[ - S k i S M - ]by Uzuki CheverieChaptersChapter [ O N E ] - - - > Danger is on the HorizonChapter [ T H R E E ] - - - > The Problem With Cages . . . Chapter [ T W O ] - - - > The Solar EclipseChapter [ O N E ] - - - > Danger is on the Horizon"All concerns of men go wrong when they wish to cure evil with evil." [ - S k i S M - ] Chapter [ ONE ] - - - > Danger is on the Horizon Twilight Sparkle sat in her library, a book sprawled open in front of her. Spike had been bringing her book after book on mythical creatures and monsters from Equestria's many urban legends the entire morning. After being challenged by so many previous monsters and enemies of Equestria – Discord, Nightmare Moon, Cerberus, Chrysalis and the Changelings – Twilight found it would probably help to read up on mythical creatures, just in case Ponyville and Equestria was attacked again. She didn't want to be caught off-guard, after all. "Twilight, is this really necessary?" Spike asked, bringing another armload of books down to the busily-reading pony. "Of course, Spike," Twilight said. "We need to be ready in case Equestria gets attacked again." Spike sighed and went back up to the top level of the ladder to check for more books. Twilight scanned her eyes over the hand-written words and drawn pictures of the old book sitting in front of her, reading every word that she could spot. Each monster she read about – Harpies, Krakens, Sirens, Chimeras, Basilisks – just sent more chills through her body, and eventually she had to put the book away because the pictures were too horrifying to look at. And she knew these kinds of creatures must have existed at one point, if they didn't already exist today; after all, she had seen all kinds of things like this, like Cerberus, the Manticore, dragons, parasprites, and Changelings. After having been attacked by so many monsters before, none of these mythical creatures surprised Twilight. Twilight closed the book and pushed it aside with the others. She grabbed another book and looked at its cover – what a surprise, more monsters. She opened it to find much of the same things that she had already read about. She flipped through the pages using her magic. "Harpies, Changelings, Manticores, Cerberus . . ." Twilight muttered to herself. "Basilisks, Sirens, Chimeras . . ." She stopped flipping when he eyes caught something interesting. She flipped back to the page she had seen. "The Apocalypse Horses?" Twilight pondered to herself as she stared at the picture of the four ponies. There were three stallions, and one mare – and all four of them looked even more terrifying than anything else she had ever seen. Twilight read the passage to herself. "The Apocalypse Horses are mythical beasts that are said to bring chaos everywhere they go. The four Horses – Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War – have always existed in the spirit world, and it has been stated in legend that the Horses will one day rise and bring down the rains of fire and chaos with them, bearing nothing but destruction . . ." Twilight couldn't read the rest – it had all been scribbled out with a black pen, and there was no way she could read past it. That's strange, she thought to herself. Who scribbled it out? I never let anyone near my books . . . and I doubt Spike did it. Twilight closed the book and set it up onto her podium where she wrote her letters. She didn't want to lose the book; it was too intriguing for her to forget. Twilight heard the sound of flames bursting behind her. She turned around to see Spike standing there with a letter in his hand. "It's from Princess Celestia," Spike said, handing the letter to Twilight. Twilight opened the letter and proceeded to read it. My faithful student, It has been a long time since we have seen each other in person. On that note, I would like to kindly request to see you this evening. I would like to assess how much you have learned about the magic of friendship in person. - Princess Celestia Twilight closed the letter and gave it back to Spike. "She wants us to go see her in Canterlot," Twilight said. "Spike, could you get the air balloon ready?" "A trip to Canterlot? Alright!" Spike cheered. He spun around and ran outside into the backyard. Twilight Sparkle looked back at the book sitting on her podium. Maybe Celestia will know something about the Apocalypse Horses . . . Spike and Twilight hovered over the beautiful pink-white clouds, the hot-air balloon drifting slowly through the air. Dusk was falling, and the clouds were changing to orange and red as the sun set on the horizon. Twilight had brought the book; it was sitting in the corner of the balloon's carrier basket. Spike had noticed her sudden obsession with the book, but he had decided not to say anything; Twilight always had her reasons, and her instincts were usually right. "I wonder why the Princess wants to see you in person," Spike said aloud. "She likes to give me personal lessons sometimes," Twilight answered. "And I'm sure she doesn't mind my visits." The hot-air balloon bobbed atop the clouds, until they could see Castle Equestria perched on the cliff of Canterlot. Spike changed the balloon's direction, taking it over to the balcony that served as a landing spot for them. When they were close enough, Twilight jumped off, and Spike secured the balloon to the castle with a rope before getting out as well. The ponies there greeted Twilight Sparkle and Spike with smiles and waves. "It feels good to be back in Canterlot, huh?" Spike said. "Seems like everybody missed us." "Well, we haven't been here since my brother's wedding, remember?" Twilight replied. "And that was nearly a year ago." "You think the Changelings are causing any trouble?" "I hope not," Twilight sighed. "We may have stopped Chrysalis from overtaking Canterlot, but I'm sure that the Changelings will come up with something else eventually . . . that's why I've been reading so many books on monsters lately. I don't want us to get caught off-guard again in case something else weird happens." With Spike on her back, Twilight walked through the palace, getting more waves and smiles from other mares and stallions. When she made it to the entrance to the throne room, she was stopped by two royal guards, their grand wings spread across the door. "Do you have an audience?" the one on the left asked. "Yes," Twilight said, using her magic to bring the letter up to their faces. "Princess Celestia wanted to speak to me about my lessons." The guards looked over the letter. When they finished reading it, they both nodded and pulled their wings back, allowing her to enter the throne room. "Thank you," she said as she walked away. Princess Celestia was sitting in her throne, her rainbow mane and tail flowing around her body like majestic clouds. Twilight walked to her, and bowed in respect. "Good evening, Princess Celestia," she said. "It's so wonderful to see you, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said with a smile. "How are your lessons going?" Twilight lifted her head. "They're going very well, Princess. Although, I haven't been able to come up with a new report for you . . ." "That's quite alright, Twilight," Celestia smiled. "I'm very proud of you; you've learned so much about the magic of friendship in such a short time." "T-Thank you," Twilight stammered in embarrassment. "Um, Princess Celestia . . . there's something I wanted to ask you about . . ." "Well, ask away, Twilight," Celestia said happily. "Are things okay in Ponyville?" "Y-Yes, they're fine, but . . ." Twilight cleared her throat. "I was reading through some old books this morning, and . . . I stumbled across a passage regarding the . . . the Apocalypse Horses." Celestia didn't say anything. Her gaze went cold. "I know you tell me not to worry over these things, but I was just curious, that's all," Twilight said to reassure the Princess. Celestia smiled, her eyes becoming warm again. "Of course you were, Twilight. I guess I'm partially to blame – I thought I had destroyed all the books about the Horses long ago." "So . . . wait, part of the passage was scribbled out with black ink," Twilight objected. "That was you who did that?" "Well, one of my servants, perhaps. I had several people working on the destruction of those books; I merely led the project," Celestia explained. Philomeena the phoenix flew in from the open window above the palace, its wings leaving trails of fire behind him. He landed on Twilight's shoulder, and nudged her face with a warm – literally, warm – greeting. "I know it's a lot to ask, Princess, but . . . could you tell me more about the Horses?" Twilight asked. "You shouldn't let your curiosity get the better of you, Twilight," Celestia said strictly. "It's nothing you have to worry yourself over." "I know, but you said the same thing about Night Mare Moon and she ended up attacking Equestria!" Twilight shouted unexpectedly. She covered over her mouth with her hooves. "E-Excuse me, Princess, for being rude . . . I just . . . I don't want Equestria to be caught off-guard by any weird monsters again." Celestia walked forward and stroked her head with her decorated hoof. "I don't blame you for that, Twilight Sparkle. And personally, I trust you enough with the information about the Horses . . . I'll tell you about them, as long as you promise me you will keep it a secret from the rest of Equestria, alright?" Twilight smiled. "Thank you, Princess!" She snuggled her face into chest. "It's no trouble at all," Celestia said. "I know that you were going to find out about them eventually, anyway. It's hard to keep you out of those books." She turned around and pointed her unicorn horn towards the throne. Her horn glowed yellow until the throne where she sat began to tremble and move. It sank down into the floor, revealing a hidden door in the wall right behind the throne. "Wow!" Twilight exclaimed. "I had no clue that was there!" Celestia smiled at her student, and guided her towards the door. She leaned over and pressed her horn into the keyhole – much like the door that kept the Elements of Harmony locked away. The door opened, revealing a dark stairway that went downwards. Philomeena let out a frightful cry and flew off of Twilight's shoulder, heading back outside of the castle. Twilight suddenly felt a bit troubled, especially because of Philomeena's reaction – she knew that whatever it was that was down there, it was dangerous enough to scare off a brave phoenix like Philomeena. Twilight, Spike, and the Princess walked down the flight of stairs, Twilight trying desperately not to trip on her own hooves in the darkness. Celestia lit her horn up with magic to use like a torch, its yellow glow illuminating the dark in front of them. "How far does this stairway go?" Twilight asked after walking for a few minutes. "Very deep underground," Celestia replied. "This room must be kept sealed safely underneath the castle – you'll see why in a moment." Twilight felt another one of her nervous chills go through her back as she followed the Princess down the stairs. Eventually, the stairs ended, and they were in a wide, open room that was similar to that of the throne room – except the walls in this room were plastered with mirrors. A loud, high-pitched laugh screeched through the room. "Oooh, I have visitors!" A horse appeared in the mirrors, his face gigantic as it was reflected in the various strips of glass. Twilight looked around, thinking he was actually in the room, but realized that he was actually trapped in the mirrors. There were three other horses in the mirrors as well, but they seemed to be asleep. "Ugh, he's awake again . . ." Celestia scoffed in disgust. The horse's face shrunk down to that of regular size. Twilight could see his entire body now – his light-brown coat was messy and covered in blood; he had a long line of stitches running across his face, from above his right eye down to the bottom-left portion of his cheek; his dark-brown mane was matted and stained with dirt; the whites of his eyes were slightly red, as if his eyes had been struck with a weapon and were now filled with blood; his pupils were shrunk and filled with a strange kind of chaos and insanity; blood was running down his legs; and the lower portion of his legs were covered in mud and dirt, like he had just gotten back from the racetrack and hadn't bothered to clean his hooves. "Pestilence," Celestia sneered. "I'm not in the mood for your games today." He smiled a crooked smile, and bashed his face into the surface of the mirror from where he was trapped inside of it. He dragged his tongue down the glass, leaving a slobbery trail of spit and bile. "Every day is a day for games, Princess!" he laughed. He eyed Twilight Sparkle with his psychotic blood-shot eyes. "Oooh, new meat today? Don't mind if I help myself?" He licked his lips. Twilight backed away in total shock when he started bashing his head even more into the mirror. "Don't worry, Twilight, he can't get out," Celestia assured her. "W-What is he?" she asked with extreme panic in her voice. "He's one of the Apocalypse Horses," Celestia answered. "Pestilence – the horse of the righteous plague." "He's . . . he's an Apocalypse Horse? What's an Apocalypse Horse doing underneath the castle?" "A long time ago, the Apocalypse Horses showed up in Equestria, and tried to destroy it. I had to use all of my power to seal them away in these mirrors. The Horses only bring destruction and death with them – they were too powerful for me to destroy, so I was forced to merely seal them away in the mirrors here, under the castle. They'll live on forever, trapped inside the glass in this underground room." "That is incorrect," Pestilence interrupted her. "We don't bring death and destruction – we're merely cleansing the world of its impurity and filthiness." "It doesn't matter what you call it, you fool!" Celestia roared, sending a wave of strong magic into the mirror. The horse's eyes rolled back into his skull, and he collapsed onto the ground, fast asleep like the others. "That should take care of him for another few days," Celestia sighed. "But what about those three?" Twilight asked, pointing to the three that had remained asleep the entire time. "Those ones seem to stay asleep, for some reason," Celestia said. "It seems to only be Pestilence that wants to act up." Twilight carefully approached the mirrors, looking at all the horses with a curious gaze. "Just like the book said . . . Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War – they're all here, trapped in the mirrors." She looked up to see a stone tablet resting above the four mirrors that held each horse – it was the only thing in the room that wasn't a mirror. She peered to read the letters that had been engraved into the gray stone. She read it aloud. "On the seventh day, at the seventh hour, the dark beings shall reign supreme when all becomes shadow." "What does that mean?" Twilight asked the Princess. "It means that the Horses will be at their strongest on the seventh day, at the seventh hour," Celestia said. "At least, that's all I've been able to interpret. I haven't been able to figure out the rest of it." Twilight stared at the tablet. "Hmm . . . 'the dark beings shall reign supreme when all becomes shadow.' . . ." Celestia turned around and pointed her head to the exit. "We should leave, Twilight," she said cautiously. "It's not good for ones' mind to be around the Horses for long periods of time – their madness spreads like a disease." Twilight looked back at the sleeping Pestilence and the rest of the horses that were sleeping within the mirrors. She examined all four of them, and then turned around to follow Celestia back up the stairs. As they walked up the long stairway, Twilight tried to guess the horses to herself. So the one with the stitches was Pestilence, she thought. The one on the far end was wearing armour and had battle scars . . . so that must have been War. The one next to Pestilence was very scrawny and unhealthy-looking . . . Famine? So that means the only female, the one between War and Famine, must have been Death. But she didn't look very scary-looking. Eventually they made it up back to the throne room. Celestia used her magic to hide the door with the throne again. "Do you understand why I must keep it a secret from Equestria now?" Celestia asked Twilight. "Yes, I understand, Princess," Twilight said. "I won't tell anypony about it. Celestia smiled. "Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. I trust you with this secret, understand?" "I won't break that trust." Twilight Sparkle trotted through Ponyville, Spike still riding on her back. Luna had raised the moon into the night sky, and she was returning to her house for bed. Spike was reading a pamphlet on local events he had picked up at Canterlot before leaving. "Hey, Twilight, look at this," he said, holding the pamphlet in front of her for her to see while she walked. "A solar eclipse tomorrow?" Twilight Sparkle said with a smile. "We'll have to go see that with everyone else." "What's a solar eclipse again?" "Every hundred years, the two sisters – Celestia and Luna – raise the moon and sun together into the sky. They do this once a year, when Luna raises the moon to cover over Celestia's sun. It's celebrated to show an essence of harmony between the two sisters. Equestria hasn't had a solar eclipse in many years because of Luna's defiance against Celestia and her transformation into Night Mare Moon – so this solar eclipse is very important because it's the first one that we've had in a very long time." Spike looked back at the pamphlet. "Wow, it looks pretty interesting. Look at these pictures." He held the pamphlet back down for Twilight to see – it was a picture of the sun being obscured by the moon, a black circle hanging in the sky and the sun just barely shining out around it. "Looks like it'll get pretty dark out when the solar eclipse happens," Spike muttered. Twilight Sparkle stopped in her tracks. "Spike . . . what time are they performing the ceremony?" "Huh? At seven, tomorrow night before Luna raises the moon." Twilight stared straight ahead, still not moving. " . . . the dark beings shall reign supreme when all becomes shadow." "It . . . can't be . . ." Twilight whispered. "Huh? What was that?" Spike asked. "Did you say something, Twilight?" Twilight suddenly broke into a run. Spike almost fell off her back, but managed to regain his balance by grabbing onto her mane. "Whoa, slow down, Twilight!" Spike cried out loud. "We don't have time, Spike!" Twilight said. "I have to get back to the library!" She sprinted through the town, trying not to hit any other ponies. She accidentally bumped a donut trolley, but not enough to knock it down. "Sorry, Donut Joe!" Twilight called back to him without slowing down. She burst into her house and ran for the library, immediately ordering Spike to find a book on solar eclipses. Spike did exactly as he was told, grabbing the first book he saw, The Solar and Lunar Eclipses of Equestria. He handed it to Twilight. Twilight skimmed through the pages, reading every sentence and looking at every picture that her eyes could catch before she turned to the next page. Just like the pamphlet had talked about, Ponyville would get extremely dark out when the moon covered over the sun. And they were beginning the solar eclipse at seven in the evening, when Luna raised the moon to cover Celestia's sun. It couldn't be a coincidence. Twilight grabbed the book that she had looked at earlier that day, the one that had got her thinking about the deadly Apocalypse Horses in the first place. There, in the picture that she had already seen, were the same Horses that Celestia had shown her underneath the castle. Pestilence, with his scars and matted fur; Death, with her majestic black mane, beautiful black Pegasus wings, and slender body; War, with his sleek armour and battle scars; and finally, Famine, who looked like he had never eaten a scrap of food his entire life. She re-read the passage that was written below it. "The Apocalypse Horses are mythical beasts that are said to bring chaos everywhere they go. The four Horses – Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War – have always existed in the spirit world, and it has been stated in legend that the Horses will one day rise and bring down the rains of fire and chaos with them, bearing nothing but destruction . . ." I can't let that happen to Equestria! Twilight thought with a determined glare in her eyes. I have to stop this from happening! She was about to leave the library, but then she remembered what Celestia had said. "Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. I trust you with this secret, understand?" Twilight couldn't break the Princess' trust. She had to keep it a secret. So she took her books and went upstairs to her bedroom, watching the night-sky outside. They won't escape, she tried to reassure herself. Celestia told me that they're trapped in there. Besides, they're only at their strongest on the seventh day . . . that doesn't mean they'll actually be able to make it out . . . Celestia will probably be guarding the mirrors, anyway. And just because the solar eclipse makes everything dark, doesn't mean that's what the tablet meant back in the underground room. I'm overthinking everything. Twilight kept these thoughts in her head as curled herself up on her bed and closed her eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep . . . Zecora flipped through the old textbook sitting in front of her, her eyes growing wider and more frightened as she continued to read the ancient text. "Tomorrow the moon will rise!" she said to herself. "And with it comes the land's demise!" Zecora stared out the window at the moon in the sky. Then she looked back at the book laying on the floor next to her potions. "I must prepare for tomorrow night!" she gasped. "Otherwise it will be a horrible sight!" Chapter [ T H R E E ] - - - > The Problem With Cages . . . Chapter [ T H R E E ] - - - > The Problem With Cages . . . [ - S k i S M - ] Chapter [ T H R E E ] - - - > The Problem with Cages . . . Rainbow Dash backed up for the fifth time, and then charged head-first for the iron bars. She hit them hard, but they didn't budge, and she fell back into a sitting position with an aching head. "Quit that, Rainbow Dash, before you give yerself head trauma!" Applejack warned her from her own prison cage. "Well, I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Rainbow Dash protested, rubbing her head with her hoof. "We've gotta get out of here!" "It's not like we can just walk out," Twilight Sparkle grumbled; she was trapped in the same cage as Rainbow Dash. "And even if we could, that . . . thing is guarding us." She pointed a hoof at the scrawny horse that was trudging around the area, flies buzzing around his head and his ribs visible through his chest. "He sure is freaky lookin' . . ." Applejack whispered. "I wouldn't toil with him." "Then what are we supposed to do?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "I don't know if you noticed or not, but they took Fluttershy!" "I know, Rainbow Dash . . ." Twilight sighed. She slumped down into the ground in misery, listening to the panicked voices around her. "We're going to die!" "We'll never get out of here!" "Uzuki, stop chewing the bars!" "Shut up, Peter, I'll do what I want!" Twilight sighed and hung her head down again, trying to think of any possible way to escape and hoping that Fluttershy was alright. And even more so Princess Celestia. She wanted to save them, but she had no clue how to get out of the cages. She had tried magic, but for some reason it didn't seem to work on the bars - it was almost like they were resistant to it. "What do we do . . . ?" Zecora sneaked around the town, trying to hide from the prying eyes of the mangy Apocalypse Horse who was scouting the area. She had a bag on her back filled with herbs, potions, and other strange things. When she made it to the main area of Ponyville, she found all of its residents trapped in iron cages. Twilight immediately spotted the zebra, and quietly ushered her over with a few waves of her hoof. Zecora tiptoed over to the cage where Twilight and Rainbow Dash were locked up. "Zecora, thank goodness you're here!" Twilight gasped. "That Horse . . . Famine, he-" "Hush, magical one!" Zecora hissed, silencing her. "It seems the Horses have arrived just as the moon covered the sun. Where is the one with the animal bonds?" "Animal bonds? Fluttershy?" Twilight wondered. "I don't know, but one of the Horses took her - I think it was Pestilence." "We must find her, before he takes her to the world down under!" Zecora whispered as she reached into her bag and pulled out a vial of strange purple potion. "Otherwise our world will surely sunder!" She began to pour it onto the bars; they sizzled and burned, until they melted away into grey puddles on the ground. "How did you . . . ?" Twilight stepped over the grey puddles that still seemed to be burning. "Rainbow Dash, come on!" she called to the pony who was staring out the other side of the bars at the many ponies who had also been captured. "Huh?" She flapped her wings, hovering above the puddle and landing next to Zecora. "Thanks, Zecora. I don't know what you did, but it sure did the trick." Zecora's attention immediately caught something off in the distance. She could see the lantern that belonged to the Apocalypse Horse returning to the area. "Quickly, we must leave here!" Zecora hissed. "Otherwise we will have much worse to fear!" "But we can't leave everypony else behind," Twilight argued. "Leave that to me!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she took off into the air. She flew to where Famine was walking closer to the main town square, and kicked him in the rear. "Hey, over here!" she laughed, sticking her tongue out at the horse. "Look at me!" "H-How did you escape?!" Famine stammered. He dropped the lantern and began to charge, but Rainbow Dash flew out of the way, taunting him with more silly faces. "Come and get me!" she challenged him, and then took off, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. Famine took off into a fast run, chasing Rainbow Dash to the other side of Ponyville, away from the other ponies. Zecora poured her potion onto the last cage, the iron bars melting like ice and turning into a very hot liquid. Big Macintosh helped Granny Smith out of the cage, keeping her away from the liquid. "That looks like the last of them," Twilight sighed. In mere minutes, they had burned away all the cages, releasing all of Twilight Sparkle's friends along with the other ponies - the Cake family, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the young fillies and colts - that resided within Ponyville. "Come on, we have to go somewhere they won't find us!" Twilight said to the large group of stallions and mares. They were all buzzing amongst themselves, panicking and screaming. "Listen to me!" Twilight yelled. They finally all stopped talking, their full attention on her. "Zecora has a plan!" Twilight began to explain. "We're going into the Everfree Forest! They won't find us there!" "The Everfree Forest!?" Rarity gasped. "You can't be serious, Twilight!" "We've been there before, Rarity!" Twilight objected. "It's not as dangerous as you think, especially compared to the Apocalypse Horses and what they could do to us!" "But once they realize we're gone, they'll start lookin' for us!" Applejack spoke up. "We can't just stay here!" Twilight growled. "We have to leave now!" "Well, I agree with Twilight," Big Macintosh said, stepping forward. "Don't forget they took one of yer friends away. We can't just sit here and watch em' torture us like cattle." "Anyone else?" Twilight asked, looking to the crowd. Rarity sighed. "I guess it can't be too bad . . . After all, those Horses need to be treated a lesson in respect." "I'm with Twilight!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "I guess it's no good to just stay here," Applejack sighed. "I'm in. Let's go find Fluttershy and kick these ole' Horses out of the kingdom." "Is everypony else coming too?" Twilight asked the other residents of Ponyville. They all stepped forward with determination in their eyes, ready to fight for their homeland. "Alright," Twilight said with a smile. "Follow me and Zecora! We'll lead you out of here." The ponies all trotted through the Everfree forest, all of them warily looking around at the crooked trees, the strange plants, and feeling uncomfortable from the dark atmosphere. Zecora lead the pack through the forest, until they made it to a small clearing where an old fort that looked like a treehouse had been built. "Is this place really big enough?" Twilight asked Zecora worriedly. Zecora didn't reply. She just kept guiding the ponies through the forest until they made it to the wooden structure. She lead the ponies in slowly. Inside, there was a staircase that looked like it when down forever. Soon they made it to an underground room that was so large, there was no trouble fitting all the ponies from Ponyville inside. "Wow, you never told me about this!" Twilight gasped as she looked around the gigantic room that had been built under the ground - it reminded her of the mirror room where the Horses had been trapped. "They'll never find us here!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she jumped around, still as energetic as ever. "I'm not very fond of the dank feeling down here, but . . ." Rarity carefully trotted around a somewhat muddy area. She sighed, and said, "I guess it could be worse." "So what, are we just supposed to stay down here while those things destroy everything up above?" Rainbow Dash asked angrily. "We can't just let them do that!" "If we hide down here, we'll have time to make a plan," Twilight said back to Rainbow. "We won't be able to do anything if we stay up there and let ourselves get captured again. They shouldn't be able to find us down here." Twilight observed the residents of Ponyville, all of them exploring their new home. "For now, we should worry about getting everybody settled." So for the next two hours, the ponies spent their time setting up bedding areas for themselves. In groups of four, the ponies would go one group at a time to the surface world above and gather sticks and leaves and other things they could use to make a comfortable spot for themselves - two ponies would gather the materials, while the other two stood watch for the Horses. "That scrawny one probably went back to tell their head honcho about us escapin'," Applejack sighed to Big Macintosh as she set the leaves along the ground that she had gathered from above - she was in a group with Macintosh, Snips, and Snails. "As long as we didn't leave anything behind to show em' where we went, we should be fine," Big Macintosh assured his sister. "I sure hope so . . ." Applejack finished the last layer of leaves for her bed, and then went to help Snips and Snails with theirs. The both of them had plenty of leaves, but they were trying to set up some kind of hammock structure. The Cutie Mark Crusaders - Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle - were together in a group, with Rainbow Dash in charge of looking after them. They had finished their bedding a long time ago and were now on the hunt for berries and other things from the forest that were safe for them to eat. They had a written guide from Zecora on which berries were safe and which were dangerous. "We really your mom have to be careful, girls," Rainbow Dash warned them as she lead the three girls through the woods. "We can't be responsible for bringing back berries that make everypony sick. Nurse Redheart is with us, but she doesn't really have her own office right now, so we can't go jeopardizing ponies' lives, alright?" The three fillies saluted her and then looked off Zecora's picture guide before heading out to find berries. They would bring back anything they found to Rainbow Dash to check again to see if they were safe - if they were fine to eat, they put them inside their berry basket; if not, they threw them back into the bushes. Soon, they returned with baskets full of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. "You didn't run into any trouble?" Twilight Sparkle asked Rainbow Dash. "Of course not!" Rainbow Dash said with a smile. Twilight began handing out equal portions of berries to the ponies. "This would taste better in a cupcake . . ." Pinkie sighed before digging into her pile of raspberries. "Wow, even Pinkie's depressed," Applejack said before helping herself to her portion of blackberries. "But I'd sure like to have an apple right now. What do you think them horses are doin' up there?" "I don't know, but I'm worried about the other ponies in Equestria," Twilight Sparkle said. "And I'm worried about Princess Celestia." "Don't worry, dear, I'm sure she's fine," Rarity assured her. "After all, she's a very powerful Pegasus - I'm sure she wouldn't go down without a good fight." "D-Death! It's an emergency!" Death spun around to face the scrawny pony that was limping towards her. He had a panicked look on his face, and his eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty. "What is it, Famine?!" Death snapped - he had caught her in the middle of terrorizing Princess Celestia, who was still speared to the floor and weaker than ever. "The . . . the ponies . . . ! They escaped!" the pony gasped, completely out of breath. "What?!" Death leaped over to Famine, bearing her fangs and snarling from the bottom of her throat. "They somehow got through the bars!" Famine screeched. Death glared at him with her deep red eyes, her gaze stopping him in his tracks. "Impossible! Those bars were supposed to be resistant to magic!" Death hissed. "Well, I-I guess they figured some way out of them . . ." Instead of continuing her intimidating stare at the poorly-fed horse, Death turned around to face Celestia again. "Get a hold of War," Death ordered Famine as she stared into Celestia's frantic eyes. "Tell him to keep going as planned. We're not going to let a few miserable vermin like those ponies get in our way." Famine nodded. "Y-Yes, ma'am. Um . . . should I . . . ?" Death snapped her gaze back at him again. "Well, what are you waiting for?! Go!" "Uh, y-yes, ma'am!" Famine spun around and ran as quickly as he could, leaping out a nearby window that had already been broken earlier and landing on the rooftops of the castle below, leaping across from rooftop to rooftop. Death smiled at Celestia. "It seems as if your little ponies aren't as stupid as they look." "They won't . . . submit to the likes of you . . ." Celestia hissed, her voice frail and weak. "Well, I think all they need is a little push." Death spread her wings out. Suddenly, shadows flew in from all of the windows, turning into ponies that looked just as demonic as Death and the rest of the Apocalypse Horses. Death faced the shadow minions. "Go out and find the rest of those infernal ponies, and make sure none of them escape again!" The shadow minions all floated into the air and flew out of the castle like zooming black clouds, heading in the direction of Ponyville. "That should take care of them," Death sighed. "Now, to take over the rest of this infernal kingdom." Big Macintosh and Applejack walked silently through the forest, trying to find more food for them to scavenge for the next day. It was going to be hard to live off berries - especially for Applejack and the rest of the Apple family, who were so accustomed to eating nothing but apples before. "Ya think Fluttershy is alright?" Applejack asked her brother. " . . . Ayup." Big Macintosh lowered his head to sniff a bush of raspberries. Applejack rolled her eyes before continuing past him. She didn't look back for a moment, but then she heard a loud screech in the air, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. "W-What was that?" she hissed to Big Macintosh, turning around to face him. Suddenly, black shadows whipped out from the forest around her and tied themselves around her hooves from behind, pulling her hard to the ground. "BIG MACINTOSH!" Applejack screamed, but it was too late - the shadows had already dragged her into the depths of the Everfree Forest. Big Macintosh dropped his basket of berries and spun around, breaking into a fast run for the treehouse. But then he stopped, and changed his direction, going down a completely different path. I can't let em' follow me back to our hidin' place, he thought. I gotta sidetrack em' and then get back without bein' seen. Big Macintosh charged through the forest, leaping over tree roots and swerving in different directions as much as he could. He finally stopped for a breath in a small forest clearing, and waited to see if the shadows were still following him. There was no sign of them. And no sign of Applejack either. "I'm sorry, Applejack . . ." Big Macintosh whispered. He turned around and started to trace his steps back to the treehouse. Chapter [ T W O ] - - - > The Solar Eclipse[ - S k i S M - ] Chapter [ TWO ] - - - > The Solar Eclipse Fluttershy bent her head over the patch of lilies, her pink mane falling off to the side of her face. She sniffed them gently, when suddenly Angel the bunny poked his head out with an angry look on his face. "Oh, I'm sorry . . . !" Fluttershy gasped, backing away from the mad little bunny. "Did I wake you?" The bunny scowled at her and hopped away to find a new napping place. Fluttershy sighed in defeat, and continued her walk through the flower fields. She trotted along a hillside path, and when she reached the top, she saw Twilight Sparkle pacing in circles in the clearing below, a worried look on her face. "Oh, um . . . hello, Twilight Sparkle . . ." she said shyly as she approached the nervous pony. Twilight looked at her. "Oh, it's just you, Fluttershy. Going for a walk?" "Yes, and I noticed you, um, pacing . . ." She began to trace tiny little circles in the dirt with her hoof, staring down at the ground in embarrassment and shyness. "I-Is everything, uh, alright?" "I just have a lot on my mind right now, Fluttershy," Twilight sighed as she finally stopped pacing. "I'm worried about tonight . . ." Fluttershy's face brightened. "Oh yes, there's going to be a solar eclipse tomorrow, right? I can't wait to see it!" she cheered. "Huh, I wish I had the same enthusiasm like you," Twilight snickered. "Fluttershy, can you keep a secret?" She had to get it off her chest somehow, and she knew she could trust Fluttershy of all people. "Um . . . I-I guess . . ." Fluttershy said, returning to her original shyness. Twilight looked around to make sure the coast was clear, and then she leaned in close. Fluttershy leaned in as well. "There are . . ." Twilight reduced her voice to a very low whisper. " . . . demon horses underneath Castle Equestria . . . !" Twilight backed away and stared at Fluttershy to see what her reaction would be. Fluttershy stared back with wide eyes, and then she started to giggle. "I'm serious here, Fluttershy," Twilight grumbled. "I know it seems weird and unbelievable, but I saw them with my own eyes. Celestia took me underneath the castle and showed me the horses - they're trapped inside mirrors!" Fluttershy stopped giggling. "Wait, but . . . if they're trapped in mirrors, then shouldn't it be alright?" Twilight sighed. "I know, that's what Celestia told me, but there was an inscription above the mirrors - it said that on the seventh day, at the seventh hour, when all is covered in darkness, the Horses will be at full power. At least, that's what it meant, I can't really remember how the original passage went. There's a solar eclipse today, right? Which means that when the moon covers the sun, everything will get dark, and that will be when the Horses break free." "I'm sure that Celestia would have a back-up plan, though . . ." "I know, I really shouldn't be telling anyone else this, but I'm worried," Twilight said. "And I'm trusting you to keep this a secret, alright? A secret between me, you, and Princess Celestia; now, we're the only ones that know about the Horses existing underneath the castle." Fluttershy's face turned red. "Oh dear . . . that is a big secret." "Exactly, and you have to keep it." Fluttershy nodded. "I will." Twilight sighed again and looked up at the sun just above the field. "We just have to cross our hooves that the Horses don't break free tonight, Fluttershy. And if they do, we have to stop them." "Rarity, y'all gettin' a little frisky." Rarity pouted at Applejack before handing the roll of streamers to Rainbow Dash, who flew up to adjust them along the roof of her shop. "Darling, you just don't understand how important tonight's ceremony will be," Rarity giggled. "We have to make sure that everything looks perfect." "The moon will be up for five minutes at most," Applejack grumbled. "That's no reason to be gettin' all antsy over how well the town looks." "Please, if I don't do it, the Mayor will make us all do it anyway," Rarity sighed as she checked the streamers off her list of things to do. "Am I done now?" Rainbow Dash growled from above Rarity's shop as she secured the last streamer. "I need to start working on clearing the clouds for the eclipse! It won't do us any good if the clouds are in the way!" Rarity rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine, dear, you're done." "Alright!" Rainbow Dash cheered, and took off like a rocket for the skies above to push the clouds away. Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy came walking into town together. "There you are!" Rarity called out to them when she spotted them. "I need help from the both of you!" "What is it, Rarity?" Twilight asked. "I'm decorating Ponyville for tonight's event, and I need you to help set up the food booths," she ordered, cramming a very quickly-drawn sketch of what she wanted the booths to be set up like around Ponyville. She turned to Fluttershy. "And I want you to hand pamphlets to anypony who doesn't know about tonight!" She used her magic to draw forth a huge pile of pamphlets, dumping them on top of Fluttershy. "This . . . seems like a bit much . . ." Fluttershy whispered as she looked at all the pamphlets surrounding her. "I agree," Twilight Sparkle said. "I mean, I'm pretty sure everybody knows about tonight." "Nonsense, dear, we have to make sure everything goes well," Rarity laughed. Rarity looked over her checklist again. There were so many things she had to do - prepare snack booths for ponies who got hungry while watching, decorating every last building in Ponyville, clearing the skies of any unnecessary clouds, making sure every pony in Equestria knew about the eclipse . . . but she was used to cramming things for big events like these. "We need the food!" Rarity exclaimed. "Where's Pinkie Pie?!" Pinkie Pie burst out from a barrel of apples that Applejack had pulled in earlier. "I'm here, I'm here!" Pinkie Pie laughed. "What are y'all doing in there?!" Applejack exclaimed in surprise. "Pinkie Pie, do you have everything prepared for the refreshments tonight?" Rarity asked worriedly. "Of course!" Pinkie Pie replied with a stern look on her face. "In fact, I'm just waiting for Donut Joe to bring me his new shipment of donuts!" "Wasn't he supposed to bring those in yesterday?" Pinkie Pie stopped to think, and began to scratch her head with her hoof. "Umm . . . I don't know, yesterday, today, it doesn't matter as long as he gets them here on time, does it?" "It does matter!" Rarity shouted, glaring at Pinkie Pie with frantic eyes. "Everything for tonight must be perfect!" Pinkie Pie looked around, and then she saw the stallion with the white outfit and hat coming up over the hill with a cart filled with fresh donuts. "Ooh, ooh, there he is! I see him, I see him!" she cheered. Rarity trotted over gracefully to meet with Donut Joe, Twilight following close behind. Joe looked overtired and stressed. "There you are!" Rarity said, following Joe as he walked towards her shop. "You were supposed to be here yesterday! What took you so long?!" "Well, I probably would have gotten here sooner, if a certain pony hadn't run into me on my way over last night," he growled, eyeballing Twilight Sparkle specifically. "Uh, hehe . . ." Twilight chuckled innocently. "Every single donut in that crate, ruined. I had to bake up a whole new batch overnight. There are seriously a lot of donuts in here." "It's necessary for tonight, dear," Rarity sighed, shaking her head. "And Twilight, what could you have been in such a rush for that you knocked over poor Joe?" Twilight tried to think up the best lie possible. She knew lying was wrong, but she had promised Celestia. "I, uh, had to leave for Canterlot to meet with Celestia for a personal lesson in friendship," Twilight said, off to a good start. "And I had forgotten that I left dinner in the oven, so I rushed home, and I . . . kind of ran into Joe." "Well, it wasn't very friendly of you to do that, now was it?" Rarity snickered. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry . . ." Rarity turned back to Joe. "Well then, now that that's all settled, let's get those donuts to the booths. Twilight here is in charge of setting them up, so you'll be working with her today. She will set up a donut booth for you near Pinkie Pie's candy booth." "Alright, then," Joe sighed. "Come on, Twilight." Twilight nodded, and guided him to the center of the town, where a few booths had already been set up. Pinkie Pie had returned to her own booth, which was set up just outside of her own shop. Twilight brought up the map that Rarity had drawn, and used it to set Donut Joe in his spot. She then spent the next twenty minutes setting up a booth similar to Pinkie Pie's, and helped Joe arrange them on the refrigerated shelves. "I love your booth, Joe!" Pinkie Pie cheered from her booth, where cupcakes of all shapes and sizes were arranged on shelves. Joe gave her a brief smile, and then returned to his donut arranging. Fluttershy went up to a pony dressed in various robes. She set a brochure on the ground and slid it towards him. "Um, come to the solar eclipse tonight . . ." she said. "That is, if you want to . . ." "Young one, it is I!" Fluttershy peered at the face behind the robes. "Zecora?" "You must run, young mare!" Zecora hissed. "They are coming out tonight, looking for hearts that are pure and fair!" "W-What?" "You must get out of here! If they catch you . . . that is the worst to fear!" Fluttershy backed away. "What should I do? Who am I running from?" "The Horses, young one! They will arise when the moon covers the sun!" "The eclipse?" "They are dangerous beings that only know death," Zecora hissed. "They can smell fear coming off a pony's breath." Zecora forcefully pushed Fluttershy around so that she was facing in the other direction. "Run now, pure soul!" she ordered her. "Hurry before the moon brings death's toll!" Fluttershy did as she was told, running back towards Ponyville, away from the forest. Zecora watched as she ran, and then sighed to herself, feeling a bit relieved. If she could protect Fluttershy, then everything would be fine. Because she knew that, when they arrived, Fluttershy would be the first one to be taken by the Horses. When Fluttershy reached Ponyville, she wanted to find anyone she could to ask for help, but then she remembered the promise she made with Twilight. Zecora had mentioned the Horses - the same Horses that Twilight had spoke of just that same morning - and warned her about their arrival, the same warning Twilight had given her. If these were both the same things, she couldn't go running through town asking for help. There was only one person she could talk to, and that was Twilight Sparkle. Fluttershy found her setting up a booth in the center of Ponyville, a piece of paper floating in front of her face. "Twilight!" Fluttershy called her as she came to a quick stop. "What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy stopped to catch her breath, and then whispered, "Remember that, um, thing we talked about this morning?" Twilight looked around, and then leaned in close. "The Horses?" "Zecora . . . she knows!" Fluttershy gasped. "Did you tell her?!" "No, I didn't, she already knew . . . !" Twilight stopped to think, wondering how Zecora could possibly know about something that only she, Fluttershy, and Celestia knew about, which had been hid from everybody in the kingdom. "What did she say?" Twilight asked, leaning in close again. "She said that I should run and hide!" Fluttershy squeaked. Duh, Twilight thought with a heavy sigh. "Anything else?" "Well, um, uh . . ." Fluttershy tried to think back to Zecora's words, but it was hard to remember anything she said because she always spoke in rhymes. "Well, I think she said something about them coming out tonight and looking for ponies that were pure and fair . . . ?" Pure and fair . . . hmm . . . One of the ponies started to call Twilight over to their booth. "Ugh, I have to go take care of this," Twilight growled. "Listen, Fluttershy, just stay alert and don't talk to anybody you don't know, alright?" "Um . . . o-okay . . ." Twilight smiled and then took off for the booth, which was being slowly destroyed. "Derpy, get away from there!" It was later in the day, and everypony in Ponyville had finally finished setting up for the event, which would take place at any minute. Twilight sat with the rest of her friends near Pinkie Pie's candy booth, the six of them watching the sky as the moon rose while the sun remained in its spot. "Gosh, this sure is gonna be great, Twilight!" Applejack exclaimed in excitement. "Yeah . . ." Twilight muttered. She looked up at the rising moon, and swallowed in fear. "Great . . ." "What's wrong, Twilight? You look all down!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "You should be having fun! Here . . ." She grabbed a chocolate cupcake and pushed it towards Twilight. "Have a cupcake! Cupcakes make everypony feel better! They sure do make me feel great when I'm feeling down!" "Thanks, Pinkie, but I'm not really hungry," Twilight Sparkle sighed. "Well, as long as you enjoy the main event, dear, then it will all have been worth it," Rarity told her. I sure hope so. "Yeah! Chin up, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "It'll be no fun if you're all down!" Twilight tried to smile. The fear was still eating away at her, but she reminded herself about what Celestia said. They were trapped in those mirrors and they weren't going to get out anytime soon. She could trust Celestia. Trying to relax herself, Twilight let out a sigh, and stared up at the sky with her friends, waiting for Luna's moon to meet with Celestia's sun. Pestilence paced back and forth within the mirrors, waiting for the moon to finish rising. "She's taking too long . . . !" he growled. "Patience, Pestilence," War said from his mirror as he stared straight ahead. "Shut up!" Pestilence snapped back. "I don't see how you can all just sit there pretending to be asleep!" "It is because you lack patience." "It's because I actually want to do stuff!" "Can you two please quiet down?" Famine asked as he clutched his belly, his voice frail and shaky. "I'm not in the mood for your bantering today . . ." "Nobody cares about you, Famine," Pestilence sneered. "You're too hard-headed, Pestilence," War muttered. "One must have patience if they are to be rewarded." Pestilence bashed his head into the mirror. "I wish the stupid Princess would just bring up that stupid moon! Death! Wake up, would you?!" He turned his gaze to the mare who remained asleep in her own mirror. "I have no time to be dealing with a dog," Death hissed, her voice sharp and cold like ice. "Oooh, a little frisky today, are we?" Pestilence laughed. "That's fine with me, Death. I can take it. Throw your best insults at me." Death glared at him, her red eyes piercing through his very soul. "As War has already said, we must be patient. Any moment now, we will be free," Death said. "Hrm, whatever," Pestilence sighed as he fell back to sit on the floor beyond his mirror. Death closed her eyes again, drifting off into her own personal slumber. And from outside of the castle, the moon rose, pulling in front of the sun, its rays glowing out from behind it like a blocked-off flashlight. A shadow was cast from the blocking of the sun, traveling far across Equestria like a veil, until it reached the castle sitting on the cliff of Canterlot. In a split second, Death snapped her demonic eyes open, her mare head turning into a dirtied skull with black flames emanating around it, and she released a shriek so loud that the mirrors they were contained in shattered into tiny pieces. Death stepped out, and turned her empty, skull eyes to her companions. "Now, we attack," she hissed. War nodded, Famine got to his feet, and Pestilence let out a crazy laugh. Death spread her torn black wings, black fire growing around her sharp hooves, and she zoomed out of the castle basement like a rocket, speeding through to the throne room and blasting her way through the door that had kept the room a secret for so long. The others followed her, Pestilence, War, and Famine running below her as she flew up in the sky above. The guards at the castle prepared themselves, unaware of what the ponies were but determined to stop them anyway. They charged at them, their armor ready to hit the three ponies that were on the ground, but they disappeared into clouds of shadows, reappearing behind them and striking them down to the ground. War brought forth a spear with his magic, the weapon floating around him, and launched it straight for the guards, just hitting the wall behind them between the two of them. "That was a warning," War snickered. Just as they were about to leave the castle, Princess Celestia showed up. "Ah, Princess, how nice to see you!" Death laughed as her skull was covered in a sleek black coat again, her red eyes reappearing and the black flames returning to their original form as her long mane. "Impossible . . . !" Celestia gasped as she backed away from the demon horse. Death tilted her head in Pestilence's direction. Having immediately understood, Pestilence leaped forward and tackled one of the guard's standing by the Princess to the ground, laughing at them with wild, insane eyes. War took care of the other guard with his spear, launching the weapon at him and striking him down. Celestia looked around, panicking as she realized all her guards were now dead. Death went in close to Celestia, a smile on her face, fangs growing in place of regular teeth. "My my, Celestia, you sure do like to save yourself when the going gets tough, don't you?" Death laughed. "I don't know why I didn't kill you years ago." Celestia scowled at the demon horse. "You're getting ahead of yourself, Death. I will not allow you to leave this castle!" A dark purple-black shadow flew in from one of the open windows of the castle. It landed next to Celestia, and soon revealed her sister, Luna. "You called, sister?" Luna obeyed. She observed the horses standing before her. "We must take care of a certain infestation," Celestia hissed. "It's been years, Death," Luna greeted the horse. "As for the rest of you, War, Pestilence, and Famine." "Aw, you remember me," Pestilence laughed. "I'm so flattered." "I see your attitude hasn't changed," Luna growled. "What is it that you want?" "What else?" Pestilence sneered. "To purge this land of all that is evil, of course." "You're merely speaking of yourself," Celestia snapped. "No, we are speaking of everything else that is impure," War said in his deep voice as he stepped forward, spear floating above him. "We are the only pure ones - this world has been tainted, so we are here to dispose of the garbage that is ruining it." "I won't allow you to touch my kingdom!" Celestia yelled. "Well then," Death sighed as she began to ready herself to charge again, dragging her front hoof against the ground, "I guess we'll just have to force our way through." She took off again, flying throughout the room so quickly that it was hard for Celestia to keep track of where she was. While Celestia was distracted, Famine reared up to Luna and took her down. Before Celestia could go to the aid of her sister, Death zoomed in, striking Celestia hard to ground, pinning her down under herself. "You're not going anywhere, my dear Princess," Death laughed. She turned her gaze to the armored horse behind her. "War! You know what to do." War nodded and stepped forward with his weapons; he had somehow gotten his hooves on a second spear. He raised them both, Celestia staring at them with wide, terrified eyes, and he brought them down on her. Celestia screamed out in pain, and saw how War had planted the spears right through her wings, so that she would stay pinned down to the floor. Death rose back up from the Princess and stepped away. "Hurts, doesn't it?" Death snickered. "Now you just stay there like a good Princess." She nudged her head in the direction of the door. "Let's go, you three. We've got a bit of business to attend to." The other three horses trotted behind her, Pestilence slowing down to lower his head to Celestia's. He had a very stern look on his face as he began to speak to her. ". . . You think you know pain?" he growled. "Please . . . you don't know the meaning of the word . . ." Then he continued on to follow the rest of the horses. Twilight watched the ring of light burst out from behind the black circle that was the moon. "It's amazing . . ." Twilight gasped. "It's so dark out!" Pinkie Pie giggled as she clapped her hooves excitedly. Twilight looked around at her friends and the other ponies who had gathered to watch the event. It was supposed to last for about ten minutes, but it had already been nearly a half-hour, and the moon was still over the sun. What's going on? It's not supposed to be this long . . . Twilight thought worriedly to herself. Suddenly, a crash from close by could be heard. Twilight spun around to hear the shingles off the rooftops being destroyed, but she couldn't see a single thing; she could only hear the faint sound of hooves leaping across the rooftops. She heard one last crash, and then nothing. Twilight looked back up at the moon, and saw the bodies of horses leaping across the view of the moon, only seen briefly as they passed through the border of the sun and then disappearing again. "That was . . ." Twilight gasped. There was a loud crash, and suddenly four demonic horses ran in, their leader flying with torn black wings. "Take them all!" the mare screamed, the other three charging off on her command and attacking all the ponies around them. "No, it can't be!" Twilight hissed. She prepared her magic, and charged for the mare. "Oh my, we have a hero in our midst!" the mare laughed. Suddenly, Twilight was blown off her feet as the mare had pushed her away with some sort of shockwave. Twilight landed several feet away. "Capture them, now," the mare sneered. The three horses began to take down every pony in Ponyville, tying them up with chains and pushing them all together into one area. The leading mare flew a few feet into the air, everypony's attention on her. "Listen up, you disgusting creatures!" she roared. "I am Death, and I am here to dispose of you all for you have tainted this land with impurity and filth!" Death . . . I knew it, she's the same one from inside the mirrors . . . Twilight thought as she backed away. "What are you talking about!?" Twilight yelled. "It looks to me like you're the only ones destroying Equestria!" Death glared at Twilight, but was sidetracked when she saw Fluttershy trying to sneak away. "Pestilence! Grab her. She is essential in all of this," Death commanded the mangy horse who was smiling insanely at every single one of them. Pestilence let out a laugh and charged for Fluttershy, tackling her to the ground and holding her down. "P-Please, let me go . . . !" Fluttershy screamed. "Sorry, little miss, but you heard the boss," Pestilence snickered at her. Death launched forward her own chains, tying up the rest of the ponies, including Twilight Sparkle and her friends. "Let us go!" Applejack yelled. "I'm afraid we can't do that," Death sighed. "Where are you taking us?!" Rainbow Dash chimed in. "Oooh, you'll find out soon enough," Pestilence snickered as he reared his head up from behind Rainbow Dash, a wide, toothy smile on his face. He had sharp fangs that could only be seen when he smiled. Death's unicorn horn lit up with a black aura, and suddenly black bars grew up from underneath each set of ponies, growing a metal plate over top afterwards to create a cage. Death lowered herself to her feet. "We won't let you get away with this!" Twilight growled. "Princess Celestia will help us!" "Oh, I forgot to mention that," Death snickered as she approached the unicorn trapped in the cage. "Where do you think we came from? We were underneath the castle, remember?" Applejack glared at Twilight from her own cage. "What the?! You mean you knew all about this the entire time, Twilight?! How could you not tell us?!" "I'm sorry . . ." Twilight whispered. "Celestia made me promise . . ." "Hmm, and now your dear Celestia is just another bug that I've squashed," Death giggled. "No . . . !" Death returned to the three other stallions. "War, you and I will be securing the other areas," Death ordered. "Famine, you keep watch over the garbage.." She turned to Pestilence, who had pinned down Fluttershy again. "Pestilence, you know what to do with her." Pestilence gave her an army salute. "Yes, ma'am!" He forced the mare to her hooves and began to nudge her in another direction, away from the town. "Where are you taking her!?" Twilight demanded. Death shot a cruel, soul-shattering glare at Twilight Sparkle. "Hopefully, if you keep a hold on your tongue, you will live long enough to see."
Chapter [ O N E ] - - - > Danger is on the Horizon"All concerns of men go wrong when they wish to cure evil with evil." [ - S k i S M - ] Chapter [ ONE ] - - - > Danger is on the Horizon Twilight Sparkle sat in her library, a book sprawled open in front of her. Spike had been bringing her book after book on mythical creatures and monsters from Equestria's many urban legends the entire morning. After being challenged by so many previous monsters and enemies of Equestria – Discord, Nightmare Moon, Cerberus, Chrysalis and the Changelings – Twilight found it would probably help to read up on mythical creatures, just in case Ponyville and Equestria was attacked again. She didn't want to be caught off-guard, after all. "Twilight, is this really necessary?" Spike asked, bringing another armload of books down to the busily-reading pony. "Of course, Spike," Twilight said. "We need to be ready in case Equestria gets attacked again." Spike sighed and went back up to the top level of the ladder to check for more books. Twilight scanned her eyes over the hand-written words and drawn pictures of the old book sitting in front of her, reading every word that she could spot. Each monster she read about – Harpies, Krakens, Sirens, Chimeras, Basilisks – just sent more chills through her body, and eventually she had to put the book away because the pictures were too horrifying to look at. And she knew these kinds of creatures must have existed at one point, if they didn't already exist today; after all, she had seen all kinds of things like this, like Cerberus, the Manticore, dragons, parasprites, and Changelings. After having been attacked by so many monsters before, none of these mythical creatures surprised Twilight. Twilight closed the book and pushed it aside with the others. She grabbed another book and looked at its cover – what a surprise, more monsters. She opened it to find much of the same things that she had already read about. She flipped through the pages using her magic. "Harpies, Changelings, Manticores, Cerberus . . ." Twilight muttered to herself. "Basilisks, Sirens, Chimeras . . ." She stopped flipping when he eyes caught something interesting. She flipped back to the page she had seen. "The Apocalypse Horses?" Twilight pondered to herself as she stared at the picture of the four ponies. There were three stallions, and one mare – and all four of them looked even more terrifying than anything else she had ever seen. Twilight read the passage to herself. "The Apocalypse Horses are mythical beasts that are said to bring chaos everywhere they go. The four Horses – Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War – have always existed in the spirit world, and it has been stated in legend that the Horses will one day rise and bring down the rains of fire and chaos with them, bearing nothing but destruction . . ." Twilight couldn't read the rest – it had all been scribbled out with a black pen, and there was no way she could read past it. That's strange, she thought to herself. Who scribbled it out? I never let anyone near my books . . . and I doubt Spike did it. Twilight closed the book and set it up onto her podium where she wrote her letters. She didn't want to lose the book; it was too intriguing for her to forget. Twilight heard the sound of flames bursting behind her. She turned around to see Spike standing there with a letter in his hand. "It's from Princess Celestia," Spike said, handing the letter to Twilight. Twilight opened the letter and proceeded to read it. My faithful student, It has been a long time since we have seen each other in person. On that note, I would like to kindly request to see you this evening. I would like to assess how much you have learned about the magic of friendship in person. - Princess Celestia Twilight closed the letter and gave it back to Spike. "She wants us to go see her in Canterlot," Twilight said. "Spike, could you get the air balloon ready?" "A trip to Canterlot? Alright!" Spike cheered. He spun around and ran outside into the backyard. Twilight Sparkle looked back at the book sitting on her podium. Maybe Celestia will know something about the Apocalypse Horses . . . Spike and Twilight hovered over the beautiful pink-white clouds, the hot-air balloon drifting slowly through the air. Dusk was falling, and the clouds were changing to orange and red as the sun set on the horizon. Twilight had brought the book; it was sitting in the corner of the balloon's carrier basket. Spike had noticed her sudden obsession with the book, but he had decided not to say anything; Twilight always had her reasons, and her instincts were usually right. "I wonder why the Princess wants to see you in person," Spike said aloud. "She likes to give me personal lessons sometimes," Twilight answered. "And I'm sure she doesn't mind my visits." The hot-air balloon bobbed atop the clouds, until they could see Castle Equestria perched on the cliff of Canterlot. Spike changed the balloon's direction, taking it over to the balcony that served as a landing spot for them. When they were close enough, Twilight jumped off, and Spike secured the balloon to the castle with a rope before getting out as well. The ponies there greeted Twilight Sparkle and Spike with smiles and waves. "It feels good to be back in Canterlot, huh?" Spike said. "Seems like everybody missed us." "Well, we haven't been here since my brother's wedding, remember?" Twilight replied. "And that was nearly a year ago." "You think the Changelings are causing any trouble?" "I hope not," Twilight sighed. "We may have stopped Chrysalis from overtaking Canterlot, but I'm sure that the Changelings will come up with something else eventually . . . that's why I've been reading so many books on monsters lately. I don't want us to get caught off-guard again in case something else weird happens." With Spike on her back, Twilight walked through the palace, getting more waves and smiles from other mares and stallions. When she made it to the entrance to the throne room, she was stopped by two royal guards, their grand wings spread across the door. "Do you have an audience?" the one on the left asked. "Yes," Twilight said, using her magic to bring the letter up to their faces. "Princess Celestia wanted to speak to me about my lessons." The guards looked over the letter. When they finished reading it, they both nodded and pulled their wings back, allowing her to enter the throne room. "Thank you," she said as she walked away. Princess Celestia was sitting in her throne, her rainbow mane and tail flowing around her body like majestic clouds. Twilight walked to her, and bowed in respect. "Good evening, Princess Celestia," she said. "It's so wonderful to see you, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said with a smile. "How are your lessons going?" Twilight lifted her head. "They're going very well, Princess. Although, I haven't been able to come up with a new report for you . . ." "That's quite alright, Twilight," Celestia smiled. "I'm very proud of you; you've learned so much about the magic of friendship in such a short time." "T-Thank you," Twilight stammered in embarrassment. "Um, Princess Celestia . . . there's something I wanted to ask you about . . ." "Well, ask away, Twilight," Celestia said happily. "Are things okay in Ponyville?" "Y-Yes, they're fine, but . . ." Twilight cleared her throat. "I was reading through some old books this morning, and . . . I stumbled across a passage regarding the . . . the Apocalypse Horses." Celestia didn't say anything. Her gaze went cold. "I know you tell me not to worry over these things, but I was just curious, that's all," Twilight said to reassure the Princess. Celestia smiled, her eyes becoming warm again. "Of course you were, Twilight. I guess I'm partially to blame – I thought I had destroyed all the books about the Horses long ago." "So . . . wait, part of the passage was scribbled out with black ink," Twilight objected. "That was you who did that?" "Well, one of my servants, perhaps. I had several people working on the destruction of those books; I merely led the project," Celestia explained. Philomeena the phoenix flew in from the open window above the palace, its wings leaving trails of fire behind him. He landed on Twilight's shoulder, and nudged her face with a warm – literally, warm – greeting. "I know it's a lot to ask, Princess, but . . . could you tell me more about the Horses?" Twilight asked. "You shouldn't let your curiosity get the better of you, Twilight," Celestia said strictly. "It's nothing you have to worry yourself over." "I know, but you said the same thing about Night Mare Moon and she ended up attacking Equestria!" Twilight shouted unexpectedly. She covered over her mouth with her hooves. "E-Excuse me, Princess, for being rude . . . I just . . . I don't want Equestria to be caught off-guard by any weird monsters again." Celestia walked forward and stroked her head with her decorated hoof. "I don't blame you for that, Twilight Sparkle. And personally, I trust you enough with the information about the Horses . . . I'll tell you about them, as long as you promise me you will keep it a secret from the rest of Equestria, alright?" Twilight smiled. "Thank you, Princess!" She snuggled her face into chest. "It's no trouble at all," Celestia said. "I know that you were going to find out about them eventually, anyway. It's hard to keep you out of those books." She turned around and pointed her unicorn horn towards the throne. Her horn glowed yellow until the throne where she sat began to tremble and move. It sank down into the floor, revealing a hidden door in the wall right behind the throne. "Wow!" Twilight exclaimed. "I had no clue that was there!" Celestia smiled at her student, and guided her towards the door. She leaned over and pressed her horn into the keyhole – much like the door that kept the Elements of Harmony locked away. The door opened, revealing a dark stairway that went downwards. Philomeena let out a frightful cry and flew off of Twilight's shoulder, heading back outside of the castle. Twilight suddenly felt a bit troubled, especially because of Philomeena's reaction – she knew that whatever it was that was down there, it was dangerous enough to scare off a brave phoenix like Philomeena. Twilight, Spike, and the Princess walked down the flight of stairs, Twilight trying desperately not to trip on her own hooves in the darkness. Celestia lit her horn up with magic to use like a torch, its yellow glow illuminating the dark in front of them. "How far does this stairway go?" Twilight asked after walking for a few minutes. "Very deep underground," Celestia replied. "This room must be kept sealed safely underneath the castle – you'll see why in a moment." Twilight felt another one of her nervous chills go through her back as she followed the Princess down the stairs. Eventually, the stairs ended, and they were in a wide, open room that was similar to that of the throne room – except the walls in this room were plastered with mirrors. A loud, high-pitched laugh screeched through the room. "Oooh, I have visitors!" A horse appeared in the mirrors, his face gigantic as it was reflected in the various strips of glass. Twilight looked around, thinking he was actually in the room, but realized that he was actually trapped in the mirrors. There were three other horses in the mirrors as well, but they seemed to be asleep. "Ugh, he's awake again . . ." Celestia scoffed in disgust. The horse's face shrunk down to that of regular size. Twilight could see his entire body now – his light-brown coat was messy and covered in blood; he had a long line of stitches running across his face, from above his right eye down to the bottom-left portion of his cheek; his dark-brown mane was matted and stained with dirt; the whites of his eyes were slightly red, as if his eyes had been struck with a weapon and were now filled with blood; his pupils were shrunk and filled with a strange kind of chaos and insanity; blood was running down his legs; and the lower portion of his legs were covered in mud and dirt, like he had just gotten back from the racetrack and hadn't bothered to clean his hooves. "Pestilence," Celestia sneered. "I'm not in the mood for your games today." He smiled a crooked smile, and bashed his face into the surface of the mirror from where he was trapped inside of it. He dragged his tongue down the glass, leaving a slobbery trail of spit and bile. "Every day is a day for games, Princess!" he laughed. He eyed Twilight Sparkle with his psychotic blood-shot eyes. "Oooh, new meat today? Don't mind if I help myself?" He licked his lips. Twilight backed away in total shock when he started bashing his head even more into the mirror. "Don't worry, Twilight, he can't get out," Celestia assured her. "W-What is he?" she asked with extreme panic in her voice. "He's one of the Apocalypse Horses," Celestia answered. "Pestilence – the horse of the righteous plague." "He's . . . he's an Apocalypse Horse? What's an Apocalypse Horse doing underneath the castle?" "A long time ago, the Apocalypse Horses showed up in Equestria, and tried to destroy it. I had to use all of my power to seal them away in these mirrors. The Horses only bring destruction and death with them – they were too powerful for me to destroy, so I was forced to merely seal them away in the mirrors here, under the castle. They'll live on forever, trapped inside the glass in this underground room." "That is incorrect," Pestilence interrupted her. "We don't bring death and destruction – we're merely cleansing the world of its impurity and filthiness." "It doesn't matter what you call it, you fool!" Celestia roared, sending a wave of strong magic into the mirror. The horse's eyes rolled back into his skull, and he collapsed onto the ground, fast asleep like the others. "That should take care of him for another few days," Celestia sighed. "But what about those three?" Twilight asked, pointing to the three that had remained asleep the entire time. "Those ones seem to stay asleep, for some reason," Celestia said. "It seems to only be Pestilence that wants to act up." Twilight carefully approached the mirrors, looking at all the horses with a curious gaze. "Just like the book said . . . Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War – they're all here, trapped in the mirrors." She looked up to see a stone tablet resting above the four mirrors that held each horse – it was the only thing in the room that wasn't a mirror. She peered to read the letters that had been engraved into the gray stone. She read it aloud. "On the seventh day, at the seventh hour, the dark beings shall reign supreme when all becomes shadow." "What does that mean?" Twilight asked the Princess. "It means that the Horses will be at their strongest on the seventh day, at the seventh hour," Celestia said. "At least, that's all I've been able to interpret. I haven't been able to figure out the rest of it." Twilight stared at the tablet. "Hmm . . . 'the dark beings shall reign supreme when all becomes shadow.' . . ." Celestia turned around and pointed her head to the exit. "We should leave, Twilight," she said cautiously. "It's not good for ones' mind to be around the Horses for long periods of time – their madness spreads like a disease." Twilight looked back at the sleeping Pestilence and the rest of the horses that were sleeping within the mirrors. She examined all four of them, and then turned around to follow Celestia back up the stairs. As they walked up the long stairway, Twilight tried to guess the horses to herself. So the one with the stitches was Pestilence, she thought. The one on the far end was wearing armour and had battle scars . . . so that must have been War. The one next to Pestilence was very scrawny and unhealthy-looking . . . Famine? So that means the only female, the one between War and Famine, must have been Death. But she didn't look very scary-looking. Eventually they made it up back to the throne room. Celestia used her magic to hide the door with the throne again. "Do you understand why I must keep it a secret from Equestria now?" Celestia asked Twilight. "Yes, I understand, Princess," Twilight said. "I won't tell anypony about it. Celestia smiled. "Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. I trust you with this secret, understand?" "I won't break that trust." Twilight Sparkle trotted through Ponyville, Spike still riding on her back. Luna had raised the moon into the night sky, and she was returning to her house for bed. Spike was reading a pamphlet on local events he had picked up at Canterlot before leaving. "Hey, Twilight, look at this," he said, holding the pamphlet in front of her for her to see while she walked. "A solar eclipse tomorrow?" Twilight Sparkle said with a smile. "We'll have to go see that with everyone else." "What's a solar eclipse again?" "Every hundred years, the two sisters – Celestia and Luna – raise the moon and sun together into the sky. They do this once a year, when Luna raises the moon to cover over Celestia's sun. It's celebrated to show an essence of harmony between the two sisters. Equestria hasn't had a solar eclipse in many years because of Luna's defiance against Celestia and her transformation into Night Mare Moon – so this solar eclipse is very important because it's the first one that we've had in a very long time." Spike looked back at the pamphlet. "Wow, it looks pretty interesting. Look at these pictures." He held the pamphlet back down for Twilight to see – it was a picture of the sun being obscured by the moon, a black circle hanging in the sky and the sun just barely shining out around it. "Looks like it'll get pretty dark out when the solar eclipse happens," Spike muttered. Twilight Sparkle stopped in her tracks. "Spike . . . what time are they performing the ceremony?" "Huh? At seven, tomorrow night before Luna raises the moon." Twilight stared straight ahead, still not moving. " . . . the dark beings shall reign supreme when all becomes shadow." "It . . . can't be . . ." Twilight whispered. "Huh? What was that?" Spike asked. "Did you say something, Twilight?" Twilight suddenly broke into a run. Spike almost fell off her back, but managed to regain his balance by grabbing onto her mane. "Whoa, slow down, Twilight!" Spike cried out loud. "We don't have time, Spike!" Twilight said. "I have to get back to the library!" She sprinted through the town, trying not to hit any other ponies. She accidentally bumped a donut trolley, but not enough to knock it down. "Sorry, Donut Joe!" Twilight called back to him without slowing down. She burst into her house and ran for the library, immediately ordering Spike to find a book on solar eclipses. Spike did exactly as he was told, grabbing the first book he saw, The Solar and Lunar Eclipses of Equestria. He handed it to Twilight. Twilight skimmed through the pages, reading every sentence and looking at every picture that her eyes could catch before she turned to the next page. Just like the pamphlet had talked about, Ponyville would get extremely dark out when the moon covered over the sun. And they were beginning the solar eclipse at seven in the evening, when Luna raised the moon to cover Celestia's sun. It couldn't be a coincidence. Twilight grabbed the book that she had looked at earlier that day, the one that had got her thinking about the deadly Apocalypse Horses in the first place. There, in the picture that she had already seen, were the same Horses that Celestia had shown her underneath the castle. Pestilence, with his scars and matted fur; Death, with her majestic black mane, beautiful black Pegasus wings, and slender body; War, with his sleek armour and battle scars; and finally, Famine, who looked like he had never eaten a scrap of food his entire life. She re-read the passage that was written below it. "The Apocalypse Horses are mythical beasts that are said to bring chaos everywhere they go. The four Horses – Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War – have always existed in the spirit world, and it has been stated in legend that the Horses will one day rise and bring down the rains of fire and chaos with them, bearing nothing but destruction . . ." I can't let that happen to Equestria! Twilight thought with a determined glare in her eyes. I have to stop this from happening! She was about to leave the library, but then she remembered what Celestia had said. "Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. I trust you with this secret, understand?" Twilight couldn't break the Princess' trust. She had to keep it a secret. So she took her books and went upstairs to her bedroom, watching the night-sky outside. They won't escape, she tried to reassure herself. Celestia told me that they're trapped in there. Besides, they're only at their strongest on the seventh day . . . that doesn't mean they'll actually be able to make it out . . . Celestia will probably be guarding the mirrors, anyway. And just because the solar eclipse makes everything dark, doesn't mean that's what the tablet meant back in the underground room. I'm overthinking everything. Twilight kept these thoughts in her head as curled herself up on her bed and closed her eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep . . . Zecora flipped through the old textbook sitting in front of her, her eyes growing wider and more frightened as she continued to read the ancient text. "Tomorrow the moon will rise!" she said to herself. "And with it comes the land's demise!" Zecora stared out the window at the moon in the sky. Then she looked back at the book laying on the floor next to her potions. "I must prepare for tomorrow night!" she gasped. "Otherwise it will be a horrible sight!"
Chapter [ T H R E E ] - - - > The Problem With Cages . . . Chapter [ T H R E E ] - - - > The Problem With Cages . . . [ - S k i S M - ] Chapter [ T H R E E ] - - - > The Problem with Cages . . . Rainbow Dash backed up for the fifth time, and then charged head-first for the iron bars. She hit them hard, but they didn't budge, and she fell back into a sitting position with an aching head. "Quit that, Rainbow Dash, before you give yerself head trauma!" Applejack warned her from her own prison cage. "Well, I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Rainbow Dash protested, rubbing her head with her hoof. "We've gotta get out of here!" "It's not like we can just walk out," Twilight Sparkle grumbled; she was trapped in the same cage as Rainbow Dash. "And even if we could, that . . . thing is guarding us." She pointed a hoof at the scrawny horse that was trudging around the area, flies buzzing around his head and his ribs visible through his chest. "He sure is freaky lookin' . . ." Applejack whispered. "I wouldn't toil with him." "Then what are we supposed to do?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "I don't know if you noticed or not, but they took Fluttershy!" "I know, Rainbow Dash . . ." Twilight sighed. She slumped down into the ground in misery, listening to the panicked voices around her. "We're going to die!" "We'll never get out of here!" "Uzuki, stop chewing the bars!" "Shut up, Peter, I'll do what I want!" Twilight sighed and hung her head down again, trying to think of any possible way to escape and hoping that Fluttershy was alright. And even more so Princess Celestia. She wanted to save them, but she had no clue how to get out of the cages. She had tried magic, but for some reason it didn't seem to work on the bars - it was almost like they were resistant to it. "What do we do . . . ?" Zecora sneaked around the town, trying to hide from the prying eyes of the mangy Apocalypse Horse who was scouting the area. She had a bag on her back filled with herbs, potions, and other strange things. When she made it to the main area of Ponyville, she found all of its residents trapped in iron cages. Twilight immediately spotted the zebra, and quietly ushered her over with a few waves of her hoof. Zecora tiptoed over to the cage where Twilight and Rainbow Dash were locked up. "Zecora, thank goodness you're here!" Twilight gasped. "That Horse . . . Famine, he-" "Hush, magical one!" Zecora hissed, silencing her. "It seems the Horses have arrived just as the moon covered the sun. Where is the one with the animal bonds?" "Animal bonds? Fluttershy?" Twilight wondered. "I don't know, but one of the Horses took her - I think it was Pestilence." "We must find her, before he takes her to the world down under!" Zecora whispered as she reached into her bag and pulled out a vial of strange purple potion. "Otherwise our world will surely sunder!" She began to pour it onto the bars; they sizzled and burned, until they melted away into grey puddles on the ground. "How did you . . . ?" Twilight stepped over the grey puddles that still seemed to be burning. "Rainbow Dash, come on!" she called to the pony who was staring out the other side of the bars at the many ponies who had also been captured. "Huh?" She flapped her wings, hovering above the puddle and landing next to Zecora. "Thanks, Zecora. I don't know what you did, but it sure did the trick." Zecora's attention immediately caught something off in the distance. She could see the lantern that belonged to the Apocalypse Horse returning to the area. "Quickly, we must leave here!" Zecora hissed. "Otherwise we will have much worse to fear!" "But we can't leave everypony else behind," Twilight argued. "Leave that to me!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she took off into the air. She flew to where Famine was walking closer to the main town square, and kicked him in the rear. "Hey, over here!" she laughed, sticking her tongue out at the horse. "Look at me!" "H-How did you escape?!" Famine stammered. He dropped the lantern and began to charge, but Rainbow Dash flew out of the way, taunting him with more silly faces. "Come and get me!" she challenged him, and then took off, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. Famine took off into a fast run, chasing Rainbow Dash to the other side of Ponyville, away from the other ponies. Zecora poured her potion onto the last cage, the iron bars melting like ice and turning into a very hot liquid. Big Macintosh helped Granny Smith out of the cage, keeping her away from the liquid. "That looks like the last of them," Twilight sighed. In mere minutes, they had burned away all the cages, releasing all of Twilight Sparkle's friends along with the other ponies - the Cake family, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the young fillies and colts - that resided within Ponyville. "Come on, we have to go somewhere they won't find us!" Twilight said to the large group of stallions and mares. They were all buzzing amongst themselves, panicking and screaming. "Listen to me!" Twilight yelled. They finally all stopped talking, their full attention on her. "Zecora has a plan!" Twilight began to explain. "We're going into the Everfree Forest! They won't find us there!" "The Everfree Forest!?" Rarity gasped. "You can't be serious, Twilight!" "We've been there before, Rarity!" Twilight objected. "It's not as dangerous as you think, especially compared to the Apocalypse Horses and what they could do to us!" "But once they realize we're gone, they'll start lookin' for us!" Applejack spoke up. "We can't just stay here!" Twilight growled. "We have to leave now!" "Well, I agree with Twilight," Big Macintosh said, stepping forward. "Don't forget they took one of yer friends away. We can't just sit here and watch em' torture us like cattle." "Anyone else?" Twilight asked, looking to the crowd. Rarity sighed. "I guess it can't be too bad . . . After all, those Horses need to be treated a lesson in respect." "I'm with Twilight!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "I guess it's no good to just stay here," Applejack sighed. "I'm in. Let's go find Fluttershy and kick these ole' Horses out of the kingdom." "Is everypony else coming too?" Twilight asked the other residents of Ponyville. They all stepped forward with determination in their eyes, ready to fight for their homeland. "Alright," Twilight said with a smile. "Follow me and Zecora! We'll lead you out of here." The ponies all trotted through the Everfree forest, all of them warily looking around at the crooked trees, the strange plants, and feeling uncomfortable from the dark atmosphere. Zecora lead the pack through the forest, until they made it to a small clearing where an old fort that looked like a treehouse had been built. "Is this place really big enough?" Twilight asked Zecora worriedly. Zecora didn't reply. She just kept guiding the ponies through the forest until they made it to the wooden structure. She lead the ponies in slowly. Inside, there was a staircase that looked like it when down forever. Soon they made it to an underground room that was so large, there was no trouble fitting all the ponies from Ponyville inside. "Wow, you never told me about this!" Twilight gasped as she looked around the gigantic room that had been built under the ground - it reminded her of the mirror room where the Horses had been trapped. "They'll never find us here!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she jumped around, still as energetic as ever. "I'm not very fond of the dank feeling down here, but . . ." Rarity carefully trotted around a somewhat muddy area. She sighed, and said, "I guess it could be worse." "So what, are we just supposed to stay down here while those things destroy everything up above?" Rainbow Dash asked angrily. "We can't just let them do that!" "If we hide down here, we'll have time to make a plan," Twilight said back to Rainbow. "We won't be able to do anything if we stay up there and let ourselves get captured again. They shouldn't be able to find us down here." Twilight observed the residents of Ponyville, all of them exploring their new home. "For now, we should worry about getting everybody settled." So for the next two hours, the ponies spent their time setting up bedding areas for themselves. In groups of four, the ponies would go one group at a time to the surface world above and gather sticks and leaves and other things they could use to make a comfortable spot for themselves - two ponies would gather the materials, while the other two stood watch for the Horses. "That scrawny one probably went back to tell their head honcho about us escapin'," Applejack sighed to Big Macintosh as she set the leaves along the ground that she had gathered from above - she was in a group with Macintosh, Snips, and Snails. "As long as we didn't leave anything behind to show em' where we went, we should be fine," Big Macintosh assured his sister. "I sure hope so . . ." Applejack finished the last layer of leaves for her bed, and then went to help Snips and Snails with theirs. The both of them had plenty of leaves, but they were trying to set up some kind of hammock structure. The Cutie Mark Crusaders - Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle - were together in a group, with Rainbow Dash in charge of looking after them. They had finished their bedding a long time ago and were now on the hunt for berries and other things from the forest that were safe for them to eat. They had a written guide from Zecora on which berries were safe and which were dangerous. "We really your mom have to be careful, girls," Rainbow Dash warned them as she lead the three girls through the woods. "We can't be responsible for bringing back berries that make everypony sick. Nurse Redheart is with us, but she doesn't really have her own office right now, so we can't go jeopardizing ponies' lives, alright?" The three fillies saluted her and then looked off Zecora's picture guide before heading out to find berries. They would bring back anything they found to Rainbow Dash to check again to see if they were safe - if they were fine to eat, they put them inside their berry basket; if not, they threw them back into the bushes. Soon, they returned with baskets full of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. "You didn't run into any trouble?" Twilight Sparkle asked Rainbow Dash. "Of course not!" Rainbow Dash said with a smile. Twilight began handing out equal portions of berries to the ponies. "This would taste better in a cupcake . . ." Pinkie sighed before digging into her pile of raspberries. "Wow, even Pinkie's depressed," Applejack said before helping herself to her portion of blackberries. "But I'd sure like to have an apple right now. What do you think them horses are doin' up there?" "I don't know, but I'm worried about the other ponies in Equestria," Twilight Sparkle said. "And I'm worried about Princess Celestia." "Don't worry, dear, I'm sure she's fine," Rarity assured her. "After all, she's a very powerful Pegasus - I'm sure she wouldn't go down without a good fight." "D-Death! It's an emergency!" Death spun around to face the scrawny pony that was limping towards her. He had a panicked look on his face, and his eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty. "What is it, Famine?!" Death snapped - he had caught her in the middle of terrorizing Princess Celestia, who was still speared to the floor and weaker than ever. "The . . . the ponies . . . ! They escaped!" the pony gasped, completely out of breath. "What?!" Death leaped over to Famine, bearing her fangs and snarling from the bottom of her throat. "They somehow got through the bars!" Famine screeched. Death glared at him with her deep red eyes, her gaze stopping him in his tracks. "Impossible! Those bars were supposed to be resistant to magic!" Death hissed. "Well, I-I guess they figured some way out of them . . ." Instead of continuing her intimidating stare at the poorly-fed horse, Death turned around to face Celestia again. "Get a hold of War," Death ordered Famine as she stared into Celestia's frantic eyes. "Tell him to keep going as planned. We're not going to let a few miserable vermin like those ponies get in our way." Famine nodded. "Y-Yes, ma'am. Um . . . should I . . . ?" Death snapped her gaze back at him again. "Well, what are you waiting for?! Go!" "Uh, y-yes, ma'am!" Famine spun around and ran as quickly as he could, leaping out a nearby window that had already been broken earlier and landing on the rooftops of the castle below, leaping across from rooftop to rooftop. Death smiled at Celestia. "It seems as if your little ponies aren't as stupid as they look." "They won't . . . submit to the likes of you . . ." Celestia hissed, her voice frail and weak. "Well, I think all they need is a little push." Death spread her wings out. Suddenly, shadows flew in from all of the windows, turning into ponies that looked just as demonic as Death and the rest of the Apocalypse Horses. Death faced the shadow minions. "Go out and find the rest of those infernal ponies, and make sure none of them escape again!" The shadow minions all floated into the air and flew out of the castle like zooming black clouds, heading in the direction of Ponyville. "That should take care of them," Death sighed. "Now, to take over the rest of this infernal kingdom." Big Macintosh and Applejack walked silently through the forest, trying to find more food for them to scavenge for the next day. It was going to be hard to live off berries - especially for Applejack and the rest of the Apple family, who were so accustomed to eating nothing but apples before. "Ya think Fluttershy is alright?" Applejack asked her brother. " . . . Ayup." Big Macintosh lowered his head to sniff a bush of raspberries. Applejack rolled her eyes before continuing past him. She didn't look back for a moment, but then she heard a loud screech in the air, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. "W-What was that?" she hissed to Big Macintosh, turning around to face him. Suddenly, black shadows whipped out from the forest around her and tied themselves around her hooves from behind, pulling her hard to the ground. "BIG MACINTOSH!" Applejack screamed, but it was too late - the shadows had already dragged her into the depths of the Everfree Forest. Big Macintosh dropped his basket of berries and spun around, breaking into a fast run for the treehouse. But then he stopped, and changed his direction, going down a completely different path. I can't let em' follow me back to our hidin' place, he thought. I gotta sidetrack em' and then get back without bein' seen. Big Macintosh charged through the forest, leaping over tree roots and swerving in different directions as much as he could. He finally stopped for a breath in a small forest clearing, and waited to see if the shadows were still following him. There was no sign of them. And no sign of Applejack either. "I'm sorry, Applejack . . ." Big Macintosh whispered. He turned around and started to trace his steps back to the treehouse.
Chapter [ T W O ] - - - > The Solar Eclipse[ - S k i S M - ] Chapter [ TWO ] - - - > The Solar Eclipse Fluttershy bent her head over the patch of lilies, her pink mane falling off to the side of her face. She sniffed them gently, when suddenly Angel the bunny poked his head out with an angry look on his face. "Oh, I'm sorry . . . !" Fluttershy gasped, backing away from the mad little bunny. "Did I wake you?" The bunny scowled at her and hopped away to find a new napping place. Fluttershy sighed in defeat, and continued her walk through the flower fields. She trotted along a hillside path, and when she reached the top, she saw Twilight Sparkle pacing in circles in the clearing below, a worried look on her face. "Oh, um . . . hello, Twilight Sparkle . . ." she said shyly as she approached the nervous pony. Twilight looked at her. "Oh, it's just you, Fluttershy. Going for a walk?" "Yes, and I noticed you, um, pacing . . ." She began to trace tiny little circles in the dirt with her hoof, staring down at the ground in embarrassment and shyness. "I-Is everything, uh, alright?" "I just have a lot on my mind right now, Fluttershy," Twilight sighed as she finally stopped pacing. "I'm worried about tonight . . ." Fluttershy's face brightened. "Oh yes, there's going to be a solar eclipse tomorrow, right? I can't wait to see it!" she cheered. "Huh, I wish I had the same enthusiasm like you," Twilight snickered. "Fluttershy, can you keep a secret?" She had to get it off her chest somehow, and she knew she could trust Fluttershy of all people. "Um . . . I-I guess . . ." Fluttershy said, returning to her original shyness. Twilight looked around to make sure the coast was clear, and then she leaned in close. Fluttershy leaned in as well. "There are . . ." Twilight reduced her voice to a very low whisper. " . . . demon horses underneath Castle Equestria . . . !" Twilight backed away and stared at Fluttershy to see what her reaction would be. Fluttershy stared back with wide eyes, and then she started to giggle. "I'm serious here, Fluttershy," Twilight grumbled. "I know it seems weird and unbelievable, but I saw them with my own eyes. Celestia took me underneath the castle and showed me the horses - they're trapped inside mirrors!" Fluttershy stopped giggling. "Wait, but . . . if they're trapped in mirrors, then shouldn't it be alright?" Twilight sighed. "I know, that's what Celestia told me, but there was an inscription above the mirrors - it said that on the seventh day, at the seventh hour, when all is covered in darkness, the Horses will be at full power. At least, that's what it meant, I can't really remember how the original passage went. There's a solar eclipse today, right? Which means that when the moon covers the sun, everything will get dark, and that will be when the Horses break free." "I'm sure that Celestia would have a back-up plan, though . . ." "I know, I really shouldn't be telling anyone else this, but I'm worried," Twilight said. "And I'm trusting you to keep this a secret, alright? A secret between me, you, and Princess Celestia; now, we're the only ones that know about the Horses existing underneath the castle." Fluttershy's face turned red. "Oh dear . . . that is a big secret." "Exactly, and you have to keep it." Fluttershy nodded. "I will." Twilight sighed again and looked up at the sun just above the field. "We just have to cross our hooves that the Horses don't break free tonight, Fluttershy. And if they do, we have to stop them." "Rarity, y'all gettin' a little frisky." Rarity pouted at Applejack before handing the roll of streamers to Rainbow Dash, who flew up to adjust them along the roof of her shop. "Darling, you just don't understand how important tonight's ceremony will be," Rarity giggled. "We have to make sure that everything looks perfect." "The moon will be up for five minutes at most," Applejack grumbled. "That's no reason to be gettin' all antsy over how well the town looks." "Please, if I don't do it, the Mayor will make us all do it anyway," Rarity sighed as she checked the streamers off her list of things to do. "Am I done now?" Rainbow Dash growled from above Rarity's shop as she secured the last streamer. "I need to start working on clearing the clouds for the eclipse! It won't do us any good if the clouds are in the way!" Rarity rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine, dear, you're done." "Alright!" Rainbow Dash cheered, and took off like a rocket for the skies above to push the clouds away. Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy came walking into town together. "There you are!" Rarity called out to them when she spotted them. "I need help from the both of you!" "What is it, Rarity?" Twilight asked. "I'm decorating Ponyville for tonight's event, and I need you to help set up the food booths," she ordered, cramming a very quickly-drawn sketch of what she wanted the booths to be set up like around Ponyville. She turned to Fluttershy. "And I want you to hand pamphlets to anypony who doesn't know about tonight!" She used her magic to draw forth a huge pile of pamphlets, dumping them on top of Fluttershy. "This . . . seems like a bit much . . ." Fluttershy whispered as she looked at all the pamphlets surrounding her. "I agree," Twilight Sparkle said. "I mean, I'm pretty sure everybody knows about tonight." "Nonsense, dear, we have to make sure everything goes well," Rarity laughed. Rarity looked over her checklist again. There were so many things she had to do - prepare snack booths for ponies who got hungry while watching, decorating every last building in Ponyville, clearing the skies of any unnecessary clouds, making sure every pony in Equestria knew about the eclipse . . . but she was used to cramming things for big events like these. "We need the food!" Rarity exclaimed. "Where's Pinkie Pie?!" Pinkie Pie burst out from a barrel of apples that Applejack had pulled in earlier. "I'm here, I'm here!" Pinkie Pie laughed. "What are y'all doing in there?!" Applejack exclaimed in surprise. "Pinkie Pie, do you have everything prepared for the refreshments tonight?" Rarity asked worriedly. "Of course!" Pinkie Pie replied with a stern look on her face. "In fact, I'm just waiting for Donut Joe to bring me his new shipment of donuts!" "Wasn't he supposed to bring those in yesterday?" Pinkie Pie stopped to think, and began to scratch her head with her hoof. "Umm . . . I don't know, yesterday, today, it doesn't matter as long as he gets them here on time, does it?" "It does matter!" Rarity shouted, glaring at Pinkie Pie with frantic eyes. "Everything for tonight must be perfect!" Pinkie Pie looked around, and then she saw the stallion with the white outfit and hat coming up over the hill with a cart filled with fresh donuts. "Ooh, ooh, there he is! I see him, I see him!" she cheered. Rarity trotted over gracefully to meet with Donut Joe, Twilight following close behind. Joe looked overtired and stressed. "There you are!" Rarity said, following Joe as he walked towards her shop. "You were supposed to be here yesterday! What took you so long?!" "Well, I probably would have gotten here sooner, if a certain pony hadn't run into me on my way over last night," he growled, eyeballing Twilight Sparkle specifically. "Uh, hehe . . ." Twilight chuckled innocently. "Every single donut in that crate, ruined. I had to bake up a whole new batch overnight. There are seriously a lot of donuts in here." "It's necessary for tonight, dear," Rarity sighed, shaking her head. "And Twilight, what could you have been in such a rush for that you knocked over poor Joe?" Twilight tried to think up the best lie possible. She knew lying was wrong, but she had promised Celestia. "I, uh, had to leave for Canterlot to meet with Celestia for a personal lesson in friendship," Twilight said, off to a good start. "And I had forgotten that I left dinner in the oven, so I rushed home, and I . . . kind of ran into Joe." "Well, it wasn't very friendly of you to do that, now was it?" Rarity snickered. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry . . ." Rarity turned back to Joe. "Well then, now that that's all settled, let's get those donuts to the booths. Twilight here is in charge of setting them up, so you'll be working with her today. She will set up a donut booth for you near Pinkie Pie's candy booth." "Alright, then," Joe sighed. "Come on, Twilight." Twilight nodded, and guided him to the center of the town, where a few booths had already been set up. Pinkie Pie had returned to her own booth, which was set up just outside of her own shop. Twilight brought up the map that Rarity had drawn, and used it to set Donut Joe in his spot. She then spent the next twenty minutes setting up a booth similar to Pinkie Pie's, and helped Joe arrange them on the refrigerated shelves. "I love your booth, Joe!" Pinkie Pie cheered from her booth, where cupcakes of all shapes and sizes were arranged on shelves. Joe gave her a brief smile, and then returned to his donut arranging. Fluttershy went up to a pony dressed in various robes. She set a brochure on the ground and slid it towards him. "Um, come to the solar eclipse tonight . . ." she said. "That is, if you want to . . ." "Young one, it is I!" Fluttershy peered at the face behind the robes. "Zecora?" "You must run, young mare!" Zecora hissed. "They are coming out tonight, looking for hearts that are pure and fair!" "W-What?" "You must get out of here! If they catch you . . . that is the worst to fear!" Fluttershy backed away. "What should I do? Who am I running from?" "The Horses, young one! They will arise when the moon covers the sun!" "The eclipse?" "They are dangerous beings that only know death," Zecora hissed. "They can smell fear coming off a pony's breath." Zecora forcefully pushed Fluttershy around so that she was facing in the other direction. "Run now, pure soul!" she ordered her. "Hurry before the moon brings death's toll!" Fluttershy did as she was told, running back towards Ponyville, away from the forest. Zecora watched as she ran, and then sighed to herself, feeling a bit relieved. If she could protect Fluttershy, then everything would be fine. Because she knew that, when they arrived, Fluttershy would be the first one to be taken by the Horses. When Fluttershy reached Ponyville, she wanted to find anyone she could to ask for help, but then she remembered the promise she made with Twilight. Zecora had mentioned the Horses - the same Horses that Twilight had spoke of just that same morning - and warned her about their arrival, the same warning Twilight had given her. If these were both the same things, she couldn't go running through town asking for help. There was only one person she could talk to, and that was Twilight Sparkle. Fluttershy found her setting up a booth in the center of Ponyville, a piece of paper floating in front of her face. "Twilight!" Fluttershy called her as she came to a quick stop. "What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy stopped to catch her breath, and then whispered, "Remember that, um, thing we talked about this morning?" Twilight looked around, and then leaned in close. "The Horses?" "Zecora . . . she knows!" Fluttershy gasped. "Did you tell her?!" "No, I didn't, she already knew . . . !" Twilight stopped to think, wondering how Zecora could possibly know about something that only she, Fluttershy, and Celestia knew about, which had been hid from everybody in the kingdom. "What did she say?" Twilight asked, leaning in close again. "She said that I should run and hide!" Fluttershy squeaked. Duh, Twilight thought with a heavy sigh. "Anything else?" "Well, um, uh . . ." Fluttershy tried to think back to Zecora's words, but it was hard to remember anything she said because she always spoke in rhymes. "Well, I think she said something about them coming out tonight and looking for ponies that were pure and fair . . . ?" Pure and fair . . . hmm . . . One of the ponies started to call Twilight over to their booth. "Ugh, I have to go take care of this," Twilight growled. "Listen, Fluttershy, just stay alert and don't talk to anybody you don't know, alright?" "Um . . . o-okay . . ." Twilight smiled and then took off for the booth, which was being slowly destroyed. "Derpy, get away from there!" It was later in the day, and everypony in Ponyville had finally finished setting up for the event, which would take place at any minute. Twilight sat with the rest of her friends near Pinkie Pie's candy booth, the six of them watching the sky as the moon rose while the sun remained in its spot. "Gosh, this sure is gonna be great, Twilight!" Applejack exclaimed in excitement. "Yeah . . ." Twilight muttered. She looked up at the rising moon, and swallowed in fear. "Great . . ." "What's wrong, Twilight? You look all down!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "You should be having fun! Here . . ." She grabbed a chocolate cupcake and pushed it towards Twilight. "Have a cupcake! Cupcakes make everypony feel better! They sure do make me feel great when I'm feeling down!" "Thanks, Pinkie, but I'm not really hungry," Twilight Sparkle sighed. "Well, as long as you enjoy the main event, dear, then it will all have been worth it," Rarity told her. I sure hope so. "Yeah! Chin up, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "It'll be no fun if you're all down!" Twilight tried to smile. The fear was still eating away at her, but she reminded herself about what Celestia said. They were trapped in those mirrors and they weren't going to get out anytime soon. She could trust Celestia. Trying to relax herself, Twilight let out a sigh, and stared up at the sky with her friends, waiting for Luna's moon to meet with Celestia's sun. Pestilence paced back and forth within the mirrors, waiting for the moon to finish rising. "She's taking too long . . . !" he growled. "Patience, Pestilence," War said from his mirror as he stared straight ahead. "Shut up!" Pestilence snapped back. "I don't see how you can all just sit there pretending to be asleep!" "It is because you lack patience." "It's because I actually want to do stuff!" "Can you two please quiet down?" Famine asked as he clutched his belly, his voice frail and shaky. "I'm not in the mood for your bantering today . . ." "Nobody cares about you, Famine," Pestilence sneered. "You're too hard-headed, Pestilence," War muttered. "One must have patience if they are to be rewarded." Pestilence bashed his head into the mirror. "I wish the stupid Princess would just bring up that stupid moon! Death! Wake up, would you?!" He turned his gaze to the mare who remained asleep in her own mirror. "I have no time to be dealing with a dog," Death hissed, her voice sharp and cold like ice. "Oooh, a little frisky today, are we?" Pestilence laughed. "That's fine with me, Death. I can take it. Throw your best insults at me." Death glared at him, her red eyes piercing through his very soul. "As War has already said, we must be patient. Any moment now, we will be free," Death said. "Hrm, whatever," Pestilence sighed as he fell back to sit on the floor beyond his mirror. Death closed her eyes again, drifting off into her own personal slumber. And from outside of the castle, the moon rose, pulling in front of the sun, its rays glowing out from behind it like a blocked-off flashlight. A shadow was cast from the blocking of the sun, traveling far across Equestria like a veil, until it reached the castle sitting on the cliff of Canterlot. In a split second, Death snapped her demonic eyes open, her mare head turning into a dirtied skull with black flames emanating around it, and she released a shriek so loud that the mirrors they were contained in shattered into tiny pieces. Death stepped out, and turned her empty, skull eyes to her companions. "Now, we attack," she hissed. War nodded, Famine got to his feet, and Pestilence let out a crazy laugh. Death spread her torn black wings, black fire growing around her sharp hooves, and she zoomed out of the castle basement like a rocket, speeding through to the throne room and blasting her way through the door that had kept the room a secret for so long. The others followed her, Pestilence, War, and Famine running below her as she flew up in the sky above. The guards at the castle prepared themselves, unaware of what the ponies were but determined to stop them anyway. They charged at them, their armor ready to hit the three ponies that were on the ground, but they disappeared into clouds of shadows, reappearing behind them and striking them down to the ground. War brought forth a spear with his magic, the weapon floating around him, and launched it straight for the guards, just hitting the wall behind them between the two of them. "That was a warning," War snickered. Just as they were about to leave the castle, Princess Celestia showed up. "Ah, Princess, how nice to see you!" Death laughed as her skull was covered in a sleek black coat again, her red eyes reappearing and the black flames returning to their original form as her long mane. "Impossible . . . !" Celestia gasped as she backed away from the demon horse. Death tilted her head in Pestilence's direction. Having immediately understood, Pestilence leaped forward and tackled one of the guard's standing by the Princess to the ground, laughing at them with wild, insane eyes. War took care of the other guard with his spear, launching the weapon at him and striking him down. Celestia looked around, panicking as she realized all her guards were now dead. Death went in close to Celestia, a smile on her face, fangs growing in place of regular teeth. "My my, Celestia, you sure do like to save yourself when the going gets tough, don't you?" Death laughed. "I don't know why I didn't kill you years ago." Celestia scowled at the demon horse. "You're getting ahead of yourself, Death. I will not allow you to leave this castle!" A dark purple-black shadow flew in from one of the open windows of the castle. It landed next to Celestia, and soon revealed her sister, Luna. "You called, sister?" Luna obeyed. She observed the horses standing before her. "We must take care of a certain infestation," Celestia hissed. "It's been years, Death," Luna greeted the horse. "As for the rest of you, War, Pestilence, and Famine." "Aw, you remember me," Pestilence laughed. "I'm so flattered." "I see your attitude hasn't changed," Luna growled. "What is it that you want?" "What else?" Pestilence sneered. "To purge this land of all that is evil, of course." "You're merely speaking of yourself," Celestia snapped. "No, we are speaking of everything else that is impure," War said in his deep voice as he stepped forward, spear floating above him. "We are the only pure ones - this world has been tainted, so we are here to dispose of the garbage that is ruining it." "I won't allow you to touch my kingdom!" Celestia yelled. "Well then," Death sighed as she began to ready herself to charge again, dragging her front hoof against the ground, "I guess we'll just have to force our way through." She took off again, flying throughout the room so quickly that it was hard for Celestia to keep track of where she was. While Celestia was distracted, Famine reared up to Luna and took her down. Before Celestia could go to the aid of her sister, Death zoomed in, striking Celestia hard to ground, pinning her down under herself. "You're not going anywhere, my dear Princess," Death laughed. She turned her gaze to the armored horse behind her. "War! You know what to do." War nodded and stepped forward with his weapons; he had somehow gotten his hooves on a second spear. He raised them both, Celestia staring at them with wide, terrified eyes, and he brought them down on her. Celestia screamed out in pain, and saw how War had planted the spears right through her wings, so that she would stay pinned down to the floor. Death rose back up from the Princess and stepped away. "Hurts, doesn't it?" Death snickered. "Now you just stay there like a good Princess." She nudged her head in the direction of the door. "Let's go, you three. We've got a bit of business to attend to." The other three horses trotted behind her, Pestilence slowing down to lower his head to Celestia's. He had a very stern look on his face as he began to speak to her. ". . . You think you know pain?" he growled. "Please . . . you don't know the meaning of the word . . ." Then he continued on to follow the rest of the horses. Twilight watched the ring of light burst out from behind the black circle that was the moon. "It's amazing . . ." Twilight gasped. "It's so dark out!" Pinkie Pie giggled as she clapped her hooves excitedly. Twilight looked around at her friends and the other ponies who had gathered to watch the event. It was supposed to last for about ten minutes, but it had already been nearly a half-hour, and the moon was still over the sun. What's going on? It's not supposed to be this long . . . Twilight thought worriedly to herself. Suddenly, a crash from close by could be heard. Twilight spun around to hear the shingles off the rooftops being destroyed, but she couldn't see a single thing; she could only hear the faint sound of hooves leaping across the rooftops. She heard one last crash, and then nothing. Twilight looked back up at the moon, and saw the bodies of horses leaping across the view of the moon, only seen briefly as they passed through the border of the sun and then disappearing again. "That was . . ." Twilight gasped. There was a loud crash, and suddenly four demonic horses ran in, their leader flying with torn black wings. "Take them all!" the mare screamed, the other three charging off on her command and attacking all the ponies around them. "No, it can't be!" Twilight hissed. She prepared her magic, and charged for the mare. "Oh my, we have a hero in our midst!" the mare laughed. Suddenly, Twilight was blown off her feet as the mare had pushed her away with some sort of shockwave. Twilight landed several feet away. "Capture them, now," the mare sneered. The three horses began to take down every pony in Ponyville, tying them up with chains and pushing them all together into one area. The leading mare flew a few feet into the air, everypony's attention on her. "Listen up, you disgusting creatures!" she roared. "I am Death, and I am here to dispose of you all for you have tainted this land with impurity and filth!" Death . . . I knew it, she's the same one from inside the mirrors . . . Twilight thought as she backed away. "What are you talking about!?" Twilight yelled. "It looks to me like you're the only ones destroying Equestria!" Death glared at Twilight, but was sidetracked when she saw Fluttershy trying to sneak away. "Pestilence! Grab her. She is essential in all of this," Death commanded the mangy horse who was smiling insanely at every single one of them. Pestilence let out a laugh and charged for Fluttershy, tackling her to the ground and holding her down. "P-Please, let me go . . . !" Fluttershy screamed. "Sorry, little miss, but you heard the boss," Pestilence snickered at her. Death launched forward her own chains, tying up the rest of the ponies, including Twilight Sparkle and her friends. "Let us go!" Applejack yelled. "I'm afraid we can't do that," Death sighed. "Where are you taking us?!" Rainbow Dash chimed in. "Oooh, you'll find out soon enough," Pestilence snickered as he reared his head up from behind Rainbow Dash, a wide, toothy smile on his face. He had sharp fangs that could only be seen when he smiled. Death's unicorn horn lit up with a black aura, and suddenly black bars grew up from underneath each set of ponies, growing a metal plate over top afterwards to create a cage. Death lowered herself to her feet. "We won't let you get away with this!" Twilight growled. "Princess Celestia will help us!" "Oh, I forgot to mention that," Death snickered as she approached the unicorn trapped in the cage. "Where do you think we came from? We were underneath the castle, remember?" Applejack glared at Twilight from her own cage. "What the?! You mean you knew all about this the entire time, Twilight?! How could you not tell us?!" "I'm sorry . . ." Twilight whispered. "Celestia made me promise . . ." "Hmm, and now your dear Celestia is just another bug that I've squashed," Death giggled. "No . . . !" Death returned to the three other stallions. "War, you and I will be securing the other areas," Death ordered. "Famine, you keep watch over the garbage.." She turned to Pestilence, who had pinned down Fluttershy again. "Pestilence, you know what to do with her." Pestilence gave her an army salute. "Yes, ma'am!" He forced the mare to her hooves and began to nudge her in another direction, away from the town. "Where are you taking her!?" Twilight demanded. Death shot a cruel, soul-shattering glare at Twilight Sparkle. "Hopefully, if you keep a hold on your tongue, you will live long enough to see."
