Ghosts of the Past

The carriage jerked on the cobblestone road.  The night had finally come for this year's Grand Galloping Gala.  Twilight and her friends were busy talking about their dresses and their plans for the evening.

"I can not believe that I forgot to make new dresses for the gala and we have to wear last year's drab ones," said Rarity scornfully as she looked her dress over.

"Aw calm yer britches," replied Applejack.

"Yeah, last years dresses were awesome and it's not like anypony actually saw them.  I mean come on we ran outta there so fast I bet no pony even remembers them," added Rainbow Dash.

"If you say so," said Rarity.  "Twilight's suggestion of wearing our elements of harmony kind of makes up for last year's fashion."

"Well, I thought we should wear them and show everypony what they look like.  It could be educational to everypony to notice the items that saved them two times over," Twilight said barely keeping the excitement out of her voice.

"It's such a shame about Spike not being able to show up," said Fluttershy quietly.

"Yeah, what was wrong with our little Spiky Wiky?" asked Pinkie Pie.

'He had the Dragonfire Flu," replied Twilight Sparkle.

"What is that?  It sounds dreadful." said Rarity a little concerned for her scaly friend.

"It's when a dragon can't control when their fire breath comes out or how intense it is," answered Twilight Sparkle.

"Sounds kinda awesome," said Rainbow Dash.

"It is," said Twilight Sparkle sarcastically.  "Unless he burns three of your books, half of your furniture, and your favorite sandwich."

"Oh dear, whatever did you do.  If you don't mind me asking," said Fluttershy.

"I cast a spell that puts him to sleep for a few days.  Then I had to cast a shield spell around him so his fire didn't burn anything else," Twilight said.

"We must do something for the little guy after the gala," added Rarity.  "I might have a few gems laying around that I could give him as a little treat."

"Oh Oh," said Pinkie Pie excitedly.  "Look girls, we're here."

The castle looked beautiful tonight.  The moon gently glimmered off of the white walls.  The windows showed a welcoming light coming from within the safe confines of the castle.  Luna even moved the stars around tonight so even they helped create the majestic scene the six friends were witnessing.

"Well I'll be," said Applejack.  "That is a might beautiful sight."

"Yeah," agreed Twilight, "It sure is."

The carriage came to a halt in front of the drawbridge.  All six friend lept off and trotted gracefully into the castle.  All the nobles saw them and groaned silently.  They may have not noticed the dresses these six wore, but they noticed the destruction they caused.

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Twilight.

"Me and Rarity are goin ta enjoy some food and just catch up," said Applejack.  "Between my applebuckin and her dress makin, we haven't been able to talk to each other.  If it's okay with her that is"

"Well that is just a fine idea," said Rarity pleased.  "You being around would be just outstanding, and it might keep an less than charming prince away from me."

"Ya mean Prince Blueblood?" asked Applejack.

"We shall not speak that name.  He might hear us and come over here,"  said Rarity darting her eyes back and forth searching for any sign of the spoiled brat.

"Can I join you two.  I mean if that's okay.  I mean I just don't want to go back to the garden after last time and I don't know anypony else here," Fluttershy said shyly.

"Sure you can sugercube," said Applejack affectionatly.

"Oh thank you Applejack," said Fluttershy relieved that she wouldn't have to talk to the strange ponies at the gala.

"That sounds cool and all," started Rainbow Dash, "but I'm going to try and hang with the Wonderbolts again.  I bet I can get them to notice me this time."

"Yeah, because nearly dropping a statue on them went totally unnoticed," said a displeased Twilight.  She was hoping Rainbow Dash would drop this weird obsession of hers for tonight and join her and Pinkie Pie for the night.  The thought of having to listen to Pinkie Pie by herself annoyed her.  They were best friends, but even her patience had its limits.

"Hey," responded Rainbow Dash.  "That was an accident and I bet they thought it was awesome how I tried to catch that thing all by myself."

Twilight nodded and proceeded down the heavily decorated room with Pinkie Pie leaping after her.  Rainbow Dash went off to search for her childhood heros.  The other three walked over to the food table and enjoyed talking with each other.

The night went on peacefully.  Everypony relaxed and just went on talking about how great they were.  Rainbow Dash may be a little overconfident in herself, but even she did not come close to these snooty ponies.  They had their noses so high up in the air, that if it rained they would drown.

Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie walked around for awhile taking in the sights of the gala.  Well, she was anyway.  Pinkie Pie chatted on in her bubblie tone about how she would love to try and get these unfun ponies to dance a little.  Somehow, that conversation led to her trying to rhyme words with pajamas but that's just how Pinkie Pie is anyway.

The night went on without a problem.  The nobles of Equestria chatted with each other about how great they were.  Wine glasses clinked together in congratulations to each other's accomplishments.  Soft music from the great Octavia and her orchestra wove its way around the halls of the castle.  All was right with the world.

Over at the snack table, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy sat and enjoyed each other's company.  Prince Blueblood came trotting over, but after seeing Rarity he backed away slowly afraid that she would mess up his styled mane.  Rarity saw this out of the corner of her eye and seemed rather pleased she wouldn't have to put up with the royal pain tonight.

Rarity turned her attention back to her country friend.  Applejack was telling her about how Big Macintosh accidentally bucked a bee hive right onto his head and ran around the farm trying to get it off.

Oh my, her accent can get rather annoying, thought Rarity, and do not even get me started on her messy mane.  Did she even try and comb it?  No, no, Applejack is my friend.  We may be different in our ways, but I love her like a sister.

The three friends laughed after Applejack finished her story.

"So Rarity," Applejack began to ask, "what y'all been up to?"

"Well," Rarity began, "I have been working on such a darling coat that goes well with my new hat.  Oh and my fashion line is almost done.  I call it Fashion from the Deep."

Rarity went on and on about her new line of clothing.  Applejack tried to pay attention, but her thoughts were else where.

All this pony talks about  is clothes.  She didn't even pay attention to my story.  I saw her eyeing up that hoity toity prince when he walked by, thought Applejack.  Wait a minute.  I wonder if she still thinks I'm a sloppy pony.  That would explain a lot.  Wait Applejack, calm down.  After that night at Twi's, we've been lookin past those differences.  I love her like a sister after all.

The night pretty much went like that for those three.  They just sat and talked and ate some of the fancy food that was on the table.  Fluttershy didn't say much, but she was happy she was with her friends and not those mean animals in the garden.

Rainbow Dash trotted around the grand hall of the castle  The light from the torches glinted of the  white marble walls.  The red and purple tapestries danced as a small breeze fluttered around them.  Her dress caught the attention of every guest that was there.  They silently judged her with approving nods and shocked eyes.

Man!  Don't these ponies have anything better to do than stare at each other's clothes.  I mean yeah I'm awesome and all, but they should be cheering at me for my daring tricks and good looks, she thought as she smiled at the stuck-up ponies.

"Hey Dash," came an oh so familiar voice.

Rainbow turned and was greeted by Spitfire, the leader of the Wonderbolts.  She wasn't wearing her usual blue jumpsuit with aviator goggles.  Instead, she was wearing a deep blue dress with lighter blue sequins that formed swirling patterns, as if a majestic wave coilled itself around her sleek body.

"Spitfire!" Rainbow said in surprise.  "You look...aweso...fantas...beauti...."  She couldn't finish her sentence.  The shear presence of her childhood hero tended to twist her tounge around.

Spitfire chuckled.  "Yeah, I'm all of those," she replied trying to reassure the dumbfounded pegusus.

"Sorry," said Dash regaining her cool.  "What's up?"

"Oh, you know...some flying...some relaxing...some more flying.  The usual." she said kind of bored at the thought of how tonight was going.

"That sounds...okay," replied Dash.

"No it doesn't.  I'm all for fine food and social gatherings, but this is just boring," said Spitfire.

The music changed from its soft tone to a more refined sound.  Rainbow could feel her heart sinking with how this was going.

I have to turn this around.  I'm losing her, she thought.

"Hey.  Where are the other Wonderbolts?"

"They're around," replied Spitfire.  "I actually told them to fan out so the crowd would follow them."

"What did you do that for?" asked a curious Rainbow Dash.

"I wanted to keep the...."  She stopped and waved to some passerbys and continued.  "I wanted them to keep the others away so I could talk to you."

"Why did you want to talk to me?" asked Dash.

"Well, Blaster wants to retire from the Wonderbolts to follow his dreams of being a florist."

"That sounds a little lame for a Wonderbolt," interrupted Dash.

"Not really.  We Wonderbolts tend to enjoy things like that between being daredevils.  It's soothing, but I'm getting off track."

Rainbow Dash listened intently as Spitfire continued.

"We are going to need a new member, so me and Soarin thought it should be you."

Rainbow's heart lept from her chest.  They're asking me...ME! to be a Wonderbolt!  Calm down Dash.  Don't blow it.

"Why don't you and me go somewhere private and discuss your offer," Spitfire said.

Rainbow Dash could barely keep her excitement contained.  Her dreams were going to finally come true.  She withheld a squeal as Spitfire led her out to the gardens.

The night air felt cool on Twilight's face.  The moon was shining brighter than it was when they arrived at the gala.  Birds were singing the soothing song of nature.  Pinkie was busy bouncing behind Twilight with a smile as big as her heart.

I hope I can find my brother and Cadance.  I haven't seen them since they got married, thought Twilight.

Twilight saw her brother and new sister-in-law over by the fountain.  The water created a cooler area, so it wasn't a surprise the two were loitering around it.  They seemed more interested in each other than the gala. Twilight rushed over to greet them with Pinkie Pie following just behind her.

"Shining Armor, Cadance! I missed you both so much," she exclaimed.

"Twily," Shining Armor said with joy in his voice.  "How ya been little sis?"

"Oh you know, I've been...." Twilight said.

"She's been amazing!," interrupted Pinkie Pie.  "I mean how could she not be!  She's your sister, but you already knew that so you should know she's amazing!"

Twilight looked at her brother a little embarassed at what Pinkie was saying.  Shining Armor just laughed.  He thought Twilight's friends suited her.

"If it wasn't for friends like her, your life would be as boring as those books you read," chuckled Shining Armor.  Twilight's cheeks grew hotter at the compliment.

"Honey,' Cadance began, "remember that message you have to give her?"

"Oh right, thanks sweetie," Shining Armor said as he kissed his wife.

"What message?" Twilight asked.

"Princess Celestia wanted to see you and your friends right away," said Shining Armor.

Twilight was a little confused at this point.  Last time, the princess didn't even have enough time to talk to her.  Now, she wanted to talk to all of them.  She felt like something was wrong.

Turning to Pinkie Pie, Twilight said, "You go get Rainbow Dash.  I'll find the others."

"Oki doki loki," was the reply she got from the overenergetic pony as they went their seperate ways to assemble the gang.

The six friends were gathered in Princess Celestia's private quarters.  Twilight has only ever been in here once, but was still surprised at how plain it looked.  There were no statues, tapestries, or even a single bit of treasure.  Their was a bed with a simple blanket and pillow over in the corner.  The one side of the room was taken up by some bookcases filled with, what else, books of different sizes and colors.  A fire flickered in the small fireplace on the other side of the room with a beautiful carpet laying a safe distance from it.

Celestia's worried look confirmed Twilight's suspicions.  Something was definitely wrong.  The fire let out a crackle as the princess began.

"I'm glad you and your friends came tonight, and I'm even happier you wore the elements of harmony."

"Why, whats wrong princess," asked Twilight curiously.

"It's Discord.  He...."

The princess was interrupted by the sound of screams coming downstairs.  She rushed out with Twilight and her friends not far behind.  They arriived at the ballroom, some of them heaving at how fast they had to run to keep up with the princess.

It was total chaos in the room.  The food got up and started dancing across the table.  The colors of the room clashed with each other in a disgusting plaid pattern.  Vanilla ice cream was falling from the ceiling.  The statues were breaking apart and fixing themselves.  The guests were running around confused at what to do or what was going on.  Shining Armor ran into the room.  His mood changed from loving brother to harsh commander.

"Guards! Assemble here and stop this chaos!" he ordered.

"What's wrong?" came a cocky voice.  "I thought everypony loved ice cream, and I thought dancing food would be cute."

Discord sat on top of the breaking statue.  Even when it broke, he stayed right where he was.

"Discord, stop it now," said Celestia with anger in her voice.  "You have done enough."

"Ah, hello again Celestia. How have you been," he said sneering.

"Don't worry princess, we'll handle this," said a confident Twilight.  "Girls lets do this!"

Their elements glowed.  Each one levitated off the ground and got into position.  Twilight opend her glowing eyes and a rainbow shot out from where they stood.  It curled and whipped itself towards where Discord stood.

Discord yawned and turned his entire body into a mirror.  The rainbow bounced off of him and returned back to the mane six.  The blast knocked them away from each other.  They got up shaken over what happened.  Celestia's eyes widened.  The elements of harmony had failed.

"Now please," said a victorious Discord.  "You thought that same old trick would work on me again.  You wound me."

He turned to Celestia and continued with a laugh, "You thought that those six elements would hurt me again.  Without the seventh, they are only a shadow of their former selves.  Your little pets have failed, so lets see how mine fair."

"What did he mean by seventh," Twilight asked Pinkie.

Pinkie wasn't paying attention.  She was looking at a fox as it crept closer to her.

"Pinkie Pie," it said cooly.  "Why do you hang out with this Twilight Sparkel.  She doesn't appreciate you.  She thinks you are annoying and childish.  She thinks the only thing you can be responsible for is giving her a headache everytime you come to visit."

Pinkie was shocked at what she was hearing.  "Your wrong! Twilight loves me.  We are best pony friends forever."

"Why don't you ask her," she said to Pinkie Pie.

"Its not true.  Right Twilight?" Pinkie asked her purple friend.

Twilight looked down to the floor embarassed.  Pinkie was shocked to see her reaction.  It only made her fears real.  That's what Twilight thought of her.

That's probably what the others think too, Pinkie thought as tears welled up in her eyes.

"You get away from our friend you nasty varmint," screamed Applejack as she and Rarity charged at the menacing creature.  They were stopped by a nasty serpant.

"Come now, " it began, "how can you sssay sshe's your friend when you two can't even get along."

"Get out of our way you disgusting thing," said Rarity trying to slap it out of the way.

It moved quickly to the side and continued, "Rartiy, how bout you tell Applejack what you really think of her.  How she'ssss ssssloppy and her accent is annoying."

"How did you...." started Rarity before she was cut off by the serpant.

"And Applejack, tell her how you think she'ssss sssnooty and overdramatic all the time.  I'm sssure ssshe would ressspect the honessty."

"It's ain't true," Applejack screamed as she backed away slowly from the venomous thing.

"How can you two be friendssss?  Your oppossties and will never ever be friendsss," it finished.

"Girls, focus," pleaded Twilight.  "Use the elements again, please."

No pony paid attention to her.  Pinkie was on the ground whimpering as dark thoughts crept on her mind.  Her mane and tail were straight and she lost some color on her coat.  Applejack and Rarity couldn't look each other in the eye as their innermost doubts were brought out into the light.  Discord saw this as a perfect opportunity to seal his victory.  He snapped the talons on his claw-like hand.  Pinkie and Twilight were captured in a pink bubble.  Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack were captured in one as well.  Rainbow Dash, being the only one off the ground and the farthest away from the group, was captured alone in one too.

Shining Armor saw this and with anger in his voice yelled, "Stay away from my sister! Guards seize him NOW!"

The small band of guards ran to apprehend the villain.  The Wonderbolts took flight and tried to get him to the ground.  Discord yawned again.  He wasn't impressed.

"You really think a small group of ponies in shiny Nightmare Night costumes really scare me," he said snapping his talons again.  "I think you would enjoy this.  No wait, you won't but I will.

The guards froze and fell to the ground.  They lost control of their legs.  They felt like jelly and wiggled around as they tried in vain to regain their balance.  The Wonderbolt's wings turned to cement and fell to the ground.  Their glorious wings that helped them defy gravity now imposed it on them.

Discord laughed approvingly at the site.  "Now there's a sight.  I haven't had this much fun since I was back last year.  Celestia, I expected more from you."

Celestia shook of the shock she was feeling and charged at Discord.  Discord laughed again and produced a weird looking weapon that resembled a bazzoka from the eighties.  He shot it at the princess.  She was caught off guard by this attack and couldn't turn away from the beam.  There was a scream and a thud as somepony hit the floor.

Celestia was unharmed, but the same couldn't be said for her sister, Luna.  No pony even knew she was there.  She was hiding in the shadows afraid to act.  Seeing her sister in danger made her jump out and take the beam.  She couldn't feel her legs.  Her body.

"I'm sorry sister," she said weakly as the stone overtook her entire body.  What was once the princess of the night was now a perfect statue of the beautiful mare.

Celestia felt tears drip down her cheeks.  She dropped to her knees, not wanting to believe what just happened.  She felt a blast hit her as Discord fired again, not missing this time.

She tried to stand, but the stone was creeping up her legs slowly.  She was going to be a statue like her sister, and nothing could stop it.

"You lost Celestia," he said amused.  "Equestria is finally mine to do with whatever I want.  Before you turn to stone, you might like to know I won't hurt your friends.  My pets already did more than I could ever do to them.  I think they would like a tour of  the Everfree Forest.  I don't think they know just how deep it actually goes."

He snapped his talons and the bubbles that held the little ponies captive rose out of the castle.  The each caught a brief site of each other before they were whisked away in different directions towards the Everfree Forest.

Before they were gone Celestia shouted, "Girls, find the missing element.  Don't give up.  Don't lose...." she never got to finish the sentence as she was sealed within her stone prison.  Discord was now unable to be challenged.  He was the most powerful being in Equestira.

He turned back to the guards and laughed as they were still trying to stand up.

"This is just too rich," said Discord.  "Everypony should be able to experiance this.  In fact, I think they will.  They have a lot they will be experiancing from now on.  First though, I think I'll have some cheese.  Cheese and crackers sound lovely, don't you think Celestia."

He didn't get a response, but that wasn't important.  She was, after all, just a statue.

"What's the matter.  Is the site too rocky for you?"  An evil laugh filled the chamber as darkness fell upon all of Equestria.  Discord was victorious.  He had beaten Celestia, Twilight, and harmony itslef.  The only thing he hadn't beaten yet was his hunger for cheese.  Cheese is the food of choice of mad-gods after all, is it not?