My little pony: The Dark Secret

Twilight looked behind her, searching for her friends. They made it throught the crowd. Good.

They caught up to Luna and walked down the path by her side as the dusk surrounded everything in her culling embrace. Twilight opened her mouth to talk, than closed it again, unsure about what to ask.

"Ask, Twilight Sparkle. Don't be shy." Luna said, catching Twilight's quandary, smiling a bit to ease her.

"Just.. Celestia didn't even tell us what we were supposed to do. Where are we going Princess? And.. why do this people want to bring Discord back?" Twilight asked, knowing she was speaking for all of her friends. Luna rose her head, looking at the sky. Night. Wonderful, peaceful night.

"Well, Twilight.. I think it's no use denying that I and Celestia know much more than we let out about this cultists. When Discord came, he started converting people from the whole realm, drawing them to madness... Controlling them.. Forcing them to kill even their friends.. To fight for him. When we finally vanquished Discord we discovered that there was no way to bring them back to normal. We didn't have the strenght to kill them either.."

Even Pinkie calmed down, thinking how terrible would it be to descend into madness and being forced to kill a friend, like Rainbow, for instance.

Twilight nodded, and Luna continued.

"In the end, we resolved to banish them in that land, and to move our people here, where they found Equestria. After all, with Discord out, they didn't know what and what to fight for. Well, that's what we thought. Honestly, we don't know how the cult survived until today and why they show up just in time to complete the prophecy." Luna paused and stopped walking. She stared at Twilight with a pair of really serious eyes. "But we know something. There was a book."

"A book?" Twilight asked, arching a curious eyebrown.

"Some ponies joined Discord's willingly. These people were left free will, and were given great powers by him. They were put in roles such as commanding the armies or finding suitable ponies for the "conversion". These "élite" called themselves "The sons of Discord". Their leader was no other than Starswirl."

Twilight raised her hoof, as to protest, but lowered it immediately.

"You mean Starswirl the bearded?" Twilight asked. Before Luna could answer, Rainbow interrupted. "What's the big deal? One crazed pony or an other, what changes?"

"Not the bearded. His son, Starswirl the younger." Luna started walking again.  "And the big deal is that Starswirl was the second most magic dotated unicorn ever. His son too, was incredibly powerful." Twilight couldn't help but protest this time. " He was the most magic dotated unicorn ever, not the second one. " Luna chuckled, than replied smiling and looking at Twilight. "Well, no. But he sure was the most powerful unicorn in his times. By the way, he was in deep sorrow for his child's betrayal. We knew from him that his son wrote a book, under the orders of Discord, containing all the creeds of the orders and all of Discord's plans. Togheder with my sister, i hunted the book everywhere. In any of the order's stronghold or meeting place. Every. Single. One. I couldn't find it, and i couldn't find its hiding place either. Until today. In the message they left, they hinted about a stronghold i and my sister never knew of. We belive the book could be there. And that's what we are after. The book. Know thy enemy, know how to fight him. That's what they say." Luna finished, and resumed walking down the path. They were heading to the Everfree Forest, passing east of Ponyville. They kept walking silently for a few minutes.

"Princess, this seems way too convenient not to be a trap. Why would they tell you of their secret hideout?" Rarity broke the silence.

"We'll take the chance." Luna replied.

SEVEN GO FROM EQUESTRIA

INTO THE DARKNESS LEAVING THE LIGHT

TO FIND THE BLACK ORDER'S IMMORTAL DARK RHYMES

TO FIND THE WRITTEN WORDS

BY STARSWIRL CORRUPTED SON

PREVENT DISCORD FROM RETURNING

AND SAVE THE WHOLE WORLD.

A little cloud of dust went swirling from the dry pathway throught the hills. Far behind them, the white towers of Canterlot were reaching out for the dark blue sky. Their white marble and their majestic figure, lit by the pallid light of the moon, make whomever looked at them feel safe, wealthy, and peaceful.

Not for long - Luna thought. They had been walking for over five hours and finally they were close to the borders of the forest, with Sweet Apple Acres far on their right, and Fluttershy's Cottage to their left.

"So princess, may i askya why we're going in the Everfree forest? And in the middle of the night, too." Applejack started.

"You don't except us to hoof it to the old kingdom, do you?>> Twilight snorted at Luna's reply. "Why again i don't know anything about this damned "Old Kingdom"?!" She asked.

"Well.." Luna made an embarassed smile, and continued. "Told you. My sis hid it from history. I will tell you everyting sooner or later Twilight, don't worry. As for your question, Applejack..." Luna coughed. "You remember the place where you vanquished me.. uhm, her, don't you? That was our first settlement in Equestria. It hosts an old unactivated waygate between Equestria and our old castle that I and my sis conjured to help our people migration. If we activate it we will be able to get to our target much faster. We could even save three days of hoofing."

"Now this is good news!" Rarity cryed, waving her hoof. "We have been walking forever! My hooves burns!" She continued. "Yeah, it was quite a walk. I still don't understand why we're moving in such secrecy. A trip by train would've been no more than fifteen minutes."

"Well, Twilight.. you never know. They could have spies or something. It's not like i could pretend i was going in the Everfree forest with you six for a walk. I'm still a princess, after all.." Luna answered, and added that they could rest while she channeled the portal, since the ritual usually took a few hours, and headed inside the Everfree.

Moon. Where's the moon? Luna felt incredibly lonely without a clear view of the stars. In particular, she felt lost without the light of the moon, wich was completely obstructed by the thick layer of leaves that the evergreen trees of the forest built over them. The cold silence of the night was broken only by the crepts of the dead leaves under their hooves and by Dash's fluttering. After a long walk throught utter darkness, they finally came by a clearing in the forest, with some diffused light, and a cliff that Twilight remembered all too well. When she and her friends went after Nightmare Moon she risked her life falling from that very cliff. Thanfully she got saved by Rainbow and Fluttershy, who caught her mid-air. They carefully descended down the slope, until they came by a shallow river. It was here that Rarity sacrificed one of her most loved treasures - a piece of her perfectly combed tail - to help a poor water dragon. Twilight smiled. She was happy to see once again the places where she realised the value of having friends. Eventually, they entered the deep of forest again. They continued making their way through the rich undergrowth of the Everfree, until they came close to a clearing with a bridge.

"Wait. What's there?" Luna said with the lowest voice volume she could. They hid in the close bushes, and scouted the area. Guarding the bridge stood two ponies, both of them equipped with a massive black chestplate and two sword made of a black material that looked stony, rather than metallic. On of them had the right flank visible, and at the place of his cutiemark, stood a black scar of burned skin. Something wich resembled a nail had also been planted in the middle of the scar.

"Cultists!" Luna cursed. The other six ponies looked at her with a "What's the plan" face. Noticing that, Luna started channeling some kind of spell as her horn lit with a dark blue aura.

"There are 11 Cultists around. We are outnumbered but i think we can do it. There are two for each side of the bridge, And six in circle inside the waygate's chamber. I sense the eleventh has a great magical aura, and stands in the middle of the circle." Luna said, finishing her spell.

"You've got to teach me that one." Twilight whispered. "By the way, could they be trying to activate the waygate? Like, to bring their army here?"

Luna nodded. "That's likely. Unfortunately, this complicates things. A lot. We don't know how many others are on the other side of the portal. If we are lucky, there shouldn't be more. It's unlikely they moved the army before opening the waygate."

"So? What's the plan?" Pinkie asked.

"We can easly take down these two and the others on the other side of the bridge. What worries me are the seven on the portal chamber. One of them is a mage. Best thing we can do is to take these first four down as quickly as we can, so they won't be able to sound the allarm. Than we get the other seven by surprise.>> Luna explained, and the other six girls nodded. "One last thing girls. These people aren't going to stop because of Fluttershy making cute squeals." Flutteshy blushed. "Be. Cruel." Luna finished, and the others nodded again.

Celestia damn it, it was about time.

The two guards stood there, scanning the clearing. They could hear the chanting of the conjurer unicorn in the distance. Everything was going as planned. Good.

Suddently, a rainbow colored flash hit the left guard, disappearing in the abyss down the cliff. The other guard froze. This was bad. Real bad.

Horn. Sound allarm. Now. He reached for the horn to his right just to be turned into a mass of smoldering ash by a purple beam of energy.

Concealed by the darkness and the constant fog of the place, the others left the bushes and reached the borders of the cliff as Rainbow emerged from the abyss.

"Poor fellow made a quite bad fall. Ew." Dash whispered to the others. Two down, nine to go.

It was about three in the morning, and under the thick roof of fog. it was dark enough for the princess of the night to show her best trick.

The two guards stared coldly on the bridge, wich disappeared halfway in the fog. Something that resemble a dark blue smoke slipped by their eyes. They looked at each other, and assumed the darkness and the fog played a trick on them. How foolish. As Luna materialized behind the first guard, he got enveloped in a blue aura and before he could react, he burnt down to a crisp. His mate froze for a few seconds, before realising the threat, highening his sword and charging. As he was about to scream a cry for help, a cyan aura enveloped his mouth. He shouted. Not a sound. The last thing he saw was the ebony sword of his fellow highen in the air in a dark blue aura, and charge him, aiming for his chest. Than black.

Four down. Seven to go.

"Good job with that silencing spell Rarity." Luna complimented. "Thanks.. i suppose. This is being quite a shocking experience. I think i speak for all when i say we're not used to fighting and to.. you know."

The other five mares nodded. Rarity forced composture didn't cover it: They were terrified. Luna could understand that, they never met death so close before.

"I know this is hard. It will be easier. Just know that for each of them you slay, two innocent will live." Luna tryed to comfort them. They nodded. She was right, they were doing this for their parents, their friends, and all of the equestrians.

"By the way," Twilight raised one of the swords from the ground with her magic. "This is obsidian. I've read of it. It's an extremely rare stone that can pierce any metal. There is almost none in equestria. These guys must be some élite forward force if they are equipped with such rare stuff."

"Yeah, i noticed that too. Just be careful, your mithril is extremely strong but a blow from an obsidian weapon should break it if strong enought." Luna finished, and started moving toward the portal chamber.

From inside the room came a chanting of spells. Judging from their words, Luna could assume they were halfway done with the ritual.

"Alright girl. This time is serious. There are seven of them. This is the plan: I sneak him, put the lights out. Than you break in and get them by surprise. Twilight: The mage is yours. Do not fail me." The group nodded, and Luna vanished in a cloud of dark blue smoke, insinuating under the big stony door.

The unicorn was focused. He was halfway with the ritual. Once he opened the portal from this part, his colleague on the other side would've probably finished opening it from his too. Than they could meet, and bring the armies on this side, settle a solid forward settlement, and prepare for the war ahead. Suddently, he felt something. Magic. Not his. He couldn't interrupt the spell however: Not now. So he just got ready to fight in case something happened, and continued.

A few minutes were gone. Suddently, the lights turned out. They were here. He turned around, and shot with all his power an orb of green aura to the door. To his dismay, it was intercepted by an other projectile of purple energy, and both of them disappeared, nullifying each other. He shot an other, continued beam of energy, in the same direction. On the other side, Twilight did the same.

A loud "Crack" was heard as Luna materialized behind one of the guards and snapped its neck. The others charged the seven ponies, thanks to the light provided by the two beams of energy.

Applejack turned and bucked as hard as she could, knocking the first guard out cold. She turned, just to see an other stallion rising his sword. Seconds before the cultist could hit the cowmare, a white hoof hit him on the head, knocking him on the ground and disarming him.

"Whew, thanks Rarity."

On the other side, a guard had isolated a pink pony. He rose his sword, and to his dismay he felt himself being hit by... A ball of confetti? WHAT?! He lowered his sword and looked at the mare who shot him. He honestly didn't know if he should kill her with fire or hug her.

"Do you like my party cannon?" Pinkie asked staring the sweating guard with the biggest smile ever. He, obiviously, didn't answer. He just stood there like an imbecile unable to decide what to do.

"Nah, you don't." Pinkie said, knocking him hard on the head. He fainted..

The others three felt cornered and started closing near the portal, hoping for some miracle to happen. The rightmost just heared something that resembled a "Yeeeehooow" a centisecond before getting hit by a rainbow projectile and getting crushed aganist the wall. Twilight was stuck. He could beat the other mage in any time, but couldn't find the courage to end him. Finally, Luna's words echoed through her mind: Each one of them you slay, is an innocent equestrian who lives. She focused, and the purple beam of energy completely overpowered the green one, incenerating both the unicorn and the guard behind him.

The last guard put his sword down and backed into a corner. He was sweating and saw no way to get out of that hellhole. Suddently, a cream-colored mare approached him.

"Could you, you know, surrender? If you don't mind.. that is..."

That did the trick. The poor guard bursted into tears and run out of the room and into the forest crying. They didn't stop him.

"Are you all alright?"Luna asked. They were, not a scratch, all of them. <<Good. Look through these people's equipment if you can find a rope or something to bind those who are not dead. I'll try to open the portal. Once we open it, be ready to surprise anyone who crosses it from the other side. It will take a few hours to complete the ritual from the beginning, so you have some time to rest." Everybody nodded, except Twilight, who was still recovering.

"Good. Before you rest, get some firewood and search the bodies for any information or item that could be useful. I'll check your findings after the opening ritual is finished." Luna finished, and started channeling a spell on the idle, dusty portal.

"I'll go with Dash to get some fire goin'. Ya guys stay here and look for.. sumthin'.." Dash followed Applejack out of the room and the others started searching throught their unfortunate foes' bags. Twilight, in particular, snooped around the unicorn's belongings. The stallion had a book in his saddleback. Though most chapters were unknown to her, three words in the first pages were written in Equestrian. Starswirl the betrayer. That's what it said. Curious, she took the book to show the princess later.

The six ponies were sitting close to a newly-lit bonfire. Two of them were already sleeping, and the others were trying to. Twilight however, could not close her eyes. She was still shocked by the happenings of that day.

She had killed a pony. And if she didn't, she would've been killed in turn. She just couldn't sleep after passing throught something like that. Suddently, she felt a soft arm bind her in a hug. It was Rainbow.

"Hey, egghead.." Twilight looked up at her friend, and rested her head on her shoulder. "We have to do this Twi. For our friends, for our family, for Equestria." Twilight rubbed her forehead on Dash's shoulder's coat, closed her eyes, and tryed to get some sleep. Dash smiled, and closed her eyes too.

Those wise last world

fade in my soul

You had the choice, you chose to fight

For your beloved ones!

Grit your teeth and open your eyes...

// A.N. Ugh.. i've been writing too much today. Two chapters in a day is just too much.

// I will take some time to format the chapter tomorrow, you may want to wait until then.

// The fighting scene could be subjected to some heavy changes. I'm not completely satisfied with it.

// Again: The songs are "The mystic prophecy of the Demonknight" and "Son of Pain". Check them out, they're damn good.

// A. N. 2 : I was not entirely happy with the ending, so i just remade it. Chapter two will land between tomorrow evening and the afternoon in two days. Depends.

// I am also changing this whole brackets crap into quotation marks, as suggested.