The Fall of Harmony

"Spike! Wake up!" called Twilight. Why must he ALWAYS sleep so late in the morning?

Startled by the shouting, Spike scrambled out of bed, looked around the room and braced himself for an attack. "Huh? Oh." he groaned, rubbing his eyes. Twilight had been focused on some specific magic books a lot lately, and Spike had many more library duties to perform. It meant early mornings and longer evenings, but he didn't care. Twilight's 'Number one assistant' could do anything asked of him!

Twilight started a usual breakfast for the both of them - hay fries, coffee, and apples. When she finished cooking, after levitating the food to the table effortlessly, she sat down and awaited her baby dragon friend.

"Looks great!" he said, picking up and swallowing an apple whole.

Twilight usually would have been amused with Spike's enthusiasm over something as simple as breakfast, but today she just stared out of the window and ate her food. Spike didn't notice, inhaling everything he could at the fastest rate possible.

"So, what's my job today?" asked Spike, smiling.

"Just alphabetize the books, then you can take the rest of the day off." she replied, while still looking out the window, deep in thought.

"Hmm." thought Spike. He brushed it off though, it wasn't the first time Twilight had been thinking about things - he couldn't blame her anyways, with all the books she reads, she has to eventually find something interesting. Spike got up from the table and into the main library and went about his alphabetical ordeals.

After finishing her coffee, Twilight went outside on the balcony for a few minutes, just staring into the sky. She narrowed her eyes in thought, with a frown that made her seem almost determined of something - but what? She crossed her hooves on the railings and stood there for quite awhile. She had grown more distant lately, no time for friends, or anyone actually. Always indulged in learning some new spell.

Spike had been organizing books for awhile when he eventually saw Twilight out of the railing. He put down his stack and walked outside. "Is there something wrong?" he asked, with obvious concern.

She sighed in response. He won't understand. He can't understand. He's just a child. She walked towards Spike and put a hoof on his shoulder than knelt down to speak to him on his level. Spike's eyes widened, with indescribable levels of worry and confusion written all over him.

"I have to leave for Canterlot today, Spike. I will be back as soon as I can." she reassured.

He replied "Oh! Are you worried about some meeting with Princess Celestia? I don't remember any letters, I'll come along as well and-"

"No. You aren't coming with me. This is something I have to do by myself." interrupted Twilight.

Spike looked her in the eyes. She was calm. She was grave. He didn't understand what was going on at all, Twilight never leaves for Canterlot without a note from the Princess or chocolate rain falling down or something. This gave Spike all the more curiosity, all the more need to tag along with her. He shot her an angry glance. "Yes I am." he said, as if daring Twilight to do anything about it.

Her calm expression turned into confusion. She hadn't expected him to want to come so badly. I guess it doesn't really matter all that much. He will know what had happened by tomorrow anyways, so why not bring him. Ugh. This is a terrible idea. Why am I doing this? God damn it Spike, can't you ever just listen?

Spike kept his stare up. Twilight had lost. "Fine. You're staying out of the way, and you don't speak unless spoken to." she answered, finally.

He lit up and hugged Twilight. It had been quite awhile since he had been to Canterlot, and it would be a good chance to do some sightseeing.

Startled by the embrace, Twilight returned it with a lot more force than Spike did. She wrapped both hooves around him tightly, a lone tear slipping down her face. She blinked away the rest, Spike didn't notice it though. He was too busy thinking about buying some donuts in Canterlot. They eventually broke the hug, and Twilight turned away back towards the balcony, looking onward at the capitol city.

"Pack your things, Spike. It's going to be a long walk." she said.

He didn't hesitate. He quickly grabbed his backpack and filled it with a few odd objects, including a spyglass - why in Equestria did he have a spyglass? He continued filling it and then zipped it up, in what seemed like only a few seconds to Twilight. She giggled a bit, shook her head and went inside, collecting her own things.

Her saddlebags included apples, a few blank scrolls, and a book titled "The Alicorn - All you need to know!" After closing her bags, she and Spike left the library and began the long walk to Canterlot.

They didn't get far.

Rainbow Dash flew in front of them, seemingly out of nowhere. She was panting, obviously she had been practicing a few stunts or something. Twilight, annoyed at her, shot Rainbow an angry glance.

"Thanks, Dash, I forgot that today we had to stand in the middle of the road. We can always count on you to remind us can't we, though?" she hissed.

Rainbow, amused by the angry purple mare, burst out laughing and fell onto the ground. She put one hoof over her chest, the other pointed at the purple duo. "What are you so busy with, Twi?" said Rainbow, unable to contain her chuckling.

Twilight ignored the question and continued on, walking past her. Rainbow's smile flipped into a frown, she hated being ignored. She flew up next to beside them and looked Twilight in the eyes, somehow flying backwards to compensate for her walking. "Hey! What's your problem today, Twi?" she asked.

"Don't you have practicing to do? I heard the Wonderbolts need a new member soon." she lied.

"What! Well in that case, see ya later alligator! C'mon tank!" shouted Rainbow, slowly followed by her helicopter tortoise. She went about doing various flips in the sky, saying inaudible things to her pet.

Her and Spike continued on in silence for a few minutes. She usually would have loved to chat with Dash. Spike brushed it off for a bit until his curiosity got the best of him - as usual.

"What was that?" asked Spike, breaking the silence.

She sighed. "Don't worry about it."

They quickly reached the outskirts of town. Twilight let out a slight grin. Finally. No more ponies to come up and talk for no reason whatsoever. "So, Spike, do you have anything to do on our way to Canter-"

"HI GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Pinkie Pie.

Of course.

Pinkie was closely followed by Fluttershy, was attempting to hide behind her mane. It wasn't working so well.

Twilight jumped at the unexpected yelling. Pinkie had just come up out of nowhere, and now they all were stopped in the middle of the road. She should have known - It was impossible to get out of town without something like this in her way. She let out a long groan and looked at both of them, waiting for one to say something.

"I just wanted to say you're invited to my Pinkie's Ponyville Party Extravaganza Party! It's going to be great, we'll have candy, and balloons, and streamers, and candy, and games, and candy, and candy, and-"

"We have to go to Canterlot." said Twilight, oddly amused at the pink pony's ability to come up with an excuse for a party, at any time she ever wanted. She started walking again, followed by a bouncing Pinkie and hovering Fluttershy.

"Oh.. Well.. That's okay.. I mean.. You didn't have to come.. Have fun in Canterlot.. If you want to..." whispered Fluttershy.

"I have royal duties to attend to. Now if you please excuse me-"

"OOH! Can we come with you!? Is Discord out?! Is it going to rain chocolate milk again!? Is it.. NIGHTMARE MOON!?" interrupted Pinkie, shouting ideas out at random.

Twilight growled. "UGH!" she screamed, and her horn started to glow. She took aim at Fluttershy and the pink party pony, and in a flash they were gone - Twilight had teleported them far away so she wouldn't be annoyed.

Spike gasped. He had never seen or expected her to use forceful magic on anypony, and she got angry while talking to friends very quickly. Something was very, very wrong. "Maybe it's just a stressful meeting with the Princess?" he thought. He didn't say anything to Twilight about it though, he was content with staying silent. The last thing he wanted was to pop back into the library and not continue on with her.

"Hopefully we can make it to the palace without anymore interruptions..." she groaned, skeptical of the fact that they could actually make it to their destination without meddlesome ponies. They hadn't the clue how important this was.

It was just after noon when Twilight and Spike arrived in Canterlot. She took a huge breath of air and sat down to rest for a minute, the dragon climbing off her back. Twilight looked at the palace once again. They had made it, and the baby dragon was still completely oblivious as to why they were here.

"So. What now?" asked Spike.

"I have to have a word with the Princess." replied Twilight.

"What? You came all the way here just to have a chat? I could have sent her a letter just fine!" he shouted.

"It's different this time." she said.

Twilight's face turned from lost in thought to angry and serious. She levitated Spike on her back and went off towards the palace in a gallop. He was stunned. Unsure if he did anything or not, he refused to say a word. Twilight's sudden change of emotion had left him more worried than ever before, and the last thing he needed to do was agitate her about it.

Twilight made it to the door of the palace, sweating and panting. Her eyes were narrow, she was angry. Nothing could deter her from what she came to do...

Except the guards at the door. In unison, they moved their wings to block the door. "Halt!" one screamed. "Princess Luna expected you to be here. We were instructed to keep you off the premises. Leave now."

Twilight's horn began to move. She did not falter, her harsh gaze didn't lighten up as she looked at the guard who spoke to her.

"Move." she said.

"Are you mad you disrespectful twat? You speak to the royal guard like that!? What's stopping me from arresting you right now?..." he replied.

"Move." repeated Twilight, her horn's aura growing with intensity. Spike got off Twilight's back as he felt the surge of energy flow through his body. What is Twilight doing? She's the personal apprentice of Celestia, she could of easily just asked the guard to let her in? What the hell is going on?

The other guard stepped in. "That's it kid, you either go away or you're coming with us. I suggest turning around right now, the princess hasn't a care in the world about your problems."

Twilight stepped forward. "I'm going in now. Do something about it." she dared.

The first guard broke formation in anger, he charged Twilight.

"Moron." said Twilight as she discharged the energy around her horn into one lightning bolt focused at the forehead of her assailant. It was a direct hit. He stopped dead in his tracks, and fell before Twilight. Spike, and the other guard, looked on in horror at the sight.

He wasn't breathing. He wasn't moving. There was no heartbeat. She killed the guard.

Twilight killed the guard.

Twilight killed him.

Twilight killed him.

The second guard fell to the ground, crying. Spike was in shock. Twilight doesn't kill ponies. This is impossible. This is a dream. It had to be. How could this be possible? What did Spike miss? What was Twilight doing?

It wasn't a dream.

"Leave. Now." growled Twilight, now looking at the other guard. She ground her hoof into the pavement, as if she was ready to charge straight at the other guard. She didn't have the chance. He flew off as fast as he could, without a second thought. She opened the palace doors, Spike followed slowly.

This is treason.

"I didn't expect them to hold you back much. It's a shame I have to deal with Tia's star pupil myself though. You were nice while things lasted." said Princess Luna, chuckling to herself.

"You're disgusting." replied Twilight. Her eyes were now burning white, as they would be if she was using the elements of harmony. She shot a bolt of lightning at Luna, it was useless though. Luna teleported directly in front of Twilight, scaring her. Twilight backed up in astonishment and fear.

"Am I?" asked Luna. "I'm not the one who just killed a helpless guard who you could have simply walked around without him ever being able to hurt you." Luna grinned and narrowed her eyes.

"Where's Celestia?" asked Twilight.

"Please. As if Tia would of actually helped you with this attempt. You're nothing compared to me. Now leave. Maybe you won't find yourself on the moon for killing that guard if you stop annoying me." replied Luna.

"Step down you hag, or I'll kill you here and now. Would be pathetic to see an immortal die like this." hissed Twilight, with a small grin growing on her face.

"HA! HOW ARROGANT CAN THOU BE? WE HATH THE ABILITY TO MOVE THY MOON, YOU ART NOTHING COMPARED TO US! YOU ART JUST A SIMPLE UNICORN! BEGONE WITH YOU!" exclaimed Luna.

"You act as if raising the moon is hard to do." she replied.

Luna's eyes widened. That was not at all the response she expected. "What? You think you can do it?" she asked.

Twilight laughed. "I'll do it right now. In the middle of the day."

"Impossible!" claimed Luna. "The moon and sun can only transition at dusk and dawn!"

Twilight braced her fore hooves on the ground and closed her eyes in deep focus. Her horn lit up in a dark purple colour, almost black. In the corner of Luna's eye, she saw the sun lowering slowly outside of the window.

"No..." she whispered to herself, her head turned towards the window.

Before she had any time to react, the moon was centered in the sky and the sun had gone out of view. This can't happen. It's the dark of night in the afternoon! No pony had the power to do this. Luna backed up slowly, tripped, and fell on her knees. This was impossible. She had horribly underestimated her new found opponent.

"You amuse me." said Twilight, chuckling.

Luna got up, and began forming her own aura around her horn, hers of blue. She met Twilight's angry gaze, and her eyes went to an equal blinding white. They squared off in silence, until it was broken by Twilight, who was following and charging her red aura.

"Really?" said Twilight.

"It's not like you could actually win. This is a death wish, Miss Sparkle, you should leave while you still have the chance." said Luna, challenging Twilight.

Twilight was first to break the formation, she teleported behind Luna and let loose a red fireball.

Luna gasped, and an ethereal blue shield caught the flame just in time. She faced Twilight and retaliated, powerful gusts of wind formed on the side of Twilight knocking her over. Luna took aim and shot a blue bolt of lightning at Twilight while she was down.

It missed her vitals and hit her right fore hoof. Twilight screamed in agony, her hoof severely burned. She got up as fast as she could and braced herself for the advancing alicorn. This isn't going as planned. Luna seems to have some experience with this, I see..

Luna paused for a moment, then fired a line of blue energy at Twilight, only to be met with her advancing red line. They began squaring off once again, this time fighting to gain control over a fight of focused magical energy. The spot where the red and blue rays collided moved back and forth towards Twilight and Luna as they each put more and more effort into the spell.

They both broke it at the same time, panting and sweating. The dangerous invisible energy they had been using was now trapped inside the throne room, unable to escape or discharge. Twilight and Luna's eyes were still glowing.

"I know what you intend to do, I can't let you do it." said Luna, still breathing heavily.

"You understand nothing." replied Twilight.

"More than you. You can't stop me from this, filly." as Luna spoke, her horn engulfed in white flames as she charged Twilight, who only had the time to put up a red shield around her as Luna's horn collided with Twilight's. All the energy trapped in the room suddenly focused onto Luna and exploded in pure white burning electric discharge.

And then it happened.

"Oh... I think Twilight might have been angry..." said Fluttershy, who had just spontaneously appeared at Sugarcube Corner a few seconds earlier.

"Oh well! We still have to prepare for the party! Will you help me with the balloons?!" asked Pinkie, seemingly forgetting that she had just been forcefully teleported away by one of her best friends.

"Okay then." said Fluttershy.

Everypony arrived on time for the party. It was just after noon, and most of the guests were wondering why it was dark outside. Unusual, but they didn't panic. More unusual things have happened than a premature night.

"Ah wonder if one of tah princess' got a cold or somethin', probably sneezin' the sun up 'n' down ah think." stated Applejack, mesmerized by the night sky.

"Maybe they're playing tricks on us. Hmmph. The clothes I was hanging will never dry now, it's quite a shame really." added Rarity.

Rainbow Dash charged into the room angrily. "Where the hell is Twi?" she asked.

"Oh.. Um.. She had to go to.. Canterlot.. Yeah that was it..." answered Fluttershy.

"She sent me on a wild chase all day through Cloudsdale. She told me the Wonderbolts were looking for a new team mate! Why would Twilight lie like that? Does she know how important the Wonderbolts are to me!?" screamed Dash, well over the volume of the music playing.

"That does sound ah bit odd of Twi right there, did she tell ya why she was goin' to the city, Fluttershy?" asked Applejack.

"No she didn't... I'm sorry... Was I supposed to ask?" said Fluttershy.

Applejack began to reply. "Hmm. Twilight's been actin' all strange lately around me too, did you know the other day she-"

She was cut off by a deafening explosion in the distance, everypony ran outside in panic to see the Canterlot palace erect with huge bolts of lightning. They gasped and looked on in horror.

Just as they thought the worst was over, they all saw it.

The palace rooftop crumbled around Luna and Twilight, who still had their horns locked. From the point where they touched, a super-massive beam of white light shot straight upwards into the sky, illuminating all of Equestria, if you hadn't been here a few minutes ago, It would have been impossible to tell that it was night time.

The tower of light grew in circumference until it was as wide as the entire palace itself. Spike was knocked unconscious by the explosion. The sun returned to its usual position almost instantly, and the tower of light faded.

Something was wrong. A black aura engulfed Canterlot, and a section of the mountain it stood on. There is only one thing that can cause such a powerful display of concentrated magic. Only one, possible thing, one terrible thing, which would permanently change the fate of Equestria from now until.

Everypony who knew even the least about magic knew what that was. Applejack's heart sank as she looked on in horror at the scene. The other four were in disbelief, unable to accept what they just saw happen. What they knew just happened, and what it meant for Twilight.

An element of harmony had been destroyed.