The Signs Of Destiny

Chapter 1: Corrupt

The Signs of Destiny

Hot. It is blistering hot. My eyes fly open and I quickly scramble onto my wobbly hooves, managing not to fall over. My throat is dry, begging for water, my head is spinning and dizzy, but I ignore the pains and instead focus on my surroundings, which aren't looking good.

I'm in... Canterlot? I think, but I can't be sure, at least not yet.

I slowly step through the rubble, examining everything, making sure not to step on anything dangerous.

Let's see...

I scan the place, immediately seeing destruction everywhere. Crushed and broken towers rest on the ground, never to be put up again. Shattered glass panes. Fallen ivory pillars. A torn banner that features two alicorns circling the sun and the moon, and much more like it in shreds. A lone wind blows through the land, making the place feel even more freaky. I shudder and poke through some more rubble and finally find something that proves that this is Canterlot. I pick up a piece of stained glass, which shows Twilight, earning her wings.

Well then.... I was right. This is Canterlot... But... what happened here? I raise my gaze to the mountains, and gasp, shocked. The beautiful crystal-clear water that cascades down the mountain and into the used-to-be-standing castle has turned into an orange/yellow/red liquid: Lava. The walls of the castle that is still standing now are black, withered. A trot over to one of the remaining walls, placing my hoof onto it I feel a strange burning sensation, which causes me toI shriek and pull my hoof away, looking at my hoof, in time to see black disappearing.

I back up, my heart beating fast. W-w-what? What has happened to my home? It is as if... it is... corrupted.

Yes, corrupted is the right word. Because this place is corrupted now. It has no remainder of the old Canterlot, the bright and cheery one with tall walls and elegant decor.

Suddenly, I hear a rumble. I whip my head around, looking for the source of the sound, seeing nothing but smoke and dust, but the sound gets louder. My instincts are telling me to run and hide but I ignore them, brushing the feelings off. It isn't until the first pony in black armor emerges that I realize that I am in a life-and-death situation and I run as fast as I can without them noticing me, hiding behind a fallen pillar.

More ponies come into view, geared up in black armor, holding sharp weapons, their blades gleaming in the sunlight. All of their faces are masked by a helmet, all of them marching like lifeless zombies. One's head turns my way, eyes flashing black, and I duck quickly, sweat trickling down the side of my face. I dare to look up again and I see a sight that will be engraved into my mind forever.

A tall pony trots through the mess, a fixed smirk on her muzzle, a tall horn on her head, and.... wings at either side of her.

She.... she is.... an alicorn?! I-I feel like I should know this but, forgot....

The alicorn stops a few feet away from me, her eyes scanning the area, landing on the ground ahead of my hiding spot. To my horror, it seems as if my hooves have left a mark on the dirt.

Crap...

An evil smile plays across her muzzle, she looks up and shouts something to the guards. I catch the words, Get them ready, but nothing else.

She walks forward, wings brushing the ground. When she speaks, her tone is soft but has malice leaping in every word.

"Luna, Luna, where are you? I know you're hiding.... We can't play hide-and-seek forever... Come out..." her words sounds like one of an evil murderer trying to coax a little child to come out. I don't make a sound or movement, just stay frozen, praying she'll think it is a false alarm and leave. But I am in no luck.

"Luna." her voice is not soft anymore, instead hard and malefic, warning me that she isn't playing around. "Come out, or I shall bring you out myself, and if that happens, things will get ugly."

I close my eyes, breathing hard, but softly. Slowly, I get onto my hooves and trot out into view. Immediately, when they catch sight of me, a few ponies snarl and lunge at me, but the alicorn simply pushes them back with her magic. Her smile flickers for a second, changing into a glare but then changes back to a smile.

"Luna..." she purrs, "Did not think you had the courage to come. I will not deny that I wanted to bring you out myself. It would have been... fun.

I growl silently, but don't show any emotion, or speak a word. She notes my silence.

"What, not going to say anything?" she taunts and I still stay silent. "You are as silent as the night. I'm not surprised." I still stay silent, which makes her lose her cool.

"IF YOU DO NOT SPEAK, I SHALL TAKE THE FLESH OUT OF YOU AND USE YOUR SKIN AS MY RUG!" I wince at her violence, shuddering at the thought of my midnight blue fur on the floor, she stepping on top of the rug-me.

"What do you want me to say? That you are the "Most powerful and the ruler of Equestria?" If you do, too bad, I am not going to!" I snarl at her, then cover my mouth, surprised at the venom in my words.

Her mouth curves up in a snarl but she quickly regains her composure and smiles at me. "Well, looks like I have touched a nerve, haven't I?"

I don't answer her, just growl.

"Well, this is taking too long. I could have just killed you, but I am forced to accept that sadly, you are too powerful, oh, not too powerful for me, but powerful, even more than Celestia, so I could make use of you."

I was struck by her words a little bit. She... said that I am more powerful than Celestia... Maybe... Luna! Do not let it go to your head! She. Is. Evil! I shake my head and come back to reality, to see that she is staring at me.

"So what is the deal, Luna? Join us--me," she gestured to herself and her army of corrupted ponies. "Or be left at the hand's of Death?"

I clench my jaw. "I will never betray my people and my sister, you will never, and I repeat, never will be able to convince me too!"

She grins, a sudden gleam in her eyes. "If you say so. Let your last thought be the regret of not joining me."

The last thing I feel is a searing pain in my chest and everything turns black.

Dark, horrible black.

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I bolt awake, tears streaming down my face, beads of sweat on my neck, my heart beating fast. I look around widely, looking for the snarling alicorn, then realize that it was only a dream. I let out a sigh of relief and fall onto my pillow, rubbing away tears, pondering hard.

I do not recall setting a horrifying dream for myself. How did it happen? I think, reviewing my last night's dreams I had set for everypony. I had not set one for myself. Then... How? Unless... I gasp, remembering something. Immediately after the thought comes, I shake my head. It is not possible, I decide.

My door opens a bit, revealing Celestia, sleepy-eyed and messy-maned, yawning. "Is everything alright, Luna? I heard you thrashing and decide to come and check. Are you okay?" She looks over at me, concerned.

I put a smile on my face and nod. "Everything is fine. Nothing is wrong."

She nods, stepping out of my room. I hear her hoofs trot back to her room and then I bury my face into my hoofs.

What was this dream?

I walk slowly through the dimly lit hallways of The Castle Of The Two Sisters, occasionally stopping to flutter up and grab a book that looks interesting. The floor creaks and strange noises sound, which make me look around nervously, a bit scared. One-third of me is screaming run, run, run! but the other two-thirds are greedy for reading and finding information.

I have managed the entire day not to get trapped in any of the trap throughout the castle but is still stepping lightly, quivering at every step I take, squeezing my eyelids, waiting for the hard fall into one of the traps, but that has not happened. Yet.

Just as I think that I should have brought one of my friends with me or Spike, I enter a large hallway. Usually, I would have ignored the place, but this was one that was filled with books.

Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes...!!!

Running into the massive hallway, I immediately spot books that catch my eye, and in less than a minute I have a dozen books in my aura. I look around sheepishly, happy that nopony was here to witness my craziness.

So... much... heavenly goodness! My stash of books keeps on growing, I can feel the strain of the book's weight on my aura, but I continue to get books.

A worn book, pages yellow, catches my eyes. I suddenly get a feeling that I shouldn't be here.

Nonesense... Celestia said I could come whenever I wanted to read!

Mystified, I drop the books in my aura, fluttering up to get the book. I don't get the chance to take a look at the cover when my eyesight turns black.

Slowly, I sit up. Head spinning, I look around, seeing a... shimmering... blue? I stand up, slowly walking forward. It seems like an endless land, the blue wrapping around me, on and on, never ending...

Wait... what is that?

I notice something in the air, swirling around. At first, I think it is snow, due that they were white and small. But as I come closer I realize that they are letters--no--symbols floating in the air. Nowhere else to go, my curiosity overcomes my fear and I start to follow the white symbols.

This was the very mistake I made, but how was I supposed to know then?

I keep running, following the strange white symbols, but they keep on coming, one after another. I refuse to give up, my instincts telling me I am close to the end.

"Al-m-ost th-er-e!" I pant, gasping for breath. I raise my head and stop in my tracks, my jaw on the floor.

"Wow..."

In front of me, surrounded by dancing white letters, rests on the green grass, a small silver box, its cover adorned with jewels that glimmer in the light. The silver flashes, taunting me to come and open it. I reach out with my hoof but then draw my hoof away.

Should I trust something hidden in The Castle Of The Two Sisters? I question, still staring intently at the box. My mind begs me to open it but my heart warns me that not to trust it.

My ear twitches, realizing that what I thought was a silent haunting place was wrong.

Whispers.

I glance around wide-eyed, trying to find the source of the sound.

The Whispers tell me, "Open it. Open it. Open the box. What would be the harm? It is only a small, harmless box...

I find myself inching closer, my hoof now resting on the top of the silver box. Now that I am here, I can see the jewels clearly. They sparkle so brightly, I can't make out the shapes. Blue, purple, pink, yellow, black, scarlet flash into my eyes, causing me to squint, my eyes starting to tear up because of the light. I spot in the middle of the box, a carved hoofstep, written atop of it, True blood from within.

Slowly, I lift up my hoof, my heart screaming, Don't do it, Twilight! Don't do this!

I press my hoof onto the hoofstep and the entire place lights up in scarlet.

I blink multiple times, rubbing my poor head, now banged two times today, when I remember where I am.

The silver box is nowhere to be seen, now a simple worn leather-bound book in its place closed tight with a dirty once-white thread, its cover bearing no name. I draw it closer with a trembling hoof, my neck prickles as I see on the side of the book is a dark red stain that looks horrifyingly like blood.

I hear a noise and jump, looking around, which causes me to realize that I am back in the castle but now am in a place within the castle unfamiliar to me. After making sure there is no one here, I turn my attention back to the book.

I undo the string around the book, the warning voice inside of my heart now strangely silent. The thread falls off easily.

I barely hesitate, flipping the book open, landing on a random page from the book. I gasp, throwing the book from shock

The page has my cutie mark on it. I walk slowly, picking up the book again, shaking, making sure my eyes hadn't lied to me, hoping, praying, they had.

A beacon of Hope in the lost dark.

Bearer of Magic: Defeat of the Dark Mare

Element Awakes: Through others

Mark Achieved: Magic force

Made Worthy: Creating Magic through the Unlikely

I lose my grip on the book and it falls down, falling onto the floor with a clunk. I don't want to, but something forces me to go and pick it up again but now, it is on a different page.

I scan the page, my eyes widen, my hoofs clutching my chest.

Oh no.