The Dark Secretby HeartfireFirebrandChaptersChapter 1: TruthChapter 2: Preparing for ConflictChapter 3: Darkness ArrivesChapter 4: Preparation for the First AttackChapter 5: Friends MeetChapter 6: AttacksChapter 7: RevelationsChapter 8: Execution of the PlanChapter 9: AftermathChapter 10: AwakeningEpliogueChapter 1: TruthScootaloo yawned as she woke up in a guest room in Canterlot Castle, she frowned as she leapt off the guest bed. She trotted into the bathroom (Stupid Chrysalis, did that Bug Queen really think she could take over Equestria? I tried 25 times and each plan failed.) She pulled a stool over so she could brush her teeth, she frowned after she was done “I haven’t seen Sweetie Belle all day.” She opened the door to see an upset Rarity, Rarity looked down with sorrow in her eyes as tears rolled down her chitin “Sweetie Belle has disappeared, we know not where?” Scootaloo growled “Well then send out a search party, she can’t have gone far!” Rarity began to sob “Because of the invasion we can’t send out a search party, repair efforts are beginning.” Scootaloo sat there silently for a few moments, Twilight trotted in “Scootaloo it’s time for us to return to Ponyville. The wedding is postponed for a month or two.” Scootaloo sighed as she gave Rarity a soft hug “It will be alright, Sweetie Belle is tough. Wherever she went I, it was of her own volition. She will returned when she’s ready” Scootaloo then turned to Twilight who had just realised Rarity was in the room “Take care of her, she needs support of a friend right now.” Twilight nodded glumly as she looked at her sobbing friend, Scootaloo packed her bags and left the room leaving Twilight to comfort her friend. One hour later, everyone save Rarity and Twilight was ready to go, Rainbow Dash blinked in confusion “Rarity, Twilight where are your bags?” Twilight frowned “Rarity has to stay here to co-ordinate the changelings integration into Equestria and I’m here to assist her. Rainbow Dash, you are Ponyville’s weather captain you are needed there.” Applejack nodded “I need to get back to the farm, there is work to be done.” Fluttershy looked down sadly “I’d love to stay but I have to take care of my animals.” Rarity smiled weakly “That’s okay Fluttershy, I understand that you have obligations” she then turned to Pinkie “I expect a welcome back party when I return to Ponyville.” Pinkie saluted her face deadly serious “Will do, it will be the best party ever!” Apple Bloom was standing next to Scootaloo, Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo with fear in her eyes “Where is Sweetie Belle, why would she leave us behind?” Scootaloo smiled as she placed a small wing on Apple Bloom “I don’t know but she wouldn’t leave us behind unless it was important. We should have faith she will return when she is ready.” Apple Bloom smiled weakly at her friend “I’ll try.” Soon the six of them were on a train returning to Ponyville, Scootaloo was relaxing on the seat. Rainbow smiled at Scootaloo “Do you want to do some flying practice when we get back?” Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom “I shouldn’t leave Apple Bloom alone, it is a trying time for us. Maybe another time.” Rainbow grinned “It’s alright squirt, after it you learnt from the best and we will never leave our friends hanging will we?” Scootaloo grinned back “We will stand by our friends forever, through thick and thin.” Scootaloo trotted over to Apple Bloom and placed a wing over her, the two fillies sat there calmly until they returned to Ponyville. Applejack looked at the others “We need to get back to Sweet Apple Acres, we are behind on work.” Scootaloo asked with a smile on her face “Can I help, it sounds like you have a lot of work that needs doing?” Rainbow Dash grinned “That’s a great idea, I’m behind you Scootaloo.” Apple Bloom frowned “It’s hard work, are ya sure y'all be able to keep up with us Earth Ponies.” Scootaloo smiled “I’ll be fine, I’m no stranger to hard work.” Applejack sighed “Fine but don’t get yourself get hurt.” Scootaloo smiled as she joined the two siblings,. They arrived to see an exhausted Big Mac pulling a cart full of Apples baskets towards the barn, Applejack frowned “Ah’m back brother. Ya should rest while we handle the rest of the work.” Big Mac gave then a weary smile “Eeyup.” As Big Mac slowly walked back to the the farmhouse, Scootaloo quickly attached herself to the wagon. Applejack frowned “Scootaloo what are you doing?” Apple Bloom and Applejack’s eyes widened as the young pegasus began effortlessly pulling the cart into the barn. She then proceeded to carry the baskets off the wagon with her wings spread out. Applejack blinked at the filly “How did you do that?” Scootaloo grimaced “It personal, I’d rather not talk about it.” Apple Bloom frowned at her sister “Ah trust Scootaloo, she’s been my friend for a while now. Ah trust her.” Applejack sighed before smiling “Scootaloo, do you mind running the cart for us?” Scootaloo grinned “You bet.” Scootaloo was soon pulling another care full of apples her mind racing (It’s been centuries since I last I did this.) Four hundred years earlier Scootaloo was working on a farm, she was taller than she was currently easily a mare fully grown. A tall red earth pony stallion with a blond mane was trotting next to a young orange colt with a blond mane. The young colt smiled at Scootaloo “Good morning, Mum.” Scootaloo wiped her brow with her hoof as she bucked another set of Apples, she grinned “Macintosh Apple, it’s good to see ya and ya father. If Ah remember correctly somepony was supposed to help with the harvest.” Macintosh’s father blushed “Sorry Honey, Ah overslept.” Scootaloo giggled “It’s okay Braeburn, just don’t forget next time. You’re just lucky Ah can handle a harvest by myself.” Macintosh giggled “Daddy’s in trouble.” Scootaloo grinned “That he is and ya will be too if ya don’t get me some more baskets.” The trio were smiling laughing and having fun. Present Day Scootaloo smiled as she turned back to Apple Bloom and Applejack, Apple Bloom was placing baskets under trees as Applejack bucked the trees (I’m glad my descendants are prospering.) Author's Note I hope you like what I did with the first chapter. Chapter 2: Preparing for ConflictSweetie Belle awoke she stayed as her true Arachna self rather then wearing her pony disguise, she was laying on a simple web she had crafted, two Arachna guards bowed “Princess Belle, your mother is awaiting you at the banquet hall.” Sweetie Belle frowned “Of course, just remember in private it’s Sweetie Belle if you wish to be formal otherwise it’s just Sweetie. Only in public you can me Princess.” The guards scurried out of the way and bowed “Yes Sweetie Belle.” Sweetie Belle sighed as she scurried through the large dark blue corridors of the castle, Arachna bowing to her as she passed. She arrived in a large dark blue dining hall with a small wooden round table at the centre, Queen Spinneret was sitting on one side. Sweetie Belle curried over and took a seat on a giant cushion, Sweetie Belle frowned “Spin..” she shook her head “Mum, what is the plan?” Spinneret smiled “I was planning on just spending some time around the castle with you.” Sweetie Belle sighed “I’d love to spend some personal time with you but we are at war. They could attack us at any second of the clock, and I want us to be ready.” Spinneret frowned “So business first then, well then I believe you need to learn how we fight. The guard barracks would be a good place to start.” Sweetie Belle nodded “Well then let’s go, we don’t have a lot of time.” Spinneret shook her head “Breakfast first, you must be starving. Maintaining a body of that size must be incredibly difficult and I won’t let you go hungry.” Before Sweetie Belle could say a word, hundreds of Arachna entered carrying a massive plate the size of the table with several dead hydras on it. Sweetie Belle shifted into her medium sized form as the food was placed on the table and devoured the hydras with ease, she blushed as she delivered a massive earth shaking burp “Excuse me.” Spinneret laughed heartily “I’m glad you enjoyed your food, burping id s not offensive here. It’s a sign you enjoyed your food.” Sweetie Belle muttered “Rarity would have been offended by that.” Spinneret shook her head “Well she is not here right now, besides it is part of your culture. She will have to accept it.” Sweetie Belle stood up “So you are going to show me to the barracks?” Spinneret nodded as she finished her own meal “Come with me.” The two Royal Arachna scurried out of the dark blue hallways of the castle, they headed through the white paved roads towards the nearby Barracks, it was a darker blue building with several towers with Arachna standing behind strange bow-like machines. Sweetie Belle pointed to the machines “What are those?’ Spinneret smiled “It’s our Hives unique weapons, Arbalests. They are similar to a bow but are capable firing much larger arrows, there are two variants the standard defensive ones and the mounted ones on the battlefield.” Sweetie Belle frowned “How do the mounted ones work?” Spinneret smiled “It’s a three Arachna unit, one Arachna has it mounted on their back, the second gets arrows, while the third pulled back the strings with their fangs to fire.” I raised an eyebrow “Have you ever thought of using you shape shifting abilities to give you a better form for fighting at range.” Spinneret frowned “Several other nests have ranged weapons that could tear apart the hide of anything, evoke our hard exoskeletons are complete protection. Any transformation would be torn apart by attacks.” Sweetie Belle frowned “That is a conundrum…” she then turned to her mother “wait how advanced is our shapeshifting. I’ve seen changelings before so relative to that.” Spinneret laughed “We are so much better than them, we can change into anything we want as long as it is not too much larger than us.” Sweetie Belle focused her power and with a flash of light, a huge Minotaur suit of steel armour was standing there. Sweetie Belle’s laughter echoed inside her metal frame “It worked.” Spinneret blinked “What did you do?” Sweetie Belle giggled “I shapeshifted into a suit of armour, it means that I can use weapons usually reserved for a Minotaur” she then frowned “Could other nests replicate this?” Spinneret shook her head “Unlikely, while many of us could shapeshift perfectly into living things but only my nest went further. Why do you think we were the ones who colonised the Canterlot area, we had the best disguises and thus had no trouble entering the city. After all who suspects rocks?” Sweetie Belle nodded “We are step closer to stopping Queen Venine.” The two Arachna Royals prepared to integrate this technique into their combat forces as they entered the Barracks. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 3: Darkness ArrivesIt was early in the morning before the sun rose, Scootaloo woke as she felt something dangerous from far in the north. Scootaloo growled “It’s him, I’m going to deal with this before he threatens my friends!” Her eyes glowed green as dark purple trails flew out behind them, in a pulse of dark magic she vanished. She frowned as she arrived in a froze tundra, she then focused her body growing, her coat changing to a darker orange as her mane changed into a much darker shade of purple. She stood equal in height to Celestia herself, Scootaloo frowned as she saw a huge black shadow with green eyes and purple trails. It growled “Crystals!” Scootaloo eyes flashed green “Sombra, return to you true self!” Sombra transformed into a dark grey stallion with an almost black mane as he looked up at the mare. Sombra scoffed “Who dares approach me, King Sombra.” Scootaloo voice echoed as a huge dark aura surrounded her “It seems the Umbrum have forgotten their creator, I am Dark Regalia the Goddess of Darkness.” Sombra bowed as he felt the aura “My goddess, what do you wish of me?” Scootaloo growled “I’m retired, I have been living happily in Equestria and you are going to jeopardize that! So I’m giving you one chance to join me, you will be living as a simple colt otherwise I will eradicate you with extreme prejudice.” King Sombra bowed shaking in fear “Yes, my Goddess.” Scootaloo shook her head “You will call me Scootaloo while in disguise, and there will be no mentioning of our past. We don’t want Celestia or Luna to find us.” King Sombra nodded unwilling to upset the goddess in front of him, Scootaloo focused on the stallion turning him into a light grey colt with a light blue mane. Scootaloo then resumed her own form before teleporting them back to the outside of the Orphanage, I whispered “Now Sombra can’t be your name here, you need a new name.” King Sombra sat there for a few moments before turning to Scootaloo “Aqua Shade is a good name.” Scootaloo smiled “Well Aqua, it’s time to show you what it means to embrace friendship. I know it will not be easy, I struggled a lot a first but it’s worth it in the end.” Just then Foal Care galloped out with a scowl “Scootaloo, what are you doing out here?! You should still be inside!” Scootaloo apologised “I’m sorry, I noticed this colt Aqua Shade was wandering outside alone. I was worried about him.” Foal Care sighed “That is quite noble but please be more careful. My heart almost stopped when I found you weren’t in your bed.” Scootaloo nodded “I have to help the Apples, I’ll be back tonight” she then smiled at Aqua “Foal Care maybe quite strict but she cares for all of us.” As Scootaloo galloped towards Sweet Apple Acres, Aqua looked up nervously. In truth he never had anyone interact positively with him when he was a foal save Princess Amore, he was extremely nervous. Foal Care gave him a warm smile “I’ll introduce to some of the other foals, I’m sure you’ll fit right in.” Aqua nerves grew as Foal Care guiding him into the large warm building, he tried to shake his nerves as he followed Foal Care though a light blue hallway covered in foal Drawings (You’ve run an entire empire, faced off against two Alicorns. Now you are scared of a room of foals, toughen up.) Foal Care smiled excitedly “We have a new foal, his name is Aqua Shade. Scootaloo found him wandering around outside, since he appears to have no home he will be staying with us.” Aqua tensed as almost all the colts and fillies surrounded him save one, questions came in an endless barrage “Where do you come form? How do you know Scootaloo? Who left you here? What is your Favourite Food?” Aqua shook violently in fear (There are so many of them, I just want to be alone.) Aqua began to cry. Foal Care sternly stepped in “That’s enough, you are clearly scaring him. I’m going to take him to his new room.” A dark blue Thestral filly with golden slitted eyes watched as he was guided away from them. Foal Care sighed “I was hoping this wouldn’t happen, foals can be quite energetic. You were not ready for that, I was hoping you could make some friends.” Aqua remained quiet as he was hided through the hallways, soon they arrived outside a room with a dark blue door. Aqua blinked there were pictures of stars on the dark walls, the curtains were shut tightly. Foal Care sighed “This is Shining Star’s room, this is the only room with a spare bed but no foal wishes to be in this room with her.” Aqua gave a smile for the first first time in centuries “I like it, I always admired the stars.” A soft voice commented “Really?” Foal Care turned to see the dark blue Thestral, she sighed “Shining Star, you were supposed to wait with the others.” Aqua smiled at Foal Care “It’s fine, I could use a friend.” Foal Care smiled “Well then I’ll leave you too here to get to know each other.” Star smiled at Aqua as they entered the room “What do you know about stars?” Aqua grinned “Well.” The two foals spoke for hours on the topic of stars with no end in sight. It took Foal Care dragging them out for dinner to end their conversation. Meanwhile Celestia and Luna as well as Rarity were sitting across from the council of nobles, one of the highest ranking nobles Sound Breaker shouted “This is outrageous, the foul beasts invaded our hallowed Capital! They should all be purged.” Celestia’s eyes narrowed “You wish us to go to war without concern for how many lives will be lost. We are not a warlike nation and never will be, war has come to us very rarely over thew centuries under my reign and I have no wish to change that.” Before another word could be said a messenger flew “I have brought urgent news for the Princesses, the Crystal Empire has returned!” Celestia and Luna commanded “This discussion will have to wait for another time, with the Empire’s return, an old threat we sealed away would have returned and it must be dealt with immediately! Therefore you should all return home!” While every noble grumbled as they left Rarity frowned as she followed the two Alicorns concerned how this threat would affect her new hive. Author's Note Hail to the Dark Goddess, Dark Regalia. Chapter 4: Preparation for the First AttackSweetie Belle leapt out of a rough looking bed, she looked around to see the plain barracks room she stayed in last night. She headed to the bathroom and after quite brush of her of her fangs she headed out to face the day. Spinneret frowned “How did you sleep?” Sweetie Belle smiled “Like a foal, the bed was not so bad.” Spinneret groaned “Those beds do a number on my back, it take me hours to get to sleep.” Sweetie Belle shrugged “My adopted parents didn’t exactly care about fancy beds and besides our exoskeleton is far tougher than pony hide. Besides I will be marching with our soldiers soon, I believe we should attack now while the fire is hot.” Spinneret frowned “Many of our troops aren’t trained with the new tactics yet, are your sure about this.” Sweetie Belle nodded “We need to strike at the weaker points in her defenses, I am no commander but if we strike where she is weak we can whittle away her army bit by bit.” Spinneret smiled “You’re smart, I think this may just work. I know of several of her smaller outposts. I’ll give you a map and you pick one.” Sweetie Belle shook her head “Large forces require large amounts of resources, we will strike each location with small elite forces. Do as much damage as we can before they fully react to our attack.” Spinneret blinked “Are you sure you have not had any combat experience, you are taking like a seasoned general?” Sweetie Belle shrugged “It’s just common sense, attack where they are weak. Avoid strongly defended positions, we can‘t match them in numbers.” Spinneret grinned “Sounds like a plan, let’s put it into action.” Sweetie Belle entered the barracks quarters with Spinneret “We are moving out today.” Soon they were leaning over a map with several squad captains beside them, Sweetie Belle saw the representation of enemy troops. She pointed at several bases with only a single contingent stationed there “They are weakly defended at these outposts, we need to wipe out their forces in each of these outposts simultaneously. That brings up to the next point of the plan, they wills end forces to investigate the attacks once the messages stop coming, so we set a trap. We lay charges in the outposts and have them on a thirty second detonation that will be activated by a pressure plate so that all investigative forces will be decimated by the explosion.” The Squad Captains looked a each other and then back to her “This sounds like a very simple but effective plan. It will take us a couple of days to get the charges from the miners but we can do it.” Sweetie Belle smiled “Well then let’s get to work. Now I have to decide which squad I am going to join for the skirmish.” Spinneret shook her head “This is a simple mission, you shouldn’t risk yourself on the front lines.” Sweetie Belle growled “If I am to assist you I need to understand how our army fights! Their strengths and their weaknesses, I have never seen them in a real fight! That little skirmish at the front of the city doesn't count, I was too focused on eliminating the threat there so I need to really how they actually fight.” Spinneret sighed “That is true but I don’t want you to be in danger. This is war, death happens and I don’t want you to be another casualty.” Sweetie Belle frowned “I am a lot tougher than you think, I can handle myself quite well. Besides if this fails the we’re all dead anyway, they need to know I have as much stake in this as they do. To many I am an outsider, they need to know that I am fighting with them.” Spinneret grimaced “There has to be another way, one that doesn’t put you at risk.” Sweetie Belle frowned “There are none that can be done quickly, I have reignited hope in them but they need a victory to cement that hope. They need to believe they can win this war.” Spinneret slumped “I have never been good at commanding forces, you would make a better Queen than I would. I have been failing as a Queen lately.” Sweetie Belle hugged her mother “Mum, you are being too hard on yourself. No-one is prepared for such a war as this. Your enemy has been pushing you hard, I just granted you enough of a reprieve to come up with a plan of attack.” She then frowned as she turned to the squad captains “You should got and get prepared for the attack. I need to speak with my mum.” The guards nodded politely as they left. Spinneret frowned “Don’t they need your guidance?” Sweetie Belle shook her head “You come first, you are family and the pressure to succeed clearly weighs on you way too much. Have you ever tried to rely on others, take a pupil to assist you perhaps.” Spinneret shook her head “A queen must stand on her own, she must serve her citizens.” Sweetie Belle shook her head “That’s why I will never be a Queen because I rely on others other than myself.I have lived in Equestria for so long. Now let’s go and get some Ice-cream, I’ve had enough of serious conversations for the day.” Spinneret gave her daughter a weak smile as they left the barracks. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 5: Friends MeetScootaloo woke with a yawn, she trotted out of her room with a smile. She knocked on the door where Aqua Shade was staying, she then opened it with a smile as Aqua stirred. Scootaloo giggled as she saw him sleeping next to Shining Star “Aqua has a fillyfriend.” Shining Star yawned as she sat up “Good Morning Scootaloo, Aqua here is such a nice colt. We spent last night looking at the stars.” Aqua sat up yawning groggily “What time is it?” Scootaloo grinned “Six, now let’s get you and your filly friend up. I want you to meet one of my friends.” Aqua and Shining Star’s faces turned red as they both growled “It’s not like that, we’re just friends!” Scootaloo giggled “Sure you are. Now come on, Apple Bloom is waiting for me.” Aqua and Star scrambled to their hooves, they quickly brushed their teeth before leaving a note on their bed. Star whispered “So, um Scootaloo who is this friend? I never really interacted with anypony except you, and yesterday Aqua.” Scootaloo smiled “She’s a hard working and honest filly, always willing to help a friend in need. You will like her, trust me.” Aqua and Star exchanged nervous looks as they followed Scootaloo through Ponyville. Soon they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom galloped over with a smile “Scootaloo are you ready for some hard… who are those two behind you?” Scootaloo smiled “This is Aqua Shade and Shining Star, they’re friends of mine from the Orphanage.” Apple Bloom smiled as she trotted over to them “If ya friends of Scootaloo, then ya friends of mine. Still we could use a pair of extra hooves, Big Mac and Ah could use the help.” Aqua and Star smiled at each other before nodding at Apple Bloom “We’ll help.” Scootaloo giggled “Aqua, you and your fillyfriend really need to get a room. I’ve heard the barn is free.” Star frowned “You talk boldly for somepony who has never been in a relationship.” Aqua froze as he heard those words, he knew who Scootaloo truly was and this would hurt her deeply. Scootaloo let out a growl, tears flooding her eyes “You can’t possibly understand how I feel! I can’t be in relationships with other ponies, not anymore!” Apple Bloom was about to take off after her but Aqua frowned “I’ll handle this, you wouldn’t be able to get through to her right now. Let me talk to her.” Apple Bloom frowned “Why should it be ya of all of us, Ah’ve been her friend the longest.” Aqua turned to her “It’s a long and complicated story. I’m sure she will explain it at the right time.” Aqua galloped after Scootaloo in rapid pace leaving a confused Thestral and Earth Pony behind. Aqua found Scootaloo crying under a tree, Aqua approached the filly with a weak smile “Scootaloo, I’m here if you need to talk to someone.” Scootaloo’s face was full of tears “They don’t understand and they never truly will, I’ve been living for so long. I found love and a family, now they are gone like ashes in the wind.” Aqua sighed “I understand , there was a mare I knew in ages past. Her name was Radiant Hope, she had feelings for me but she left for Canterlot. I can only assume she is long gone by now, a pile of ash in the snow that makes up the Frozen North.” Scootaloo slumped “I’m sorry Aqua, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. I just was so angry about this, she hurt me.” Aqua frowned “She’s a foal, Scootaloo. We are both over one thousand years old, very can truly live by the standards we set for ourselves. I have learned so much in just a single day, just living as a normal pony instead of the cursed Umbrum that I am.” He then smiled at Scootaloo “You’ve given me a second chance at life, it’s more than I expected from anypony.” Scootaloo frowned “Your kind was my creation and I have been long overdue in actually addressing your kind properly. One day when your kind are released I will make sure they will be able to live in peace.” Aqua smiled “Thank you.” Scootaloo sighed “We better get back Apple Bloom needs our help, her sister Applejack as the Element Bearer of Honesty is in the Crystal Empire right now.” Aqua blinked “I thought Celestia and Luna had power over the elements. What happened?” Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head “Well I created a powerful dark entity to take control of one of the Alicorns but it turned on me as it genuinely felt bad for Princess Luna who was getting the love from her subjects. Shea and Luna were banished to the moon by the Celestia using the elements, the elements lost their power after that until Luna returned and was purified by the current bearers.” Aqua shook his head “That is a lot to take in.” Scootaloo saw Big Mac pulling a cart, she galloped over “Let me handle that. Apple Bloom needs your help.” Apple Bloom was trying to buck the trees but having little success while Star was waiting for the cart. Big Mac nodded “Eeyup.” Scootaloo soon returned with the cart, Star apologised “I’m sorry about what I said earlier.” Scootaloo sighed “It’s alright, you just hit a sore spot of mine. Don’t worry about it, we’ve got work to do.” Aqua, Star and Apple Bloom carried baskets to the cart while Big Mac bucked trees and Scootaloo took the apples to the storage room. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 6: AttacksSweetie Belle was with a small squad of Arachna Soldiers, each in their dark blue armour. They snuck toward an outpost, the Captain and Sweetie Belle holding a magical transceiver to communicate with fellow squads, she frowned as Arachna wearing dark purple armour were patrolling the walls. Sweetie Belle whispered through her receiver “Carefully approach the walls,.” A voice whispered as her own group slowly and cautiously approached the wall trying to remain out of sight “Yes Princess.” Sweetie Belle was not going to tell them to call her by name, this was the time when rank was important. She whispered as she arrived next to the wall “Are you all next to the wall?” A reply came through “Yes,we’re ready but how do we get in.” Sweetie Belle looked at the walls that were long and straight with small outcroppings, she grinned as she whispered “Climb up the walls to get in and carry out the plan as we discussed, leave no survivors.” There was confused reply “Yes Princess.” The receiver went silent, Sweetie Belle climbed up the wall beckoning the squad behind her. The Captain whispered as several of his forces were stunned at what they were doing “How did you know could do this?” Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow as she whispered “I’ve seen spiders do it before, and well we are just giant sapient spiders. So why couldn’t we climb walls?” The Captain frowned “It appears we will have to redesign our defenses after this.” Sweetie Belle frowned “We can discuss that later, we need to attack now.” Sweetie Belle climbed up onto the rafters with the rest of the squad following. Her fangs pierced through one of the guard’s armour as the squad rushed into the base quickly overwhelming the unprepared guards in a swarm of quickly coordinated attacks. Sweetie Belle watched as the they splintered off into smaller groups of three or four and through a series of carefully planned teamwork attacks they overwhelmed the groups of eight they were tasked with fighting. The Captain frowned as she approached “All the enemies are dead, now what’s the plan.” Sweetie Belle frowned as activated her receiver “Are you all ready, the squad on my end has cleared up the defenders.” She got a reply from everyone “We’re ready and awaiting your command.” Sweetie Belle gave the order “Set up the explosives, and place the tripwire. We need to have the done soon, once you are done evacuate immediately.” They shotued “Yes Princess, we’ll start immediately!” Sweetie Belle nodded to the squad accompanying her who began placing explosives inside the base. They then set the tripwire, Sweetie Belle and her squad left the base over the walls. Soon all the squads met up with her, she frowned at them “How did the plan go?” The squad leaders bowed “We all succeeded with minimal to no losses, Princess.” Sweetie Belle looked down “I’m sorry for that, no one should have died today.” One of the Squad leaders scurried forward and bowed “I’m Captain Toxin, you have given us hope Princess. I have lost many good friends but for the first time I can say that they haven't died in vain. Too many friends died just protecting our borders only granting temporary reprieve before more lives were lost.” Sweetie Belle looked away “It’s still not fair.” Captain Toxin shook his head “Princess, you are still young. You’re not truly ready for this conflict, your mother should really be handling this.” Sweetie Belle frowned “Mum isn’t good at this whole war thing, she is more the peacekeeper. I have no idea why I have such an aptitude for this kind of thing.” Captain Toxin sighed “In truth there have been multiple plans set in motion to overthrow your mother. She hasn’t proven herself to be an effective ruler for a long time.” Sweetie Belle growled “Maybe not but she has years of political experience I do not! Not every leader is cut out for war, it’s why Equestria has had two Princesses! Celestia took the political side while Luna fought the wars, my mother will keep the peace at home while I fight the enemies that oppose us!”The whole group began the long trek back to their home. 3 Days Later Queen Venine was sitting in Courtroom, the sudden attacks were reported immediately. She had sent twenty million Arachna, one fifth of her forces out to investigate soon a messenger has returned with the news that her force was utterly devastated by a massive trap set in the forts, she growled furiously “So this is how you wish to play Spinneret? I’m going to decimate you for this one!” Meanwhile Sweetie Belle had just returned, Spinneret scurried over to her with panic in her eyes “Queen Venine is launching her full force at us abandoning all defensive bases planning to wipe us out with sheer power! Eighty Million troops will be on us in a week.” Sweetie Belle laughed “Well it seem Queen Venine has forgotten one thing, numbers provide no real advantage in war. She has made a fatal mistake and I have a plan to take her down, it will take explosive charges and multiple ambushes but we will have them dead to rights.” Author's Note Numbers mean nothing in war. Also Sapient comes from Sapien which means wise. Chapter 7: RevelationsRarity was sitting in Canterlot with Celestia and Luna, the panicked look on their faces as they skimmed over maps of Equestria. Celestia growled “It’s been two weeks since the Empire returned and there is no sign of him!” Luna gritted her teeth “Indeed, sister he has to be around here somewhere!” Rarity frowned at them “Enough, both of you! I’ll take care of this, just look at yourselves! You haven't slept in days and it’s beginning to take it’s toll, get some rest!” Luna snarled at her “We can’t do that, we need to find him!” I growled “You won’t be able to fight him if you are exhausted, get some rest! I’ll take over for at few hours, you two get some rest!” Celesta sighed “Rarity is right, we won’t stand any chance against him as we are.” Little did they know the pony they were looking for was helping on the Apple Farm, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack had returned to their routines trying to get their minds off Sombra still being out there. Scootaloo knowing this had tried to help as much as possible on the Apple Farm to get Applejack’s mind off the tyrant. Aqua Shade was also trying to help feeling guilty that his existence was causing this. Aqua Shade smiled as he galloped over to the basket, Applejack smiled as he lifted up the basket “Thank ya, kindly.” Aqua Shade nodded as she galloped over to the cart, Shining Star was puffing a she joined him “How do you keep this up, it’s so exhausting.” Aqua Shade frowned “I have had a rough life, let’s leave it at that.” They put the baskets onto the cart, Aqua Shade smiled at Scootaloo “It’s full now.” Scootaloo grinned “Great work you two, I’ll be right back.” Aqua Shade smiled as he watched Scootaloo galloped away this was the life. Scootaloo returned only for the group to gasp as a red barrier materialised around the town. They galloped into town to see a blue unicorn with a two toned blue mane boasting “I have defeated Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville now belongs to me!” Applejack growled “You liar!” Everypony in town watched in horror as Applejack was turned into an old mare by Trixie Aqua Shade looked at Scootaloo “We have to do something, we have to confront her!” Scootaloo growled “I agree, look at the red amulet around her neck. We need to take it off her!” Aqua Shade and Scootaloo approached Trixie their forms shifting, Scootaloo’s coat and mane darkening. Aqua’s coat darkened while his light blue mane faded to black, everypony looking at the two as their bodies grew in size. Scootaloo snarled “Give me that amulet now!” Trixie grinned as fired a blast of magic at them, Scootaloo rolled her eyes as her eyes glowed green with powerful purple trails flying backwards as she caught the spell in a field of magic and inspected it as if looking at a pile of coal “You really are pathetic, using a beginners dark magic artefact and losing complete control of yourself.” She dispelled the spell and then ripped the amulet off Trixie which caused the barrier to dispel. Trixie sobbed “I’m so sorry, I lost control of myself.” Aqua sighed “What do we do now, Scootaloo?” Scootaloo crushed the amulet into dust with her magic “That was a tool for training apprentice dark mages, get then to sense dark magic and control it. Non-dark mages should not touch this type of artefact, it will corrupt them.” Aqua saw the ponies looking at them in fear, he turned to Scootaloo “What do we do now?” Scootaloo frowned “Well we have to tell them the truth, there is no lying about this one.” Applejack glared them “Ya lied to us, both of ya. Ah want the truth!” Twilight had galloped back in to Ponyville “What’s going on?!” Rainbow flew over to Twilight the spells Trixie cast being dispelling when the amulet was destroyed “’Scootaloo’ and ‘Aqua Shade’ apparently have been hiding their true selves, the could be changelings for all we know?” Aqua sighed as he looked at Twilight “I am the one you are looking for, I am Sombra. You should inform the Princesses about me.” Twilight growled her horn glowing “I’m going to bring you down, Sombra!” She fired a blast of magic at Aqua only for a wing to deflect the spell with ease, Scootaloo shook her head “I brought him here under the condition he would cause no trouble.” Apple Bloom galloped over to them “Scootaloo and Aqua have been helping us at the farm. They don’t deserve to be condemned when they haven’t done anything wrong.” Applejack sighed “That is true, they have helped us quite a bit. Ah’m still a little sour about the lying but they still helped us a lot. We’re weeks ahead of schedule.” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed “Scootaloo, is it really you?” Scootaloo deadpanned “On the first day we met you hit you flew into a tree and got stuck. I had to pull you out.” Rainbow Dash’s face glowed bright red as several ponies burst into laughter, the tension in the air dissolving “It’s her.” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down in the air in front of Aqua “I’ll have to throw you a welcome to Ponyville party.” Aqua blinked “Is she always like this?” Scootaloo giggled “Yes, don’t worry you’ll get used to it.” Before anypony could another word a flash of light went off nearby, Celestia let out a her Royal Canterlot Voice “Sombra!” Everypony struggled to stay on their hooves until a deep black shield emerged, Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed as her barrier protected everypony else“I believe you will find more interest in me, Dark Regalia!” Celestia turned around only for Luna to appear in a flash glaring at Sombra “So are we going to take him out!” Celestia gritted her teeth “Later, first we are going to exterminate that orange mare! She is Dark Regalia!” Luna gave Scootaloo the most deadly glare ever conceived “You are the monster who wiped our species!” Everypony gasped as they heard the news, suddenly a huge eruption of darkness flew out of Scootaloo forcing the two Alicorns to their knees. Scootaloo spoke calmly “You have no idea what your kind did, first off the condemnation of dark magic was an Alicorn idea to establish rule over the other Non-Alicorn Ponies. Dark magic was invented by Pegasi and Earth Ponies by combining their magics together to oppose the Unicorns.” Scootaloo took a deep breath as tears flowed down her face “You kind killed my parents in cold blood! I devoted my life to unseating the Alicorn Empire through my studies in dark magic, after over 3 million years of study I achieved my goal! I was the original master of dark magic, I taught Grogar dark magic and created the Umbrum. Grogar was a powerful student but he tried to enslave ponies. I opposed him alongside Gusty the Great, granting her the opportunity to steal his precious bell. I then sealed him away.” Luna snarled “Why should we believe you!” Scootaloo frowned “You don’t have to. I thought you were my enemies, the Umbrum were my creations to destroy you two as I believe you would enslave pony-kind. In the end my final failed plan lead to me understanding how far that you, Celestia would go to protect your ponies. The Nightmare was my creation!” Celestia let a devastating scream “You’re the reason I had to use the Elements against my sister! I will destroy you!” Scootaloo shook her head as many ponies were frozen the tension having returned in full force “No, that was all you! I ordered Nightmare to possess you, so you would kill your sister and then she would leave your body so I could kill you. Unfortunately Nightmare empathized with your sister’s plight and tried to help her, I have been living under your rule for the last millennia under different identities.” Celestia eyes narrowed while Luna glared at her “Why should we trust you!” She then released her hold on them as she bowed before them “There is no reason you should, do what you wish!” Celestia’s face contorted as she was at war with herself, she was a stern believer in the fact that anyone could be redeemed and the mare in front of her had done that but the age at the loss of her kind screamed fiercely. Luna on the other hoof was not willing to show mercy, her horn glowed as a magical sword swung down as Scootaloo closed her eyes waiting for the end. Scootaloo waited for an end only for nothing to happen, she opened her eyes to see Aqua smiling as sword was embedded in his side. Aqua smiled at her “You gave me a chance at a normal life, thank you for everything.” His vision faded to black as he collapsed to the ground. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed what I did with this chapter. Chapter 8: Execution of the PlanSweetie Belle was watching the enemy forces from a rocky outcrop matching their positions to a chart, they were surrounding their food supplies with large amounts of troops. Captain Toxin frowned “Why are we not launching attacks on their food supplies anymore?” Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes “Look at them, they are heavily guarding their food supply. Striking now will be futile, we need to watch carefully and wait for the right moment.” Captain Toxin grimaced “The troops are getting restless, what are you waiting for.” Sweetie Belle frowned “Give it a few seconds.” The enemy forces slowly encroached forward, Sweetie Belle gave a look at her then back at the forces movement. She grinned as she pressed a button, a massive explosion erupted from the ground tearing apart the army decimating the army. Sweetie Belle roared “Capture them now!” The large remnant of Queen Venine’s forces though still holding numerical superiority was in a state of panic allowing the smaller force to quickly capture them. Sweetie Belle approached Captain Toxin “I told you the plan would work.” Captain Toxin frowned “So what do we do now. We have two million injured Arachna in chains.” Sweetie Belle looked over them, she noticed something many of them were very thin she growled “It seems they have been starved, Queen Venine has a lot to answer for!” She then took a deep breath as she looked at the Arachna in front of her “Why are there so many of you in the military?” One of them responded fear in their eyes “The Royal palace holds most of the food, the army is composed of ninety-nine percent of our population. We can’t anything to eat unless we are either in military service or scientists in the development division.” Sweetie Belle turned to the Squads, her tone venomous“All of you save Captain Toxin’s Squad will escort them back home! Captain Toxin’s Squad will follow me into her city where I can bring her to justice!” Every Arachna heeded her orders without a word not willing to further upset the already livid princess. Sweetie Belle was fuming, how could anyone treat their subjects that way, as if they are mere tools. She was going to tear Queen Venine limb from limb. She snarled as she grew to easily one thousand Celestias tall and three thousand Celestias wide, she looked down at the squad “Get on, I want to be back with mum before dinner!” The squad climbed on her back, Sweetie Scurried quickly towards the enemy city. Meanwhile in the castle Queen Venine was sitting on her thrown impatiently as her scientists were standing around nervously, soon the room began to shake. Queen Venine scowled as she scurried out of her castle “Who dares disturb…” Her eyes widened as she saw Sweetie Belle’s massive form towered over her city, the massive Arachna glared down at the relatively tiny light blue Queen “You truly have no respect for your subjects, I saw the state of the survivors. They were starved beyond compare, that is poor form for a Queen and I’m going to have you pay for it!” Queen Venine barely could get a word in before a huge leg slammed into the side of the palace and Captain Toxin used his webbing to bind her. His Squad pulled the bound Queen onto Sweetie Belle’s back. Sweetie Belle frowned as she scurried through the caves “Queen Venine, why do you treat your subjects in such a way?” Queen Venine scowled “A Queen is in charge! They should be able to do what they want!” Sweetie Belle shook her head “Not really, what is to stop a revolution from those beneath you. Could you really stop millions of your own angry populace from overthrowing you?” Queen Venine slumped “No but how does one rule without intimidation.” Sweetie Belle frowned “Through respect, if subjects respect you they will be willing to throw themselves to the wolves in your name. My mother rules through respect, Princess Celestia has ruled for one thousand years and she is respected by her subjects.” Queen Venine frowned “What happens when you lose that respect?” Sweetie Belle scowled “Of you lose the respect of your subjects then you are not worthy of leadership! I would have gutted you on the spot but it should fall to my mother to judge you, after all you hurt her far more than you hurt me!” Queen Venine looked nervously at Sweetie Belle. Queen Venine was shocked when the group returned to nest. Several Captains she recognised were now wearing armour in Spinneret’s colours. They all glared at her, she gulped as she realised just how much trouble she was in. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 9: AftermathScootaloo let out a banshee like scream as Sombra collapsed to the ground, Celestia and Luna froze as they felt the darkness flare out of the mare in front of them. Shining Star galloped over to Aqua with tears in her eyes “Aqua.” Pinkie pulled a stretcher out of her mane, she turned to with a fierce look of determination at Applejack. Applejack nodded back before smiling at the filly next to Aqua “We’ll take your friend to the hospital.” Shining Star followed the two Earth ponies sobbing. Scootaloo was shaking her sorrow slowly turning to fury, she stood up casting a death a fearsome glare upon the two Alicorns. Celestia took a deep breath “Scootaloo, this was an accident and we will discuss this in Canterlot. I would like to discuss this with Rarity.” Scootaloo glared at Luna for a few moments before taking a deep breath, Scootaloo was ancient and was not about to let her own fury cloud her judgement. She huffed “Fine, but we go now.” Everypony gasped as Scootaloo and the Alicorns disappeared in the dark mist, Rarity blinked as the three appeared in the throne room as a few noble shotued “You stupid parasites should leave Equestria!” Scootaloo frowned “Rarity, I’m a little curious why I don’t see any undisguised Changelings around.” Rarity frowned “First off how do you know that and who are you?” Celestia frowned “This is Scootaloo, and she is actually far older than everything around now except Discord.” Rarity shouted “What, but how?!” Scootaloo frowned “Rarity calm down, you can freak out about this later. First off I was the one who hid Sombra, as the creator of his species I have a responsibility to care for him.” Celestia commanded with power behind her voice “Leave us, this is a very important matter that effects Equestria’s security!” The nobles complied, grumbling as they left. Rarity took a deep breath trying to keep calm “So let me get this straight, Sombra was taken in by Scootaloo under our muzzles and she is the one who created his species, is older than Equestria and I just have to accept that. I need to lie down, and by Harmony I hope nothing else surprising happens today.” Fate was not happy with what she just said, two guard pushed open the door in a hurry but before they could speak a small white spider jumped onto Rarity’s face “Sis!” Rarity eyes rolled back into her head and collapsed, Scootaloo raised an eyebrow “Sweetie Belle, don’t remember how many times your sister had fainted when we came in covered in tree sap? Did you not consider that here?” Sweetie Belle frowned as she turned to Scootaloo “Scootaloo that’s not…” she shotued as she saw her friend was the height of Celestia and was sporting much darker version of her normal colours “Scootaloo, what happened to you?!” Scootaloo frowned “This is my secret, I’m a dark goddess that has been living for over three million years. I wiped out the Tyrant Alicorns who had killed my family, who had enslaved pony-kind. Almost all dark creatures in this world are linked to me in some fashion.” Sweetie Belle blinked “Well that explains why I didn’t weird you out too much. You didn’t really care about my spiderness, even Apple Bloom was slightly freaked out.” Celestia sighed “I was hoping that we would find Sombra and be done with this madness. It seems it’s not going to be the case.” Scootaloo growled turning to Luna “Sombra is my responsibility as are rest of his kind, the Umbrum!” Luna frowned “I did not intend to kill him, your were my target. I just wanted him locked away.” Scootaloo glared at her “As if that’s any better, I do have the interests of pretty every dark creature on this planet on my mind.” Sweetie Belle looked at the three of them with a scowl as she increased to a larger size, easily matching Celestia’s height “Enough! I just got back and I find one of my friends is causing an argument with the Princesses. We need to keep calm and assess this scenario carefully.” Scootaloo frowned “What needs to be assessed it’s pretty self explanatory. I assume were here to discuss the political ramifications of this.” Celestia frowned “We’ll deal with that later, Rarity will have a say as well on this matter.” Luna raised an eyebrow at Sweetie Belle “Speaking of which, I’m curious as to where you’ve been?” Sweetie Belle rubbed the back of her head “Well I met up with my birth mum. Her country was at war, I helped her win the war.” Celestia and Luna raised their eyebrows “Where did you learn how to be a commander of an army.” Sweetie Belle blushed “I take your not going to believe that I’m naturally talented.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes “You read some of your sister’s books on war, I saw some of them at the Boutique.” Luna’s eyes narrowed “Why would Rarity have such books?” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow “You do know who her mother was, do you really think Chrysalis would not have taught her daughter about war? Those were likely some of the learning material that her mother gave her.” Celestia frowned “Fair enough I suppose.” Sweetie Belle shook her head “I want to get Rarity to a bed and then we can discuss this tomorrow. Today has been a long day.” The three ponies nod in agreement and help Rarity to one of the beds in the Castle.” Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 10: AwakeningAqua Shade looked around in confusion, he knew where he was but unsure of how he got here. His form was in a constant state of flux between Sombra, the Tyrant King and Aqua Shade, the Orphan. He looked around “I’m dreaming but how did I get here, why am I lucid?” A soothing voice of the sweets nectar spoke “I brought you here King Sombra, or would that be Aqua Shade.” Aqua Shade let out a deep growl “Sombra is dead, and buried. I will never be him again!” The Sombra side of him began to flicker and fade, he turned around to see a glowing Crystal like Alicorn who smiled “I’m Harmonium also known as the Tree of Harmony, and I wished to speak with you. I have seen multiple futures, some of which my physical form meets it’s end at your hooves.” Aqua Shade sighed “As much I hate to admit it my old self would have done just that.” Harmonium frowned “You have shown that you are willing to change but how far are you willing to go to become a better pony.” Aqua Shade growled “As far as I need too, I will not be a monster again. I swear it on my life!” Harmonium frowned “Well then prove your conviction, strike down you darker half. Absolve yourself of your crimes.” Her horn glowed and Aqua Shade flew in one direction while Sombra flew in the other. Aqua Shade glared at his old self “Ah’m not you, Ah won’t be you anymore.” Sombra charged forward as he roared “Crystalsssssssssssssssss!” Aqua Shade dodged the dark crystals that shot out of the ground, he snarled as he leapt on the stallions delivering a devastating blow on his horn. His horn then glowed with bright light before letting off a massive blast, Sombra looked at him as he approached Aqua Shade glared at him with fury in his eyes “I could hate you, you are the worst part of me but that’s why I won’t kill you. I let my hatred control me, drive my actions and I will never do that again.” Aqua Shade turned to Harmonium “Do what you will to me?’ Harmonium obliterated Sombra behind him, she smiled “I was hoping you would do that. I was worried that if you held onto hate you could tumble back into the pit as soon as it became convenient for you to do so but you acknowledged you own hatred and pushed aside for the sake of your ideals. Very few can do that, you have proven yourself worthy. It’s time for you to wait for you to return to the waking world.” He felt his vision filled with light. Meanwhile in Aqua Shade’s hospital room his body began to glow as his grey coat lightened as his mane turned to it’s light blue hue. The biggest change was two wing frames started to form as his body began to shrink in size, Shining Stars’ eyes widened in shock “Aqua?” As soon as as Aqua had returned to his colt form, albeit with a new pair of wings he awoke in confusion only to be flung out of the bed. He blinked as he saw the wings on his back “What did Harmonium do to me?” Shining Stars blinked “You are an Alicorn, how did that happen?!” Aqua frowned as he put his hoof to his chin “My guess is that in order to handle the changes to my body while maintaining the same amount of magical power required my body to change into a form more suited for such large amounts of power.” A doctor entered only to see the colt awake, he frowned “You are Aqua Shade I assume. One of the Nurses’ saw you change and I need to do some basic tests.” Aqua Shade nodded “Very well, I want to be in good shape.” With that the doctor began performing various medical tests to make sure he was in good health. Meanwhile in Canterlot Sweetie Belle, Rarity, Celestia, Luna and Scootaloo were sitting in the meeting room. Scootaloo frowned “We need to do something to allow the Changelings proper citizenship.” Celestia frowned “We should hold out on that for a while, let tensions wither and die. It will give us time to remove the prejudice.” Rarity shook her head “As long as I’m in Equestria tensions will never cease, I’m sure you all know that right?” Luna frowned “I’m not sure what we should do here, politics is not my forte. All I did was yell and shout before storming off. Modern politics don’t allow me to do that, I almost set a noble of fire after listening to his incessant dribble for an hour.” Sweetie Belle frowned “I think you should just let them be citizens and let the cards fall where they may” she frowned at the shocked looks “We are not going to get anyway by doing nothing and that’s all you have planned is nothing. We need action.” Scootaloo sighed “Sweetie Belle is right, debate can only get us so far. We have them revealed on the morrow, it will take their opposition off guard that we do it out of the blue with no warning.” Celestia smiled “That may just work. I think this is a great plan, tommorow will be a good day.” None of them realised soon something else would visit their world from a far off location. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter. EpliogueApple Bloom was sitting in the Clubhouse, she sighed “Ah’m alone. Sweetie Belle is nowhere to be seen and Scootaloo is in Canterlot.” Her mind began to wander, it was odd that she was the normal one of the three of them. She was a normal pony as far as she knew, she frowned “Do Ah have something weird about myself, who could I ask?” She frowned “I could ask Twilight but that would involve being dragged into her labs for tests.” A thought came to her and she smiled “Ah know, Zecora could help me.” She galloped towards the Everfree Forest not noticing the strange pony watching her with a toothy grin “So this is where you have been hiding Cthylla? It has taken me a long time to find this place.” Apple Bloom as she headed towards Zecora’s hut felt somepony following he,r she turned around to see a large stallion with a dark coat grinning “At last I have found you and with that I will at last have leverage over your accursed father!” Apple Bloom backed away in fear “Who are you and what do you want?” The stallion shifted into a huge mass of darkness with a three lobed eye “I am Nyarlathotep, and you are the spawn of Cthulhu. Should he ever die he will be reborn through you, so now I will take your life and bring an end to the Great Cthulhu.” Apple Bloom shouted in fear “Ah don’t know what you’re talking about!” Nyarlathotep shook his head silently before launching a huge blade of darkness at the young filly. Apple Bloom closed her eyes as the blade drew closer only to feel a thud, her eyes opened as she saw a huge masse of tentacles emerging from her back. She screamed “What is that?!” Nyarlathotep growled “I won’t let this opportunity pass me by! Die! Die Die!” Apple Bloom watched in a mix of horror and awe as her tentacles blocked every attack. A deep voice spoke inside her mind (You are much more capable than you know. I have been watching your for many years, you have grown into a strong young mare and soon we we will meet, show this fool what you’re really capable of. That you fit to stand amongst your other friends as heroes of this world.) Apple Bloom lashed with her tentacles striking with incredible force, Nyarlathotep screamed in agony as. Suddenly Apple Bloom felt power building up within her and she let all of it out in a rush obliterating her opponent before collapsing to the ground. Meanwhile across the mirror portal, deep in the Pacific Ocean a huge octopus like being emerged “It seems I have to meet with a friend.” Author's Note Sorry I've been away for a while, I got Fire Emblem Three Houses and have been playing it a lot. Anyway I will put this verse on hold but I will put up a different story soonish.
Chapter 1: TruthScootaloo yawned as she woke up in a guest room in Canterlot Castle, she frowned as she leapt off the guest bed. She trotted into the bathroom (Stupid Chrysalis, did that Bug Queen really think she could take over Equestria? I tried 25 times and each plan failed.) She pulled a stool over so she could brush her teeth, she frowned after she was done “I haven’t seen Sweetie Belle all day.” She opened the door to see an upset Rarity, Rarity looked down with sorrow in her eyes as tears rolled down her chitin “Sweetie Belle has disappeared, we know not where?” Scootaloo growled “Well then send out a search party, she can’t have gone far!” Rarity began to sob “Because of the invasion we can’t send out a search party, repair efforts are beginning.” Scootaloo sat there silently for a few moments, Twilight trotted in “Scootaloo it’s time for us to return to Ponyville. The wedding is postponed for a month or two.” Scootaloo sighed as she gave Rarity a soft hug “It will be alright, Sweetie Belle is tough. Wherever she went I, it was of her own volition. She will returned when she’s ready” Scootaloo then turned to Twilight who had just realised Rarity was in the room “Take care of her, she needs support of a friend right now.” Twilight nodded glumly as she looked at her sobbing friend, Scootaloo packed her bags and left the room leaving Twilight to comfort her friend. One hour later, everyone save Rarity and Twilight was ready to go, Rainbow Dash blinked in confusion “Rarity, Twilight where are your bags?” Twilight frowned “Rarity has to stay here to co-ordinate the changelings integration into Equestria and I’m here to assist her. Rainbow Dash, you are Ponyville’s weather captain you are needed there.” Applejack nodded “I need to get back to the farm, there is work to be done.” Fluttershy looked down sadly “I’d love to stay but I have to take care of my animals.” Rarity smiled weakly “That’s okay Fluttershy, I understand that you have obligations” she then turned to Pinkie “I expect a welcome back party when I return to Ponyville.” Pinkie saluted her face deadly serious “Will do, it will be the best party ever!” Apple Bloom was standing next to Scootaloo, Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo with fear in her eyes “Where is Sweetie Belle, why would she leave us behind?” Scootaloo smiled as she placed a small wing on Apple Bloom “I don’t know but she wouldn’t leave us behind unless it was important. We should have faith she will return when she is ready.” Apple Bloom smiled weakly at her friend “I’ll try.” Soon the six of them were on a train returning to Ponyville, Scootaloo was relaxing on the seat. Rainbow smiled at Scootaloo “Do you want to do some flying practice when we get back?” Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom “I shouldn’t leave Apple Bloom alone, it is a trying time for us. Maybe another time.” Rainbow grinned “It’s alright squirt, after it you learnt from the best and we will never leave our friends hanging will we?” Scootaloo grinned back “We will stand by our friends forever, through thick and thin.” Scootaloo trotted over to Apple Bloom and placed a wing over her, the two fillies sat there calmly until they returned to Ponyville. Applejack looked at the others “We need to get back to Sweet Apple Acres, we are behind on work.” Scootaloo asked with a smile on her face “Can I help, it sounds like you have a lot of work that needs doing?” Rainbow Dash grinned “That’s a great idea, I’m behind you Scootaloo.” Apple Bloom frowned “It’s hard work, are ya sure y'all be able to keep up with us Earth Ponies.” Scootaloo smiled “I’ll be fine, I’m no stranger to hard work.” Applejack sighed “Fine but don’t get yourself get hurt.” Scootaloo smiled as she joined the two siblings,. They arrived to see an exhausted Big Mac pulling a cart full of Apples baskets towards the barn, Applejack frowned “Ah’m back brother. Ya should rest while we handle the rest of the work.” Big Mac gave then a weary smile “Eeyup.” As Big Mac slowly walked back to the the farmhouse, Scootaloo quickly attached herself to the wagon. Applejack frowned “Scootaloo what are you doing?” Apple Bloom and Applejack’s eyes widened as the young pegasus began effortlessly pulling the cart into the barn. She then proceeded to carry the baskets off the wagon with her wings spread out. Applejack blinked at the filly “How did you do that?” Scootaloo grimaced “It personal, I’d rather not talk about it.” Apple Bloom frowned at her sister “Ah trust Scootaloo, she’s been my friend for a while now. Ah trust her.” Applejack sighed before smiling “Scootaloo, do you mind running the cart for us?” Scootaloo grinned “You bet.” Scootaloo was soon pulling another care full of apples her mind racing (It’s been centuries since I last I did this.) Four hundred years earlier Scootaloo was working on a farm, she was taller than she was currently easily a mare fully grown. A tall red earth pony stallion with a blond mane was trotting next to a young orange colt with a blond mane. The young colt smiled at Scootaloo “Good morning, Mum.” Scootaloo wiped her brow with her hoof as she bucked another set of Apples, she grinned “Macintosh Apple, it’s good to see ya and ya father. If Ah remember correctly somepony was supposed to help with the harvest.” Macintosh’s father blushed “Sorry Honey, Ah overslept.” Scootaloo giggled “It’s okay Braeburn, just don’t forget next time. You’re just lucky Ah can handle a harvest by myself.” Macintosh giggled “Daddy’s in trouble.” Scootaloo grinned “That he is and ya will be too if ya don’t get me some more baskets.” The trio were smiling laughing and having fun. Present Day Scootaloo smiled as she turned back to Apple Bloom and Applejack, Apple Bloom was placing baskets under trees as Applejack bucked the trees (I’m glad my descendants are prospering.) Author's Note I hope you like what I did with the first chapter.
Chapter 2: Preparing for ConflictSweetie Belle awoke she stayed as her true Arachna self rather then wearing her pony disguise, she was laying on a simple web she had crafted, two Arachna guards bowed “Princess Belle, your mother is awaiting you at the banquet hall.” Sweetie Belle frowned “Of course, just remember in private it’s Sweetie Belle if you wish to be formal otherwise it’s just Sweetie. Only in public you can me Princess.” The guards scurried out of the way and bowed “Yes Sweetie Belle.” Sweetie Belle sighed as she scurried through the large dark blue corridors of the castle, Arachna bowing to her as she passed. She arrived in a large dark blue dining hall with a small wooden round table at the centre, Queen Spinneret was sitting on one side. Sweetie Belle curried over and took a seat on a giant cushion, Sweetie Belle frowned “Spin..” she shook her head “Mum, what is the plan?” Spinneret smiled “I was planning on just spending some time around the castle with you.” Sweetie Belle sighed “I’d love to spend some personal time with you but we are at war. They could attack us at any second of the clock, and I want us to be ready.” Spinneret frowned “So business first then, well then I believe you need to learn how we fight. The guard barracks would be a good place to start.” Sweetie Belle nodded “Well then let’s go, we don’t have a lot of time.” Spinneret shook her head “Breakfast first, you must be starving. Maintaining a body of that size must be incredibly difficult and I won’t let you go hungry.” Before Sweetie Belle could say a word, hundreds of Arachna entered carrying a massive plate the size of the table with several dead hydras on it. Sweetie Belle shifted into her medium sized form as the food was placed on the table and devoured the hydras with ease, she blushed as she delivered a massive earth shaking burp “Excuse me.” Spinneret laughed heartily “I’m glad you enjoyed your food, burping id s not offensive here. It’s a sign you enjoyed your food.” Sweetie Belle muttered “Rarity would have been offended by that.” Spinneret shook her head “Well she is not here right now, besides it is part of your culture. She will have to accept it.” Sweetie Belle stood up “So you are going to show me to the barracks?” Spinneret nodded as she finished her own meal “Come with me.” The two Royal Arachna scurried out of the dark blue hallways of the castle, they headed through the white paved roads towards the nearby Barracks, it was a darker blue building with several towers with Arachna standing behind strange bow-like machines. Sweetie Belle pointed to the machines “What are those?’ Spinneret smiled “It’s our Hives unique weapons, Arbalests. They are similar to a bow but are capable firing much larger arrows, there are two variants the standard defensive ones and the mounted ones on the battlefield.” Sweetie Belle frowned “How do the mounted ones work?” Spinneret smiled “It’s a three Arachna unit, one Arachna has it mounted on their back, the second gets arrows, while the third pulled back the strings with their fangs to fire.” I raised an eyebrow “Have you ever thought of using you shape shifting abilities to give you a better form for fighting at range.” Spinneret frowned “Several other nests have ranged weapons that could tear apart the hide of anything, evoke our hard exoskeletons are complete protection. Any transformation would be torn apart by attacks.” Sweetie Belle frowned “That is a conundrum…” she then turned to her mother “wait how advanced is our shapeshifting. I’ve seen changelings before so relative to that.” Spinneret laughed “We are so much better than them, we can change into anything we want as long as it is not too much larger than us.” Sweetie Belle focused her power and with a flash of light, a huge Minotaur suit of steel armour was standing there. Sweetie Belle’s laughter echoed inside her metal frame “It worked.” Spinneret blinked “What did you do?” Sweetie Belle giggled “I shapeshifted into a suit of armour, it means that I can use weapons usually reserved for a Minotaur” she then frowned “Could other nests replicate this?” Spinneret shook her head “Unlikely, while many of us could shapeshift perfectly into living things but only my nest went further. Why do you think we were the ones who colonised the Canterlot area, we had the best disguises and thus had no trouble entering the city. After all who suspects rocks?” Sweetie Belle nodded “We are step closer to stopping Queen Venine.” The two Arachna Royals prepared to integrate this technique into their combat forces as they entered the Barracks. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Chapter 3: Darkness ArrivesIt was early in the morning before the sun rose, Scootaloo woke as she felt something dangerous from far in the north. Scootaloo growled “It’s him, I’m going to deal with this before he threatens my friends!” Her eyes glowed green as dark purple trails flew out behind them, in a pulse of dark magic she vanished. She frowned as she arrived in a froze tundra, she then focused her body growing, her coat changing to a darker orange as her mane changed into a much darker shade of purple. She stood equal in height to Celestia herself, Scootaloo frowned as she saw a huge black shadow with green eyes and purple trails. It growled “Crystals!” Scootaloo eyes flashed green “Sombra, return to you true self!” Sombra transformed into a dark grey stallion with an almost black mane as he looked up at the mare. Sombra scoffed “Who dares approach me, King Sombra.” Scootaloo voice echoed as a huge dark aura surrounded her “It seems the Umbrum have forgotten their creator, I am Dark Regalia the Goddess of Darkness.” Sombra bowed as he felt the aura “My goddess, what do you wish of me?” Scootaloo growled “I’m retired, I have been living happily in Equestria and you are going to jeopardize that! So I’m giving you one chance to join me, you will be living as a simple colt otherwise I will eradicate you with extreme prejudice.” King Sombra bowed shaking in fear “Yes, my Goddess.” Scootaloo shook her head “You will call me Scootaloo while in disguise, and there will be no mentioning of our past. We don’t want Celestia or Luna to find us.” King Sombra nodded unwilling to upset the goddess in front of him, Scootaloo focused on the stallion turning him into a light grey colt with a light blue mane. Scootaloo then resumed her own form before teleporting them back to the outside of the Orphanage, I whispered “Now Sombra can’t be your name here, you need a new name.” King Sombra sat there for a few moments before turning to Scootaloo “Aqua Shade is a good name.” Scootaloo smiled “Well Aqua, it’s time to show you what it means to embrace friendship. I know it will not be easy, I struggled a lot a first but it’s worth it in the end.” Just then Foal Care galloped out with a scowl “Scootaloo, what are you doing out here?! You should still be inside!” Scootaloo apologised “I’m sorry, I noticed this colt Aqua Shade was wandering outside alone. I was worried about him.” Foal Care sighed “That is quite noble but please be more careful. My heart almost stopped when I found you weren’t in your bed.” Scootaloo nodded “I have to help the Apples, I’ll be back tonight” she then smiled at Aqua “Foal Care maybe quite strict but she cares for all of us.” As Scootaloo galloped towards Sweet Apple Acres, Aqua looked up nervously. In truth he never had anyone interact positively with him when he was a foal save Princess Amore, he was extremely nervous. Foal Care gave him a warm smile “I’ll introduce to some of the other foals, I’m sure you’ll fit right in.” Aqua nerves grew as Foal Care guiding him into the large warm building, he tried to shake his nerves as he followed Foal Care though a light blue hallway covered in foal Drawings (You’ve run an entire empire, faced off against two Alicorns. Now you are scared of a room of foals, toughen up.) Foal Care smiled excitedly “We have a new foal, his name is Aqua Shade. Scootaloo found him wandering around outside, since he appears to have no home he will be staying with us.” Aqua tensed as almost all the colts and fillies surrounded him save one, questions came in an endless barrage “Where do you come form? How do you know Scootaloo? Who left you here? What is your Favourite Food?” Aqua shook violently in fear (There are so many of them, I just want to be alone.) Aqua began to cry. Foal Care sternly stepped in “That’s enough, you are clearly scaring him. I’m going to take him to his new room.” A dark blue Thestral filly with golden slitted eyes watched as he was guided away from them. Foal Care sighed “I was hoping this wouldn’t happen, foals can be quite energetic. You were not ready for that, I was hoping you could make some friends.” Aqua remained quiet as he was hided through the hallways, soon they arrived outside a room with a dark blue door. Aqua blinked there were pictures of stars on the dark walls, the curtains were shut tightly. Foal Care sighed “This is Shining Star’s room, this is the only room with a spare bed but no foal wishes to be in this room with her.” Aqua gave a smile for the first first time in centuries “I like it, I always admired the stars.” A soft voice commented “Really?” Foal Care turned to see the dark blue Thestral, she sighed “Shining Star, you were supposed to wait with the others.” Aqua smiled at Foal Care “It’s fine, I could use a friend.” Foal Care smiled “Well then I’ll leave you too here to get to know each other.” Star smiled at Aqua as they entered the room “What do you know about stars?” Aqua grinned “Well.” The two foals spoke for hours on the topic of stars with no end in sight. It took Foal Care dragging them out for dinner to end their conversation. Meanwhile Celestia and Luna as well as Rarity were sitting across from the council of nobles, one of the highest ranking nobles Sound Breaker shouted “This is outrageous, the foul beasts invaded our hallowed Capital! They should all be purged.” Celestia’s eyes narrowed “You wish us to go to war without concern for how many lives will be lost. We are not a warlike nation and never will be, war has come to us very rarely over thew centuries under my reign and I have no wish to change that.” Before another word could be said a messenger flew “I have brought urgent news for the Princesses, the Crystal Empire has returned!” Celestia and Luna commanded “This discussion will have to wait for another time, with the Empire’s return, an old threat we sealed away would have returned and it must be dealt with immediately! Therefore you should all return home!” While every noble grumbled as they left Rarity frowned as she followed the two Alicorns concerned how this threat would affect her new hive. Author's Note Hail to the Dark Goddess, Dark Regalia.
Chapter 4: Preparation for the First AttackSweetie Belle leapt out of a rough looking bed, she looked around to see the plain barracks room she stayed in last night. She headed to the bathroom and after quite brush of her of her fangs she headed out to face the day. Spinneret frowned “How did you sleep?” Sweetie Belle smiled “Like a foal, the bed was not so bad.” Spinneret groaned “Those beds do a number on my back, it take me hours to get to sleep.” Sweetie Belle shrugged “My adopted parents didn’t exactly care about fancy beds and besides our exoskeleton is far tougher than pony hide. Besides I will be marching with our soldiers soon, I believe we should attack now while the fire is hot.” Spinneret frowned “Many of our troops aren’t trained with the new tactics yet, are your sure about this.” Sweetie Belle nodded “We need to strike at the weaker points in her defenses, I am no commander but if we strike where she is weak we can whittle away her army bit by bit.” Spinneret smiled “You’re smart, I think this may just work. I know of several of her smaller outposts. I’ll give you a map and you pick one.” Sweetie Belle shook her head “Large forces require large amounts of resources, we will strike each location with small elite forces. Do as much damage as we can before they fully react to our attack.” Spinneret blinked “Are you sure you have not had any combat experience, you are taking like a seasoned general?” Sweetie Belle shrugged “It’s just common sense, attack where they are weak. Avoid strongly defended positions, we can‘t match them in numbers.” Spinneret grinned “Sounds like a plan, let’s put it into action.” Sweetie Belle entered the barracks quarters with Spinneret “We are moving out today.” Soon they were leaning over a map with several squad captains beside them, Sweetie Belle saw the representation of enemy troops. She pointed at several bases with only a single contingent stationed there “They are weakly defended at these outposts, we need to wipe out their forces in each of these outposts simultaneously. That brings up to the next point of the plan, they wills end forces to investigate the attacks once the messages stop coming, so we set a trap. We lay charges in the outposts and have them on a thirty second detonation that will be activated by a pressure plate so that all investigative forces will be decimated by the explosion.” The Squad Captains looked a each other and then back to her “This sounds like a very simple but effective plan. It will take us a couple of days to get the charges from the miners but we can do it.” Sweetie Belle smiled “Well then let’s get to work. Now I have to decide which squad I am going to join for the skirmish.” Spinneret shook her head “This is a simple mission, you shouldn’t risk yourself on the front lines.” Sweetie Belle growled “If I am to assist you I need to understand how our army fights! Their strengths and their weaknesses, I have never seen them in a real fight! That little skirmish at the front of the city doesn't count, I was too focused on eliminating the threat there so I need to really how they actually fight.” Spinneret sighed “That is true but I don’t want you to be in danger. This is war, death happens and I don’t want you to be another casualty.” Sweetie Belle frowned “I am a lot tougher than you think, I can handle myself quite well. Besides if this fails the we’re all dead anyway, they need to know I have as much stake in this as they do. To many I am an outsider, they need to know that I am fighting with them.” Spinneret grimaced “There has to be another way, one that doesn’t put you at risk.” Sweetie Belle frowned “There are none that can be done quickly, I have reignited hope in them but they need a victory to cement that hope. They need to believe they can win this war.” Spinneret slumped “I have never been good at commanding forces, you would make a better Queen than I would. I have been failing as a Queen lately.” Sweetie Belle hugged her mother “Mum, you are being too hard on yourself. No-one is prepared for such a war as this. Your enemy has been pushing you hard, I just granted you enough of a reprieve to come up with a plan of attack.” She then frowned as she turned to the squad captains “You should got and get prepared for the attack. I need to speak with my mum.” The guards nodded politely as they left. Spinneret frowned “Don’t they need your guidance?” Sweetie Belle shook her head “You come first, you are family and the pressure to succeed clearly weighs on you way too much. Have you ever tried to rely on others, take a pupil to assist you perhaps.” Spinneret shook her head “A queen must stand on her own, she must serve her citizens.” Sweetie Belle shook her head “That’s why I will never be a Queen because I rely on others other than myself.I have lived in Equestria for so long. Now let’s go and get some Ice-cream, I’ve had enough of serious conversations for the day.” Spinneret gave her daughter a weak smile as they left the barracks. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Chapter 5: Friends MeetScootaloo woke with a yawn, she trotted out of her room with a smile. She knocked on the door where Aqua Shade was staying, she then opened it with a smile as Aqua stirred. Scootaloo giggled as she saw him sleeping next to Shining Star “Aqua has a fillyfriend.” Shining Star yawned as she sat up “Good Morning Scootaloo, Aqua here is such a nice colt. We spent last night looking at the stars.” Aqua sat up yawning groggily “What time is it?” Scootaloo grinned “Six, now let’s get you and your filly friend up. I want you to meet one of my friends.” Aqua and Shining Star’s faces turned red as they both growled “It’s not like that, we’re just friends!” Scootaloo giggled “Sure you are. Now come on, Apple Bloom is waiting for me.” Aqua and Star scrambled to their hooves, they quickly brushed their teeth before leaving a note on their bed. Star whispered “So, um Scootaloo who is this friend? I never really interacted with anypony except you, and yesterday Aqua.” Scootaloo smiled “She’s a hard working and honest filly, always willing to help a friend in need. You will like her, trust me.” Aqua and Star exchanged nervous looks as they followed Scootaloo through Ponyville. Soon they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom galloped over with a smile “Scootaloo are you ready for some hard… who are those two behind you?” Scootaloo smiled “This is Aqua Shade and Shining Star, they’re friends of mine from the Orphanage.” Apple Bloom smiled as she trotted over to them “If ya friends of Scootaloo, then ya friends of mine. Still we could use a pair of extra hooves, Big Mac and Ah could use the help.” Aqua and Star smiled at each other before nodding at Apple Bloom “We’ll help.” Scootaloo giggled “Aqua, you and your fillyfriend really need to get a room. I’ve heard the barn is free.” Star frowned “You talk boldly for somepony who has never been in a relationship.” Aqua froze as he heard those words, he knew who Scootaloo truly was and this would hurt her deeply. Scootaloo let out a growl, tears flooding her eyes “You can’t possibly understand how I feel! I can’t be in relationships with other ponies, not anymore!” Apple Bloom was about to take off after her but Aqua frowned “I’ll handle this, you wouldn’t be able to get through to her right now. Let me talk to her.” Apple Bloom frowned “Why should it be ya of all of us, Ah’ve been her friend the longest.” Aqua turned to her “It’s a long and complicated story. I’m sure she will explain it at the right time.” Aqua galloped after Scootaloo in rapid pace leaving a confused Thestral and Earth Pony behind. Aqua found Scootaloo crying under a tree, Aqua approached the filly with a weak smile “Scootaloo, I’m here if you need to talk to someone.” Scootaloo’s face was full of tears “They don’t understand and they never truly will, I’ve been living for so long. I found love and a family, now they are gone like ashes in the wind.” Aqua sighed “I understand , there was a mare I knew in ages past. Her name was Radiant Hope, she had feelings for me but she left for Canterlot. I can only assume she is long gone by now, a pile of ash in the snow that makes up the Frozen North.” Scootaloo slumped “I’m sorry Aqua, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. I just was so angry about this, she hurt me.” Aqua frowned “She’s a foal, Scootaloo. We are both over one thousand years old, very can truly live by the standards we set for ourselves. I have learned so much in just a single day, just living as a normal pony instead of the cursed Umbrum that I am.” He then smiled at Scootaloo “You’ve given me a second chance at life, it’s more than I expected from anypony.” Scootaloo frowned “Your kind was my creation and I have been long overdue in actually addressing your kind properly. One day when your kind are released I will make sure they will be able to live in peace.” Aqua smiled “Thank you.” Scootaloo sighed “We better get back Apple Bloom needs our help, her sister Applejack as the Element Bearer of Honesty is in the Crystal Empire right now.” Aqua blinked “I thought Celestia and Luna had power over the elements. What happened?” Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head “Well I created a powerful dark entity to take control of one of the Alicorns but it turned on me as it genuinely felt bad for Princess Luna who was getting the love from her subjects. Shea and Luna were banished to the moon by the Celestia using the elements, the elements lost their power after that until Luna returned and was purified by the current bearers.” Aqua shook his head “That is a lot to take in.” Scootaloo saw Big Mac pulling a cart, she galloped over “Let me handle that. Apple Bloom needs your help.” Apple Bloom was trying to buck the trees but having little success while Star was waiting for the cart. Big Mac nodded “Eeyup.” Scootaloo soon returned with the cart, Star apologised “I’m sorry about what I said earlier.” Scootaloo sighed “It’s alright, you just hit a sore spot of mine. Don’t worry about it, we’ve got work to do.” Aqua, Star and Apple Bloom carried baskets to the cart while Big Mac bucked trees and Scootaloo took the apples to the storage room. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Chapter 6: AttacksSweetie Belle was with a small squad of Arachna Soldiers, each in their dark blue armour. They snuck toward an outpost, the Captain and Sweetie Belle holding a magical transceiver to communicate with fellow squads, she frowned as Arachna wearing dark purple armour were patrolling the walls. Sweetie Belle whispered through her receiver “Carefully approach the walls,.” A voice whispered as her own group slowly and cautiously approached the wall trying to remain out of sight “Yes Princess.” Sweetie Belle was not going to tell them to call her by name, this was the time when rank was important. She whispered as she arrived next to the wall “Are you all next to the wall?” A reply came through “Yes,we’re ready but how do we get in.” Sweetie Belle looked at the walls that were long and straight with small outcroppings, she grinned as she whispered “Climb up the walls to get in and carry out the plan as we discussed, leave no survivors.” There was confused reply “Yes Princess.” The receiver went silent, Sweetie Belle climbed up the wall beckoning the squad behind her. The Captain whispered as several of his forces were stunned at what they were doing “How did you know could do this?” Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow as she whispered “I’ve seen spiders do it before, and well we are just giant sapient spiders. So why couldn’t we climb walls?” The Captain frowned “It appears we will have to redesign our defenses after this.” Sweetie Belle frowned “We can discuss that later, we need to attack now.” Sweetie Belle climbed up onto the rafters with the rest of the squad following. Her fangs pierced through one of the guard’s armour as the squad rushed into the base quickly overwhelming the unprepared guards in a swarm of quickly coordinated attacks. Sweetie Belle watched as the they splintered off into smaller groups of three or four and through a series of carefully planned teamwork attacks they overwhelmed the groups of eight they were tasked with fighting. The Captain frowned as she approached “All the enemies are dead, now what’s the plan.” Sweetie Belle frowned as activated her receiver “Are you all ready, the squad on my end has cleared up the defenders.” She got a reply from everyone “We’re ready and awaiting your command.” Sweetie Belle gave the order “Set up the explosives, and place the tripwire. We need to have the done soon, once you are done evacuate immediately.” They shotued “Yes Princess, we’ll start immediately!” Sweetie Belle nodded to the squad accompanying her who began placing explosives inside the base. They then set the tripwire, Sweetie Belle and her squad left the base over the walls. Soon all the squads met up with her, she frowned at them “How did the plan go?” The squad leaders bowed “We all succeeded with minimal to no losses, Princess.” Sweetie Belle looked down “I’m sorry for that, no one should have died today.” One of the Squad leaders scurried forward and bowed “I’m Captain Toxin, you have given us hope Princess. I have lost many good friends but for the first time I can say that they haven't died in vain. Too many friends died just protecting our borders only granting temporary reprieve before more lives were lost.” Sweetie Belle looked away “It’s still not fair.” Captain Toxin shook his head “Princess, you are still young. You’re not truly ready for this conflict, your mother should really be handling this.” Sweetie Belle frowned “Mum isn’t good at this whole war thing, she is more the peacekeeper. I have no idea why I have such an aptitude for this kind of thing.” Captain Toxin sighed “In truth there have been multiple plans set in motion to overthrow your mother. She hasn’t proven herself to be an effective ruler for a long time.” Sweetie Belle growled “Maybe not but she has years of political experience I do not! Not every leader is cut out for war, it’s why Equestria has had two Princesses! Celestia took the political side while Luna fought the wars, my mother will keep the peace at home while I fight the enemies that oppose us!”The whole group began the long trek back to their home. 3 Days Later Queen Venine was sitting in Courtroom, the sudden attacks were reported immediately. She had sent twenty million Arachna, one fifth of her forces out to investigate soon a messenger has returned with the news that her force was utterly devastated by a massive trap set in the forts, she growled furiously “So this is how you wish to play Spinneret? I’m going to decimate you for this one!” Meanwhile Sweetie Belle had just returned, Spinneret scurried over to her with panic in her eyes “Queen Venine is launching her full force at us abandoning all defensive bases planning to wipe us out with sheer power! Eighty Million troops will be on us in a week.” Sweetie Belle laughed “Well it seem Queen Venine has forgotten one thing, numbers provide no real advantage in war. She has made a fatal mistake and I have a plan to take her down, it will take explosive charges and multiple ambushes but we will have them dead to rights.” Author's Note Numbers mean nothing in war. Also Sapient comes from Sapien which means wise.
Chapter 7: RevelationsRarity was sitting in Canterlot with Celestia and Luna, the panicked look on their faces as they skimmed over maps of Equestria. Celestia growled “It’s been two weeks since the Empire returned and there is no sign of him!” Luna gritted her teeth “Indeed, sister he has to be around here somewhere!” Rarity frowned at them “Enough, both of you! I’ll take care of this, just look at yourselves! You haven't slept in days and it’s beginning to take it’s toll, get some rest!” Luna snarled at her “We can’t do that, we need to find him!” I growled “You won’t be able to fight him if you are exhausted, get some rest! I’ll take over for at few hours, you two get some rest!” Celesta sighed “Rarity is right, we won’t stand any chance against him as we are.” Little did they know the pony they were looking for was helping on the Apple Farm, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack had returned to their routines trying to get their minds off Sombra still being out there. Scootaloo knowing this had tried to help as much as possible on the Apple Farm to get Applejack’s mind off the tyrant. Aqua Shade was also trying to help feeling guilty that his existence was causing this. Aqua Shade smiled as he galloped over to the basket, Applejack smiled as he lifted up the basket “Thank ya, kindly.” Aqua Shade nodded as she galloped over to the cart, Shining Star was puffing a she joined him “How do you keep this up, it’s so exhausting.” Aqua Shade frowned “I have had a rough life, let’s leave it at that.” They put the baskets onto the cart, Aqua Shade smiled at Scootaloo “It’s full now.” Scootaloo grinned “Great work you two, I’ll be right back.” Aqua Shade smiled as he watched Scootaloo galloped away this was the life. Scootaloo returned only for the group to gasp as a red barrier materialised around the town. They galloped into town to see a blue unicorn with a two toned blue mane boasting “I have defeated Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville now belongs to me!” Applejack growled “You liar!” Everypony in town watched in horror as Applejack was turned into an old mare by Trixie Aqua Shade looked at Scootaloo “We have to do something, we have to confront her!” Scootaloo growled “I agree, look at the red amulet around her neck. We need to take it off her!” Aqua Shade and Scootaloo approached Trixie their forms shifting, Scootaloo’s coat and mane darkening. Aqua’s coat darkened while his light blue mane faded to black, everypony looking at the two as their bodies grew in size. Scootaloo snarled “Give me that amulet now!” Trixie grinned as fired a blast of magic at them, Scootaloo rolled her eyes as her eyes glowed green with powerful purple trails flying backwards as she caught the spell in a field of magic and inspected it as if looking at a pile of coal “You really are pathetic, using a beginners dark magic artefact and losing complete control of yourself.” She dispelled the spell and then ripped the amulet off Trixie which caused the barrier to dispel. Trixie sobbed “I’m so sorry, I lost control of myself.” Aqua sighed “What do we do now, Scootaloo?” Scootaloo crushed the amulet into dust with her magic “That was a tool for training apprentice dark mages, get then to sense dark magic and control it. Non-dark mages should not touch this type of artefact, it will corrupt them.” Aqua saw the ponies looking at them in fear, he turned to Scootaloo “What do we do now?” Scootaloo frowned “Well we have to tell them the truth, there is no lying about this one.” Applejack glared them “Ya lied to us, both of ya. Ah want the truth!” Twilight had galloped back in to Ponyville “What’s going on?!” Rainbow flew over to Twilight the spells Trixie cast being dispelling when the amulet was destroyed “’Scootaloo’ and ‘Aqua Shade’ apparently have been hiding their true selves, the could be changelings for all we know?” Aqua sighed as he looked at Twilight “I am the one you are looking for, I am Sombra. You should inform the Princesses about me.” Twilight growled her horn glowing “I’m going to bring you down, Sombra!” She fired a blast of magic at Aqua only for a wing to deflect the spell with ease, Scootaloo shook her head “I brought him here under the condition he would cause no trouble.” Apple Bloom galloped over to them “Scootaloo and Aqua have been helping us at the farm. They don’t deserve to be condemned when they haven’t done anything wrong.” Applejack sighed “That is true, they have helped us quite a bit. Ah’m still a little sour about the lying but they still helped us a lot. We’re weeks ahead of schedule.” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed “Scootaloo, is it really you?” Scootaloo deadpanned “On the first day we met you hit you flew into a tree and got stuck. I had to pull you out.” Rainbow Dash’s face glowed bright red as several ponies burst into laughter, the tension in the air dissolving “It’s her.” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down in the air in front of Aqua “I’ll have to throw you a welcome to Ponyville party.” Aqua blinked “Is she always like this?” Scootaloo giggled “Yes, don’t worry you’ll get used to it.” Before anypony could another word a flash of light went off nearby, Celestia let out a her Royal Canterlot Voice “Sombra!” Everypony struggled to stay on their hooves until a deep black shield emerged, Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed as her barrier protected everypony else“I believe you will find more interest in me, Dark Regalia!” Celestia turned around only for Luna to appear in a flash glaring at Sombra “So are we going to take him out!” Celestia gritted her teeth “Later, first we are going to exterminate that orange mare! She is Dark Regalia!” Luna gave Scootaloo the most deadly glare ever conceived “You are the monster who wiped our species!” Everypony gasped as they heard the news, suddenly a huge eruption of darkness flew out of Scootaloo forcing the two Alicorns to their knees. Scootaloo spoke calmly “You have no idea what your kind did, first off the condemnation of dark magic was an Alicorn idea to establish rule over the other Non-Alicorn Ponies. Dark magic was invented by Pegasi and Earth Ponies by combining their magics together to oppose the Unicorns.” Scootaloo took a deep breath as tears flowed down her face “You kind killed my parents in cold blood! I devoted my life to unseating the Alicorn Empire through my studies in dark magic, after over 3 million years of study I achieved my goal! I was the original master of dark magic, I taught Grogar dark magic and created the Umbrum. Grogar was a powerful student but he tried to enslave ponies. I opposed him alongside Gusty the Great, granting her the opportunity to steal his precious bell. I then sealed him away.” Luna snarled “Why should we believe you!” Scootaloo frowned “You don’t have to. I thought you were my enemies, the Umbrum were my creations to destroy you two as I believe you would enslave pony-kind. In the end my final failed plan lead to me understanding how far that you, Celestia would go to protect your ponies. The Nightmare was my creation!” Celestia let a devastating scream “You’re the reason I had to use the Elements against my sister! I will destroy you!” Scootaloo shook her head as many ponies were frozen the tension having returned in full force “No, that was all you! I ordered Nightmare to possess you, so you would kill your sister and then she would leave your body so I could kill you. Unfortunately Nightmare empathized with your sister’s plight and tried to help her, I have been living under your rule for the last millennia under different identities.” Celestia eyes narrowed while Luna glared at her “Why should we trust you!” She then released her hold on them as she bowed before them “There is no reason you should, do what you wish!” Celestia’s face contorted as she was at war with herself, she was a stern believer in the fact that anyone could be redeemed and the mare in front of her had done that but the age at the loss of her kind screamed fiercely. Luna on the other hoof was not willing to show mercy, her horn glowed as a magical sword swung down as Scootaloo closed her eyes waiting for the end. Scootaloo waited for an end only for nothing to happen, she opened her eyes to see Aqua smiling as sword was embedded in his side. Aqua smiled at her “You gave me a chance at a normal life, thank you for everything.” His vision faded to black as he collapsed to the ground. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed what I did with this chapter.
Chapter 8: Execution of the PlanSweetie Belle was watching the enemy forces from a rocky outcrop matching their positions to a chart, they were surrounding their food supplies with large amounts of troops. Captain Toxin frowned “Why are we not launching attacks on their food supplies anymore?” Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes “Look at them, they are heavily guarding their food supply. Striking now will be futile, we need to watch carefully and wait for the right moment.” Captain Toxin grimaced “The troops are getting restless, what are you waiting for.” Sweetie Belle frowned “Give it a few seconds.” The enemy forces slowly encroached forward, Sweetie Belle gave a look at her then back at the forces movement. She grinned as she pressed a button, a massive explosion erupted from the ground tearing apart the army decimating the army. Sweetie Belle roared “Capture them now!” The large remnant of Queen Venine’s forces though still holding numerical superiority was in a state of panic allowing the smaller force to quickly capture them. Sweetie Belle approached Captain Toxin “I told you the plan would work.” Captain Toxin frowned “So what do we do now. We have two million injured Arachna in chains.” Sweetie Belle looked over them, she noticed something many of them were very thin she growled “It seems they have been starved, Queen Venine has a lot to answer for!” She then took a deep breath as she looked at the Arachna in front of her “Why are there so many of you in the military?” One of them responded fear in their eyes “The Royal palace holds most of the food, the army is composed of ninety-nine percent of our population. We can’t anything to eat unless we are either in military service or scientists in the development division.” Sweetie Belle turned to the Squads, her tone venomous“All of you save Captain Toxin’s Squad will escort them back home! Captain Toxin’s Squad will follow me into her city where I can bring her to justice!” Every Arachna heeded her orders without a word not willing to further upset the already livid princess. Sweetie Belle was fuming, how could anyone treat their subjects that way, as if they are mere tools. She was going to tear Queen Venine limb from limb. She snarled as she grew to easily one thousand Celestias tall and three thousand Celestias wide, she looked down at the squad “Get on, I want to be back with mum before dinner!” The squad climbed on her back, Sweetie Scurried quickly towards the enemy city. Meanwhile in the castle Queen Venine was sitting on her thrown impatiently as her scientists were standing around nervously, soon the room began to shake. Queen Venine scowled as she scurried out of her castle “Who dares disturb…” Her eyes widened as she saw Sweetie Belle’s massive form towered over her city, the massive Arachna glared down at the relatively tiny light blue Queen “You truly have no respect for your subjects, I saw the state of the survivors. They were starved beyond compare, that is poor form for a Queen and I’m going to have you pay for it!” Queen Venine barely could get a word in before a huge leg slammed into the side of the palace and Captain Toxin used his webbing to bind her. His Squad pulled the bound Queen onto Sweetie Belle’s back. Sweetie Belle frowned as she scurried through the caves “Queen Venine, why do you treat your subjects in such a way?” Queen Venine scowled “A Queen is in charge! They should be able to do what they want!” Sweetie Belle shook her head “Not really, what is to stop a revolution from those beneath you. Could you really stop millions of your own angry populace from overthrowing you?” Queen Venine slumped “No but how does one rule without intimidation.” Sweetie Belle frowned “Through respect, if subjects respect you they will be willing to throw themselves to the wolves in your name. My mother rules through respect, Princess Celestia has ruled for one thousand years and she is respected by her subjects.” Queen Venine frowned “What happens when you lose that respect?” Sweetie Belle scowled “Of you lose the respect of your subjects then you are not worthy of leadership! I would have gutted you on the spot but it should fall to my mother to judge you, after all you hurt her far more than you hurt me!” Queen Venine looked nervously at Sweetie Belle. Queen Venine was shocked when the group returned to nest. Several Captains she recognised were now wearing armour in Spinneret’s colours. They all glared at her, she gulped as she realised just how much trouble she was in. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Chapter 9: AftermathScootaloo let out a banshee like scream as Sombra collapsed to the ground, Celestia and Luna froze as they felt the darkness flare out of the mare in front of them. Shining Star galloped over to Aqua with tears in her eyes “Aqua.” Pinkie pulled a stretcher out of her mane, she turned to with a fierce look of determination at Applejack. Applejack nodded back before smiling at the filly next to Aqua “We’ll take your friend to the hospital.” Shining Star followed the two Earth ponies sobbing. Scootaloo was shaking her sorrow slowly turning to fury, she stood up casting a death a fearsome glare upon the two Alicorns. Celestia took a deep breath “Scootaloo, this was an accident and we will discuss this in Canterlot. I would like to discuss this with Rarity.” Scootaloo glared at Luna for a few moments before taking a deep breath, Scootaloo was ancient and was not about to let her own fury cloud her judgement. She huffed “Fine, but we go now.” Everypony gasped as Scootaloo and the Alicorns disappeared in the dark mist, Rarity blinked as the three appeared in the throne room as a few noble shotued “You stupid parasites should leave Equestria!” Scootaloo frowned “Rarity, I’m a little curious why I don’t see any undisguised Changelings around.” Rarity frowned “First off how do you know that and who are you?” Celestia frowned “This is Scootaloo, and she is actually far older than everything around now except Discord.” Rarity shouted “What, but how?!” Scootaloo frowned “Rarity calm down, you can freak out about this later. First off I was the one who hid Sombra, as the creator of his species I have a responsibility to care for him.” Celestia commanded with power behind her voice “Leave us, this is a very important matter that effects Equestria’s security!” The nobles complied, grumbling as they left. Rarity took a deep breath trying to keep calm “So let me get this straight, Sombra was taken in by Scootaloo under our muzzles and she is the one who created his species, is older than Equestria and I just have to accept that. I need to lie down, and by Harmony I hope nothing else surprising happens today.” Fate was not happy with what she just said, two guard pushed open the door in a hurry but before they could speak a small white spider jumped onto Rarity’s face “Sis!” Rarity eyes rolled back into her head and collapsed, Scootaloo raised an eyebrow “Sweetie Belle, don’t remember how many times your sister had fainted when we came in covered in tree sap? Did you not consider that here?” Sweetie Belle frowned as she turned to Scootaloo “Scootaloo that’s not…” she shotued as she saw her friend was the height of Celestia and was sporting much darker version of her normal colours “Scootaloo, what happened to you?!” Scootaloo frowned “This is my secret, I’m a dark goddess that has been living for over three million years. I wiped out the Tyrant Alicorns who had killed my family, who had enslaved pony-kind. Almost all dark creatures in this world are linked to me in some fashion.” Sweetie Belle blinked “Well that explains why I didn’t weird you out too much. You didn’t really care about my spiderness, even Apple Bloom was slightly freaked out.” Celestia sighed “I was hoping that we would find Sombra and be done with this madness. It seems it’s not going to be the case.” Scootaloo growled turning to Luna “Sombra is my responsibility as are rest of his kind, the Umbrum!” Luna frowned “I did not intend to kill him, your were my target. I just wanted him locked away.” Scootaloo glared at her “As if that’s any better, I do have the interests of pretty every dark creature on this planet on my mind.” Sweetie Belle looked at the three of them with a scowl as she increased to a larger size, easily matching Celestia’s height “Enough! I just got back and I find one of my friends is causing an argument with the Princesses. We need to keep calm and assess this scenario carefully.” Scootaloo frowned “What needs to be assessed it’s pretty self explanatory. I assume were here to discuss the political ramifications of this.” Celestia frowned “We’ll deal with that later, Rarity will have a say as well on this matter.” Luna raised an eyebrow at Sweetie Belle “Speaking of which, I’m curious as to where you’ve been?” Sweetie Belle rubbed the back of her head “Well I met up with my birth mum. Her country was at war, I helped her win the war.” Celestia and Luna raised their eyebrows “Where did you learn how to be a commander of an army.” Sweetie Belle blushed “I take your not going to believe that I’m naturally talented.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes “You read some of your sister’s books on war, I saw some of them at the Boutique.” Luna’s eyes narrowed “Why would Rarity have such books?” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow “You do know who her mother was, do you really think Chrysalis would not have taught her daughter about war? Those were likely some of the learning material that her mother gave her.” Celestia frowned “Fair enough I suppose.” Sweetie Belle shook her head “I want to get Rarity to a bed and then we can discuss this tomorrow. Today has been a long day.” The three ponies nod in agreement and help Rarity to one of the beds in the Castle.” Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Chapter 10: AwakeningAqua Shade looked around in confusion, he knew where he was but unsure of how he got here. His form was in a constant state of flux between Sombra, the Tyrant King and Aqua Shade, the Orphan. He looked around “I’m dreaming but how did I get here, why am I lucid?” A soothing voice of the sweets nectar spoke “I brought you here King Sombra, or would that be Aqua Shade.” Aqua Shade let out a deep growl “Sombra is dead, and buried. I will never be him again!” The Sombra side of him began to flicker and fade, he turned around to see a glowing Crystal like Alicorn who smiled “I’m Harmonium also known as the Tree of Harmony, and I wished to speak with you. I have seen multiple futures, some of which my physical form meets it’s end at your hooves.” Aqua Shade sighed “As much I hate to admit it my old self would have done just that.” Harmonium frowned “You have shown that you are willing to change but how far are you willing to go to become a better pony.” Aqua Shade growled “As far as I need too, I will not be a monster again. I swear it on my life!” Harmonium frowned “Well then prove your conviction, strike down you darker half. Absolve yourself of your crimes.” Her horn glowed and Aqua Shade flew in one direction while Sombra flew in the other. Aqua Shade glared at his old self “Ah’m not you, Ah won’t be you anymore.” Sombra charged forward as he roared “Crystalsssssssssssssssss!” Aqua Shade dodged the dark crystals that shot out of the ground, he snarled as he leapt on the stallions delivering a devastating blow on his horn. His horn then glowed with bright light before letting off a massive blast, Sombra looked at him as he approached Aqua Shade glared at him with fury in his eyes “I could hate you, you are the worst part of me but that’s why I won’t kill you. I let my hatred control me, drive my actions and I will never do that again.” Aqua Shade turned to Harmonium “Do what you will to me?’ Harmonium obliterated Sombra behind him, she smiled “I was hoping you would do that. I was worried that if you held onto hate you could tumble back into the pit as soon as it became convenient for you to do so but you acknowledged you own hatred and pushed aside for the sake of your ideals. Very few can do that, you have proven yourself worthy. It’s time for you to wait for you to return to the waking world.” He felt his vision filled with light. Meanwhile in Aqua Shade’s hospital room his body began to glow as his grey coat lightened as his mane turned to it’s light blue hue. The biggest change was two wing frames started to form as his body began to shrink in size, Shining Stars’ eyes widened in shock “Aqua?” As soon as as Aqua had returned to his colt form, albeit with a new pair of wings he awoke in confusion only to be flung out of the bed. He blinked as he saw the wings on his back “What did Harmonium do to me?” Shining Stars blinked “You are an Alicorn, how did that happen?!” Aqua frowned as he put his hoof to his chin “My guess is that in order to handle the changes to my body while maintaining the same amount of magical power required my body to change into a form more suited for such large amounts of power.” A doctor entered only to see the colt awake, he frowned “You are Aqua Shade I assume. One of the Nurses’ saw you change and I need to do some basic tests.” Aqua Shade nodded “Very well, I want to be in good shape.” With that the doctor began performing various medical tests to make sure he was in good health. Meanwhile in Canterlot Sweetie Belle, Rarity, Celestia, Luna and Scootaloo were sitting in the meeting room. Scootaloo frowned “We need to do something to allow the Changelings proper citizenship.” Celestia frowned “We should hold out on that for a while, let tensions wither and die. It will give us time to remove the prejudice.” Rarity shook her head “As long as I’m in Equestria tensions will never cease, I’m sure you all know that right?” Luna frowned “I’m not sure what we should do here, politics is not my forte. All I did was yell and shout before storming off. Modern politics don’t allow me to do that, I almost set a noble of fire after listening to his incessant dribble for an hour.” Sweetie Belle frowned “I think you should just let them be citizens and let the cards fall where they may” she frowned at the shocked looks “We are not going to get anyway by doing nothing and that’s all you have planned is nothing. We need action.” Scootaloo sighed “Sweetie Belle is right, debate can only get us so far. We have them revealed on the morrow, it will take their opposition off guard that we do it out of the blue with no warning.” Celestia smiled “That may just work. I think this is a great plan, tommorow will be a good day.” None of them realised soon something else would visit their world from a far off location. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
EpliogueApple Bloom was sitting in the Clubhouse, she sighed “Ah’m alone. Sweetie Belle is nowhere to be seen and Scootaloo is in Canterlot.” Her mind began to wander, it was odd that she was the normal one of the three of them. She was a normal pony as far as she knew, she frowned “Do Ah have something weird about myself, who could I ask?” She frowned “I could ask Twilight but that would involve being dragged into her labs for tests.” A thought came to her and she smiled “Ah know, Zecora could help me.” She galloped towards the Everfree Forest not noticing the strange pony watching her with a toothy grin “So this is where you have been hiding Cthylla? It has taken me a long time to find this place.” Apple Bloom as she headed towards Zecora’s hut felt somepony following he,r she turned around to see a large stallion with a dark coat grinning “At last I have found you and with that I will at last have leverage over your accursed father!” Apple Bloom backed away in fear “Who are you and what do you want?” The stallion shifted into a huge mass of darkness with a three lobed eye “I am Nyarlathotep, and you are the spawn of Cthulhu. Should he ever die he will be reborn through you, so now I will take your life and bring an end to the Great Cthulhu.” Apple Bloom shouted in fear “Ah don’t know what you’re talking about!” Nyarlathotep shook his head silently before launching a huge blade of darkness at the young filly. Apple Bloom closed her eyes as the blade drew closer only to feel a thud, her eyes opened as she saw a huge masse of tentacles emerging from her back. She screamed “What is that?!” Nyarlathotep growled “I won’t let this opportunity pass me by! Die! Die Die!” Apple Bloom watched in a mix of horror and awe as her tentacles blocked every attack. A deep voice spoke inside her mind (You are much more capable than you know. I have been watching your for many years, you have grown into a strong young mare and soon we we will meet, show this fool what you’re really capable of. That you fit to stand amongst your other friends as heroes of this world.) Apple Bloom lashed with her tentacles striking with incredible force, Nyarlathotep screamed in agony as. Suddenly Apple Bloom felt power building up within her and she let all of it out in a rush obliterating her opponent before collapsing to the ground. Meanwhile across the mirror portal, deep in the Pacific Ocean a huge octopus like being emerged “It seems I have to meet with a friend.” Author's Note Sorry I've been away for a while, I got Fire Emblem Three Houses and have been playing it a lot. Anyway I will put this verse on hold but I will put up a different story soonish.
