Study Group

Chapters

Summoning
Nothing To Fear
Taking Control

Summoning

Outside the gates of Tartarus, two of Cerberus' heads were resting, the other keeping watch through the dark and misty night. The heat and humidity would be near unbearable for mere mortal creatures, but to Cerberus the night was cosy and warm. The walls of Tartarus stood impossibly high, built with stones unfathomably thick and magically protected against even the most powerful of creatures.

However, in the darkness, amongst the shrubbery which surrounded the gates, lurked a stallion who had travelled far, far from home. An orange-coated pony with a pale nose and brilliant vermilion mane, wearing large, round spectacles over his eyes and a star spangled cape over his back. Sunburst had arrived at the gates of Tartarus with a plan: to tear down the wall and release what horrors it concealed upon Equestria!

With a simple whisk of his horn, a vast amount of powerful magic spread over Cerberus, like a giant blanket of twinkling stars over the beast. The conscious head noticed the magic immediately and barked to warn the other heads. All three heads of Cerberus barked and growled loudly at the cloud which slowly fell across him. As the twinkling lights descended, they pushed Cerberus to the floor, rendering him motionless on the ground.

Sunburst revealed himself from the bushes, staring longingly at the unguarded gates of Tartarus. His heart pounded and his breath quickened as he considered his next spell. He gave out half a smile in disbelief that he had come this far and was about to succeed in his plans, seemingly without a hitch. He briefly looked down to the ground, recalling the spell he had to cast. Finally, in firing up his horn and with a little stress and a lot of concentration, Sunburst fired off a powerful beam of electric blue magic which engulfed the gate and spread across the walls.

The metal bars contorted and the walls crumbled under the might of the magic on show. The heat of Tartarus spilled out around Sunburst as gigantic rocks fell by his sides. The gate eventually snapped, the doors flew from their hinges and fired themselves past Sunburst's shoulders, landing on the muddy grass behind him.

It took a moment, but quietly, a low rumbling emerged from the silence. The sound of stomping hooves, a marching army of darkness quickly approached the gates. Sunburst readied his penultimate spell - a spell which he hoped would bend the will of all the dark forces to match his own. He panted anxiously as a million stampeding atrocities stormed to the gate, and as they came into view he chanted a spell incoherent to anyone but himself. The banished and the burdened drew ever closer to their assumed freedom, aware that someone - or something - had destroyed the gate, but naïvely unaware of what dangers lay ahead.

As they escaped over the wall to freedom, those too stupid and unaware instantly found themselves under the cloak of Sunburst's spell. Vast armies of devilish minions suddenly found themselves succumbing to the might of his magic, whilst other, more intelligent beings kept their distance. Wave upon wave, abomination upon abomination spewed over the wall. Sunburst was barely able to maintain his excitement, letting out a mad, heckling cackle as his army grew in magnitude.

On the other side of the wall, from the darkest corner, a small, weak-looking Tirek looked on, muttering to himself, "The pony has harnessed magic far beyond his own capabilities. Far beyond the capabilities of his Princesses."

Sunburst's eye fell upon Tirek. He chortled at the feeble-looking centaur, "Come, Tirek. Join me!"

Tirek merely shook his head, "You know nothing of the powers you possess, pony."

Sunburst smirked, "And you do?"

"I have witnessed a power much like this in aeons passed. I cannot stop you in your plan, but surely you know you cannot hope to control the forces within you?"

"It wasn't my intention to control it. It was merely my intention to unleash it!"

Tirek gave no retort to Sunburst's strong statement, instead choosing to retreat back to the depths of Tartarus. He had no plans to escape his imprisonment.

As the final few creatures spilled out of Tartarus, Sunburst completed the final piece of his plan. His eyes turned a lime green, black smoke-like magic protruded from the sides of his eyes, and a team of black and purple orbs shot from his horn. The dark magic scarred the walls, leaving them permanently agape, giving any demon its chance of freedom.

Sunburst turned to his newly-formed army all glistening under the electric blue glow of his control spell. "This is it! Now is the time to reclaim Equestria! I have given you freedom. In exchange, you will give me the throne! Once Celestia and the Elements are banished to Tartarus for eternity, we will rule this world! Now go! Go forth and conquer everything!" Sunburst roared, and like puppets on his string, the amalgamation of millions of Tartarus' worst creatures ventured forth from the gatepost to begin their lengthy journey towards Equestria.

But as the crowds dispersed, the commotion settled and the last remaining sound was that of the burning fires of Tartarus, Sunburst was taken by surprise by a presence behind him. Tirek stared down Sunburst, gazing directly into his eyes. "Even with the might of all of Tartarus behind you, you shall not succeed, pony."

Sunburst stared back at Tirek, but with much less vigour, "What makes you so sure?"

Tirek grinned, "Equestria contains more power than you perceive. It will take much more than brute force to challenge them."

"So join me."

Tirek shook his head as he turned to walk away, "Silly pony. I am Tirek. I will never play companion to such an incompetent fool. No. The consequences of your actions are yours to bear alone. But have no doubts I shall be watching patiently for your inevitable fall."

Sunburst was somewhat shaken by Tirek's words, but refused to let it show, "I will take Equestria, and when I do, you'll be next, Tirek."

Tirek chuckled heartily as he retreated back through the fires. Sunburst shook his head and turned his back on Tartarus, opting to focus on more important matters: his domination of Equestria.

Nothing To Fear

Rainbow Dash grumbled in frustration, "Ugh, where did he go?"

Rarity's hooves hurt from days of walking, "I don't know. Can we please take a break? We haven't stopped for hours!"

"Come on, Rarity, he can't be that far ahead, surely?" AJ reasoned, trying to maintain Rarity's morale.

"And let's not forget the fate of Equestria rests on us!" Pinkie gleefully bounced.

Rarity sighed, "How do you still have so much energy, Pinkie? Honestly."

Rainbow hovered above the ponies, scoping out the landscape and keeping an eye on the others. She noticed Fluttershy lagging behind, "Come on, Fluttershy. Keep up!"

The exhausted little pegasus panted, "I'm trying." RD swooped down, picking up Fluttershy and carrying her ahead of the group.

Rarity moaned, "She has wings! Can't you carry me instead?"

RD placed Fluttershy down several yards in front of everypony else, "I can't carry everypony!"

"What about that one time at the Young Fliers' Competition? You carried me and the Wonderbolts to safety!"

"Yeah, but I hadn't travelled across the whole of Equestria and beyond when I did that. I'm exhausted, too!"

Rarity groaned. Pinkie's ears tingled as a strange noise quietly penetrated her ear, "What's that?"

AJ was confused, "What's what?"

"Shh, shh, shh, shh!"

RD's ears were the next to twitch, "I hear it. What is that?"

Fluttershy cowered, "A-are we too late?"

AJ grunted, "No, we can't be! There's no way!"

RD flew off ahead to scout the area. After a few seconds of near supersonic flight, she approached a nearby cliff face. Over the edge, below in a deep valley, she observed Sunburst and the towering walls of Tartarus crumbling to dust. "Oh no, no no no no no." she whispered to herself before shooting off back to the group.

Rarity looked up to the skies, "Did you find out what that ghastly noise was, Dashie?"

"Yeah. We're in trouble. It's Sunburst; he's destroyed the wall!"

Fluttershy gasped and squeaked in terror. She hunkered down to the ground and shook in fear. AJ snorted, "Darn it! Come on, everypony, we gotta stop him now!"

Fluttershy poked her head up from between her hooves, "We need Twilight!"

Applejack grabbed Fluttershy up from the ground, "Forget her! If it weren't for Twilight, none of this woulda been happening!"

Rarity turned to AJ in shock, "Applejack!"

"Well it's true!"

"Maybe, but-"

"Maybe? She downright abandoned us! Our own Princess! In our time of need!"

"She didn't abandon us, Applejack. Twilight would never do that!"

"Well whaddya call runnin' off when Sunburst went all loopy? We could have contained him there and then!"

"I'm sure she had a good reason."

"Rarity, he destroyed the Crystal Heart! The entire Empire was consumed 'cause of her!"

Rainbow's anger had slowly increased as Applejack and Rarity's exchange continued, "Guys! Stop arguing! We need to focus now! Sunburst is over there unleashing all the demons in Tartarus upon Equestria!"

Fluttershy cowered once more, "W-what if Tirek gets out?"

"I think Tirek will be the least of our worries if all of Tartarus gets out. Now come on!"

Though tired and weary, the five ponies pushed on. The final stretch of their journey took every last ounce of energy they had, but eventually they reached the edge of the cliffs overlooking the gate of Tartarus where they witnessed scores of monsters rushing out from behind the broken wall. Minotaurs, Hydras, Dragons, Zombies, Vampires, Goblins and many more abominations and evil-minded creatures were all among the crowds. It was disorganised chaos, and many attempted to flee into the surrounding forests. A powerful beam of electric blue magic shot high into the sky, cascading over the entire scene, creating a protective shield and sealing the demons, Sunburst and the ponies inside.

Sunburst elevated himself high above the crumbled wall and a trickle of sparkling magic descended down his throat. "Denizens of Tartarus," Sunburst's voice boomed throughout the area, loud and clear enough to be heard clearly by everything within the confines of the protected area, "I am Sunburst. I am your new ruler." The crowd erupted with waves of jeering and anger.

Sunburst saw the dissonance and would not tolerate it. He picked out a group of creatures and magically dragged them towards him. Several large hydras, about a dozen dragons, and a small group of manticores were lifted into the air. Each creature was engulfed in their own bubble with a trail of magic leading from their temporary prisons back to Sunburst's horn. Without the slightest hint of effort from Sunburst, a surge of magic shot through the trails to the bubbles of the captive demons, it instantly destroyed each one and turned them into vaporised corpses. The ponies looked on with a mixture of fear and anger, and grit their teeth as they looked on.

The bubbles burst, the giant shield dropped, and the dusty debris of the bodies drifted along the breeze and scattered across the faces of the beasts below. "You will obey me, lest you suffer the same fate." The crowd fell mostly silent. "Tonight we take this world for our own. Tonight we will topple cities and destroy Gods! Tonight we march onto Canterlot and Celestia shall answer for her tyranny... with her life!" The crowd erupted in cheer.

The cheers were interrupted, however, by the familiar call of a rainbow-maned pegasus, "Not so fast, Sunburst!" Rainbow Dash flew up from the cliff, confronting Sunburst. "We're here to stop you!"

Sunburst cackled, "You're outnumbered by - what? - a million to one? Go home you fools!"

Applejack shouted quietly, "Rainbow! What are you doing? Get back down here!"

RD turned her back on Sunburst, which would be her undoing. Before she even had time to open her mouth, Sunburst had seized the opportunity and trapped Dash within a tight, metal cage, throwing her violently into the pits of Tartarus. The other four ponies were taken by surprise, and in unison "Rainbow!" they cried.

Sunburst floated towards them from the distance, "My magic far surpasses anything ever seen by mortal creatures. Even your precious Elements stand no chance."

Pinkie was the first to react to Sunburst's approach, "Run!" she screamed, immediately attempting to flee.

She was the next to go. Sunburst captured Pinkie and locked her inside a magical orb and sent her barrelling into Tartarus. Three remained. "Who's next?"

Rarity angrily stomped her hooves on the ground, "You're a monster, Sunburst!"

Sunburst chuckled as a beautiful blue ribbon of magic flowed through the air towards Rarity. It glided gently over her body and wrapped itself around her hooves before materialising as shackles, locking her in tight. Sunburst smirked as he lifted her high off the ground and flung her into Tartarus.

Sunburst turned his attention to Fluttershy who was now crying on the floor. The moment he did, however, Applejack leapt between the two of them, snorting and grunting, ready to pounce. Her confidence in being able to defend Fluttershy was misplaced, of course, as Sunburst extended a magical rope, lassoing AJ and using the rope to throw the orange Earth pony through the gates.

Only Fluttershy remained. Sunburst quietly and gently descended to where she trembled. He reached out a hoof and lifted her head from the ground. He stared intimidatingly into her eyes. The petrified pegasus couldn't keep eye contact. "Shh," he whispered to her, "it'll all be fine." He smiled as his magic slowly began to turn Fluttershy's body to stone.

"Why are you doing this?"

Sunburst grinned slyly as blue flames roared inside his eyes, but the question fell on deaf ears. "Send my regards to Tirek!" he bellowed as he disposed of her into Tartarus.

Sunburst turned to the crowd one final time, pointing a hoof in the direction of Equestria. "The Elements of Harmony have been disposed of. You have nothing to fear. Now... we march!"

Taking Control

For any mere mortal, the journey from Tartarus to the mainland of Equestria would be a daunting task which would take several exhausting days to complete, but the denizens of Tartarus were relentless; they marched hard with unwavering strength through forests, marshes and swamps, over mountains and teaming rivers until their goal was in sight.

As evening fell, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna - both fitted with iron battle armour - stood atop the lookout of their castle waiting for the oncoming forces. Beside them stood the golden Equestrian war horn which was so large it towered above the sisters' heads. Celestia peered through her telescope as Luna stood by the war horn ready to give the signal.

The entirety of the Royal Guard had been called into action: the Earth Pony forces were draped in the thickest, heaviest armour available to them and armed with heavy-duty lances; the Pegasi wore light-weight armour complete with steel-tipped wings designed to effortlessly slice through any exposed part of the enemy's body; and the Unicorns were dressed in garments laced with various enchanted gems designed to intensify their magical abilities and wore rings made of ruby and gold around their horns to induce a consistent magical defence against incoming physical attacks.

They were prepared for war.

The front line of Sunburst's demonic forces approached the city. Celestia raised her hoof to the sky and Luna promptly blew the war horn in response. The deep, bellowing sound of the horn rang loudly throughout the entire city, loud enough that it could be heard easily by Sunburst and his army many miles away.

Sunburst snarled, took in a deep breath and screamed "Charge!"

The Royal Guard stood their ground as the many winged creatures charged in the most direct path possible towards the city. As they grew closer, however, a beam of pink aura shot up from the castle grounds; it quickly cascaded over Canterlot, forming a protective bubble to shield the city away from the advancing forces.

Those in flight who reached the orb first tried various ways to penetrate it, from punches and kicks, to hurling their bodies against it and even biting it, but their efforts alone were in vain. The Pegasi of the Royal Guard fluttered just a few feet away on the inside of the orb, staring the enemy down in an attempt to intimidate. Meanwhile, an endless sea of creatures climbed the mountains below. Platoons of Earth pony forces - led by Unicorn Commanders - marched outward to the edges of the city limits in preparation of any breaches of the orb's defence.

Celestia and Luna flew up from their positions on lookout towards the outer edge of the orb, keeping a keen eye on Sunburst. To meet with the Princesses eye-to-eye, Sunburst created a platform out of his electric blue aura. As he stood upon this platform, it ascended into the air and glided effortlessly up to the perimeter of the orb.

"Princesses! As much as I appreciate the welcoming party, it really wasn't necessary." Celestia growled, but gave no further response. "What's wrong, Princess? I thought you'd be happy to see me! Your grandiose speech back in the Crystal Empire was inspiring!" Sunburst shifted his focus as he stroked the orb, "And what is this? Come on! Shining Armor's spell couldn't even protect you from changelings! What chance are they going to have against countless legions of the most sinister creatures from the bowels of Tartarus?"

The orange unicorn burst out laughing, "Of course, of course. You already know, don't you? You know you don't stand a chance, but you feel you have to put on a show to make it look like you're still in control. How many more ponies have to suffer before you surrender yourself to me, Celestia? Was the destruction of the Crystal Empire not enough for you? Was losing Princess Cadance and little Flurry Heart not enough? Look at you! You're heavily outnumbered! Your subjects know that, too, yet they're still so stubbornly obedient."

Sunburst grinned egotistically as he continued to berate the Princess, "Where's Twilight these days? Things go horribly awry and she just disappears. Where's she gone, Princess?"

Celestia spoke through gritted teeth, "I don't know..."

"No. I didn't expect so. It strikes me because there seems to be a lot of things you don't know! So let me ask you this: How much do you know about Typhon?"

Upon hearing that name, Celestia's nostrils widened, her heart rate increased and her breath quickened, "That abomination is nothing but myth! An old fairytale told many moons ago - nothing more."

"Your body language says otherwise, my dear Celestia. Typhon is very much real, and he shall appear before us in all his glory! Everything is in place for his return. All we need now is the sacrifice of the most powerful Princess in all of Equestria!"

In that moment, shouts and screams were heard echoing below them. A deafening rumble shook the air as the orb shattered into a million pieces all around them. The defences were broken. Thousands upon thousands of demons swarmed into the city both on foot and in the air. Sunburst and the Princesses stared off against one another as all hell broke loose around them.

Celestia was first to burst into combat. She dashed swiftly toward Sunburst, bearing her own set of steel-tipped wings. In the blink of an eye, Sunburst protected himself with a flash of his magic, deflecting the Princess' attack. Luna charged into battle, bearing her teeth as she attempted to help her sister. Sunburst, however, was very quick to respond, sending an intense wave of magic - like a magical sonic boom - in Luna's direction, unsettling the Princess' flight.

Below them, the battle raged. Demon and pony alike swung their weapons, brandished their teeth and swiped with their claws. The well-equipped Royal Guard had the upper-hoof; the Earth ponies thrust their lances through the chests of the enemy as the shields created by the Unicorns defended them. The opposing forces relied on sheer force of number to overpower the defences of the Royal Guard.

Felling a Unicorn would leave the Earth ponies almost defenceless bar their amour, making them the main targets. The demons relied heavily on the use of dark magic and necromancy to counter the Unicorns' protection spells and to revive fallen members of the Royal Guard and return them to the battlefield under their control to maintain their numbers.

Both sides saw a high number of casualties, but it had quickly become apparent that Sunburst was correct - the ponies were completely outnumbered. For each demon that fell, another ten took its place. There was no fight, and Canterlot was quickly becoming a slaughterhouse.

Meanwhile, the battle between Luna, Celestia and Sunburst raged on in the skies over the city. Sunburst quite easily fended off Celestia and Luna's attacks - no amount of physical force could break through his defences. The Princesses slowly grew frustrated and tired as Sunburst taunted them.

However, as the battle drew on, Sunburst began to realise the Princesses had refrained from utilising their magic during the fight; an unusual fact that irked Sunburst. He internally questioned the logic behind their tactics. He assumed the Princesses would have attempted to apprehend or kill him with their huge powers, but neither seemed to be the case.

Unwilling to let himself fall victim to some unknown scheme, Sunburst decided to stop toying with the Princesses. He fired a powerful beam of his aura towards the Princesses, rendering them motionless. His magic slowly caressed its way up the bodies of the Princesses, penetrating their horns and entering their bodies. The alicorns both fell out of the sky, crashing down into the fields at the foot of the mountain.

Sunburst swooped down to meet the Princesses at ground level. Slowly, they regained consciousness and lifted themselves up from the floor. They shook themselves down, removing bits of dust and grass which had gotten smeared on them from the impact. Sunburst realised his victory when the Princesses opened their eyes. Their irises glowed electric blue and their horns sparked the same colour as Sunburst's.

The unicorn brandished a sword at the Princesses from under his magician's cloak, "Kneel!"

Celestia and Luna knelt down on their front legs, bowing their heads, "We obey," they declared in unison.

Sunburst grinned, "Good." He glanced up at the battle which was now reaching its inevitable conclusion, "Canterlot is mine! Now do yourselves a favour and order the last of your guards to stand down."

The Princesses nodded, "Yes, Sir."

Sunburst watched as they took flight. He levitated himself high above the city, observing as the Royal Guards laid down their weapons, removed their armour and surrendered. Only a few hundred ponies remained, each surrounded by hordes of demonic creatures waiting orders from their commander... and Sunburst was all too willing to give them. As the Princesses flew back to his side, he smirked, using his magic once more to project his voice to the entire city, "Canterlot is ours! Soon, Equestria will belong to us!" The crowds cheered, "Now is your time to show the same contempt these ponies have shown to all of you: execute each and every single one of them!" he bellowed.

The ponies trembled in fear as they were all descended upon. Some chose to fight, whilst others simply accepted their fate. For both, the end result was the same; there were no survivors.

Sunburst turned to Celestia and Luna, "Now you're under my control, perhaps you'll be a little more truthful as to the whereabouts of your dear protégé. Tell me: where is Twilight Sparkle?"

Celestia's answer remained unchanged, "I don't know."

Sunburst turned to Luna instead, but her answer mirrored Celestia's, "We do not know."

Sunburst screamed in a bloody rage, "Aaaaaargh! Fine! Tell me this instead: what are her plans?"

"We do not know," Luna reiterated.

Sunburst's frustrations grew. He wiped his hoof across his face, "Why didn't you use your magic against me?"

"We are bereft of our powers."

"Bereft? How? Why?"

"It was taken by Twilight,"

"Why?"

"We do not know,"

"So she's keeping even you in the dark about her plans?"

"We presume so."

"Clever mare." Sunburst lamented over the lack of information for a moment, "If we can't track her down then we'll have to bring her to us. Where is her dragon?"

"He was in the Crystal Empire when it fell."

Sunburst threw down his hooves in anger, "For Faust's sake!" He shook his head, "No matter. It's an easy fix. I can just go back and get him." Sunburst engulfed himself in his own aura and momentarily disappeared. As he snapped back into existence, he had brought Spike back with him. "See? Time travel. Easy."

Spike quickly realised he was hovering several hundred yards in the air. He began to panic, letting out a wailing scream.

"Calm yourself! My magic is keeping you aloft! You won't fall unless I will it."

Spike sighed in relief. The next thing he noticed was the Princesses. "Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" He glanced behind the Princesses, witnessing the state of Canterlot. His mind started to overload with information, "Wait. What happened to Canterlot? Wasn't I in the Crystal Empire? What's going on?"

Sunburst ground his teeth at Spike, "Long story short: Canterlot and your Princesses are under my control, the Crystal Empire no longer exists and I travelled back in time to bring you here."

"B-back in time? How far in the future am I? Where's Twilight?"

"Precisely the question I wanted to ask you, little dragon."

Spike was angered, "Well how am I supposed to know the answer to that? You were the one who brought me here. I don't know how far we've travelled!"

Sunburst groaned, "I meant Twilight! Where is she?"

"I dunno! She never told anyone what she was doing!"

"Can you still send her messages?"

"Of course. When I send stuff, I just have to imagine the pony I'm sending them to and it goes straight to them."

"Good," A quill and scroll magically appear in front of Spike, "Spike; take a letter."

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

It is with a heavy heart I must inform you that the city of Canterlot has been taken by myself and the forces of Tartarus. Thankfully, I can confirm there were two survivors: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Unfortunately, the rest of the city's population has been completely eradicated. A great shame, I think you'll agree.

I shall spare the lives of your Princesses under the condition that you meet me here in Canterlot. You have twenty-four hours to comply, or else I will tear down the whole of Equestria to find you. I hope you come to your senses and cease this pitiful game of hide-and-seek.

Yours faithfully,

Sunburst