Necessary Evil

by Wing Dancer

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Main 6, Nightmare Moon, Trixie, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Comedy, Adventure, Queen Chrysalis, Discord, Slice of Life
Length: 5971

All the evil in the world secretly unites to challenge the mane six. But is it really what it seems?

The Elements of Harmony are the most powerful weapon against all evil in Equestria -- much to the dismay of Nightmare Moon, Discord and Queen Chrysalis.

But these ancient and timeless evils will not be defeated so easily. In their secret academy they decide to work together for the first time since the dawn of time -- their master plan demands that the mane six be defeated and the Elements destroyed.

But are their plans truly evil? What if evil had a face under the mask, a hidden agenda that was a lesser evil in its own right?

Published 2012-07-30 23:04:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-31 17:37:30 UTC

In Shadows we Unite

A shadow crept along the walls of the Canterlot Palace, avoiding the guards who roamed the grounds. The intruder was a very agile pony, darting between cover, her black suit turning her invisible in the pitch black night.

The mare approached her objective around midnight – the royal gardens were peaceful and not a soul was in sight. Amongst the statues of heroes, virtues and just plain art there was one stone image like no other – a twisted pony/dragon mash up, a creature who’s each body part belonged to a different beast. The draconequus, known as Discord, still had horror on his face, his legs and hands outstretched in a defensive pose, eyes full of horror and disbelief. That was the target.

The intruder dug in her slim saddlebags and procured a black, mat gem. As she brought it closer to the trapped spirit, it turned even darker, as if syphoning all the available light in the area. It took a while for the magical contraption to charge up, slowly turning to a dark shade of red. A barely audible sound notified the mare that it was ready to be used.

Not a moment was wasted. The gem was thrown at Discord’s statue, causing the item to sink into the cold stone. A silent cackling was heard… And the shadow was gone.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Everfree forest, another shadowy figure crept through the abandoned halls of an old pony castle. It came to be known as the place where Nightmare Moon was defeated.

The agent diligently searched every corner of the large throne room in which, according to the information she gathered, the Mistress of Eternal Night was defeated. As she roamed about, she swept her muzzle left and right, holding a black gem in her teeth. On occasion, the thing would hum gently and the mysterious pony would pick up something that looked like a piece of a shell or shard of a broken vase.

The moon was nearing the end of its journey when the black mare finished, making sure the elements in her bag were all there. Smiling, she left the castle silently, disappearing in the Everfree.

* * *

In a different part of the forest, a similar pony wearing dark colors roamed the jungle. She felt she was being traced for some time now, but continued on her way regardless. A low sound was coming from one of her bags, getting louder and louder as the pony closed in on her target.

Without much warning, she had to evade a creature that lunged at her with abnormal speed. As black as her suit, the beast hissed, bearing its sharp teeth. Others came into view, rustling their leathery wings and firing up their twisted horns with green magics.

The mare slowly reached to her saddle and held up high a dark red gem that was pulsating with some kind of inner power. The humming noise the item made caused the changelings to back away, still hissing and eyeing the stranger.

“Interesting…” murmured a voice from behind. A mighty changeling, wearing a crown on her long, greasy sea-colored mane came out of the dark, her eyes on the gem held in the air.

* * *

Somewhere in the southern lands of Equestria, concealed by uncharted mountains and powerful spells, there was an academy like none other. Etched into the heart of a giant volcano, the college was a private institution, each of its students hoof picked by the board of headmasters which now assembled, first time in over a millennium.

The room had a giant round table at the center, around which were three highly decorative chairs. Gargoyles, devils and other mythical creatures stared at the scene with their dead, stone eyes, witnessing the arrival of the headmasters. Clad in her armor, accompanied by two colts with bat wings, came in Nightmare Moon – her night sky mane flowed in the still air of the chamber.

The large candles providing light flickered as an elongated body darted past them. Discord flew down gently onto his chair, making himself comfortable. He snapped his fingers, summoning a glass with his favorite drink – chocolate milk.

“Discord, we already talked about this. No snacking during meetings!” hissed a voice, its reverb making it sound heavy with threat. Queen Chrysalis, flanked by two changelings, entered the room, taking the last seat and eyeing the others.

“Oh, boo hoo hoo. What are you gonna… Hey.” That is all the draconequus managed to say before his precious drink was spilled to the floor by a changeling minion. The glass lay shattered in a brown puddle.

The Queen snickered, oblivious to Discord’s deadpan expression.

“Enough,” intoned Nightmare Moon, squinting at the two. “We all know why we are gathered here.”

“Oh, do we now?” snickered Discord, laying back and kicking his legs up and onto the table.

“This is no time for fooling around, Discord. This is a serious meeting; you are free to leave if you cannot take it seriously.”

“Oh, for the love of… Fine!” spat the draconequus, squinting at Chrysalis who was trying to conceal a chuckle.

“Good. Let us begin our board meeting, then. As you all know, Equestria has suffered peace for far too long. Despite our most vigorous attempts, the Elements of Harmony remain the most potent weapon against us.”

“I tried spiriting them away,” snorted Discord, amused at his own pun. “But that didn’t turn out to be as effective as I planned it to be.”

“I almost succeeded in denying them that power,” said Chrysalis, rustling her wings uneasily. “But I admit it was my own fault that I got defeated. I underestimated one colt and… Well, you know the story.”

“Yes, we all know the stories of our failures,” groaned Nightmare Moon, blowing away the mane that got in her eyes. “We need a totally different approach to rid this world of these blasted gems. They are the only thing stopping us from achieving our goal.”

“But how?” asked Discord.

“We shall think of something. There has to be a way to render them useless.”

“I already said I tried. I have no idea why it backfired, though. They were all totally disconnected from their elements… And then just poof, they’re back, giant rainbow in the face and I’m stoned”

Chrysalis couldn’t help but giggle; even Nightmare Moon allowed herself a smirk at the joke.

“Yes, yes, of course you did. So a direct approach doesn’t work as it used to. These are different times. We need to get into the spirit of things. My agents have been gathering information for a very long time now, and slowly we’re beginning to develop new ways to cause evil. What we need is more stealth and cunning.”

“Tried that. It took me a whole month to get into the role of that blasted Cadance. It was all perfect, until Twilight and her friends showed up and freed that little witch.”

“I know, I know… So the main problems are those six ponies. For some reason they are connected to the Elements. It’s impossible to separate them, you can’t turn them… We need to counter them with our own. We need the essences of Disharmony. Our very own main six, ponies capable of nullifying the power of those cursed gems.”

“Do you think any of the students here could do it?”

“They have to. Time is running short – our individual failures caused a great slip in the master plan, and we cannot afford loosing another millennium or so… We will have to work strictly together”

“Now, now! I don’t want to hear any growling, snickering or stupid comments!” yelled Nightmare Moon, bashing a hoof against the table.

The two other major evils were hushed, displeasure plain on their faces. They had their differences, quarrels and issues. Chrysalis hated how the prankster kept making fun of her minions, launching buckets of water on their heads or slipping them on banana peels. Discord didn’t like the uptight attitude of the Mare in the Moon, while she herself was envious of the dedication the Queen of changelings had from her subjects. It was a hate triangle that had to be somehow broken, for the good of their plan.

Actually, for the good of Equestria.

Becoming an Evil Superstar

“Dear Students,” begun Nightmare Moon, glaring down on the assembly hall filled to the brim with colts, mares and some other non-pony entities. “It is my pleasure to announce the opening of the casting for the Elite Six – half a dozen of ponies or otherwise that will be the best of the best, representing the virtues our school treasures so dearly – Lies, Brutality, Sadness, Lust, Betrayal and Illusion! I encourage each and every one of you to try your strength, to put your knowledge and abilities to the ultimate test! Can you become true avatars of evil? Of course not! At least, not all of you! There are only six that will make it out, more or less alive, from the casting; those will be the most brilliant, the most cunning and evil of us all!”

A loud cheer from the audience caused a smile on the mare’s face. These were good students – after all, the criteria for being selected and accepted were very harsh, sometimes downright cruel and unfair. But those that were destined to be evil prevailed, and were now tearing their throats out in a will yell of challenge and courage.

A single motion of Nightmare’s hoof was all that it took to silence the assembly hall.

“The auditions for preliminary tests will begin tomorrow. I again urge everyone to try their hoof, hand or any other appendage at it, as this occasion will probably not repeat itself during your lifetimes. Shadow hide you!”

“Shadow hide you!” roared the listeners, again cheering and whistling.

They were good kids, thought the mistress of the night.

* * *

“Can you believe it?” enthusiastically whispered a vampony wearing black robes with an emblem of the school etched at the collar – two winged snakes, one consuming the other’s tail, wrapped around a black gem.

“This is a chance of a lifetime!” replied a brutish looking colt, adjusting his eye patch that bore the same mark.

The whole school was buzzing with all sorts of rumors regarding the upcoming casting – some claimed that they already passed, having bribed the judges, others threatened their colleagues into forfeiting participation… In other words, everypony was excited and doing the best they could think of to increase their chances of winning.

The academy was a very demanding place, compared to a regular Equestrian school institution – cheating was banned, but it was required that each student does it anyway. Those that were caught were sent to the dungeons. Exercises were intense, most of them involving sharp objects, live ammunition and team-play consisting mostly of taking advantage of your crew and hoarding for yourself. Those that failed were sent to the dungeons or tasked with cleaning the school. With their tongues of course. Semester exams were the toughest, though, because just one failure, one slip up, act of compassion or wrong word could get you brainwashed and thrown out of school. In other words, this wasn’t a place for the weak of heart and soul.

Trixie, also known as the Great and Powerful Trixie, was making her way to the next classroom – she was an upperclassmare, nearing the end of her studies in the academy. Due to her status she was allowed to sometimes leave the school to gather field experience and commit deeds worthy of bragging and additional credit. She wasn’t maybe the top student of her year, but was pretty near the top.

“Trixie, Trixie! Reflexes!” yelled a voice from behind.

The mare duck just in time to avoid a spiked ball that flew over her head, knocking over a decorative armor suit.

“Awww, no wonder you’re the Hardball Team Leader! Oh well, maybe next time!” A hyper pony pranced around Trixie, causing the blue mare to sigh.

Lavender Gust wasn’t exactly the most reliable of friends, but for some reason she stuck around Trixie most of the time. Her lame attempts at ‘assassinating’ her always failed, though – she was second in line for the position of Hardball Team Leader, and was very determined to achieve at least that much during her years at the school.

“So, Trix, are you going for the casting? Are you, are you?”

“Maybe. I don’t know yet.” Huffed the mare. Truth be told, she already slipped her application under one of the headmaster’s doors, securing it with a proximity spell – the page would appear only when the person it was meant for came close.

“Oh, I see. Well, then I guess I’ll just hold onto this lil’ ol’ piece of paper until you make up your mind!”

Yes, of course, that was Trixie’s application in her teeth. The mare had no idea who the pony bribed and with what (considering her reputation and beautiful body, there wasn’t a wide variety of things to consider)… But she had to admit she underestimated Lavender.

“Give it back, cur!” shouted the blue mare, bolting after the fleeing pony.

The two ran around the corridors, twisted staircases and over chasms in which lava still boiled – whoever stood in their way was shoved aside or brutally tackled, spat on and discarded. It was a normal sight in this school – notes, cheat sheets, forged documents were all sought after and anyone who had them was relentlessly hunted down and relieved of his or her possessions.

* * *

Lavender Gust was giggling like crazy, struggling against the ropes binding her hooves. Trixie managed to catch up to her and use her magic to tie the mare down. The application didn’t suffer any damage, much to the owner’s relief.

“You are darn fast, Lavender,” commented Trixie, calming her breath down.

“Thank you! I’ve been working out a lot lately. If you know what I mean,” snorted Lavender. With her golden coat, flowing white mane, deep blue eyes and curvy body, she was in the crosshairs of many colts in the school. On top of that, she always smelled divine, her perfumes coming in regular shipments from her awesomely rich parents who were unaware of the school’s true face. They were just happy the hyper-active mare was as far away from them as possible.

“You know Trix, you should show that thing to one of the headmasters soon – we’ve been having fun for so long, there is barely any time left! Aw, shucks, and we are in the most secluded part of the academy, too! You mad?”

Trixie was already far away, giving running all she had in herself, leaving behind the laughing pony. One of her admirers would eventually find her, release her and then probably have some fun with her anyway, so leaving her like that did not break the “No killing allowed” iron rule.

That principle was probably the only, or one of very few that was fair and protected the students. While it was desirable to train in practice torture, fighting or deceit, it was forbidden to lessen the population of evil doers. Evil may be chaotic and seemingly disorganized at times, but it was pointed more or less in the same direction – that is, against do-gooders.

* * *

Trixie groaned, seeing the line that stood before each of the headmaster’s chambers. By definition, line is a neat formation of ponies that waited to take their turn at something. An evil definition of that word, however, included bickering, shoving, throwing and muscling in. To put it in simple words, everyone was piled at the doors, trying to force them or slip their application papers under the door.

It was really late and Trixie wanted to win this audition really badly. She needed that – being at the top was everypony’s dream, and the blue mare really believed it was her destiny to become an Avatar of Evil. A worshipped mare, having all the colts and shiny objects her heart desired so badly.

Getting into the spirit of things, the mare threw herself at the pile, biting and bucking everypony and everyone that tried to stand in her way. Through the gaps in the mass of bodies, she saw the doors open from time to time, allowing entry to a single student – no one left the chambers, though. It was reasonable to expect the worse, but the prize was way too high not to take the risk.

All she needed was a second. The gates to her chance were opening once every few moments, at regular intervals… It was now or never. Trixie closed her eyes and threw a bunch of small balls she always had under her starry cloak – she called them blindyellers, as they exploded into a ball of vibrant light, causing an ear-piercing shriek in the process.

The bombs exploded, instantly deafening the mare. But she still could see.

* * *

The world consisted of blurry images and a very high pitched squeal filling Trixie’s ears. The way towards the open door cleared, as panicked or stunned students leapt away on instincts. It took the mare all of her strength to crawl through the door frame.

She took deep breaths, not hearing the door close behind her. This was obviously the room of Chrysalis – the green decor, some of it being organic matter, was literally swarming with changelings rustling their wings or hissing at each other.

In an emerald throne there sat the Queen herself, the regal air around her causing Trixie to bow down. She was terrified she couldn’t hear anything – if the headmaster was giving her any orders, she would not be able to obey them. Risking punishment, she tried to hold her head a bit higher, trying to spot Chrysalis from the corner of her eyes.

The changeling ruler sat there, motionless, staring at the intruder to her lair. The commotion from just a few seconds ago intrigued her, and it was probably this pony that was responsible. The Queen noticed an application, held tightly in her hooves. So she came for the audition. It was strange she chose Chrysalis – the changeling was well known for her hatred of ponies, so usually only non-equines came to her.

“Well? Get on with it, drone!” growled Chrysalis, lifting herself up.

Trixie shrunk for just a second and then stood up as well. It was wrong to show fear, even to someone as daunting as Chrysalis. Weakness was a punishable offence here, in the school. Those that came out of the academy needed to be strong and masters at what they did in order for the great plan to work.

“Queen Chrysalis, I have come for the audition,” whispered the mare. She still didn’t even hear her own voice, so it was hard to gauge how loud she had to talk to be heard. And shouting at the Queen would hurt in more ways she could imagine.

“That much I can see, pony. Give me that,” hissed the changeling, tearing the application from the blue mare’s hooves.

It was neatly populated with all the required information, including the things that were hidden away on purpose or deceitfully written to cause confusion to the reader. Chrysalis should be impressed, but the bile she felt for the creature in front of her allowed her to remain an arbitrary judge. Paper was just paper – what really mattered was the pony’s heart. She would either be suitable or not – just like Twilight and her friends, there was a chance to find the Elements of Disharmony in nearly anyone and through the most bizarre chain of events.

“Good, good,” groaned the Queen, crushing the paper in her telekinetic grasp and throwing it away. Her minions swiftly intercepted the ball and tore it to shreds, hissing wildly. “So let us get on with this ridiculous audition. Your name is Trixie, yes?”

The mare was slowly regaining her hearing, but it was not enough to understand the question. Luckily, Trixie learned mouth-reading here at school as part of her mandatory Espionage classes just a year ago.

“Yes, headmistress,” mumbled the mare, sweating slightly.

Now that the Queen was but a hoof away from her, there was no hiding it – the changeling was a large, predatory creature that could snap her in half with a simple thought and through the teeth and hooves of her ‘children’ swarming all around.

“Then tell me, Trixie, why do you think you should be given the right, nay, the honor of serving Evil in the most magnificent of ways? What makes you believe that you are suitable for something more than just a snack for my little ones?”

“I-I am one of the best students at the academy!” said the mare, nervously eying the shadows moving about. She hoped with all her self that headmasters had to heed to the iron rule of no killing as well. “If not me, then who else?!”

“One of the best, not the best. There are dozens much more skilled than you, much more resourceful or charismatic. The school has nothing to do with your qualities – it only exposes your weaknesses and attempts to lessen them to the point that they are bearable to look at.”

“W-Well… Where are those dozens now?! Oh, that’s right, they are rolling around blind and deaf at your doorstep!... H-Headmaster,” added Trixie in a small voice. She felt she overdid it. Chrysalis’ stern look told her that much.

“You insolent little rut. You have quite the nerve to use that tone on me. You think I cannot see that you are but moments away from wetting yourself? You think you can fool the Queen of the Changelings, Master of Deceit, Headmaster of Ragnarok Academy? Well, you better think again.”

Suddenly, the Queen smiled – it was a wicked smile, but one that didn’t speak of organs leaving Trixie’s body.

“You might not have fooled me with your false confidence, but you would certainly at least mislead another. I know you can’t hear me and are reading my lips, so I will simply-” and with that, she covered her mouth. There were no other sounds to Trixie other than the still persisting high pitched squeal the blindyellers caused.

“Do you agree with what I said, dear?” Chrysalis put her hoof down, smirking at the mare.

This was a test, part of the audition. Chrysalis was testing her resolve.

“You may have some valid points, headmistress, and I’d be a fool not to heed to your words,” replied Trixie with a bow. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a touch on her shoulder.

“Hmpf. I expected something more than a generic answer such as this. Then again, you are not foolish enough to try and ask me to repeat myself or attempt to please me with a yes or no answer. The question wasn’t even that simple anyway. I see the academy has grinded your useless mush of a head into something more or less useful…”

The Queen retreated to her throne and waved a hoof at Trixie.

“Be gone now. We have wasted enough time as it is.” When the mare turned away, shock and anger pulsing from her, the changeling added: “See you tomorrow on the preliminary tests.”

A green flame engulfed the pony, taking her one floor below, to where the dungeons were. So this is where the students who were auditioned ended up – Trixie caught a glimpse of another mare appearing just above the ground, wrapped up in cotton candy and her mane sticky with chocolate. Seems that headmaster Discord was having a delightful time during the auditions.

The blue mare allowed herself to smile. The sound that irked her for quite some time was almost gone now. And yes, she did hear that last sentence Chrysalis said. Those were the best words of praise Trixie ever received.

Threads that mingle

The dungeons were quite robust to say the least – students weren’t sure if they were decorative or if the rumors about some weird practices being performed down there were true. Either way, it was not a good idea to linger about.

Trixie decided to follow the pony she saw earlier – the mare took her sweet time to cuss and rid herself of the sweets stuck to her coat and mane. Unaware of being followed, she then sped along the corridors, probably knowing where she was going. The blue mare duck around each corner, trying to be as silent as possible without the other noticing. It took a while, but soon an exit emerged behind a fake wall in a totally random place. So yes, without the knowledge of this complex, Trixie would be stuck here for a very long time. Which was all probably already part of the test!

Proud of herself, the blue pony went up the stairs uncovered by the hidden passage, finding herself again in the school corridors. The décor was as creepy as always – rows of armor pieces, not all of pony origin, were stationed along the walls. Between those there was a magnificent red rug, framed with golden threads that formed words in a language that none of the students could decipher.

The ceiling was way above Trixie’s head, made of solid stone, carved out of the mountain itself. A couple of gargoyles or dragons here and there cast their gloomy, dead gazes on everybody below – there were rumors going about that from time to time, these beasts would come alive and serve one of the headmasters as their evil messengers. Trixie didn’t believe such things, but here, in Ragnarok Academy, impossible was nothing, and the unsuspected was experienced each day.

Just as she thought that, the mare saw Lavender Gust approach from the opposite direction – as always, she was flanked by two colts, rather handsome ones too. Their eyes were all over her, especially in the back area, but the mare didn’t seem to pay attention to that. Her perfumes hit Trixie’s nose faster than the words the obnoxious pony spoke:

“Hiya, Trix! Did you make it? I heard there was quite some commotion at the auditions; some bomb exploded or something!” She giggled, winking. “I bet that wasn’t you at all.”

“Whatever. I’m afraid I don’t have time to chat,” cut Trixie, swiping her magnificent cloak almost in Lavender’s face. Her current lovercolts gave the mare a stern look which she ignored, carrying on her way.

“Trix, wait up! Wait up, I have something to tell you!”

“Oh yeah? Listen, I don’t have time to listen about your exploits, okay? Keep your bed to yourself,” hissed the blue mare, picking up the pace.

Lavender was smiling ear to ear, matching her speed without a problem.

“No, it’s not about that! Although you are missing on quite a wild story. Ain’t that right, boys?” Gust blew a kiss to her companions, who immediately gave her some dirty looks, complemented by smirks and growls. “Chester here has the most magnificent-”

“Enough!” shouted Trixie, trotting now, trying to hide her red face behind the starry cloak. She knew her ‘friend’ all too well, and had to listen through some of her love stories while in prison escape classes – thankfully, that is the reason she aced them all in one go.

“Okay, okay, fine, hihi” laughed Lavender, jumping at Trixie’s side like a hyper-active ball. “Then about that thing. You know when the auditions are, don’t you?”

“Of course not, dimwit. Nopony knows – it’s the same story as with all the other tests.”

“Oh really? Well, huh, that’s strange. I do know a certain beautiful, attractive, flexible mare that might just know where and when the tests will take place. And it ain’t no joke!”

Trixie stopped, causing one of the lovercolts to bump into her flank. He had little time to recover, as the startled mare magician begun bucking him straight in the muzzle, back, flank – wherever she could hit.

“What did you say?” asked Trixie, panting and eyeing the stallion who wanted to return to Lavender’s side, but knew better not to approach the aggravated blue devil.

“That I know a certain beautiful, attractive-”

“Cut to the chase, will you? Where is it? When? Tell me now!”

“Hihi, I’d love to! And I will! Tag, you’re it!” squealed Lavender, dashing away down the corridor.

Trixie sighed. That dumb plot was a real pain in the royal spot. Yet, with her booty being as hyped as herself, she did get her hooves on many articles, secrets or objects that nopony else would even dream about. The blue pony felt stupid about, yet again, playing Lavender’s games. She would get even someday.

* * *

Students were lazily walking the corridors, chilling out after the last lesson sessions were over. There was a possibility of a pop quiz appearing out of nowhere, but there was little one could do about it except for worrying. Those that did swiftly turned to the paranoia side of evil, seeing ghosts and enemies around every corner. One such student, a gray colt by the name of Decepticus, stalked an empty corridor that led to his dormitory. The pony crept behind the armor pieces, each time taking a minute or so to look around, check for any telltale signs of somepony following him or a concealed pop-quiz spell.

The reason he so much hated those was that in general he was a lousy student. History, Geometry, Biology – all the things which weren’t even remotely connected to his special talent he tended to fail. And those were just the basics, upon which more advanced subjects would be built in later years. Decepticus personally loved Acting classes, Literature, Gymnastics…  He had a pretty good instinct when it came to stealth. He was almost top of his class in Acting, capable of flawlessly playing many inconspicuous background characters; in Literature, he was a pretty well-spoken stallion, impressing the teachers into beating him with a bat for being too smart on them; Gymnastics were where Pegasus shined either way, but for an air-dweller Decepticus showed great promise in future Stealth classes – he moved silently, was very flexible and preferred to use his hooves instead of wings, for concealment’s sake.

Not once has the pony thought about just flying high, near the ceiling, that way avoiding the majority of threats that tended to haunt him on the ground – bullies, pop quizzes or teachers that had a bad day. Still, those gargoyles, manticores and dragons, sitting on top of their pillars… Decepticus wasn’t going to put the rumors to the test.

The colt was ready to dart to the next piece of cover, firing up his wings for a really low profile dash (one that makes his stomach bruised sometimes), when at the far end of the corridor he heard a laugh. On instincts, he collapsed his wings and huddled behind the suit of armor, his eyes seeking the source of the noise.

It was a golden-coated mare, one that went by the name of Lavender Gust. She was probably the most attractive and ‘loose’ mare in the whole academy. Decepticus dreamed of being with her, just like almost everypony else had, but the implications of even trying to get near her were over the pony’s head. He had no will to fight for such a prize with other interested bachelors.

Right behind Lavender was another mare – her cape was flapping wildly as she chased Gust down the corridor. Gosh, she looked really pissed off.

“Oh, Decepticus!” shouted the golden mare, stopping dead in her tracks.

The colt managed to yelp just before Trixie tackled her ‘friend’, tumbling a few feet forwards and landing on top of her.

“Oh, hihi, you got me! I surrender, I surrender!” laughed Lavender, her voice broken by Trixie shaking her head and shoulders violently.

“Tell me! Tell me now! Where are the preliminary tests, huh?! When!?”

“Oh, that’s all you want to know? Because, you know, Long Horn told me that he would really like for you to-”

“Stop stalling!” growled Trixie, squinting at the golden pony. Their muzzles were really close together – eyes full of aggression and anger versus a cheerful and playful gaze.

“Oh, I’m not doing anything! Hey, Decepticus!” Lavender turned her head to the side, looking at something behind Trixie. Nah, she would not fall for that old trick.

“Wanna see something neat?” The seductive pony raised an eyebrow.

“You’re wasting your time, there is nopony else here but- MHHHhhh~!”

Unexpectedly, the mare kissed Trixie. It wasn’t a regular kiss at all. Normal kisses go on the cheek. And don’t include…

“BLEEEH! Ptff, ptff!” Trixie jumped away, spitting wildly, her face burning with embarrassment and anger.

“Hihihi, Trix! I didn’t know you kissed that well. I’ll go and tell Long Horn about it! The light is green, the light is green!...” shouted Lavender, again fleeing down the corridor.

“Pttfff! What?! Lavender, you get back here this instant!”

* * *

Decepticus lay motionless behind the armor piece for some time after the spitting and cussing Trixie left the scene. How did Lavender know he was here? And what gives with that… K-Kiss? That was for him? Was it a message?

The colt shook his head, focusing on something more important that reared its ugly head. The crazy blue mare. She was talking about some kind  of tests. It was still quite some time till the finals, and even if she meant some kind of random test, she added the word ‘preliminary’ before it. Could she mean the Elite Six? Did she pass the casting then?

This was not good. Decepticus applied as well – he faced Nightmare Moon as the very first student, having camped outside her room from the moment the announcement was made. Using his acting skills, he managed to shoo away any who tried to approach with a voice thrown in the vicinity of the door, mimicking sounds of torture and pain coming from the room. When the doors finally opened, he darted inside before anypony could lift a hoof. Or hand. Or something else.

The audition itself wasn’t as scary as one would suspect – Nightmare Moon was royalty after all, and despite being bored, she was very professional. She noticed the application was filled out correctly, and somehow his low posture and eyes darting around for any signs of danger entertained the headmistress.

“Yes, you show some promise. Trust no one, believe in nothing. Your allies now may be the enemies of tomorrow – even your siblings,” hissed the regal mare. “You will show yourself tomorrow at the preliminary tests. According to school ruler, I will not tell you where or when it will be. Try and not show up, though, and I will make you pay for wasting my time.”

Like most other students, he was cast to the dungeons and had to find his way out. Which was easy, considering that the colt made it a point to remember the layout of the whole academy, including secret passages and places that might be dangerous.

All things considered now, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to participate in this whole Elite Six gig. He didn’t have much of a choice now, but he should have thought it through. Lots of ponies and other things will be there to compete. Lots of them had ambitions. And Decepticus had only one life.