The Forgotten Elements: Shrouded Darkness

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1: A Noise in The Night
Chapter 2: Investigation
Chapter 3: Memories
Chapter 5: Dusty Old Books
Chapter 6: Welcome to Ponyville
Chapter 7: The Chase
Chapter 8: The Fight
Chapter 4: The Transformation.

Prologue

Crunchy Oats sprinted down the street, his mangled leg, screaming with pain as he pushed it to run faster. He took a quick glance over his shoulder, to gain a look at his chaser. While anypony would have seen an empty street, Crunchy Oats knew better. Even though he could see nothing he could tell that his chaser had not given up. It was more like a feeling of being watched than the actual physical representation of a figure.

Despite being in Ponyville, supposedly one of the safest places in Equestria, due to the fact that the Elements of Harmony dwelled within the small village, it was utterly dumbfounding that this... thing, would attempt to murder him. He had done nothing wrong.

Why would this happen to him, him, an utter nopony with nothing special about him. Sure he had done some bad things but still almost none!.

He decided to banish these thoughts as he sprinted down an alleyway, that he knew would take him to Princess Twilight's Castle, where he could get help. As he turned the corner however, he came to an abrupt halt. There was a two pony high wall in front of him. Staring in disbelief a terrifying thought suddenly came to his head. He had taken a wrong turn. How though? He was sure that he had taken the right turn between Perfumes Galore, and Cherries Pies.

A hoofstep sounded behind him.

He didn't even hear it, as he was wrapped in terror at his mistake, his brain trying to figure out how he took the wrong turn.

The hoofstep sounded again, only closer.

He looked at the surrounding buildings on both sides, beginning to panic.

The hoofsteps creeped ever closer.

Sure enough there it was, Perfumes Galore on the left, and Cherries Pies on the right.

The hoofsteps were almost at his location.

He decided that he was losing too much blood to think straight, as his once light brown coat was splattered with the blood that had been extracted from his leg when he was attacked.

The hoofsteps had stopped right behind him, a thought came to mind. He dismissed it at first, but then after thinking about it he realized something. The hoofsteps had stopped.

He gulped as he realized what this thought meant.

He knew that his chaser was behind him, but he couldn't bring himself to look.

He then frantically looked around trying to see if he could still escape, through a back door or something. A darkness soon enveloped the buildings and the surroundings, until it was only darkness. He knew he had to turn but fear kept him rooted to the spot.

Using every ounce of his will he forced his legs to turn him around, while slowly backing away.

A pair of deep, blood red eyes stared into his, with no ounce of emotion coming from it.

Opening his shaking mouth, he forced his throat to move and speak. "What are you"

The red eyes stared into his, still with no sign of emotion. The shadows surrounding the red eyes suddenly became active, shifting around him as if they suddenly wanted to escape.

"Darkness" A voice uttered from the shadows.

Crunchy Oats, now quivering in fear thought to himself. Why am I facing DARKNESS!!! I did nothing wrong!

The shadows suddenly shifted more as if he was readying to speak, and they didn't want to be there for it.

"Liar" The darkness said, with no emotion whatsoever.

Crunchy froze. How the hell did this guy know about that time

" What are you talking about?" He said with his best smile, although he could tell he looked incredibly nervous.

"Rose Petal" The darkness said, the shadows now desperately trying to leave.

Rage suddenly filled Crunchy as the demons he had been hiding suddenly sprang to life. "So? She was just a nopony, who didn't want to marry me." He said, with crazed laughter filtering into his voice. "Instead she wanted to marry that other nopony, Baker Stick." he continued, now practically laughing his words out.

The darkness struck than as he felt a hoof sweep him off his legs, as another one came down on his chest, breaking his ribs and slamming him into the ground. He let out a pained cry at that.

He tried to swipe at the darkness with his foreleg, but found nothing there. Terror filled him as he saw the blood red eyes hovering over him. Looking around for a way out his passed by the wall. The wall. It was gone.

The darkness enveloped him, and continued to break and crush his limbs.

He was screaming by now, as blood seeped down his chest, his coat almost fully red now with blood.

The darkness had done his job and decided to end it as he drove his hoof into Crunchy Oats throat, passing through it as if it were butter.

The sudden fluttering of the wings of a pegasus caught his attention as he realized it was time to go now.

All of the darkness he had expelled from him so that Crunchy Oats couldn't escape seeped back into his body as he welcomed it back.

As the pegasus wings drew closer he quickly transported to a shadow in Canterlot, hearing the yells for help coming from the pegasus. His job was done.

Rainbow Dash awakened from her deep slumber to the screams of a pony in pain. not wanting to waste time, she flew out the window of Twilight's Castle without even trying to wake the others. She could tell however, that everypony else was already up as multiple hoofsteps could be heard running down the halls to the exit.

As she scanned the streets for the pony in trouble from her high perch on a cloud, she immediately noticed a particularly dark alley, although something was different about this one. The shadows were moving. Not from the moonlight but of their own accord. Flying as fast as she could towards it her suspicions were confirmed, as a scream emanated from the alleyway, until they were put to an abrupt stop. The shadows suddenly retreated, going into a single form.

"Over here!" Rainbow Dash yelled for the others, as she prepared to charge the attacker, but was to late as the darkness morphed into one of the natural moonlight shadows. She pulled to a halt before she hit the ground, confused. Her attention suddenly turned to a form propped up against the wall. She let out a gasp, trying not to hurl as she immediately recognized the form as a pony.

"Rainbow" A voice yelled as an alicorn entered the alley way, falling silent as she laid eyes apon the mangled pony.

Twilight didn't even try to hold it in, as she vomited her guts up.

Applejack follow the distinct sound of vomiting, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie by her side, as they could not get there as fast as the winged ponies could, and as Fluttershy was not a fast flyer she chose to follow Applejack and the others.

A minute later after everypony had finished throwing up and trying not to vomit, anymore.

Rarity whose coat was normally pure white, now had vomiting trailing down her chin as she looked away, in order to not vomit again.

Pinkie Pie was just staring at the body dumbfounded, her jaw hanging open.

" Well this is no longer a sleepover I guess." Pinkie Pie whispered, so silently the others could barely hear her

Everypony silently nodded their agreement.

Faint pen scratching could be heard as Rainbow explained what she saw and what happened, to Twilight as she hurriedly wrote down every detail she heard and summoned Spike who was also at the crime scene. Breathing flames onto the letter sending it away to Princess Celestia.

Why did this have to happen? Why now? Twilight thought to herself as she continued to take mental notes of the crime.

Celestia read the letter, growing more alarmed, and enraged as she read on. Pausing on the detailed picture of the body.

We are all in trouble. She thought to herself Not just Ponyville, but all of Equestria.

Author's Note

This is my first story I've actually posted on a website hope u like it

Harmony is Overrated

Old Changelings

Chapter 1: A Noise in The Night

3 days later...

Luna silently watched over Canterlot from her tower. It was especially beautiful at night, with the moonlight reflecting off of the many roofs with ponies beneath them. She let out a lonely sigh as she looked down at the now empty streets.

There never was anyone she could talk to about how beautiful it was.

Sure there were her bat pony guards, but they were extremely serious and super nervous about annoying her. Deciding to not to dwell on the thought she began the trek to the stairs, not wanting another Nightmare Moon incident. Ponies were already afraid of her.

She stopped in her tracks.

Her ears perked up at a faint noise in the distance.

Slowly she turned around and went back to the rim of the tower. Barely breathing she searched for the source of the noise.

There it is! She thought excitedly

A faint chirping noise was being made in the distance, from the way it was being made she deduced it was more of a hum, as if someone was simply minding their own business. A normal pony would not even be able to hear the noise, but being an alicorn had its advantages. Unfortunately whoever was humming was pretty far from where she was.

It's just to see who is up at night. She told herself. Although secretly she was hoping to get to know the humming pony.

She set off from her tower at a glide so as not to mess up her hearing with the flapping of wings. She scanned the streets, for the hummer, her hearing attempting to pick up the faint chirping sound again. The chirping noise was slowly getting closer and closer. After a while she ran out of room to glide, and set off at a light trot, careful to not make any noise.

The noise was slowly getting closer, the chirping growing louder. After a while silently searching the streets, without finding the source of the noise, soon becoming confused as to the location of the noise. It wouldn't have come from a house as it would have been muffled.

I'm so close. She thought, desperate for another pony to talk to. Where could it be?

Suddenly a thought occurred to her.

Slowly and almost silently she lifted herself off the ground, and landed on a nearby roof, that was flat enough she could stand on it while remaining straight. Her hearing, with this newfound vantage point, was now keenly searching for the noise. Soon it started chirping again, revealing its location to be in the second layer of the city. slowly she approached the wall that separated the third and second layers. Scanning the rooftops she immediately noted a cloaked figure lying on a rooftop, with its face hidden.

For a while she simply gazed at the cloaked figure and marveled at the unique noise she'd never heard before. Moving around the wall to get a better vantage point, the moon suddenly cast her shadow over the figure.

The noise immediately stopped as it turned to gaze upon Luna who was making the shadow, while she couldn't see the figures face, she could tell it had noticed her. She froze, hoping it would make her out to be a statue. It didn't work as it quickly took flight, revealing it to be a pegasus. Luna also took flight and began the chase.

Luna was sure about one thing. This pony was fast. It always stood ahead of Luna and almost lost her several times. After about 3 minutes of chasing, it was clear that this was a pretty fast pegasus. As much as Luna tried to keep the pegasus in front of her, it was constantly turning corners and flying low, and keeping in the tight spaces. This was a challenge for Luna as her big alicorn figure made it almost impossible to follow. Almost.

Try as he might it'll take a while to lose me Luna thought smugly as she continued the chase.

It was quite challenging however to keep up, as she was soon beginning to flag behind from exhaustion. The pegasus however showed no signs of exhaustion. Suddenly Luna questioned why she was chasing this harmless pegasus who clearly did not want to be chased. She let out a sigh as she slowed down until she was simply hovering in the air.

Why am I doing this. She thought to herself.

I just wanted to know who could hum like that. She thought back

Why? Let that pony be, and listen to the humming if you like it so much. She snapped

Your right, but I will still try to find out who hums like that. She admitted

She let out another long sigh, she would probably never meet the pegasus.

Noticing how far away she had chased the pegasus (into the first layer), she blushed at the thought that she was so obsessed with meeting the pegasus. So she began the fly back to her tower at the top of Canterlot.

The pegasus watched cautiously from around a corner as Princess Luna slowly flew back to her tower, having given up the chase. He had forgotten that Princess Luna was nocturnal, like him. He would have to be very cautious from now on, especially with his tendency to hum when he wasn't doing anything.

He cautiously checked to see if the street was clear. Now that Princess Luna knew of his existence, and with the vigor in which she chased him, then her bat pony guards would probably start searching for him. Thankfully she didn't get a good look at him, and probably only knew that he was a pegasus.

Sighing and deciding nothing serious was going to happen he flew to the small house he owned on the second layer, while constantly checking to see if anyone was watching he entered his house and changed his form, green fire enveloped him burning away the pegasus form he had donned.

He took a quick glance in the mirror, observing his features.

His carapace was colored a deep black, with his ribs showing. His legs littered with holes, giving the impression of weak legs, causing enemies to target them. It would then surprise enemies by stopping an attempts of breaking the changelings legs. Many battles are won by changelings because of this, unless the attacker is particularly strong and aimed at the right position.

Regular changeling wings looked insect like except that they were almost transparent. His wings however were incredibly different. His wings however were not insect like, but instead were pure shadow, and could allow him to fly faster than any pegasus. The fin at the top of his head resembled that of a fish, going down to the back of his neck. The two fangs at the front of his mouth were mainly used for transferring poison while in direct combat.

Changeling horns are mostly curved with a sharp point at the top, unlike with his wings his horn was the regular size and shape of a changeling. The final thing he observed was his blood red eyes with no pupils, which stared right back at him. Red eyes at night were especially useful for terrifying people, or make them freeze with fear. Red eyes were extremely rare especially among changelings, whose eyes were mainly blue.

At least she isn't here to see that. He thought

He walked through his home to the kitchen, opening the small trap door built into the floor and descending the stairs. Reaching the bottom he walked up to a small cabinet opening it up and observing the cocoon that held a curled up rabbit. Soon he began absorbing the love that the rabbit was giving off, just enough for a midnight lunch. Then after returning to the upstairs he began contemplating his options.

Now that Princess Luna knows about me there's a chance she'll try to find more about me. He thought to himself

I can't stop being a nocturnal as there'll be a more powerful princess waiting for me. He just couldn't find out how he could stay under the Princess' radar. A sudden thought came to him, and he hatched a plan to go back to being your normal everyday 'pony'. While he didn't have emotions, he couldn't help but think this was one of the best plans to blend in he had ever made.

Princess Luna watched from her tower once again, deep in thought. She just couldn't get that pegasus out of her head. After scanning her memories and comparing them she had figured out that the pegasus was in fact male, which comforted her greatly as it would be much better than calling him 'it'.

"Well almost time to lower the moon." She said to herself.

While sad that she wouldn't be able to meet the mystery pegasus tonight, there was always tomorrow. As she used her magic to lower the moon she could feel the tiredness of the chase setting in as she yawned while stretching. She walked down the stairs to her bed settling into it, she was glad to sleep as she had spent most of last racking her thoughts for clues as to the mystery pegasus. She let out one final yawn as she soon went into a deep sleep.

Luna awoke from her slumber around midday. This was unusual as she normally slept until the night. She lay back down to try to sleep once again,

Use this moment to look for information from the ponies that are up and about. Luna's subconscious whispered

She frowned in thought for a moment contemplating the effects on her sleep schedule, until deciding to listen to her subconscious and look for information regarding the pegasus. She decided to wear a cloak to disguise herself as someponies were still mad about Nightmare Moon.

After getting ready for her little excursion she sneaked out via tower again, until landing in an alleyway. Already she could hear the bustle of ponies chatting and gossiping about the latest news. A while after staying in the alleyway, she picked up on a conversation being held by two mares at the market.

"You've got a strange neighbor Black Wing" said one pony

"I know right Precious Lily. I mean, I never see him other than when he leaves the house at night" said Black Wing

"Why do you think he does that?" said Precious Lily lowering her voice to a whisper "You don't think he does illegal stuff?"

Black Wing face took on a look of concern "I'm not sure, I don't talk to him much"

"Do you even know his name?" Precious Lily asked

Black Wing was in thought for a while as if trying to scrounge up the memory. " Void Runner I believe."

Precious Lily thought for a moment before admitting "Well he doesn't match the name of any wanted criminals."

Black Wing nodded agreeing with Precious Lily's assessment.

So this 'Void Runner' is nocturnal? Than it is likely that he is also a pegasus. Luna thought to herself

And this Black Wing knows where he is.

She than noticed that the conversation had stopped so they had probably parted ways. She would have to find Black Wing however to discover the home of this 'Void Runner'. After trailing Black Wing for a while she finally arrived at her house where she opened and closed the door most likely going to drop the groceries she had picked up from the market.

So on either side of that house is Void Runner. She thought smugly

Try as you might I'll still catch you.

She let out a yawn, and decided to catch up on all the sleep she had been missing out on for awhile this time simply flying back to her tower. As her bed came into sight she sprinted and then collapsed on the soft sheets and pillow, vowing to never take advantage of them again. Dreaming of the look on Void Runner's face when she dropped in, she thought up her own victory dance, until she passed into a deep slumber.

Black Wing watched from the window as Princess Luna flew off to her tower, no doubt to get some rest. Black Wing then exited the house, and walked up to and entered the house of 'Void Runner'. Upon entering Black Wing was enveloped in green flames burning away the dark grey coat of the pegasus Black Wing, and showing the insect like body of a changeling.

The bait has been laid, now the deer must take the bite. He thought

Slowly but surely he prepared for a nighttime incursion by Princess Luna.

Oh this was going to be good.

Luna silently prepared herself, not wanting to alert her guards, for the confrontation that was going to happen. She still didn't know what to say, and it was almost midnight. One thing was for sure though. He was going to be VERY surprised.
She took her now well used tower route and glided down to the house of this Void Runner. She was very excited to meet another nocturnal being that wasn't a bat pony.

She peeked inside using a nearby window, tuning her ears in to see if he was home. Sure enough there was the chirping from last night, only muffled, and a bit closer than before. Readying herself she knocked on the front door three times causing the chirping to immediately stop, her mouth, dry because she didn't know what to say when she met the pegasus.

Hi I'm Luna and I'm your friendly neighborhood princess, I couldn't help but notice that your a nocturnal pegasus, care to elaborate?

She placed her hoof on her face at the stupidity of that line.

The door suddenly opened revealing a dark purple pegasus, with a black mane with streaks of dark blue in it. His eyes were colored a blood red color. Those eyes were so enchanting, she had never seen any like them before.

Suddenly she realized she had been staring at his eyes without talking for a while, she immediately blushed at her stupidity. Observing his reaction to this, he very clearly wanted to know why she was here. Gulping she remembered that she didn't have anything to say. He was clearly growing impatient. She racked her brain but nothing came up. His eyes were now drilling into her trying to get her to speak.

"Hi I'm Luna and I'm your friendly neighborhood princess, I couldn't help but notice that your a nocturnal pegasus, care to elaborate" She said in a frenzy, before covering her mouth with her hooves, suddenly wishing she didn't say that.

She was blushing as if there was no tomorrow now.

IDIOT! She screamed at her brain

He raised an eyebrow at that, clearly surprised at the sudden expulsion of words, and what the words were. Incredibly embarrassed now Luna, was giving herself a mental beating for that.

This was not how this was supposed to go! He was supposed to be the one blushing like mad! She yelled at herself

His next reaction was not what she expected. She had expected ridicule, disgust, maybe even some pity. What she got however was extremely strange.

"If you wish for me to elaborate I suggest that instead of standing out here telling you my life story we go in, sit down and have a nice cup of tea." He said

Luna stared for a while getting lost in those eyes once again. Not an ounce of ridicule or disgust had gone into that sentence! It was a genuine invitation to come in and chat. She was happy that he chose to chat instead of ridicule.

Accepting his invitation inside she walked into the house. It was just a regular old pony home, but without any of the posters or mini statues of Celestia, you might find. She half expected him to have posters and maybe even statues of her. But after searching the room for a while, she concluded that Void Runner didn't worship her or Celestia.

She silently followed him through the house until the reached a small table, with two chairs on either side. He clearly had not been expecting Luna, due to the small pile of dishes one pony might make in a week. As he sat down she sat down on the other side. They stared at each other a while, not talking. Once again she had got caught in staring into those eyes that she didn't notice the expression on his face, telling her to ask a question.

He closed his eyes and Luna immediately snapped back to life, now blushing so hard you thought she might have been an apple. She cleared her throat and he opened his eyes once again.

"Why are you nocturnal?" She asked needing something to do before she got lost in those eyes again.

"Why is everypony else diurnal?" He asked back

This took Luna by surprise as she had never questioned it before, now however she began to think about why everypony else stayed awake at day.

"Lifestyle choice" she answered

Void Runner nodded revealing that as the answer, to her question.

Before she could ask another question however Void Runner quickly cut in. "Want a drink?"

She silently nodded, lost in thought about her next question.

He got up and immediately started making two cups of tea.

The chirping.

"What was that chirping noise you were making before?" She asked

This clearly caught him off guard as he froze and stopped moving for a while. Curious as to this reaction she silently observed him, as he did night move a muscle. Finally he moved his forelegs, finishing the tea, he brought them over to the table without a sound, not making eye contact with Luna.

Interesting. She had struck a nerve

"What was your question again?" He suddenly asked

She opened her mouth to say it, but closed it as she realized he didn't want to talk about that, and she shouldn't be snooping in his personal business. She took a sip of the tea he had made and looked down at it in surprise. This was the best tea she had ever tasted, better than the tea served in the Royal Palace, by a large margin. And the tea in the Royal Palace was pretty good.

"How do you make tea this good?" She asked her face shocked.

Visibly relaxing he began explaining the step by step of making the tea. It was hard to pay attention to him though when she kept staring at his eyes. His, exotic, strange, eyes.

Suddenly she realized that it was almost time to lower the moon when Void Runner started to yawn, and say his goodbyes. Snapping out of her trance she blushed at how long she had been staring at his eyes. He had noticed the blush and gave a knowing smile, as to why she was blushing. Suddenly in a very big hurry to leave she quickly said her goodbyes and took to the sky's.

He's pretty handsome Luna admitted

Void Runner watched as Princess Luna flew back to her tower, green flame surrounding him burning away his disguise. Despite most of his emotion being almost non-existent, he had to admit... she was cute. His plan had changed a bit but that didn't change the outcome.

Then they will pay...

Author's Note

Diurnal is the name of a creature that is awake mainly at day

Diurnal = Day

Nocturnal = Night

Chapter 2: Investigation

"Twilight

"Twilight"

"Twilight!"

Twilight's head shot up from her desk, the suddenness of the movement caused her to fall off her chair and collide with the floor. She let out a pained groan as she lay on the floor, searching for the pony that woke her. It turned out to be Spike who had immediately rushed over to help her, and was now carefully checking to see if any permanent damage had been done to her head.

"I'm fine Spike." Twilight said pushing the little dragon away, and getting to her hooves.

"You need to come down stairs someponies here to see you." Spike said as he cleaned up the books that had fallen off Twilight's desk.

Twilight groaned her appreciation of Spike's helpfulness, rubbing one of her hooves against the part of her head that had hit the floor. She looked out the window and sure enough it was night time, the moon shining brightly.

Why would someone be here? Twilight thought to herself

I put out a decree that only the Elements of Harmony were allowed in the castle. She made her way down the stairs, still massaging her head.

And only ponies with information. She paused for a moment observing the thought, before it dawned on her.

Ponies with information.

By this time she was sprinting down the stairs, eager to get to the main hall and find out who this pony was. She was slightly confused when she didn't find the pony in the main hall. Instead a note lay on the floor. She quickly called all the Elements so that they could read the note together. Once everyone was gathered she read the note surrounded by her magical aura aloud.

Dear Elements of Harmony.

We have not met formally but we have still met

You think you are the only group of elements there is.

You are extremely wrong, as there are forces at play

that you could not understand.

But I do.

There is a darkness in Canterlot, that is not Nightmare Moon.

Instead it is much worse. Much much worse.

Don't underestimate him.

While I can not tell you the location or name of the murderer

I can also give you clues.

"Pegasus of Night.

Pegasus of Black.

Fear his dark might.

For he will strike back."

Signed: A Forgotten One

An uproar started among the Elements, everypony talking at once, trying to unravel the meaning of the note.

"Why so cryptic?" Rarity said

"Could Pegasus of Night mean a bat pony?" Fluttershy contemplated

"Spike send a letter to Canterlot and warn Princess Celestia that something is in Canterlot!" Twilight ordered

"We need to get to Canterlot!" Yelled Rainbow Dash flying towards the door, only to be halted by Applejack

"How are we supposed to know if that note was true!" Applejack told Rainbow

"I think a cupcake is in order" Pinkie Pie concluded as she pulled a cupcake out of Fluttershy's ear and began munching down on it.

"Spike darling, what did the person who delivered the message look like?" Asked Rarity, everypony turning to Spike as the answer was ultimately to all of their questions. Spike began shifting on his feet nervous of all the eyes.

Suddenly Spikes eyes flashed a brilliant green, before returning to normal, causing him to hold his head in confusion, as he began shaking his head as if to get rid of something. Suddenly noticing all the eyes on him he looked around in confusion, unsure of why everypony was looking at him.

"Uh, hi?" Spike said, questioning if that was the right thing to say.

Everypony looked at him in confusion. Something had very clearly happened to him, and nopony knew what it was. Spike gulped as he slowly backed away from all of the ponies staring at him, clearly wanting him to say something. He slowly backed away to what looked like a door to the outside. One of the ponies, the unicorn with the white coat, began walking over to him slowly, as if he may bite her. As the unicorn came closer, Spike realized it was time to run.

He broke into a sprint, barging out the door, with the faint yells of "Spike!" echoing behind him.

How do these ponies know my name? Spike thought panicking, as he ran down an alleyway to lose them. He stopped as he came face to face with a two pony high wall, turning to try and leave the alleyway, hoping that the ponies wouldn't catch him in it. But it was too late.

The ponies had him cornered, in the alleyway, as he began frantically searching for a way out. He backed away slowly, as the group of ponies cautiously approached him, unsure if he would attack them. The ponies stopped however and looked over Spikes shoulders, their eyes widening in fear, at whatever was behind him, especially the rainbow haired one. At first he thought they were scared of him, but then looking at his small build, he realized that it wasn't him. Slowly he turned to face the thing behind him, unsure of what he would face.

What he saw was not what he had expected. A mass of unnatural moving shadows stood behind him, with two blood red eyes staring back at him. He was frozen with fear as the curling mass, simply stood and stared, no emotion coming from those eyes. Slowly he backed away from the figure, but then remembered the ponies behind him. He looked at both of them sideways, unsure of who he would rather face.

The ponies looked friendlier, but they clearly didn't like the black mass of shadow they were facing. The black mass however showed no hate towards the ponies, as he was simply still staring at Spike, wanting him to make a decision. Suddenly a small tendril broke of from the rest of the black mass, creeping towards him, but not in a hurtful way, more like an invitation. He cautiously watched the tendril as it stopped halfway to him.

Spike gulped as he watched the black tendril with a mix of caution and curiosity, as he extended his claws towards it. He heard several gasps from the ponies gathered. That didn't matter though as he continued to extend his claws towards the tendril. He knew that the black mass wouldn't hurt him, in fact he also somehow knew that he would get a fresh start if he touched that tendril.

Where am I going if I touch it. Spike thought questioningly.

Canterlot. A thought suddenly entered his head answering his question.\

After getting confirmed as to the location, Spike took the tendril fully in his claws. He was then enveloped by the darkness, he didn't know how he could feel it, but he knew his body was being transported somewhere. He heard several gasps from the ponies as they watched him with shocked faces. Didn't matter what they thought, he felt... safe, secure, as if nothing could get to him. His feeling was supported when he heard the ponies fighting to get inside the darkness. Then the fighting noises stopped.

Spike opened his eyes finding himself on the moonlit streets of Canterlot, a dark purple pegasus standing in front of him. It threw a bag at his feet making a jingling noise as it hit the ground.

Bits. He thought, realizing that there was probably enough Bits in there to rent a house or get a place to stay.

He looked up to thank the strange being that had helped him, only to find an empty street, the moon shining on it. He sighed as he got up and began the walk to a nearby hotel.

Void Runner watched as Spike made his way down the street, probably to find a hotel to stay in.

The time is almost here. He thought as he flew back to his home.

They will pay...

Luna watched silently, as Void Runner flew back to his home.

Why was Spike here in Canterlot? Luna thought

And why was Void Runner helping him?

She decided to investigate gliding after him silently. One thing she had found out about Void Runner, was his superb hearing which was, dare she say, better then hers. After a while he arrived home, with Luna close behind. Soon after entering the house Luna knocked.

Why are you here again? She asked herself

To see why he was with Spike. She thought back.

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off as he answered the door soon after, clearly surprised to see her at his doorstep. Once again she got lost in those red eyes. Those blood red eyes. She felt something push against her head, snapping out of it, when she realized that it was Void Runner's hoof pressed against her horn, trying to get her attention. Now the color of a beetroot, she scrambled to remember her question.

"Why were you with Spike?" Luna blurted out.

One of Void Runners eyebrows rose slightly, with the tiniest hint of panic entered his eyes, and with Luna so focused on them she noticed the panic that stuck out.

"Who?" He asked the panic still hiding inside his eyes.

Her eyes narrowed a bit, she knew that he knew who Spike was.

"The dragon on the street that you gave money to." She said testing for a reaction

The panic in his eyes slowly grew, but then faded completely, visibly relaxing, he answered

"Oh that dragon, I didn't know his name, only that he was on the streets, and I couldn't leave him there."

She blinked at his answer. It was so... genuine. But it was still hard to believe that he didn't know Spike. She thought about confronting him again, until her attention went back to his eyes. They were so strange, as if it was a beautiful mistake.

"Why are your eyes red?" She found herself saying, clearly taking him off guard.

Immediately blushing at such a personal question, she was now giving herself a mental beat up.

"From birth." Void Runner suddenly said

He's giving you permission to ask more. She thought

Or was it just an answer? She reasoned back

It took her a while to resolve the fight between the warring thought, finding herself once again staring at his eyes. He was asking if she wanted to come in for some tea. She was about to reply a vigorous Yes, when she realized it was time to lower the moon. Politely declining she flew back to her tower, building up her magic to lower the moon.

From birth? she silently questioned.

As she landed on the tower, she had expected there to be nopony on it. However as she made her way down the stairs to get something to eat, a familiar voice sounded from behind her, comforting her but also horrifying her.

"Been somewhere?" The voice said

Slowly turning to face the voice, readying herself to take the bombardment of questions, that was no doubt coming.

"What do you mean?" Luna said, putting on a shaky smile.

Now fully facing the voice, it was hard to be terrified of such a nice face, but Luna knew better. Sure she was very nice, but she could get very mad if she wished. Her rainbow colored mane swishing around her, despite there being no wind. A perfect smile on her face. Her gold armor glistening in the moonlight.

"You know what." Princess Celestia said

Gulping Luna quickly searched her brain for a way out.

Does she know about Void Runner? She thought

"I don't understand the question sister." Luna answered, trying to gain as much time as she could, to think her way out.

Celestia, gave a smile that was made to coax out the answers she wanted.

"Where have you been going at night?" She said, very clearly enjoying this.

Luna now slowly backing away to the stairs, still trying to think of a way out of this situation, gave a smile that she thought meant, 'I don't know what you're talking about', very clearly having the opposite effect as Celestia's smile grew wider.

"I know you've been leaving at night, after you raise the moon." Now smiling like mad, and clearly trying to not laugh.

Luna decided to abandon ship, sprinting down the stairs, and past her bat pony guards into the Great Hall. She could distinctly hear the laughter coming from her sister who was now lying on the floor, crying with laughter.

She's hiding something alright. Celestia thought

Now composed enough, that she was able to walk past the guards without laughing. She slowly walked to her own tower prepared to raise the sun. Luna was not going to hear the end of this.

Void Runner watched as Luna flew back to her tower. She was getting good at sneaking up on him. He didn't even hear her coming up behind him. Her question about Spike had been even more surprising, revealing that she had seen the little exchange between them. He sighed as he remembered her strange question about his eyes. That had brought up unpleasant memories.

I will have my revenge...

Chapter 3: Memories

8 years ago, 1 day before the Royal Wedding...

"Waahh, waahh. Corvix is a cry baby!" One of the changelings laughed mockingly.

"Ha ha, crybaby." Another one said.

Corvix lay on the ground, his head buried in his hooves, crying.

"HEY!" A changeling in the distance yelled, clearly angry.

The changelings surrounding Corvix quickly scattered into the holes in the ground, and walls, before you could blink. Corvix still lay on the ground crying, a puddle of his tears now on the coarse, dry floor. The older changeling that had scared the others away slowly approached the crying changeling. Sighing, he knelt next to Corvix simply observing him.

The older changeling put his foreleg around the crying Corvix, causing him to flinch at the sudden touch.

"I'm sorry." Corvix suddenly said.

"What for?" The changeling replied.

"For showing emotion." Corvix explained, now wiping the tears out of his red eyes.

That was also a unique thing about him, his blood red eyes. Nobody knew how, or where he had gotten them, except it had been like that since he came out of his egg.

"It's fine, even changelings ha-" The changeling began, before being cut off

"Tix! Where are you!" A familiar voice shouted, echoing down the maze of tunnels.

Tix sighed, before getting back to his hooves to address the voice.

"Down here Nox!" He shouted back, amplifying his emotions toward Nox, allowing him to find Tix easily.

"Queen Chrysalis wishes to see you." Nox said, looking slightly worried.

Corvix, who was observing silently, began to become worried at the thought of his brother going to see Queen Chrysalis. The only time the queen would see simple drone like his brother, was when she was mad and wanted to take it out on a expendable drone.

Nox, now only just noticing Corvix lying on the ground, frowned slightly at the sight of the small puddle of tears below Corvix. It was strange for a changeling to show much emotion, especially as much as Corvix showed. He brought his attention back to Tix, signalling that the queen wanted him now. Sighing, Tix turned back to his brother, giving him a look that said he would be back soon. Corvix may have had a lot of emotion, but that allowed him to recognize different feelings better then other changelings.

Nox was already heading into the labyrinth of tunnels, leading the way to the queens chambers. The tunnels would be impossible to navigate if you weren't a changeling, unless you had a changeling guide to lead you. As they headed down the tunnels, Tix began to silently prepare himself for death, as it was the most likely reason he was summoned to the queens chambers. They soon came upon a almost transparent silk, that covered the entrance to the queens chambers.

"You may come in." Queen Chrysalis said, sensing their presence.

They entered together bowing as they did so, although after a look, it was clear that Nox was not supposed to be in here. Understanding, Nox gave his friend a sympathetic look, before leaving via the entrance they had come through. The room, while a mess, was better then the other rooms in the hive. With stalagmites jutting out from the ceiling, which was quite high, and the mess of a bed that was considered a luxury to changelings, lay tattered with a thin lining of silk on it, it looked more like a haunted house as the ponies said.

"Do you know why you were summoned here?" She suddenly asked.

"I do not my queen." Tix answered, bowing lower.

What sort of question is that. He thought now confused.

"You have a brother do you not?" She questioned further.

He froze at that.

What does she want with Corvix? He thought, silently panicking.

"Yes I do my queen." He answered.

"He is different is he not?" She continued.

"Yes my queen." Tix answered, not liking where this was going.

"From what I am given to understand, he has much more emotions than the other changelings, is this true?" She asked.

"It is my queen." He said now worried what would happen to his brother.

"So in theory he would be able to understand ponies feelings, and know what to do, better than other changelings?"

"I believe so my queen."

She appeared to be lost in thought for a moment before saying. "Interesting. Bring him here please."

"Yes my queen."

He slowly made his way down to where he had left Corvix, still marveling at the fact that he had gotten out alive. He frowned at the thought that his brother may not be so lucky, as the queen had a history of severing the weak links from the hive, so that the rest would survive. Soon finding his brother sitting exactly where he had left him. It was clear that his appearance had startled Corvix, as he did not expect him to come out alive.

"Come on." Tix commanded

Corvix obeyed, doggedly following Tix down the labyrinth of tunnels to the queens chambers. As they came into sight of the queens chamber, Tix could feel Corvix begin to panic, as he recognized the certain luxuries only the queen would have outside the entrance to her chambers. He wished he could calm him down somehow, but knew that was impossible.

"Enter." A cold voice sounded from behind the drapes.

Tix entered, Corvix close behind, and both immediately bowed, in the presence of their queen.

"Rise." She said

They did her bidding, rising to their hooves, to face their queen.

Queen Chrysalis looked between both of them, her gaze lingering on Corvix eyes, for a moment.

"Tix you may leave." She said suddenly, her gaze still on Corvix eyes.

Hesitant in leaving his brother behind, with the queen, glancing between his brother and Chrysalis, as he slowly backed away.

Corvix was still watching where he had left, his mind so fazed out he didn't even notice Chrysalis speaking to him.

I'm going to die now. She will severe the weakness. He thought, solemnly.

"Corvix." A voice said to him, snapping him back to life.

"Yes my queen?" He answered, turning to face her.

"I believe it is time that you go on your first hunt." She said, a small smile on her face.

Corvix gulped. His first hunt. He didn't understand. Why would he be taken on a hunt, when he was much too young to even leave the hive on his own.

"On your own." Her smile growing ever bigger.

His brain died as the thought of being on his own on a hunt, when most changelings his age hadn't seen the outside world. It was clear there would be no argument as Chrysalis stared expectantly at him.

"You will leave now." She suddenly said

What? He thought for a moment

Chrysalis's horn suddenly became active, a green beam shooting beneath him a portal opening up, he gave a cry of shock as he fell through the portal, the laughter of the queen echoing as he fell. and fell. And fell.

His head suddenly connected with the ground causing his vision to blur and fade to black...

Corvix groaned as he raised a hoof to his head, wincing as he pulled it away to reveal a bright blue blood smeared on it. He slowly rolled onto his stomach, observing his surroundings. He appeared to be in a forest. Getting to his hooves, while silently checking to see if anything was broken, he looked to see if anyone had seen him, although it appeared he was in a place where there wasn't any ponies for a while.

A sudden movement in the bushes caused him to turn around taking a fighting stance against the advancing creature. A rabbit suddenly popped out of the bush he was now facing, freezing in its tracks at the sight of the changeling.

"Snowball!" A voice called out.

Recognizing the voice of a pony, he transformed into a quick disguise, as a pegasus with a light purple coat and dark purple mane. A yellow coated pegasus, with a blue mane jumped out of the bush in search of her missing rabbit.

Oh boy...

Buttercup jumped through the bush in search of her missing rabbit, freezing at the sight of a pegasus, in the middle of a clearing, Snowball at his feet. She stared for a while, at the pegasus, with him staring back, clearly as surprised at her appearance, as he was in a fighting stance, a cautious look on his face.

After a while, she noticed the myriad of broken sticks surrounding him, as well as a noticeable hole in the trees, where there should have been lush green leaves. It was clear that he had fallen from quite a height.

It's amazing how he survived such a fall. She thought marveling at the fact that he had no broken bones.

She gasped however, when she noticed the gash on his forehead, blood streaming over his eyes and onto his muzzle. She rushed over to tend to it, only to have the pegasus back away for every step she took. He moved quite quick going backwards. She slowed to a stop, trying to give him her best motherly look, which served only to make him back away even more.

"Your bleeding." She pointed out, still approaching.

"And?" He asked, as if he expected something more, while continuing to back away.

Why does he think this isn't a big deal? She thought

"Buttercup!" Her mother suddenly yelled.

"I'm over here mom!" She yelled back, keeping her eyes on the pegasus.

Panic suddenly filled his face, as if the thought of being discovered scared him very much. However she noticed his preparation to bolt, and jumped on him just in time, catching him off guard. Now on the ground, and well aware of what she was doing, he suddenly flipped over causing Buttercup to now be the one pinned to the ground. He flapped his wings a bit, preparing to fly off...

Only to be tackled to the ground, by her mother. Her mother, Sunshine Wind was careful to not hurt him as she held him there. Buttercup approached the downed pegasus, now squirming viciously beneath her mother. Curiously observing him, she noted his strange, blood red eyes.

"So who is this colt Buttercup?" Her mother asked, struggling to hold him down. "And why was he holding you down?"

"He's bleeding mother." She answered, causing Sunshine to notice the blood streaming down the pegasus' face, causing her to gasp.

"LEAVE ME!" The pegasus suddenly shouted, his red eyes shining.

The outburst caused her mother to back away in shock. The pegasus used this moment to get back onto his hooves, now in a fighting stance against them both. Sunshine put on her best motherly face, but once again this only proved to make him panic more.

A bear suddenly came out of the woods, behind Sunshine and Buttercup, Buttercup screamed and backed away. Her mother turned to face the bear yelling at her to run away. One of the bears claws suddenly streaked through Sunshine's face and down to her neck. Buttercup watched in horror as the bear approached raising one of its claws to finish the job.

A purple streak suddenly collided with the bears face, knocking it over onto the forest floor. The bear got up and swiped at the purple streak which was now doing circles around it. Suddenly the streak moved, hitting the bear in the muzzle again, causing its teeth to fall out, blood pouring from its mouth. Realizing however that it would lose, it quickly disappeared into the forest.

The streak slowed to a stop, revealing the pegasus. Without a glance at Buttercup he rushed over to Sunshine, and tended to her wounds.

Sunshine awoke confused, she looked around to find Buttercup and the pegasus conversing. She was in her home. She put a hoof to her face to find it bandaged.

So the bear wasn't a dream.

She lay down to rest, very tired, her daughter, who had noticed that she was awake quickly rushed to attend to her.

"Mother!" She yelled.

Pulling her in for a hug, Sunshine could barely believe her eyes, as she held her daughter.

"How did we escape?" Sunshine asked.

"Void Runner." Buttercup answered, gesturing to the pegasus.

"I should probably rest now." Sunshine concluded.

And we will need to get up early if we're going to make it to the wedding tomorrow. She thought before drifting off into a deep sleep.

Canterlot, The Royal Wedding...

Buttercup, marveled at the giant pink dome, surrounding the giant city. It was hard to believe that a single unicorn could summon such a huge shield. Buttercup weaved in between the crowd, making sure to keep close to her mother. Void Runner was also coming along, as his parents were traveling somewhere.

She was so fascinated by his red eyes. It was extremely unusual, for anypony to have eyes like that. Her gaze fixed upon a stand holding a large variety of sweets, and foods.

"Mother." Buttercup asked, tapping on Sunshine's shoulders."May we get so-" She was cut off as an explosion came from the Royal Palace, sending smoke billowing into the clouds.

The dome began to flicker, cutting off for a little while at a time, before disappearing completely. A huge black swarm was soon hovering above Canterlot, before diving into the screaming ponies, biting into them, and putting them into cocoons. Buttercup ran. She ran, and ran, confused and scared she didn't know what to do. A scream pierced the constant buzzing, causing Buttercup to look back at the source of the scream.

She turned in time to see a changeling dig its fangs into Sunshine's neck, before ripping them back out, taking the neck with it. Sunshine's now limp body, flopped to the ground, blood pouring onto the paved streets.

"NO!" Buttercup screamed, as she charged toward the murdering changeling, eager for revenge.

A purple magical burst suddenly shot from the ground, hitting the changeling causing him to fall to the ground, it's head, cracking against the street. She turned to find a purple unicorn, firing blast after blast into the changeling swarm. A rainbow haired pegasus, then came crashing down onto a changeling, obliterating it, into a bloody mass on the ground.

Several others were also taking up the fight, including a poofy, pink maned, earth pony with a giant party cannon. A pure white unicorn, with the most spectacular dress she had ever seen. And a cowboy dressed earth pony, that was kicking the changelings into nearby walls.

The purple unicorn, shot a magical blast at a charging changeling, causing it to go flying up, then down, into a small house. Another scream, sounded in the air, but this one was not of fear, or panic, but instead of rage, and hate.

The she watched in horror, as Void Runner, flew through the hole the changeling had fell through...

Corvix watched, with a mix of both horror and confusion, as changelings suddenly attacked Canterlot. Multiple screams could be heard, as ponies were either killed, or cocooned. Blood was now spilling on the streets, as changelings bit into ponies, or knocked escaping ones out of the sky.

A familiar presence, suddenly came into his mind, a presence he thought he may never see again. Tix. She searched through the massive crowds of changelings, soon finding him in the air, charging at a purple unicorn. He rushed forward to call for him, freezing in his steps, when the unicorn shot a magical blast into Tix, sending him flying into a house, shattering the roof.

Corvix screamed. He flew as fast as he could into the shattered roof, frantically searching for Tix. A groan caught his attention and he moved to, displace the rubble that covered the groan. He let out a gasp, as he beheld the now impaled Tix, blood streaming down his chest, and onto the floor. He changed back into changeling form, so as not to startle him, and made to remove the object jutted inside him, blue blood sprayed all over it.

"No." Tix suddenly said, clearly struggling to even talk.

"We have to get out of here, brother." Corvix said back, ignoring the command.

"Not we." Tix corrected, a sad look on his face."You."

"Please. Don't leave me." Corvix said, tears streaming down his face, at the thought of losing his brother.

Tix held a hoof against Corvix's cheek. "I'll never leave." He said, a smile forming.

His breath became shaky, as his eyes glazed over, before finally stopping. He was dead. Tix was dead. The one brother he knew. Was dead. He exited the now destroyed building, trying to wake himself up. His face twisted with rage, at the memory of the purple unicorn.

She was going to die.

He sprinted, to where he had seen her, prepared to take his revenge. When suddenly a pink wave shot out of the Royal Palace, hurtling him back towards the Everfree Forest. He closed his eyes bracing himself, for the inevitable impact, but found nothing hitting him. He opened his eyes to see the damage, only to find a black ball surrounding him.

The black ball then promptly disappeared from beneath him, before appearing again, this time in front of him. Curiously he reached out with one of his hooves, wondering what it was. It backed away just enough to keep out of range however.

"What are you?" He asked

The black ball answered with a small act, of circling around him before heading deeper into the forest, signalling him to follow. He did the creatures bidding, walking after the black trail it left behind. Soon he came upon a graveyard of ruins, the black ball circling one in particular.

Corvix, not knowing what to expect, entered the ruins.

After Corvix had walked for a while, down the cold halls, he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched. It didn't help that every now and then a bat would squeal in fright, as if it was being attacked, and then abruptly cut off.

A cold voice sounded from the darkness, causing Corvix's instincts to go into a fighting stance.

The voice chuckled for a while, before saying "You'll do"

A darkness enveloped him, forcing itself into his mouth, as he desperately fought to keep it out. As it entered his system though, he found it comforting, as if his mother was hugging him, while praising him to be a good boy at the same time.

"Do you know what I am?" The darkness spoke.

Corvix observed the darkness, which was now taking the form of a pony. After a while, he recognized the dark form, as one of the most terrible tyrants Equestria had ever faced.

"King Sombra." Corvix answered, shock filtering into his voice at the fact that King Sombra was in front of him.

"You know your history I see." King Sombra continued.

"Yes I do, you're mentioned in almost every history book." Corvix said.

"Do you know of the Elements of Harmony?" King Sombra asked.

Corvix thought for a moment, racking his knowledge of Equestrian history. An image came to mind, a photo he had seen before, of a group of six ponies, all of them posing for the photo. Rage filled Corvix's mind as he remembered the center of the image. The purple unicorn stood at the front, smiling happily. Continuing the search in his memories, he remembered that below the ponies was a list of names, stating who each one was. But he didn't care for the others, focusing on the name that he would burn into his head, so that he would never forget.

Twilight Sparkle...

Chapter 5: Dusty Old Books

Buttercup trotted along the path leading to the village of Morin, a secluded place on the outskirts of Canterlot. And it was here that she had decided to live. As she neared the village entrance the faint sound of civilization could be heard, getting louder and louder. Home. She thought as she crossed bridge she had come to know very well, the cobblestones clacking beneath her hooves. She checked on the books tucked away in her saddlebag, making sure they hadn't been damaged. Her eyes caught on one of the books in her saddlebag and frowned at it. Doing a quick count, it turned out that instead of the four books she had borrowed she had five.

Damn it. She thought sighing to herself, turning her head back to the path ahead. I must have picked up an extra one by mistake. A sudden whisper caught her attention, stopping her dead in her tracks. Slowly she turned her head to locate the source of said whisper only to find the empty path behind her. Slowly she turned to the misty forest on the side of the pathway.

The Everfree Forest. She thought with a gulp. It was said that anypony who entered would be snatched up by the foul beasts that roamed it. Tuning her ears in, she couldn't find any noise or... well anything. Shrugging, she turned back to her original heading, thinking it was only the wind. Little did she know...

It was...

She is perceptive. A stray wind thought to itself, silently following the yellow pegasus. She even noticed the book. Its thoughts strayed to when it had placed it inside the mares saddlebag. That was only minutes before she had found out. Smiling to itself and doing a gleeful twirl in the air it.

She would be a great Bearer...

Buttercup hummed silently to herself, observing the little village she had come to love. Sure enough nothing had changed in the little town. From the dirt path running through the middle of it, to the simple yet elegant housing on either side of said path. It was one of the main reasons she had chosen to live here, nothing interesting happened. Now while that may be boring for someponies to, her it also meant that nothing terrible happened. Her thoughts drifted back to Ponyville, her old home, before being slapped, tied up and thrown into a deep cellar in the desolate wastes of the back of her mind. But the thought had already hit, a familiar pain surfacing in her chest. It was a long time ago. Just an old memory. She thought to herself, attempting to cure the pain.

"Buttercup!" A voice suddenly shouted, getting rid of her chest pain, but also causing her to wince, as she knew the voice very well. She turned to face a light green unicorn approaching, his mane being a dark green with a horn protruding. His face was painted with annoyance, and anger. You could easily think that he had been annoyed his whole life, making it very hard to picture him happy.

Buttercup smiled nervously, raising a hoof in greeting, "Hey Sour Grape." she said, praying that he would be somewhat nice this time.

Sour Grape narrowed his eyes before speaking, "Where have you been lately?" He asked menacingly. He always had a problem with ponies who didn't listen to him or inform him of everything.

"Just went to the Canterlot Library to find something to read." Buttercup replied, opening her saddlebag to reveal the books she had borrowed. His eyes narrowed at the books before widening, a flash of yellow enveloping his eyes before disappearing. He suddenly raised a hoof to his head in realization, saying, "I left the oven on!" And rushing off to his small house.

He gets stranger everyday. She thought to herself before continuing on her desired path to her cottage. It was nothing special, just a regular cottage in a regular village. Nothing interesting or peculiar ever happened in this village. Despite the cottage looking more like a shack, it was Buttercups most prized possession. She trotted up the familiar and comforting stairs to the door fetching a key out of her saddlebag. After opening the wooden door, she calmly trotted inside what would look like to a regular pony, a scene from a horror film. Cobwebs were forming in the corners of the dark roof, barely visible through the poor lighting. That was fixed soon however as Buttercup opened the shutters to the only window, driving the shadows into the few corners untouched by light. Sighing she sunk into a small chair, dumping her saddlebag beside the now dim fireplace, causing it to tip over revealing the books inside. Groaning at the sight of the stolen book she reluctantly got up to pack it up. Her curiosity peaked as she read the title of the book she didn't issue out.

Journal of Full Page

Classification: History

Tilting her head in a questioning way she held onto the book and brought it back to her spot on the chair, opening the book to reveal a very dusty inside, as if no one had opened this book in centuries. Coughing slightly from the amount of dust she began to read the contents...

Entry 1

Started new journal to record and catalogue pony history outside of regular history books in an attempt to make a name for myself. That is if anyone actually reads this. I plan to look into the creation of the universe and other things not covered by historians. I plan to start in the nation of Zebrica, known for their druids and tribal way of life. However they are also one of the oldest races in Equis, ranging back to Discords reign of Equestria and the unification of the three tribes. Now the curious thing is that pony history books stopped there, concluding that there was no way to find out what happened before then. Seems suspicious and will look into it if given the chance, but now I travel to Zebrica, and will be unable to record for a couple of weeks.

Full Page signing off

Frowning she flipped over to the next page only to find it covered in mold and grime, probably due to the fact that it had not been tended to in years. Sighing she flipped ahead, skipping through almost the entire book until she found a page with some form of readability and continued from there.

Entry 354

I have found things about the past, things that they do not want me to find out. They burned my library. I barely escaped, and even now they are hunting me down. The Elements of Harmony weren't the only ones to be created. Everything ponykind has been told is a lie. So big that everypony believes it. My suspicions from before were confirmed. They kill anyone that disrupts their so called order. Sombra knows. It was why he was banished. He was a Bearer, and they couldn't stand that. I have no proof, but the royalty are connected somehow. They are behind all of this. If you are reading this you are most likely a Bearer chosen by the Element of Air. Don't be afraid. If you accept I will be able to explain all of this.

Full Page signing off

She gaped at the book, having suddenly took a dark turn. Her mind raced with possibilities of what this could all mean. Bearers. The royalty. Even Sombra for crying out loud! It was too much. Was this actually true? Or was it just a good joke? Seeking answers she flipped open the book, hoping that the latter was true.

Entry 355

Dear reader. As I write this they come for my head. I have been unable to get the truth out, and I can only hope that whoever is reading this can understand the words I am about to say. You must fear the day. The sun will burn you.

And finally...

Darkness is your ally.

Full Page sig-

The words cut off, replaced by a black smear across the bottom of the page. Buttercup gasped dropping the book into the pile of ash on the outskirts of the fireplace, before jumping off her chair and backing away from it as if it was Tirek himself. She covered her mouth with a hoof, to stop herself from retching. Her attempts were futile however as her stomach emptied itself into a corner, splashing over the stone floor. After about a minute of puking she managed to stabilize herself enough to walk slowly back over to the book. She wasn't ready for this, she wasn't some knight in shining armour. These thoughts ran through her head, before being ground to halt with the distracting thought of what she was going to do about the messy corner she had made.

A shift in the wind caught her attention and she span around ready to take on the invader, only to find that it was just the vomit being carried into the bucket. Sighing in relief she turned back to the book on the floor. Now what do we do wi- She froze for a moment her eyes drifting back to the now vomit filled bucket, as she pondered how this had happened.

"Hello young master." A voice suddenly whispered causing her to jump.

"Where are you!" She shouted in her best, 'I'm not afraid of you' voice.

"Die without me, Never thank me." It suddenly said, its voice echoing throughout her small house. "Walk right through me, Never feel me." It continued despite the bewildered and terrified expression Buttercup wore. "Always watching, Never speaking. Always lurking, Never seen. What am I?" It finished with a slight stirring in the wind, bringing Buttercup out of her thoughts as she rolled the riddle over in her mind.

Die without me, Never thank me. She thought in her head thinking on what a pony would die without. She frowned in thought, mulling over the other lines and their connection to each other. A thought sprang in her head about the answer, before making its way out her mouth.

"Air." She said cautiously yet confidently at the same time, unsure of what would happen if she got it wrong. A mini tornado suddenly appeared in front of her blowing her mane in the wind, yet leaving her house untouched. It suddenly disappeared to reveal an earth pony with a red coat, a page with a quill crossing it as his cutie mark.

Smiling grimly he greeted the frightened pegasus, "Good evening, I am Full Page, you may have heard of me."

Buttercup blinked at the casual tone of one who had just come from a mini tornado, while said pony should also be dead from what the journal indicated. "Wait aren't you de-" she was cut off mid sentence with a dismissing wave of his hoof.

"I would rather not talk about my... misfortunes." He said with a grimace. His tone suddenly switched to an urgent one, worry filling his face as he looked out the single window. "You must leave." He said after a while.

Buttercup blinked at this. Leave? Why would she do that? She opened her mouth to disagree when a suddenly a loud bang came from the village, sending a shock wave that almost knocked her over, causing her to stagger. This was shortly followed by screams, and the sound of spells going off.

"What is going on!" She shouted over the screams at Full Page.

"RUN!" Was his only answer as he burst out the door, heading towards the village.

"Make for Ponyville," The wind whispered suddenly, "And don't look back." Before packing up all her necessary belongings into her saddlebag and dumping it on her.

Not waiting for whatever was coming to find her she ran out the door Full Page had exited, only to turn in the opposite direction, towards the road that lead to Ponyville, unsure of what was happening behind her, and even more unsure if she wanted to know...

Celestia stood in the center of the now burning village, the residents either dead or dying. She picked up an old one that was still alive with her magic, a yellow aura surrounding the pony.

"Where is Buttercup." She asked with venom in her voice.

A coughing fit followed shortly after before the stallion could talk. "The edge of the village, just follow that path." He said, gesturing towards a small dirt path.

Smiling devilishly, she replied with a short, "Thank you" Before depositing the pony into one of the nearby fires, his screams beginning anew, as his remaining flesh was melted off by the searing fires. Approaching the previously mentioned dirt path. Her eyes narrowed at the small brown cottage, a magical fireball appeared on her horn before being released, engulfing the cottage in flames. Sighing she rubbed her eyes in a tired way, before flying back to Canterlot, completely unaware that her target was already halfway to Ponyville...

She doesn't know, we may yet be saved.

You forget of the others that are free, this one simply adds to our chances of escape.

We must be patient, as we have been for thousands of years.

I say we fight our way out, show them who's boss.

Our time to fight is soon. Patience brothers and sisters, the free will come for us. Sooner or later...

Chapter 6: Welcome to Ponyville

Rainbow Dash stirred slightly in her sleep, shuffling the warm blankets that lay over her. A soft knock at the door sounded once again, causing another episode of shuffling in a vain attempt to banish the knocking. The knock quickly turned into a loud banging, making Rainbow to jump up at it. Mumbling to herself she rubbed an eye as she flew down the stairs, still wishing she could just sleep peacefully. Glancing at the clock her jaw dropped.

It was two o'clock in the morning!

Gritting her teeth, she picked up the pace to the door, eager to give this thing a peace of her mind. Smashing the door open she glared at a hooded pony that stood at her door, malice in her eyes. "What the heck do you want!" She yelled at the pony, causing it to jump back.

"Rainbow." It suddenly said, causing Dash's ears to perk up at the familiar voice, she stopped rubbing her eye to get a better look under the hood, "Rainbow I need-" The pony continued before being cut off, as it was brought into a crushing hug brushing her hood off in the process.

"Buttercup!!" Rainbow Dash said with immense amounts of joy. Before releasing her tight grip on her prisoner, after several hooftaps, signalling that the recipient was failing to breath oxygen. Smiling sheepishly she backed away from Buttercup, before launching a barrage of questions at the yellow pegasus.

"Where have you been?"

"Man, how much have you grown?"

"DId you miss me?"

"How's Morin?"

Buttercup winced slightly at the last one, going unnoticed by Rainbow however, as she continued her rant of questions. A hoof suddenly shot up into Rainbow's mouth, halting the questions.

Buttercup then cleared her throat before asking her own question, "Can I crash with you tonight?" Rainbow Dash was immediately taken aback, by this very sudden and strange question. Frowning in concern she noticed the faint look of sadness in Buttercups eyes.

Nodding slightly, her gaze turned to one of suspicion as she backed away slowly, looking her up and down before shaking her head slightly. "I missed you." Rainbow said as she wrapped a hoof around Buttercups neck guiding her inside.

Sighing in what seemed like relief she walked in, following Rainbow to a couch. "It ain't much but it's all I got right now." She said in an apologizing tone, checking that everything was set up, she turned around to wish Buttercup a goodnight, onlyto find her laying on the couch snoring her head off.

Giggling at how quickly she had fallen she grabbed a blanket from her cupboard, gently laying it over the sleeping pegasi's limp body.

"Sweet dreams." Rainbow whispered quietly before heading back upstairs to her bedroom.

"Spike!" Twilight called from her study, the pitter pattering of tiny dragon feet could then soon be heard. Bursting through the door, the tiny purple dragon halted before giving a salute to Twilight.

"Spike at your service." He said in a serious tone.

Laughing at Spike's sillyness stepped down from her desk, walking over to Spike and giving him a big hug.

His seriousness broke as he soon smiled, hugging Twilight back. "What would I do without you Spike." She said quietly.

"Let's find out." A voice suddenly said, from behind her. Gasping she broke her hug on Spike turning to the creature. The creature however simpy raised it's hoof and pointed at where Spike was. Tilting her head in confusion she looked back to find a gaping vortex behind Spike pulling him in.

Spike noticed this to as he reached out a hand, "Twilight! Help me!" He cryed as he was lifted off his feet and sucked into the vortex, his screams echoing throughout the room.

"Spike! NO!" She screamed as she ran towards the vortex before being smashed into the ground by something. Looking behind her she saw a black changeling with blood red eyes laughing maniacally. Screaming in rage she bucked the changeling off of her sending it flying into the wall. Hissing in pain it fired a spell at Twilight, too quickly for her to react, as she felt a searing pain in her chest.

A loud bang was then heard as hooftsteps could be heard echoing through the halls. Looking up at the door to her study, Princess Luna burst through, firing a spell at the changeling, yet only barely missing as it morphed through a nearby shadow, leaving nothin but a partially destroyed study.

Twilight coughed blood coming out of her mouth, and coating the floor. Her vision became less and less clearer as she began to get tunnel vision. before losing sight of everything completely...

Twilight shot up in her bed screaming and firing a spell at random hitting the door to her bedroom sending it flying into the corridor. Panting and sweating her gaze swept across the room nervously, only to find herself completely alone. Sighing in relief she lay back down cuddling up to her blankets, as she silently cried.

Spike was gone and she had no idea where he had went. And she couldn't do anything about it.

The morning continued as usual with her reading up on books, trying to find something on this changeling. It was extremely powerful, with the ability to morph into walls, and who knows how much else it has in its arsenal. She shook her head, she shouldn't call it a changeling yet, as it could be something else. Her dreams didn't know everything after all.

Groaning she planted her face into the book she was reading. Their was nothing on this creature, or any other creature similar to it. A knock at the door suddenly echoed throughout the halls. Sighing she got up reluctantly walking to the door. The banging got louder and louder until a worried look came on Twilights face. It could be urgent, maybe even about the... Creature.

With this new found motivation, her pace quickened into a trot, determined to reach the door. Opening the door, she sighed in both disappointment and relief at the sight of her good friend Rainbow Dash. Fully opening the door she held out her hoof, inviting Rainbow into the castle.

"Rainbow Dash!" She said in a happy tone, "What brings you here?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Oh nothing, just came here to intro-" She cut off as she looked behind, only finding empty space. Sighing she walked backed out, turning to the right. A quiet conversation was then, it's contents unkown to Twilight, was heard then before Rainbow reemerged from the corner beckoning something to follow.

A yellow head, with a blue mane suddenly poked its around the corner, looking aound the room cautiously her gaze lingering on Twilight for a while, before fully coming out of the shelter of the corner, revealing her pegasus wings.

Gulping she glanced nervously around her, "H-hi." she stammered, her gaze never fixing in one place for too long.

Sighing, Rainbow Dash sighed once again, walking over beside the pegasus, wrapping a hoof around her before explaining, "This is Buttercup, I used to foalsit her. She's staying at my place while her home gets renovated."

Nodding Twilight opened her mouth to speak, when a scroll appeared in front of her in a golden flame, causing her heart to ache as she remembered Spike's beloved green flame. Regardless she enveloped the letter in her magic floating it over to her before unfurling it.

Dear Twilight,

It has come to my attention that a yellow pegasus has just showed

up at your doorstep.

This is a dangerous individual, that burned down her own village.

While I cannot give a reason why she did it, as it is unkown to me,

I wish for you to hold her there as long as you can.

I have already arrived in Ponyville and am making my way to your castle.

Yours Sincerely,

Princess Celestia.

Twilight's eyes widened with every word. Not only did Celestia know that Buttercup was here, but also what she did to her village. Rainbow Dash looked at her in worry, waving her hooves in front of Twilight's face, snapping her attention back. Her eyes fell on Buttercup who was still glancing everywhere in worry. She had to distract Buttercup for as long as possible until the princess got here.

"So Buttercup." She said walking over to her, "What village did you used to live in?" She asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Fear and pain seeped into her face as Twilight's question sunk in, she opened her mouth to speak when a knock at the door brought everyone's attention to it. In the common way of the owner opening the door for the knocker Twilight did just that, pulling open the crystal doors to reveal Princess Celestia.

"Princess! How have you been?" Twilight asked, the question falling on deaf ears though as Celestia scanned the room, her eyes locking on Buttercup. Curious she followed her gaze to Buttercup, finding not the usual smile or dumbstruck gaze ponies usually had when meeting the princess. Heck, Buttercup didn't even grovel at her hooves like most others did. Instead her face was filled with fear and panic. Not the type that usually came with meeting a princess, no not that. This was pure fear and terror, like what a filly would look like when meeting the most terrible monster they had ever thought up.

"Buttercup." She said in her motherly voice, "If you may come with me for a talk, we can sort this whole thing out." She continued.

And then the impossible happened. Buttercup shook her head, and backed away further, entering a combat stance. Celestia's smile faltered at that, and she repeated it again, with more sterness in her voice. The same result, as pure terror began being tinted in rage. Celestia then abandoned the smile altogether, and glared at Buttercup, with a look that could kill a manticore.

"Buttercup come with me now." She ordered, walking forward slightly, giving herself a menacing glare. Twilight was now quite mad, because not only had Buttercup disobeyed an order from Celestia herself, but also treated Celestia as if she was a hydra.

Growling, her horn became enveloped in he signature purple aura before suddenly shattering. Blinking Twilight touched her horn with a hoof, to find nothing wrong with it. Pouring her magic into the horn again she attempted to lift Buttercup up, only for the same result to happen again.

Her focus then came back to Buttercup to find her staring right at her a warning look in her eyes. Twilight's own eyes widened as she understood the implications of this. Buttercup could cancel out her magic. she opened her mouth to speak before Celestia suddenly yelled, shaking the crystal room with the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"Buttercup! You will come with me now!" Anger was taking over her face as she took another step towards Buttercup.

Buttercup however didn't hget a chance to speak, as Rainbow Dash stepped between Buttercup and Celestia, a look of defiance on her face.

"What right do you have to yell at my friend!" Rainbow Dash yelled at Celestia.

Celestia blinked at this, seemingly stunned. Twilight facehoofed at the brashness of her, she walked over to Rainbow Dash to talk her out of this, when a quiet voice suddenly arose behind Rainbow.

"Stop Rainbow." Buttercup said, being identified as the speaker, "Please don't, you're gonna get hurt."

At this Rainbow Dash turned towards her, tilting her head in curiosity. A spell suddenly shot into Rainbow side, sending her flying across the floor. Twilight's head whipped around to find Princess Celestia, horn at the ready staring at Rainbow Dash. She stared in stunned silence at her beloved princess, as her look alternated between her and the now limp body of Rainbow Dash.

Celestia then turned to Buttercup, another spell being prepared. Buttercup however stared silently at Rainbow, no emotion visible, or being shown. A stray breeze somehow made its way into the room, despite the windows and doors being closed. The breeze then grew larger and larger as Twilight felt her mane being gently pushed, with Celestia's hair being blowing more fervently then it usually did.

Buttercup then turned to Celestia and Twilight, the wind growing stronger and stronger. She sensed magic and turned to Celestia, to find her prepping a spell. She didn't have the time to cast it however as an even stronger wind began to push against them, making Celestia lose her focus. It then all cut out as Buttercup turned and began running to the door. She made to cast a stun spell until an explosion barely missed the yellow pegasi's neck smashing a nearby wall.

Stunned she turned to Celestia who was now giving chase to Buttercup who was now out the door, and into the streets of Ponyville. Deciding to ask questions later, she followed Celestia and Buttercup.

The chase was on...

Author's Note

Sorry for bad pacing I am currently having a creative block with this story, and I am also braindead.

point out any mistakes you see please and have a nice day.

Chapter 7: The Chase

Buttercup sprinted out of the door, not bothering to look behind to see if she was being followed. She didn't need to look however as a yellow bolt shot past her head, singing her mane. In just the span of 2 days her life had gone from pleasant and calm, to being chased by a princess that controled the sun. She was still trying to wrap her head around what she had done back in the castle, only remembering the pure rage she had felt when Rainbow had been shot. It was utter madness, and the whole shibang about Elements? Complete chaos. She definitely needed to ask Full Page about all this when she had escaped.

Another magical bolt from behind snapped her back to her current predicament as she glanced around for an escape route. Her glancing was cut almost as short as her thoughts as the familiar voice of Full Page sounded in her ears.

Turn right, but don't fly, you have a better advantage in the streets.

Not one to argue with a disembodied voice that had saved her life, she took a sharp turn, looking back to her chaser. Sure enough the princess had to go wide, her massive figure obstructing her turning. This flaw made Buttercup's hopes sore, as she sped up with renewed vigor, confident in her ability to outmanoeuvre the large princess. Her confidence lowered however, when the smaller Princess Sparkle turned the corner with ease, managing to stay side by side with Celestia despite the size difference. It was now getting more and more difficult to lose them as spells flew past her in an attempt to stop her, and Twilight wouldn't get off her tail. Sure she could lose Celestia in the cramped streets but she would soon catch up to Twilight and resume her salvo of spells.

You have to make it to the Everfree. Full Page said, causing Buttercup to scoff slightly at the idea before realizing her current predicament.

"Fine." She said to her self, taking a hard left towards the forest. This took the other two off guard slightly as they hesitated before continuing after their quarry.

You better not get me killed here Full Page. She thought as she made it through the treeline into the forest...

Vortix snored in his bed, his usual pegasus form disgarded in an attempt to get a comfortable sleep. While not a common fact, it was actually extremely unhealthy for a changeling to change forms for too long, the symptoms ranging from headaches, to vomiting. This was due to the energy it took to maintain a different form, the larger the form being, the more difficult it was. Now of course energy wasn't a problem for the changeling in bed, having stockpiled a ridiculous amount from the ponies. Of course this energy hadn't come easy, with him having to harvest it from the pleasant dreams of the ponies in Canterlot and having to avoid Luna as well, it wasn't the most relaxing of jobs. He had spent a good 3 years to collect this much energy, an impressive feat for any changeling.

Darkness...

He suddenly jolted awake, horn charging a spell in readiness against the voice, only to find nothing in his room but dust and thin air.

Air. He thought to himself, his eyes slowly widening in realization. The air itself had spoken. Before he could react it began speaking again.

We need help...our Bearer is pursued, and it takes us much strength to reach you...you are the only one who can help...Celestia... It said, fading off at the last word.

His mouth opened in surprise, before morphing into a disgusted sneer. "Still trying to get rid of them Celestia? After all these years you've finally cornered them. Not on my watch." He said before opening a dark portal and stepping through...

Buttercup let out a gasp of surprise as she tripped over a root, her mad dash into the forest not allowing her to see the surroundings. Looking back, she expected to find the two alicorns behind her, only to find an eery gap between the trees that she swore weren't there before. Looking around she found herself in a small clearing, a welcome sight from the dark corners of the rest of the forest, never being able to shake the feeling you were being watched. Thankfully, the feeling was distant in the bright sun above, the canopy of trees seeming to not dare trespass into the clearing.

Her smile quickly faded as an audible snap was heard from behind her. Turning her head slowly towards the noise, her eyes somehow widened in terror even more at the sight of the Everfree Forest's most famous creature...

Timberwolf. She thought in terror, slowly getting up in preparation to run away from the fearsome beast. Once she had fully stood up it decided to take action, pouncing into the clearing to reveal it's beastly form.

It was almost double her height, standing on for wooden legs with sharp thorns sticking out of the paws. On it's body was also dozens upon dozens of small twigs growing out of it's back, some with leaves, some without. Next were it's eyes, which were staring right into hers, looking to be little more than bright green orbs as a glow silently pulsated from them. It opened it's maw to reveal a jagged set of what looked like sharpened bark, a leafy tongue licking them hungrily. It stepped forward.

Buttercup stood frozen in terror, screaming mentally at her legs to move only to be met with a defiant silence. Taking another step, the Timberwolf snapped it's jaw threateningly at Buttercup. This terrified her to no point yet her muscles still wouldn't respond, an invisible force keeping them there. Deciding to concentrate her efforts, she poured all of her strength into her front hoof in an effort to make it move. A miracle then happened when her hoof shifted forward ever so slightly, causing the Timberwolf's attention to shift there. A look of confusion suddenly donned it's face as it eyed the hoof in curiosity, as if trying to find the answer to an unkown qustion.

This reaction also happened to confuse Buttercup, thoughts running through her head in an attempt to answer what the Timberwolf was doing. Another snap came from in front of her, in the opposite direction she was looking, causing both her and the Timberwolf's heads to swivel in that direction. The last thing she expected to see was a changeling.

Not only that, but a non-reformed changeling. It had become pretty common knowledge of how the changelings had reformed to embraced harmony and friendship, forgoing their old visage. Yet here stood, a red eyed, non-reformed changeling. What more it was looking directly into her eyes, not even paying attention to the wolf behind her. Then something even more terrifying happened.

It smiled...

How interesting...they had actually chosen a Bearer. If his memory served him correctly the last Bearer of Air was centuries ago, around about the time Celestia had started the Purge. Yet here stood one of the last free Elements of Equestria, and with a bearer no less. What was even more interesting was that she was completely invisible. The only way he had spotted her was when she moved her hoof. The same went for the Timberwolf behind her, before it's attention switched back to him. growling the Timberwolf leaped forward, intent on killing it's prey in a single blow.

Suddenly, a dark tendril sprouted from the back of Vortix and shot towards the wolf at incredible speeds, only giving it a moment to notice the tendril. The wolf shattered on contact, pieces of it flying all over the clearing, some even making it into the tree line from the sheer force of the attack. Then amongst it all Vortix spotted his target. The core. While he could easily take it on again if it reconstructed itself, time was of the essence. Aiming the tendril at the small, dark green orb, it shattered much like it's owner, sending bits of it flying everywhere. It was at this moment that all the returning pieces of wood fell out of the air, landing onto the grass with loud thunks.

Now the problem of the pony in front of him.

Walking up to the invisible figure, still smiling, he stopped right in front of her, staring into what he assumed was her eyes.

"Hello."

This was beyond scary, the fact that it had dispatched of the Timberwolf with ease with what seemed to be a dark tentacle of sorts, and that it had spoken to her. She simply stood still, hoping that it would somehow think her a strange statue. Of course the chances of that were abysmal, being even more unlikely than Celestia giving her Canterlot Castle.

The changeling suddenly looked to the side, bringing her attention as well. Standing there was none other than Full Page.

The changeling smiled at Full Page, a look of familiarity in his eyes, "Full Page, it sure has been a while." It said, surprising Buttercup to no end. This thing knew who Full Page was? Than there was the question of it's eyes, being a strange crimson red, unlike any other changeling she had seen before.

"Too long old friend." Full Page responded, a similar smile coming onto his face.

"And what of this pony here? And must you still keep her invisible." The changeling said, causing Buttercup to look down at herself. Sure enough she couldn't see herself, and began reprimanding herself for not noticing before.

Full Page simply shrugged, "It's just a precaution, you never know when an alicorn can come flying down at you." He said.

The changeling chuckled at that, before shaking his head sadly, " 'Tis indeed a terrible time we live in."

Turning back to Buttercup, the changeling stared again right in her eyes, "Sorry for the fright I may have given you. My name is Vortix." It said, smiling again. It was clear it was trying to look comforting, only to fail almost as hard as Buttercup's statue theory.

She stood there for what seemed like hours before forcing her vocal cords to work, "H-Hello Vortix, I am Buttercup. M-may I ask why you are here?" She eventually said, dreading the answer to come.

Before it could respond however, a large yellow beam shot out of the forest behind him, only to be stopped by a swirling black shield appearing form nowhere. The force of the yellow beam caused him to go flying to a stop beside Buttercup before getting up to face the attacker. Buttercup's blood froze in terror as Princess Celestia and Twilight walked out from the tree line, horns charging up another spell. Reacting on instinct she dove to the ground, just in time to dodge a purple bolt that flew above her. Rolling to the side and standing up, she faced the two alicorns, prepared to go down fighting. Looking to the side she saw Vortix stand up, a look of hatred and anger on his face as tendrils started sprouting from his back, eliciting surprised and horrified looks directed at the changeling.

So they stood, the alicorns on one side and the odd duo on the other, prepared to fight it out. A tendril then wrapped around Buttercup causing her to look at her supposed ally in betrayal only to find it's face desperate and worried. Before she could utter a word she was thrown through a portal, her last shred of vision being the alicorns pouncing on the changeling before it all went black...

Chapter 8: The Fight

Jumping at the changeling, Twilight charged a spell, prepared to finish the fight with a single blow. Celestia apparently had the same idea, having also jumped at the changeling.

Attempting to tackle the changeling and fire a spell at the same time. This failed however as the changeling dodged to the side, leaving a crater where he stood from Twilight's spell.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this." The changeling suddenly spoke, surprising Twilight. Every unreformed changeling she had encountered had been completely silent when battling her, making this a startling change.

Just what is this thing. She thought as she fully observed the changeling.

At first it looked quite normal, until you got to it's back. Instead of the classic insect like wings they were replaced with...something. It looked like it had the shape of pegasus wings but an endless void had replaced everything, appearing to go on forever. Then there was the several black tendrils that had sprouted from it's back. Then there was the fact that it had pushed Buttercup into a shadow and she had disappeared. It all seemed...strangely familiar.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she refocused just in time to see it dodge Celestia's spell as well, leading to it being on one side of the clearing while Celestia and Twilight remained on then other side.

"What do you mean?" She inquired, slightly confused at the changelings previous statement. While she would have loved to interrogate it's about it's strange appendages she could save it until after it had been captured.

The changeling chuckled coldly, sending a shiver down Twilight's spine, "I have been waiting for this fight with you for 8 long years. I'm sure you can understand that I am quite glad that the time has come." It replied, only confusing Twilight even more.

What had happened 8 years ago? She pondered to herself, searching the corners of her memory for when she had encountered a changeling. Her eyes widened in realization.

"The Canterlot Wedding." She realized aloud, bringing about another chuckle from the changeling as it began to circle towards them.

"Nice job princess." It said, eyes narrowing as it began to slowly herd them into the centre of the clearing.

Shaking her head in disbelief, a brilliant idea came to her. Convince it.

"Look, whatever I did to you at the wedding I am very sorry for. I am the Princess of Friendship, so I can help you. The changelings knew nothing about friendship before now look at Thoax. Look at the rest of the changelings!" She spoke, bringing the changeling to a halt. "They have solved their love shortage by revealing their true self. You can do that too! I can help you." She finished, confident that her words had worked on the changeling who was looking at the sky in thought.

Smiling warmly she took a step forward-

"You really don't remember me do you?" He pondered, bringing his gaze down to hers, causing her to freeze in her tracks.

Wearily returning the gaze she nodded, "No I'm afraid not." She said, returning to her warm smile."But that doesn't matter, I can help you either way." She finished with confidence in her voice, returning her gentle walk towards it.

Another chuckle stopped her again, "Perhaps this will jog your memory." He said, a large ball of darkness enveloping him, hiding him from sight completely.

Eye's widening slightly

Tentacles sprouted outwards, the shadows around the dark ball unnaturally moving on their own. The end result was a swirling mass of darkness and tentacels.

No, it can't be. She thought in disbelief and slight terror.

A pair of red eyes opened in the darkeness.'

"Hello Twilight."

Not thinking straight, she charged at the balck mass, rage filling her eyes. Charging a spell she fired into the darkenss only for it to pass right through. Undetered she rammed into it only for the black cloud to disperse. Growling in anger she turned to find Celestia rushing to her side. Jolting up she glanced around, eager to find the enemy.

"Come now Twilight, what happened to friendship and love?" That dreaded voice said from behind.

Turning around in a flash she fired a spell at the changeling, only for it to fly upwards into the air. "What did you do with Spike" She demanded, prepping another spell.

The changeling smiled, revealing it's glistening white fangs, "If you must know, he is somewhere in Canterlot doing who knows what." It replied before narrowing it's eyes slightly. "If you want to know about the memory loss I personally have no clue how that happened."

"Liar!" Twilight screamed, making to fly at it before being held back by Princess Celestia who had grabbed Twilight's tail in her magic while narrowing her eyes at the changeling.

Shrugging, the changeling turned lazily onto it's back while in the air, making a show of inspecting it's hoof. "Whether you believe me or not, doesn't change anything." It said in a bored manner.

That's it. She concluded angrily, firing a spell at the changelings exposed back. In the span of a second the changeling had done a narrel roll and landed on the ground, easily dodging the magical bolt flying into the air. Next thing she knew Twilight was being thrown across the clearing to the edge of it by Princess Celestia, narrowly missing the changeling's tentacle herself.

Landing with a resounding thud, she got back to her hooves, wincing at the pain in her side. Looking at the battle it was clear Celestia was on the backhoof, having to stay at a far distance to avoid the black tendrils that shot after her. This was made even harder as the changeling constantly charged at Celestia, only barely being kept at nay ny Celestia's constant stream of spells which were cosntantly fending of the tentacles.

Charging a teleportion spell she landed directly behind the changeling, allowing her to shoot a bolt of magic at it. The bolt hit the changelings leg, causing it to trip over and halt it's advance on Celestia while giving out a yell of pain. Taking the opportunity, she attempted to jump on the changeling and pin it only to be smacked with a tentacle, sending her flying into a nearby tree. Screaming in pain, she fell to the grassy floor, glancing back at her back. She winced as she saw her wings hanging limply by her sides, mangled and bleeding.

Casting a quick bandanging spell, she turned back to the battle to find Celestia pressing the attack, the changeling's leg leaking a blue liquid she could only assume was blood. Slowing her breathing to calm herself, she stalked around the battle, looking for an opening. The changeling suddenly turned it's back to her, allowing her the chance she had wanted. Casting a fireball, she shot it at the enemy, only for it to dodge out of the way at the last moment, sending it instead into Celestia. Thinking on her feet Twilight cast a shield in front of Celestia, wincing in pain as her horn began to ache from the strength of her fireball.

Looking towards the changeling she found nothing but an empty space where it had been. Panicking at it's disappearance she looked all around her to make sure it hadn't sneaked up on her. Finding nothing she looked to Celestia who had a hardened look on her face, being a stark contrast from the usual calm and motherly look. A black tendril began to creep out of the shadow underneath.

"Celestia watc-" She began before the tentacle flew out her shadow with impossible speeds, flinging Celestia up into the air, before smacking her out of the air into the ground, causing her to scream in pain as she smashed into the deceptively hard grass and dirt. Sprinting over to Celestia she was stopped when a tendril shot out from the trees, hitting her to the other side of the clearing away from Celestia. Standing up she turned to where the tendirl had come from, finding the changeling stepped out from the trees, a victorious smile on it's face.

"Game over." It said, charging a spell with his horn, his aura being a crimson red, not too different from his eyes.

It didn't have the chance as Celestia fired an unfamiliar golden spell from her spot on the ground, blood bleeding from what seemed like everywhere on her body, at the changeling who deflected it into the air with a flick of its tendril. The changeling opened it's mouth to speak again only to be cut off as the spell exploded mid air, creating a blue star in the sky. Eyes narrowing at the blue star in the sky, the changeling opened his mouth to say something before he was cut off once again.

By the sun being lowered.

The moon rose across from the sun, shining brighter than it had before. The changeling's eyes widened in realization as it turned towards Canterlot to find a dark blue alicorn charging at it. Yelling in shock it submerged itself into the shadows as Luna smashed into the ground where it had once stood, leaving a crater from the sheer speed and power that Luna had arrived with. Eyes turning this way and that, she suddenly shot a spell at a tree, forcing the changeling behind it to dodgew into the clearing. Summoning a brilliant silver sword luna began to advance, pursuing the changeling as it attempted to reach the trees again. Shooting another spell Luna continued her pursuit, continously swinging her sword at it. This was not needed however as her spell hit it square in the head, causing it to be sent plummeting into the cold hard ground as blue blood gushed from it's head wound.

Luna held a sword against the downed changeling's throat as it lay face down in the dirt. It caught her off guard when it suddenly sunk into the darkness beneath it, a tendril shooting up at Luna's face, before being cut in half, making the bottom half retreat back into the shadows while the top half squirmed on the grassy floor beneath it.

The changeling reappeared on the other side of the clearing, somehow still standing despite the two wounds that where now bleeding blue blood onto the ground, as Luna raised her sword at it.

"This is not over." It said, coughing up blue blood as it dripped down his chin from his mouth, "You may have won this time, but mark my words I will have my revenge." It said, before falling into a coughing fit. It gave Twilight one final glare of hatred before falling into it's shadow.

Buttercup looked at the green pod before her, or more specifically at the pony contained within. It's features, apart from it's horn, were completely obscured by the gel surrounding the pod not allowing her to get a good look at who it was. She was still trying to figure out why exactly she was here. First everything she had ever known had been turned on it's head, as well as the fact that she was now clearly an enemy of the crown, despite the fact that she had no idea why. Then there was the fact that she had just been saved by a changeling.

A changeling...

She still had vivid memories of the Canterlot Wedding, causing her to never been able to properly forgive them despite the fact that they had apparently 'Reformed'. And that changeling was unreformed. It was all so confusing, especially in the way she had gotten here. She had been pushed into a black hole of some sorts then ended up in this very dark room of some sorts. The voices had fallen silent ever since she had gotten here, making it eerily quiet and creepy, only increased by the fact that there were no windows or light sources other than the luminiscent pod in the centre of the room only lighting it up to a certain extent, making her have no way to know if there was an entrance.

"DAMN IT!!!" A shout suddenly originated from upstairs followed by the sound of what sounded like several pieces of furniture being thrown. It than returned to the creepy silence before being replaced by footsteps approaching closer. A door opened at a wall nearby, flooding the room with light.

Holding a hoof up to block the sudden brightness, her eyes eventually adjusted to the new light level, allowing her to look at the changeling in the door. It was very different from the changeling in the clearing, mainly due to the fact that there was blue blood dripping off of several wounds covering it's body. It also held a towel against it's head where it was bleeding the most. It sighed as it lowered towel to the ground, smiling sadly as it looked at Buttercup.

"Guess you're gonna want some answers huh."

Chapter 4: The Transformation.

"What?" Corvix asked, having gone into the deepest corners of his mind to plot his revenge.

"Do you know why you are here?" King Sombra asked

King Sombra. The evil tyrant who had enslaved the Crystal Ponies, before being banished, taking the Crystal Empire with him. He was standing face to, well, the moving shadow of King Sombra. Corvix still couldn't see his facial features, although his green eyes stood out in the darkness, like a bear among rabbits. It terrified him those eyes, always fixed on him, never once blinking or looking away.

Corvix answered, his voice shaking, "No."

"Tell me, what Elements do you know of?"

A confused look came upon Corvix's face. What Elements there were? There was only the Elements of Harmony, wasn't there?

King Sombra saw this and sighed, "I see that the knowledge of my power was sealed away along with me." Having said this he moved to the other side of the room and pressed his shadow of a hoof against a stone in the decrepit wall, pushing it in deeper. A loud creaking noise came from the wall, when suddenly a portion of it, in the shape of a wall, opened out into a staircase, filled with cobwebs.

"Come." Sombra said as he descended down the staircase, not even disturbing the cobwebs he walked through.

What even is this place? Corvix thought to himself, as he walked over to the newly made doorway, observing the staircase. It looked like a regular staircase at first, if only that it was more old, and dirty than most. Than he noticed the shadows along the walls. They weren't like regular shadows, instead they were moving, traveling along the wall of their own accord. Occasionally they bumped into one another, and ended up morphing into a bigger shadow, before splitting off from each other again.

"Are you coming or not?" The annoyed voice of Sombra sounded from down the stairs.

"Sorry." Corvix said, thankful that Sombra wasn't there to see him blush with embarrassment.

Quickly following Sombra down the stairs, he made sure to not get caught up watching the shadows again, in fact so well he didn't even notice the shadows that had left their positions and were now following him, staying out of his line of sight. After a long walk of going down the stairs, he caught up with Sombra who was still going at a leisurely pace. Corvix silently hung back unsure of whether he was permitted to walk beside Sombra, or whether he was simply to follow and not speak.

"Have you heard of the Element of Darkness?" Sombra suddenly spoke up.

Corvix scrounged through his knowledge of history, trying to find a single reference to the Element of Darkness. He didn't think there ever had been, considering he had memorized the most important parts of history, so that he would know what somebody did and when, which was a part of infiltration. After a while of searching his memory banks however, he found that he had never heard of the 'Element of Darkness'.

"No." He said, unsure of where Sombra could have learned of such a thing.

"I thought so, not even the princess' knew of it." Sombra said

"If I might ask, what is the Element of Darkness." Corvix asked cautiously, making sure to not pry too much.

Sombra let out a resigned sigh, before saying"Listen closely, as it is quite an important story I am about to tell you...

One thousand years ago...

Purple Fire watched as her classmates ran out to their parents, before being scooped up into big hugs, causing the young colts and filly's to giggle with delight. She slowly walked out into the schoolyard, desperate to get away from all the love that was being given, and reciprocated among the parents and their children. She trudged along solemnly, knowing that a full out sprint to the front gate would simply draw attention to herself. She occasionally glanced at a parent, chatting with their child, and couldn't help but want to simply disintegrate them for being so happy.

"How was your day sweetie?" A mother would say to their colt or filly.

"It was amazing mother! I played with my friends and learnt lots of stuff!" The colt or filly would reply.

It sickened her, no matter what anypony said, it was disgusting to see all that lovey-dovey stuff going on around her. Thank goodness she didn't have parents to do that to her. Most ponies would have been desperate for a parent, but not her. She was perfectly content with being alone, and fending for herself. After all she had been like that for her entire life. Granted she didn't have friends, but she was perfectly content with that, as friends only served to drag you down. She was now on the main street of Ponyville, vendors shouting their goods to all the ponies that walked past. She ignored them all as she made her way to the little alleyway she called home.

"Hey Purple." A passing pegasus greeted her, raising a hoof in greeting.

"Hey Cloud." She responded, also raising a hoof.

The pegasus' face grew worried, "Prancer wants his bits."

"Prancer can get his bits if he is patient for a few couple of days." She said in an exasperated tone.

Cloud shook his head, "He wants it now." He looked over Purple's shoulder, signalling that Prancer was behind her.

She turned around to come face to face with a bulky pegasus. Although he was about her age, Prancer was almost twice her size, and twice her width, as well as much stronger than her. Prancer was basically the mini crime boss of Ponyville, having been an expert at lending and collecting money from people. As such almost everypony owed him money. Including her.

"Just hold on and I will get you your money." Purple said, getting desperate for a way out.

A devilish smile spread across his face, as if he had his enemy cornered and simply had to deliver the final blow. "Oh yes you will." He finally said the smile still on his face. He signaled to the other pegasi behind him with a raised hoof, springing them into action as the approached Purple, who was now backing up. She caught the eye of Cloud, who silently mouthed 'I'm sorry.'

They were soon hovering over the Everfree Forest, the sounds of animals and birds could be heard, even from the height they were flying. They were discussing whether or not, she would be killed from this height, as that was clearly what was intended. Purple however, had fazed out and was now, like her captors contemplating her chances of survival from this height. She came to the conclusion that while she would still have much broken bones, she would not be killed. Unfortunately her captors had come to the same conclusion as they slowly flew higher and higher, until Purple could see Manehattan in the distance. She then began to contemplate if the ponies in Manehattan would hear her scream from this height, so deep in thought that she ignored the conversation above her. A cold breeze, suddenly came, causing her to shiver as she did not have any protection from the cold whatsoever. She then felt the grip of one of the pegasi release as a deafening scream came from the other one.

Slowly she looked at the foreleg that one of them had released, to find it soaked in blood. She screamed as she held that arm away from her noticing the body of the pegasus falling into the Everfree, its head falling just a few feet beside it, before it was enveloped by the forest. She then noticed that she was moving along the clouds, looking up she found her second captor flapping his wings furiously as he was trying to get away from whatever was chasing him. Gulping she looked back to see what was chasing them, this only caught the attention of the pegasus who realized he was still holding the unicorn he was supposed to have deposed of. Deciding his life was more important then hers his gripped immediately loosened as he flew off as fast as he could, leaving the screaming filly to fall into the Everfree.

Purple screamed with all her might hoping that somehow a pony would hear her and come to the rescue, as her blond mane whipped in her face. It was useless however, as she collided with the blanket of trees, hitting branch upon branch as she fell. She then landed on the forest floor with such an impact she coughed up blood, and as she lay down on the earth, broken and bleeding, she wished and wished that a pony would come charging through the trees to rescue her. Her eyes slowly closed, not having the strength to keep them open anymore, no matter how hard she fought to keep them open. She lost consciousness, soon after spotting a moving object in the forest.

Well, guess i'm dead... she silently thought to herself.

The black sphere of darkness approached the broken filly that had just lost consciousness. It was hard for some shadows to believe that this filly, was the key to their survival, but no one dared to argue with Tymolic, the oldest and wisest shadow. he had been at The Creation, and managed to survive for centuries, evading the other elements, and only killing when required. Therefore no one questioned his decisions, no matter how crazy they were.

"It doesn't matter anymore, she's dying, and even we can't heal that." A shadow sighed.

"She was supposed to be our last hope, but I guess not." Another shadow agreed

Soon shadows were agreeing that she was indeed dead and that they were doomed to die out. Some began to leave, others looked at Tymolic who simply stared at the limp body. Everybody was now moving disappearing into the forest. The few shadows that had stayed behind realized that for once Tymolic had given up. As they made to move, Tymolic did first. The old shadow slowly slithered along the ground towards the now dead filly and now sat in front her. Tymolic's shadow suddenly expanded, spreading into the filly, the remaining shadows gasped they realized what he was doing. The fillies broken legs began to move, fixing themselves until they were fully repaired and straight, the bones in her head and body were next as they righted themselves, the shadows watching with a mix of sadness and awe, as Tymolic's shadow slowly disappeared into the pony.

"We will miss you dear friend." A shadow at the front of the group said, the others nodding sadly in agreement, as they continued to watch the filly, until her chest began to slowly rise and fall.

Purple Fire's eyes shot open, and she gasped as she sat up. She looked around her surroundings, unsure if what she had experienced was a dream or not. What she found was a dark forest, and a myriad of broken branches around her, and, after looking up confirmed that she had indeed fallen, as there was a large hole in the forest trees, sunlight shining through it, almost blinding her. Slowly she stood up, checking if any bones were broken, bouncing around a bit. The most confusing part of it was that she was completely fine, not even a slight twinge as she continued to hop around, in fact she felt better then fine, as if she was given the strength of ten ponies. She then noticed the small grouping of shadows on the ground, and while she couldn't tell why, she definitely knew they were very sad about something.

One of the shadows suddenly moved away from the group and started moving towards her. She slowly backed away at first, unsure as to his intentions.

His? She had somehow assigned a gender to this shadow, even though she didn't even know who he was.

Who he was? He was just a shadow. She thought still backing away. How was she supposed to escape this thing, and why was it approaching her. She quickly turned prepared to sprint into the forest, before freezing as a cold voice tinged with sadness spoke.

"Wait."

She didn't know how he had said it, but the shadow behind her had spoken. She gulped as she turned around, to face the shadow which had now stopped and was facing her.

"You have been chosen." He said, the other shadows behind him snapping out of their stupors, and lining up beside him.

"What?" she asked incredulous, as to the fact that she was speaking with shadows.

The shadows answer was not what she had expected, as they soon began to chant, their voices getting louder and louder until she had to cover her ears with her hooves at the noise. She felt her consciousness slipping away once again, as her eyelids closed she could spot more and more shadows appearing out of the woods, also chanting. Her knees buckled, not having the strength to support her, she opened her mouth to let out a scream, but all that came out was a dry cough. She looked in horror at what she had coughed up, a splotch of black gunk, which was now moving around the floor, squirming in every direction.

"What did you do." She managed to get out before losing all consciousness, collapsing on the floor, breathing raggedly.

"Was that really necessary? Tipix asked Mylix, looking with a worried look on her face at the once again unconscious filly.

"She never would have accepted, you know it." Mylix replied, trying to keep from looking worried as well.

Was it too much? He silently thought to himself.

Still looking at the pony, he announced, "The Bearer has been chosen, and the Element accepts. All who do not wish this to be The Bearer, transform into a griffon." Of course they weren't actually going to be a griffon, more like the shadow of a griffon that has been given form. "And all those who wish this to be The Bearer, transform into a pony." He watched anxiously, as the shadows transformed into their selected forms. Many had turned into a pony, yet there was still a few who were griffons. After counting the creatures present, he relaxed immensely as the majority showed ponies. Making himself serious, he announced the result, "It has been decided that this filly shall be the The Bearer, may she lead the Darkness back to life." This was immediately echoed by the surrounding shadows.

"And so the Transformation shall begin." At these words the shadows leapt onto, and then into the pony, who was now absorbing them. Of course not every shadow was liked that a pony was their Bearer, after all the ponies were the reason they were in need of a Bearer once again. The ponies had been hunting their Bearers, until their had been no other suitable candidate. He understood that most ponies are afraid of the dark, but hunting it down, as if it was some sort of game, was completely baffling. And it was all because of that one pony that had been obsessed with order since she had been chosen as the Bearer for the Sun.

Princess Celestia. He thought to himself with disgust, that pony had killed off most of the other races that had once dwelled within the land called Equestria, simply because they were not under her banner, and abided by their own laws. The Element of Darkness' main source of Bearers had been wiped out in the process so that they could not fight back. The shadows did not blame the Element of The Sun, they were more mad at Celestia who was obsessed with order. Hopefully her younger sister, Luna would not be so obsessed with order as Celestia. He slithered over the ground toward the pony known as Purple Fire to also be absorbed.

He marveled at all the hate that the young filly had inside her. Most ponies only had a small amount of hate built up, but this one was full of hate, so full that there was almost no love stored in her. He observed her reactions as more and more shadows entered her body. Not even a flinch, where most ponies would have been screaming and trying to run away, sometimes even resorting to bashing their head against a nearby object.

Purple Fire's eyes shot open, and she looked around without moving to see if the shadows were still their. The chanting had stopped, and the shadows were gone, leaving her to stare at the dark forest, sunlight still streaming down from the hole she had created on her way down. Slowly she stood up and silently stared at the hole. How did I survive that? Was it to do with those shadows? God my head... She rubbed a hoof against her temple, trying to massage the massive headache away. Looking up at the hole once again she wished she could just fly up through it and get back to Ponyville as that would be so much easier. She turned to walk back through the forest to attempt to find her way back only to find nothing but air and a forest top in her vision. She squealed and backed away, flapping her wings.

My wings? She thought in confusion. Gulping she looked back to find two wings made entirely out of shadow protruding from her back. Screaming she flew forward as if trying to escape her brand new wings. Flying up to a cloud she landed on it to find that, like a pegasus, she could walk on clouds, looking around in confusion, looking for something to tell her that this was a dream. A dark figure suddenly appeared before her, causing her to jump back in terror screaming.

"It's okay." The dark figure reassured her, taking a step forward.

Still backing away she stopped screaming, "What happened to me? What are you? Did you do this?" Anger filtering into her voice at this last question. She now glared at the figure, which she deduced to be a pony, without wings or horn, so probably an earth pony. Confused once again she looked down at the ground then back at the earth pony. Why is there an earth pony on a cloud? Gulping she once again scanned the pony for any wings or maybe even a horn. After her third scan she realized something. This wasn't a pony..

The dark figure chuckled slightly, "You are quick indeed." He said humor and amazement mixed into his voice. Somehow he had read her thoughts and was doing it at will.

"What are you?" She asked taking a combat stance, or at least what she thought was one.

"You are The Bearer of the Element of Darkness, and I am a shadow." He said somehow answering all of her questions at once. "You want revenge do you not?" He asked before she could reply. She thought for a moment, contemplating what he had just said. She did want to get revenge on Prancer for killing her. A dark smile crept its way onto her face as she imagined the ways she would make him pay.

"I'm listening." She answered, still imagining how he would scream.

Prancer shoved the young filly into the wall, growling, causing him to begin to shake with fear.. "I want my bits." Prancer growled, holding up a hoof, threatening to punch him. "You have been given plenty of time to gather up them up, and now that time is up." He spat, bringing his hoof down on the colts face sending several teeth flying. Turning to the two pegasi beside him he ordered, "Give him the Everfree treatment." A terrified expression came on their faces before being wiped away at Prancers look at them. Nodding solemnly, they grabbed the young earth pony by his forelegs and flapped their wings until they were so high above that Prancer could barely see them. Smiling darkly, he turned to the street walking towards it, only to be stopped by a solid wall in his path. Shocked he turned around, thinking he had somehow done a full three-sixty. He then came face to face with the darkened, shrouded form of Purple Fire.

What the hell? He thought with shock, slowly backing away.

"Hello Prancer." Purple said, stepping forward, "Long time, no see." A dark smile was creeping up on her face. She continued to step forward for every step Prancer took back, the darkness surrounding her intensifying. Prancer turned and sprinted away only to collide with the wall that had appeared, sending him on a direct path with the ground, causing him to groan with pain as he held his muzzle in his hooves. A tendril of darkness wrapped around his hind legs tightening, bringing Prancers attention to them, his eyes widening in horror as his legs snapped bending in unusual ways, bones sticking through his fragile skin, blood pouring everywhere. Prancer screamed in pain at this, closing his eyes not wanting to look at them anymore, the shadow now reforming his legs, not in the gentle way they had done with Purple Fire, but in a rough way that caused Prancer to only scream more.

Purple was now giggling with delight, although how somepony could enjoy this, Prancer could only guess. He reached his fore hooves in front of him pulling himself forward in a last ditch attempt to escape. He stopped dead as the shadows wrapped around his legs, pinning him to the ground. He struggled uselessly against them, trying to pull away, freezing at the touch of a hoof at his back. Slowly he turned his head as far as it would go to look at the darkened form of Purple Fire. She smiled as she pressed harder, and harder on his back, until a sickening snap came from it, inciting a scream in from his mouth once again. He felt the chill of a shadow spreading across his back before roughly snapping it back into place, giving Purple Fire another reason to press down again. This went on for a while, with much begging of it to stop, the shadows getting in on the act snapping all possible bones, then rebuilding them again.

"Please stop." Prancer begged tears running down his face, which was now distorted with scars, from the broken, and repaired bones in his face. He couldn't move or struggle as the shadows surrounding him pinned him.

"Why." Purple giggled, clearly enjoying this, "Why should I spare you the pain." She pressed harder on his spine, breaking it once again. But this time she didn't rebuild it, and instead looked up at the no midnight blue sky. Sighing she said, "Well this has been fun but I think it is time for us to stop, after all I have a bunch of people I want revenge on, and I don't feel like wasting time on this bastard."

Who is she talking to? He silently thought to himself, before realizing that she intended to let him die. Sighing with relief, he didn't for a moment doubt that she would make it quick and merciful, and knew that it would be more painful than all those hours combined. Bracing himself, he was surprised when a quick slit to his throat was applied, causing him to bleed out slowly. He silently thanked her as he drifted off into the dark blackness that was death.

Sombra reached the bottom of the stairs, cutting his story off. Corvix stared in disbelief contemplating what he had just heard. There were more Elements? "So you were one of the Bearer of the Element of Darkness?" Corvix asked, needing confirmation.

"He's quick."

"I know,and Sombra didn't even mention himself in that story. It's impressive."

Corvix swung around, ready to face whoever was whispering behind him. He paused in confusion at the empty stairwell he was now looking at. His gaze shifted to the walls the shadows still moving unnaturally.

"Yes I was." Sombra answered, bringing Corvix attention back to him. "Although I was arrogant, and thought that I could match both of the princess'. I didn't even consider their power, and paid the price for it.". They were now in a dark chamber, darker than the stairwell, so dark that even Corvix's natural changeling vision in the dark could barely see. He could barely make out a small table in the center of the room with a small orb on it. Sombra approached it, Corvix following, trying to see what the orb was. They soon arrived at the table, Sombra signalling for him to touch the orb with a gesture of his hoof. Corvix obliged, raising his hoof to touch the orb. It was revealed to be a smooth glass, but too smooth for natural glass, with a almost slimy feel, with how quickly his hooves passed over it when he checked to see how large it was. His red eyes shined, throwing light onto the orb, showing a large mass of shadows swirling around his hoof. He backed away slightly only to have Sombra push him forward more. A sudden shot of pain caused him to gasp instinctively pulling his hoof away from the orb, with no complaint from either the orb or Sombra.

"What happened?" Corvix questioned raising his hoof to observe it for injuries, finding no immediate wounds. His gaze then searched for Sombra only to find an empty spot where Sombra had last stood. Searching the room, he then noticed that the stairwell had disappeared as well, and he was now in a dark area, seeing nothing except his own body. Strange that, how he could see himself perfectly but everything else was very dark. An image came to his mind, of a forest, particularly the spot he had landed.

His eyes slowly opened, revealing the view of the Everfree forest he had when he was blown away, into the dense forest. Slowly he got to his hooves, searching himself for injuries. None. Curiously, he raised his head to look at the hole he had torn through the dense forest trees, to be met with blinding sunlight. Taking a couple of steps, he looked to see if anybody was around, and if there were ponies he could simply change into something small like a fruitbug, allowing him to observe without being observed. Finding nothing but himself he moved through the forest in the hopes of deducing where he had landed. After a while searching he spotted a small village in the distance, ponies trotting about their day, clearly oblivious to the attack that had come on Canterlot. Changing his purple pegasus form, dubbed Void Runner, he approached the village looking confused and upset. His plan worked as a mare approached him, a worried look on her face, as she searched for any sign of the colts parents.

"Are you all right? You look troubled." She asked, kneeling down to eye level, still searching for his parents. Her gaze came down upon his face causing her to gasp. "What in Celestia's name..." She said, slowly backing away as if she now stood face to face with a lion. Confused, Corvix looked in a nearby puddle, curious as to what had caused the pony to fear him so suddenly. He found nothing unusual about his appearance other than his blood red eyes. Looking back up at the mare she suddenly yelled for help, catching the other villagers attention. They followed their gaze to the purple pegasus having the same reaction as they caught sight of his eyes. Half of the villagers screamed and ran back into their homes, while the other half called for the others to take up arms. Confused he looked around to see if their was something behind him. He then caught sight of his no longer feathery wings, that were instead turning black, with shadows moving of their own accord along the length of it. He gasped backing away from them, wishing that they would just disappear and he would wake up and this would be a dream.

Green fire suddenly engulfed him and his dark purple coat was replaced by a dark black chitin, his strange wings still there. Oh boy. He silently thought, cursing himself for his stupidity. His gaze slowly swiveled back to the villagers, who had now formed a small militia of pitchforks and hatchets. He slowly backed away from them, watching for any sudden movements. Their fear of him had increased tenfold when he revealed his true form. He slowly backed away from them, unsure of how long the charade of him being dangerous would hold. His backing away returned some of the villagers confidence, as they moved forward for each step he took back. They suddenly charged forward their weapons raised high. Corvix closed his eyes bracing for impact, only to be greeted by screams and shouts of retreat. He opened his eyes to find black tentacles sprouting out of his back, smacking and impaling villagers, spurting their blood everywhere. The ones who chose to stand and fight were quickly cut down, their guts spilling on the earth, causing others to slip in their doomed retreat. The tentacles then smashed their way through the windows of the houses bordering the street. Screams were heard inside before being cut off by a slicing sound, or somebody being thrown out the window, face distorted with terror,before being impaled on a tentacle. The battle was over in seconds, blood splattered on the walls of once white cottages, and even more blood tainting the brown road that ran through the village.

What just happened. Corvix thought as he ran back into the dense forest, utterly terrified by what had just happened. he looked back at his new wings, which had now returned to their regular state of a moving shadow. He would have to find a way to control that. After he had traveled far enough to leave the village far behind him, he stopped, panting for breath.

"I have the worst luck ever." He said to himself shaking his head. Looking around at his surroundings, he once again deduced that he was lost again. Sighing he picked a direction and began walking...

Fleet Shield walked at the head of the patrol, peering into the forest on either side, eyes peeled for changelings. Somepony had seen one touch down near the Everfree, and their small patrol was being sent to a village based inside it. He still couldn't understand why anypony would want to live in that unnatural place.

"I still don't understand why we have to go to this place," Iron Shield said, also looking from side to side, although Fleet thought that he was just scared something was going to snatch him up. "Surely the changeling wouldn't be able to survive in this place."

"Maybe they'll pick us off one by one," Sharpest Sword said cheekily, enjoying Iron's shudder as his looking increased tenfold.

"Leave him alone Sharp," Fleet said looking back, "You know the monsters can easily take us on without separating us." He couldn't help but giggle at Iron's squeak of terror.

Iron noticed this and his terrified expression was replaced by a sour one, as he grumbled something unintelligible under his breath.

"Relax Iron, we're almost to the village." Fleet Wing said, "It's just over this hi-" He cut off as he caught sight of the village.
Or what was left of it. He heard the others behind him gasp, and Iron vomit, but that didn't matter now. "Search for survivors!" He yelled, rushing into the village, Sharp close behind. Iron yelled at them to stop before begrudgingly following. It was a massacre, blood everywhere, the limp, mutilated forms of what he could only assume were once ponies. Iron vomited more, as he joined them, cursing for every body he caught sight of.

"How many lived in this village?" He asked Sharp, his voice quiet as he mentally counted the bodies.

"About thirty-two sir." Sharp answered, as she looked at the briefing they had been given. "How much you found?" She asked back, her voice just as quiet, which was very rare, as she was one of the loudest ponies Fleet had ever met.

"Thirty-one so far." He answered, gulping and shaking his head at what they had just found. What could have caused such damages, and not lost anypony.

"Boss! Somepony's still alive over here!" Iron shouted from a small alleyway, urgency in his voice. They both quickly rushed over to the alley, to find a unicorn mare being cradled in Irons legs as he tended to the multitude of stab wounds and slices over her body. It was amazing how she had survived, as there was a lot of blood surrounding her, caking on her light blue coat. A black tentacle lay beside her twitching, as if trying to get back to somewhere.

The mare coughed, "Well took you long enough." She said with a slight chuckle before being cut off with a groan. "And I was just about to move out of this place."

Iron shared a worried look with Fleet and Sharp before turning back to the mare, "You're going to be okay." He reassured the unicorn, "What happened here?"

The unicorn coughed, blood coming out, before saying, "I...I...I don't know." She said much to the surprise of the surrounding guards, "It was...A creature we had never seen before. at first it was a pegasus, but instead of the feathery wings of a pegasus it had...Some sort of dark shadow as wings, then it turned into a bug like creature. We didn't know what it was so we attacked." She winced as Iron began to patch up her wounds. "Then these things," She continued, gesturing to the black tentacle beside her, which still wiggled. "Sprouted out of its back and began to fight back." Her face scrunched up at the memory of it, which Fleet could only assume was as equally horrifying. "We didn't stand a chance against it, it ended in seconds. I managed to cut this one off and hide in this alley. Considering you came here unharmed, I'm gonna say it's gone now."

Fleet Wings eyes widened, "Sharp!" He suddenly yelled causing Sharp to jump, Fleet turned to face Sharp, fear and urgency on his face,"Head to Canterlot, and summon a full regiment, and inform Princess Celestia of what we have discovered, tell her that it is a code Element. Do not tell anypony of what was found here, except for the regiment. And make sure they don't tell any other pony of what is here. Do you understand!" He finished with a yell.

Sharp saluted, confusion in her face, "Yes sir!" She yelled before flying as fast as she could toward Canterlot.

Princess Celestia listened to the guard before her concern making its way onto her face with every word out of the guards mouth. At the word of code Element her eyes widened, and she immediately stepped towards the guard and touched her horn on the pegasus' head, causing her eyes to flash a brilliant yellow, before returning to their normal state. Te\he guard blinked in confusion before noticing that she was standing in front of the Princess of The Sun. She immediately dropped into a low bow, muttering greetings and apologies for being so close. Celestia walked over to her throne and pressed a small button on its side, sending out a small wave summoning all loyal guards, that would do anything for their Princess. Even kill other ponies.

Soon a group large enough to call a regiment was formed in the royal hall. "There is a small village east of here in the Everfree." She waited a moment for the word Everfree to sink in, the guards not even flinching. Satisfied Celestia continued, "I am also given to understand that there are still survivors of an attack on this village. Kill them as well, we cannot allow them to spread dissent and chaos of this attack." Looking over each of her guards to see if anypony was having second thoughts came up with a determined look on each ponies face. She smiled slightly. She had chosen well. "Your orders have been assigned, I will join you shortly after. Contain anything dark, or black, even if it is just a coat. Understood." She said.

A sharp salute came from all the ponies, their hooves raised in the air. In perfect sync they turned and marched out of the hall, and as soon as there was no roof above them they took flight in formation toward the village. Ponies on the ground pointed up in awe at the flight of guards above them, their armor glinting in the sunlight, unaware what their real job was...

Iron Shield saw a glinting in the distance, possibly that of royal armor. "Captain! Over there! Looks like Royal Guards!" He yelled at Fleet Wing who was inspecting a nearby body, Iron pointed at the glint catching Fleet's attention. Fleet Wings eyes widened and then saddened, but why he was sad Iron could not tell. "Are you okay captain?" Iron asked, concerned for his well being.

Fleet then turned to Iron looking on the verge of tears before saying, "I serve the princess." Fleet Wing hefted his spear into its small holster and charged at Iron. Iron quickly dodged out of the way, readying his own spear.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled at Fleet who simply charged again. Iron made to dodge but could not as the pegasus as Fleet's spear dug into his armor, piercing it with the force of the blow. Iron let out a groan of pain as Fleet ripped the spear from him blood dripping of it. Iron held a hoof to the spot where Fleet's spear had penetrated, retreating backwards. Fleet charged him again, being stopped by a hatchet that was swung into his neck. Fleet gurgled and fell over his head almost separated from his neck, only being held together by the small amount of flesh that remained. Iron continued his retreat before collapsing from blood loss. His last view being that of the unicorn trying to drag him away before being cut down by more guards.

At least one traitor's dead. Why did this happen? Why Fleet? He thought, before trailing into the icy void that was death.

Corvix watched as the Royal Guards fought before the victor was killed by that unicorn, before both of them were killed by the Celestial Guard, a special unit that protects Princess Celestia. It appeared that they did more then just protect her. He stood from his perch on the cliff and switched to the purple pegasus, willing the shadow wings to hide. He was surprised when they obliged. It appeared that he was getting better at shifting his form. Taking one last look at the village, he took flight towards his new life...