Empire of the Sun

The crowd was impossible. Horizon absolutely hated being this short. Normally, he would just float above all these ponies’ bobbing, multicolored heads, but, he actually had something he needed to get done today. A Draconequus being in the middle of a crowded square was just going to cause attention, that unfortunately, he wanted, but couldn’t work through at the current moment.

The streets of Ponyville had been all abandoned, but there was no silence by far. The town’s square was abuzz with the preparation of… something. Probably another festival; it had a reputation for having the most celebrations out of any area in Equestria, and with the recent coronation of Princess Twilight, it had become an even bigger hotspot for tourists.

Horizon tapped his unicorn horn with his… hoof. The weirdness to this form would never end. Supposedly he was rumored to have been a unicorn before he was a Draconequus, but if he was, it was too long ago, even for him to remember. He tried to remember the name that he used for this form as he was pushing through ponies.

“Excuse me,” he said, barging past a mare who yelped in surprise. She whipped around, but he rushed along before she got to say anything. He was already making lots of new friends.

It took him a whole five minutes to reach the front of the crowd of ponies whizzing around the square, but it was worth it. Princess Twilight Sparkle was indeed at the center with her look of focus as she scrolled through presumably a checklist. There was a temporary stage set up that was elevated about 4 hooves high, with a majestic podium that she was standing adjacent to. He approached the stage and lifted himself up, standing on his hind legs while propped against the side.

“Um… Princess Twilight?” he asked in the most reserved tone he could muster. Every one of his instincts was dragging him toward his normal way of doing things: skip the pony show and destroy this entire setup in maniacal laughter; but he resisted, for now anyway. She twitched an ear at him without moving anything else. A pang of his urge pierced through his nervous system, but he really had to keep himself under control.

“Princess Twilight?” he called, in a slightly louder voice.

She looked down at him from the stage, surprised, “Um, yes?” she had slightly pulled her presumed checklist closer to her.

“Do you have a minute?” Although he really needed like a few hours.

“I’m really pressed for time, it’s a tight schedule,” she said, and went back to her list, levitating a quill from somewhere. Event Horizon’s eye twitched. He would much rather just go up there and teleport her to his old cave against her will and force her see what he saw, but odds are that would cause more problems than solve, he reminded himself.

“It’s kind of important,” he pushed, “Sort of…” he paused, “Your specialty.”

The alicorn was insistent, “I would love to help, but I'm really really preoccupied,” she said, a look of guilt clouding her face, “See if somepony like Rainbow Dash can help you.”

Event Horizon would rather get help from Discord. It would be just as worthless, though, more entertaining.

He climbed up on the stage and forced his way in her gaze.

“You're not understanding, it's really importan—” he realized she was just getting a terrified look on her face.

“Hey, you there!” somepony called from behind him, presumably save Twilight, “Can I help you?” He craned his head back to find the sturdy, irritated, orange mare he had bumped into earlier. He had seen her before here, too. What was her name?

“Oh, no it's fine, Applejack, really!” Twilight said, now starting to sound embarrassed. He couldn't take it anymore.

“For the love of Celestia!” in a flash he had his rightful form again, levitating over everypony. He shot a fierce state of outrage at Twilight, “I need you for something.” There were gasps through the crowds and suddenly Horizon realized he made a really big mistake.

“Who is he?” there were whispers.

“Is that Discord?” more were asking.

That's it.

“I am Event Horizon!” he roared, angry, “The Draconequus Spirit of Destruction.” In his rage, his essence started to blacken the attracting clouds; high energy made lots of particles colliding to form small lightning.

“I am the Keeper of Rui—” a hot blast to his face send him crashing into the ground. He lay there for a second, dazed as his vision crossed and blurred. He could make out the muffled, “Spirit of Destruction, huh? Let's get him girls!” from Twilight, but he couldn't register what she could possibly be talking about, let alone himself. In a sort of mindless reflex, he at least understood he wasn't supposed to be embedded in the street, so he wearily stood up.

A racing blue blur blasted towards him and circled around at an impressive speed. He was just starting to get his clear thoughts back when he felt a tight bind around him as soon as the blue blur dashed. His vision cleared just in time to see the now, blue Pegasus buck him into the air, where at a certain point, the rope around him tightened. The world began to blur again, but this time in a swarm of colors, as he was spun around in the air by a rope, the end of which led to Applejack. Suddenly too late to react properly, he felt her release the rope and transition him into a free moving object through space. The pressure on his back shocked him as he saw the clearing of ponies shrink away. About a full minute passed and soon he stopped ascending and finished decelerating, and start descending and back again accelerating. He did nothing to stop it. Horizon repeated the scene in his head of being blasted in the face in the middle of him talking. It was completely uncalled for, and there was nothing he could do to defend himself.

After what seemed like forever, his back suddenly shattered and his horns suddenly struck something hard and violently vibrated as he hit the ground. The force was enough to slip him out of his conscience and into sleep.

***

A chill, thicker than hot tar but more piercing than a blade swept through the mountainous clearing. The blizzard was everywhere, omnipotent in power. Despite it, however, kingdom rivalry, rivaled its resistance. Despite the terrible storm, the two armies had met anyway. One was led by a headstrong, monstrous unicorn.

    His horn was red stained at the top, which led to a blotted grey coat, but a silver plate of armor. His eyes were wild, and his grin was hungry. Soldiers of one type gathered behind him, dressed in heavy iron.

    The other leader, stood with his army. His horn was tall and a solid strong green; his summer leaf colored coat was nested behind shined black armor. His eyes were covered, unknown behind the visor. Soldiers of many types stood with him, burdened with iron, leather, even robes.

Despite the contrast, their goal was the same. A sinister purple mist steamed from both of their eyes. The red horned unicorn gave the order to attack first, and the green one responded. Ponies sluggishly fought against the winds that were blowing in a disadvantageous direction for both.

To see them clash, was one spirit. He was far, watching from a distance, atop a snowy hill. The blobs of beings coming together was entertaining for him to watch. The two sides did indeed come together and cried battle cries. The spirit, however, was just watching in great amusement.

         That was until another one appeared beside him in a startling flash. It looked like him, though he had never seen him before.

“What you got here?” the new spirit asked, making a telescope appear before him.

“Shh, the show’s started,” the first one said, mockingly, “I’m trying to watch.”

“Hmm…” the new one said, “Just your run of the mill battle, huh?”

“These are finals,” was the response, “I’ve been following the team on the right for weeks, and I’m betting they’re gonna pull through.”

The new spirit looked interested, “Oooo, finals? Why didn’t you invite me? I’m hurt.”

“Not as hurt as that guy over there,” the first spirit pointed in a direction far away and flinched when the blade made contact.

The second spirit flinched as well, cringing, “I’m sure he’s seen better days.”

The first spirit said nothing more, only chuckling to himself at the ruckus that was happening below. The second one continued on watching along with him, silently, also slightly chuckling. It was comforting to know that somepony who looked like him also enjoyed the same type of entertainment. There was no better quality in a friend.

    “You know,” the second spirit said, “My gut is telling me the left side is going to pull through.”

    “Would you bet on it?” the first spirit asked, grinning. The second spirit nodded, smiling back.

    “Of course!” came the response, and his two talons snapped together. A thick fog formed in the battlefield and got heavier and heavier until nothing could be seen of it at all. One peculiar thing about the fog, however. It was pink.

    Slightly annoyed, the first spirit exclaimed, “Hey?! How is anypony supposed to see?” He snapped his talons together and the pink fog whisked away. The new spirit was smiling like crazy as the first one looked at him in confusion. When he turned his head back to the battle, the pink fog had consolidated itself above the battlefield, into clouds, booming of thunder. In all the snow blowing everywhere, a brown rain poured straight down over everypony.

    “What… are you doing?”

The second spirit started laughing, “It’s a downpour of chocolate rain! Isn’t it hilarious?” The first one shrugged, looking back at the battle. Everypony had stopped in confusion, some slipping on the puddles now pouring. The first spirit couldn’t help but smile. It was funny, he guessed.

    “How exactly is this supposed to help the left side?”

    “Oh, who cares?” the spirit responded, “Just stirring up some excitement!” The second spirit was indeed getting excited. He snapped his talons together and suddenly the ground underneath the battlefield made a sickening groan. Snow in a few areas suddenly burst into the air as a stream of hot air jetted from below in a geyser. Soldiers everywhere had to dodge once they realized what was going on, but some inevitably flung into the air, though saved by their respective leaders.

The new spirit burst into uncontrollable laughter as he collapsed to the floor and roll back on forth on it along his curved spine.

The first one also joined him, catching his contagious laughter.

The two had about an hour more of tricks and dips, dying of laughter at the sight of the two armies still trying to fight each other while attempting not to be a victim to the mischievous spirits’ tricks. After, the first spirit claimed he had the ultimate one.

Drunk with happiness, he waved his talons at the sky, giving forth a lot of his power towards this one. The second spirit waited in anticipation as the two armies tried to retreat their ridiculous battlefield. Behind the actual clouds of the blizzard, a small orange glow began to appear, and get bigger and brighter. At first, no sound was heard, but then a low, loud rumbling began to creep over all the air.

The new spirit changed from a look of excitement to concern.

“What…” he couldn't hear him between the “doing?!” from all the rumbling. Now, wondering if he had gone too far, he responded, “Just a meteor!”

The new spirit looked shocked, “Are you…?”

A miniature sun appeared to be blooming behind the dark storm clouds as the heat very suddenly dissolved them completely in a matter of seconds. The second spirit dashed away towards the meteor and the two unicorn leaders suddenly leapt into action. The red horned unicorn shifted into a black shapeless form and flew towards the heat rock at high speed. The green one charged his horn, and his magic enveloped the whole thing!

The first spirit now was no longer happy. He was too embarrassed to help, so he had teleported himself away back to the safety of his home.