The Dark Army Rises

by joe mother

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Dark
Length: 6417

Conspiracies and lies prevent the truth from appearing as a war is waged on Equestria's borders.

A threat has been made against Equestria, and the ponies are out to stop it. But while there, the chances of survival fall. While the fight goes on, two truths are hidden from prying eyes. A conspiracy and a hidden fact about a life. They must survive and learn the secrets hidden inside both a friend and in two ponies who are coming close to controling the land. If they are not discovered, then the truth will not be revealed, and the land will be cast into eternal death and plague.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-17 18:31:25 UTC

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: The Dark Army

    The secretary galloped down the dimly-lit hallway as fast as her hooves could carry her. She stumbled and fell. She picked herself up and began to gallop faster. The ponies in charge had to know the information she carried.

She turned right and went down a hall that led to door labeled ‘Conference Room’, and had a keycard lock on the right side. She ran to the door, running into it. She pulled out a keycard. She reached to put it in, struggling as she always had because she was left-hoofed. She managed to slide the keycard in after a few seconds. She waited for the keycard to register. It did. She shoved it opened and the entire conference quieted.

“Yes?” Thunderstorm asked. “I have some important news,” the secretary replied. “What is it, Pollen?” “We got contact from EOH squad a few minutes ago, sir. I have the recording here.” She pulled out a tape recorder. “This has the words from EOH, but the beginning is cut off. I couldn’t tell if it was important because it was all garbled, but the part you must know is recorded. Here goes.”

She pressed the play button and the squad’s leader, Rainbow Dash, did her report. “We are in hiding, we need help immediately. We are under some some building ruins in Canterlot.

“Twilight believes it’s the Dark Army, and from what I’ve heard, that is the most likely answer. They sprang up near Fillydelphia when we were investigating the borders for sign of invasion. They seem to be unstoppable. We are trying to fight them, to hurt them, but they seem to be invincible. Repeat from earlier, help immediately. Rainbow Dash out.”

The secretary it put away. Thunderstorm and the other ponies in the conference room were sitting silently for a few moments, then burst into conversation, debating the truth of the report. But amidst all this chaos, one pony sat calmly. After a few minutes of debating from the other ponies, he spoke.

“We should take this calmly,” he said. Everypony in the room quieted. He continued. “Now, we know that the Dark Army are from old pony tales, and that they come from the land of Disbalance. So, first question: What do they want? Question answered. Pony tale says they want to thrust all of the world into chaos. So, there’s what they want to do. Question two: What are their weaknesses? Since we have no information on them, we do not know. Now, the big question, Question three: Can we defeat them?”

“Well my good stallion, Feelgood!” Resteasy said. “You certainly know how to take grave danger very well!” “Yes,” Feelgood replied. “Because we have the EOH squad to investigate for us. They can fight until they’ve tested every square inch of the Dark Army.”

“Wait,” Resteasy began. “You’re leaving our top soldiers out there to investigate and possibly die?” “They are helping us take down the Dark Army, but their death is not out of question.” “Well, I guess,” Resteasy replied. Thunderstorm spoke up. “So, all in favor of this plan raise your hoof.” All the ponies in the room raised a hoof.

“So that’s settled then. EOH squad is staying until further notice. Pollen, go report to them. Now leave.” Pollen left the room.

Her head swam with thoughts. She wished that the squad didn’t have to stay. They had already had a hard enough time running, now they had to face them head on. She walked into her office to report. She sat down and began to cry. She cried because she knew all of the squad and was friends with all of them and that the chances of them surviving were very slim. She pressed the button to contact them.

Chapter 2

All right, sorry about the random Chapter 1 repeating itself... IDK what happened. no paragraphs, srry... And i'm talking text speak. Great.

Chapter 2: A Lie Inside

Rainbow Dash was huddled in the corner of the ruins with her friends, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. The Dark Army was gone from their line of sight, but they didn’t dare to go out if case they were still there. “What will we do?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know. I called for help, but I don’t know if they’ll be able to get past the Dark Army,” Rainbow Dash replied. She took out her earpiece and looked at the signal light. It was still green. She sighed with relief. A reply could be possible. She blamed Princess Celestia for the problem. She was the one who dropped them out near the borders of Equestria to find this mysterious threat. ‘What a mysterious threat,’ she thought. She knew that the chances of them surviving were incredibly small, and that there was something she needed to tell her friends that might make them change their opinions of her. She stopped that thought. She would tell them when the time was right. She looked around at her friends. Twilight sat staring out into space in the left corner of the dilapidated room. Rarity was fussing over her hair in the right. Applejack was pacing anxiously. Pinkie Pie was, of course, very cheerful looking. Fluttershy was curled into a ball in the middle of the room, jumping at the slightest noise. Rainbow Dash sighed. She felt just like Fluttershy. But she was different. She wanted to curl up in a ball and panic, but her mind was not a weak one. Her mind was centered on physical capability, and curling into a ball was not very physically inclined, so her mind prevented her from doing so. She had to remain strong for her friends, even if she hid a truth from them.She looked to her friends. She had to pony up. She had to tell them, in case they never made it out. “You guys,” she began. “There’s something I have to tell you, something only I know, and have never told a pony.” “What?” Applejack asked. Right as Rainbow began to speak, the earpiece turned on. She pressed the loudspeaker button. A voice came out. ‘Pollen,’ Rainbow thought. ‘That’s her name.’ Pollen began to speak, sounding choked. “Your- your plea for help has- has been struck d- down,” she said. “WHAT!?” Rainbow Dash yelled angrily. “I- it was the council’s de- decision. I- I’m sorry. I tried to- to tell them. It was Feelgood’s idea.” “Why, if I ever get my hooves on his sorry throat!” Rainbow yelled. “Rainbow,” Twilight began. “You must calm down. We must stay calm or we’ll do things we’ll regret later. Now, Pollen, what was their decision for us if we can’t go back?” “Y- You must f- face the Dark Army and f- find their weak spots. Feelgood made that decision; came up with the idea and everything. I hate him for what he’s done.” “Well, Pollen, I’ve got something for you to do,” Rainbow Dash said. “You can murder Feelgood for us because he just sentenced us to an early death. Choosing our fate for us, what a flank!” “Rainbow!” Applejack said. “Why would you even put a thought such as murder in your brain? You should be ashamed!” “No,” Rainbow said. “You don’t know me for me.” Everypony stared at her when she spoke this. “Now,” Pollen’s voice entered in the trance. “You need to do this or the council will make sure you do. Go, before they do.” Rainbow Dash picked up the headpiece, threw it to the ground, and crushed it under her hoof. She scattered the small pieces throughout the room. All of her friends were acting as if what she just did didn’t happen. She stared at them, feeling a feeling she hadn’t felt so much of since that stupid braggart of an equine named Trixie came to town. It was anger. She remembered her early life with her parents. She had been so happy. Then the day came. She remembered how angry and sad she had been. That was the day she became tougher, and hid the sadness she felt from others. She was angry now at her friends. She did not know why, but she was just so angry. She bit her tongue. After a minute of this, she sat down and the anger passed. Her eyes began to water. She blinked back the tears. She couldn’t cry. Not now. “Rainbow, are you all right?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Yes, I’m fine,” she managed to choke out. She heard her friends whispering as she fought back the sudden tears. “What do you think is going on?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know. “Do you reckon it has to do with that thing she was going to tell us?” she heard Applejack ask. “Yeah, I don’t think she ever got to tell us,” Pinkie Pie said. After a few more exchanges, a voice broke in Rainbow’s fight. “Rainbow, what were you going to tell us earlier?” Twilight asked. “It doesn’t matter anymore,” Rainbow Dash replied. “But,” Twilight began. “It doesn’t matter,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. She walked to the corner of the room and sat down there. “Well, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack began. “If you’re going to not tell us, then we should go and go do what we were told to do.” “Fine,” Rainbow Dash replied. She grabbed her flight goggles and slipped them on. “Let’s go,” she said.

Chapter 3

Once again, no paragraphs. Did not have time to make paragraphs.

Chapter 3:  Dark Secrets

            Pollen sat at her desk, crying. She remembered Rainbow Dash’s words very clearly. “You can murder Feelgood for us,” was what she had said, and it was a side of Rainbow Dash she had never seen before. She turned to a picture that had her and Rainbow Dash together by a bridge. It was the first time they had met, and she remembered when she searched Rainbow’s bag. In the bag, she had found a picture that made her very suspicious. It was a picture of rainbows. She had quickly placed it back in, unsure if this was what she thought it was. She had quickly batted the thought away, though. She needed to look normal, and looking suspicious was not a good way to keep her a friend. After years away from each other, the thought resurfaced, and the sudden reappearance of her and her friends was unexpected, and she quickly banished the thought again. Then this order made her remember the thought once more. The only place that the photo could represent was a place she did not even want to think was connected with Rainbow Dash. The thought was now more prominent then ever now that Rainbow Dash said that her friends didn’t know her for who she really was. That was a statement that led straight to the photograph. She blinked away tears and thought back to Rainbow Dash’s murder statement. She knew that Feelgood had done a terrible evil to the friends, but she didn’t think it was worth killing him. She did think he deserved some kind of punishment, but what kind she could imagine. There was not a punishment fit for crime that existed, which was very good for Feelgood. She could almost swear that he said that because he knew that a punishment fitting such a crime didn’t exist. She felt so angry, but not angry enough to kill him. As she sat and thought, a pony approached her from behind silently. As he walked, Pollen began to turn in her chair. The pony darted forward quickly. Pollen turned around and saw the pony approach. She was about to scream when the pony’s hoof clamped over her mouth and a needle was inserted into her left foreleg. Her eyes closed.

*****

            Pollen awoke strapped to a table. She gasped. She hoped that this wasn’t some kind of experiment. A door that she couldn’t see opened, and Resteasy and Feelgood came in. She blinked at the sudden turn of events. She was kidnapped by a dark-colored pony, then brought to a dark room and strapped to a table. Then, Resteasy and Feelgood walk in. She couldn’t understand what was going on. Then Resteasy spoke. “You’re looking very strapping, Pollen.” Pollen ground her teeth at the terrible pun. She knew that Resteasy was always bad at jokes and such, but this was a new low. “I’m sorry, Resteasy,” Feelgood said. “But you’re going to have to save the jokes for a pony with a better sense of humor. So, I’m sure you’re wondering what is going on here, right? Of course you are! Anypony would! You’re here because you know too much. Of what you’re probably asking yourself. Well, you see, you know the squad too closely, and you could not tell them their orders. We need them dead. We were the ones who summoned the Dark Army. Our combined magic was enough to complete the spell. We knew that they would be called upon if a threat was made, and they were. So here we are. Our conspiracy plan and our superior intellect will overpower everypony in our way. We will make sure you do not ruin our glorious plan. Bring the equipment. Resteasy walked into the darkness and came out holding a sharp blade. Pollen gulped. “We can’t afford a screaming torture victim, so, we kill you quickly. We’d love to torture you, but, of course, we can’t have you screaming.” Resteasy flicked the blade up quickly. He brought it down.  She was aware for a split second of her pain, than her eyes closed.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4: What They Need to Know

Spike was in the library organizing some books. “Twilight sure left a mess,” he muttered to himself. For one who was usually organized, she left in quite the hurry to get wherever she needed to go. There were books knocked off the shelves everywhere, and Spike had been working for hours. Spike grabbed a book and placed in on the shelf.

There was a knock on the door. He wondered who that could be. Twilight said that her friends wouldn’t be coming over, but he didn’t know what to do. Twilight hadn’t arranged for unexpected meetings because she never had them. Spike looked at the door. There was another knock. Spike continued cleaning. The knocking continued. He didn’t know what to do. The knocking became a persistent banging. Spike put his head in his claws and yelled, “Alright, I’m coming!” He walked to the door and opened it.

Two ponies stood there. He didn’t know their names, which meant they probably weren’t from here. “Do you need directions?” Spike asked. “No,” one of them said. “Twilight lives here, right?” “Yes, what of it?” Spike replied. “We need to speak to her on a book we’ve read. She could tell us what a certain section means, right?” “Twilight’s not here right now, but you could ask me. There’s a slight chance that I’ve read it. Come in.” Spike ushered them in. “Sit down.” The two ponies sat down. Spike sat down also. “What book do you need help with?” he asked.

The pony who had been talking before was silent. A mischievous smile began to slowly appear on his face. The other broke into a large grin. The one that had the big grin burst into laughter. Spike was confused. He saw a flicker of movement, and a blade was on his index claw. Spike jumped.

“You fell for our trick!” the laughing one said. The one that was mischievously smiling spoke, “You were an assistant to the smartest pony in Equestria, and you fell for our trick! Who cares about books anymore! We sure don't! We need something vital from you. Information on Twilight Sparkle. And since you are her assistant, we know you'd know. What is she weak at?" Spike was unsure on how to say something here. Everything was so unexpected.

He looked at the two ponies, and then at the knife on his index claw. "She's very down-to-earth," Spike said. "What?" one of the ponies asked. "She doesn't believe in stuff she can't scientifically prove!" The pony with the blade moved it to Spike's thumb. "Anything else?" he asked.

"Well," Spike began. "She, I, I can't say." The pony dug the blade into Spike's thumb. A trickle of blood came out. "Now, Spike," the smiling one said. "As Twilight's assistant, I am sure that you use your thumbs a lot. Now, tell us, or you won't be quite the assistant anymore." Spike gulped. This was a deep secret that only Twilight knew, and only told Spike. But if it saved his thumb, it would be worth it. "Twilight hasn't read  every book in her library!" he said. The two ponies looked shocked.

"That's it?!" one said. "That's all?! We can't do anything with that! Let's go." The two ponies left. Spike went to go dress the cut, which was now a stream of blood. "Stupid ponies," Spike muttered.

A few minutes later, he left to go tell the Ponyville Court of this incident. Spike was later shoved into a sewer and left to die. It was done by two unidentified ponies. Spike was saved, but he never trusted another pony as long as he lived.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6: A Cavern of the Past

Rainbow Dash and her friends stood looking out across the ruins of Canterlot. Rainbow Dash held up her hoof.

"On my signal," she said, looking as confident as she could. A voice entered her head as she prepared to speak.

'Death awaits you all,' it spoke in a raspy voice.

She counted down.

"3,2,1, GO!" she yelled.

They tore from the ruined building and into the open. Rainbow Dash looked in every direction to find the Dark Army, but they were nowhere to be seen.

"Flying feathers!" she yelled.

As she yelled this, a shadow began to cover the area.

"Aw, great," Applejack said. "You've done gone and brought 'em over."

Fluttershy cowered in fear as the shadow covered the entire area of Canterlot. They all turned to get a good look at the Dark Army for the first time.

They were shadows. They looked like the shadows of ponies who went and drank some kind of enlargement potion. And a lot of it. They towered high above the streets, as tall as the Canterlot tower itself.

"Just our bucking luck," Applejack said with a sigh.

Rainbow Dash bolted up into the sky, as Twilight and Rarity began to prepare to attack them with magic, Applejack began to scuff her hoof on the ground, Pinkie Pie began to giggle, and Fluttershy ran behind a piece of rubble.

"ATTACK!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs.

They all began to attack the Dark Army with all they had. Rainbow Dash flew up high, and plummeted down. She then flew down as fast as her wings could carry her. She reached top speed, and a Sonic Rainboom appeared. She slammed right into the Dark Army. Well, maybe slammed is not the right word. She flew right through them. She pulled up at the last second to avoid being roadkill. Twilight and Rarity shot magic, but with the same results as the Sonic Rainboom. Applejack's hooves also flew right through them. Then one of the Army swiped a shadowy hoof and knocked them all in different directions.

Rainbow Dash flew across the entire city, landing on the edge of a steep hill. She tried to stand up, but her hoof slipped and she fell down the hill. She landed at the bottom of the hill and tumbled into a cavern at the bottom. She picked herself up, dusted herself off, and began to leave when a blue wall of magic appeared and blocked her path. She turned around to see who did that. In the middle of the cavern, three glowing spirits came foward. One was a pony, one was a unicorn, and the other a pegasi.

'Who are you?" Rainbow Dash asked, anger in her voice.

"We are the founders of Equestria," the earth pony said.

"Yeah, uh-huh," Rainbow Dash said sarcastically. "That's why there are three of you. Six ponies founded Equestria. I should know because I had to be in that boring Hearth's Warming Eve play."

"Oh, you ponies now," the pegasi said. "All believing the best. Well, things were a lot different before."

"Yes," the unicorn said. "All you ponies now believe that it's all happy endings, don't you? It's not. We were the only survivors of that dreadful night in the cavern."

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We sat in that cave," the earth pony said. "Watching as our leaders souls were taken by the Wendigos, as they were sent to the Realm of Dark Souls, and we fought."

"But I thought friendship stopped the Wendigos," Rainbow Dash said.

"Freindship?" the unicorn said. "No, you silly pegasus. We fought those Wendigos ourselves. We struggled for hours, stopping the cold and killing them."

"And of course," the pegasus said. "A little help from some Elements."

"The Elements of Harmony?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"No," the unicorn said. "Something more powerful than the Elements of Harmony."

"What?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What's more powerful than the Elements?"

"Oh, use your silly little brain," the pony said. "What is Harmony in all it's glory?"

"Um..." Rainbow Dash thought. 'If Twilight was here she'd probably know. I guess it's just, uh..., Harmony is just, um..."

Rainbow Dash thought for a while, then the spirits told her.

"Chaos!" they yelled in unison.

"All Harmony is controlled Chaos!" the unicorn yelled.

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Why did we trap her in here?" the pegasus asked. "Can't we just not tell her about how to work them, give them to her, and get her out of here?"

"Stop referring to me as, 'her'," Rainbow Dash said. "Or 'her' is going to rip you apart."

"Oh," the pony said. "What's the peaceful pony going to do, kill us with friendship? As if."

"Oh, you don't want to know what I'll do," Rainbow Dash said. "But let's just say it has something to do with rainbows."

"Wait, what?" the pegasus asked. "Are you talking about what I think you're talking about?"

"Oh, yes," Rainbow Dash said. "I know a lot about it, too."

"You know what," the pegasus said, a hint of panic in her voice. "Just give her the Elements of Chaos and let her go."

"Why?" the unicorn asked.

"I'll explain after she goes," the pegasus said.

"Fine," the earth pony said.

The pony walked to the back and pulled out a box that looked just like the rock it was in. The pony gave it to Rainbow Dash, who then flew like a bullet out of the cavern. Time to find her friends.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Running Stops Here

Rainbow Dash sped around the outside of Canterlot, looking for a sign of her friends. The Elements of Chaos were slung over her shoulder as she flew.

'One heck of a talk,' Rainbow Dash thought.

The cavern was still stuck in her mind. She knew that her friends, especially Twilight, would love to know the truth about the night in the cavern, but Rainbow Dash could tell by the way their eyes looked that they didn't want her to tell another soul, dead or alive. She would just say that she found them after falling, and that she didn't know what they were. Such a lie would be easy, since she had alreaady lied about her past.

'No,' she thought. 'I mustn't think about it. I've been running from it for too long to return to it.'

She looked around. She would have called out her friends names, but the Dark Army would probably hear her. She landed on the ground and decided to continue on foot. She looked around. There was a lot to search in and around, as she saw rubble in all directions. She began to search.

******

Twilight landed in a ditch on the complete other side of Canterlot relative to Rainbow Dash's landing. She picked herself up and stretched. There were scars all along her flank and legs, but she had to find the others, so she pushed on.

She wandered around the outer border of Canterlot for what felt like hours when she saw a streak of color in the sky. It turned around then descended to the ground. She jumped with joy.

'Rainbow Dash!' she thought.

She began to gallop to the place where Rainbow landed. She ran as fast as she could, but when she arrived at where she probably landed, she was gone. Twilight swore, something she would never do under normal circumstances, but of course, these were not normal circumstances.

She began to, once again, roam aimlessly around. She felt sore and tired, but she continued for hours. Then a cry came out, a mixture of all her friend's voices, one word, one cry.

"TWILIGHT!" they all yelled.

She yelled back.

"I'M HERE!" she said.

She hoped they could find her, or heard her, for that matter. She was not incredibly loud like Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie. She sat in the same place for a few more hours, yelling periodically to notify her friends. Her stomach began to growl.

'I'm pretty darn hungry,' she thought.

She waited for a while longer, still yelling, when the bushes near-by rustled. Twilight tried to focus on getting ready in case it was an attack, but she could barely focus on anyhting as her eyes drooped ever closer to sleep.Her friends appeared out of the bushes right as she fell asleep.

******

Rainbow Dash had found all of her friends together in a ruined building. It seemed that they found each other fairly quickly then came here to wait. She gave them the lie about the Elements, then they went to go search for Twilight. Once they found her sleeping, they all slept, too.

Rainbow Dash awoke early and began to pace, just like Twilight. Her friends woke up later to the sound of her hooves scuffing the ground.

"How long have y'all been up, Rainbow?" Applejack asked.

"A while," she said.

Twilight had an important question that had stayed in the back of her mind while the epic adventures went on, but now it was prominent in her mind.

"Rainbow?" she asked.

"Yes?" Rainbow Dash replied.

"You were going to say something earlier, what was it?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash's face turned from calm to a slight panic, almost as if she was scared of something.

"Rainbow," Applejack said. "What was it? And I'm here to hold you down if you try to fly off."

"Fine," Rainbow Dash said. "I guess I've been running from it for too long. It's quite a story, though."

"That's fine," Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash sat down. She took a deep breath to calm her panicked nerves. She began.

"Alright," Rainbow Dash said. "Please don't think bad of me.

I've never told you about my parents or my life before Junior Speedster's Flight Camp, but, I guess I should tell my closest friends. When I was young, my parents were nice people. Their names were Starheart and Cresent Moon. They were very nice to me, but then I learned something about them that ruined their image.

When we were on our way to see a Wonderbolt performance, we took a little detour. They took me to the weather factory, and we took the tour. We ended up in a room full of other pegasi like myself, children. Now, before we go into this part, just to let you know, I was not always rainbow-colored. I was white-maned, with a blue coat before this day.

So, we went to this place, and my parents told me to wait there. I was loyal to my parents, so I waited. I waited for a while, and then my parents appear at the top of the railing to a machine in the room. Then, they get some pegasi in dark suits to pick up a small filly in the room. She was then brought to the top. And then, I learned what this place really was. It was a place of pony nightmares, the place known as the Rainbow Factory.

Then, I watched as they killed the small filly. My own parents, who I thought I could trust, were murderers. I watched helplessly as pegasus after pegasus was put into that machine. Then, after a while, I was taken up there. Then, I was about to be killed when I escaped.

I kicked my parents hard, and flew off as fast as I could on my newly functioning wings. My parents were faster than me, so they flew after me. They then got me and tied my wings down. As we passed over the vat where the rainbows that were made got collected, I shook free. I fell down into that vat, and sank to the bottom. I passed out, but I awoke later to find Princess Celestia standing over me. She had saved me from that vat, and shut down the Rainbow Factory. I learned later that when I shook free, my parents lost their air-balance, and fell into the whirring blades of the machine.

I went from orphanage to orphanage, eventually becoming psychologically unstable, and they had to confine me. I eventually became better, but I still had episodes where I tried to kill those around me. Usually, I succeeded. And when I met you, I almost never had them. But I still did. And there was no one to confine me. I could have killed you anytime when I had an episode. They only ever happened at home, but, I still could have killed you at anytime."

All of the ponies sat with sadness in their eyes, with a slight tinge of anger that she had never told anypony.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't want you to fear me," Rainbow Dash said. "I wanted to be normal."

"But, Rainbow," Applejack said. "Y'all never explained why y'all got that there rainbow mane."

"Well," Rainbow Dash said. "When I fell in the vat, it dyed my mane permanently. The Princess said I was lucky it didn't dye my coat."

All of them hugged. It was a sad story, but they were glad to finally know the truth. As they all sat back down, there was a sound from Rainbow Dash. They looked at her and saw something incredibly rare.

Rainbow Dash was crying...

Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The End

The group of friends had heard one lie revealed already, but Rainbow Dash decided it wouldn't hurt to say what the Elements were and how she got them. They all looked at the different necklaces, all dark and spooky. To add to the overall creepiness of the set, the were actual skulls on them, put in the place you'd normally see jewels. Rarity complained at the grotesque nature of the necklaces. They all wondered what was what. Then Rainbow Dash touched one. A spirit appeared and spoke one word.

"Greed," it said raspily.

Rainbow Dash touched another.

"Anger," it said.

"Wait!" Twilight said. "These are all for us! Their the opposites of our personalities! Their what we became when Discord changed us! Rarity's is the Greed, Fluttershy's is the Anger, Pinkie's would be Cyniscism, Rainbow Dash's would be Selfishness, Applejack's would be Dishonesty, and mine would be Failure! Rainbow, touch all of them!"

Rainbow Dash touched all of the necklaces, and everypony grabbed theirs until there was one left. The tiara. Rainbow Dash touched it and it spoke.

"Selfishness," it spoke.

Rainbow Dash was astonished.

'I'm the one responsible for carrying them all into battle?!' she thought.

They all donned their grotesque apparel. Rainbow Dash looked back at her friends. She hoped that this would be it. She hoped that this fight would be easy, that it it wouldn't take too long, that they could even stand up for more than a few minutes at a time. The fatigue was getting to everypony.

They were all breathing heavily as the stress, huger, thirst, and fatigue got to them. She raised her hoof as she did before their first charge.

"3, 2, 1, GO!" she yelled as they all began to bolt for Canterlot.

They arrived in a matter of minutes, and saw the Dark Army standing over the ruins. Rainbow Dash came down to the ground so they could connect the Elements of Chaos. The Dark Army took notice of them, and turned to look. They all stopped and began to focus on the powers stored inside the Elements. They focused it for one blast. It hit the Dark Army like a sledge hammer. They kneeled down in pain. They got back up.

The friends focused for one more attack, but a large hoof came to sweep them away. Rainbow Dash saw the attack before all the others, and flew away. Fluttershy wondered what she was doing and saw the attack too. She also dodged. The rest of them were not so lucky.

They all flew off, smacking into a building.

"NO!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

Her friends were probably dead, which made her anger flare unlike ever before. Then it all became a haze as she began to attack the Dark Army ferociously. She attacked with her Element, with her hooves, her wings. After a while, the Element began to glow as her Loyalty invaded the tiara and mixed with the Selfishness inside. She unleashed it, and the bolt went straight into the Dark Army.

They exploded in a flash of shadow. Rainbow Dash began to attack something else. It felt alive, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to kill, something to remove her anger, her sadness, her hurt...

******

Rainbow Dash awoke in the Ponyville hospital. She didn't know what had happened since the charge. She was then informed what had happened. She looked over to her right, and in a sling, with scars all over her face and body, bruises all over also, was Fluttershy, looking back. Rainbow Dash began to cry as she realized what she did. On the bright side, she never had a psychological episode again.

Epilogue

Epilogue: The Aftermath

Rainbow Dash had been let out of the hospital after a few days. She looked over at the graveyard. She had to avoid it. She had to wait for her friends. But she wanted to know who died that day. If anypony died.

She had seen Celestia fly in several times, but she never knew what Celestia did in there. It chilled her to think about the pony who had probably died. The one connected to Celestia the most. Rainbow Dash prayed this wasn't true.

4 months later...

Rarity had finally woken up from her coma after months of communication between the others. They all met up at the graveyard and walked in. Rainbow Dash looked around and saw Celestia sitting by a grave near-by. Rainbow Dash pointed this out. They all walked to Celestia.

Celestia had placed a scroll on the ground. Applejack placed a hoof on Celestia.

"Hello, my little ponies," she said, sadness coating every syllable of her words. "The past few months have been dark for all of us, but especially for you five. A problem that has appeared is that with Twilight... gone, there is no pony in Equestria that can hold the Element of Magic. We will have to look. We hope for the best."

They spent the next few hours crying by the graveside. Spike arrived later, as the others left. Celestia still sat by the graveside.

"Hello, Spike," Celestia said. "You know why have called you other than the fact that Twillight has just passed away, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Spike said, pulling out a roll of paper.

"Take a letter, Spike," Celestia said, trying to lighten the mood by saying it like Twilight used to.

Celestia cleared her throat.

"My dearest and most faithful student," she said. "I am writing my last letter to you. You have shown incredible courage in the past, but four months ago, you showed the most you ever could. You fought alongside your friends against an enemy that even I understood, or had even seen. Yet you stood strong, and fought till the last breath.

It is a shame that you never got to find out more about your friends, or about Ponyville as a whole. I wish to not have to tell you it's darkest secret while you lie in a cold grave, but not everything goes as you planned. Ponyville is special. It once was a normal town, but many years of government thought has made it into a town for those such as Rainbow Dash to run.

It is just a way to run from your past, to hide from haunting memories. All of your friends have secrets. Every single pony here has one. You were brought here to realize that life is more than just Canterlot. More than book. I wanted you to meet ponies who were different. Who had problems in their minds. Rainbow Dash still believes that the Rainbow Factory no longer exists, but in fact, it still functions. I have had to live with a guilt-ridden mind since I took the throne, and I wish that I could forget all of it.

But I cannot. I'm sorry, my dearest student, for never telling you before now. But time has reached the end for you, and you must fade. Spike, end letter."

Spike rolled the paper up and wrapped it with a ribbon. He then put it on the graveside. Celestia and Spike left.

A day later...

Rainbow Dash returned to the grave on her own the next day. She saw the scroll on the ground. She knew that Celestia wrote it, and that it would be rude to just go and read it. But her curiousity got the better of her. She grabbed the letter, sat down, opened it, and began to read...

Chapter 5

This is not a Chapter as more of a notification. The next three chapters would be redundant. But I will not post them. All they are is Chapter 4 with the CMC. That is all. Saving you from redundancy, StormBrother out.