Darkness Falls

by GenTech4

Rating: mature
Tags: Crossover, Dark, Adventure
Length: 7329

A dark horror story set in Equestria, during Celestia's extended absence from the throne.

Equestria has fallen on dark times with the extended absence of Celestia from the throne. Luna has done as best she can to make the night hospitable to ponies everywhere, yet can only manage to partially bring up the sun for several hours every few days - the barest minimum needed for crops to survive. Added to this are the appearance of strange new ponies, abominations in their own right, yet eerily similar to average Equestrians.

In this dark hour, Rainbow Dash and her friends must keep the citizens of Ponyville healthy and safe, while looking for clues as to where Celestia has gone, before the situation gets any worse…

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-29 23:18:23 UTC

Prologue

Darkness falls.

I had never thought I'd ever feel fear of the dark while Luna ruled the night.

But it appears that our Princess of the Night now has competition for ultimate power over it.

These are my records of everything pertinent that has happened in your absence, Princess Celestia.

It had only been two weeks after Celestia's disappearance that the sun began to lose its momentum, and ultimately stopped rising in the sky. Flowers wilted, warmth was lost, the darkness encroached upon our humble town of Ponyville, but we did not fear, for Luna was using her powerful arcane magic to keep us all safe during this trying time.

It was after an odd looking pony with a chubby frame, wide cheeks, a large muzzle and stumpy legs had been admitted entrance to the royal palace that things had started to change for the worse. After the Pony entered, three palace guards were apparently found dead and horrifically disfigured. Celestia became paranoid and visibly scared, she lost her calm and collected demeanour that she had maintained throughout countless millennia of service to Equestria. And devoted much of her time to researching obscure historical records and ancient magical resources – leaving her sister Luna to administrate the land and provide a bastion of seniority and strength for the disturbed masses to rally behind.

Despite all of this, she still made time for her protégé and her friends – the very elements of harmony with which this land was protected for all time. I still saw Celestia as a guiding light, a leader with both fire in her belly and a good heart. Always understanding, always loving, never hurting, only nudging toward the correct path and resolving disputes amicably.

Celestia never told any of us of what the rumours meant, of why that pony had caused her to become so altered in behaviour. The one time Twilight asked her about it, she looked as though she had awoken from a nightmare, and immediately left the room to look for a specific book.

Not long after that, Princess Celestia left Canterlot entirely with a very large detachment of royal guards and researchers, leaving the city without a third of its police force. Thankfully, crime was almost non-existent in Canterlot at the time, so this was not an immediate concern. Shining Armour and his wife Cadance directly supported Luna as best they could in Celestia's absence, Shining sending the guards into overdrive with training and equipment, while Cadance did as best she could to spread love and joy in the hearts of the citizenry.

Canterlot was safe, secure, and happy.

Luna had been keeping daily contact with her dearest sister through a similar system to that which Twilight uses Spike for in communication. Only instead of dragonfire, they used some kind of ancient alicorn magic. In time, it became apparent to Luna that things were not going well for her sister, and despite attempting to keep a brave face on things, her sister was obviously lying in her letters.

One week after the last letter from her sister was delivered, the odd looking pony arrived again, deposited the head of a royal guard from Celestia's personal detachment on the floor outside of the palace, and proceeded to devour it whole. The grisly sight of a pony's severed head entering the creature's gaping maw, only to then slowly travel down the expanding oesophagus of this strange pony was more than the present palace guards could bear, and, ignoring Luna's pleas to stand down, they rushed it in a fit of sheer righteous fury. It vanished the moment their spears struck its chest.

Luna was understandably distressed, and sought comfort in the arms of Cadance and Shining Armour, the latter of whom was greatly angered by this breach in security, and ordered his most elite, heavily armed and armoured soldiers to a 24-7 guard duty on the princess. These guards did their jobs admirably for a total of four days. Luna decided that things had calmed down enough for them to stand down, and allowed them to stay in her chambers for the night while they recuperated from their monumental vigil.

The day before the last event misshapen hoofprints were found all over Canterlot, and the regal unicorns of the Royal Canterlot University spoke in hushed whispers of horrific and disfigured entities roaming the city streets and back alleys.

That night, something happened. Luna refuses to speak of it, but all that is known is that all six elite guards vanished from her chambers, never to be seen again. There were signs of battle, and broken windows, but Luna declared this would be the last time such a thing happened within Canterlot.

And so it was.

My friends and I are now in Ponyville, making sure everypony is alright and supporting them through this trying time. We are, as Luna says, paragons of virtue that light up the night. We will see the day when Celestia is back to her old self, and sitting pretty once again in the royal throne room. But this day, I fear, will only come after a period of all-encompassing darkness – of which the absence of light is not my only meaning. Things will get much darker before we see the eventual dawn.

Though Luna can only raise the sun with her own magic to a certain degree, we are grateful to her for any sunlight we can see. The twilight she creates when raising it with her meagre strength for several hours every few days is enchanting to behold, but makes everypony I know long for the glory days of Celestia, with blazing hot summers and bright, sunny days. The pegasi are continuing to control the weather, and the earth ponies continue to work the land. Crops are still being grown, but I don't know how much longer we can survive on the weak and runty food that is pulled in from the fields.

We have to get Celestia back soon. We must defend her against these creatures. We will stay together as friends, and defeat all obstacles as sisters.

My name is Rainbow Dash, and these are my records of the days after darkness has fallen.

Chapter 1

It was a cold day in autumn when we found the first of them, when we realised our situation had become more severe than first thought.

The sun was in the position it usually was during our fleeting hours of daylight – low in the sky, as if tired and lethargic. So was the moon at the opposite end of the horizon. The golden shade this twilight cast upon everything was present, and the surrounding woodland had a serene, beautiful quality to it that reminded me of past summers spent lazing around in the clouds. However, as Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, and myself approached the door to Fluttershy's house, we could tell that something was wrong.

As usual, Twilight was first to state the obvious: “I don't like this, girls. Don't ask me why, but something feels very wrong here.” her voice was forceful, but noticeably worried.

“Oh Twilight dear, you simply must get this paranoia out of your system before you have another...episode.” Rarity spoke with an odd mixture of upper-class condescension and genuine concern for her friend and fellow unicorn. She raised her hoof to the door and began to grip the handle “I'm sure there's nothing to worry ab-”

Rarity froze, and then screamed.

Applejack was immediately on guard, “Rarity! What in tarnation's wrong with ya'll?”

Rarity ceased screaming, and started crying. She slowly released the door handle and raised her hoof toward us. It was covered in black slime. Applejack was about to chew Rarity out for scaring them half to death, when she noticed that the same black slime was dripping out of an open upstairs window, and covered darn-near half the garden. “What the heck is that stuff? And what's it all doin' in Fluttershy's yard? Twi, do ya have any idea wha-”

“Shh!” Twilight half-yelled, half-whispered. “Listen.”

At first, nopony could hear anything, until we all heard what Twilight did.

“Help me. Help. Help. Help me.” In a tiny voice, yet one that was tantamount to horrified screaming in her tone, Fluttershy was pleading for help.

Wasting absolutely no time, AJ bucked the door off its hinges and all four of our band of friends raced inside. The scene before us was unbelievable, and we found ourselves physically paralysed at the sight: the rear of her living room had a huge hole in the wall, and the black slime from the handle covered everything – absolutely everything – including the small quivering mound of the stuff from which those terrified whispers emanated.

“Fluttershy! Don't fret now, ya hear? Your PFF's are here to make everythin' right as rain – as nice as sunshine and gravy!” Applejack shouted.

Both Twilight and Rarity both used their magical prowess to separate the poor pegasus from her prison of foul ichor, and cleared a spot on the floor ten hoofspans wide – just enough room for the four of us to lie beside her in a protective circle.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight spoke in a soft and consoling voice, “You don't have to be afraid now, we're all here with you. We'll protect you from whoever did this.”

All of us voiced our agreement with Twilight, and snuggled up close to her. I covered her with my wing, so that she was now totally enveloped by the warmth of our friendship, and could hopefully recover enough from her ordeal to tell us what happened.

“It ate them all.” Fluttershy was still using her terrified voice – not that any of us could blame her, but it made understanding what she said a difficult affair. “It ate them all and now it's coming back for me and I don't know what to do and I'll never see Angel again and everyone is gone and everything is dying.” - she collapsed into a torrent of tormented tears.

I piped up: “I think she said somepony ate them all.” and as if in confirmation, Fluttershy gave a terrified squeak. “Ate all of what? Your cupcakes?”

Rarity gave me a death-glare, and conferred with Twilight.

Twilight spoke first: “I think it would be best if we split up. You and Applejack explore the house and try to ascertain exactly what happened here.” then Rarity stated her intentions: “Myself and Twilight will console Fluttershy and take her back to the centre of Ponyville. Such a delicate mare has no business being out here alone at such times.”

I agreed. Physically speaking, we were the two strongest ponies, and best equipped to deal with whoever did this; while Rarity and Twilight were strong magic users and really clever, but their talents were best used to support 'shy at this point.

After the others encased Fluttershy in their comforting, magical grip and left for Ponyville, AJ and I decided to stick together while we scouted this place out.

“Well Dash, ah reckon we should head upstairs,” whispered Applejack, gesturing to the ceiling, “ah think ah can hear somethin' up in one-a them there rooms.”

She was referring to the odd squelching and dripping sounds that both of us had noticed only after the others left. I trotted toward the stairs, eager to find the source of this mess and make whatever pony did this to Flutters pay. I wish I hadn't. I slipped on a mound of stiff jelly in the pallid grey-black expanse of muck and fell flat on my face – it got in my nose and eyes.

Sitting up, coughing and spluttering, I opened my eyes and saw a curious little yellowish-grey object in the mound. A skull. The skull of a rabbit. I recognised it from my highschool biology classes in Cloudsdale, but we'd never seen a real skull of course, only pictures in books. This one was...moving?

Nauseous and terrified, I shot to my feet while AJ looked on, incredulous at what was taking place.

“Darlin', are ya'll okay?”

“AJ, that bucking skull bucking moved!”

“Hey now, there's no need for that kinda language!”

“AJ, there's a bucking skull in the bucking slime, and it bucking moved and it's still bucking moving, and by Celestia what is it?”

Applejack approached the scene to get a better view. Not one to be squeamish, she pushed her hoof into the mess, grabbed the mass attached to this skull, and pulled it out.

We were looking at a bunny, flayed of its skin, its eyes removed, its tongue cut out, its flesh stripped away. Covered in the black slime.

It was still moving, writhing in pain.

It was Angel.

That last thought almost made me faint. I saw Applejack was heading toward that realisation too, and steadied her with my wing. Yes, the pathetic abomination we saw before us was Fluttershy's favoured pet bunny Angel, there was no mistaking it. He still had enough of his neck flesh that his bell collar was gripping onto it with an air of futility. I knew it would eventually slide off along with the rest of his flesh, and Angel would no longer be recognisable to the world.

Applejack recoiled in terror and lost her grip – accidentally sending Angel careening down into the slime once again, where he slowly crawled on his belly toward her raised hoof. As he lay there underneath my friend gazing up at her with his eyeless sockets and gesturing with his ruined arm, we both understood what he wished for most.

A quick death.

With an apology to Fluttershy, a whisper to Celestia, and a look of profound sadness in her eyes, my friend Applejack sent her hoof rocketing toward the slime-covered floor and crushed what remained of Angel's head like a grape. Bone splinters, grime, and brain matter splattered out from the epicentre of her powerful stomp, spraying my legs with greyish muck, and extinguishing Angel's life forever. Whatever could be said for his miserable existence in the last few hours, at least he now knew peace.

We both stood in stunned silence, only broken by the grunting coming from the top of Fluttershy's stairs. I was the first to see it, and instantly felt numbed by fear.

There was a...thing in the upper hallway, pointing its bulk in our direction from the very top of the stairs. Slime dripping from the banister, and sloughing off countless skeletal remains of woodland critters. At least they didn't endure Angel's pain, I hoped.

It had a short, fat body; a long, thick tail; four segmented legs that jutted out from its sides; and a cavernous opening where its neck should be, ringed by a combination of dragon and pony teeth. It had no eyes to speak of, no ears, no mane and no snout. Just a huge, horrible mouth. It exuded the slime from its mouth and skin. It had been a pony once, of that there was no doubt, but now it was a nightmare creature – one that had traumatised one of my best friends and fatally wounded her cherished pet.

This thing was going down.

But before I could launch into my roaring rampage of revenge, AJ grabbed my body and forcefully held me back from attacking that creature. Buck me my friend is strong.

“Dash, ah know exactly how ya feel darlin', consarn it, I feel it too! But we don't know what the hay this thing's capable of beyond cold-blooded murder and sowin' terror on our friends.” She had a point. I was about to launch into my fight not knowing what this thing could do – I could end up like Angel...or worse.

“Okay AJ, but if we can't fight it, then what do we do?”

“Ah say we run back to Ponyville as fast as our legs can carry us, tell Twilight about what we saw, and figure out what to do from there.”

Coincidentally, that was the moment the monster decided to come down the stairs. It had an odd, creeping, crawling, loping gait. As though its legs weren't working properly. Yet its inexorable advance impressed upon us the importance of our next move: we turned tail, and ran for our lives out of the house and back toward Ponyville.

Passing tree after tree enveloped in the golden sunlight, feeling warmth of its rays on our skin and a cooling breeze reminiscent of the glory days from Celestia's rule did nothing to assuage our fears at that point. We could still hear its angry, guttural howling five hundred metres from the house. AJ was running full pelt, and I decided to take to the air so that I could keep pace with her. Before I had launched myself into the wild blue yonder, I chanced a quick glance back toward the house, and what I saw made me trip and fall, face over flank, into the mud.

AJ came to a screeching halt and rushed back to help me up, I was sure she was about to ask what happened when she turned around and saw what I had seen. Her face was indecipherable as she looked on.

“What. The. BUCK?”

The entire house had disappeared into the ground.

All of it was gone. None of it remained, and in its place was now a pit of slime. We looked closer, and could see shapes emerging from the pit, slipping into the trees, then just as it had filled, the muck-pool drained, and all that was left of Fluttershy's once beautiful woodland home was a deep hole in the middle of the woods – likely never to be reclaimed, nor ventured near ever again.

“Darlin', those things look like they're headin' toward town,” Applejack stated, short of breath, “listen, I need to make sure mah family's safe over at Sweet Apple Acres, can you make it to Ponyville without me?”

I was appalled that AJ thought I would just leave her to deal with these bucking monstrous things on her own: “You can buck right off if you think I'm just going to leave you alone in the woods with these things walkin' around!”

“Now listen here, Dash!” Applejack shouted, “The rest of Ponyville needs to know about these here events ASAP. You're the fastest pony in all of Equestria, and ah need make sure mah family's alright!”

I understood. This was about more than just friendship and loyalty, this was about the survival of everyone we loved. So, with sadness in my eyes, and the worry that I might not see her again, I launched into flight toward the centre of Ponyville and left my friend behind in the darkening, evil-smelling, thoroughly corrupted woods.

Chapter 2

The sky above the woods on the outskirts of Ponyville was a strange contrast to the perceptibly corrupted ground below. It was free and clear and visceral, with the almost impossibly bright moon shining down upon all of Equestria. From up here, I was able to see that Luna's incredible magic had boosted the light of her moon in the absence of Celestia's blazing sun, which was why we everypony was able to see so well in the almost eternal darkness. I felt so very grateful to our princess of the night for all that she had done in Celestia's place.

Flying high and fast above the moonlit terrain and feeling the familiar cool air assault my body, I scanned the path below for any sign of my other three friends – surely the couldn't have made it to the centre of Ponyville already?

Sure enough, I eventually spied the glow of Twilight and Rarity's combined magic as they hefted the traumatised yellow pegasus back to their home. Excited to see them again, I quickly decreased my height until I was just above the ground, slowed my flight speed to that of a brisk trot, and ceased to beat my wings entirely. Dropping out of the air and onto the ground, my legs absorbed the shock of the fall while I began working them into a frenzy so I could bleed off the rest of my residual speed.

“HEY GUYS, HEY!” I yelled, desperate to make them aware of the horrors that were potentially following us.

Both unicorns turned around, probably surprised at the sight of a prismatic blur heading toward them. In the desperate haste to warn my friends, I had forgotten to bleed off my excess flight speed and found that I could not stop.

“Rainb-oof!” Twilight managed before I crashed into her at a comparatively low speed. The force of colliding with my friend briefly dazed me, so when I opened my eyes and regained my composure, I found myself sprawled on top of Twi's body, by muzzle resting on hers. Twilight opened her eyes as well, briefly confused with the situation.

Remembering why I had expended most of my energy reserves in a mad dash toward Ponyville, I stood up and towered above her before stepping of my friend and helping her up off the floor of the trail.

“Rainbow Dash, you simply must be more careful!” scolded Rarity, her azure blue eyes blazing in the relative darkness. Not in the mood for arguing with her, I simply accepted the blame and moved on.

“Alright Rarity, I know I was going too fast, but I had a good reason. Is Flutters asleep?” I motioned to the resting heap of yellow being levitated by a glowing magical field emanating from Rarity's horn, “Because it'd be better if she didn't hear what I've got to say.”

Twilight perked up, finally out of her dazed stupor: “Yes Dash, she dozed off a few minutes after we left the house. Why, what's up?”

“Twilight, Rarity, listen. We have a problem, and I think it's bigger than we can handle on our own.” Continuing on with the story, I lowered my voice almost to a whisper so I could avoid waking 'shy with the knowledge of the horrors we faced. “Me and AJ were scouting out Fluttershy's house like you told us to Twilight, and we found Angel!”

Rarity interrupted with an unfortunate exclamation: “Oh, darling! Fluttershy will be ever so pleased. I believe she thought him lost...” she trailed off as they both saw my solemn and disturbed expression.

“No, guys, she won't be. Angel is dead. We had to mercy kill him.”

“You WHAT?!” Rarity almost screamed her whisper. Twilight's jaw was agape, and both their eyes had opened fully in shock.

“When I found him, he was just this lump in the slime, and I fell in, and it got in my nose, and I was spluttering, and I-”

Twilight cut me off. I had started crying in mid-sentence, and my breathing had become ragged as my eyes burned. The emotion my brain had stored from the house came crashing out into my mind.

“Rainbow Dash! Please, sit down, and calm yourself.”

I did so, and both mares put their front legs around my neck in a comforting gesture. When I had calmed down enough, tears still streaming down my face, I continued.

“He...he had no skin, and his eyes were gone, and something had cut out his tongue...and he was crawling around in agony!” I managed between sobs of grief. “He put himself right under AJ's raised hoof, and he begged us to do it in with those eyeless cavities...”

“Rarity, would you go check on Flutters for a second?” Said Twilight, as I cried myself half to death.

Rarity nodded and moved away toward the still sleeping yellow pegasus pony. Twilight sat down next to me, and hugged me tightly, enveloping me in her comforting embrace. I felt my spirit lift as we both sat together, draining the fear, grief, anxiety and sadness from my mind together. Noticing her own tears welling up and dripping down her face, mixing with my own, I almost felt like we were consoling each other, before realising we were – Angel was not part of our circle of friends, but he was a close friend to one of ours, and his loss hurt us deeply.

“Thanks Twilight. But there's more to the story than just that.” I told her about the monster at the top of Fluttershy's stairs, how it moved, and how it howled after we left the house.

“That's...that's terrifying,” said Twilight, visibly shaken, “what could that possibly be?”

“I don't know, but it gets worse-”

Rarity interjected again: “I do hope you're not continuing the story in my absence, darlings.”

“I'm sorry Rarity, we got carried away after the hug. We should have called you back over.”

“There was a hug?” Rarity looked genuinely dejected, and appeared to be fighting back tears. In a split-second, we both jumped her, and gave her the most warm, enormous embrace we could manage. We three friends, embracing each other and bawling our eyes out in the gloom of the night cast by the shadows of trees all around us and the baying of...

“...the baying of what?” I spoke aloud.

“What?” both my friends spoke in unison.

“That's it! I forgot to tell you the last part!”

Fluttershy gave a groan behind us, then continued in her rested snoozing.

I dropped to a whisper, and pulled the others close for good measure.

“After me and AJ left the house, it disappeared,” their eyes opened wide in disbelief. Rarity was about to ask a question, but I cut her off: “It was completely gone, except for this big black pit in its place full of the same slime we saw at her house. Those things were climbing out of it and crawling into the tree line.”

“You mean there are more of these things?” Twilight shouted, despite herself and almost waking Fluttershy.

“At least five, maybe more.”

“And where is Applejack now?”

“AJ went to Sweet Apple Acres to check on her family. I tried to go with her, but she insisted I head  your way and give you a heads-up on the situation.”

“Yes, that was certainly a good decision.” Twilight sat down and clasped her head with her front hooves. “Now we have to get to Ponyville before those monsters do and warn everypony!”

She started to give me an order: “Rainbow Dash, you're the fastest out of all of us. You've got to get there ASAP and-” I cut her off before she could finish that sentence.

“I am NOT abandoning more of my friends tonight!” I yelled, “The only reason I left AJ do her thing was because she's stronger than and almost as fast as me. If anypony can deal with one of those things it's her – not two unicorns carrying an injured pegasus pony.” both mares were about to respond when I again cut them off: “I'm the Element of Loyalty for a reason, ya know. And right now I'm exercising my judgement and affinity for that element to stay with my friends and protect them from the horrors of the night!”

Twilight and Rarity were both shocked by my outburst, but Rarity managed to blurt something out to me: “Rainbow dear, I agree.”

“You...do?”

“Of course, darling! In such trying times, friends should indeed stick together. Now come on,” she picked up Fluttershy with magic, as Twilight supported Rarity with her more powerful abilities, “we have an important journey ahead of us, and a group of monsters behind. Follow me, girls!”

“Hey, girls, does Flutters' look a bit off-colour to you?”

Excerpt of an exploratory action carried out by elements of Luna's Elite Personal Guard.

Found in the Farmhouse at Sweet Apple Acres by a small contingent of the Nightmares:

Princes Celestia

Royal Palace (maybe)

Canterlot

Eqestria

Dear Princes Celestia,

i know you still out there. an even if my big sis and bruther dont know where ya are, i know you com back soon.

i know you must hav a good reson for goin away even if it did make things here bac in ponyvil harder for evrypony. the crops aint as big as they use to be and tha apples look sik on their tress. granny smith sed she fond a monster in the apple fields and that it attakd her! but she beat that meanie off with her walkin stick and it walkd off inter the fields.

thats tha other thing i wantd to ask ya about. granny smith ant lookin so good now. it was only a cuple ours ago that tha thing attakd her, but now shes lookn all grey ant scary. she dont look lik ma granny smith no more ant she dont talk lik her ol self.

my big sis appljak got bak a few mints ago and tol me an big mac that we gots to go to ponyvil now. i askd her how we was gonna move granny smith but she sait we cant take her! I sait she was sik, I tol my big sis she needd her family wit her to nurs her bak to helth, but big macintosh sait aj was right and that we hat to leve her here.

i wantd to put her up in her bed, but big mac said we hat to lok her in the basment! can you beleve that? i shouted at big mac somen ferce, I sait HOW CAN YOU EVN THNKA DOIN THAT TO GRANNY SMITH, SHE NEES LOVE AN CAR AN STUFF!!! and big mac an big sis bot looked at me an I tought the was gonna chew me out fer sure, but instead ar doin that , big mac start cryin ant appljak start cryin and they bot huggd me so tiht i tought i was gon burst. tey explaint to me tat tey wasnt wantin ter do ths ta granny smith, but tat monsta had mad her ill and that I hat ter say goobye ter her foreva.

i criet mah eys out, but i stil dont beleve ill never see her gain! ill see you soon granny smith!

granny smith, if you get this her message, i want you ta now that I love ya and are waitin for ya to com bak to us in ponyvil wen ya can. i love ya granny smith!

Sinserly, applebloom of tha apple family.

Note: The entire interior of the farmhouse was coated in the black sludge when this was found. Ominous sounds could be heard coming from the cellar, but the Nightmare Soldiers on duty exercised better judgement in exploration of the corrupted house.

Action Taken: Light Pyro-Unicorn ranged bombardment of the house.

Sweet Apple Acres status: Partially purified. Slime production halted, corrupted citizens neutralised.

From the files of the Equestrian Espionage Agency

Agent Bland Jam's communiqué:

A white stallion approaches a dark shape in the cavernous room. It speaks: “My Queen, I bring disturbing news from Equestria.”

A louder, feminine voice responds with: “Come closer, and speak, my child.”

Edging closer, acutely aware of her eyes upon him, the stallion moves closer to his queen.

“There are monsters surfacing in Equestria. I had a close encounter with one, and barely escaped its taint. I fear it is the...ancient enemy.”

Stepping out of the darkness into what little light there is, Queen Chrysalis, in all her terrible beauty and splendour, bends down and nuzzles the stallion.

She speaks directly to, what I assume is, the changeling behind the illusion of the stallion: “You have done well, my dear child. Fear not, for I shall not send you back to that charnel house. Instead I must leave to confront this threat to our homes.”

The light disappears from the room, and all that is visible is the Queen's eyes, shining green in the darkness.

Probable changeling incursion imminent.

Recommend immediate military preparation.

Also, “ancient enemy” - possible threat within Equestria itself.

For Celestia,

For Luna,

For Equestria,

Bland Jam out.

Chapter 3

As my friends and I trotted through the woods while carrying the traumatised pegasus, we noticed the evidently corrupted trees around us becoming progressively lighter and more colourful. With an excited jump, I realised that we were nearing Ponyville itself.

There came a groan from Fluttershy's direction, as she was carried by Twilight and Rarity's magical aura. They had formed a sort of honour guard for her, and as such were leading our small group at the front with Flutters' behind them and myself taking up their rear. There was a time in the days before the dawning of almost eternal night that I would have been grateful to have the opportunity of spending this long a time staring at the backsides of Twilight and Rarity, though in the last few hours, I had found myself staring at Fluttershy's steadily deteriorating form.

I didn't know how, or why, but that black slime was obviously affecting her – my  friends' unicorn magic had cleaned it off, but it must have seeped into her body. Her skin was visibly darkening and losing its colour; the hair of her mane appeared to be falling out; and

"Twilight!" I said, louder than I had meant to.

"What is it, Dash?" She answered, surprised.

"I think there's something wrong with Fluttershy. She's looking pretty bad right here."

"Hmm..." Twilight seemed to lose herself in thought for a few seconds, before she snapped back to reality and those stunning eyes lit up with the horror of rememberance: "Corruption!"

"What?" I knew the trees around her house looked wrong, but surely Flutters' couldn't seriously have contracted the same illness?

"She's been corrupted by the ichor of the ancient ones!" Twilight was now pacing in a circle, lost in her own memory. "I read something about this in one of the books Celestia had been reading. Until now I thought it was just a scary story meant to scare fillies and colts, but if it's real then..."

Rarity took the opportunity to interject over Twilight's frenzied talking: "Darling, if you are implying that Fluttershy has contracted some form of magic-based sickness, then surely it is our duty as the only magic users in close proximity to cleanse her of this taint?"

"...something must be done to-"

"TWILIGHT!"

"Sorry, yes, I hear you, Rarity. We must cleanse Fluttershy of the taint, or else she'll slowly become one of those creatures that Rainbow Dash and Applejack encountered in Fluttershy's house, but it's not that simple. We need a powerful alicorn to..."

I sat down and did a double-take, I couldn't believe what I just heard.

Fluttershy.

MY Fluttershy. OUR Fluttershy. Might turn into one of those monsters?

"...and even if that worked, we'd still have to take 'shy to a healer and rehabilitate her. There's no guarantee she'd get back her colour if we wait too long though, so I'd say it's best that we-"

That was as far as Twilight got before mine and my friends' bodies all became a multicoloured blur as I propelled them into the wild blue yonder, breaking the sound barrier in ten seconds flat.

Report of Military Engagement near Everfree Forest

To: Acting Supreme Commander Luna

From: Captain Flesh Ripper

At approximately 12.01 today, a disorganised force of hostile entities attacked our training camp on the edge of the Everfree Forest. The unknown hostiles were coloured black, appeared to be heavily deformed equines, and utilised a loud howl in an apparent effort to demoralise our forces, as if their appearance was not enough.

A number of these entities infiltrated the camp before being sighted by cadet lookouts, at which point they became extremely hostile and attacked with neither rhyme nor reason. Approximately fifty Guardsponies and associated personnel (at least twenty-nine stallions, fifteen mares, four colts, one filly, and one foal) were brutally slain in the ensuing fighting. I will spare you the specific details of their deaths, but suffice it to say there is a reason I can only give you an approximate number of casualties.

The 1st Legion were eventually able to beat them back, and several of the Guard succumbed to a berserker rage due to the sight of fallen comrades that has not been seen in centuries. Several of those in-training at the time of the attack have been  heavily traumatised by what they have seen, and therefore may not be fit for further duty. I request that you send forth a detachment of Nightmares to reinforce my position against further attacks and heal the minds and bodies of those under my command.

Defending Garrison: 1st Legion, Lunar Republican Guard

Strength: 1000

Attacking Force: Unknown

Strength: Unknown

Allied Casualties: 5%

Enemy Casualties: N/A

Further notes: 1. There is a black slime present on the ground wherever those creatures tread.

A number of survivors have expressed physical pain originating from skin lesions where they touched this slime.

MESSAGE BEGINS

Deployment Orders

From: Princess Luna

To: Chimera Unit

An extreme threat to Equestria has been encountered by our own Republican Guard at the Everfree Training Camp. Veteran soldiers, cadets and foals alike have been murdered in cold blood by these monstrosities. As many of your mares had been inducted into the Guard there in the years prior to Nightmare selection, I feel you are the best unit to send as support.

You know their commanders, you know the terrain, you know their defences, and you are already well known to them.

The accompanying package my courier has given you contains all pertinent information relating to these hostile creatures. I trust you will all study it well, and develop appropriate countermeasures against them.

Your objectives are twofold:

Secure the area and capture any stragglers you might find. Captured entities are to be imprisoned, and I am to be notified of their location.

Have your embedded medicorns heal the minds and bodies of the Guard that were in close contact with the creatures. Their own medicorns are having trouble adapting their magic to the wounds, and your enhanced magical abilities should be able to bypass whatever problems present themselves.

I trust you to carry out your duty for all ponies of Equestria. Remember that you are not merely my razor sharp spear as you were a millennia ago, ready to strike at my enemies without mercy – you are now also my wide open arms, deliverers of peace and harmony to all!

MESSAGE ENDS

We reached the centre of Ponyville in less than fifteen seconds, and then overshot it by three hundred metres.

My bad.

Still, now we were back in front of Twilight's Treehouse Library, and after Twilight recovered from her flight sickness, she could heal Flutters' and everything would be alright. I hoped.

"You guys okay there?"

Stupid question really. Their eyes were rolling in dazed circles, and Rarity looked as though she was about to...yeah, she threw up.

"Listen, I'm gonna go tell the Mayor about what we saw. I'll meet you guys back here when I get back."

No response yet, but I needed to get this information delivered, so I left my friends in their pile and flew on toward the Mayor's office.

"OHDASHDASHDASHDASHDASHDASHDASHDASHDASHDASHDASHINEEDTOTALKTOYOURIGHTNOWIT'STOTALLYURGENTANDSTUFF!"

Pinkie. As excitable as usual.

Well, two more minutes couldn't hurt. Better find out what she wants.

I flew down to the pink, bouncing pony and as soon as I got in range, I noticed her characteristic ecstatic smile was gone, in its place was a look of worry and fear, accompanied by a single tear streaming down her reddened face. I couldn't remember the last time I'd see Pinkie crying out of anything except happiness, yet here she was

"IT'S APPLEJA-HA-HAAAACK!" Pinkie began to sob uncontrollably.

"Shegotbackfromsweetappleacres-andshehadapplebloomandbigmacwithher-andshewanted-"

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold up Pinkie, I can't understand a word you're saying."

I moved around to her side and embraced her with my left arm and wing. She really was broken up about something to do with Applejack. I just begged it didn't have anything to do with what we'd seen in the woods – yet I couldn't lie to myself well enough to shake the inevitable truth from my mind.

Pinkie eventually calmed down enough to talk normally, and spoke: "It's Applejack. She came to Sugarcube Corner with Big Mac and Applebloom, but no Granny Smith!"

"So? Granny Smith has a bad hip, you know she doesn't go out much."

"Yeah, but this time is different! Applebloom said she got bitten by a monster and was turning into one – so they left her to die!" Pinkie reverted to inconsolable sobbing.

So these things were already here. Already attacking ponies. Already spreading their taint wherever they went. Buck.

"Applebloom and Big Mac are staying at Sugarcube Corner with the Cakes, but Applejack said she was going to tell the Mayor about what she saw. I thought I'd go find you guys and...and..." she trailed off.

"Pinkie, don't worry." I reassured her in a comforting but stern voice: "The others are back at Twilight's house looking after Fluttershy. Go back to them. I'll find Applejack and bring her back there too, then we can decide what to do about this with all of us there."

Shaking, and with my wing still tightly wrapped around her as far as it could, Pinkie Pie looked up and nodded, then ran off into the night.

Less than three houses away from Mayor Mare's place, I heard a shouting match developing between her and a familiar accented earth pony accompanied by loud crashes and bangs. I raced the last thirty metres to her front door and barreled into her front room.

"-there is no way I'm evacuating an entire town over an old ponytale!"

"If ya'll would just take a trip on up ta mah former home, ya'll could see fer yerself! There's evil gunk everwhere!"

"There is no way you're dragging me into this obvious prank!" Mayor Mare screamed at the top of her lungs, surprising even me with the volume of her voice. A moment passed while she attempted to calm herself. When the atmosphere had cooled off somewhat, she continued: "It is the early morning and you come to me with this nonsense about creatures of darkness and monsters from the depths of Tartarus. The very idea that you would speak such horrific things about pertaining to your own Granny Smith beggars belief. Now, leave my home and we'll continue this discussion in the morning."

With that, Mayor Mare fixed AJ with a glare that oozed venom.

"Ah can tell ya'll are tahred, but this here situation is darn pressin'! We can't just leave this until mornin'.

"I REFUSE to entertain your wild imagination until I get my rest. Now OUT!"

"Yeah, yeah." Applejack dropped her voice to an almost imperceptible whisper as she left with me: "Stupid foal-fiddler..."

As we got out of Mare's hearing range, I scolded Applejack: "AJ, you called me out for saying buck, why the heck are you callin' Mayor Mare...that?"

"Because!" AJ said, louder than she had evidently intended to, "That darn fool dam might be condemnin' all these folks here to...to what...to what Angel an' Granny Smith had..." she trailed off, tears forming in her eyes.

"Listen AJ," I fixed her with a stare, "the girls are back at Twilight's place, we're gonna figure out what to do with or without Mare's help."

"Well we'd better figure it out fast, 'cos them there monster-things ain't gon' wait for us to get ever'one outta here."

"You think you can keep up?"

"Ya'll couldn' catch me on a good day, sugarcube, and sure as hell this ain't a good one."

She took off at a gallop back toward the library, leaving me literally in the dust that she'd kicked up. In the hope that some good-old physical competition would ease the stress on both our minds, I jumped into flight and sped into the night after her.