The Negative Six

o0 1000 years ago 0o

'She knows...' the alicorn thought to herself as she looked out the window. In spite of all her careful planning she had found out. Her mind quickly ran through all the ways this could end badly for her. Banished to Tartarus, maybe. Or perhaps turned to stone. She shook her head rapidly to clear her thoughts. She froze when she heard a knock on the door and cautiously opened it. She was greeted by the sight of the one pony she didn't want to see.

"Stay back, Celestia!" She lit her horn, preparing to attack the sun goddess. She got a reaction she did not expect: fear. 'Celestia' staggered back, a look of sheer terror on her face.

"Perdition, wait! Don't shoot!" screamed Celestia as she covered her face with her hooves. Suddenly, 'Celestia' burst into flames as her skin burnt away. When the dust settled, where Celestia once stood, was a bipedal creature with bronze for skin and fire for hair. It had black eyes and had a glowing, black gem in its chest, just beneath its neck. Its overall shape suggested it was female. Perdition knew what she was, of course. The monster before her was really nothing more than a soul, housed within the gem embedded in her chest.

"For goodness sake, Fallacia, I could have vaporized you!" the alicorn exclaimed as the glow around her horn dissipated.

"Well I had to get in here somehow. I really don't think the guards would allow some strange creature they'd never encountered before just waltz into the castle," Fallacia replied, walking into the room. She took a moment to look around the room before saying, "Nice place you got here."

"It is, isn't it. But we're not here to discuss the state of my room. We have to accelerate our plans, for Celestia knows exactly what we've done!" Perdition was pacing nervously now. "At the first opportunity, she will surely turn the Elements against us."

"I may have a solution. When I was disguised as Luna, I found out that whatever the Elements do to their victim only lasts for a thousand years before wearing of. To send them back to their prison, the Elements must be used again." Fallacia grinned evilly. "But what happens if there's nopony to use the Elements again? You have seen the future. Set a trap for the future Bearers and make sure they can never get out of it!"

Perdition stopped her pacing and jumped onto her bed. She dragged her hand across the blankets, knowing this would probably be the last time she would ever use it. "Our army is ready. Tomorrow, we march upon Everfree. We shall tear the entire city apart while I make my way to the library. I know the future Element of Magic will not be able to resist trying out some new spells. Now go!"

Fallacia took the form of a pegasus and flew out the window.

"Tomorrow, Celestia. Tomorrow you shall burn!" Perdition muttered under her breath as she watched her ally disappear into the night.

o0 The Next Day 0o

Perdition was deep in thought as she neared Celestia's room. She knew she had no time to waste, yet she was still nervous. What if the Elements just destroyed her entirely? Nevertheless, the slammed open the door to Celestia's room.

"Perdition! What is the meaning of this!?" Celestia demanded as she leaped out of bed, ready for a fight.

"What is this? Why, it's the end of your rule, of course!" She grabbed Celestia with her magic and slammed her head first against the wardrobe. Before the sun goddess could get up, Perdition picked her up again, this time holding her against the window. Celestia was forced to look and was horrified by what she saw. The city of Everfree was being swarmed by rather demonic looking ponies with black coats, soulless eyes and fire for manes.

"Nightmares? You summoned nightmares on our city?" Celestia could not believe what had happened. The nightmares were the most  violent and uncontrollable of the five races and summoning them usually led to whole towns being wiped out of existence. Perdition's only response was to throw her into the mirror, shattering it. She held Celestia's head in front of the shards of glass.

"Don't you see it?" Perdition asked, using her magic. Celestia was no longer looking at her own bloody reflection, but instead saw the Everfree castle in ruins. She saw six young mares crossing the bridge. "The city you built will fall to ruin!" Perdition screamed. The image suddenly changed. It now showed a black mare in dark blue armor, with a mane of pure magic that sparkled like the night sky. She gasped. Celestia recalled seeing her own sister turn into that monster. "All those demons from your past-" she leaned in close, whispering in Celestia's ear "-shall come back to haunt you forever." The glass started showing her her worst fears come true. She saw Discord, the chaos god, making mischief in a small town, Tirek, the centaur conqueror, locked in battle with a lavender alicorn. The worst was the last; she saw a black mare with insect wings, a twisted horn, and holes in her hooves leading an army to Canterlot.

"Enough!" Celestia screamed, forcing her way out of Perdition's magic. She landed in a heap next to the window.

"Indeed. I believe it's time I ended this." Perdition used her magic to grab the shattered pieces of the mirror and send them sailing towards Celestia, impaling her. It wasn't fatal, but serious enough to cause unbelievable pain. Ignoring Celestia's screams of pain, Perdition threw her out the window as hard as she could, sending her crashing into another tower. She glanced out the window, seeing the Royal Guard responding the ongoing invasion. She stepped onto the balcony, scanning the area around her.

She noticed a few nightmares being surrounded by Celestia's soldiers on a stone bridge. She fired a beam of magic, destroying the entire bridge and everypony on it. She landed on a nearby castle tower. The soldiers were shocked to see her.

"Princess Perdition?" one asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "Get to safety! We'll handle things here!"

"Oh please. I have nothing to fear from them," Perdition said as she tossed him off the tower, sending him falling into the abyss that led to the Tree of Harmony. She promptly moved on to the next guard, effectively sawing his head off with her magic. Despite their best effort, the guards were quickly executed.

"Perdition! Stop this madness before I am forced to destroy you!" Perdition turned to see Celestia, covered in dried blood but furious. Behind her were three of the highest ranking members of the royal guard. Without warning, one of those guards aimed his spear at his comrades, ruthlessly murdering them both before rushing over to join Perdition. As if to answer Celestia's confusion, Fallacia revealed her true form while laughing cruelly.

"Don't believe everything you see, princess!" the demon practically spat out the last word. Without a word, all three of them engaged in a magical battle that left most of Everfree in ruins. Perdition bombarded Celestia with a barrage of magic missiles, with Fallacia occasionally tearing at the sun goddess with her claws. Eventually, Perdition believed Celestia had no chance, taunting her and showing her visions of her worst fears. It was only a matter of time before Celestia snapped. With a scream of rage, she grabbed both alicorn and demon, flinging the latter into a wall, bringing the whole building down on top of her. She turned to Perdition, using her magic to hold her still while she got out the Elements of Harmony. Perdition looked on with a growing smirk. Celestia was unaware of the trap she had set for the future Bearers.

The rainbow beam struck her and she felt pain like she had never felt before. She didn't realize such agony was even possible. Just as soon as it began, the pain dissipated. She felt a strange warping sensation, as if she were being turned inside out before being turned back to normal. Suddenly, the ruined castle disappeared and she saw something that would drive most ponies mad. She was in a strange blue void that seemed to contain things from all across the multiverse. There was a metallic, spherical space station with what looked like a giant satellite dish on the side. There was a city with a bald man in a yellow costume tearing through enemies with just one punch suspended in the empty void. There was even a blue police box flying through space. She couldn't see more as a box of black crystal formed around her, trapping her in its walls.

She spent hours trying to get out. Lasers, explosions, everything she knew but it was all in vain. In spite of this she laughed. She would be forced to spend a thousand years in a box but the trap was set. When she finally got out of here, there would be no stopping her.