My little pony: The Dark Secret

by Atheos

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Adventure
Length: 11301

Twilight gets a letter from Celsetia. She can't imagine the future of the world is at stake.

In a day like many other, Twilight gets a letter from Celestia, asking in a rather worried tone that she and her friends present themselves at the castle as soon as possible. Catching the first train, Twilight and her friends reach the castle. But what they discovered, they never excepted…

The story is a pony dark adventure fiction freely inspired to Rhapsody of Fire's Dark Secret Saga. I won't tell anything else in the description to avoid spoiling too much. Feedback, wether negative or positive, is always appreciated. Sometimes you'll find a ponified version of a cut from a song's lyrics. You can find the names of the songs at the bottom of each chapter in the autor's note space, in case you are interested.
Enjoy.

Cover image and modified lyrics owned by Rhapsody of Fire.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-04 12:01:42 UTC

Prelude: Twilight falls

Only one pony could cross the darklands, and venture forth, deep into the caves of Pon-Kuron. Hers is a name Equestria will never forget.. She is.. Luna.

Twilight looked around the hall, trying to notice any change since the last time she went there. Same two guards, same huge ivory doors with the moon and the sun carved in, same cristal clear windows. Yet, she had been feeling a sense of unease ever since she crossed the castle gates, one she never felt before. She usually would've been happy to visit the Princess, yet this time the summoning letter had somewhat of a concerned tone that made her worried over than happy. Morever, the guards too looked quite uneasy, or even worried. She turned, looking at her friends, to see if any of the other girls was worried as she was.

"What's wrong, sugarcube?" Asked Applejack, walking by her side and giving her a little affective push on her left shoulder. Fluttershy too, noticing her friend's unease, walked by her.

"Yeah, you've been so quiet since we got off the train.." Her pink-maned friend pointed, resting her head on Twi's neck, trying to ease her down.

In a way or an other, Fluttershy's words had the desired effect, as Twilight couldn't help but chuckle a bit tinking that she had just been told she was too quiet from the most calm pony in Equestria. She pulled out a letter from her saddlebag, and levitated it by her two friend's noses. "Can't you see what the problem is? The calling letter had quite a strange tone.. As if the princess was warried about something. Look at the hoofwriting too, it's.. not her usual precise writing style."

"Yeah!" Pinkie arched an eyebrown and looked at her friends, and continued, with a failed attempt to make a spooky voice. " Like something reeeeally nasty was going to happen within the fanfiction." Twilight arched a questioning eyebrown: "Fanfiction?" Pinkie was making no sense. Routine. Knowing that a discussion with her pink friend could've been really bad for her mental sanity, Twi ignored her, and turned her attention to Rarity and Dash, who were looking at the castle's park throught one of the huge glass windows.

Dash looked back, and made a "Come here" gesture with her hoof.

"Hey Twi.. Don't you think there's something off with the garden? Like.. something that should be there isn't there?" Asked Dash without getting her eyes off the park.

Twilight reached the window and scanned the outside carefully. Yet, before she could take a full look at the whole park, the ivory Door opened with a loud "Tumph" and two guards came out. The first looked at the six ponies and announced the princess was ready to meet them. Twilight left the window and followed the girls, who in turn were following the guards, in the throne hall. Celestia was there, staring out of a big window. Twilight was right: She did indeed look an awful lot worried. And she was sweating, too.

"Y'now sugarcube? Ya were right, she seems a damn lot scared 'bout something." Whispered Applejack to Twilight, who pushed her aside nodding and saluted the Princess.

"Oh, Twilight, my faithful student. Here, come by the window, we don't have much time." Issued Celestia. Twilight sent a questioning look to her friends as she took place on the Princess' side and resumed her scan of the park. She didn't took long to realise what the princess wanted her to see, and what struck Dash as weird earlier. Right on the side of the labyrinth, stood an empty pedestal, which was not supposed to be empty at all.

"Princess! The statue! Discord! Is it.. Gone?!" She asked, walking a few steps backwards in shock. As the rest of her party heard that, dismay struck the five ponies, who rushed to the window aswell.

"What do you mean Discord's gone?! We beated his damn back for good, and turned him into freakin' marble!" Dash shouted, flying to the window and sticking her face to it, looking at the empty pedestal she half-noticed earlier.

The princess backed from the window, walking to the middle of the hall, and began her explanation: "A group of fanatics who calls themselves "The black order" broke in the castle last night. They knocked two guards unconscious and severely injured one other. Before the general allarm started, they were able to flee with the statue. Also, they left a message for us." The princess paused here and sighed. She threw an apphrensive look at her pupyl and continued: "Twilight these people are serious. They were swift, geared and organised. And merciless too. The injured guard.. probably won't to pass the night."

The last line struck the already dismayed ponies even harder: Murder NEVER happened in Equestria. No pony would've ever hurt an other pony seriously.

"Ya mean he could.. Princess, who are this people and what do they want? Why in equestria did they steal discord? And what's on the message they left? And also, what do we fit 'nall this?" Applejack started, breaking the silence.

"This is the reason i summoned you for." The Princess' horn lit with a golden glow, and a piece of paper flew from the throne to Twilight. To her surprise, she could not read what was written in the piece of paper. Weird thing, since she studied every single language book avaiable, even dead tongues. "You can't read it because it's encrypted. I translated the most of it. It's a profecy. It says that before I and Luna could vanquish Discord, over one thousand years ago, somehow knowing his defeat was imminent, he channeled most of his power and a part of himself power inside an "artifact". According to the letter, if the artifact and the statue were to be joined, one the seventh eclipse of the one thousand first Equestrian year Discord would "reborn" whole and at his full power."

"And ya belive a word of this crap?" Applejack interrupted. As Twilight stared AJ as if she wanted to strangle her, the Princess continued.

"I wouldn't.. Normally. But you must know one thing. Before the Elements "came" to us Discord was defeating us. Than, one day, we had the Elements, and Discord gave up, just like that. Now.. i think it was all a part of a greater plan. And honestly, i won't take the chance of ignoring the possibility that what the cultist said is the truth. As Twilight knows, the seventh eclipse will be in 13 days. And i run out of time. I've got an important matter to take care of. Luna is waiting for you at the castle's portcullis. She will explain everything you need to know. Before that, you should go to the Element's chapel. I had your brother arranging a gift for you girls." Celestia forced a smile, and started walking out of the room.

"Princess, wait! I've read every single history or geography book avaiable. Why don't I know anything about this cult, this profecy, an of this war between Discord and you?" Twilight asked, reaching Celestia.

"I'm sorry Twilight.. some things are better remain forgotten." The princes said coldly, without stopping. As she turned behind the door, she raised her voice: "One last thing girls.. these people doesn't joke. This is nothing like the feats you faced until today. These fanatics will kill you if they get the chance. Be careful.. please." She said, and left the girls on their own. Twilight had about a hundred questions unanswered now. The Elements "came" to the Princesses? Discord was different than the Discord they met? And.. Oh god, her head hurted SO much.

"So, lemme get this straight, this people are many, mercilles, and organized and the princess want us to stop them on our own? And she refuses to give explanation to our questions?" Applejack started. " I got just the riiight term for what the princess told us: A huge load of bullsh.." Before Applejack could finish, Rarity shut her mouth with her hoof. "There is no reason to be rude. And the princess was crystal clear. Still.. she was quite secretive. And Applejack is indeed right: Twilight, how can Celestia send us in such a perilous mission all on our own?"

"I got no idea, Rarity. She actually didn't even tell us what she wants us to do. Anyways, it looks like we got no time waste. We better get whatever my brother left for us at the chapel, and go talk to Luna. She could spread some light over this whole mess."

"Which is ironical, since she's the princess of darkness. Tee-hee!"

"Oh, Pinkie." The others chuckled.

Discord would rule

In the unholy name of cosmic chaos

And this time he would reign supreme.

As they reached the chapel, a white unicorn stallion and a pink alicorn reached them. "Twily! I missed you so much sis!" Twilight brother greeted, hugging her. Cadence smiled and winked to her from behind. Leaving the hug, Twilight interrogated her brother about the Princess' behaviour. "The matter is serious, twi. I insisted for the princess to let me and my boys go at your place but there was nothing to do to convince her.. Twilight please, as much as i'm confident you will be safe with Luna at your side i fear.."

"Wait up, calm your horses and start from the beginning. The Princess is coming with us?" Rarity interrupted, arching her eyebrown.

"Yeah.. She'll explain all she can to you later. Well, i suppose i better update you with everything i know." The girls nodded, and Shining went on: "First you got to know that a few days ago Luna and Celestia had a terrible fight, and with terrible, i mean terrible. Luna got pretty close to Cadence as a friend, so she stayed by us a couple of days after the fight. She didn't want tell us what caused the rift between her and Celestia, but Cadence thinks they fought over some political reason, I got no idea if it has anything to do with the events that went on the following days. Yesterday morning, the princess called for me in her private rooms saying she had a grave matter to speak about. According to her, three of my guards had a fight during the night and one of my guys was severely injured. But.." Shining paused and bit his lip, as if he didn't want to reveal his feelings to her sister, or more probably, as he felt forced not to. Cadence step forward and continued Shining's speech: "But we went to visit him, and from the kind of wound he has you can absolutely tell someone ran a sword throught his chest. As you can see, none of my Shining's boys is armed with a sword."

"Which, in other words, means the princess has been lying out of her theeth." Shining said with a concerned voice, Leading the way inside the chapel. Twilight shook her head. "Why would the princess lie like this?" Twi answered. She thought if she should tell her brother what she knew about the injured guard.

"Twi.. There's worse. I'm so sorry having to tell you such things about the princess, i know you're close to her but.. She ordered me to punish my boys for their "little skirmish on work" as she called it. He asked me to punish a stallion who's about to die Twi!" Shining finished, stomping his hoof on the ground. Twilight had never seen him so angry, but that was the last of her concern. This last line caught her off guard. She didn't want to belive a word of what her brother said, and yet she trusted him more than anyone. "Shining.. So you don't know what our mission actually is and who actually hurt your men?" Asked Dash, putting her hoof over Twi's shoulder to confort her. Shining darkened all of the sudden and stopped walking. "I don't know the details. But Luna told me something. She told me my men got attacked by someone and you were to get them. Girls.. Luna told me your could be a suicide mission. That is why me and a couple of my most trusted men wanted to go on your place." Twilight brother finished.

"Twi, should we tell him the whole story?" Dash whispered to Twilight, who answered that they should avoid putting other stress on her brother's mind.

"There's more. Celestia ordered me to prepare my men for war. A war twily! There has never been a war since Equestria was founded! I do not trust her anymore. My whole trust and faith goes to Luna now. You should trust her too, and let her guide you. One last thing: The gift Celestia ordered me to give you was a set of iron chestplates, like the ones the guards wear." Shining smiled, for the first time since the conversation started. "Inteasted, I was able to get you a set of six mithril chestplates. Trust me, there is nothing in Equestria that can break such items. I had to do the impossible to get 'em within two days, but that's the least i could do for you. So, here we are.. Good luck girls." Shining said, stopping in front of a building with six gems drawn upon. Twilight gave him a kiss on the cheek and the rest of the girls thanked him.

He left the girls there, and Cadence, after saying goodbye, followed him.

"Soo.. What do you think?" Rarity started. "I don't understand. Why would Celestia act like that?" Twilight asked.

"I dunno sugarcube, but the earlier we talk to Luna, the earlier we find out." Applejack answered, pushing the chapel door open. Right inside, six mannequins wearing six silverly armours were awaiting for them. All but one, Twilight's, had an empty socked, shaped like a necklage. Armor aside, all mannequins had a cape with a leaf-shaped brooch. Each cape had a hood.

Twilight looked at hers, the one without socket. She already realised what the sockets were for, and se would probably get confirmation from Luna. "Well girls, let's put these on and go meet the Princess." Twilight said putting her hood on and getting ready to go.

"Okie dokie loki!" Answered Pinkie, jumping in a circle around Twilight. How could she even bounce with the weight of a mithril armor on her shoulders?

THEY ARE THE LAST HOPE

FOR PONIES, DRAGONS AND MULES

PHOENIX OF THE FORESTS

ZEBRAS AND GRYPHONS

Twilight was scouting the portcullis. With those rugged cape and hoods noone could recognize them, noone who didn't know their current clothes, of course. She keept scanning the zone, but the princess was nowhere to be seen. Finally, Pinkie emerged from a lateral court, she got close to Twilight and whispered her they had found Luna. They entered the court and turned left. In the dark stood Luna, she too covered in a rug. With her, the other four ponies. Pinkie smiled and bouncy-jumped on the princess side.

"Twilight sparkle. We bet thou have some questions to ask us. You will have all the time to ask anything you want during our journey, but first we would like to say something to you." Luna stood up and freed herself from the hood, with royal gestures. Before she could continue her speech, Twilight interrupted: "Princess, if it's possible i would like to speak in a less formal tone.. We're onto a big quest togheder after all, aren't we?"

"I'm sorry Twilight. Living in the palace made me a bit refractary to normal manners of speech. You must know something really important. Everything you know, everything you were told," The princess said, emphatizing by pushing Twilight's chest with her hoof. "About our past and all history of Equestria is nothing but a huge lie." "Toldya, a huge stack of bullshit!" Added Applejack with a proud smile. The others stared at her with a face that would scare a tiger. She was the element of honesty after all. "What?! The princess said 'at too." Luna put her hoof on her face and shook her head. Than, she continued. "Anyway.. the whole history as you know from the books was made up from my sister. Completely. Not a single line was the truth."

Although Twilight looked fine, she was dismayed. Why would the princess do anything like that? Could it be possible that she studied a bounch of.. lies? She didn't interrupt the princess anyway, and she kept listening. "I will explain everything later Twilight. For now, know that my sister hasn't suddently turned evil. Everything she did, she did because she thought it would be best for our people not to know the horrors of the past. The events which brought to this day and to our current quest were set into motion ages ago. Those dark times still haunts her at a point she can't even tell our people we could be at the edge of a crisis! That is why we had a fight, and that is why she couldn't tell your brother the truth." Luna lowered her voice volume and her face darkened. "Equestria wasn't founded thanks to a freaking heart-shaped burst of magic. The world we know.. You know, won't last much. My sister thought she could make her people live in an age of happiness and peace forever.. But now all could change. Long time ago.. It was different. There was blood.. There was war.. There was death."

Charging energy in her horn, Luna shot a beam of energy with hit the armed pegasus in the chest, leaving nothing but a smoldering corpse. She quickly rolled to her left to avoid the red beam shot by the other unicorn and as it passed by she turned, propelling with her wings and charging toward him, piercing his chest with her horn. The wound was fatal. Her face covered in blood, she entered the flaming hut. She was too exhausted to cast a spell to stop the flames, and she had little time before the hut collapsed. But she didn't care about risk anymore. She bucked the second door down and rushed in. The old stallion was already dead, and Luna rushed to the blood-covered mare who laid on the ground. They had ran a sword throught her chest, and Luna took little time to realise she could do little to nothing to save the poor lady. The mare grabbed Luna's mane with her theeth, and whispered her: "Save her." The poor mother widened her arms. She was holding a young filly. Luna couldn't avoid letting loose a tear down her cheeck. She grabbed the foal and closed her dead mother's eyes, Quickly rushing out of the hut before it collapsed. She held the filly close to her and wiped her face from the black ash and from her tears. She had fell unconscious from the fear.

"Bastard bandits.." She whispered to herself. She took off and flew for the palace as the flames slowly died.

"Luna? Are you alright?" "I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle. I was just.. thinking." Luna said. A tear ran down her cheek, she wiped it, and continued talking. "As i was saying.. Long ago the world was different. My sister and I.. we both lived over one thousand years. We both had a lot time to see things we shouldn't have seen. My sister doesn't want anyone to witness what she witnessed.. to feel what she felt." Luna got up, as if she remembered something important, and started walking. "Sorry girls, we have little time. I will explain you everything on the way." She finished, putting her hood on and leaving the court, into the crowd.

Before following her, Twilight exchanged a few looks with her friends, and had confirmation of her suspects: They were all even more confused than they were before hearing Luna's story.  Still, they all knew that lonely dark blue pony held all the answers they sought, and they were still loyal to the promise they made to Celestia. As the sun went down and twilight fell on the kingdom, they followed Luna throught the portcullis, and out of Canterlot.

From the high towers the people acclaim

The chosen heroes now crossing the gates

Seven ponies ventured to distant lands

For the sake of mules, gryphons and dragons

Celestia's eyes can see the fear of the world

It's the last dramatic pony war!

End of the prelude

// Author's Note

// ON THIS CHAPTER: Stuff should look a bit confusing, i know that. This prelude is just a freaking big cliffhanger and i feel reeal bad for this. You (and the mane6) will get all your answers in the next chapter. Stay tuned.

// So well, went a bit too far didn't i? I won't say an ETA for future chapters since it really depends on what i have to do and what i want to do. I wrote this in 3-4 hours so you can except about a chapter a day if things turn out well.

// Please feedback and rate up or down the fic. Feedback ALWAYS help, no matter how negative.

// If you are interested in the songs check out "The Dark Secret" "The last Angel's Call" and "The mystic prophecy of the Demonknight". All credits for the Dark Secret Saga and the song goes to Rhapsody of Fire.

// One last note: This is my first attempt ever on writing a fic, so yeah, hope it doesn't turn out to be a complete piece of crap.

Chapter one: Grit your teeth

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.

Chapter two: Beyond the dark portal

Twilight looked around trying to understand where she was. Darkness covered everything, and for some reason Twilight couldn't light her horn. She tried to call for her friends, but no sound came out of her mouth. All she knew is that the placed had a terrible smell, and the soil felt soft and wet. She probably was in a marsh, or a rainforest. She walked carefully around, somehow hoping to bump on Luna or one of her friends. Then, suddently, a green light spread on the area. With horror, Twilight realised what she was standing on was not mud or wet soil. She was standing on a thousand corpses, laying in a bloody marsh. She couldn't move, or scream, so she tried to find the light source. Ahead of her, floating in the air, there was a unicorn. In a circle around him, floated ten other ponies, whose corpses were dilaniated, scarred, or burned. Twilight started panicking, trying to move everywhere, but being blocked by some kind of force, she tryed the only thing she thought could save her: She shot a beam of energy toward the unicorn, turning him in a swirling mass of ashes and vapor.

To her horror, the unicorn body reformed, and floated closer to her.

"Why?" He asked.

Twilight opened her eyes barely managing not to scream. The fire was still burning and she felt Dash's warm coat on her. "Just a dream.. a bad dream.." She thought, wiping her face and moving Dash away to stand up. Everypony was sleeping, except Luna, who was still focusing on her ritual. The stony ring wich was going to host the portal had started glowing with a dark blue light and she assumed that was a sign the ritual was almost complete. In fact, the sun was dawning outside, meaning Luna had been working on the portal for at least four or five hours now. Twilight sat next to the fire, and levitated the book she had from the unicorn's bag to her. She wouldn't be able to sleep some more anyways, so she decided to examine further the misterious journal.

Everything was written in weird characters, but one single line. Starswirl, the betrayer. She didn't get it. First, why would someone write three words in equestrian and encrypt the rest of the text in some other language? And why betrayer? Those questions troubled her, It just made no sense. She resolved to look through the rest of the book, just to discover it was completely blank. Was the book a diary?

"Good day, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight dropped the book, and looked up. The princess was there, and the portal was swirling behind her, ready to be crossed.

"The portal is ready. Before we go, may i know what's troubling you? If you haven't realised it, you've been thinking aloud for a few minutes."

Twilight took a few second to snap out of her self-questioning trance and assimilate the princess' word. When she realised she had been talking to herlself like a crazy pony, she covered her face with her hoof and let out a sigh.

"Sorry princess.. It's just that i found this book inside that unicorn's saddlebag and i can't figure out what its contenent means."

Twilight horn lit as she floated the book to Luna, who opened it and started examining its contenent.

"Hm. It's written in the so-called "black tongue", the language the cult uses. Except for this line.." Luna stopped, looked at Twilight with a puzzled look and than back at the book. She looked like she had just found something interesting. "Yes?!" Twilight asked, eager to know.

"It's.. scratch what i said, it's not written. Can't you see? These are not ink letters, they're burn marks!"

Twilight jumped a bit, and Luna turned the book so she could see what she meant. It was true, there was no ink on the page. Inteasted, the black letters were just burns on the thick paper.

"Furthermore, I can feel a slight magic aura on the page. I'm not sure... But i think these are the thoughts of the unicorn you defeated. Somehow he must've burnt these words on his journal in a burst of magic seconds before dying. That's the only explanation i can give.

Twilight found it resonable, but hardly useful information. She asked Luna if she could translate it.

"I can't. The only pony who knows this language and is not a cultist is Celestia. We're going to show this book to her once we come back. Now wake up your friends, we've got a portal to cross." Luna turned, and headed for the dark blue swirling rift.

"Alright everypony. Are you all ok and ready?" Twilight asked with a quite shrill voice. She was excited. Being maniacally interested about both magic and space she had been reading a lot about teleportation and wormholes' or portals' interactions with it, but aside from her short-range blinking spell, she had never actually tryied a long-distance teleport.

"Ya bet it." Applejack said yawning. Luna stepped forward and cleared her voice with a cough. "Good. Now, since noone popped up from the portal until now, i think there shouldn't be anyone on the other side. But if there is someone, know he is not friendly. So as soon as you get on the other side, be ready to fight."

Everypony nodded, and one by one, they crossed the stony ring, disappearing in the swirling fog of the waygate.

Twilight felt a tickling sensation. She was laying on some cold floor. She opened her eyes to see the Princess standing close to her, smiling. Her other friends was standing up too, she did the same, and looked around. She was in a big castle hall. The floor, the walls, and even the roof were made in different types of marble and golden carvings decorated the angles of the room. Painted on the left walls there was a nocturnal sky, and on the right, a daily one. The moon, engraved with silver on the black marble, faced the sun on the other side, made in pure gold. The place looked really antique, yet well maintained. She reached Luna, and asked where they were.

"We are in Haylgard. Capital of the old kingdom. Home of Luna, princess of the night, and Celestia, princess of the sun. Bastion of light over the surrounding lands." She seemed to find strangely satisfying saying that line. "Yeah. And what now?" Dash asked. Luna smiled, and answered they were going to need a map.

"The message spoke about a place where "The souls of a thousand miscreant lingers, and the bloody river of Kargor rises from the depths of the earth, forming a swamp". I know of only one place wich matches such description: The Ruins of Pon-Kuron."

"Do tell." Twilight asked. "What happened there?"

Luna face darkened a bit. "We were told the story from the only survivor of that fateful night.. One thousand and one hundred years ago our forces fought a terrible battle aganist the Order. They had attacked Pon-Kuron, our forward post in their lands, with a small army. They looked absolutely hopeless, disorganized and outnubered, but than.." Luna paused a bit and the ponies looked at her eager to know. "Than Starswirl the Younger showed up. A glow of his horn, and a thousand defenders crashed on the ground, dead." Luna paused, and bit her lip. "One spell Twilight. One single spell destroyed an army. The Order then conqueared the fortress and turned it in their own bastion. It was then that, thrilled by Starswirl's dark powers other ponies started to join Discord on their own. Thus, the "Sons of Discord" were born." Luna finished.

The ponies stood silently, watching the floor. One thousand lives broken by one single spell.. Could a unicorn's power really be so terrible? They stood there, silent, until Rarity decided to break the silence.

"What happened is indeed terrible, yet I think we have little time to mourn the losses of the past. Princess, how are we going to find a map here?"

"This castle hosts the biggest library in both Equestria and the old kingdom. I'm confident we will find everything we need there."

Twilight's eyes lit. A huge library full of of 1000-years-old books waiting for her. Incredible knowledge that went beyond her imagination! The thoughtful expression on her face was quickly replaced by an dumb smile as she imagined all those ancient books dancing around her.

"..And you're not coming with us, Twilight."

"What?!" Twilight snapped out of her daydream.

"You are not coming with us. I'm sorry Twilight, but we don't have time to waste waiting while you read ond books." Luna continued, with a cold voice. Twilight wanted to belive it was some crude joke Luna was playing on her.

"But i.." The princess cut her. "I said no Twilight Sparkle. Far from eyes, far from heart. You will have some time to explore the castle while we look for a map, be happy with that."

Twilight tried to protest but there was no way to convince the princess.

"Well, let's go girls. Meet you here in half an hour, Twilight."

Twilight was frustrated. She couldn't belive the princess played her such a trick. Having nothing else to do, she started walking around the richly decorated castle halls, thinking aloud. "Why can't i snoop around some bloody BOOKS!? Damn it." Twilight was snorted as she talked to herself while she walked. Eventually, she arrived at a big set of stairs wich brought to a big hall. The room was probably the main entrace, having a huge door opposed to the stairs and two smaller doors on the other sides of the room, leading to two lateral gardens. "Oh, Twilight is such a bookworm, if she gets in that library she won't come out anymore! Gne gne gne gne!" Twilight faked the princess voice. "To hell! They're snooping around the biggest library in Equestria and this bloody nameless land and i got to walk around a damned hall! And this damned noise of swords clashing won't stop! Argh!"

Twilight took a couple of seconds to realise what she just said. "Swords? Clashing? Who in Equestria.."

The noise came from the left garden. Twilight didn't think twice and rushed in its direction, but she found herself trapped in a wildly grown park, with the noise coming from not far ahead. Instinctively, she burnt the wild grass with magic and arrived to a clearing in the park. In front of her, a blue unicorn in a silverly armor was clashing with a brown coated pegasus. She noticed the pegasus cutiemark was burnt and had a nail in it and she shot a purple enegy projectile in his direction without thinking twice. The pony twitched, and fell on the ground, lifeless.

The unicorn pointed his sword in her direction, unsure if she was an ally or a common foe.

"Who are you?!" the stallion asked.

Twilight backed, and answered she was Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's protegÃ©, on a quest aganist the black order. The unicorn lowered his sword and put it into his sheath, and closed up to Twilight. He was a bit higher than the average unicorn, and quite bulkier. Actually, he had about the same physique of her brother, except his mane wasn't cured, in fact, it was quite rugged.

"Alright, so you're not an enemy.. Thanks for the help. My name is Starswirl the brave, last of the Starswirl's family line, ruler of the Ironhoof clan. It's a pleasure to see a friendly face in this land, Twilight Sparkle. Who is this Celestia anyways?"

Twilight started to laugh hysterically. Did she just meet a descendant of Starswirl who didn't know who Celestia was?

"You don't know..? And you are..? Ruler of what?!"

"Woah, calm your horses milady! I asked first, answer and i will answer you, one question at a time." The unicorn said smiling. He closed up to Twilight, and, standing by her side, he wrapped an arm around her.

"Is he trying to..?" Twilight thought. She pushed him away, and answered. "Celestia is the ruler of Equestria and was once the ruler of these lands. Not to mention she is the most magically powerful pony in the world. How's possible that you don't know her?" She asked, trying to ignore the looks of her new friend.

"Well.. you see," He started, rubbing the back of his head with his hoof. "My people know little from the outside, or our story. We just know we were left behind when our people moved after a great war. Ever since, we've been fighting for every inch of cultivable land in this crude wasteland. These people.." He pointed at the dead pegasus. "Have been hunting us down for a millennium, according to the little hi\story we know. Our name came from Starswirl the Third, who founded our clan. He was called "Ironhoof", since he lost one of his hooves fighting with these people, and had it replaced with an iron one. At least, that's the story." The unicorn looked at the ground with a somewhat sad face. "I am called "The Brave" because my people consider me the bravest fighter in the land, i never throw down a challenge. But, i'm not the strongest, and i am really bad with magic, even if my line is considered to be full of magic power. I came here because of some legends wich speaks of two powerful and benevolet magic being who lives in this place. I wanted to learn more about it and magic. Sadly, no powerful magic being, just a bounch of this crazy dudes pillaging the place." Starswirl smiled and looked at Twilight. "At least i found you." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Calm your hooves romeo. Well.. let's have a walk, shall we? We will share what we know."

Starswirl nodded, and they started walking back towards the hall.

"It's incredible!" Luna sighed. "There are hundreds of books and not a blasted map!". She dropped her muzzle upon a pile of books and puffed.

The other ponies looked at her with a long face. They had been searching for a good fourty-five minutes, and they found nothing. Plus, they were late at their meeting with Twilight, who was mad them. Real bad situation.

"I'm sorry, I took them, i figured out they would've been useful to my people. Here, take this one." Said a blue unicorn to Luna. "Thanks! Girls, we got the map!" She said triumphally.

"Wait, who the hell are you?!" Luna asked, realising she just spoke to a pony she didn't know in a place no other pony should be.

Twilight stepped inside the library, and forcing herself to ignore the culture-filled scaffold, explained:

"He is the last of the Starswirl family line. He is the leader of a group of people who were left behind when you fled to Equestria."

Luna blinked her eyes and scanned the blue unicorn. He didn't look much like Starswirl, but that seemed pretty fair since a thousand years had passed. What struck her was his magical aura. It was much similar to Starswirl's, but not as much trained.

"Starswirl had a son?" She asked, blinking again. "Seems so. Starswirl "Ironhoof" the third, to be precise." The other five ponies just looked at the three and listened to what they said. Luna looked pretty confused. "And how comes he is not a cultist?" Luna asked, blinking her eyes a third time.

"I got no idea. In fact, his clan, founded by Ironhoof, has been fighting the Order ever since its fundation." Twilight answered.

"And, pray tell, why is he with you?"

"I saved him from a cultist. He said he's coming with us wherever we're going. He wants to learn from us and help on our quest. Is that okay?"

"Yeah i guess.." Luna looked like she was under inquisition. Well, with the voice Twilight was making, anyone would feel that way.

"Can we go now?" Twilight continued.

"Yes, sure."

"Fine. Remember that you owe me to carry a set of these tomes back in Equestria when we come back. Girls, let's get going."

Everyone nodded, and Luna lead them throught the main entrace. Once they left, they met with a devasted landscape. There was no trace of grass or flowers, and the trees had died.

Luna remembered the lands quite different from this. She gazed questioningly at Starswirl, and asked what went on here. He darkened, and answered.

"These lands fell under the control of the Order long time ago, when i was still young. This is what they do to any place they conquear. Somehow they just kill the very land: grass dies, trees falls, flowers burns. This piece of land was really important to us, almost sacred i'd say. We lost it after a terrible defeat in a battle aganist the Order. We have a song about it, if you care to listen, i can sing it." The other ponies nodded, and Starswirl began.

"During the first six of our long wars

We ironhoof found shelter between these wild rocks..

At that time this region, known as Haylgard,

was green, majestic, heaven on earth..

When the sixth war was sadly lost,

for our beloved lands, this meant the fall.

The Order found a new land to ruin,

so woods and flowers decided to die,

rivers and falls became suddenty dry,

From the time the cold darkness reign,

Haylgard became the darkland it's today..

Haylgard became the darkland it's today.."

The eight ponies were a few miles away from the castle now. The monotony of the landscape made them fall pretty silent. Even Starswirl, who had been trying to get closer to Twilight the whole day was suddently quiet. Somehow Twilight had started liking his care. In her life Twilight had been so focused on studying that she haven't had the time to find some friends until Celestia forced her, let alone receiving the attention of a stallion. She decided to break the silence, as the others too needed to distract a bit from the dullness of the land.

"So.. Starswirl. Your song tells about "six wars". Care to tell something more?" She asked, poking him on his shoulder. He smiled back, and started.

"For you, sure thing. You must know that my people had a total of six wars with the Order. Altought we have little written evidence, since we are nomadic, or better, we are forced to be, and we have little time to write books or evidence of the past, any Ironhoof has memory of the last three wars. The fourth ended when we destroyed their forward outpost of Kargor, forcing them back on the Pon-Kuron marsh. We didn't hear them until the second war, wich began with their assault on our encampment, close to Kargor and ended with our failed counterstrike on Pon-Kuron, during wich my father died."

He darkened and lowered his head looking at the ground. " I was barely twelve when i had to take the command of the Clan, because of my father's death. The last war began immediately after. On their tide of success, the cultists attacked Haylgard plains. I was too young to properly command our soldiers, and without a steady battle strategy and a good leader, they wrecked us. Our beloved land fell in their hands.. And my clan was pushed back in the borders of what we now call the Darklands. And it was all my fault."

Twilight regret asking him, and tryed to comfort him wrapping her arm around his shoulder.

"I don' get this. Is he tryin' it with Twi or is it her who's trying with him?" Whispered Applejack to Rarity, who just chuckled.

"You see, my people love me and don't hold any grudge for that day.. but i know it was my fault. And i swear i will fix it up in due time. Twilight explained me a bit of your quest, and i think i can help my cause by helping yours. This is why i'm here with you."

They had been walking for a good five hours now. They were all quite tired, except Luna, when they finally reached the borders of a red marsh, surrounded by hills, and beyond it, high stony mountains, full of caves and rocky formations. There, perched on the footsteps of the mountain, was an ancient-looking fortress. The whole landscape would've been quite a good view actually, if it wasn't for one slight detail: The ground of the marsh was covered by dead bodies. Twilight eyes widened at the vision. It was the marsh she dreamed of, she was sure of it. The six girls were dismayed, and they tryed to look away. Before they asked, Luna explained.

"These bodies are the remnants of the war that went on. A spell casted by Discord himself has prevented the bodies from decomposing, remaining as a warning of the Order's power on the land." She announced.

"This place has ever since been sacred to the Order, this is why my father wanted to conquear it and burn it down. Actually, it's also a strategic point in controlling the land. It is probably their most important stronghold. There's no way we will get in there by the main entrance." Starswirl said, but Luna shook her head in disagreement.

"Actually," She said as her horn lit in a blue glow. "That's quite strange. I don't sense any life sign inside the fortress."

Starswirl was puzzled. Were the cultists giving away their most important point in the region? This was a trap. And an obivious one.

"This can't be true, Princess. It must be a trap" He protested, but Luna cut him, saying there was no turning back. They had to get in there and steal the book, or die trying.

"Very well. Anyways, charging the front entrance would still be dumb." Starswirl announced, drawing a map in the dust. "There's a cave, just east of the stronghold. It leads inside Pon-Kuron underground complex, the place where's most likely the cult would keep a treasure. if we cross the marsh and camp by this cave until night" He pointed at a point in the distance, and than at his map. " We should be able to sneak him and out without being spotted."

Luna looked at the unicorn questioningly. "How do you know all this?" She asked.

"My father had been planning the assault on the fortress for ages. He knew every weak spot of the place. His plan was to enter the fortress throught the doungeons, and catch the defenders by surprise. Unfortunately, he didn't think about one detail."

The group looked at Starswirl puzzled, asking him to go on with their eyes.

"Spies. His second-in-charge betrayed him, and revealed the plan to the cultists. They ambushed him in the caves, and slaughtered his army."

He finished, and suggested they should start crossing the marsh.

The eight ponies were hidden at the entrace of the cave. Luna had checked many times, there was no form of life in the keep, or in its nearbyes. After assuring them there was noone around, Luna suggested them to rest until night, to get some sleep, and went to the entrace of the cave. She looked at the sky, and closed her eyes.

After a long flight, Luna had finally reached the castle. The foal in her arms had finaly awaken and had been since watching Luna with a pair of big eyes. She glided to the entrance of the castle, Her sister was waiting for her.

"What happened?" The white-coated mare asked.

"Bandits. They burnt her house and killed her parents. I came just in time to save her."

Celestia bit her lip. It was the sixth murder in four days. She looked down at the filly, who probably was too young to understand what happened. She looked back with her violet eyes. She was one cute filly. About one and half feets high, with a purple coat, and a blue mane.

Luna opened her eyes, turned back and looked at Twilight. Damn, she was so similar to her. Except for the purple stripe in her mane, she looked identical. She closed her eyes one more, and continued her daydream.

Celestia smiled at the filly. "We should get her inside and feed her. It's cold out here."

Luna nodded, and, picked the filly up, she walked inside. It was actually cold outside. She put the foal on a table, and carried a few selection of tender plants to her. Celestia chuckled as the filly tried to eat a huge shamrock, almost bigger in surface than her face.

"Does she have a name?" She asked. Luna answered she didn't know. "We could call her Clover. It's a nice name. By the way, Luna, i've heard that Starwirl the bearded was looking for a student and the king was looking for a friend for her daughter Princess Platinum to take under his protective wing. You should carry her to the unicorn court. They would take good care of her."

Luna nodded, watching the foal eating. She felt Celestia's hoof touching her shoulder and turned her face to Celestia's who was looking at her with a much more serious expression now.

"This is the sixth murder in four days Luna. And the 20th in the month." She said.

Luna looked down. "What can we do sister? It's how the world goes. There's darkness in all of us. I do my best to make our people feel safe." She replied. Celestia gave her a really serious look.

"I think i know how to stop this." She said.

Luna opened her eyes. She had been thinking for quite a long time. The sun had almost disappeared down the horizon, and dusk was falling on the plains. When darkness would've fallen, she would wake her companions up, and they would descend in the bloody abyss beneath Pon-Kuron.

The fallen's lament breaths in the cold winds

whispers of death surround the wide marsh

Pon-Kuron is there to swallow their souls,

Perched over them, another hell's gate!

COLD MYSTIC NIGHT - IT FALLS ON THE PLAINS

ON THE WHOLE DARKLANDS REIGNS NOW THE SHADE

CELESTIA'S LIGHT GIVE THEM THE FAITH

TIME NOW HAS COME

PON-KURON AWAITS

// Author's Note:

// My account is bloody bugged. First i didn't get the bump, than the site randomly says my email is unverified and i suddently can't view the chapter. I resolved to delete it and reupload, now works fine. The emal works now too.

// The next chapter will be a bit shorter and will be out in a few days. Won't spoil anything so don't ask.

// As always, please review, rate, and feedback. Should you find any error, do tell. It really helps.