloped in her golden magical aura.

Tirek punched at her, as Celestia punched back. Their fists collided, as a large shockwave was sent through the air. Tirek smirked at Celestia, while Celestia frowned back.

Both jumped back before charging at each other again.

Celestia threw a right hook, but Tirek inched past it and kneed Celestia in the gut. Coughing, Celestia quickly recovered, before shooting Tirek back with a beam of her golden magic.

Tirek seemed mostly unaffected by the beam, however, as he barely moved back from being hit by it.

“How powerful is he? That beam was anything but weak…!” Celestia mused, worried as she felt herself getting tired.

Tirek opened his mouth wide, as a beam came from within and shot at Celestia. Celestia immediately pulled up a magical ward, and tried her best to defend, but it proved too much, as the beam broke through and shot Celestia back with great force. She was sent skidding and tumbling across the ground before crashing into the throne, damaging it.

She stood up, her breathing staggered.

“Using your little magical power-up tiring you, Princess?” Tirek mocked, as the golden aura still enveloped the slightly fatigued Principal.

“Nothing I cannot handle.” Celestia retorted, dashing towards Tirek. She held her fist cocked back. As she punched at Tirek, he simply side-stepped. However, Celestia saw this coming, and held her other hand at his chest, as a large ball grew in her hand quickly.

As the ball exploded fiercly, Tirek was sent flying back this time, slightly injured; however, using that much power had tired the Princess, evident from the magical aura leaving her body, as she panted.

Tirek got up and patted himself off. He then ran at Celestia, who watched him tiredly.

She attempted to dodge his punches, but her movement was slowed from her fatigue.

“Getting tired, Celestia?” Tirek mocked, as Celestia sidestepped to-and-fro, just barely dodging the attacks.

Celestia ignored him, jumping high in the sky to escape him. However, Tirek did something Celestia was not aware that he was capable of; Tirek teleported right behind the tired Celestia, his hands interlocked.

“Game over.” He stated gruffly, as he brought his hands down into her head, smashing her into the ground.

He then formed a powerful, destructive, ball of black magic in between his two horns.

Celestia attempted to move, but she was too weak to break free from the rocks that lay upon her body. All she could do was watch the powerful beam now approach her.

*Boom!*

The beam reached Celestia, and an explosion ensued with the collision. Tirek landed and walked over to the rubble. Punching into the rubble, he pulled the defeated Celestia out and tossed her across the ground, laughing.

Celestia’s clothes were ripped and burned away at various spots, and her body smoked from the magical assault.

She was half unconscious, as her eyes fluttered. She coughed, as Tirek turned her over onto her back and picked her up by the neck.

“Look at you; so pathetic! Hah! Your power isn’t even worth absorbing.” Tirek mocked as he tossed her back onto the ground. Celestia laid there, unmoving.

Tirek’s eyes fell onto Skrix, who was also victorious. He smiled, as his eyes turned to the Mane Six’s struggles.

[With the Mane Six… Again.]

Pinkie Pie looked up at the man, holding her bleeding wound. She chuckled creepily.

“Did you… Did you just cut me, mister?” Pinkie Pie asked rhetorically, as she stood up, letting her limbs hang unnaturally.

She looked at the confused man with icy dead, blue eyes. Her skin seemed to literally pale beneath the dark aura that now covered her being.

She leaned down and picked up a sheathed dagger that was on the back of an unconscious body. She unsheathed the blade, tossing its sheathe away.

She took one step to the man, holding the dagger tight. “Do you know…?” ‘Pinkie Pie’ began.

“What you’ve…?” she continued, holding the dagger up.

“Just done?!” ‘Pinkie Pie’ yelled, as she took another step. On the next step, the jet-black aura that covered her thickened and an invisible shockwave shot out to everybody within her radius, including Tirek and Zecora, as well as the Mane Six.

As the shockwave was sent out, Pinkie Pie’s extravagant hair lost its shape as it slung down, straight and fine. A dark aura floated around her, and it was clear that it was no longer Pinkie Pie.

All eyes went on her. Nobody was unfamiliar with that force that the pink girl was emanating… It was that same bloodlust that Aria once felt in the Sugarcube Corner. (Diane)

“Is that…? Pinkie Pie? Holding an actual weapon?” Rainbow-Dash asked, after ducking under the swing of an attacking woman.

“Diane’s gonna slice you up for cutting her!” she said in the 3rd Person, with a big grin.

Quick on her feet, Diane was already in front of the man. Mercilessly, she slashed upwards at the man’s chest, as he fell back, immobile, gasping as he held his wound.

“Whoa, that’s not Pinkie Pie guys!” Twilight said, ducking under another magical blast, as she noticed that aura around her and that sadistic grin.

“That’s what Mrs. Cake saw! Don’t you all remember the news?” Rarity yelled out, elbowing a woman in her throat, as she fell to the ground, flopping around for breath.

Diane licked her lips as she watched the figures that surrounded her. “You all want to get cut too? Be my guest…” she said, charging into the crowd of minions, her dagger held high.

. . .

“Focus here, lady!” a man yelled at Rainbow-Dash, as he knocked her down into the ground with the end of his hammer.

Rainbow-Dash stood up, wiping the blood from her now bruised mouth.

“Oh crap!” Rainbow-Dash yelled, jumping back as three more smashed hammers down at her location.

Rainbow-Dash soon found herself surrounded by about 10 figures.

She was already tired from the fighting she had to beforehand, now this…

“You guys are persistent, y’know that?!” she said, as two dashed at her. She jumped over the first one, kicking him down into the dirt as she simultaneously kicked his weapon into the other one, knocking him back as well.

Rainbow-Dash landed on one knee, breathing more heavy.

Three more dashed at her. She ducked under all of their attacks, as she jumped back, panting.

“This is bad, I’m already tired!” Rainbow-Dash thought, looking around. She didn’t notice the man approaching behind her, and in a sudden moment, had a mace smashed into her back as she flew forward into the other three.

One of those three head-butted her back, as Rainbow-Dash got up, her back cut from the mace, and her forehead throbbing from the head-butt.

“For Scootaloo…!” Rainbow-Dash thought, as she side-stepped past a man who charged at her. She immediately drove her fist into his gut and kicked him back, as he skidded over to the other two running at her.

They jumped over his body, and the first one swung his mace at RD.

Rainbow-Dash blocked the attack by grabbing the handle and stopping the weapon’s descent.

However, the other man was able to bring his hammer back, and swing it with great strength into Rainbow-Dash’s abdomen, as she flew back into a wall.

As she hit the wall, she slid down onto her butt, her rainbow-colored hair now covering her face. Blood leaked from the corner of her mouth, and her lips were straight and still, as if she was unconscious.

“She’s done for.” A man said, walking up to her with his mace in hand, chuckling.

However, the girl’s cyan-colored skin began to glow a light pink, as her lips twisted into a smile. The light red stripes over her body appeared, more prominent than the last time this phenomenon occurred. She began to get up slowly. (Perfidious)

As she stood, an invisible aura floated around her, making her clothes float seamlessly around her.

“To think that this girl couldn’t even handle such simpletons… Leave it all up to Perfidious, huh?” she thought. As her light-pink glow became brighter, steam started to emanate from her skin.

She looked up at the figures surrounding her, counting.

“1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8… Eight of you, huh? I say you all last about 30 seconds, tops.” Perfidious spoke, her rainbow-colored hair floating calmly in the invisible aura that emanated from her.

“Cocky talk from a girl wh-” the man began, but was interrupted as Perfidious drop-kicked him into the dirt, immediately knocking him out-cold. All that was left in the spot that Perfidious was once in was a rippling force in the air, showing the speed she took off at.

The others instinctively backed away, knowing for a fact that they hadn’t even seen the lady move.

Perfidious took her foot out of the man’s face and grinned. The others watched her strangely.

Her eyes fell on two women, who immediately got nervous.

“25 seconds left.” Perfidious said, with a smug grin. Another gust of air appeared where she was standing, as she disappeared.

Immediately she appeared in front of the two women, who couldn’t even comprehend her movement.

Before they could even react, Perfidious punched one square in the face sending her flying back with great force.

She then jumped and twisted in the air, delivering a powerful spin-kick to the other one, which made her smash down into the ground.

“20 seconds left, and 5 of you left… Will you make it?” Perfidious asked in a menacing tone, which made the others back away slightly. One tried to run, but Perfidious immediately appeared in front of him and punched his throat, hard, making him fall to the ground and thrash around for air.

“Okay guys, form up! She’s too-!” one man began, attempting to make a plan, but Perfidious was already in front of the man her back-hand approaching him. With a nasty smack, he was sent crashing down into the ground as well.

The other three decided that they wouldn’t wait to be taken out and charged at Perfidious, weapons ready.

“10 seconds.” Perfidious stated, as she ducked under the attacks of all three.

In lightning speed, she delivered swift and powerful punches to all three of their guts, making them hunch over; she then uppercut each one into the air separately.

In a display of speed, she was already above the three in the air. Perfidious flew towards them rotating her body with her legs extended towards the flying bodies. She progressed into a horizontal spin.

As each came up to Perfidious, they were kicked down with great strength, in succession. All collided in the ground, making three separate pillars of dirt and debris, due to the power that they were hit with.

Perfidious flew and cockily rubbed her nose. “28 seconds… Too easy!” she said, her skin steaming as she eyed Diane slice unsuspecting people up.

“Looks like she’s having fun.” Perfidious said quietly, as she leaned back, dodging the attack of a foolish Pegasus Human that thought she stood a chance.

As Perfidious leaned under the attack, she grabbed the foot of the woman and swung her down into the ground, creating another pillar of dirt and debris, which soon fell back down.

. . .

Fluttershy fell onto all fours, dodging the swipe of a halberd that came her way. The woman wielding the halberd then smashed down into the ground as Fluttershy rolled out of the way with a small shriek.

“G-guys, we can talk this out!” Fluttershy bargained.

“Not likely.” The woman retorted, stabbing at Fluttershy. Fluttershy frantically side-stepped, afraid for her life. In a miraculously lucky chain of events, a body came out of nowhere and smashed into the woman, knocking her into the dirt, out-cold.

Fluttershy shielded her eyes from all the dirt and debris that flew.

“Phew!” Fluttershy breathed, relieved. As she looked up from where the body flew from, she noticed ‘Rainbow-Dash’, but her skin was… steaming?

Suddenly, Fluttershy was interrupted by a large man smashing his hammer at Fluttershy. Luckily, he missed, but the force was enough to throw Fluttershy off her feet.

“Darn, missed!” the man grumbled, picking up his hammer in one hand.

Before Fluttershy could get up, he picked her up by the neck relentlessly, choking her. Fluttershy struggled, clutching his arm and dangling her feet.

“So cute and helpless… Shame you had to waltz into Tartarus; this is Lord Tirek’s land, you were asking for this the second you stepped foot on these lands.” The man said with a chuckle.

“No, not like this! I said I wouldn’t be so weak!” Fluttershy thought, as she struggled, her vision going hazy as her throat was tightened by the man’s grip.

She then squeezed the man’s arm harder, digging her nails into his skin, drawing blood. Using her other hand, she punched him directly in the eye.

“You bastard!” He yelled in pain, picking her up high and smashing her into the ground, hard; Fluttershy arched her back in pain as she slammed into the ground. She lay there, motionless. He then stumbled back, holding his arm and eye.

The man looked at the hole Fluttershy was in and growled. “Stupid girl deserves it!” he grumbled, walking up to her. As he was about to pick up her body, the pale-yellow girl’s hand stopped him.

She sat up, two fangs protruding from her mouth. As she opened her eyes, her irises were now a crimson red. She had a vampire feel to her. (Flutterbat)

“Don’t you know how to treat a lady?” Flutterbat asked, annoyed as she stood up. She had a whole different feel to her that gave the man a chill.

“Um…?” the man stuttered, confused.

Flutterbat flew up to the man’s face and held his cheek affectionately, enthralling him; she slowly eased the heavy hammer out of his hand. Surprisingly, she was able to hold it one hand.

“Let me show you…” Flutterbat began, with a soothing voice. Suddenly, she flew back a little and held the hammer up.

“Let me show you what happens when you don’t treat a lady right!” Flutterbat yelled, bringing the hammer up and smashing it into the man’s face ruthlessly. As she landed, she didn’t even bother to look back at him, as she walked off, dusting her hands.

“Simpletons; and they wonder why I’m not into men.” Flutterbat muttered, walking off in Diane’s direction.

. . .

Applejack fought with the burly man. She caught his fist and then lifted him over her head, preparing to smash him into the ground. However, the man turned it around by using the leverage to pull Applejack into the air as he landed, smashing her into the ground instead.

“You’re pretty strong.” Applejack commented, getting up from the ground as if she wasn’t even injured. She did, however, breathe mildly. The amount of people she had to deal with before this guy puckered her out.

“You’re not so bad yourself lass. Barely know anyone that can even lift me a millimeter off the ground.” He retorted, running at her.

Both punched at each other, their fists making direct contact with each other’s face, sending them both flying back. The man immediately got back up, but AJ was growing tired.

“Is it just me, or are your punches getting weaker?” the man mocked, running to her.

Applejack stood in defensive mode. As he approached, she sent a powerful punch to his chest, which seemed to leave him unaffected. He then grabbed Applejack in a bear-hug.

“Ready for a hug?” he asked, chuckling lowly.

Applejack tried her best to separate his arms, but was weak and tired. “Grr! Get off me, ya big hunk ‘ah junk!” Applejack commanded.

“Make me.” He stated, squeezing her in his arms. Applejack looked up into the sky in pain, feeling her bones crunch.

“He’s really strong…!” Applejack thought to herself as she struggled to get out of his grip.

He squeezed harder, forcing a small yelp out of Applejack. “But… I have to persevere! For Applebloom!” Applejack thought, struggling harder. The man’s arms came apart just slightly.

“Oh? I don’t think so!” he said, pulling his arms together even harder, as Applejack could’ve sworn she felt her bones grind against each other in a crack. All of a sudden, Applejack squelched and fell limp.

“Is that it? All ya got?” the man asked, still squeezing, as Applejack’s hat covered her face.

Suddenly, a powerful orange flame appeared over Applejack’s hands, as she looked back up with those crimson red eyes from before. (Duplicity)

“What am I, your doll? You squeeze like a child!” Duplicity spoke, in that city-like accent.

Duplicity simply brought her feet up to his chest, and ripped his grip off by extending her arms. She seemed to do this effortlessly. As soon as the grip was released, she delivered a powerful kick to the man, as he flew back, crashing through several other figures before skidding off to a stop. Duplicity landed on the ground gracefully.

Duplicity watched him, waiting for him to get up. After about 10 seconds, he got up slowly, disoriented.

“At least you’re not an absolute weakling.” Duplicity spoke with a smile, walking up to the man.

The man turned and backed away, preparing to defend himself.

“But how? You were just tired!” he said in disbelief.

Duplicity was silent as she ran to the man who prepared to defend himself. As she jumped up to the man, the man held his arms in an ‘X’ hoping to block the punch.

As Duplicity cocked her fist back, the flame on it grew considerably. In a display of strength, Duplicity sent a single punch that sent the man skidding in great speed towards the wall that was behind him.

He crashed into the wall, bouncing off with a look of pain in his eyes. Before he could fall to the ground, Duplicity dashed up and punched the man back into the wall, embedding him within it.

He lay there, head hung and his chest smoking from the fire, now unconscious.

“Easy.” Duplicity said, eyeing Perfidious, Diane and Flutterbat. “Looks like things are starting, huh?” Duplicity said quietly with a smirk.

. . .

Rarity ducked underneath another swipe of a halberd, tugging on the handle of the weapon, bringing the woman closer, before rendering her immobile by driving her fist into her stomach.

As she turned, she just barely noticed a man swinging another halberd at her. She ducked just in time, however…

*Schling!*

… her luscious hair was not so lucky; Rarity fell on both her knees her mouth agape. She felt her hair, then looked at the man and horror. That horror quickly turned to fury as Rarity looked up at the man, her eyes flashing to an emerald green. (Umbra)

“You’re going to pay for that!” Umbra spoke with seething rage. She dashed up to the man and grabbed hold of his face with her palm. An emerald green glow started to appear, and in an instant, the man’s face was covered in a magical explosion, as he fell back, unconscious.

His face smoked from the explosion. “Stupid men, never know the value of hair.” Umbra spoke, her emerald green eyes bent in anger as she felt the portion of her hair that was missing.

Another two women ran up to her as she was inspecting her hair, however, as the first one swung, Umbra inched to the side and stomped on the end of the weapon, making the handle smash her in the face.

Umbra then turned to the next woman, and before she could swing, disarmed the woman by grabbing the weapon and smashing the handle of it into her face, which disoriented her enough for Umbra to pull it away and toss it to the side.

The woman shook her head and punched at Umbra. Umbra caught her fist, using it to toss her into the air.

As she was in the air, Umbra blasted the woman with an emerald-green beam of her magic.

The woman fell back to the ground, smoke trailing off of her.

“Trivial.” Umbra said, observing her surroundings. Her eyes fell on Twilight.

“Looks like you’re the last one…” Umbra said to herself.

. . .

Twilight blocked another beam of magic with a shield, but was growing tired at the drawn out fight.

“Don’t you guys ever quit!?” Twilight yelled, as three more replaced the two she had just taken out.

Twilight was full-on panting for breath, tired beyond belief. Her eyes looked past the few that surrounded her, as she laid eyes upon the defeated Zecora and Celestia.

“This is looking bad.” Twilight muttered, not noticing the completely different five other people that had taken out the rest of the horde of minions.

While Twilight was distracted, however, she got shot back with a blast of magic.

Twilight lay on the ground, feeling too weak to move.

“We didn’t come down this far… Not to have this happen…! Not to lose Spike…” Twilight thought, inching off the ground slowly, despite her fatigue and injuries.

She walked slowly onwards to the three Arcane Humans that opposed her.

A single beam was shot into Twilight’s chest which made her stumble back a bit. Nonetheless, determined, Twilight recovered and walked on.

Another, and another, they shot, as Twilight persistently walked on, her chest smoking from the attacks.

Soon, all three shot at once knocking Twilight back onto the ground, where she lay on her back, slipping out of consciousness.

As her eyes blacked out, they reopened, her lavender orbs turning into one with a pure-sky blue, and the other a crimson red. Her lips twisted into a deranged smile, as she looked straight up at the sky. (Nightmare)

A jet-black ooze, which resembled darkness, seeped from Nightmare’s back, lifting her off of the ground and back onto her feet. Nightmare stood, her head hung, and the rest of her limbs hanging unnaturally. Her messy hair covered her face.

As she slowly began to look up, her deranged smile was revealed, slightly unnerving the three arcane humans that stood across from her.

Nightmare made a magical aura envelope her hand; however, this aura was jet-black and seemed to have tentacles of darkness oozing from it.

She aimed her hand at the one in the middle, shooting a small beam of magic. As the magic hit the man, he flew back, skidding across the ground. Immense smoke rose from his chest, and through the smoke, one could see the vaporized shirt and his scorched flesh.

He fell unconscious, grasping the wound in disbelief.

The other two looked back at the man, then back to Nightmare. They backed away slightly.

“Shoot her!” one yelled, shooting beams of magic at her; the other followed suit, not wanting to face off with such magic.

“Fools, the lot of you.” Nightmare spoke simply with her wide, deranged grin. She held up her hand, and instead of a magical ward to block off the magic, she held up what seemed like a black hole with the jet-black tentacles whipping from it, which simply absorbed the magic into nothingness.

Nightmare stepped forward just one step, and suddenly, disappeared, dust being left in her place.

“Where is she?!” one of them yelled, looking around frantically.

They both looked up simultaneously, but it was too light, as a large black beam already headed down towards them, engulfing them. Nightmare landed, stumbling around like a crazy person, laughing.

“How easy!” she said to herself, looking around and noticing the amount of bodies that lay around them. She stood, quiet observing around her; she could feel their presence. Yes, they were all here…

The five others walked up to join Nightmare, finding nobody left to defeat.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but this definitely isn’t the surface-world, is it?” Flutterbat asked, in almost a rhetorical manner.

“Clearly not… But it seems there is still some fun to be had.” Perfidious said, as she hissed, steam releasing from her mouth. She pointed over to Tirek and Skrix.

Tirek turned to face the altered version of the Mane Six. Unbeknownst to their transformations, he walked up to them, dragging Celestia behind him.

He picked up her body to show them. “Do you see how futile it was coming down here? You know, a girl named Trixie came down here, warning me to not let you guys tread this land if you wished to escape her wrath… Funny that I find you all here so soon.” Tirek said, tossing Celestia aside. The “Mane Six” watched him with slight intrigue.

“Not even your Princess could stand to my might; what do you lot hope to do?” Tirek continued. He then laughed.

“You can do nothing. You all may have gotten lucky the first time, but it won’t happen again! After the power Trixie has granted me, there are none in this realm that can oppose me! Word around Tartarus has it that you all seek Aperture…” Tirek spoke, not noticing the significant difference in the bodies of the amused eyes that stared him down.

“Such foolishness! Do you hope that by consulting with the demon that you may, what? Find a means to defeat Trixie and stop what is to come? Hah! Aperture will not even entertain bugs like you.” Tirek mocked; he seemed to know of Aperture’s existence, somehow. He waited for them to speak, but they were silent, which slightly annoyed him.

Tirek noticed their silence, and grunted. He turned and spoke lowly.

“Skrix. Get them.” Tirek ordered, walking towards his damaged throne.

“With pleasure, my liege.” Skrix said, walking away from Zecora before flying to the ‘Mane Six’.

“Brilliant speech.” Umbra commented. She walked ahead of the rest of the group and looked the changeling up and down.

“I say it’s fair that I get to handle him; everybody else did get their chance with significant figures anyway.” Umbra stated, walking ahead the rest.

“Have at it.” Nightmare offered.

“Gladly.” Umbra smiled, facing the changeling.

“No offense, but you don’t really look like the fighting type, miss-” the changeling began, but was interrupted by a kick to the chest that made him slide back and fall onto one knee

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Umbra asked.

“Absolutely nothing.” Skrix said, recovering and running at her. As he punched at her, Umbra sidestepped out of the way. He then swung his fist in her direction as Umbra ducked under it. Skrix then quickly swept at her, as Umbra jumped above his feet.

“My, how slow.” Umbra stated, standing across from the changeling, yawning.

The changeling growled. “Shut up!” he yelled, punching at Umbra once more. Umbra inched past the punch and elbowed the back of the changeling’s neck, pushing him into the ground, hard. The changeling stumbled up, clearly hurt from the attack.

“Oh, you’re gonna get it now!” Skrix yelled, getting up and flicking out the blade. As he swiped at Umbra, Umbra effortlessly dodged and slid past his attacks. In an instant, Umbra caught Skrix in a counter-attack; when Skrix lunged at her, Umbra grabbed his arm, twisted it so his elbow was backwards, and elbowed it.

*Crack!*

An unsettling shift in bone was heard, as Umbra kicked the boy, sending him flopping over on his back as he held his arm in pain; the young changeling shrieked, holding his now limp arm that was twisted in an unnatural position.

“Oh my, did I do that?” Umbra said, in a feigned surprise. “Sorry, sometimes I just can’t tell how fragile you creatures are.” Umbra said, covering her mouth as she giggled.

The changeling backed away, fearing that this woman would cause him more pain. His frightened eyes shook at the sight of her; he had never felt a pain so intense before! And she treated the battle as child’s play! This woman was something entirely out of his league.

“Come now, don’t tell me you’ve lost your nerve, kid?” Umbra said with a frown. Skrix was quiet as he backed away from her, gingerly holding his broken arm. Tirek rose from his throne once more, realizing that something was amiss; there was no way that these girls could’ve possibly done so much damage to Skrix in such a short amount of time.

Umbra suddenly appeared in front of the frightened Skrix. “Be glad I’m allowing you to live, brat.” She said menacingly, as she chopped his neck. He fell unconscious, and fell onto Umbra’s body.

Mercilessly, Umbra pushed the boy off of herself violently, as he tumbled across the ground.

“Who are you?” Tirek demanded to know, now noticing that these girls were very different from the ones he knew.

“None of you… None of you seem like what you were when you first came.” Tirek observed them, now with a modest amount of caution.

Nightmare looked up at Tirek with her deranged smile. “Forget about us, more about you! Tell me… are you strong?” Nightmare asked, completely ignoring Tirek, as her grin grew even wider.

“Strong enough… Are you plagued, Twilight Sparkle?” Tirek inquired, confused by this change in behavior.

Nightmare said nothing as she created a black ball of magic in her hand, staring directly at Tirek. The rest formed up behind her, all with anticipant smiles and grins.

Tirek stood tall, as a single bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. “Something’s up… I would do well to be careful…” Tirek thought to himself, watching the girls closely.

“Whoa, there’s my favorite badass!” the large man, Metal Beak, spoke crudely, with a hardy laugh, raising Luna’s attention. The female gryphon gave a small salute to him.

“Sup Boss. See you scored yourself another pretty lady tonight; think you’ll take her back home for a bit of fun?” the gryphon asked with a devious smirk, licking her lips.

The man grunted, nervously eyeing the midnight-blue colored woman that leaned on him.

“Answer some of my questions properly here tonight, and maybe we’ll get somewhere.” Principal Luna said.

The gryphon’s eyes turned to Sunset Shimmer and the pale-pink girl sitting across from her.

A wicked smile crept onto the gryphon’s lips, as she walked over to the table, the other two gryphons not too far behind.

Suddenly, she slammed the palm of her hand on the table, startling the girl. Sunset frowned at the obvious set of troublemakers.

“Get another check from your dad for us yet, ‘ol Bonnibel?” the gryphon asked, pushing her head back violently.

“Bonnibel… So that’s her name.” Sunset Shimmer mused, watching the ordeal.

The girl whimpered back in the booth. “I-I told you, he only sends so many bits so often, DeathTail…!” Bonnibel whimpered.

“And that’s DeathTail, huh…?” Sunset Shimmer mused more, her fists balling up, witnessing the bullying.

“Now leave me alone you ghetto thugs!” Bonnibel cried out, slumping back into the booth seat.

In a display of violence, DeathTail slapped her. “Don’t you ever talk to me like that; you’re our property, so you better treat your owners with respect!” Deathtail yelled at the now shocked Bonnibel.

“Enough!” Sunset Shimmer yelled, silencing the entire cavern.

“Who the Tartarus to you think you are?! Leave the woman alone, she doesn’t want to be bothered!” Sunset barked, standing up with her fists balled and raised high, as all eyes fell on her.

Even DeathTail was surprised at the outburst. Her surprise was soon replaced by a smug look.

“You must be new here, girl.” DeathTail said, with a chuckle. She grabbed a bottle of wine from an unsuspecting woman’s table, and refilled Sunset’s glass of wine, then pulled the bottle away still holding the half-full glass bottle.

“Sorry for disturbing you ma’am, please, sit down and accept my apologies.” DeathTail spoke with a smile, as she gently seated Sunset Shimmer into the seat and gestured towards the drink.

All eyes in the room watched the two, intrigued at DeathTail’s behavior.

“Now that’s not a bad change in behavior…” Sunset Shimmer said quietly, as she began to pick up her glass to take a sip, in respect for the apology.

“They’re not so bad Bonnibel.” Sunset Shimmer commented, as she brought the glass closer to her lips.

[An eerie silence followed through the Cavern, nobody uttering a word, as everything played out in slow-motion.]

As Sunset Shimmer was bringing the glass to her lips after uttering her words to Bonnibel, DeathTail’s smug smile returned, as it grew wider and evermore wicked.

In an instant, DeathTail clutched the nozzle of the half-full wine bottle ever-harder, raised her hand high, and with great strength, began to bring it down towards Sunset Shimmer's forehead.

*Pop, Smash, Clingk!*

[Everything returned to normal]

The entire cavern went into an uproar of cheers and laughter as the bottle smashed into Sunset’s forehead. Sunset Shimmer’s head was lowered, her uniquely-colored hair now messy with wine.

As she looked up at DeathTail with a blank face, DeathTail pointed at her and broke out in laughter.

Upon Sunset’s face was a single stream of blood, as well as splashes of wine all over her upper shirt and face.

“Condescending female dog! Learn your place!” DeathTail said crudely, with a hardy chuckle.

Sunset, not saying a word, brought her hand slowly to her forehead, and pulled it away, looking at the blood that now lay on her fingers. She smiled, standing up to face DeathTail. Her lips were shiny with blood as well, as the glass she drank from popped and cut her.

“You’ve just made a near-fatal mistake.” Sunset Shimmer spoke, cracking her knuckles as a faint amber-colored magical aura enveloped her entire body.

In an instant, before DeathTail could even comprehend anything, Sunset Shimmer delivered a powerful roundhouse kick directly to the gryphon’s face, sending her crashing through several tables, as people got up and scattered to the walls of the building to avoid and watch the fight.

DeathTail’s arms hung over debris, her dangerous combat gloves being in clear view. She felt her lips, as it leaked that red color. The other two gryphons stood defensively in front of her.

“If you think bullying is okay, I’m gonna teach you a thing or two, and then send you to the authorities after I beat you up!” Sunset Shimmer said, dropping into a fighting stance.

DeathTail lifted herself up, ordering the other two gryphons to the side. “You’ve just made a colossal mistake yourself, lassy.” DeathTail spoke bluntly, wiping the blood off as she held both of her spiked fists up.

[Everything drew out here, as the two stared each other down in a standoff, the participants of the bar, including Metal Beak and Luna, watching them with great intrigue.]

Zecora pulled the blade from out of her body, clenching her teeth as she felt the wound throb and as the blood leaked down her body. She withdrew two vials, and stared at it for a few seconds.

She shook her head, throwing away the thoughts of the pain. She poured the contents of the vials on either sides of her wound, from the front, and the back. As the clear liquid touched the stab wounds, the flesh around it bubbled up, and the bleeding became minimal, despite the significant wound. Zecora’s head shot up, looking into the sky as the process caused sharp pains.

Hissing at the intense burning the bubbling caused, she slammed her fist into the ground, as if transferring the pain there. She dug into her bag that Celestia had equipped them with and withdrew a roll of white bandage, which she wrapped around her entire upper-right chest, covering the wound. She held the wound in pain, as she walked over to Celestia to treat her as well, being careful not to arouse Tirek’s attention.

. . .

“So, you say you’re strong hm?” Nightmare said, taking a single step forward, as a jet-black aura covered her body. Tentacles of darkness whipped from the aura.

Suddenly, Nightmare disappeared and appeared in front of Tirek, her fist cocked back.

Tirek, not expecting the sudden burst in speed, or the sudden attack, held his fists up in defense. However, the punch still caused him to slide back greatly. “What? Impossible, you shouldn’t be this powerful! You aren’t even holding the power of another Alicorn!” Tirek said in disbelief.

Perfidious was seen next, hovering in front of Tirek, her fist cocked back as well. Tirek hadn’t even seen the steaming girl move!

“H-how?!” Tirek said out-loud. The girl smirked, as all Tirek felt was heavy force blasted him back. It felt like a fist, but the girl didn’t even move! “What is…?” Tirek stuttered, confused at this new display of power.

Before he could recover, Duplicity was running at him next, the flames engulfing her hand expanding.

“Enough of this nonsense!” Tirek yelled, shooting a beam of magic at Duplicity. Duplicity ran straight at it, punching right through the beam with her fiery fist.

“I-impossible!” Tirek gasped, as Duplicity jumped and punched Tirek into the ground, leaving a scorch mark on his face.

Diane and Flutterbat were next, running in intertwining paths towards Tirek. Diane dodged a punch that Tirek threw, and slashed him across the length of his chest as Tirek stumbled back with a groan.

Flutterbat ran, and jumped over a magical beam that Tirek sent her way, landing on her the palms of her hands, directly beneath Tirek.

Pushing off of her palms, Flutterbat launched herself up, kicking Tirek straight in the jaw, sending him into the sky.

Umbra, who stood behind them now, ran up and jumped up and approached the airborne Tirek.

With a graceful front-flip, she brought the heel of her foot into Tirek’s head, sending him crashing down into the ground.

The six girls stood around him, awaiting him to get up.

Tirek rose from the rubble, his teeth gritted in anger. “How?! How is this possible?!” he yelled in frustration.

“You are, all of you, vermin! Trixie said you were but bugs, waiting to be crushed! Am I this weak, or was she so wrong? Which is it?!” Tirek barked, confused and frustrated, as the girls surrounded him, enjoying every second of his anger.

The girls stayed quiet, smiling. They were only interested in making this creature suffer.

. . .

Zecora smothered Celestia’s injuries in different liquids. After some time, Celestia returned to consciousness, sitting up frantically.

“Tirek!” she yelled. Zecora quickly covered her mouth and laid her down.

“Shush, now is the time to rest; the girls are dealing with that pest.” Zecora said, hushing her.

“The girls? What?” Celestia sat back up, and looked around, noticing the mass amount of unconscious bodies lying around the area.

“They defeated them?” Celestia asked. Zecora nodded, and then pointed in Tirek’s direction. They seemed to have Tirek injured.

“They are certainly stronger than I thought, if they can have Tirek in that position… Either that, or Tirek and I are weaker than I presume.” Celestia said in disbelief that they had forced Tirek to such injuries.

Upon a closer inspection, however, she noticed that ‘Rainbow-Dash’ had a light-pink glow and steaming skin, and Applejack’s hands were ablaze.

“Wait… Something’s off.” Celestia said quietly, now noticing the dark intent that washed over the area.

. . .

“Will you answer me?!” Tirek roared, losing his ability to compress his power, evident as his size began to increase.

“How? How have you all gotten so powerful!” Tirek roared more, growing up to 20 feet tall.

“Or have I gotten weaker? Has Trixie lied to me, perhaps?!” he yelled more, growing up to 35 feet.

“ANSWER ME!” Tirek roared in frustration, now standing tall at 50 feet.

Nightmare gestured for him to come down with her finger, giggling like a crazy schoolgirl. Tirek knelt, facing the now small Nightmare, listening intently.

“You talk way too much.” Nightmare said simply, flicking Tirek’s nose with great power, which caused Tirek to stand and stumble backwards, holding his nose in pain.

“You dare to mock me!? I will teach you puny lot more than just a thing or two!” he said, looking at the small girls that surrounded him.

Duplicity jumped up high, her fist cocked back. “As if! Your size only makes you a bigger punching bag, mister!” Duplicity said with laughter, as the flame on her hand grew an immense size, and turned into a majestic blue color.

As she punched his chest, the fire impacted a bigger area, exploding on Tirek’s bare chest, leaving a large burn/scorch mark.

“Ack! You pest!” Tirek yelled, as he swatted at Duplicity with his large hand. Duplicity, refusing to be hit, punched the hand back, as she fell back onto the ground.

Perfidious flew up to Tirek’s back, as her legs donned a brilliant glow of light-pink, and the steam nearly covered her legs, increasing in quantity

Aiming at Tirek, she kicked so furiously that only many apparitions of her legs were seen, as many foot indents appeared in Tirek’s back, knocking him forward.

Umbra, using her magic to blast her high into the sky, was now in front of Tirek’s face. With a few powerful spins, Umbra’s boot made contact with Tirek’s face making him stumble back.

“Argh!” he yelled, swatting at both Umbra and Perfidious, who both evaded.

“Ready, hun?” Flutterbat asked. Diane nodded, putting the hilt of her dagger into her mouth, as she grabbed both of Flutterbat’s hands.

Flutterbat flew above the ground and started swinging Diane in great speed. After several rotations, she let go, sending Diane flying towards Tirek.

Tirek instinctively drew his forearm to his face to block. Diane happily stabbed the blade into his forearm instead. As gravity dragged Diane down the length of his forearm, opening a wound on Tirek’s wrist, he shook his wrist, flinging Diane off high into the sky.

Diane had no intention of stopping however, and as she fell she aimed her blade towards his bare chest. Failing to swat her out of the way, Diane impaled his chest and dragged her blade down, using his flesh as her buffer to slow the fall.

Tirek yelled in pain as Diane landed. As she flicked the red substance off of her blade, she smiled at her work; Tirek now had two slashes upon his chest, creating a makeshift ‘X’.

Nightmare flew in front of Tirek, and spoke. “I expected you to give us a fight. You are disappointing, just as the rest. Tell me, demon, where is Trixie? She is sure to put up more entertainment than you.” Nightmare requested.

Tirek raised his fist and punched at Nightmare, however, Nightmare was no weakling; he stopped his large fist with her bare palm; she made it clear that size and power were not synonymous, as Tirek reacher nearly 10x as tall as Nightmare, and was much more built. Tirek watched her, now feeling fear.

“Y… you’re not Twilight! You can’t be!” Tirek said in a stutter.

“Double double, toil and trouble; may the fear in your heart boil and bubble.” Nightmare said ecstatically, her smile widening, as she thoroughly enjoyed breaking Tirek’s will.

“Answer the question, and I may just spare you, demon.” Nightmare said simply.

“I will answer no such thing!” Tirek yelled, smacking Nightmare down towards the ground. As Nightmare collided with the ground, a very small crater engulfing her, the other five looked up at Tirek with a surprised face.

“That’s right, be very afraid!” Tirek roared, mistaking their faces of surprise for ones of fear.

“I will end you insolent imbeciles!” Tirek roared again, as a large, destructive ball of magic formed between his horns. It grew, and grew, becoming more chaotic and unstable.

Nightmare casually pushed the rubble off of herself and stood, the others watched her, noticing that her smile had disappeared. She looked up at Tirek with a frown, dusting her minor injuries off.

“Let’s see if you have enough power left to stop this!” Tirek yelled, donning a fear-fueled, confident grin. His eyes were strained, and the blood vessels in them could be seen, indicating the stress that he was under.

As the ball in between his horns compressed, it reopened as a powerful, large beam of magic that was easily 100x the size of the tiny Nightmare.

Nightmare watched the beam approach her, standing still. The other five watched, full-well knowing what was about to happen; they all knew what Nightmare was capable of; otherwise they would not be under her leadership.

Moments before the beam was within range of Nightmare, Nightmare held both her palms out sideways, aiming at the beam, and more specifically, at Tirek.

[Everything zoomed out until Nightmare was but a tiny speck, and Tirek was seen in full. The large beam that Tirek shot at Nightmare could be seen approaching her.]

In a sudden moment, with no buildup or indication that it was even about to happen, a large, jet-black beam of magic released from Twilight’s hands, easily 5x as large as Tirek’s beam. The beam absolutely devoured and overpowered Tirek’s own, and engulfed Tirek. The beam was so powerful, it enlarged the crater that Nightmare stood in by many times, due to just the force it took to sustain using the attack.

[The sudden display in power was so extravagant, that it was emphasized in a stuttercut.]

(Stuttercuts are those things they do in anime and other visual arts when something dramatic or eventful happens, and they replay the scene three or more times in immediate succession to draw out the emphasis.)

[The camera zoomed back in to normal.]

The beam engulfed Tirek, as he yelled in pain. Through the beam, his form could be seen shrinking, until he was but a tiny speck in the powerful beam, back to his original 10 foot tall self.

As Nightmare let down on the beam, and it dissipated, Tirek fell through the sky, a mass amount of smoke trailing from his scorched and burned body.

As he smashed into the ground, Nightmare picked him back up and suspended him in the air with her magic.

“You will talk, or suffer the loss of your life, your choice.” Nightmare said menacingly, her smile returning.

Tirek coughed in pain, his body still smoking from the beam.

“Where is the one you call Trixie?” Nightmare asked, as the other five stood behind her, grinning.

“On the surface… You are in a land called Tartarus; your only escape is through the Gates of Tartarus…” Tirek spoke in a croaky voice, obviously in pain. He coughed again.

“Where can we find these gates?” Nightmare interrogated.

“She,” Tirek stated, pointing towards Celestia, who watched them, her eyes wide in disbelief at the power she just witnessed. Zecora was the same.

“Will be able to lead you to, and take you through those gates… In that world, you will find Trixie.” Tirek said. Nightmare nodded, obviously satisfied at his newfound cooperation.

“Why did you not answer me when I asked you earlier? Why did you not save yourself the pain and troubles?” Nightmare inquired, curious.

Tirek stayed there in her grasp, silent.

“You know, you caused this extent of punishment on yourse-” Nightmare began, but was interrupted by an angry bark by Tirek.

“Spare me your insolent talk, monster.” Tirek said, his teeth grit.

*smash!*

Nightmare had bashed him into the ground with her magic. He brought the beaten Tirek back into suspension in the sky.

“You will watch your tongue when you speak to me!” Nightmare hissed, angry at his disrespect.

“Bah! I’ve lost my taste already. Begone with you!” Nightmare insisted, as she flung him away. He skidded and tumbled over to Skrix’s body, lying motionless next to him.

Nightmare strode over to Celestia and Zecora; both stood in defense, knowing that this was not their Twilight.

“Who are you? You are not our Elements of Harmony!” Celestia said, standing in a defensive position with Zecora.

“No… We are from the ‘other’ side.” Nightmare spoke, as the others stood beside her.

“But, I hear you know how to get to the surface-world.” Nightmare continued.

She out-stretched her arm towards a defensive Celestia, a childlike curiosity on her face. “And you’re going to show us the way.” Nightmare said in a menacing tone, as the others crept forward as well.

Celestia and Zecora inched back in extreme caution, remembering what had happened to Tirek... Any being that could cause that kind of devastation in an instant with no buildup was... Simply a creature too powerful to handle without caution... A creature too powerful to exist...

[Everything drew out here, showing Celestia and Zecora backing away from the approaching evil Mane Six. Nightmare was seen, almost touching Celestia with her outstretched arm and face of childlike curiosity. The others crept over forward as well, grins and smirks on their faces… Behind all of them was a wall of Darkness that stretched over and beneath them, seeping over to Celestia and Zecora…]

The Arrival (Chapter 1)

It was just another normal day for the Mane Six in Canterlot High School within the city of Equestria. Conveniently, the girls all had classes together throughout most of the day. Though, it was most likely Principals Celestia and Luna pulling favors for the girls, considering that their status for saving the city from doom and enslavement a number of times did warrant for at least some spoiling.

The girls were about to begin their Trigonometry class, when an announcement came on the speakers: "Would Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, AppleJack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie please report to the Principals' Office. I repeat, would the following students please report the Principals' Office: Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, AppleJack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie."

The Six had just walked into Ms. Cheerilee's room as the announcement went off. "Excuse us, Ms. Cheerilee." Twilight said, chuckling and backing out of the doorway. She was followed by Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow.

"It never is simple with you girls, huh?" Ms. Cheerilee spoke, taking a seat and dismissing the girls, even though most of them had already left. AJ simply shrugged at her and smiled awkwardly, excusing herself as well. Before Pinkie walked out, she plopped a small plate of cake on Ms. Cheerilee's desk before walking out while waving and giggling; random as ever.

"That marks the 17th day in a row. That girl is going to fatten me, or make me jog more in the mornings... Oh, Pinkie." Ms. Cheerilee mused, staring hungrily at the frosty treat.

-In the Principals' Office-

[Twilight sat directly in front of Principals Celestia and Luna in a rotating office chair, with only the desk separating Twilight from the two older figures. Rarity and Pinkie were sitting in beanie seat; Rarity was trying to fix up her hair while Pinkie hopped in the bouncy beanie over and over, much to the fashonista's annoyance. AppleJack and Rainbow sat on opposite sides of Twilight, while Fluttershy was standing near the corner of the Principals' desk. Finally, Discord, a gray-skinned 7 foot 2 inches tall humanoid stood in the corner behind Celestia and Luna. His canines were sharp as ever as he smiled to the Mane Six waved with his paw-like hands, claws protruding from them.]

"Good afternoon, Principal Celestia. Principal Luna." Twilight greeted formally. "And... Discord?"

"Howdy." AJ greeted simply. Fluttershy simply waved at the three older figures, smiling as her eyes met with Discord's. The other girls didn't greet them, so Celestia decided to jump right into business.

"Hello girls. I've called you here for good reason. There seems to be... An anomaly about at the moment. And one that should be sparking at least some level of concern." Celestia spoke.

"What do you mean by anomaly, Celestia?" Twilight inquired. Celestia's words seemed to spark the attention of all the girls, even Pinkie, who was paying attention while still bouncing on the beanie.

"Well for starters, I've been having dreams of a mysterious Alicorn that shouldn't be in existence... Pale blue skin with white hair and pale blue highlights. Does anyone of this character ring any bell, Twilight?" Luna asked.

Twilight thought for a few seconds before shaking her head. Celestia, Luna, and Discord just shared looks briefly.

"What exactly is going on here?" AppleJack asked, speaking for the other 5 quizzical faces in the room.

"Luna's dreams don’t usually lie, and... Well, we believe something, or someone, is out to get you. There seems to be a new presence in Equestria, and a powerful one at that. Not to mention what Discord is sensing." Principal Celestia spoke, cueing Discord.

"Ah, yes. First, I must say," Discord started, teleporting in front of Fluttershy and putting one of his paws under her chin. "You look quite beautiful today, Fluttershy." he finished in a smooth tone, before teleporting back behind the two Principals. Fluttershy blushed quite heavily while giggling and hiding her face, clearly embarrassed. Rainbow just sighed and rolled her eyes, folding her arms in her seat.

"As I'm sure you all know, I retain an unusual knack for multiple aspects of chaos; one of those include sensing it. Now, I wouldn't want to scare you girls, but it would seem that in the near future, you Six will be the center of a whole nasty slew of chaos." Discord said, waving his hand around. "Not to mention the fact that a rather... Powerful entity seems to have entered Equestria without tripping any alarms, which is all the more... Confusing. And confusing goes hand-in-hand with chaos." Discord informed.

Twilight hummed for a second, thinking. "So, what you're telling us is there's just some powerful entity popping up outta nowhere? What's the problem with that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"There are a few, actually." Celestia began. "As was stated, Luna has been having dreams of a new Alicorn. I myself have felt the presence of a new power, one that shouldn't exist... The less we know, the more potential threat it holds. Girls, I hate to scare you, but all signs point to you. Whatever is happening, it centers around you. A new Alicorn, powerful forces, and chaos. It just doesn't sound right." she warned. "What's strangest of all is that in order to ascend to something as powerful as an Alicorn, you need either a vast reservoir of power, or the help of another powerful being who has the knowledge of how to specifically grant you the genetic changes and specific other delicate processes. Only us Alicorns should have such knowledge. Luna, Cadence, and myself haven't transcended anybody besides you Twilight, so Luna's dream is just all the more enigmatic..."

"But I haven't felt anything new yet. No new entity, or the arrival of a new Alicorn. You're sure it's not a fluke?" Twilight asked. "W-with all due respect, of course. I-I wouldn't disrespect you ever." she quickly added, chuckling nervously.

"With all due respect, Twilight," Discord started, slightly teasing her. "I don't think three beings of our caliber would be all-too-wrong." Discord spoke, flying with his wings, overlooking the group.

"We can't be sure, but safe is better than sorry. Just don't let your guards down girls." Celestia said, as the bell rang, signaling the end of the period.

"Now you'd all best be getting to your next class. And remember what we've spoken about here. Dismissed." Celestia finished, turning to speak with Luna and Discord for a few more moments.

The Mane Six all stood. Rainbow stretched, expanding her wings as well, and yawned. "Finally, time for Physical Education. The only class I can be excited for!" she said enthusiastically, as they all filed out of the room. Twilight, however, stayed back for a few moments.

"Something wrong Ms. Sparkle?" Luna asked.

"You said pale blue skin and white hair with pale blue highlights, right? If she's an Alicorn, then she must've had an arcane symbol. What was it?" Twilight asked, a serious look on her face.

Luna held her head in thought. "I think it was a star-tipped wand with a pale-blue crescent behind it." she spoke.

Twilight thought deeply. It rung a bell, but she doubted that. There was no way she could obtain that kind of power in such short notice... It had only been a few months since that ordeal. Unless...

"Principals Luna and Celestia!" Twilight spoke up suddenly and urgently, grabbing their attention immediately. "Wasn't it Zecora who was left in care of that powerful artifact; The Alicorn Amulet?" Twilight asked.

"I believe so, yes. It was your decision, no?" Luna responded.

"Try to get in contact with her as soon as possible, and see if you can raise any clue on Trixie Lulamoon's whereabouts. I'm not sure, but I feel like those two might know something... And if anything, we'll want to secure that amulet." Twilight stated, suddenly growing a serious look.

"We'll do our best here. If it may help, we have no choice. Now run on to class, Sparkle. Your help is greatly appreciated." Celestia said, spinning around in her chair.

"Oh, and do tell Fluttershy I said to call me later!" Discord called out enthusiastically as Twilight walked out. She simply nodded at him before disappearing out of the doorway.

-In Physical Education Class-

[Twilight was just running in to the gymnasium as everybody was about to start their warm-up workouts.]

"How nice of you to join us, Ms. Sparkle." Ms. Harshwhinny spoke, removing the whistle from her mouth. She was in a sports bra with tight shorts. She was the school's Physical Education teacher; she had a thing for most physical activities, due to her interest in sport competitions such as the Olympics. "I hope you don't think your new status as an Alicorn warrants this kind of tardiness?" Ms. Harshwhinny questioned.

"Not at all. I was just in a conference with the Principals is all." Twilight replied, smiling back nervously. Ms. Harshwhinny wasn't a teacher you'd want to upset; she was quite the figure to fear when you upset her.

"So explain to me why your friends made it here before you while you're doing the warm-ups twice." Ms. Harshwhinny spoke.

Twilight groaned as she joined her friends. "Don't worry Twi, I'll do 'em with ya." Rainbow said, patting her on the back.

"Me too." AppleJack stated, tipping her hat back a bit and smiling at her.

"Thanks guys." Twilight sighed, awaiting Ms. Harshwhinny's blow of the whistle.

"We'll cheer you on!" Pinkie squealed, tossing both of her arms around the necks of Fluttershy and Rarity.

"Yay!" Fluttershy screamed quietly.

*WHEEEEE!!!*

With the shriek of the whistle, everybody started their daily warm-ups for Phys. Ed.

"Don't forget Twilight, you're doing them twice. Maybe this will teach you to never be late to my class." Ms. Harshwhinny spoke over the commotion. Twilight groaned again as she did her jumping jacks.

"So, why were you so late, dear?" Rarity asked in between her jumping jacks.

"Whoever Luna was dreaming about sounds a lot like a certain magical prodigy that we've sent packing twice. I just stayed back to drop off some advice and a few pointers with the Principals and Discord." Twilight replied between her own jumping jacks.

"You don't mean that cocky girl, do you?" Rainbow Dash asked, as the girls started jogging their laps.

"That very one." Twilight responded. "What's most peculiar, however, is that Luna thinks she may be an Alicorn now. And as she stated, none of them coronated a new Alicorn... And I don't even know how. To top it all off, the secret to transcending another human into an Alicorn is a closely-guarded secret. I don't even know it yet." Twilight explained, panting as they finished their laps. The girls now got down for push-ups.

"We haven't seen that girl in ages Twi, I'm sure it ain't her." AppleJack stated between push-ups.

"Hmm... It's just a hunch, but you're right, we can’t be sure. Either way, let's keep our guards up, something does seem amiss." Twilight spoke, now beginning her second round of warm-ups. True to their word, Rainbow Dash and AppleJack joined them.

As Twilight proceeded to her jogging however, something felt different. She felt a strange power course through her. It seemed to be manipulating her, almost. Twilight slowed down in running, as she was forced to her knees, and grasped her head.

"A-agh!" she groaned, squeezing her head harder. The other girls immediately ran to her side.

"Twi, what's wrong?" AppleJack stated, putting an arm around her to calm her. "I...!" Twilight begain, in pain. The throbbing in her head wouldn't stop. This power, or presence, seemed to be pulsing through her body, as if pounding in her head angrily. Suddenly, AppleJack was blown back by a magical force field that briefly appeared around Twilight as her eyes turned a pure white and she floated above the ground, a white light enveloping her. Immediately, the class looked on at the event unfolding with a bizarre intrigue.

"What's going on here?! Are you still Twilight?" Rainbow Dash inquired, shielding her eyes from the brightness.

Twilight, or at least, what resembled Twilight, looked down at the other 5 of the Mane Six, as well as the rest of the class that were now focused on her.

"No. I am not your Twilight." she spoke, as she was suspended by the mysterious and majestic white aura. Her voice was soft, yet monotone.

"Who are you, and what in the world is going on?! Also, can I scream any louder?!?" Pinkie squealed, the events exciting her for some reason.

The voice grew much less soft and comforting as she spoke again. "I? I am a monument to all your sins." she spoke, as the pure white eyes gazed down upon the group, and her smile became more sinister.

Everybody looked at each other in confusement. "A monument to all our... Sins?" Rarity questioned, as she gulped.

Suddenly, the magical forcefield that surrounded Twilight let out a forceful wind as it died down and Twilight dropped onto one knee, clutching her head again, groaning and gritting her teeth in pain. It seemed Twilight was fighting for control. Fluttershy immediately ran to her care, putting two fingers against her forehead to see if she was sick; being sick had a tendency to set off strange magical occurrences in arcane humans.

As Fluttershy touched her, Twilight suddenly grabbed both of Fluttershy's forearms and gazed into her eyes. Twilight's two orbs went from pure white to one being crimson red and the other being an angelic sky blue.

Twilight pushed Fluttershy over and knelt over her, still holding her forearms to the ground. The position and suddenness of it all caused Fluttershy to blush. "It asked, and I answered!" Twilight yelled suddenly. "For a moment of safety, I loosed damnation across Equestria...!" Twilight finished frantically and with extreme guilt to Fluttershy, her crimson and sky blue orbs glistening with tears, threatening to fall.

"Sorry Twi, but you're acting crazier than a herd of cows spooked by a wolf!" AppleJack said as she whacked Twilight in the head swiftly, causing her to lose consciousness and fall over Fluttershy.

With a pink hue on her cheeks, Fluttershy rose a finger. "I-If you don't mind, Twilight is quite heavy..." she said.

"Say no more." AppleJack spoke, lifting Twilight's arms over her shoulders and picking her up. Applejack looked around at the onlooking glossy beads that stared at them. "So sorry Ms. Harshwhinny, but you'll have to excuse us." AppleJack grinned at her awkwardly. "We'll handle this." she spoke, securing Twilight onto her back and beginning to walk away.

Ms. Harshwhinny sighed heavily. She hated kids missing out on Physical Education. "Dismissed, I suppose. But you will have to make up what you missed!" Ms. Harshwhinny spoke. The girls nodded and agreed before walking out.

Before Pinkie left, she plopped an apple into Ms. Harshwhinny's hand. She seemed to have food for every teacher every day.

-On the way to the Nurse's Office-

"What in the world do you think happened back there?" Rarity asked.

"I dunno, but whatever happened, I don't think that was Twilight... The look in her eyes was almost like she experienced a living nightmare." Fluttershy spoke softly, remembering the panicked and guilty look in Twilight's eyes as she said that one line.

"Yeah... And what the heck did she mean by a monument to all our sins?" Rainbow Dash asked, flying above the group.

"I hope we don't have to find out." AppleJack stated.

"I hope these balloons and pie will make Twilight feel better when she wakes up!" Pinkie said excitedly, tying balloons to her wrist holding a plate of pie.

Just before they entered the Nurse's Office, Twilight clutched AppleJack harder. AppleJack looked back at Twi over her shoulder. "Twi? What's up?" she asked. However, she quickly noticed that she was still unconscious. She seemed to be mumbling something in her sleep though.

"There will be no more sadness... No more anger... No more envy..." Twilight mumbled quietly, a single tear running down her cheek as she clutched AJ harder still.

"Oh, poor Twilight. She must be having a nightmare..." Fluttershy said, feeling her forehead again. "We should get her comfortable quick." she said, opening the door for AppleJack to walk in.

AppleJack walked in, with Rainbow Dash following. "Oh great, the Nurse is off today." Rainbow Dash spoke, observing the empty room. "Put her there." she said, pointing to the patient's bed next to the window.

AppleJack laid Twilight down as the rest of the Mane Six filtered in.

"So what now?" Rarity asked, clicking open her pocket mirror and fingering her hair.

"Well, she feels a bit hot." Fluttershy said, getting a towel and soaking it in cool water, then wringing it and placing it on Twilight's forehead.

AppleJack sat on the bed next to Twilight. "What in tarnation do you think is really going on? Think it has anything to do with that con-fer-ence with Principals Luna and Celestia?" she asked.

"I dunno, but whatever it is, there's gonna be action!" Pinkie squealed. "See, see?! My hair keeps getting frizzy! That means excitement and action!" Pinkie yelled, shoving her hair in AJ's face.

"Riiiight..." AppleJack said, softly pushing Pinkie's hair away.

"Action you say?" Rainbow Dash asked, joining in Pinkie's enthusiasm. Pinkie nodded her head at her furiously. "Sweet!" Rainbow Dash said in an excited hush, raising her fist in the air.

"Ugh, what a ruffian." Rarity sighed, commenting on Rainbow's love of action.

Twilight groaned, and her eyes fluttered. Her eyes, still a dark crimson in one, and an angellic sky blue in the other, met with AppleJack's own emerald ones, and in a fluster, she shot up in her bed, grabbing AppleJack's arms.

"I have walked the edge of the abyss!" Twilight said in panic. She looked to the rest of the Mane Six. "I have seen your futures, and I have learned!" she said urgently and regretfully, still with a hint of guilt mixed in. The Mane Six, save for Twilight, shared quizzical looks.

"Twi?" AppleJack asked softly, holding her cheek, trying to calm her. Twilight held her head and groaned in pain, falling back in bed, and soon fell silent. In a few seconds, she got back up and rubbed her head.

"S-sorry about that. I think I passed out doing my extra warm-ups." Twilight said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Guess I really do need to get more fit." she laughed. Her eyes had gone back to their normal lavender color.

"Twilight, are you feeling okay?" Fluttershy asked, laying her back down. "Here, try not to get up, you might get light-headed." Fluttershy said, putting the towel back over her forehead.

"I appreciate it Fluttershy, but really, I'm fine. I don't know why I lost consciousness though." Twilight said, getting up and shifting her feet off the bed so that she was sitting next to AJ.

"How long was I out?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow shrugged. "Eh, like 10 minutes, 15 tops." she said.

"Ugh, Ms. Harshwhinny won't let me hear the end of this one. Passing out on the warm-ups..." Twilight said, sighing.

"Aww, don't feel bad. It's not your fault you turned into a demonic angelic terrifyingly awesome otherworldly being!" Pinkie said, with her hands on Twilight's lap.

"Uhhh? Pinkie, are you in your random mood again?" Twilight asked, quite confused.

"You mean... You don't remember that? Monument to all our sins?" Rarity asked, hinting at her line.

"Whoa-ho, what? You guys are making no sense. I don't know what you're adding to the story, but all I remember is passing out in the gym while running my laps after a killer headache and waking up here." Twilight explained.

"You mean, you don't even remember what you said to us just now? With the whole walking the edge of the abyss and all?" AppleJack asked.

"Uh...?" Twilight hummed. After a few seconds, she just shook her head.

"Weird. Anyway, it's like 5 minutes till our last period is over, so why don't we get changed and start leaving?" Rainbow Dash said, pointing to the clock. Everybody agreed.

-About 3 minutes of changing later-

"Welp, what should we do aft-" Pinkie started, but was interrupted by the speakers.

"Would the previous Six please report the Principals' Office. I repeat, would Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, AppleJack, and Pinkie Pie please report to the Principals' Office." Celestia announced.

Rainbow Dash sighed heavily. "Here we go again... This had better not extend past our dismissal."

-Back in the Principals' Office, coincidentally in the same position as the previous time (because lazy writing, why else?)-

"Celestia, Luna? You called?" Twilight asked, respectfully.

"We saw what happened in the gym." Luna started. "Twilight, what did you mean by a monument to all our sins?" Luna asked intently, jumping right into it.

"What? Why does everyone but me remember this?" Twilight asked, confused.

"You mean... You don't remember?" Luna asked. Twilight simply nodded. "I see... Girls," Luna said, addressing the other five. "I cannot stress how important it is that you keep your eyes on Twilight, and take note of everything she says." Luna said with urgency in her tone.

"Does this have something to do with the whole conference we had earlier?" AppleJack asked.

"Yes. I remember this new Alicorn saying that same exact line in my dreams... She stood over a large group of injured and d-" Luna started, but Celestia covered her mouth swiftly.

"What she's saying is that those things Twilight uttered are extremely relevant in her dream." Celestia spoke for Luna. "Do not scare the young girls... We cannot have them in panic nor paranoia." Celestia whispered harshly into her ear. Luna nodded, smiling sheepishly.

"In any case, if this occurs again, let us know immediately, it could be a valuable clue. And remember girls, be careful out there. If anything happens, you may contact us here." Celestia said, handing Twilight 2 index cards. One for Celestia, one for Luna.

"We understand. Hopefully it's nothing too serious." AppleJack spoke, taking the cards. "They'll be safer with me." AJ stated, as she slipped them into her back-pocket.

"Good. You can all go now. And Twilight, try hard to remember what happened, you are our biggest clue to these anomalies and enigmas that have been coming up recently..." Celestia said. "Oh, and we'll try to raise Zecora's attention, so stay in touch Twilight." she finished.

"Yes ma'am. I'll do my best Celestia! I won't let you down." Twilight said. Everybody got up and filed out, eager to be out of school for the day.

"Sweet, school's out! C'mon guys, let's go do something!" Rainbow said enthusiastically.

"Oh! Oh! We can go to the park! We haven't been there in ages!" Pinkie said ecstatically.

"There's a reason for that, dear. A bunch of teens in a park does look rather uncanny." Rarity spoke in her usual eloquent tone.

"Oh c'mon, we haven't been there in ages. One day can't hurt. Besides, nobody ever goes there, so it'll be just us." Twilight spoke as she opened the front doors of the school. "And on our way there, you can tell me about what happened while I was out... Sounds interesting." Twilight said.

"Ugh, fine, we can go. But Pinkie'd better not get my skirt dirty again like last time..." Rarity said.

Pinkie shrugged, her smile as bright as ever. "Looks like you've got a spot there now, actually." AppleJack said, pointing at a spot on Rarity's skirt.

Rarity spun around, looking for the spot, before quickly realizing that AppleJack was teasing as everyone laughed.

"So much for the Element of Honesty..." Rarity mumbled as she walked with her arms folded, pouting.

-About 15 minutes of explanation and walking to the nearby park later-

[The Mane Six are all out on the playground, enjoying their time before it's time to head indoors and separate. Twilight is swinging on the swings whilst Rainbow Dash does pull-ups on the bar that holds the swings. Fluttershy is watching both of them and the three are conversing. Not far off, Rarity is painting her nails while talking to Pinkie Pie and AppleJack; Pinkie Pie, as random as ever, is sitting on a floating balloon, while AppleJack laid back in the grass, staring into the sky.]

"Huh. A monument to all your sins, hm?" Twilight asked, musing upon the line. "And I loosed... Uh... Ya know, that word - onto Equestria? I wonder what it could've meant?" she inquired, swinging and speaking aloud for both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to hear.

"Oh c'mon, you can't be scared to say damnation at your age Twi." Rainbow teased.

"Whatever, I just like to keep my mouth clean, unlike a certain jock here." Twilight said, giggling while still swinging.

The Mane Six all hung out in the playground, playfully awaiting for dusk to begin its arrival as signal to head home. Unbeknownst to them, a cloaked figure made its way over to their location.

"Well, well, well... If it isn't Twilight Sparkle..." the cloaked figure said, stretching out Twilight's name with a measure of hate. As she spoke, all eyes turned to her in intrigue.

"Who... Are you?" Twilight asked, stopping the swing and squinting at the shadow covering the figure's face.

As the figure slipped off her cloak, the Mane Six gasped. The white hair with pale blue highlights and pale blue skin was hard to forget. "Trixie!" Twilight gasped out loud. Immediately, Twilight arose from her seat of the swing and was on the defensive. She hadn't exactly been pleasant during her last visit here... She caused absolute mayhem, and even the authorities had to get involved.

"Hello, you little runts." Trixie spoke with a sort of resentment. Her usual lavender-colored eyes sparkled an unusual hint of red when the mean comment rolled off her tongue. Twilight was taken aback. Usually, everything here was light-hearted and innocent; that was quite a comment.

"Trixie! How have you been? Awesome I hope!" Pinkie screams, jumping off of her balloon, grabbing it, and holding it out for Trixie to take. Pinkie always had a soft spot for the arcane girl. She desperately just wanted everybody to be friends.

"I'm not here for no reason, so I'll get right into business; I've come with just one request on my conscience, Sparkle." Trixie spoke, her voice almost void of emotion. She outright ignored Pinkie, as if she wasn't even existent. Pinkie just awkwardly held the balloon out to her.

Suddenly, Pinkie popped the balloon and a plate of cake fell out. She extended her hand once more. "I have cake! Do you want?! Everybody wants cake!" Pinkie screamed, continuing her friendship assault. "Pinkie, stop and come back here... Something's off." Rarity said lightly, studying Trixie. She seemed void of any positive emotion... Her eyes stayed squinted with anger, and her other features seemed... Sinister.

"What did you want of me, Trixie?" Twilight asked, as Pinkie continued to pester her with attempts of making friends. Trixie just grinned. "I want many things of you." she stated simply. "But this time, my request is..." she trailed, removing one hand from her cloak, and holding up three of her fingers.

"A Third Duel." Trixie stated simply. Twilight just looked at her quizzically. "A..." AppleJack started. "Third?" Rainbow Dash finished, chuckling. "Not to be rude dear, but Twilight has beaten you twice already." Rarity, spoke, blowing on her nails, and glancing up at her. Fluttershy just stayed quiet, shy as ever and hid whatever part of her body she could behind the poles holding up the swing-set. Trixie could be seen visibly shaking and gritting her teeth from the comments, but she quickly regained composure.

"What do you say Twilight? Up to the challenge, or are you too weak now?" Trixie asked. "I'm sorry, but that kind of persuasion doesn't work on me. They're right, I've already beat you twice, I won't be doing a third with you. The second got both of us in major trouble for property damage." Twilight stated.

"Oh? Looks like I'll just have to change your mind then." Trixie said simply. She lifted a hand outside of the cloak once again and raised her palm at Fluttershy. A pale blue aura emanated over her hand, and soon, Fluttershy was being lifted in a pale blue magical bubbly prison. She tried to hold onto the poles, but was soon ripped off. She was slowly rising.

"If my memory serves me correctly, this one can't fly under extreme stress or a sudden intense condition... It would be a shame if my magic suddenly gave out. My, oh my, that'd be a nasty splat, if she was high enough." Trixie spoke coldly, smirking as Fluttershy got lifted higher and higher. Fluttershy's quiet shrieks could be heard. "Though, I do quite believe a different answer might convince me to drop her to safety, hm Twilight?" she finished with a small chuckle.

Fluttershy shrieked in her suspension, covering her eyes. The pegasus girl was still afraid of heights, despite the two wings on her back.

AppleJack rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward slightly, raising a fist and holding her shoulder. "This stinking varmit's gonna get what's for if she doesn't drop Flutters this instant!" Applejack angrily stated, huffing and walking forward.

"T-Trixie! Look, have this chocolate bar! You're just a bit mean when you're hungry, that's all!" Pinkie said nervously, still pestering the girl.

"Okay!" Twilight spoke hastily. "I accept your challenge." Twilight spoke. "Now release Fluttershy." Twilight spoke with a bit of resentment herself. AppleJack stopped in her tracks and stared at Twilight.

As the magical bubble was done away with, Rainbow Dash immediately flew to catch the falling Fluttershy and returned her calmly to the ground. Returning above the group, Rainbow Dash yelled at Trixie angrily. "What's your business?! You got yer butt kicked twice, and now you're threatening us for a duel with Twi? Where do you get off...?!"

Trixie seemed to ignore everyone else and seemed to only be able to acknowledge Twilight's existence. Pinkie was still offering Trixie random treats, as she continued to ignore her existence as well.

Trixie smiled deviously. "That's all I needed to hear, Sparkle. The deal is now sealed." Trixie spoke, smiling to herself.

"Twilight, something's off with her... She's not herself. It's almost as if she's someone else entirely. I mean, she hasn't even referred to herself in the thrid person once, nor has she acted confident and snobby; something's off." Rarity stated, studying the arcane girl. "For starters, that was much too evil of a threat..." Rarity continued. Twilight stopped Rarity promptly before she could continue. "I know... That's why I had to accept the duel. This time, if she terrorized the people, something tells me someone would really get hurt..." Twilight whispered back to Rarity. Rarity simply nodded, understanding her Alicorn friend's logic.

"So. What are the rules of this duel? Who can turn the most chickens into flying birds? Who can give an Earth Human magical ability the longest? Oh wait, lemme guess, who can conjoin the most people?" Twilight asked. Trixie simply chuckled. "The duel is a battle to the death." Trixie stated simply.

The line hadn't struck Twilight correctly the first time. That sounded much too out of place in this innocent and happy light-hearted world. "W-what?" Twilight stated, dumbfounded. "I second that, what?" AppleJack stated. "Yeah, same here." Rainbow stated, leaning over a nearby piece of cloud that she pulled to comfort herself.

"I didn't stutter. A battle to the death. Twilight vs. Your's Truly." Trixie said. She glanced over at the others around Twilight. "Actually, your friends will be joining you in this fight Twilight." Trixie stated. Pinkie, was still trying to gift her random things. Her lack of discouragement by Trixie's neglect was amazing. She really just wanted everything to be perfect and friendly and bubbly. Pinkie seemed unable to grasp the severity of intense situations, such as this one.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. My friends aren't joining anything. This is between us." Twilight stated, stepping up with her hand over her chest, and the other spanned out. "You'll need the help Twilight. They will fight, or be killed." Trixie stated, speaking coldly. "Y-you can't be serious..." Twilight said in a cold breath, taken aback by the explicit-nature of Trixie's straightforward tone. "You wouldn't do that." Twilight said, talking and chuckling nervously with an almost unnoticeable snort. The rest of the Mane Six watched intently, taken aback by Trixie's sudden take of behavior.

"It doesn't matter what you say. It's too late now. The rules were set the moment you accepted. And now, now my sweet, sweet revenge is possible." Trixie stated.

Twilight studied Trixie. She was certainly off in more ways than one. She was unethically evil for such an innocent world, and seemed intent on getting her to accept the challenge, going as far as to threaten another life for it... Twilight noticed that her eyes were now a steady crimson hue, completely diverting from her normal lavender eyes. Not only that, but Twilight sensed something off... There was a foreign power here. One that she had definitely encountered before, but this time it was much more powerful... She couldn't put her tongue on it.

The conference from earlier today flooded back into Twilight's head as Twilight's breathing intensified. Things were starting to connect in a very twisted way... This couldn't be...?

"Revenge? For what?" Twilight asked, keeping composure. Then she shook her head. "No, forget that. I won't be seeing any lives lost or diminished today, or any day for that matter! I put that on my status as an Alicorn!" Twilight said nobly.

Trixie gritted her teeth angrily and turned her head slightly. "You've already failed, Princess." Trixie spat, seething with rage.

"Huh?" Twilight asked. "Nothing, it doesn't matter. Are you ready for the duel to begin?" Trixie asked, smirking.

"No, no! Fighting is bad! Cake, gooooooood!" Pinkie said, trying her best to defuse the situation in the best way she knew how.

"You know what. It doesn't even matter. This has already begun. Draw." Trixie spoke simply. Reaching under her cloak, she clutched a familiar amulet, and as she did, a powerful force blew gusts of wind around her, as a crimson aura enveloped her with laces of pale blue and pure white in it. Pinkie backed off slightly, the force of the power being too much for her. The rest of the Mane Six watched in awe.

As the force lifted her cloak, they noticed an extended pair of wings stretch out from behind her. "She's an Alicorn too?! What in tarnation??" Applejack blurted confusedly "I second that; WHAT? How come I didn't notice this? Who's power made this possible?" Twilight jumped from sentence to sentence "Okay, this is starting to get really fishy guys. Be on the ready!" Rainbow said, taking her place next to the girls.

"No, this is more than just fishy! This means Luna was right! There is something strange going on, and that new power entering Equestria was no joke. Girls, do not let your guard down at all, I think we're about to be the first to experience a new evil..." Twilight stated urgently.

As the force died down, and the cloak took its place back over her body, Trixie just looked up at the Six. "I hope you take this seriously... If not, lives could be lost." Trixie stated blandly.

In an instant, Trixie waved her hand across from the five standing farther from her, to a closer Pinkie. "The annoying one goes first." Trixie said coldly, acknowledging Pinkie's existence for the first time.

"Huh?" was all Pinkie could utter before she was picked up in Trixie's pale blue magic. At this moment, everything went slow-motion as Trixie hurled Pinkie with great speed towards the brick wall at the back of the park. As Pinkie collided, she made a shriek of pain and despair that echoed through the air. As Pinkie slid off and fell on to her side, she fell unconscious. Above her, it was more than noticeable that she smashed a rather devastating hole into the brick wall, as a few of the destroyed debris from the hole rolled down on to her and the brick wall threatened to give away where Pinkie had made contact with it.

"Pinkie!!!" Twilight yelled in concern, before promptly sending a death-glare to Trixie. "Don't worry. She isn't dead. I did make myself clear when I said take this seriously, no?" Trixie spoke with a cold and evil tone, smiling at the other 5. What was scariest of all was how calm she was.

Fluttershy started to walk over to Pinkie Pie to treat her, but Trixie glared at her, making her retreat.

"You damn bastard!" AppleJack yelled, swearing for the first time ever and rolling up her sleeves entirely. "Forget playing nice. If she ain't gonna play nice, then I won't either!" AppleJack yelled, running up to Trixie.

"Oh please." Trixie stated, yawning and disabling any use of magic as AppleJack ran to her. Going low, AJ tossed a straight at her gut, but just before it could hit, Trixie just stood, straight as a wall and held out her hand and stopped it without even budging. The force of it, however, blew Trixie's cloak off, revealing the amulet around her neck, with her V-Cut long sleeve shirt and long tights, both with a blue galactic design.

Twilight gasped. "Not only is she an Alicorn, but she has the Alicorn Amulet as well... There's more than what meets the eye, it seems..." Twilight said, musing upon this new revelation.

"Is this really all the strongest of the team has to offer?" Trixie asked, before chuckling. "You guys are gonna need some serious help then." she finished. Quickly, she squeezed AJ's knuckle, forcing her to her knees. As AJ knelt, Trixie kneed her chin, hard, as AJ flew back and skidded across the ground.

AJ recovered quickly and got herself up, as well as her hat, running back. "Lucky shot." she stated, keeping her confidence as she ran to Trixie. This time, AJ threw a quick straight at Trixie's face, which Trixie caught. AJ then immediately tried to throw a curve punch at her side, which Trixie also caught. With both of AJ's knuckles in her hands, Trixie picked up AJ and lifted her over her head and slammed her down into the concrete on the other side of her, making AJ arch up in pain.

Again, AJ recovered quickly and stepped back, now starting to breathe a bit more heavy. "Is that all you've got? I'm barely feeling anything." AJ stated in confidence. Trixie simply smirked. "Was that an invitation to display my own strength? Gladly accepted." Trixie stated, as the amulet glowed a crimson red.

With a devious smile, Trixie dashed up to Applejack with incredible speed. By the time Trixie was in front of Applejack, AJ had only just realized that Trixie's fist was already cocked back. AJ quickly put her arms in an 'X' to block, and as she received the punch, it was much more powerful than she was expecting, and she was blown back, skidding on the ground.

As soon as AJ got back up, she noticed Trixie was already running towards her again. AJ shook her head and then dashed at her as well, throwing a straight at Trixie. Trixie simply ducked under it and drove her fist into AJ's stomach, causing her to fall on both of her knees, having the wind knocked out of her.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Realize your foolish mistake as you join your idiotic pink friend." Trixie said harshly. Before AJ could respond, Trixie brought her elbow vertically down into the back of AJ's head, HARD. AJ flew face-first down into the concrete, and the concrete even cracked slightly from the impact. As her elbow connected with AJ, and AJ with the concrete, everything silhouetted and slowed briefly.

AJ laid there motionless for about 5 seconds, before stumbling up and spitting out some blood. "I-is that what you call strength?" AJ asked, weakly, as she stumbled back. "I'll s-show you what s-strength is." AJ stated, stumbling and her speaking slurred. A few drops of blood fell off of her chin, onto the ground as she spoke. Her vision multiplied, and she felt dizzy.

Trixie just looked at her and dropped all guard, smirking. The others watched intently with concern written all over their faces. As AJ ran towards her, Trixie kept her hands on her hips, and her defense down. As AJ punched at Trixie, she missed completely, just missing her neck. "H-huh?" AJ mumbled, slurred still. Trixie just chuckled softly and poked AJ's shoulder, pushing her backwards. AJ lost her balance, and as she fell on her back, she lost consciousness. Moments before AJ hit the ground, everything slowed again before AJ's face was shown; AJ had a few streams of blood running down her face due to Trixie, and was clearly out-cold.

Fluttershy looked at both Pinkie and AppleJack, clearly frightened. However, she wanted to stop this nonsensical duel, or whatever the cause of this was. Walking up, she nervously approached Trixie. "E-excuse m-me, Trixie, could you p-please not hurt m-my friends, if you d-don't mind...? T-they don't deserve t-this..." Fluttershy spoke, getting more and more quiet as Trixie gazed upon her.

Without warning, Trixie teleported in front of Fluttershy and back-handed her violently. As her hand connected with Fluttershy's cheek, everything silhouetted and slowed, showing Fluttershy get smacked down to the ground. Fluttershy immediately got up and scooted backwards from Trixie, still sitting on the ground, now cupping her bruised cheek. "As an inferior being and an excuse for an acceptable human in this world, you shall not address me unless I address you, understood?" Trixie said to Fluttershy, who furiously nodded in fear, scooting farther and farther back until she hit the brick wall where Pinkie was and just started sobbing silently.

"TRIXIE, this has gone FAR ENOUGH!" Twilight yelled, stepping forth. As Twilight yelled, the amulet on Trixie's chest hummed a soft crimson Trixie simply looked at her chest and back at Twilight, smirking. Rarity simply held her chest, unsure of what to do. Rainbow, however, was way ahead of her two companions; she dashed at Trixie with great speed through the air, creating a small pulse of air, her foot aimed at Trixie's face.

Trixie, however, was more than able to match the speed and blocked Rainbow's foot. Rainbow quickly pushed off of her forearms, back-flipping and landing gracefully.

"You're gonna go down for that you big bully. You're gonna be 20% of the way to the hospital when I'm done with you!" Rainbow yelled, pissed at Trixie. Trixie simply gestured for Rainbow to come try her.

Rainbow dashed at her with great speed, then suddenly flapped her wings in to push her one direction and then punched at Trixie from the side. Trixie simply ducked then blocked Rainbow's approaching knee.

Rainbow was quick with her assault. Immediately after, Rainbow swept at Trixie, but Trixie jumped. Rainbow smirked as Trixie left the ground. Before she could land, Rainbow did a great spin, and kicked at Trixie in the air (kinda like a round-house kick). However, Trixie simply flipped, and balanced on Rainbow's elevated foot with two fingers. Trixie smirked at Rainbow.

"That it? Not very fast at all." Trixie commented. Rainbow withdrew her foot as Trixie pushed off and landed gracefully. "Heh, I'm just warming up." Rainbow stated. "This is where things heat up." she continued. "And it's also where you'll regret ever laying a finger on my friends." she finished angrily.

In an instant, Rainbow disappeared, with a simple ripple of rainbows in her place. She was moving so fast, she separated the light spectrum. Trixie simply looked around and yawned, putting one hand on her hip.

All around Trixie were what seemed like rapid-moving Rainbow Dashes. Many of them at once threw slews of punches and kicks at Trixie, which Trixie managed to dodge with abnormal speed and flexibility, much to the surprise of the Mane Six still left conscious. After a while, Trixie yawned during her dodges and simply said "There." before quickly pushing her palm out, and suddenly, Rainbow was sent flying back.

"Y-you're pretty good, I'll give you that." Rainbow complemented, breathing quite heavily.

"My turn. Can you keep up with this?" Trixie asked, smiling at Rainbow as the amulet glowed a crimson red once again. Trixie dashed at Rainbow and uppercut her 3 times in the stomach, pushing Rainbow off the ground higher and higher with each punch. Then, Trixie jumped up with the help of her wings and kneed Rainbow in the chin to send her up higher. While in the air, Trixie sent one powerful kick to Rainbow's chest, sending her flying through the sky. With great speed, Trixie dashed behind Rainbow, and jumped off of the ground again, doing a few diagonal flips to gain momentum, and then kicked the incoming Rainbow Dash down into the ground hard, making Rainbow skid and roll and tumble a few times, even crashing through a seesaw, before sliding to a stop. As Rainbow got hit with the kick and collided with the ground, everything silhouetted and slowed again. Rainbow tried to get up, but soon collapsed under the pain, and fell unconscious. Her body was layered with bruises,cuts, and scars.

"Trixie, why are you doing this?!" Twilight asked Trixie. "What have we done to you that pushes you to do this kind of evil?" Twilight asked.

Trixie looked down to Twilight in disgust, as if that question was foreign and offensive. "You banished me from this city, and no other areas would house me. I had been living in poverty and seclusion all these past few months. What do you THINK I've been doing?! There aren't many options but evil when people turn your life and career into a living hell because of one little mistake with an amulet you know! You think this world is all flowers and butteflies, HUH?! You think EVERYONE can live it great and EASY like you, Sparkle?! Huh?? I tried my best to make a living by doing what I do! I may not have been the greatest person, but see how my efforts are rewarded. Banished, shunned, and even abandoned by those I thought loved me! You have NO right, absolutely NONE to question my motives!" Trixie yelled at Twilight, letting out built up anger. As her rant continued, a destructive crimson aura emitted from her, just the force of it slashing up the concrete around her fiercely. Twilight simply watched her in surprise and a sort of fearful awe. She hadn't though her actions would have that sort of repercussion. Sure, she hadn't seen the arcane girl since the day of that second duel, but she hadn't thought it was that serious... She had slipped out of her mind long ago.

"Dear, you've got to be more ladylike in how you handle your affairs and downfalls. This just does not suit you." Rarity spoke, trying to ease Trixie's pain and hopefully calm her down. This was so very unsuccessful.

Trixie picked up Rarity in her magic and tossed her into the poles supporting the swings, injuring Rarity quite badly with a few bruises and cuts from the impact and fall.

"Don't address me. Just like that yellow one over there, you're too inferior to join in this conversation. Be quiet, observe, and stay in your lane, marshmallow." Trixie spoke harshly.

Rarity simply struggled to look up as she dropped her fist on the ground, frustrated that she wasn't of more use. "Dispatched in just one hit, huh? You should've kept your big useless mouth shut!" Rarity mused, upset with how things turned out.

"Now back to you..." Trixie spoke, taking a step towards Twilight. Twilight took a step back in fear. All was silent, save for Rarity's uncontrollable breathing due to pain and fear, and Fluttershy's almost silent sobbing. Truthfully, the Alicorn wanted to do something to help her friends, but it was impossible to do without defeating Trixie, and deep down, Twilight was scared of fighting. She had only ever really fought once, and that was with Tirek. Even then, she was quite scared, and only acted on instinct. She would have to apply what she learned during that fight here.

"It's your turn, Princess." Trixie said, jabbing at her recently attained status of being an Alicorn. "You've caused me so much hard-ache, and now... Now I get to let a bit of stress out. If you don't take this seriously though, I can't guarantee your life." Trixie said, a bit too excited. Twilight took a step back and prepared herself.

Trixie picked up a few rocks with her magic and tossed them at Twilight. Twilight simply caught the rocks, not taking her eyes off of Trixie, who was now running at Twilight. Trixie punched at Twilight's gut, but as Twilight instinctively drew both hands down, Trixie faked out, and used her other hand to punch Twilight's throat, making Twilight slide back and drop to her knees briefly gasping for breath.

Trixie then kneed Twilight in the face, hard, making her fly through a few branches of tree, knocking them down. As Twilight got up, her nose was bleeding, and the left of her lips were bruised.

Twilight barely had time to react; as soon as she got up, Trixie picked up a thick branch and used her magic to shave it into many different large splinters. She immediately aimed them all towards Twilight, surrounding Twilight in a globe of splinters.

Twilight gulped. She only knew a spell for a one-sided curved wall of defense. Extending it to become a sphere was hard, and she just didn't have that skill.

Trixie grinned at Twilight, as Twilight pulled up a shield. Trixie brought both of her hands forward, and the splinters started to rain. It scratched and cut all over her sides and back, but her front was protected, thankfully. All Twilight could do was shriek in pain, when finally the onslaught was over.

As it ended, Twilight wasn't given a break; Trixie was already on the move, running up to Twilight, getting ready to strike. Twilight immediately put her guard up, but to her surprise, Trixie jumped over her, twisting gracefully, and using a magical force push, forced herself down onto Twilight, kneeing Twilight into the concrete face-first.

Trixie just stood there, awaiting Twilight to get up. After a few seconds passed, Trixie crudely picked up Twilight by the hair, and saw her eyes flicker, as well as blood leaking down her forehead.

"Get up if you wish to live Sparkle. We aren't done until you've lost consciousness." Trixie stated coldly. Twilight got up, stumbling around and seeing doubles.

However, Twilight at this point was scared. Her body shook, and her jaw trembled. She was weak. "Come at me." Trixie gestured.

Twilight ran at Trixie fast, but immediately teleported behind her and kicked at her. Trixie simply ducked, grabbed her leg, and tossed Twilight across the ground.

"Surely you can show me something? The Defenders of Equestria can't possibly be this weak!" Trixie mocked, holding her palms out to Twilight.

Twilight got up again, panting. She was growing tired. Twilight ran at her again, throwing punches and kicks, however, Trixie dodged all easily. Catching Twilight in a counter, Trixie swept at Twilight, forcing her to jump back. Acting quickly, Trixie pushed off of the floor and held her palm to Twilight's stomach and smirked.

As her palm was held there, a small rune appeared on her palm, and soon, Twilight was sent flying with great speed back into the brick wall, making more damage than with Pinkie.

Twilight slid out of the wall and fell onto her knees. As Trixie walked up to her, she forced Twilight to look into her eyes.

"Remember this Sparkle; I'm doing you a favor. I originally planned to kill you all, but I decided to make something greater out of this. However, the next time I see you, I cannot promise I'll be so generous with your lives. Understand this well before I knock you unconscious, Twilight Sparkle; you and your friends better find a way to combat me. If not, you will all cease to exist." Trixie stated coldly as Twilight stared into her eyes, fear more than apparent in her shaking eyes.

In an instant, Twilight teleported out of the brick wall and behind Trixie. Twilight shot one small ball of destructive magic at Trixie, which Trixie reacted to quickly, reflecting it back at Twilight. Twilight swiftly ducked, as the ball exploded behind her, scorching some of the grass.

As Twilight looked up, Trixie was in the air with her fist cocked back, falling towards her. Twilight jumped back into the air, just before Trixie's fist collided with the concrete, creating a shockwave and displacing some of the concrete.

While Twilight was in the air, Trixie's vision locked on her. "Gotcha'", is all Trixie stated before jumping off of the ground and meeting with Twilight. Trixie once again held her hand against Twilight's chest, smirking wildly; she knew Twilight would be done with this next one.

"Just... What are you?!" Twilight asked in fear. She was sure that this wasn't the same Trixie she had faced before.

"I am the beginning of your end, Sparkle." Trixie spoke in a sinister voice, much less high-pitched and more calm than her usual one, as her smile grew more sadistic and the amulet glowed a bright crimson.

As the runes appeared on Trixie's hand, Twilight was quickly pushed with great force back down into the ground, crashing into the centerpiece of the playground, crashing through multiple conjunctions of wood, hard plastic, and metal.

"That one represents the pain I've endured over all that time. Sleep well Sparkle... It might be the last time you truly will." Trixie said calmly, as the defeated Twilight lay unconscious, various bruises, cuts, and other wounds lay all over her. Some parts of her clothing were even stained red.

Trixie dusted off her hands and picked back up her dusty brown cloak, chuckling. "Didn't even break a sweat." Before she slipped it on, she gazed upon the only two left conscious; Fluttershy and Rarity. They looked back on in fear.

"I left you two conscious because I've realized the gap in your power and ability, so I offer you two this one chance; you get this one chance to interact with Twilight, AppleJack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie before you're dragged into this permanently. After you've treated them, leave them be if you wish no part in this. However, if you interact with them again, I shall take it that you want in, and you will be hunted with the rest of them, clear?" Trixie spoke. Fluttershy and Rarity simply quietly nodded, absolutely terrified.

"Good." Trixie stated, slipping on her cloak as she started walking away. "Oh, and one last thing; tell Twilight she'd better be ready next time, because next time, I cannot guarantee this kind of generosity. And I also cannot guarantee that I'll be alone." Trixie stated, before disappearing around the corner.

After a few seconds passed from Trixie's disappearance, Fluttershy rummaged through her backpack for the first-aid kit that she used to tend to her animals. It had basic supplies to help her friends who desperately needed the attention. "Rarity, help me tend to them, i-if you don't mind..." Fluttershy said softly, as shy as ever.

Despite her pain, Rarity arose and helped Fluttershy tend to their unconscious friends, starting with Twilight, who received the worst of it.

Sirens were soon heard, and before the two conscious girls knew it, an ambulance, and 3 black vans showed up. Principals Celestia and Luna arose from one of the 3 vans while paramedics started loading the children onto gurneys and into the ambulance for further treatment on the way to the hospital. As Celestia and Luna stepped out, they noticed the destruction and injuries. All Luna muttered was "Oh no... It's already begun.", as she made her way over to Fluttershy and Rarity...

[The scene drew out here, showing Celestia and Luna running towards the two girls who were tending to the unconscious other four. The destruction and devastation of the playground was more than apparent in the background...]