Chapters prologue: figure in the shadows
Prologue
This story is fan written. Any Similarities with Season 3 is coincidental. All rights belong to Hasbro.
After 1,000 years of isolation, Luna’s eyes were finally opened to the world under her own will. She awoke on the stone floor of a destroyed hall. Looking around, she noticed she was surrounded by shards of armour. Her armour. With a start she glanced at herself, wondering if what had destroyed the armour had harmed her in any way.
It hadn't. Instead, the magic of harmony had changed her. Luna looked at herself, fascinated. Her slender blue legs had shrunken in size. Her mane was no longer flowing like the waves, but instead fell as normal hair. Her body was petite compared to what she was use to for the last millennium. With a jolt, Luna realized it. Her body had reverted to the form she was before… the change.
“Princess Luna”, a soft, gentle voice suddenly spoke, interrupting her thoughts. Luna was shocked when she realized who it was that had said those words. She shot her head to the right and saw a large white alicorn walking towards her, her pink, blue and green mane flowing like grass in the wind. It was Princess Celestia, Luna’s older sister.
“It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this” Celestia said, kneeling down next to her little sister, “Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together little sister”.
“Sister?”
Luna heard 6 young ponies shout out in unison behind the elder princess. Luna looked at them and noticed one detail similar to all of the ponies. 5 of them were wearing golden necklaces, and each one had a unique jewel in the center. The final pony, a purple unicorn, had a golden tiara, topped with a purple star on the top.
‘The Elements of Harmony?’ Luna thought to herself, ‘So that is how they freed me. It seems Celestia and I can no longer control them.’
Celestia suddenly stood up, “will you accept my friendship?”, she asked her younger sister.
Luna was shocked by that. Friendship? How can she forgive me? How can she ask to be together after everything I did to this world? The emotions of loneliness and pain began to creep into her heart, bringing back the memories of being stuck on the moon, with nothing. No company, nopony to comfort her, except for… the voice.
That voice; it tormented her mind for as long as she could remember. It was stuck within the back of her mind, constantly taunting her, insulting her for being weak, and forcing her to commit horrible crimes against many ponies that she had loved. Laughing at her pain. No matter how hard she had tried, she could not stop that voice, or that terrible manic laughter. Until now.
It was the first time in Luna’s memory that her mind only had her own thoughts. It felt amazing to finally be free, to know that she would not go back to the darkness. Luna’s eyes began to pour tears. Emotions she had harbored for all these years began to spill.
“I’m so sorry! I’ve missed you big sister!” Luna yelled out, jumping up and running to her sister’s front. She laid her tear covered face over her sister’s neck, who in turn laid her head over Luna’s back.
“I’ve missed you too!”, cried Celestia, her eyes now glistening. She had suffered too over the last millennium.
After a few minutes, the two reunited princesses and their loyal subjects left the ruins together, heading through the Everfree forest back to the local village, Ponyville.
Back in desolated castle, the silence broke. Within the main courtroom ,where the battle had taken place, the sounds of rattling armor began echoing through the halls. The broken shards and plates began compiling into the center of the room. Suddenly, the pieces began to dissolve into a shaking and bubbling black mass. It began to levitate in the air when, all of a sudden, it started to shift.
Four tentacles began snaking their way to the ground from the center of the amorphous blob. As soon as they touched the stone below, they immediately began to take shape. It hardened into long, powerful legs which ended with strong, chipped hooves. At the back, another tentacle, thinner than the others, creeped out and slithered through the air. As it whipped, it began to take the shape of a long, blue tail, with blue hair at the end which gave the appearance of the tail of a lion.
A thick lump began to protrude from the front of the mass, which had now begun to take shape of a very thick stallion torso covered in midnight blue fur. As the blob in the front grew, it began forming the shape of a long, muscular neck. Then it topped off with a long, narrow head, a slender muzzle, and black nose. In the center of the forehead, a horn grew. This horn was unlike of a Unicorn. It was long, groove-less, and slightly curved toward the creature’s flank.
The eyes of the animal snapped open, revealing the eyes of a monster. They were solid silver; no iris, no pupil, nothing.
The figure glanced around the room, seeing the wreckage not only from the previous night’s conflict, but from the thousand years of rot and decay. It laughed. The laughter was unnatural. It was like a gross parody of a foals laughter, tinged with madness.
“So, this is finally the time ‘I’ve been waiting for” the figure observed in a serpent like tone, “it took little longer than I expected, but no matter. I guess I will just have to make up for it.” Then he turned his attention to his back, where he noticed he was missing something.
“Hmm?” he questioned, probing his sides with magic. “It seems as if my power hasn’t completely returned yet. Oh, well I’ll just have to occupy myself while I wait for my wings to grow back.”
The wingless Alicorn walked across the room to the destroyed windows overlooking the forest. A lot had changed since the last time he was in Equestria. It seemed as if the land had recovered to the point in which it had no history of what it was in the past beside the old castle. He was disappointed to see that most of his past ‘art’ was seemingly forgotten to the world.
A devilish grin came to his mouth as he chuckled “I will have to make them remember who I am. And once I’m finished, no pony will ever forget!” His chuckles broke out into laughter. “Ever!”
Turning away, he began to walk down the hall towards the exit. Twin, forty-foot doors blocked the way he desired. With a smile, his curved horn began to glow with a smoke gray aura around it. The multi-ton doors were ripped from the stone like flowers from wet ground.
As sunlight streamed down onto him he shouted his challenge to the world. Not caring whether anypony heard.
“Soon Princesses, I will have Equestria! And this time, no parents, masters, or bloody dragons will be able to help you!”
Chapter 1: A Jump to the Present
Screams came from all directions as ponies fled from Luna. She did not know why this was happening. The once-peaceful village was an inferno, somehow it had been set on fire. ‘How did I get here?’ Luna thought to herself, before using her magic to stop a young unicorn from sprinting away,
“Sir, what is happening? What’s wrong with-?”
The unicorn dropped to the ground, quivering like a beaten animal, “p-p-please don’t hurt me! I-I’ll do anything you want! Please” The near-foal whimpered.
“What? But I-”
“D-don’t hurt me. Please, Nightmare no. Don’t!” Terror was written all over his face,
That name made Luna’s heart skip several beats. Now, she was panicked. Luna had no idea what was going on. She she turned and backed up, stepping in a puddle. Luna looked down and gasped. Instead of her own, darkish blue reflection there was a coal-black horse with green, dragon like eyes staring right at her.
“No,” She screamed, seeing the reflection mirror whatever she did. “It can’t be!"
"It is." a sinister voice was heard in the back of her head.
Luna froze as she recognized it as her tormentor. "You are gone! I got rid of you!"
"You will never be free of me. You can strip my force from you, but I will always be a part of you. We are not as different as you might think. Deep down, you know you are just as corrupt and evil as I am."
"No..."
"You will always have me within you, no matter what you do. I will live forevor."
No... NO!!!!!”
Princess Luna shot up from her sleep as she came from the nightmare. She shook her head, trying to clear those thoughts from her mind. Her body was dripping with sweat. Her nerves finally began to calm down after a few moments. She then glanced over to her clock.
“6:58 PM, huh? Perfect, two minutes before its time.” Luna mumbles to herself. She tries to roll over, but her mind kept racing, preparing her for what was coming within the next 100 seconds. Glancing outside, she notices the sun being lowered behind the mountains. “Damn it!”
Rolling back over, she taps the button on the top of her clock, shutting off the timer. Climbing out of bed, she stretched her ankles as she walks to the bathroom, but when she walks past her closet mirror, she couldn't help but stop and look at what she has become.
Luna had grown into quite the Mare; her height was near equal to Celestia, down by only a few inches. Her whole body had grown in size, becoming longer and taller, yet still keeping a sleek, shapely curve to her frame. Her hair had grown darker, becoming a deep royal blue. But perhaps the biggest difference was her mane and wings.
Luna’s mane had slowly started to flow over the years from her energy, but now it reached its true beauty. The mane was a midnight blue, and thousands of stars spotted throughout, shining brighter than the clearest nights. It was now as long as Celestia’s long mane.
And her wings had grown considerably in width and length. They were much too large to fold by her sides, and now had to carry them up and over her back. This didn’t bother her, since it felt natural for wings this size to not fold.
Luna’s change in appearance so suddenly was due to the thousand years as Nightmare Moon. Since Luna was young when she was corrupted, her body was still undeveloped. And after she was freed from that evil control, her body reverted back to the form it naturally had.
Since Luna was an alicorn, though, her age had not changed, and the magic within her began to naturally change her body at a much faster rate, allowing her to catch up to what she would normally look like.
She turned around, so that her flank was facing the mirror. She then began to flip her hair so that it flowed as she turned back towards the mirror, giving herself a lustful glance. Standing on her hind legs, she put her fore hooves on her hips, and giving a little swing as she took a few steps.
Luna was so indulged with eying herself, it took the knock on her door to break her concentration, “princess, is everything all right?” asked a concerned voice of a servant.
Luna immediately snapped back to reality, “OH, y-yes. I’m just getting up.”
“Oh. We were all wondering why you haven’t moved the moon.”
“I’m fine I ju- THE MOON!” Luna screamed. She ran out to her balcony and looked out to the growing darkness. She was so caught up with herself that she did not realize the sun had completely set. “I forgot to raise the moon!”
Her long, blue horn begins to glow, when suddenly the large, glowing white mass rises up from below the horizon, casting a glow as it climbs. Luna focused intently, positioning the moon in its spot.
Relieved that was over, she turns back to her room to get cleaned.
“Caught admiring yourself, sister?” someone whispered.
Luna was startled by the sudden voice from her balcony. She flips around, then calms when she sees her older sister floating outside the window, giggling to herself.
Turning a bright red, she says, “what!? No no no! I-I just”, suddenly, she frowns at Celestia, “what were you doing spying on me anyway?”
“Ha-ha, I wasn’t spying; I had noticed that you had not begun to raise the moon, so I came down to check if you were ok. As I was flying down, I just happened to notice you through the window, looking at yourself in the mirror”
Luna became flushed with embarrassment again, tapping her hoof on the ground.
“Oh sister, you shouldn’t be ashamed.” Celestia said as she came in through the balcony, “you have grown into a beautiful mare.” She draped one of her wings over her younger sister. Celestia always knew how to make a pony feel better about themselves. I was the same when I had realized changes about myself.”
“Really? You?” Luna asked surprisingly, “I never figured you to be the… flaunting type.”
“Ha-ha! Well, I wasn’t, but as you grow you do like to enjoy what you are given.”
Luna smiled, but suddenly remembered the dream she had, the horror of the ponies that ran from her. Celestia noticed she was upset about something, and tried to give her comfort.
“Mother and father would have been proud.” She then lifts Luna’s head to look in her eyes, “he would be proud too-”
Luna’s Eyes shot open at that last statement, “Don’t, sister!”, Luna snapped. Pushing Celestia’s wing off, she runs over to the bathroom and slams the door behind her, leaving a shocked sister in the room.
Celestia realized that Luna was still suffering from the nightmare Moon incident. ‘Who wouldn’t be’ Celestia thought to herself. Luna was forced to commit crimes against what she wanted, and had to watch as this was happening.
Celestia then thought of her master, and what happened that night a thousand years ago. “She still blames herself” Celestia whispered under her breath. Walking over to the balcony, she takes flight, but not before she hears the sniffles coming from the bathroom.
Inside, Luna stares at herself in the mirror, when powerful memories return to her, visions of attacking the many ponies she loved. She envisions of when her sister was lying on the ground, beaten and covered in blood, begging for her life, when a powerful figure comes to protect her. It is the eyes of that pony looking up at her that bothers her most now. She still remembers those eyes so vividly, filled with hurt and sadness to what had to be done.
Luna couldn’t control it anymore. She falls to the ground, curling into a tight ball on the floor, and letting the tears pour from her eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispers between her sobs, “I’m so sorry, master!”
Chapter 2: Some things change
The light of morning crept into the bedroom of the town library, causing the room to glow from several beams reflecting off multiple trinkets in the room. The sudden change in light caused a certain purple unicorn to stir from her sleep.
Twilight sparkle was tired from the dinner last night with her friend. She tried to roll over, but ended up falling off the side of her bed, landing with a large thud.
“Oww!” she yelled, rubbing the large welt that was caused by her head hitting the nightstand as she fell. After a few moments, the pain subsided, and Twilight walked over to the mirror to brush her hair.
In six years, Twilight had changed since she had moved to Ponyville. Her body had grown a few inches taller, and had slimmed down as well. Her mane had been cut to about half the length it was before, only reaching just past the base of her head. Her horn also had almost doubled in length.
A sudden crash from downstairs broke her concentration. She galloped out of her room, down the steps, and into the kitchen. Her eyes focused to the centre of the floor, where an enormous pile of pots, pans, and rags had been seemingly dumped into a big, jumbled and dirty mess.
Twilight gasped at the mess skewed across the floor, “what in the..? What is this? Spike!”, she shouted out, looking for her assistant.
The pile began to shake. A long purple dragon head came up through the center, followed by a long, slender body and tail. He was covered head to claw in grease and baking powder. He tried to brush himself off, giving a cheeky smile to Twilight.
Spike had grown to be a foot taller than Twilight, and although he had arms and legs, his body had become longer, almost snakelike. His snout had also become more narrow. The spines on his head and back had become more defined. He still did not, and would never, have wings as Twilight had discovered that he was a form of water dragon.
“He he, uh, sorry about that.” He said, his deep voice contrasting his childish grin.
Twilight walked over to her dragon friend, “Spike, what are you doing? Why are you throwing all the dishes on the floor?”
“I wasn’t, Twilight. Jeez. I was just trying to carry the dishes outside to clean them off. And with this many dishes, it’s a lot faster with the hose.”
Twilight was shocked by the enormous amount of dishes and plates in the pile. “What are all of these from? Applejack and Applebloom were the only other ones here last night.”
“Well, after you went to sleep, us three stayed up, then Big Mac came over to walk them home, and… well, he got hungry.”
Twilight’s stomach suddenly growled. Her ears folded back out of frustration, knowing what happens when Applejack’s big brother shows up. She looks up and plainly asks “what’s left in the fridge?”
Spike walked over to the fridge, and glanced inside, “well, we still have milk, one egg, and some leftover hay fries from last night if you want.”
“uh… hay fries this early do not agree with me, spike.”
“Well, after I do the dishes, I’ll run to the market and grab some stuff.”
“Oh, thanks Spike. That would be great”
“No problem!” Spike then reached his long tail down around the base of the dishes, wrapped his arms around the center and hoisted it up. He then waddled outside towards the garden hose on the side.
Twilight’s stomach began to growl, signaling her to get some food. “hmm, well I guess a bowl of cereal isn’t that bad.” She walked over to the pantry and opened the top shelf Only to find that her box of Cereal had been half eaten. Literally. Also, It was devoid of any cereal.
Twilight ground her teeth together, and, with a loud voice, growled, “I really do hate your brother, Applejack!”
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Ponyville’s streets were bustling with activity this morning. Today was the start of the Ponyville street fair, a monthly tradition where nearly all the town shops came out on the first Sunday of the month, setting up carts to sell their items at a discount price to both travelers and locals alike.
Market carts were scattered everywhere, with lines of customers waiting to try samples of all the foods available, to see all of the different items of clothes, jewelry, and maybe to buy something.
Spike was walking through the market with his large satchel. He had already collected most of the vegetables that had to be replaced, but now needed apples. He walked past a few spice carts until he found the one he was looking for.
“Howdy, Spike! Good to see ya this mornin’!”, a friendly southern accent spoke. Applejack stood behind the baskets of apples smiling at her friend. She too had changed over the six years, she was a few inches taller, always wore her cowpony hat and had decided to her braid her mane and tail.
“Hey Applejack. Sleep well?”
“Darn tootin’! That was a mighty fine meal ya’ll made us last night, spike!”
“Glad you liked it. I just need to restock our food now.”
“Oh, right,” Applejack suddenly frowned, remembering her brother’s arrival, “Hey, sorry ‘bout Big Mac, he tends to go overboard when eatin’ at someone’s place.” Applejack put a hoof to her muzzle. “Or anyplace for that matter...”
Spike chuckled at Aj’s remark, “don’t worry about it. It’s ok.”
“ Still, ah wanna make it up to ya.” She reached down and pulled out a small basket of apples. “Here. Ya can have this for half price.”
Wow, thank you Aj. That’s generous of you.”
“Oh Spike, ah ain’t as generous as Rarity was after Pinkie’s Party last week.” She gave Spike a sultry look and a little wink.
Spike lifted up a hand to cover his face, which was now a brighter red than the apples in his basket. He thought back to that Monday night at Sugar Cube corner. Pinkie Pie had thrown a party celebrating the 13th birthday of Sweetie Belle. Rarity and Spike had a few drinks, and after hours of constantly giving each other looks, they decided to both sneak out the back towards Rarity’s boutique.
“Y-you knew about that!?”
Applejack laughed at the dragon’s sudden change of nerves, “Oh come on, everypony could see what was goin’ to happen. Ah mean; Rarity and ya’ll dancin’ together, the looks, and finally, sneaking out the back. It was obvious. Hell, even if we had any doubts, dat next mornin’ the two of ya had a grin bigger than a rattlesnake in a pickle barrel.”
“Well I- wait, what?” Spike caught himself thinking of Aj’s last statement.
“Oh, never mind,” she said, realizing he didn’t understand her joke. “Just head on over to the right and ya’ will find yer lover.” Once again smirking and the young dragon.
Spike turned his head and saw… her. Just 6 stalls down the street. Purple mane and tail perfectly shaped, exactly the same from the first day he saw her, which he loved. Her body had become taller by about 6 inches, and now had even more curves than when she was younger. Her horn had grown in length as well, which added to her already momentous beauty.
Rarity was selling a dress to a customer when her head turned left, and her eyes met spike. She immediately flushed with excitement, her white cheeks turning pink.
Spike was caught in a trance until his good friend Bon-Bon came over and slapped him on the rear. He jumped up out of surprise from that, then looked over the to the pink and purple mane pony next to him.
“Hey, lover boy, why aren’t you over talking to your dream?” She laughs and his rush of embarrassment again.
“Oh, well I, uhh-”
“Ah just shut up and get over there,” Bon-Bon interrupted, giving him a shove toward Rarity’s direction, “you know you want to.”
Spike then started to think back to the week before. After that night, he and Rarity never really talked much, not knowing what to say to each other. She had known Spike has always had a crush on her, and in secret, she began to realize her feelings in return.
The two had secretly been seeing each other for the last two months, although it was kept at a close friendship level, with a friendly kiss here and there. Neither of them had expected the outcome of that night.
Building up his courage, he trotted over to her stand, and tried to act casual by leaning over the counter with his elbows on the edge. This however didn’t work, for the only words he could force out were, “Hey Rarity. How… how have you been?”
She smiled, trying to hide her rosy cheeks, “I’ve been good, spike. Thank you. I haven’t seen you around lately.”
Oh, well I’ve uh… you know, been, uh, busy at the library. Twilight has been working me crazy lately.”
“I see,” Rarity looked down to her feet, “it’s just nice when you are around.”
Well, I’ll try to come around more if you want! I’ll ask Twilight-”
“Just kiss her you fool!”
The two of them suddenly looked up to the voice from above and saw a cyan Pegasus with her multi colored mane and tail hovering ten feet off the ground. Coming to the ground, Rainbow Dash, naturally, was laughing hysterically at their embarrassment.
Rainbow Dash had not grown in height over time. Her mane was now hanging past her shoulders, and her tail nearly dragged on the ground. She also had her Wonderbolts’ goggles on her forehead. Ever since making the team three years ago, she had never taken them off.
Rarity tried to hide her blush, but Rainbow simply walked over to her and kept pushing her buttons, “Come on rarity, don’t make Spike beg for it. You want it, to! I can see it in your eyes...”
“Rainbow, please stop, you’re making a scene!” Rarity pleaded, looking around at the passing ponies.
“Ha-ha-ha. You two can’t just sit here and hide it. It’s better to just let it out. I don’t try to hide the fact that me and Soarin are together.” Rainbow tilted her head up in pride.
A shadow passed overhead, and Rainbow looked up to see that a yellow Pegasus with orange hair was circling above. She smiled up at her friend, “Hey Spitfire. What are you doing here?”
The yellow female seemed out of breath, “Rainbow, I’ve been looking everywhere for you, we have a race to get to, remember?”
“OH CRAP! Totally forgot! Gotta go guys!” Rainbow took off from the ground, leaving the dragon and unicorn couple with the crowd of ponies that had accumulated to see why two of the Wonderbolts had come to such settings.
The crowd looked to find the two pegasi, but never found them, as Rainbow and Spitfire were already halfway towards Canterlot.
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“What happened, Dash? You’ve known about this race for 2 weeks!”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just got caught up with stuff.”
“Still living with your head in the clouds, I see?”
Rainbow glared over at her flying partner, “still trying to make me feel bad?”
Spitfire nearly stopped flying at that, “Oh come on! That was two years ago! How much longer are you going to hold on that?”
As long as it keeps you in check? Forever.” Rainbow began laughing at that.
Spitfire at first glared at Rainbow, but then began laughing with her.
The two of them went through a lot over the last few years. Before Rainbow was a member, Spitfire was the most famous wonderbolt. She was the fastest member in 20 years. And also had a secret crush on another member; the blue Pegasus Soarin.
Spitfire always admired Soarin for his kind, yet sometimes immature ways. And although she tried to express her feelings, he did not feel the same way. He wanted to stay as ‘just friends’ as he put it.
Then, three years ago, Rainbow qualified to train with the Wonderbolt’s. Spitfire and Soarin knew her from the past. This was due to the fact that three years before the qualificatian Rainbow Dash had not only saved them both and Rarity from certain death, but had also managed to pull of a Sonic Rainboom in the act of doing so.
Rainbow Dash’s name was already spreading throughout Equestria. So once Rainbow joined the team, her name grew even faster. In 9 months, she had broken nearly half the records held by Spitfire. It seemed Rainbow began to overshadow the others.
Spitfire began to become jealous towards the new member, fearing that she would be overtaken. It then boiled over when Rainbow began to have feelings towards Soarin, and he returned the feelings.
With the anger finally at its peak, the Wonderbolt captain went on a personal mission to ruin the couple. But every time she had tried to cause something, like sending letters to Rainbow claiming Soarin was having an affair, or vice versa with Soarin, they would come together and work it out.
Spitfire finally had set up her friend to meet with Soarin, and would wait until as soon as Rainbow showed up, to make her move on him. Sitting behind a tree, she watched as her friend talked with Soarin, then Rainbow walked into the courtyard.
Seeing her chance, Spitfire’s friend wrapped her hooves behind Soarin’s neck, pulling him close. She locked her lips on his and continued to kiss, even as he tried to pull away. Once he did though, the damage was already done. Rainbow saw the kiss, but didn’t even walk over to her colt friend. She took off as fast as she could. Soarin felt too guilty to follow her.
Spitfire went to Rainbow’s house an hour later to relish in Rainbow’s hate towards Soarin. When she arrived, though, it was a different scene. Rainbow was on her couch, crying her eyes out over a picture of Soarin. Instead of pride, Spitfire felt guilt, walking over to Rainbow to comfort her.
As they talked, Spitfire realized that Soarin and Rainbow didn’t just have a little thing going on with each other; the two truly did care about one another. They had fallen in love.
With her guilt now pouring over, Spitfire broke down and explained everything that had happened to Rainbow.
After all that she told her, Spitfire was surprised that all she got was a broken nose and the silent treatment for a week. Soon Soarin and Rainbow Dash came to forgive her, but always enjoyed teasing her by exaggerating their make out sessions in front of her.
Although it took time, Spitfire’s anger began to subside, seeing Rainbow’s skill was from her drive to reach her dreams, and after time began to admire her. The two had become best friends since then.
Sweet apple acres was quiet as it normally was. The only movement came from 3 teenage ponies walking out from the house. Applebloom walked out first, followed by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. The three didn’t look so little anymore.
Applebloom looked like a shorter clone of applejack, making her hair the same as her sister, except she topped her head off with a red hat. Her cutie mark was a crossed hammer and paint brush. She had earned this by discovering she had almost supernatural talents in both building and painting. For some reason though, her work was always better when she used a brush of applewood, or when she built with the timber of an apple tree. Everypony still was trying to figure that one out.
Sweetie Belle had grown to be like Rarity despite her younger years of resenting fashion. She always made sure she had her makeup done in the morning and her mane styled, but still didn’t mind getting dirty, unlike her sister. Her cutie mark was a microphone, discovering her true talent by entering a talent show. Her singing skills earned her first place.
Scootaloo had grown to be the tallest of the three, being nearly as tall as rainbow dash. Her hair she had let grow in the same style rainbow had years ago. She had a blue patch and a sun as her cutie mark. She earned it when she was able to clear the skies of a storm over ponyville in under 2 minutes, faster than any pony in town.
“So, ya’ll wanna go by the lake and take a dip?” Applebloom asked her friends.
Sweetie Belle was the first to answer, “Sorry Applebloom. I had promised Rarity that I would help her with the stall in town.”
Scootaloo laughed at the answer, “I can’t believe you sweetie belle. You used to hate fashion all that stuff. Now you can’t keep yourself away from it.”
“Well, I believe I have found another calling besides being messy all the time.”
“Yeah, I can see by your little frou-frou mane and those sparkles…”
Applebloom had to interrupt her friends, “come on, ya’ll. No reason for this fightin’.”
“Fine.”, both of them said at the same time.
Scootaloo looked over to Applebloom, “I had also promised Fluttershy I would help her over at her place”.
“Well, ah gotta find big Mac anyway. We had to finish picking apples for the market. Ah guess ah’ll see ya girls later.”
After her two friends left, Applebloom walked past the front porch and noticed the empty rocking chair sitting there. She could still picture old Granny Smith still sitting there.
It has been hard for the last 4 years with her passing. Applejack had taken it the hardest out of the three. It took her over a week to come out of the house and get back to work.
Applebloom was hurt by the loss too, but after time she had come to learn that life goes on. She looks up to the sky and smiles, knowing that her grandma is in a better place.
Coming back to her senses, she begins looking for her brother. After looking around for a few minutes, she doesn’t have any idea where he is.
“Come ta’ think of it, ah haven’t seen him at all, today.” She says to herself.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Applebloom’s attention is turned towards the strange sound.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
“What in ponyville is that?” she has no idea what that is, but knows that it is coming from the barn.
Coming up to the door, she notices that the noises are still coming from inside, and it seemed like there was whispers inside. Grabbing the handle, she pulls open the door, “Big Mac, what in tar- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
The two shapes under the sheet started thrashing all of a sudden from the scream. From under the cover comes Macintosh, shocked to see his little sister standing there. “Applebloom, this… this ain’t what it looks like!”
“BUT IT LOOKS LIKE-”
A light purple earth pony came up from under the sheets as well. When this pony saw Applebloom sitting there looking straight at her, both of their hearts stopped.
“CHEERILEE?! WHAT THE HAY?”
Cheerilee didn’t know what to say, “Uh, Applebloom… look, this is-”
Before Applebloom could scream, Big Macintosh quickly said
“A massage”
“But- but”
“It’s deep tissue. Don’t tell AJ I’m doing this. She uh, she gets jealous.”
Applebloom just stood there with a horrified look on her face. Cheerilee decided to pipe up.
“Your brother does give good massages.”
Applebloom shuddered, before closing the door and walking off, shaking slightly.
The two ponies just sat under the sheet, filled with embarrassment. Cheerilee was the first to speak, “well, that was embarrassing.”
“Eeyup.” Big Mac hoped his little sister held out. “Ah hope she bought it.”
He carried on sitting there until he was pulled down by one of Cheerilee’s hooves. Mac turned to look at Cheerilee, who gave him a look which made his heart pound in his chest. “Massage. Seriously?”
“Eeyup.”
“You are a genius.”
“Eeyup.” Big Macintosh threw the covers back over them and went back to kissing the mare underneath him.
Chapter 3: the moving shadow
Fumes rose above the crater of mount Volvack in the east. Its immense size could be seen from miles around. The mountain itself was a symbol to all that saw it; for it was the border between the Ponies land of Equestria and the domain of the dragons, Montara.
The border was established one thousand and five years ago at the end of the Great War of Tartarus, something that many today did not know that had happened. Its secrets are kept hidden by a cloud of deceit made by the few that still knew the truth.
Montara spans thirty thousand square miles past the mountain, ending on the Great Sea. The land is inhospitable for most creatures that are not of dragon blood. A normal pony would die in a matter of minutes from the heat and toxic fumes. The only ones powerful enough are the legendary alicorns or the greatest unicorn mages, and only then because their magic shields them from the danger. Even so, no meer pony had tried to show its face in the last 500 years.
The guardian of the mountain is Volvack himself, the oldest dragon in existence. At three thousand years of age, he is triple the age of the next elder. His two-hundred foot tall golden body is littered in scars from the countless battles he has fought. His right eye had been ripped out of its socket during a battle many years ago; a battle, with a demon.
Volvack was the only dragon alive that remembers the treaty that was made with the ponies to stop the fighting. While neither did not want to quit, they knew it was the only way to end the death. Both sides had to come to an agreement when the creature started to brutally slaughter the members of both sides, and threatened the very existence of life. The dragons and the ponies had to work together to stop the entity that was created during the war before that; the War For The Heavens. This war was only known by four figures alive today, and they wanted it to stay that way.
Now, he watched over the gateway to his land, ensuring the border was protected. A spot in the distance caught his attention. It seemed that a small figure was walking towards his mountain. Chuckling to himself, he dismissed the spot as a fleck of ash, for the only other reason was a pony, and what one would be insane enough go to his domain?
Nevertheless, he alerted the Draconic guards, for you don’t get to be over three thousand years old by ignoring any threat that might come out.
____________________________
Walking slowly, a cloaked figure trots toward the great volcano. A black cape was draped over the tall Stallion’s head, hanging on the neck and the back over his body. His long blue legs cracked the ground beneath him with every step he took. Looking at the nearing mountain, he couldn’t help but grin.
It has been six years since he had returned to this world. Once returning from the moon, and freed himself from the body he was stuck with, he had discovered a slight problem with his plans. During the final battle before being banished to the moon 1000 years ago, a unicorn had absorbed half of his power and sealed it within his own soul. After he died, he took that power with him.
Although he could face Luna and Celestia and defeat them, he would have to deal with the elements of harmony at the same time. Normally he would have laughed at such an easy challenge, but with his power lower than before, he did not want to take that risk.
He had already tested the powers of the elements 5 years ago, when he released his personal spirit on Equestria, and had failed. He now knew there was one way to take full control of this world, and he would make sure he caused personal pain to the princesses. Their pain wouldn’t affect his plan, but at least it would make him feel better.
For the last five years, he had searched for personal artifacts that were taken from him when he had fought the Great King and Volvack over 1500 years ago. These items he developed were able to give him an ultimate power, which no other creature could ever obtain. He had used the effects of two of the pieces, but was never able to test the thirds power.
Traveling across the land, he had already found two of the divided pieces. He now walked to find the final piece.
Once he reached the base of the mountain, he was stopped by two dragons, each over thirty feet tall. They both wore silver platinum armor over their bodies, their back spikes coming through the openings made down the spine. The left one walked up to the strange pony and unclenched his forehands, revealing the black, curved claws twitching to kill,
“what are you doing here? This land is forbidden.”, bellowed the guard.
The cloak creature only responded with a slow chuckle. He didn’t even lift his head to the dragon.
The second dragon walked over to the stranger, “Seeing that you are still alive in this land shows that you have some magical talent,” the dragon then licked his brown lips, “I bet you taste good too.” The two dragons guffawed in unison as they closed in on the still figure.
A gray glow began to show through the hood of the cloak, its cast shot out quickly and wrapping itself around the neck of the dragon on the right. Before the guard had time to struggle, the aura pulled back, snapping the dragon’s neck like a stick.
The chuckles turned into laughter.
The dragon’s partner was shocked by the speed of the attack. He stepped back and belched out a wall of blue fire that engulfed the draped invader. He sighed inwardly when he saw the figure had no chance of escaping. Suddenly, his fire was stopped by a wall of black energy. Then, as soon as the fire was quenched, the energy was changed into the form of a club, which was then used to smash the dragon. The impact threw the dragon backwards and nearly ripped off one of his wings.
The laughter continued.
As the guard landed, splitting the rock that he landed on, he tried to crawl away from the approaching alicorn. “what- what are you?”
“Your end.” a voice whispered.
The silver eyes below the hood began to glow as they stared into the drakes own eyes. The dragon suddenly felt an immense pressure building up in his head. His claws began clutching his head as the pain grew and grew. He could feel his brain stretching against the inside of his skull. The last thing he heard before his head exploded was the cracking of his skull and the demonic laughter of his murderer.
SPLAT!
________________________________
Volvack cringed as he saw what happened to his two guards. He had heard the guard’s head exploding even from his vantage point. Anger roared in his head, blocking out all other thoughts as he ran towards the edge of his cliff. Opening his enormous wings, he jumped off his perch and fell to the ground. falling through the sky, he could hear wind whistling through the many small holes in his wings. When he did hit the ground, the impact left a crater fifty feet in diameter twenty in depth.
The alicorn now looked up to the gargantuan in front of him. Happy to see his target had come straight to him, his long, lion like tail flicked left and right to his sides. His sinister voice slipped through his lips, “Hello Volvack, how have you been keeping?”
The dragon’s eyes perked up when the alicorn called him by name. His raspy voice answered back, “You know who I am?”
“How long has it been since we met; 1500 years? He he, time has not been kind to your body I see.”
“Who are you and what are you doing in my land? Answer before I kill you!”
The alicorn flipped his head back, allowing the hood to fall down his neck. His Curved horn sat menacingly on his forehead. His eyelids slowly opened, revealing the solid silver eyes. He stepped towards the dragon, “Don’t you remember who took that eye of yours?” he asked, in the tone of an old friend asking whether he was remembered.
Volvack’s heart nearly failed when the images came back to him. He remembered that fight many years ago, when he was shot from the sky, and that blue monster walked over to him, and gored his eye out with his demonic horn. He could barely speak as he tried to step back, “it-it can’t be!” He scooted back until he hit the base of the mountain, “you’re-you’re-”
“It seems my name is still too great to be spoken by those who remember it.” The creature chuckled.
“No… you’re dead! The Great King killed you!”
“Please, dead is such a harsh term. Although, technically, I was dead.”
The dragon sat confused, “what are you talking about?”
The alicorn seemed annoyed now from all the questions, his cheery demeanor lessening. “I am not wasting my time explaining to an overgrown slug. Now, I want what belongs to me.”
Volvack heart began racing, knowing exactly what the creature wanted, “I-I don’t know what you-”
“SHUT UP!” the alicorn’s voice bellowed, “I have gone across these lands for years! I want my gem!”
Volvack tried to keep his composure, “I don’t have it. Nobody knows where it is.”
“Do you think that I am that stupid? It harbors my magic; I can sense where it is. And...” he smiled at the small scar on the dragon’s chest, “I can see it next to your heart. Extracting it will be fun.”
The panic in Volvack spiked; he reached up and placed his claws over the scar. It was where he promised to store one of the legendary weapons for safe keeping. He knew what would happen if he did not stop the monster right now.
Standing up Volvack opened his mouth and blasted a fireball that raced towards his foe. For the first time, the alicorn moved to dodge the attack. Volvack was surprised by this action. Even though his fire was much stronger than any dragon's, his opponent never tried to dodge attacks like this.
Although he was strong, the cloaked alicorn knew he couldn’t withstand a full blast from Volvack yet. Looking up, his horn began charging up for an attack.
BOOOM!
An enormous black beam shot from the horn and sped towards the dragon. Volvack jumped out of the way at the last second. He crashed onto his side, and looked at the mountain where the beam had hit. There was a large crater in place of the various boulders.
Getting up again, Volvack raised his arm and brought it down on top of the alicorn, who in turn formed a dark energy shield around himself. The alicorns’ shield strained under the weight of the giant. The alicorn winced, forgetting how powerful the dragon was when they last fought.
Volvack smiled after seeing this, "It seems that you have grown weak in your absence, while I have only grown stronger!"
“I am not the weak one. I will prove this right now. You will die a painful death, Volvack!”
“The only thing strong about you is your cliches!” The dragon replied, before glaring down at his opponent. "I am the only dragon alive today who even knows the truth of the past. I have kept those wars hidden from my kind, and I will make sure they do not know of the monster that you are, or what you did to both me and the pony race!" He brought down another arm, causing a crack to spread over the top of the shield.
Seeing his chance, Volvack raised both arms over his head, “Now die!”. He brought his arms down.
“I already have. Now it’s your turn.”
The moment before the drakes’ arms touched the shield, a gray cloud of smoke appeared as the alicorn teleported. Fearful once again, Volvack scanned around looking for his opponent. He never noticed the shadow falling directly over him.
POP!
Volvack’s eyes shot open in pain as he felt something rip through the left side of his chest. Gallons of blood began pouring onto to the ground below him. Falling with the flow was a dark shape that landed on the rocky bed with a wet splash. Standing up, the alicorn was stained crimson red, clutching a black gem within his mouth.
Volvack clutched the hole, trying to cover where his visible heart struggled to beat. His giant claws slowed the flow of blood, but he knew it was too late. He collapsed on the ground, waiting for the end. It did not come. With an effort, he looked up at the hole where his heart should be. It was covered with a dark energy, stopping the blood from running out, giving him a few extra minutes of life.
The mountain rang with laughter. The alicorn walked up to the dragons good eye, pausing only to lick the gem clean. “I will tell you one thing though. Everything you worked for, all of it, will be ripped to the ground. All the ones that you know, loved or hated, will spend their lives in eternal pain.” The alicorn held his horn over Volvack’s eyes. “But don’t worry, you won’t be able to see that, or to stop it happening. You will be dead. Goodbye, Volvack. When I kill your friends, I’ll think of you.” He brought his horn down.
Now, there were only two in his way.
The alicorn smiled as he walked back towards the land of ponies. He would enjoy killing all the dragons, but he knew that he did not have the power to fight all of the drakes yet; the time for that, was later. He slipped the jewel in the side of his robe. He had all of the items that he needed.
“Finally, my search is nearing its end.” He now had one more stop to make; the Royal Canterlot gardens to meet up with a certain creature.
Continuing to walk, he glanced back at Mount Volvack, and back forward. He then started to think to himself. “Ponies and dragons will work together again to face me.” He looked backwards as something on his left side started moving beneath the cape. From underneath the cloth rose a long wing with no feathers, but instead had long bones with thin membrane connecting the extended fingers. It was the wing of a dragon.
He smiled once again, “I guess I will have to kill both of my kind.”
Editing thanks to GildedPenn.
Chapter 4:old feelings never die
Twilight walked through Ponyville square, observing its’ many inhabitants scrambling everywhere as they set up for the night to come. Some floundering with the chairs, some with tables, while others just sat around trying to look like they were doing something.
The town was preparing for the princesses to come to them to join for dinner. When the mayor was told that Celestia and Luna were coming, she knew she had to get stuff done, and more importantly, when the stuff had to get done by and what stuff there was to be doing. It was first time in two years that both princesses were at a public meeting together, so it was even more important than most visits from royalty.
Where one the buffets was supposed to be, was a giant, sticky mess, the product of a few complications involving Derpy, a few banners and some chipmunks, of all things. The Mayor, who was responsible for the event, simply sighed when she had saw this and then had walked off muttering something about being too old for the job.
As the main organizer, Twilight had almost collapsed when she saw the mess. Luckily, some of the ponies that were standing around immediately went on towards cleaning it. A task which would prove a challenge for none but the bravest of souls.
After recovering from insanity, Twilight's’ eyes darted around to see something other than the terrible pile of sticky goo and other objects that would best be not mentioned. Saviour came in the form of Rainbow Dash and Soarin flying a banner up between two posts. Upon closer inspection, Twilight saw the banner said, 'Welcome Princesses' in a nice red paint with all the letters there and in the right order. When finished, both Rainbow and Soarin smiled at each other and looked around for anything else to do.
Twilight walked over to help guide them onto their next task, "Good job, you two. Rainbow, I need you to to go help Derpy with the other banners, before she manages to turn any other buffets into radioactive slop or anything of the kind. Soarin, could you go help Big Mac gather firewood for tonight? We need some more for this night to be acceptable for the Princesses. Please go. Clock is ticking!"
Rainbow and Soarin were inseparable, and had been since they had moved in together a year ago. While this was nice, Twilight knew that it downgraded the efficiency of which they worked, as they were too busy being romantic to help with all but the most simple of jobs. This would not do, the Princesses’ dinner was simply a much too important occasion for romancing, so Twilight figured that they should be separated for the time being.
Rainbow gave a look of disappointment to Twilight. "Aww, can't I go work with Soarin? I can't let him hurt himself with that wood."
Soarin glared over at her from what he hoped was a sarcastic comment. "You know, I can handle more than you think, Rainbow."
"Well you definitely didn't last night, did you?" she turned her body to show the side of her flank, giving a little chuckle.
He tried to cover the blush on his blue face, Then tried to pull out his tough colt attitude “I can handle a lot more than that... As long as you make it good.” They both laughed and locked lips together, dropping to the ground in unison. They rolled in the dirt, slipping their hooves behind each other’s backs, moving up and down one another.
Twilight shook her head in disgust, "You know you two are in public!? There are foals around here! Get a room Celestia-dammit!"
Both of them looked up and laughed when they saw Twilight's expression. Rainbow spoke up, "Aaaw, someone's jealous that she doesn't have a colt friend." she laughed and bent down to Soarin again, keeping her eyes on Twilight as she slipped her tongue into his mouth.
Twilight turned red and started to sweat from her statement, "N-no I'm not! I was just- you two are- dah!" she facehooved out of frustration. "Just get to work!"
Cracking up at how they made Twilight so frustrated, they crawled up from the ground, kissing one last time before separating to do their jobs.
Twilight shook her head clear of her thoughts. The truth was that she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. It had been over two years since she was with any pony. And most of the time she was always caught up with her studies and didn't have time, but it was also because she was always nervous when with a special somepony, and never could stop worrying about small details, which caused most to become annoyed.
She continued to think, then was stopped when she heard a very quiet cough. A yellow Pegasus had walked up behind Twilight and was attempting to get her attention. Twilight then saw her friend carrying her pet rabbit, Angel.
In all the time since Luna's return, nothing about Fluttershy could be seen as different in her appearance; her body had not grown in any way, or had her wings. Her pink mane was still the same length, and still covered part of her face.
Twilight was happy to see her friend, "Hey Fluttershy, how have you been? Are you here to help prepare for dinner?"
Fluttershy's quiet voice came out, "oh yes, Twilight. I wanted to help in any way I can."
"well, you can see if Rarity needs help with the decorations."
"oh, um, ok then. I'll head over there pretty soon. I did promise Angel that I would go get him his favorite treat. I hope you don’t mind or anything." The rabbit tapped her back impatiently, pointing to the store to the right. "Now don't worry Angel, you will get your treat. Um, sorry Twilight."
“Oh it’s alright Fluttershy. I don’t mind.”
As Fluttershy walked away, Twilight hadn’t taken five steps when she noticed a white unicorn just looking around with no idea what was happening. She immediately recognized it as Florence, a male unicorn who had just moved to Ponyville from Hoofmond the week before. He was about the same size as her brother, Shining Armor, with a black mane and tail hanging from him. His cutie mark was of a sword and golden shield, probably representing his magic skills.
Rumour had it that Florence was considered a prodigy from any pony that had trained with him. And that his combat spells were as good to any guard in Celestia’s force, and apparently his defensive capabilities rivaled that of even her brother’s. The only reason he wasn’t a soldier, according to rumour was because he didn’t care. He was too carefree to want to go into that.
Not much was known about his reasons of coming to Ponyville either, he hadn’t told anypony, nor had anypony asked him. Because of this, most things were unknown about him.
Twilight walked over to him, “Florence, why aren’t you helping?”
“Hey Twilight. I have no idea what is going on right now.” His blank face showed he was telling the truth.
“The Princesses are arriving for a dinner. Didn’t you ever do this in your town?”
“Uhh.. No?”
Twilight gave a surprised look at him, “What? You never did this?”
“Nope. Hoofmond is a little town out in the middle of nowhere; the Princesses never came out there.”
“Oh, ok then.”
“I’ve never seen them face to face before; either. I’ve seen pictures of Princess Celestia, but not one of Princess Luna, what is she like?”
Well, Princess Luna is a dark blue Alicorn; she is very tall, sweet and majestic. Her dark mane flows like the ocean when she talks-” A sudden crash from the local snack shop made her realize she had to get back to organizing, “Oh sorry I’ve got to go. Bye!”
As she ran off, Florence sat there trying to picture the image in his head. He smiled to himself, “hmm, sounds dreamy.”
___________________________________________________________________________________________
to walk towards Sugar Cube Corner to check on how the desserts were coming. She was not ready for the sight that beholder her.
Pots and pans were scattered in all directions around the colorful bakery. Cooking batter was splattered across the ceiling and working its way up the stairs in the back. The fridge had been tipped over and shoved by the counters.
From the back of the kitchen, a young grey pegasus came flying out of the back. Pound cake was laughing hysterically as his father tried to chase him down.
"Pound Cake, get down here this instant!" Mr. Cake was fuming red as he pursued his 5 year old son.
"Nope, you gotta catch me first! Haha."
Out of the other side of the store, Ms. Cake burst through the door, her normal pink frosting style mane was shot in many strange directions. She was looking every direction, her eyes bloodshot from anger, "pumpkin Cake! Get out here now!"
From below the floor, a blue glow came through the ground. It was followed by a yellow unicorn head, belonging to Pumpkin, Pound's twin sister. She giggled at her mom, "Nope, I think I'll stay here."
Twilight's shock was turned to a amazement seeing Pumpkin so skilled in magic so young. 'self-materialization', Twilight thought to herself, 'why haven't I ever thought about that?’
"Twilight! You gotta help me!"
Twilight quickly turned and saw pinkie pie. Besides being taller, her pink mane and tail still had their normal fluff to it. Her pink coat was splattered with powder and butter.
"Pinkie, what's going on here?"
Pinkie inhaled a deep breath, which meant something long was coming, "well me and the cakes were starting to make the snacks for the dinner tonight, Pound was like, 'I wanna play tag.' and I was like, 'no I can't.' and then Pumpkin was like, 'you better play with us!' then Ms. Cake goes, 'go to your room, kids!' and then they were like ' oh no you didn't!' and then Pound was like, 'ZOOM! CRASH!' and then Mr. Cake was like 'AHH!' and then Pumpkin was like 'ZAP!' and Ms. Came was like 'DAHHH!' and I'm sitting here like 'oh my goodness!"
Twilight shook her head to try and decipher the onslaught of information that had come her way. It seemed Pinkie had finally stopped, her breath coming in rapid gasps, but Twilight couldn’t hear if it was over her ears ringing.
"uh-"
"twilight! Stop them!" Mr. Cake screamed.
"Oh, right!" Twilight Focused her energy into her horn tip. Once enough energy had been built up, a purple wave of matter shot out in every direction. The moment it touched pound, his wings locked in place, encasing them in plasma chains, forcing him to land with a hard thud. With Pumpkin's case, it forced her up above the ground and a plasma collar was wrapped around her horn.
Both fillies sat up, confused what had just happened.
Twilight smiled seeing her immobilizing spell worked. She then focused her magic on the kitchen itself; her aura flowed to all of the pots, stacking all of them together. The rags in the sink began to float to the many areas of spilt flour and stains, wiping it clean.
Ms. Cake gave a sigh of relief as she saw her store return to normal. "Oh, thank you so much Twilight. I didn't know what to do."
Twilight simply smiled at the tired baker, "No worries, Ms. Cake, ways glad to help."
Mr. Cake wiped the sweat off his brow as he walked forward to pick up a of the scattered pots, "Pinkie Pie, can you start remaking the batter for the cupcakes?"
"Okie dokie lokie!" pinkie responded in her usual way. She began to bounce happily over to the counter and began mixing the dry mix with the rest of the ingredients.
Mr. Cake then returned his gaze to the two fillies pouting fillies on the ground. "And as for you two! You are both going to be punished!"
Pound just crossed his arms and gave a cocky smirk at his dad, "what are you gonna do; make us eat our broccoli?"
Mr. Cake looked up at Twilight, and they both smiled at each other, "No; you two are going to help twilight at her library again."
"What!?" Both shocked fillies shouted out in unison.
"For the next three days."
"NOOOOO!!!"
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Celestia Walked out from her bedroom onto the balcony overlooking the gardens of Canterlot. The sun was still high in the sky, with half of the day still left. She sat watching her younger sister walk through the maze of plants. It had been three days since Luna broke down in her bathroom. After that night, she started coming out during the day at random times. She never told her older sister the reason for it.
Finally at patience end, the sun goddess takes flight down to the grass below. She walks down the path towards the blue princess, who was standing by a patch of red roses. Celestia stopped a few feet behind her sibling, "strange to see the princess of the night in sunlight, wouldn't you say?"
Luna turned her head and saw the white alicorn behind her. She turned back to the flowers to hide the bags under her eyes, "it's always good to see your opposites. I've come to admire the beauty of the day."
Celestia sat there with a frown on her muzzle, "you've never been good at lying when you were upset."
Luna sat there, not knowing what to say to her sister. She stayed quit for another minute before finally speaking, " I've been having these dreams lately. Most of them are the same thing over and over again."
"Well, what are your dreams about that are troubling you?"
Luna kept her head down, not wanting to look her sister in the eye, " in all of them there is screaming and destruction around me. All ponies are terrified by me. And every time I see myself in a mirror in the dream, I-I see nightmare moon." Luna didn't want to tell her that the dreams were getting worse as time went on; becoming more vivid and personal. After the second night, she believed it had to mean something, but chose to hide her thoughts.
Celestia could see Luna's shoulders trembling as she explained the nightmares to her. "So that's why you've been waking up at weird times, right?"
"yes, it keeps the visions away."
Seeing that Luna was forcing herself awake during the day just to avoid the dreams meant they were really bothering her, "Luna, they are just dreams. None of these images are real. You must not-"
Luna spun around, facing her sister, "Not Real!? I was nightmare moon! I did those horrible things to the world!"
Celestia jumped back from her sisters burst of anger, "Luna, it wasn't your fault, you-"
"Do you want to know something else? The ponies still hate me!" tears began forming in her eyes.
"now stop that! You know that's not true!"
"Yes it is and you know it! When you go into a town you are greeted with love and affection. Whenever I enter a town I see some ponies expressing their love, while others shake as I walk by! Even the castle guards are cautious around me!"
After her rant, Luna dropped to the ground and buried her face in her hooves and cried.
Celestia didn't want to admit it, but she knew it was true; many had a hard time accepting the absent princess back in open hooves. Some resented the fact because of Luna being nightmare moon before. The guards also were more jumpy than normal with Luna.
Yet, despite all of this, Celestia knew there were many who loved her sister. One pony she thanked was her student, Twilight Sparkle, for if it wasn't for twilight that nightmare night five years ago, her sister would still be all alone.
Celestia brought her muzzle down to Luna and laid it kissed the back of Luna's head. "I know it has been hard for you Luna, and I am truly sorry. But I do see some good has come out of this."
Luna stopped sobbing when she heard that. She looked up at her sister, blinking her eyes to force out the Last few tears, "what?"
"since your return, you have proven that you can be a noble princess; one who can face what she has done and want to be better. And with your return, you have made great friends in Ponyville, including my faithful student, Twilight."
Luna pondered those thoughts in her head. Twilight was the first one to accept her after her return as a normal pony, helping her adjust to the new ways and working to make her feel welcome. "I-I guess you are right."
Celestia smiled down at her sister, “Go inside Luna, and get some sleep. You are going to need it.” She stood up, “we have a dinner to attend tonight.”
My first chapter done from my iphone. will have grammical errors, so i apologize for this.
Chapter 5: the Birth of Death
7 hours before chapter 4
The dark alicorn flew through the dark skies over the open grass plains. Due to his dragon wings, he chose not to fly during the day to draw attention to himself. Despite the fact he could kill any creature that tried to stop him, he wanted to keep a low profile. For six years he was able to keep his identity hidden from most of the world, and he wanted it to stay that way until his plans were ready to move forward.
Unfortunately, after killing Volvack 2 days ago, word would be sent to the pony princesses in the neighboring land soon, which would cause panic to rise within the royal court. He knew, though, that they would never suspect him, since they believed he died 1500 years ago. Even if they were told the gem had disapeared, he knew they did not know the other two items had been collected, since the clans he got them from did not speak to each other. The dragons would be flying as fast as they could toward the capital of Equestria, but the dark creature did not worry. He was much faster than any dragon alive, so he had a long head start on the messengers heading towards Canterlot.
His dragon wings forced him through the night at breakneck speed, without even trying to go fast. The cold air blew through his dark mane, sending it backward in a long mess. It felt exhilarating to fly this fast, knowing no creature on earth could reach him. He made sure he didn’t fly too fast to break the sound barrier, creating the sonic boom in which he first hit years ago.
The sun had begun to rise over the horizon, its golden glow began to spread over the land. The alicorn shook his head in frustration, knowing he had to go back to the ground to hide once again. Noticing the Everfree forest coming into view, he dropped his altitude. Coming into the tree line, he slowed rapidly and landed in a clearing nest to a large pond.
He turned his head around, eyeing his surroundings; the moss covered trees sprouted up from the ground, blocking most of the sky from view. The algae filled bog behind him bubbled from the gases that naturally formed, causing a hiss every time a bubble popped. Strange sounds of different creatures were heard in all directions.
It was a truly eerie place for most ponies. For this alicorn it felt good, natural and dark. His curved horn shot a cloud to his back. The dark matter spread into a thin sheet which began to solidify in his dark cloak.
Once the sun began to come over the trees, the dark alicorn hybrid looked up and stared at the golden orb.it was then memories returned to him as he pictured his first sunrise 1600 years ago. It seemed just like yesterday when he was born that day.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
1600 years ago
Everything was dark. The small creature moved within the small gel encasing that held it. It was the first time it had noticed anything in life. The young male opened his eyes, seeing a red material floating all around his body. He tried to move against the thick red fluid that surrounded him, curious on what it was.
Reaching out, he felt a strange, flexible membrane that held all of the liquid inside. He tried to push it opened, but it simply stretched and then retracted back into place. Becoming frustrated, the male began to hit the wall harder and harder. Suddenly, Shadows began to appear on the other side of the wall, their movement seen as blurs from the light behind them.
The young male now saw that six different figures stood beyond the gel, and he could hear voices, “Hurry, he’s actually Moving!”
“It’s incredible! It’s finally happening!”
Feeling panicked, the imprisoned male swam back as far as he could away from the shadows, his back hitting the other side of his gelatinous cage. He had nothing on his mind besides escape; to be free. Without thinking, it seemed as if his ideas were being focused into one point. Out of nowhere, a glow appeared above his forehead, shooting out in a wide flash. The bubble prison began to expand to twice its original size. A large tear begins to form in the center from the stress.
POP!
The gel casing burst. The red fluid spilled in all directions across the rocky floor. The young creature dropped to the ground, hitting the bottom with a wet plop. Quickly recovering, the youngster coughed up the liquid in his lungs, then allowing room for the air to enter. He tried to get up, but his legs buckled, not ready to hold weight. Lifting his head up, he saw a group of figures around him.
Among the group was a male brown unicorn, then a yellow female standing to his right. Both of them were smiling at the young creature sitting below them. A couple feet to their left, a blue dragon, about eight feet tall with silver wings stood there, amazed at was at his feet. Another dragon was there, this one was shorter by about two feet, it’s white body was elongated like a snake and bore no wings. A final dragon was behind the other two, eying the small creature on the floor. At 13 feet tall, he seemed enormous to the others, his red scales shined in the light from the torches.
“I can’t believe we actually did it!” the brown unicorn shouted in happiness.
The white dragon smiled at his brown friend, “we have finally finished our work. This is truly amazing.”
The female unicorn stared at the wet animal, “look at his wings… and his eyes! It’s incredible!”
The young creature did not know what to do; he was shocked to see so many creatures around him. He was more surprised to realize he understood them as they spoke. It seemed that he had somehow already known the methods of communication. Out of reaction, he asked a question to the strangers, “who are you?”
All of them were shocked when the young animal talked. The red dragon stared baffled at what he heard, but then shook his head, clearing his furrowed brow. He walked forwards through the crowd and knelt down next to the young being, “Hello there, little one. Are you feeling alright? What’s your name?”
“I- my name is…” he stopped and thought. He didn’t even know who he was. He began to ponder what he should call himself, but stopped when the dragon held out his black claws to him, offering to help him stand up.
At first the young one did not move, but then lifted his front leg up and slipped it between the claws. He then noticed his leg was covered in dark blue hair, and at the end was a hard hoof. The little one began thinking to himself, ‘so I am one of the four legged types I see. What are they?’ Being hoisted up, his legs stood straight, now able to hold himself up. He looked up at the smiling dragon in confusion, “what’s going on? Where am i?”
Looking around, he noticed he was in a very large cave, approximately forty feet tall and about sixty feet across. Throughout the room were tables with large bottles of colorful fluids, and large rolls of paper stacked together. Torches set up along the walls lit the darkness up with an orange glow. At the back of the cave was a large tunnel that led around the corner to the unknown.
“Don’t worry. You are safe here.” A voice came from behind the five larger animals. They parted to make way for the silver alicorn.
The young creature looked at the approaching animal; his green mane floated gently in the air as he walked. He stood about six feet tall, larger than the two unicorns around him. He looked similar in shape to them, sporting a similar horn, except he had feathered wings tucked at his sides.
The still confused little one wanted answers, “Who are all of you? What are you? What-what am i?”
The alicorn gave a little chuckle at the question, “well, I see you are a little confused coming into the world like this. My name is Corvolus, I am a creature known as an alicorn. These scaled creatures behind me are dragons…” the three dragons waved at the little one, “and these two over here are called unicorns.” The other two smiled happily, “we are all scientists who made you.”
“M-made me?”
“Yes. It took us a very long time, but we finally did it.”
The child looked down at his hooves, “So, I am a unicorn? Or a ali-alicorn?”
Corvolus hesitated for a moment, “well, not exactly. Here, let me show you.” His horn started to glow white as he pointed it over to the side where a large glass mirror sat. The glass became enshrouded in a glow and started to float, which enticed the little one. Corvolus set the mirror on the ground in front of the newborn.
The child stared at his reflection intently; his body was about a foot shorter than the unicorns and built very similar to them. His body was covered in dark blue fur, and his mane was even darker. His long legs, body and head looked a lot like the alicorn. Then, he noticed some very different things about himself.
His horn was shaped more like a white claw on his head, unlike the straight, grooved horns of the others. His tail was just hair like the four-legged creatures, but instead a long, skinny tail like the dragons, and had a patch of hair at the end. His eyes did not have any color scheme like the other creatures, but were a solid silver orb. And his back had a set of wings attached to them, yet they were similar to the dragons in the room. The long bones stuck out with blue membrane in between them, and at the center of the front of the wings had a long claw at the end.
While this would come as a shock to many, the young creature couldn’t help but smile. He thought it was a cool mix. His face then went blank as more questions came to his head. He turned back towards Corvolus, “Wait, so you said that you made me?”
“Yes. Many years ago, we all found each other and began working to make a new species. We wanted to make an animal which was a blend of alicorn and of dragon. For years our mix of magic and sorcery could not figure out the correct blend. Then, fifteen years ago, we had a breakthrough.” Corvolus turned to smile at his colleagues. “We finally created the specimen which the mix of DNA blended and did not kill the specimen.”
The young hybrid felt something inside him change at that statement, ‘Specimen? Is that all I am to them?’ His thoughts began to spin, and then a strange feeling in him began to grow.
“There was a problem at first. When you were formed, you did not breathe on your own, so we created a self-sustaining capsule to help you continue to grow. That is why you are not a baby, and possibly why you understand so much. Anyways, after fifteen years, we were starting to lose hope. Yet, it seems our prayers have been answered.” Corvolus smiled back to the group as they all began to cheer.
“This is the moment we have been waiting for!” the blue dragon yelled.
The female unicorn cheered, “Finally, our work will finally pay off!”
Corvolus walked to the group, “Everyone, this is the time in which we confront the leaders of our kind. Once we show them our creation, they will have to listen to us.”
The young animal felt the emotions within him start to build as he heard the figures talking, ‘these creatures, they want use me for their own goals. They care nothing for me.’ His anger within him began to rise. He glared at his creators, “why did you make me?”
They all stopped when that question was asked. Corvolus had a look of confusion in his face, not wanting to talk about that yet, “we will talk about that later.”
“Tell me now!” the young creation screamed, his silver eyes glowing with anger.
Corvolus was startled by the outburst. He then lowered his head and gave a sigh, “Alright. 120 years ago, a war started between the dragons and the alicorns and other ponies. They fought to take control of the entire world. They also wanted to prove who was more powerful. So many creatures on both sides have died fighting against each other.”
The pony-dragon cross sat there, trying to put together what he was hearing.
“About 30 years ago, I knew I had to do something to stop the pointless bloodshed. I soon found others of both kinds that believed in what I wanted, so we began working on creating a creature, which was not only stronger than either animal, but showed that opposites could become one, and be united.” Corvolus smiled again, “after hard work and sacrifice, we created you, the first of your kind.”
The creation sat quietly, but was confused; he heard the words, but death and war could not be pictured in his head. No matter how hard he thought, he could not imagine what it was. “Corvolus, what is war? I don’t know what that is.”
All of the dragons and ponies in the room were confused on what to tell him. Corvolus walked forward, “Perhaps I can show you what it is, then.”
The white dragon gave out a gasp, “No, you can’t! He should not see that! He is too young!”
“He needs to see it.”
All of them were afraid to expose the awakened teenager to the horrors of conflict, but knew he had to see why it had to be stopped. Corvolus walked up and placed his on the hybrid’s forehead, “now do not move.” A glow began to envelope the young one, transporting him to a world of light. After a few moments, the light faded, and gave view to something terrible.
The newborn was standing in the middle of a battlefield. In the sky, many alicorns and Pegasus were flying through the air, some attacking or being attacked by dozens of different dragons. On the ground, more alicorns were being followed by earth ponies and unicorns as they charged a wall of scales and claws, blasting their way through the line of dragons.
Fire and blasts of magic were flying in every direction possible. All across the ground, bodies of both sides littered the dirt, their bodies torn apart or obliterated to pieces. Rivers of blood ran across the soil from so many carcasses being piled together. Screams of agony and pain were heard from all sides and every direction.
Looking down, the young one saw a gray alicorn on the ground, his wings burnt clean off his back. His side had been crushed by some sort of impact. Blood gurgled out of the creature’s mouth every time he coughed. And in its last moment, its eyes roll over white, and its breathing subsides.
Suddenly , he gets pulled out of the vision, ending up back within the cave. Looking around, he sees all of the scientists staring at him, afraid of what the vision did to him.
Corvolus knelt beside the young creature, a look of pain in his eyes, “You see? That is what war is. That is what we must stop.”
The young animal stood there, going over the visions in his head, “So that is death and war. I see what it is now. It was so…”
“I know. It is horrible.”
“No, it was…” he stopped to think about the vision he was placed in. Looking down at the alicorn below him, he grew feelings that he did not expect. He began to grin in an almost devilish form, “it was amazing.”
Corvolus and the others froze in fear from what they heard. The female unicorn began to tremble. Corvolus stood up and backed away before speaking, “WHAT? Death is horrible! It should be stop-”.
“NO!” The creation began to walk towards his creators, who all began to back away from him out of fear. His Eyes began to glow along with his horn, “I saw suffering and pain with those creatures in there. I liked watching them in pain! It felt good!”
“Listen to yourself! You want more to die!?”
“Yes I do.” It seemed as if the emotions he gained felt so natural. He loved watching the pain in vision he saw. He wanted to explore these feelings more, he wanted to know what killing was like, “I want death to be spread to all creatures of this world, starting with you!” He looked to the white dragon, and pointed his horn at the trembling creature.
The white dragon suddenly clenched his chest as a dark aura enshrouded him there, and it began to squeeze. He screamed in pain as he felt his ribs cracking. He coughed up a fountain of blood as his heart was crushed like a grape. Screams came out from the others as the dragon fell to the ground dead.
Corvolus was petrified at what he saw. The creature they made for peace and stability had somehow developed an unstable need to kill from the combination of the DNA. It must have been a side effect form the unnatural blend.
The Young creature could not stop the devilish smile on his face. He stared at the bloody body on the ground, and felt a rush of feelings over him. It felt amazing to destroy a life at his own will. He felt so powerful, and he didn’t even have to try. He felt like a god!
The blue dragon screamed out as he saw his friend lying dead below him, but before he had time to react, a dark blast of energy shot through the cave and blew a hole through his stomach. He dropped down in agony as the wound allowed visible access to his lungs and intestines. Blood poured out like a pitcher of water. Trying to use his claws to pull the wound together, his movements became less static and soon lost consciousness. Falling to the ground, his chin hit the rocks with a sickening crack.
Hearing a scream, the possessed creation turned to see the female unicorn falling back as she tried to run. He laughed, and shot his energy at her, encasing her within its grip. She tried to struggle, but it was of no use. The magic then wrapped around her legs, forcing them to bend in impossible directions.
“AHHH! Please stop! PLEASE!” she screamed as she begged for her life. She tried to look at her tormentor, the tears of pain and fear fell from her eyes.
The monster did not feel remorse for what he was doing as she looked at him. Instead, he felt ecstatic with his powers. He saw that there was no limit to what he could do.
The magic pulled tighter around her legs, until the sickening sound of snaps and cracks echoed in the cave. Her front legs were pivoted opposite of the normal joint flow, so that her hooves faced up instead of down. Her back legs were completely flipped so that they faced backwards. Her screams now reached a new height, but were silenced when more energy crept to her neck, forcing it backwards at unseen speed. The loud snap of her spine silenced her cries of agony.
The red dragon screamed as he ran forward, “Stop him! We have to end this!”
The other unicorn snapped out of the fearful trance and turned to face the abomination. He lowered his head and shot a green beam of energy towards it.
The child seemed to laugh as he folded his wings in front of himself, as if to protect himself. Suddenly, a dark sphere of energy appeared around him, reflecting the beam as if nothing happened. The child then flung his wings out sending a dark wave of energy towards his opponent. The wave struck the unicorn with such force that it sent him clear across the room, and struck the wall so hard it created a crater seven feet deep. The unicorns body was a bloody pulp from the impact.
The dragon inhaled deeply, and blasted an enormous wall of fire out. The flames encircled the young creature, yet it didn’t try to flee. It waited until the flames nearly engulfed him when his horn shot out a black mist which fell to ground level, and blasted the fire in all directions, some landing on tables and igniting the potions scattered throughout the cave. Bottles and bowls exploded from the chemical mixes, sending fire in every direction of the cave.
The young creature grinned at the terrified dragon. The solid silver eyes began to glow as they locked eyes with the yellow eyes of the dragon. Out of nowhere, a pain began to grow in the drakes head, as if something was growing inside. Screaming in agony, his claws clutched at his head as he dropped to his knees. The force became stronger and stronger, his brain now burning from being expanded.
POP!
The drakes head exploded from the inside, spraying blood all over the young creature. It did not wince back from the crimson liquid, yet almost enjoyed the blood falling onto his fur. After watching the body slump down, he turned and looked at the shaking silver alicorn. He gave a grin which revealed his white teeth, which some resembled small fangs.
Corvolus could not move. He had just watched as all of his friends were left as twisted clumps of blood, killed within the matter of a minute by their own creation. He turned and saw the small demon walking towards him, blood dripping off its coat. As it approached him, he started back pedaling, “Please-please stop this! You don’t have to do this!”
“Yes I do. I feel so alive at this moment. I care nothing of your little war between your races, because I will be the one to kill all of them! I should thank you, because you were the one that gave me life. Unfortunately,” he stopped and gave and even larger smirk, “you have to die as well.”
Corvolus raised an energy shield as the blast came towards him, but his barrier shattered is if nothing was there. He was blown back through the flames and slammed into the cave wall behind him. He yelled in pain as he realized both his wings were crushed from the hit with the rocks. He tried to stand, but his back had a very strange numbness to it; he couldn’t move his back legs.
Corvolus looked back toward the wall of fire, and saw a figure from the other side. A section of the fire was parted by a black wall of energy, clearing a path for the small creature. Corvolus saw what he had brought into the world, the death that was about to reign down upon all the creatures. The animal they thought would be the messiah had turned out to be the destroyer of all life.
Corvolus sat still as his creation approached, and only could think of a few words, “we dreamed of creating the world’s strongest creature…” he paused as the black aura around the curved horn grew to an enormous size, “and we succeeded.”
The blast obliterated all matter within a thousand foot range, destroying a large side of the mountain where the cave once stood. The explosion was heard by all within a seven mile radius. Rock and dirt fell down the cliffs, building momentum before slamming into the bottom of the gorge.
In the center of the new crater, the alicorn-dragon smiled at the powers he discovered he had. He looked out and saw the sun rising over the sky. He inspected the land, seeing the trees and the grasslands in the distance. He laughed, knowing he would have all of this for himself.
“I am the world’s most powerful life form! I will go and destroy anything that opposes my power. I will rule this land as my own. All will learn to fear me, they will be frightened to even speak my name!” He grinned as he finally figured out his identity
“I am greater than any alicorn or dragon on this planet! I AM ALIGON!”
__________________________________________________________________________________________________--
Present
Aligon opened his eyes to the sounds of approaching footsteps. He turned and saw a large manticore charging him through the forest. Annoyed, he shot out a blast of magic that collided with the attacking animal’s head. The manticore did not feel as its head was blown in half.
Turning back to the sky, Aligon saw the sun had moved since he got lost in the past. He had not realized he wasted so much time thinking. He knew he would have to walk quickly, since the dragons could continue to fly in light. He also didn’t want to teleport long distances, since there was a risk of becoming detected by the princesses.
Levitating the black hood back over his head, Aligon turned and began walking towards Canterlot. He would be there by nightfall.
Can anyone recognize what the flashback scene was from? Hope you enjoyed!
Chapter 6: The Princess and the Unicorn
Luna exited her bathroom after drying off from her shower. She walked over to her dresser and levitated her crown onto her head. She then went on to use her magic to lift off the little water she had missed on the right side of her mane. She started to apply the eye shadow, which was a slightly darker tone than her natural hue.
Luna stared at herself for a moment, thoughts circling inside of her. After the talk with her sister in the garden, she began to ponder what she had told Celestia. Ponies did not accept her when she returned from her time as Nightmare Moon, feelings of fear and hate were directed at her from the worry that she would never change into a princess that cared for them.
Because of what the citizens thought, Luna spent her first year in return as a recluse, keeping herself alone from others.
Even when she had tried to visit Ponyville five years ago on nightmare night, the feelings in her did not change. It wasn't until her sister’s student, Twilight, ignored the fear that the others ponies harbored and worked to help the night princess learn the ways of the modern life.
Luna had made a strong bond with Twilight that night on two different reasons. The first was that Twilight did not care about what the other ponies thought when she tried to befriend the former dark queen. With some struggle and determination, Twilight proved to Ponyville that anyone could change, and also became her first friend in years.
The second, and most important was what Twilight was wearing that night. It was a costume identical to what someone in her past had worn over a thousand years ago. Twilight tried to help her just as that figure did in her early life. Perhaps it was a sign that destiny led Twilight to free Luna and be the one to aid her.
Luna looked to the sky outside her window and smiled, "You're still looking after me, master."
_____________________________________________________
Twilight stared up at the moon, seeing that the princesses were going to arrive any moment. She was not worried, though, since she knew the buffet had been complete.
Streams of lights hung from trees and the buildings around the rows of tables set up in the town square. A large table draped in a bright white cloth was set up on a podium, allowing it to overlook the rest of the tables.
Around the dining area, many groups of ponies were deciding on where they sat, and who sat next to them, which was causing the most trouble throughout the crowds. Some wanted to have a large area for their friends, or some tried reserving multiple tables. One table in particular was causing the biggest scene.
Applejack was over by a small table which had four chairs around it. She was glaring at Cheerilee, who tried to avoid eye contact with the angry orange mare. AJ kept her straight face as she talked down to the teacher, "Look missy, y'all ain't gonna sit by me. Ah haven't fergot what mah lil sista saw when she went in dat barn!"
Cheerilee dropped her head lower in submission. She glanced behind Aj and saw Applebloom sitting there, her head also down. She still felt horrible that Applebloom saw her and Big Mac having sex, and even though Applebloom said it was all right, she still acted a little more skittish around her former teacher.
Big Mac walked up to the group, his left eye still swollen blue from Aj’s hit two days ago. He walked between his sister and his mare friend to try to diffuse the situation, “come on now, sis. Ah told Cheerilee we got room at dah table.”
“No we don’t!” Applejack snapped at her brother. She backed up to the nearest chair and gave it a strong kick, shattering one of the legs and causing it to fall over, “We only got three chairs! Now why don’t ya take dat fancy pink mane of yours, and walk on by!” She was nearly snorting at this point, her nostrils flared back.
Before Cheerilee could respond, Big Mac started to pull her away as he walked towards another table.
Applejack grew even more enraged by seeing her brother choosing to be with his mare friend than his own sisters. “Mclntosh! Get yah ass over here before ah come over and ram mah hoof up it!”
Rainbow Dash was watching the whole scene pan out in front of her and couldn’t help from laughing. She was over at a table sitting with Soarin, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. All four sat in amazement over Applejack’s tantrum. No other ponies asked her to stop, afraid of what would happen to them if they did ask. Instead, they simply pulled their tables away from her.
Twilight turned and saw Florence walking up to her. She was surprised to see he had slicked his mane back, giving him a cleaner appearance. His coat shined as if he just came from the spa. Even his eyebrows seemed trimmed! Usually he had a look as if he just got out of bed, since he never spent the time to fix himself up. She had never seen him so clean before.
Twilight gave an eyebrow lift to her friend, “uh, Florence? You ok?”
He looked at her and seemed confused by what she said, “Huh? What do you mean?”
“You look… clean. It’s just surprising; I’ve never seen you get ready like this.”
He gave a small chuckle, “Well, it’s going to be the first time that I have seen the princesses, so it seemed right. And what if they so happen to want to talk to me, I at least want to appear proper.” He lifted his hoof up and closed his eyes, trying to give a sophisticated look. It only made him look ridiculous.
Twilight couldn’t hold back a laugh from his pose. He frowned down at her, “what’s so funny?”
“You are! You don’t need to impress the princesses; this is just a nice dinner they are attending.” She then noticed that he was alone. “So, where are you going to sit?”
“Actually, I didn’t think about that yet.” Florence glanced around to the tables, noticing many of them were being taken up. He wanted to sit next to a pony he knew at least. His new friend Soarin was across the courtyard, but he was already with a full group. Big Mac was with Cheerilee, except they were at a two person table. He then noticed Applejack and… chose to stay away from her for the night.
Seeing that he didn’t have many options, Twilight felt obligated to help him out, “well, I have an extra chair at my table if you want.”
Florence didn’t object to her offer, since he was comfortable around Twilight. He smiled down at her, giving away his answer. With that, Twilight smiled back and began to walk through the crowd, her guest following in suit.
As they walked through the crowds, Florence couldn’t help but notice how much attention he was receiving. The younger mares stared up in awe as he passed. A few number of the teenagers and young adults were giving him winks and whistles when he walked by them. Seeing how much praise he was getting, he couldn’t hold back the urge to puff out his chest more, walking with more exaggerated steps to show off his built.
Twilight looked back and saw how Florence was flaunting himself. She simply shook her head and continued on. After a few more tables, she came to her table, which was directly below the podium where the princesses were going to sit. She figured Celestia would want her pupil close in case they wanted to talk.
Two of the chairs were already filled at the table. Spike was in one, his scales glistening in the lantern light. And to his left was Rarity, who had her mane pulled up in a fancy bun and set behind a golden tiara. She was draped in a sparkling blue dress that accented her eyes.
Rarity Looked up and saw her friend walking towards her, “Oh, Twilight Darling, you made it!”
“Of course I did. I wouldn’t miss my teacher’s arrival.” Twilight smiled when she noticed how close Spike was to Rarity, “I see you two are comfortable.”
Spike blushed, trying to give a cheeky smile. Rarity blushed as well, but gave a real smile back to her friend standing there, “well, Twilight. Me and Spike have had…feelings for a while. And since everyone knows about us, I believe that there is no reason to hide it anymore.” She looked over to spike and placed her hoof in his claws. They both gave loving looks to each other.
Florence looked at Rarity’s outfit, and leaned over to twilight, “I thought you said this was a casual dinner?”
“An outfit like that is casual for Rarity.”
Florence just shook his head and began to-
“They’re coming!” Someone shouted.
Every pony looked up and saw the two chariots flying toward the long road through the moonlight. Twilight watched as the leading chariot touched ground first. She immediately recognized it as Celestia’s white chariot. Her white guard pegasi stood gloriously in there golden armor.
She then looked back at the second chariot, but noticed something different. Luna’s normal bat winged guards were now just dark pegasi. The spell she had always used to give her guards the bat wings and slit eyes had been removed. Her normal black and spiked chariot had made drastic changes, the sides being smoothed and painted a dark blue.
Florence was astounded when he watched with the crowd stare at the landed chariots. He felt thrilled to see the royal princesses for the first time. It seemed to be an honor for him knowing he would sit so close to them. He recognized the large white alicorn in the first chariot as Princess Celestia. He could tell from all of the different pictures of her through the library in is old town. He then looked back to the second chariot and saw-.
OH MY SWEET SOUL…
Walking out of the blue cart was the most beautiful pony Florence had ever seen. Her hair was a deep midnight blue which shined against the moonlight. Her long, star filled mane tugged gently in the wind as she stepped to the ground. Her Long tail flowed just as elegantly has her mane. Her tall, slender body was beyond perfectly shaped to any pony he had ever encountered. On her back were two beautiful wings.
And to finish it off was the face which seemed to be carved by angels. Her beautifully shaped muzzle was followed by a slender jaw line. On her forehead was a long, pointed horn. And the eyes… those light blue eyes pierced the night.
Florence was so entranced that he did not feel his friends brush by him.
“Princesses!” Twilight shouted out in happiness as the royal sisters walked towards them. All the members of the elements of harmony walked up to greet the royalty.
“Twilight, my faithful student. It is so good to see you again.” Celestia then noticed the short length of Twilights mane. “Oh, when did you do that?”
“Oh, my hair? It was something I thought would be nice to try.”
“Well, it looks marvelous.” Luna answered from behind. Twilight and the others gave a gasp of delight when they saw Luna. They could not believe how much she had changed since that Nightmare Moon night, in looks and in behavior. “It is good to see you all again.”
They all smiled happily, except for Applejack, who could only muster up a sloppy grin. Fortunately for her, the princesses did not notice the awkward look, which was good because she did not want to talk about her feelings at that moment.
As they chatted, Twilight suddenly remembered, “Oh yeah... princesses, would you come over here? There is some pony I would like you to meet.” She turned around, leading the sisters over to her table. Still sitting there opened mouth was Florence.
Celestia spoke up first, “Well, who is this in front of me? A new face in town?”
Twilight quickly responded, “Yes. He moved here not too long ago. He came from Hoofmond. He says he has never seen you before, and I thought he would like the opportunity to meet you.”
Both sisters glanced at each other at the mention of the town. Celestia began to think, “Hoofmond? I have to admit it has been at least forty years since I have visited that town. Since it’s off on its own I tend to forget about it. I am terribly sorry for never visiting your town, sir.” Florence never even turned his head towards her as she spoke, his attention was elsewhere even when she started again, “well then, allow me to introduce myself; My name is Princess Celestia, princess of the day.”
Florence did not even answer back to the introduction of Celestia. She sat there looking at him, and followed where his stare was directed. She turned and saw that Luna was the unicorns fix. Luna felt a little awkward as the pony simply gazed at her, following her every move.
Florence knew what he was doing was strange, but it was as if he couldn’t control himself. He tried to turn away, but no matter how hard he thought, her face was what he wanted to look at right then.
Luna tried to break the awkward moment by keeping her composure and walking forward to him, “And I am Princess Luna, princess of the night.”
When hearing her wonderous voice, his heart nearly stopped beating in his chest when she spoke to him. He had to make sure his knees did not move as he stood there. He tried to clear his throat as his nerves took the best of him, “L-Luna? Wow, th-that’s a b-b-beautiful name.”
Luna couldn’t help but blush at the stallions attempt to talk, “well, would you mind telling us who you are now?”
“I-I… I’m yours.” He blankly said as a small, goofy smile began to creep up his cheeks. His eyes were half closed as his body slowly swayed back and forth as if he was a drunk trying to keep his balance.
Celestia couldn’t help but chuckle at the stunned expression on Luna's face from the statement. The Twilight and her friends were also trying to figure out his strange behavior.
"What's wrong with him?" Rarity asked.
"Um, he must be nervous about something." Fluttershy said.
"well, duh! Look a him shake! Ohh look, he's sweating too!" Pinkie hopped up and down, spitting out words A mile a minute.
Rainbow and Applejack were trying to hold back there laughs watching Florence act like a fool. Twilight eyed his movements, surprised at how entranced he was with Luna.
Luna was a little embarrassed by the actions of the Male in front of her. She tried to keep a smile on her face, "I'm sorry, what was that?"
Florence eyes snapped open, realizing he didn't say his name, "Oh, my name! It- it's uh, F-Fl-Florence! Florence, my name is Florence!" He nearly collapsed after finally spitting out his answer.
Celestia smiled and walked up to him, "well, it is a pleasure to meet-"
"Yeah that's great..." Florence cut the princess off mid sentence, " So, princess Luna, do uh, you come to Ponyville often?"
Celestia sat there dumbfounded; no normal citizen had ever ignored her so openly. She sat there open mouthed at the sudden interruption.
Luna gave a small chuckle, partly because o her sisters look, and partly because somepony was more interested in her than Celestia. She smiled at the unicorn, "I would like to continue to talk, but we have a dinner to start. Perhaps we can continue talking later, sir Florence?"
He had to keep himself from jumping up and down from excitement, "yeah yeah yeah! Sounds good!" His actions were like that I a school filly.
Luna slightly blushed as she turned away. She looked towards the crowd of smiling faces throughout the courtyard. The sight brought a warm feeling to her heart. She lifted her head to speak to them all, thank you all for preparing this wonderful feast. Perhaps we should start filling our stomachs."
A loud cheer broke out through the ponies as they all walked towards the buffet stations. Some wet immediately to the plates, while others chose to walk over and greet the royalty visiting their town.
While Luna was happier than she had been in a long time, yet she never noticed the set of glaring eyes staring straight at her from the back of the crowd.
Chapter 7: Assault on Canterlot
Through a large tree line, a head stuck through the opening, looking around the open valley in front of him. Aligon had been walking for the last twelve hours, never stopping for food or water once.it did not bother him, his own desired goal allowed him to continue without it. He looked across the large clearing in view and saw the city that he had been searching for; the great capital of Equestria, Canterlot.
The great white walls surrounded the perimeter of the city, giving off a much more massive appearance. The many building and homes within the city limits had begun shutting their lights off, preparing for the night. Overlooking the entire city was the central heart for all of Equestria; the royal palace of the princesses. Its great towers rose high above any other structure within the wall, and despite the coming night, many of the rooms stayed lit, awaiting the returning sisters from their engagement.
He was not surprised when he saw the city’s size, since he had seen the town five years ago through his magic. This happened when he sent a section of his energy to the great gardens of the palace, releasing a devious spirit from his stone prison.
Walking out of the trees he was about to take flight towards the great capital. He points his horn back towards his cape, wrapping it within his magic and causing it to evaporate in a flash. His large wings spread out to his sides, causing a small breeze out in front of him. He bent his legs in preparation for the leap, and….
A magic reading catches his attention before the wings can flap. Aligon turns to the direction in which it is coming from. He can tell it is coming from across the Everfree forest from a different direction in which he came from.
He focuses his silver eyes until they glow, allowing him to magnify his line of sight. His view suddenly rushes forward, flying past the trees, the swamp, and comes through the leaves, allowing view of a small village. He noticed how the main courtyard of the town was brightly lit despite being late at night. The tables set up through the yard were filled with ponies busily eating, and then…
“The princesses? They are not even in Canterlot?” Aligon said to himself. He sees Celestia and Luna sitting at a large table in front of the crowd, both of them eating as well. His Confusion was swiftly followed by a devilish laugh, “Oh this is too easy! The day I return to this wretched place they go off and have a picnic with their peasant servants!”
Seeing that his main problem had been removed, it wouldnt even be a problem to reach the gardens. He no longer had the urge to hide himself anymore. Even if he was discovered, his plans were nearing completion, and by the time the sisters found out what was happening at the capital, he would be gone. All of the news caused the alicorn-hybrid to laugh uncontrollably, now knowing that not only would his revenge be satisfied soon, he was becoming ever so closer to recovering the power that was stolen from him so many years ago.
Flapping his wings, Aligon took flight towards the great city. He no longer cared about being seen by any pony. He beat his wings through the air at an alarming rate, forcing him faster and faster through the night. As his speed increased, he stuck his hooves out in front of him, giving him a sleeker aerodynamic shape to his flight.
While flying, sparks began forming out of the air in front of his hooves from the friction. A cone of air began to bend around his body as he neared the sound barrier. The Cone began to get smaller and smaller around him, until finally…
BOOOOOOOM!!
A black cloud of smoke and lightning shot out in a wide arc behind the speeding alicorn. The giant cloud of energy spread across the sky, blocking out the moon and sending a dark shadow over the land. The darkness was accompanied by bright flashes of lightning shooting out at random through the smoke.
Looking back, he grinned at the spreading dark mass. It was just like the one he first did years ago. The first sonic boom in history.
__________________________________
Inside he palaces main hall, captain Ares sat quietly in the center of the room. He chose to leave his guards outside the door for a few minutes to clear his head. The long night shift took a toll on his head.
Ares is a blue unicorn with little emotion. Short tempered but very strong, he had become captain of the royal guard five years ago. He was originally second in command, serving under Shining Armor, Twilights older brother, until he left to live with his wife, the alicorn princess Cadence.
Since Princess Celestia and princess Luna were gone from the castle for some time, Ares took the time to relax in the quiet halls to escape his guards. Even though they always remained composed when seen by the public or with the sisters around, they always went to being loud and obnoxious with each other when alone walking through the empty castle.
The doors behind him Burst open "CAPTAIN ARES!"
The sudden yell make Ares's heart skip a beat. He flipped around and saw a panicked guard standing there.
Flustered his peace was disturbed, he shot out at his subordinate, "Damn it! I thought I told you I wanted-"
"Sir, dragons are approaching Canterlot!"
Ares sat stupefied, "what? Impossible! No dragon has ever attacked Canterlot!"
The guard continued, "No sir, I do not believe they are attacking. Our scout says there was only 3 coming our way, and they bare a white flag."
Ares sat confused. He pondered what he was hearing. 'Why would the dragon's bare a white flag? Surrender? What were they surrendering to?'. He looked to the guard, "where are they now?"
"Almost here."
Both soldier and captain ran out the room and down the grand hallway. Once reaching outside, Ares saw the rest of his battalion, 30 ponies strong, standing ready as the dragons approached the ground.
One by one, the three drakes settled down on the dirt below. The smallest one of the three was about eight feet tall, covered in black scales and had golden wings. The one to his right was taller by about nine feet, and his light blue body was followed by three long but thick tales. The last dragon was enormous compared to the other two. Standing at fifty feet tall, he dwarfed is companions and the ponies on the ground. His body was covered in green scales, which travelled up his long neck and covered his face as well.
Ares and his guards stood prepared, there swords drawn and there magic charged. The dragons, however, knelt to the ground, not wanting conflict. Ares was stunned, then he noticed the white flag draped over the smaller black dragon.
Area shook off his confusion and returned to being a guard, "What is the reason for your arrival to Canterlot? State your business, drakes!"
"My apologies for our comings..." the black dragon answered, "but we have terrible news. We must have an audience with Princess Celestia now."
"And you are?"
I am Night Stalker."
'Only a dragon would have that kind of name.' area frowned.
"Like I said, we must see the princess."
"You will have an audience with them when I say you can, dragon!"
The green dragon snarled at the hard nosed unicorn. All of the guards stood prepared to attack at any moment. The tension was stopped when Night ordered his partner to back down, which he complied to.
Turning back to the ponies, he tried to stay calm, "it is urgent that we see them. Our leader, lord Volvack, has just been killed."
"Wh-what?!" Ares stuttered hearing the news. He ha heard so many stories about Volvack, the lord of the dragons. His power was beyond that of legend. Even the princess's admitted he was stronger than both of them.
Trying to come back from his shock, he turned to Night Stalker, "That's impossible. No living creature is strong enough to kill him."
Stalker still kept his face straight as stone, "I saw his body myself. His grandson sent me here to talk to Celestia and to ask her to come to a council meeting."
Ares couldn't believe the words he had just heard. It was something he had never even thought was possible, "a c-council mee-"
BOOOOOOOM!
All the dragons and ponies turned at the sound. Looking out to the sky, they saw an explosion of smoke and lightning expanding threw the sky.
The dragons stared in shock at the strange sight, not knowing what to say to what they had just witnessed. The ponies were no different, all standing open mouthed at the cloud.
One of the guards was finally able to squeeze out words, "What-what in Equestria is that!?"
Ares could not take his eyes off the strange formation, "I don't know. I've never seen anything like that."
Night Stalker was the one who snapped everyone out of there trance when he noticed its directional path, "whatever that thing is, it is heading straight for the town!"
____________________________________
Aligon flies through the air faster than he has gone in over a millennium, feeling a rush of adrenaline from being help back for so long. He sees the city walls rapidly coming closer in the dark. He looking out, he sees the gardens past the town. He thinks of flying right to them, getting to his goal, then leaving the city. He believes this would be the easiest way to go along.
And yet, it would not be the most fun way to go along.
He looks down and sees the rows of stores and homes set up on the streets. He notices how there are still many ponies walking around at this time of night. A wave of maliciousness rushes over him. He realized that he had not caused mass panic in a population in the time he had returned, besides when he had control over Luna for only one day. He wanted to remember what it felt like to truly cause terror in the world.
Coming up with an enjoyable way to take up some time, he banks hard towards the stone street below him. He speeds through the air at hurricane speeds, forces that would cause many others to black out. At the last few moments before impact, he stretches his wings to slow the drop.
Despite slowing down, Aligon still hits the ground with enormous force, leaving a large impact crater and sends a shockwave in all directions, knocking anything or any pony within twenty feet. Broken chairs and umbrellas are shot across the street mixed with a cloud of dust. Nearby windows are shattered by rocks and other items shot off from the impact.
As the dust clears, Aligon sees the once quiet street is now a destroyed mess filled with debris and the screams of scared and injured ponies.
After recovering from there sudden blast, a pair of unicorns try to help eachother up, trying to figure out what had just happened. They look behind them and see a tall figure standing where the blast had come from. They immediately notice the dragon wings sprouted from its back. The strange sight sent chills up their spines.
Aligon walked towards the two scared unicorns shaking on the ground below him. He slowly trotted up to the pair, his silver eyes peering down at them. He bent his head down to them so he was almost head level with them.
The female unicorn lifted her eyes to meet with the figure above her, but when she saw those silver eyes staring straight threw her soul, she forces herself back down, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Do you fear death?" Aligorn questioned, his serpent voice falling off his tongue.
The young female trembled at the question, "y-y-yes." her voice barely audible from her shaking so much.
"Aw, that's too bad." he straightened himself back up, his horn starting to glow, "you're about to experience it."
I apologize for the short chapter, but I want the different stories to blend after this, so I am saving more for later. Enjoy!
Chapter 8: Pain Leads to Lies
The dinner had gone on for about an hour, allowing any pony to eat their fill. Some were finished by their first plate, while Big Mac was just getting started on his eighth. As the pile began to move from the table to the floor, Cheerilee tried to keep herself from turning bright red of embarrassment as others watched her date scarf down food like it was never going to satisfy him.
One pony kept her eyes focused on every pony in the crowd, watching as all of the forks and spoons began to stop moving from ponies eating their fill. Soon, only one pony was left eating his final bite of his sandwich. The pink pony gazed his every move as it slowly moved towards his moth.
“Come on…” Pinkie said to herself watching.
Sandwich in the mouth.
“Come on…”
Stallion chewing.
“Come on…”
Swallowing the bite.
“YAY!!!! Now that every pony has finished eating dinner, it’s time for dessert!” Pinkie pie Cheered as she hopped up and down in place. She was disappointed to hear a moan from multiple ponies complaining they were too full.
“OH you Party poopers! There is always room for dessert!” She took off to the bakery and returned pushing out a giant pink cake. “Every pony can come get dessert now!”
Luna couldn’t help but smile at how well things were going that night for her. She had enjoyed the wonderful meal that the town had prepared for her and for her sister, and given so much love by the ponies of that town. It gave her a warmer feeling than she had felt in a long time.
She had enjoyed seeing all of her good friends here like Twilight and the others since it had been so long since coming back to Ponyville. It was always good to get away from the stressful royal life and enjoy more simple ways that most ponies lived. It all was good, except how a certain white unicorn had never stopped staring at her the whole time.
Florence was alone at his table, since the others had left to talk to other ponies. He didn’t mind though, since only one thing was on his mind at that moment. Something he could not get out of his head, no matter how hard he tried to think.
He didn’t know why, but he was almost hypnotized by Luna. He knew it wasn’t because she was simply royalty and he was trying to hook up with her for that. It was something much more than that…
“hey, what’s up loner!” A familiar male voice said.
Florence turned to look at two blue Pegasus standing beside him. Seeing his friend Soarin was able to distract him long enough to be able to talk right, “oh, hey Soarin. Rainbow. Enjoying yourselves?”
“Well, we are. Are you? You’ve been sitting here the whole time not talking to any pony around you, just staring up.” Soarin gave a confused look of what his new friend had been doing the whole time during dinner.
Rainbow nudged her lover on the side to grab his attention, “Well, just so you know, Florence her has got a lock on someone he likes.” Her grin is so big it nearly touches both of her ears, “you should have seen him talking to Princess Luna. It was hilarious seeing how nervous he was!”
Soarin turns back to Florence, seeing it must have been true from how red he had turned, “you like the princess?”
Florence could hardly answer the question, his embarrassment nearly held him back from it, “Well, I-I don’t know. I’ve never felt this way before.”
Soarin looks up to the podium, seeing what had made Florence so infatuated with her. He had to admit when looking at her; he couldn’t help but eye her up and down, looking from her flowing mane and down her nice shapely body. Her wings caught his eye on just how large but perfectly shaped they were. He wanted to say how she was really hot too, but decided to hold his tongue with Rainbow sitting there, “She is cute, I guess.”
“Cute? She…is…GORGEOUS!” He caught himself shouting with his answer, having to stifle his excitement before he drew too much attention for himself.
Soarin and Rainbow nearly fell over from their laughter. After a few moments, the male wonderbolt looked back to his friend who had become more red from his laughs, “Oh Florence, falling for a princess. I have to say, I did not see this coming.” Looking back to the podium, he noticed the princess was looking down at Florence, but turned as soon as she saw him move, afraid to be caught looking. Soarin smiled back to his friend, “why don’t you go talk to her?”
The white unicorn immediately locked into place when hearing that. He had thought about going up to talk to her, but every time he wanted to, his body was shaking uncontrollably and couldn’t force himself up. ‘I don’t want to follow her like a little filly and seem like I’m a creeper.’ He thought to himself, ‘then again, staring at her the whole night did not make her feel any better.’
Frowning, he walked back his two friends, heading towards the cake. Soarin and Rainbow sat their quietly, not knowing what else to say. They both walked back over to their table.
Up on the podium, Princess Luna was enjoying a piece of cake that Pinkie had brought over to her. While the cake was good, something else was keeping her attention. She couldn’t help but keep glancing at the white unicorn she had met when she and her sister arrived in town. Mostly it was due to him staring at her the whole time, but something else kept her looking. She didn’t know what it was, though. Her eyes followed Florence as he walked away over to the dessert.
“Are you going to talk to him?”
Luna’s attention was broken when some pony next to her whispered in her ear. She turned to see Celestia sitting with a little smirk on her face.
Luna tried not to act surprised by the question, but a flush of blush washed across her, “Wh-why do you ask?”
Her older sister smiled and looked down to the white unicorn, “well, perhaps on the reason that he likes you.”
Luna turned even brighter from hearing those words, “Oh, come now, Tia. He is just nervous in meeting a princess.”
“Luna, ive seen him looking at you the whole time in dinner. Why, when we first arrive he could hardly talk to you he was so nervous. And it wasn’t because you were a princess, because he hardly took notice to me standing there.” Celestia frowned after that, still a little upset about being blown off like she wasn’t even there. It quickly turned back to a smile when she looked her sister in the eyes, “And I know you like him too.”
Luna’s wings shot out backwards from what she had just heard. She was at a loss of words from what her older sister just said about her. She was about to completely deny what her sister claimed… but something stopped her from saying anything. She had noticed she had a change in feelings when she arrived in Ponyville, but it wasn’t the hospitality that completely warmed her heart, but she didn’t know what it was.
She did notice when she looked at Florence, that feeling grew. It was strange, though, despite being a relatively handsome unicorn, there was something different about him that made her feel good.
Not wanting to think about it, she got up from her chair and walked down the podium. Celestia called out in confusion, “Luna, where are you going?”
“The bathroom.” She lied, she didn’t have to go; she just wanted to clear her thoughts.
Walking away from the crowds, Luna found herself on a side street where there was no other pony around. She felt relaxed seeing she could get some quiet time-
“I don’t like this with her being here!”
Luna jumped when she heard a voice around a store corner. She didn’t know who it was, but she could tell it was a male. Slowly, out of curiosity, she walked over to the corner of the building and peeked around the corner. She saw a brown earth pony with money bags as his cutie mark, and he was talking to a female earth pony, apparently his wife.
“Filthy, she has changed I tell you. She isn’t bad-“
“Bad?” Filthy Rich snapped, “She is a deceiver! A liar! Luna will turn on us anytime she wants!”
Luna sat there, hearing the painful words come out of the pony’s mouth. ‘He doesn’t trust me?’
Filthy Rich began going off, “She expects us to forgive her so easily when she was Nightmare Moon. Do remember when she first came and threatened our town!? Or how about that Nightmare Night the year after, do you remember how much damage she caused?”
His wife tried to calm him down, “Honey, she has changed, I tell you! She hasn’t tried to hurt any pony since she returned.”
She hasn’t, but she let others get hurt! Do you remember at Shining Armors weeding? She never came to help Canterlot when it was attacked!”
Those words hit Luna right in the heart. She couldn’t come help at the royal wedding; she had other duties she was attending. In fact, she didn't even know about the attack until after the wedding.
"That princess doesn't care about us! She only focuses on what she wants for herself!"
The anger within Luna built to the point to which she couldn't control it anymore. She wanted to face that disrespectful pony and put him in has place. She wanted him to pay for what he had said about her.
'Go on Luna, do it. Kill him!'
Luna's heart stopped when she heard the dark voice creep into her mind. It was the same one which tormented her past. She begins to hyperventilate from panic.
'Do it Luna. You know you want to. I was inside you for a thousand years. I can always see your thoughts'
"NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" she screamed out loud, throwing her hooves over her head, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
'I Told you Luna, I will always be a part of you. I will be within your mind. Forever.'
"NOO!"
"P-princess?"
Luna stopped And spun around. She saw that Filthy Rich and his wife standing there staring at her. Filthy had a face of confusion and fear, not knowing what the night princess had heard of his rant.
Panicked by what was happening, Luna got up and ran as fast as she can away from that spot. She had to get out of there. Ran and ran. She then spread her Wings and took to the sky away from Ponyville.
___________________________
"you had better make a move towards her." Rainbow said.
"Ah saw how ya looked at her." Applejack says.
"come on, Florence, don't let me down." Soarin comments.
Florence was surrounded by Twilight and the other element wielders, Spike and Soarin. All stood around him bombarding him with tips and advice.
Twilight tried to slow every pony down and give Florence some time to answer, "Florence, just go talk to her, but do not try to immediately hit on her."
Florence just sat there, listening to all of his friends trying to help him out, "Look, I appreciate your help it's just that... Luna?"
Twilight stared at him, confused at what he said, "what?"
"That's Luna!" He points his hoof at the dark moving object in the sky.
__________________________
Luna flew threw the sky, the horrors of what had happened still inside of her mind. She knew she could not stay there.
Down below in the forest, she noticed a small clearing, and sees something familiar in the center of it. Wanting to see what it is, she flies down to it.
Landing in the clearing, she looks to her right, and sees a large statue towering above her. It is the statue of nightmare moon.
Staring at it, old emotions begin rushing to her, from before, during, and after her nightmare moon terror. All of what she had done in her past came back in a powerful wave.
Not able to hold it back, Luna drops to the ground and tears began to pour from her eyes. She couldn't control it anymore. She suddenly hears footsteps from behind her. She turns to see a black and white creature walking towards her.
"My my, who could this be?" the female zebra said, "why it's princess Luna that I see."
Luna recognized it as Zecora, the Zebra local to the Everfree forest next to Ponyville. Trying to dry her tears, she stared at he zebra, and tried to talk through her sobs, "Z-Zecora, wh-What are you doing here?"
Zecora answered with her normal flow of rhymes, "I was walking to find a root for my potion, and then I heard a small commotion."
Luna put her head down, not wanting to talk about what had happened to her.
"Princess!" someone shouted.
Luna turned around and saw twilight and her friends coming through the trees, followed by Spike, Florence and Soarin. She was suprised to see them all, "how did you find me?"
Twilight quickly answered, "This is where you went when the last time you were upset."
Luna quickly thought back, and remembered when she was sitting here five years ago on nightmare night.
Rarity noticed the zebra there too, "Oh, Zecora? What are you doing here?"
"Why, this place is home to me. you should remember that, miss Rarity".
Luna once again looked at all the ponies around her, "Why did you all follow me out here?"
They all glanced around at each other, as If confused why the princess would ever even ask that. Twilight was the first to answer, "Luna, friends will always look out for each other."
"Oh yes, we wanted to make sure you were alright." Fluttershy said.
Yeah! I mean you left before the dessert was done! Oh and you didn't say around for the after dinner party!" pinkie pie hopped up and down happily.
Rarity spoke next, "Why darling, did you think we were going to let you come out here yourself?"
"Y'all have ta remember we will always be here for ya." Applejack said cheerfully.
"You can always count on us, princess." Spike added in.
"Yeah, you can always expect us to help you out." Rainbow bursted out.
Luna smiled at all of them, another tear of happiness fell down her cheek. Se looked past them and saw Florence standing there.
Being so nervous, Florence didn't know what to say. He felt a push from behind, and saw it was Soarin. Sporting a cheeky grin, his wonderbolt friend signaled him to go to her.
Reluctantly, he found the courage to do so. He walked over to Luna, who was still on he ground. He knelt down by her, "So, Luna, are you going to worry us like that again?" He gave a nice smile towards her.
Luna smiled back at the unicorn by her side. She once again felt the warm feeling in her heart return.
Zecora smiled as she saw what happened before her, "well well, this is a sight. It has been an eventful night." she trotted over to all of he ponies and the dragon, "Remember, the power of friendship is one to cherish, for as long as you live it will never perish."
Every pony smiled at each other from what Zecora had said, because they knew it was true. Pinkie pie bounded up all of a sudden, "oh, this is just like the hearthes warming eve play, you know; friendship leads to the creation of Equestria!"
Luna shook her head, and spoke without thinking"Oh, that old lie."
Every pony, dragon and zebra were caught off guard at what was said.
Suddenly, Luna's eyes snapped open, and panic rushed to her head. 'oh no, what did I jut do!?' she looks at all of the confused faces around her.
Twilight walks forward and stares Luna in the eye, "what do you mean by 'old lie'?"
Luna is so stunned. She didn't even realize what she had said until it was too late. 'Oh Celestia. Master. Forgive me.'
Spitfire flew through the air as fast as she could from her house in the eastern section of Canterlot. She was at home when she had heard the sonic boom in the distance. At first she believed it had been Rainbow Dash doing a practice run, but when she looked into the sky, she saw the dark cloud spreading across the moonlit sky. A few minutes later, she heard the impact from something landing in the city shopping plaza.
She couldn’t just sit there and not find out what was happening. She knew she had to go and find out if any pony was hurt. After another five minutes of flying, she came across a large crowd of ponies running below her. Every single one of them was screaming.
Dropping to the ground, Spitfire tried to ask the fleeing ponies what had happened, “Hey, what happened? Any pony, please! What is going- ahg!” She was cut off as a unicorn ran straight into her. Recovering from the collision, she looked up, seeing a battered mare staring right back at her. Her eyes were bloodshot from pure panic, blood running down her body from multiple gashes. Before Spitfire could say anything, the unicorn ran off.
Spitfire was soon left alone in the street. She looked around and saw many of the buildings on the street were burning from the spreading fire. Over to her right she saw the corpse of a small pony sprawled across the sidewalk. It was a young filly, no more than seven years old. There was blood splattered in all directions around the small body. Spitfire felt as if she was going to throw up seeing the sight.
“Oh, I see someone hasn’t left yet.”
Spitfire froze when she heard the sinister voice. She turned and saw the dark alicorn walking towards her. At nine feet tall, the beast towered over the yellow Pegasus. Her body trembled when she saw the dragon wings at the sides of the creature. But what truly petrified her were the eyes… those silver eyes locked on her. They were like the eyes of a monster, seemingly staring through her soul.
“You seem braver than the others…” Aligon said to the terrified Pony beneath them, “yet bravery will always fade in the darkness.” He smiled as his horn began to glow. He tilted his head down and shot a blast of energy towards his victim.
Seeing the approaching blast shook Spitfire out of her frozen state. Jumping to the side, the energy hit the stone below where she had stood. Seeing that he had a fast target, Aligon laughed and let out multiple shots, one after another. Panicked, Spitfire preformed numerous flips and dives, barely evading the oncoming energy beams.
After it subsided, Spitfire was so scared her body was in a constant shake. Without even having to think, she turned and took to the skies as fast as she could. Her mind had too many thoughts to process at one time to even know what to do. Cry? Scream? Hide?
Aligon sat there watching the fast Pegasus fly off, a large grin spreading across his face, “It has been a long time since I have had myself a good chase.” He spread his large wings and took off after his prey.
______________________________________________
"What are you talking about a lie?" Twilight questioned Princess Luna, who was so shocked she did not want to answer any of the questions her friends were asking her.
Applejack sat confused at what the princess had said. She looked around and noticed she wasn't the only one thinking of the same thing. She and her friends played in the play celebrating the fateful day when Pegasus, unicorn, and earth ponies bonded together, overcoming their differences and formed Equestria.
Florence looked at Luna with total loss of understanding, "How can it be a lie? This story happened thousands of years before the alicorns existed."
"Yeah, how would you know? It happened before you were even born!" Rainbow blurted out.
Luna just slowly turned away from them, not wanting to look any of them in the eyes. She could not believe what she had inadvertently let out. She didn't want to reveal what had been hidden over 1500 years ago. She didn't think They would be able to accept it. Celestia would be furious as well.
Yet, Luna was surrounded by her friends who truly cared for her, and she felt guilty for having to lie directly to their faces. 'They are the wielded of the elements of harmony for Equestria's sake!' Luna thought to herself, 'they deserve to know what happened to us.'
Turning back to all of them, Luna slowly stood up and walked back towards the circle of hooves, spikes and stripes. She took a quick look to all of the faces around her filled with confusion. All of her thoughts from her past came back to her, making her remember why the lies were created.
She stood quietly for another minute until her nerves allowed her to speak, “Equestria was not formed from ponies coming together through friendship during a storm like the story says.”
Twilight tilted her head from thought, “How would you know that?”
Luna’s eyes filled with pain from what she was about to say. She looked down to the ground, “Because my father created that story after the war.”
Every pony, zebra and dragon gasped from what the princess had just said. Twilight took a few steps backward from what she heard. The thoughts ran through her head, ‘her father!? Luna’s and Celestia’s father!’ Thinking back, she realized her teacher had never mentioned anything about her parents, or anything of an ancient war. In fact, she had never even heard of an old war.
Out of all of them there, Florence stepped forward first, “what are you talking about a war? I haven’t ever heard of one from before 1000 years ago besides Discord's reign and Nightmare moon.”
Luna turned to the unicorn and looked him straight in the eye, “The war was stripped from all known history books and was kept secret by me, my sister and our master.”
“Master?” Fluttershy questioned.
Luna struggled at first to say the name, but finally forced it out, “Starswirl the Bearded.”
Twilight was overtaken by shock from that name, “St-St-Starswirl?!”
Soarin lifted an eye brow at Twilights reaction, “Who?”
“Starswirl the Bearded! The greatest and most powerful unicorn to have ever existed!" Twilight could not believe what she was learning. "He was your master?”
“Yes he was, Twilight. He was our teacher and our guardian for 500 years.”
Zecora’s eyes went wide from hearing that figure of time, “But Princess Luna, that is not possible. Life that length is not plausible,"
“Yeah, no creature can live for that long besides dragon's and alicorns.” Spike commented.
“It is a long story to explain everything.” Luna said.
“And one that will not be told.”
Every pony turned to where the new voice came from. When Luna turned up as well, her heart felt as if it had moved to her throat. Her face filled with panic seeing the mysterious figure come into view from the trees.
Standing there was Princess Celestia, her face twisted with anger.
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Spitfire's heart was slamming in her chest as she flew over the city. Her body was tiring as she flew harder, but she refused to slow down; knowing what was after her. She turned her head and saw her fear confirmed.
The monster was still behind her, and closing in fast. It seemed as if it wasn't even trying to catch its prey, but toying with it. Its eyes shone through the darkness, locked on to her. It's evil smile showed the many fangs gleaming against the moonlight.
Terrified, Spitfire dove to the ground, weaving through the narrow alley ways in an attempt to lose the beast. Her smaller size did allow her to maneuver easier in the tight corners, but the creature simply blew apart the walls blocking its path.
Spitfire's body was beginning to fail her; the fatigue from flying so hard was taking a toll on every muscle. She didn’t want to stop, but it seemed inevitable. Seeing her house, she rushed into it as fast as she could and locked the door behind her.
She knew hiding was pointless, but in panic she wasn't focusing on what was smart or stupid, only what could keep her alive longer. Shooting her eyes around, she ran across the living room to the desk set up in the corner and hid behind it, the wood backing blocking the view to and from the door. Laying her back against the wood, she gasped for much needed air.
The door to her house was ripped from the hinges and thrown to the side. She would have screamed if she did not cover her mouth with her hoof. It seemed as if time nearly stopped, knowing that her pursuer had all of the intentions to take her life. Her breathes came in rapid intakes when she heard the hooves entering her living room.
Aligon looked around the small room for his target Pegasus. He smiled as he glanced up and down the halls to the other rooms. He always enjoyed quick kills, but sometimes it was a great thrill to cause pure torment in some of his victims, wanting them to have the horrible memories be imprinted in their mind as he sent them to the afterlife.
He slowly trotted to the center of the main room, peeking into the kitchen, “I know you are in here, little one.” His dark voice rolling off his tongue and seemed to echo in the quiet home.
Spitfire curled up into a ball, trembling uncontrollably. ‘Please…’ she thought to herself, ‘please just leave.’ Her eyes could not hold back the tears that formed.
Aligon continued to scan. He lifted his head and gave a deep inhale, allowing the millions of air particles to enter his nostrils. His brain began processing the unlimited amount of scents floating around. The dragon genetics within his body not only gave incredible physical strength, but enhanced his body with unparalleled senses to seek out his needs. It also gave him a few abilities that alicorns could never have.
He opened his eyes after a few moments, turning his head towards the desk in the corner. He grinned as he took steps in that direction, “it is stupid to hide from me. You should just allow me to end your suffering.”
Spitfire began to feel her heart ramming against her ribs as she heard the hoofs getting closer. The tears now fell uncontrollably to the floor as she trembled. Thoughts of being ripped apart or having her body twisted into a sick mess tormented her mind. ‘Please don’t let it end like this!’
The steps stopped at the edge of the desk, and the alicorn whispered through the wood, “Nothing you can ever do will save you from me. You can’t run from me. You can’t fight me…” he stopped as he slid his long tail around one of the legs of the desk, flinging it against the side wall. Underneath was the crying Pegasus he was looking for, staring straight at him with pure terror in her face, “and a shitty desk will not save you from me!”
“NOOOOO!” Spitfire screamed as the curved horn began to glow.
Suddenly, Aligon was shot by a blast of orange energy from the doorway, forcing him to stumble . The attack did not leave any physical damage to his rear, but caused him to grow angry for having his fun disrupted. He turned to the opening and saw a royal guard standing there, horn pointed straight at him.
The guard glared at the alicorn inside the home, “Get away from her you son of a bitch!”
Aligon glared at the unicorn, “So, you wish to die as well you pathetic little shit?” He charged out of the room after the unicorn, who had turned and fled to the streets.
The house was then occupied by one creature; a trembling, crying Pegasus.
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Celestia walked into the large clearing where all of the others were standing. Her eyes were filled with anger and her teeth were showing through the near snarl on her face.
Twilight felt frightened looking at her teacher. In all the years she served under Celestia, she had never once seen her this furious. The others trembled under her gaze as well, but most of all Luna.
All of them parted to make a path as the sun goddess walked through them to the lunar Princess. Celestia didn't even turn to look at the others, because all thought and focus was set on her sister, who had betrayed her trust.
No pony had the courage to say anything or to ask what was happening. Every one of them sat and stared at the two sisters below the statue.
Celestia stood quietly for another minute, just staring at her sister. She soon finally said something, without turning, to the ones standing behind her, "Leave us now."
Twilight at first as going to comply, but her heart wanted to figure out what was happening. She slowly took a step towards her master, "But princess, what is going on? Why didn't you ever say-"
Celestia whipped around and glared at her pupil, "I Gave you an order Twilight Sparkle!" her words rang through the quiet clearing.
Twilight dropped to he ground out of pure fear. She had made many mistakes in her past, and Celestia simply gave her a speech on how to become better, and never yelled at her. It was not only the tone or the volume of her words master's that bothered Twilight, but the look in her eyes seemed as if the hatred flowed directly into Twilights heart.
Celestia glared up at the others standing behind her student, "All of you, head back to Ponyvlle now, and you will not speak a word of what you have heard this night." all heads shook in unison to her demand. Turning towards Ponyville, all of them, including Zecora, began walking Florence and Luna locked eyes momentarily, until he finally turned around and followed the others down the Path.
Seeing that they were gone, Celestia turned her gaze back towards her sister, who was still kneeling on the ground, not wanting to look up, "Now tell me Luna; what gave you the idea to break our families promise!?"
_______________________
Aligon was standing in the center of the large clearing within the Canterlot eastern wing. On the ground below him was the bodies of a dozen guards skewed about in bloody piles. He looked around him, and saw he still had ten more guards and three dragons to take care of.
Ares was panting for breath. He could not believe the power that he saw. None of their attacks were even phasing the beast. It seemed to allow the magic blasts to strike its body, as if testing the strength of their attacks.
Night Stalker was tired as well. He and his comrades did had just come from Montara without having time to rest, and now had to face this seemingly immortal creature.
Aligon was now getting frustrated from the interruptions. He first wanted to cause a massive panic, kill some ponies here and there, perhaps a few guards. He didn't want to fight off a platoon and several dragons. He grunted from how much time he was wasting.
Raising his long tail off the ground, Aligon lifted the wounded guard he had been holding by the throat. The pony gagged as he tried to pull off the strong tail blocking his breathing, until he went limp and his eyes rolled back in his head.
Ares cringed when he saw the body stop moving. Seeing how easily the creature was taking out the guards, he knew that there was no chance for them to stop it.
He looked over to Night Stalker, knowing there was only one hope to save the city, "Night, you have to leave this place."
Stalker turned over to the pony captain, "What?"
"You have to fly to the neighboring town of Ponyville and find the princess's and warn them of what is happening."
"No! You need my help. If leave you will be-"
"And if you stay we will all be killed!"
"Night, dont worry about us. We will hold him off." the large green dragon said looking at his friend.
Stalker looked up at Crimson but couldn't smile; he knew that his long time friend was about to die for him. Feeling guilty, but obligated to a duty, he took off into the skies. He flew away from the destruction of Canterlot, silently thanking the others below.
Aligon saw the dragon take off into the sky, and knew they were planning something. He looked around to his enclosing opponents and then noticed that the dragon was heading towards the village where the princess sisters were. He knew that they would be warned, and he did not want to take the time to fight off the alicorns.
Aligon closed his eyes and focused his energy into the center of his chest, and began to split the energy in opposite directions. His physical mass began to dissolve into a plasmic gas that bubbled and simmered as it started to divide. The ponies and dragons stared in disbelief to what they were witnessing. After several tense moments, the matter split into two different sections. The masses soon solidified and took shape.
Standing there was two identical bodies of Aligon.
Ares could feel his heart beating in his head against the side of his helmet. He had no idea what was happening. He tried to control his nerves by taking a step forward, "come on, soldiers! We fight to the end!" He charged forward, followed by the others close behind.
crimson flew up above the now split creature, tilting his long neck back. Taking a deep inhale, he then let out an enormous blast of red fire down to the earth below. The blaze raced down to its target, but at the very last moment, both alicorns teleported from that spot. Crimson searched all around him, then noticed the shadow blocking the moonlight.
Whipping his head around, he saw both creatures were behind him, and one of them was flying in the direction that Night Stalker had just went. Panicked, crimson tried to exhale again, but was stifled when the other Aligon shot a concentrated beam into the dragons left eye and striking the brain. He died instantly, his large scaled body falling back to the ground below.
Area and all the others looked up and saw the green drake plummeting out of the air. Above the falling creature, Aligons horn began to glow in the night, it's grey aura forming into a large ball of energy over his head. Area felt a rush of fear in his heart, "Take cover!". All the ponies and remaining dragon turned and tried to escape, but it was too late.
(Some music to match the scene)
Youtube Video
Aligon's attack had grown to a six foot swirling ball of matter pulsating with energy. He launched it towards the ground at incredible speed. The energy hissed and burned as it closed the distance to the dirt below.
BOOM!
The impact of the blast created a powerful shockwave of energy that was sent in every direction from the epicenter. Earth and stone was ripped up and got caught in the blast. Ponies were sucked into it as well, feeling their fur and skin being incinerated from the heat. The remaining dragon was knocked from the sky and felt the sensation of burning to death, a death not common for dragons. Ares turned and tried to raise a shield to protect himself, but felt it shatter immediately, launching his body far out of the clearing.
After the dust settled, Aligon dropped to the ground, his legs struggling to keep him up. He panted for air, cursing at himself, "You damn fool! Use this attack before you divide!"
Pure separation is not a temporary clone filled with meagle powers, which dissipates after several attacks; the energy of the wielder is split into perfect halves of the origional caster, identical to each other in every physical or mental form, yet each with their own set of thoughts. They cannot see what is happening to the other while split, yet once they refuse, the memories of each will perfectly blend with one another, giving a unique view from two complete different places.
After allowing himself to recover for a few moments, Aligon looked around the destroyed clearing. His blast had caused a crater over 100 feet across, yet the shockwave generated leveled all buildings within a 300 foot radius. He was disapointed this was the level of power is current form had. He then took noticed of the many burnt corpses spread about, "Hmm, these could all be useful for later."
Casting a glow, he summoned dozens of syinges and sent each one to a seperate body and stuck them. Although charred, there was plenty of blood left to gain a large enough sample from each of the ponies and dragons around him. Once complete, he teleported all of them away to where he hid his others, "These will all be useful for the future." He smiled once again, his mind rushing of what to expect with his plan to come.
Noticing he was alone now, he continued on to his true goal. After several minutes, he finally reached the one thing he needed for his plan. There in front of him stood the stone statue of Discord.
Celestia seems pissed! what is the truth? hope you enjoyed!
Sorry for the long delay in updates. Work comes first :(
Chapter 10: The demon's subject
Aligon stood before the large stone prison of the malevolent spirit Discord. He looked up and saw the pose the spirit was looked in. Unlike the first time where he gave a pose of seemingly laughing, this time he was locked with a face of shock.
After Discord was released from his prison 5 years ago, he began to cause havoc and pranks throughout the land. The destruction was nothing compared to the last time he had released his energy before being sealed by the princess’s. Even after getting a second chance, he was once again defeated by the elements of harmony.
Aligon tilted his head forward, allowing his horn to point at the base of the spirit. The tip of the white bone shot out a small beam, striking the statue. The energy caused a small crack to begin spreading from the base, up the long snakelike body of the stone, the over the horse shaped head. After another moment, it began to spread to every angle of Discord’s body. Then suddenly…
BAM!!
The statue exploded, sending a large dust cloud out across the garden. The cloud floated for a few moments until settling down. Where the statue once stood was now a pile of crust, the stone shell of imprisonment. Floating just a foot above was a body compliled of many different creatures.
Discord had been awakened.
Stretching his arms, the spirit gave a chuckle of excitement, “Oh, this is brilliant! It seems the elements are getting weaker! Only five years since I was sealed and im free again!”
“You didn’t free yourself… I did.” A voice said from the side.
Discord did not notice the being to the right. Before even looking, he laughed out loud, “Oh, so you say you helped me? Well I have a few questions for you, then. First, why would a simple pony want to help me, the god of chaos?” He snapped his talon tipped fingers on his left arm together, summoning a glass of chocolate milk. After taking a few sips, he continued as he began to turn to the voice, “and secondly, what makes you think I would believe you were strong enough to free-”
He stops mid-sentence when his eyes meet the dark blue alicorn standing to the side. His heart felt as if it had stopped beating for several seconds. The drink drops from his hand, the glass shattering on the ground below. For the first time in over 1500 years, Discord had the chill of fear run up his spine.
After about twenty seconds of staring, Discord dropped to the ground directly below Aligon, kneeling down to him. Discord kept his head low as he spoke, “H-hello, master.”
Aligon looked down to the creature below him, his silver eyes half closed out of exhaustion, and out of disappointment, “Discord, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it? I’m surprised that you had failed me… twice.”
Discord trembled under the gaze of the alicorn above him, “Master, I can explain! It wasn’t my fault-”
“Actually, it is!” Aligon bellowed out, his anger growing, “I gave you power to cause destruction to this world, yet it seems as if all that you care about is pranks and mischief! I watched as you first tried to take over a thousand years ago, you failed against the princess’s while they were still young!”
Discord tried to defend himself, looking up at Aligon, “it wasn’t just them! They had help from-”
“And five years ago when I released you from stone, you never caused the death of a single pony! The worst thing you did was cause friends to hate each other!”
“Master, I- wait, you freed me?” Discord looked up in confusion.
“Yes I did. Even though the elements have grown weaker from the wielders, you were not strong enough to break free.” Aligon then grimaced, remembering the elements still stopped him as Nightmare Moon, but that was due to a certain wizard from the past.
Aligon looked back down to the spirit below him, who was cowering under his gaze. While Discord failed to follow the ways he wanted and in taking over the land, he knew he couldn’t kill him… yet. He still needed him for his plans to succeed.
Discord looked up at Aligon, another question bothering him, “I thought you died after the war. How are you here?”
"I was dead, Discord… partially to be exact.”
“Wh-what? What do you mean?”
Aligon turned around and began to walk, “I thank you, Discord. If it weren’t for you, I would not be standing here.”
Discord did not understand what Aligon was talking about. He tried to ponder the last words said, but stopped when he noticed the alicorn leaving. Getting up, he knew he had to follow him. ‘If Aligon was alive this whole time, there had to be an important reason that he returned for me now’ he thought to himself.
Aligon took to flight, his large wings causing a gust of wind out. He flew into the skies, followed closely by his personal creation.
________________________________________________________________________
“Well, I must say, this is quite strange. The mood of the Celestia was a very large change.” Zecora stated as she walked with the others back to Ponyville. Even though she lived in the forest, she was afraid to not follow the orders to go to the town.
Most of the walk was quiet for all of the different group members. Even Pinkie Pie was simply walking instead of having her normal hop to her step. None of them could figure out what Princess Luna was trying to get across to them. No matter how hard any of them thought, though, none of it made sense; it went against everything they had ever known about the history of their world.
Of all the figures walking back, one specific pony stayed at the back the entire time, her head hung low. Twilight could not get over the look that Princess Celestia gave her before they left the clearing. When the look was combined with the order thrown out by her master, it was perhaps one of the worst pains she had ever experienced. Her heart felt like it had just been hit with a hammer.
Fluttershy noticed how upset Twilight was, so she slowed down to walk by her side, “Umm, Twilight? Are you feeling okay?” Her soft voice always helped soothe others that were not feeling the best.
Twilight smiled at her friend’s compassion, but she never turned her head to look at Fluttershy. Her eyes were locked forward as she walked. Her mind was racing from all of the different pieces of information the lunar princess had said to her. ‘She says that Equestria was created after a great war. ‘She thought to herself, “But what war? What started that war? What was so bad that they had to keep it hidden?’
Twilight’s face suddenly turned from sulking to rage. She stomped her hoof in frustration, coming to a stop. All the others stopped as well, wondering what caused Twilight’s sudden change. Florence walked over to her, “Twilight, are you all right?”
She glared up. But Florence saw her eyes, and realized she wasn’t glaring at him; she was glaring at her thoughts. She let her words burst out of her mouth, “No! I’m not all right! I am learning that our whole world could be a lie. Then, I get yelled at by the princess for something I do not understand!”
Rarity stepped back, shocked by her friends sudden outburst, “Now Twilight, you don’t know if that’s-”
“If that’s true!?” Twilight turned to the white unicorn, “I don’t know what is true! Whatever is the truth, Princess Celestia is determined to hide it! And I want to find out why!”
Spike’s eyes grew double their size after hearing that, “What!? Twilight, we should just let it go! If the princess did not want us to find out about it, maybe we shouldn’t be sticking our noses in the past then.”
Rainbow flew back to the others talking, wanting to mix her opinion in, “I agree with Twilight! The princess shouldn’t be hiding a bucking war from us! We should go and try to find out what happened!”
“Uhh, I say we don’t! I don’t want to lose my job!” Soarin shouted out. He didn’t want to be kicked off the wonderbolt team for going against the princess’s order.
Twilight turned and started off from the group, “I have to find out what is being kept from us. I’m going to Canterlot.”
Rainbow flew in front of her, “why would you go to Canterlot?”
“I need to go and look through the Royal library. There has to be information left in some books throughout it.”
“But I thought that Luna said all information of the war had been destroyed years ago?” Florence questioned.
Twilight then remembered that too. If it was true, it would be hard to find anything relevant to the past. Suddenly she remembered something else Luna had said… her master. For the first time in a while, a smile spread across Twilight’s face. She turns back towards the other group members, her new idea giving her a brighter mood “If Luna said her master was Starswirl the bearded, then there has to be information in his section of the library.”
All of the others were confused on what to do, not knowing if it was good to disregard the orders of the royalty. But, they wanted to know what was happening too, even if it meant having to have to face Celestia sometime later.
I’m coming with you, Twi.” Rainbow landed on the ground next to her purple friend, “I want to find out about this stuff, too. We can help you.” She turns and looks back to Soarin. He at first hesitated, but then stepped forward next to the two of them.
Spike ran up to them as well, “I’m coming too!”
Zecora walked towards Twilight, her face filled with concern, “Twilight, is this plan of yours smart at this time? If the princess finds out, you may be punished for the crime.”
Twilight saw that her friend was worried for what could happen if Celestia caught them going against her will. But she didn’t care, “Zecora, I have to find out what she is lying about. Who knows what else has been hidden.”
“Well well, a young rebel that you are…” the zebra smiled at her friend, “then I shall assist you while you’re afar. The facts from Luna are new to me, so I want to see what they could be. ”
Twilight smiled, and looked to the others behind Zecora, “All right, while we go to Canterlot, all of you can go to the Ponyville library; Look for any kind of book on war, history or even old pony tales, and see if anything matches the descriptions that Princess Luna said.”
All of the others nodded unanimously before taking off towards Ponyville. After a moment, Only Twilight, Spike, Rainbow and Soarin were left in the path. Looking around, the male Pegasus looked a little confused, “so… now that we’re ready to go, are me and Rainbow supposed to carry you two?”
The others looked at each other before breaking out into laughter. Soarin sat confused at what was so funny. He knew walking to Canterlot would have taken a long time, so he figured they were going to have to fly there.
Twilight walked forward towards Soarin, and the other two followed suit. Soon all of them were in a tight circle. Soarin had no idea what they were doing.
"Soarin, you know I've been practicing at magic for a long time, right?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah?"
"Why walk there when I have my magic." she smiled.
Tilting her head up, her horn fasted a purple orb of energy around the group. The matter began to swirl around them, and in a flash, they were gone.
_________________________________________________________________
Night Stalker flew through the air as fast as he could beat his wings. He had heard the explosion from behind as he left the castle, but did not stop. He knew that if he turned to help the others, the princess's would not know of what was going on. He had to force himself on.As he flew, he heard something behind him that caught his attention. He turned quickly to see what it was. The demon was closing in on him! Feeling panicked, he pushed himself even harder, feeling as if his wings were going to rip off his body.
Aligon flew after his target, his wings beating ferociously. He hated that not only was his energy cut in half from dividing, but his physical strength and speed as well had been divided. He cursed as he flew after the animal.
Suddenly, he felt another magic reading. He could tell that it was not from the princess's but that was it. Being split, his senses were Also divided. And since he was preoccupied with the dragon, he didn't focus on what it was. All he knew was that he had to stop the dragon before it reached the princess's.
Flying right behind the dragon, Aligon shot out a number of energy beams towards the drake. Seeing the dragon successfully maneuver out of the attacks path, his frustration grew.
Stalker could feel the rush of the attacks as he barely evaded being struck. He was was exhausted, but he pushed himself harder and harder. A few moments later, he could see the lights of the village ahead of him. He was so close. He could make it. He knew that he-.
“AHH!” He screamed out in pain as another blast from behind grazed his right wing. While it did not directly hit it, the energy still crippled his wing to the point where it could hardly flap anymore. He began to drop rapidly, his altitude now only a few hundred feet above the tree line.
Aligon laughed out loud, seeing the injured creature in front of him struggle to stay up. It was amusing for him, watching an animal fight to stay alive for every precious moment. He pushed himself faster, the distance between him and the drake diminishing.
Night saw that the creaure behind him would catch him soon. Looking down, he could see he wouldn't make it to the small town. He was going to crash into the trees before he could glide to it. His heart sank, knowing that he had failed all of those who had died at Canterlot. 'Everyone, i'm sorry. Please forgive me.' he thought as the forest came closer towards him, until... he saw a small clearing to the left. seeing it was flat ground, he turned as quickly as he could, bracing himself for the impact.
________________________________________________
"So, you just chose to suddenly talk about the past after all these years!?" Celestia yells at her younger sister. They had been arguing for the past few minutes of what had happened.
"I told you, Tia! It accidently slipped out! i did not expect it to happen, all right!?" Luna was now standing face to face with her sister, each standing their ground.
"Luna, how does it just slip out? We have been able to keep it secret for our entire lives. It has never been a problem"
Like i said before, I was already upset from what i heard from in the town. When i came out here, they followed me to help me out. After a few moments, Pinkie mentioned about the Hearth's Warming Eve story. I was not thinking straight, and accidently said how it was a lie." Luna was so angry at Celestia. Hearing that her own sister thought that she would betray her trust made her emotions skyrocket. She turned away and took some steps to distance themselves.
Celestia glared at her blue sister, "Is it because you were upset that it slipped, or because your hormones are crazy for that unicorn?"
Luna froze when she heard Celestia say that. Turning back, her blue eyes focused her rage at her older sister, "What was that?"
"You heard me. I can tell that you like him, but you have let your emotions compromise the very knowledge of the ponies here."
Luna snapped at the sun goddess, "That has nothing to do with it!"
"Whether it does or not, you also revealed it to my own personal student. How do you think she is going to look at me now? She will never believe anything I say after this!"
Luna grew angrier as her sister spoke, "Celestia, Twilight Sparkle and her friends are the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. I owe them my life for saving me! whatever mistake i made is wrong and done, but perhaps they deserve to hear the truth."
"Don't you understand? our lands have been able to stay in control from what we have told every pony. Even the dragons are organized with themselves compared to what they used to be!"
"Our land has been able to last this whole time. whether we tell the past or not, the future will go on. So tell me now, if I were to tell all of those that were here tonight the truth, what difference would it make?"
Listen to me, Luna! You have let these feelings for this Hoofmond peasant affect your thought, and that doesn't excuse-"
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL HIM THAT!" Luna boomed out her royal Canterlot voice.
Celestia froze at the blast of air and sound; it was the first time her sister had ever directed that at her. She stared at luna, who was now so furious that her teeth were so clenched together, it seemed as if they would crack. She then thought back to her statement she had made, and her eyes became filled with sorrow. 'A peasant? Did I just say that?' she thought to herself, 'have I become so stuck up that i call a pony that?'
After several quiet moments, Luna had to turn away, her eyes filling with tears once again. she couldn't control the emotions that were clashing inside of her body. It felt as if she was being pulled in a hundred different directions at the same time, and she didn't know which emotion to follow.
Celestia slowly walked over to her sister, and draped a wing over her. Pulling her close to her side, Celestia leanedL una onto her side, giving her a warm feel in the night air. Being together, Lun stopped sniffling, drying the last few tears falling. celestia was the first to speak, "I'm sorry, Luna. I didn't mean what i said. i was just upset and I didn't control my tongue."
"No..." Luna said, "I'm the one who should be sorry. I broke the promise we made after... that night." she lowers her head, thinking back to the night that changed both of their lives forever.
Suddenly, multiple blasts of energy across the sky broke the peaceful moment between the sisters. They looked up, seeing the gray and black beams fly trough the night sky. They were shocked, not knowing where it was coming from... or from what is was from.
Luna noticed the dark shape falling from the sky just over the tree line. She focused her eyes, trying to get a beter picture of it. Her heart raced when she finally realized, "Sister! It's a dragon!"
Celestia saw it as well. She was shocked to see a dragon so close to Ponyville. If it saw the town, it would have no trouble killing dozens of ponies. She points her horn towards the black figure, preparing to launch a beam directly at its head. The aura around her head begins to glow bright under the moonlit sky. She focuses her beam, preparing to shoot it as soon as it-.
The dragon stopped flapping. Its boy dropped out of the sky and crash lands on the dirt fifty feet from the sisters. Celestia doesn't know what is going on, but doesn't drop her guard. Luna, however, runs over to the fallen creature. Once getting there, she sees his body is battered from the impact in the dirt, but his left wing was covered by the scorch marks of a burn, and the base of the wing had a large chunk of flesh missing, apparently blown off.
After several seconds, the dragon begins to stir, and looks up to the pony standing above him. Luna shouts out, "Tia, come quick! It's hurt!" Celestia has a strange feeling of walking over, but decides to see what has happened. Once reaching the spot, she sees that the dragon was quite small, in comparison to others.
Night Stalker is dazed, but can still notice the faces above him. He at first feels threatened, since he is and injured dragon, and since ponies and dragons have never truly gotten along, he expects the ponies to use his vulnerability to finish him off. He is then shocked when he sees the two figures are alicorns, which can only mean one thing. He struggles to get out the few words of energy he has left, "A-are you th-the princess's?"
Both Luna and Celestia are hesitant to answer, but then nod their heads simultaneously.
Stalker gasps for air, feeling as if his lungs were crushed, "Your- your city. its.. its been- AHG" he stops as the pain in his chest grows.
Celestia kneels down next to the animal, "easy now. What are you talking about?"
"Can-Canterlot has been... attacked." Those were the last words Night said before he passed out.
Both sisters felt their hearts drop from what they were told. It seemed too hard believe what the fallen dragon had said. Celestia began to think of what could have happened. She turns to her sister, "Luna, we have to go now!"
Before either of them can move, a sudden impact on the ground behind them catches their attention. They both turn to see what caused the tremor. Out of the dust rose the head of a blue alicorn, with a curved horn set on its forehead. The large dragon wings stretched out to the sides, and the silver eyes were staring straight at the royal sisters.
Celestia's body locked as she saw the figure standing there. She was looking at a beast which had terrorized her dreams for years when she was younger. her heart was beating so fast that she could feel the artery in her neck pulsing to the rythem.
Her nerves were so rattled, the only thing she could say was the name of the animal, "A-Al-ALIGON!?"
Chapter 11: First conflict
The teleportation spell lasted only for less than a second. The purple aura pulsed as the effects dissipated around the three ponies and the dragon. As the energy faded, Soarin stumbled a step, a little dizzy from his first experience with magic in that sense. Twilight smiled over at him, “don’t worry, you get used to it after a couple times.”
He glared over at her, “I hope I don’t have to do it a few more times. I’d rather take the time and fly over here.”
Rainbow chuckled at her colt friends sickness, “Oh you poor little filly. You had better start-” she stopped as she looked around at the surrounding area, her face locked by panic.
Twilight looked around as well, and her reaction was no better; the Canterlot shopping plaza had been completely destroyed. The many surrounding stores were either burning or already left as piles of wood and ash. The street was littered with debris from the buildings or the once many carts that used to stand on the sidewalk. She could not comprehend the destruction of her former home town.
Spike walked out of the shocked group, seeing the wreckage around him. He then glanced to the side of the street, and saw the bodies of multiple ponies lying across the ground. The trails of blood from their wounds were not flowing, already starting to dry up. He couldn’t control the feeling that was coming up from his stomach. He dropped to his knees, followed by the sickening gagging reflex that came from the sight he saw.
Twilight walked over to comfort her young dragon, laying her hoof over his shoulder. He reached up and grabbed it with his claws. Twilight then turned back to the two Pegasus behind them, who were also in disbelief to what they saw.
Twilight nudged Spike, signaling him they had to move. Reluctantly, he slowly stood up, and followed his sister figure back to Rainbow and Soarin. Both of them turned as Twilight approached them, “We have to go. We have to look for survivors.”
Both looked at each other, then nodded in agreement to their friend. They each started to walk down the different alley ways, looking for any sign of life left in the wreckage. Spike began to walk until Twilight stopped him, “Spike, I need you to go into the stores, try to find some parchment, and write a letter to Celestia as soon as you can. You need to warn them of what has happened here.”
Spike agreed; with the princess’s away, it wouldn’t be for hours until they found out what had happened in the capital. He ran into the nearest store that wasn’t destroyed, looking through the cabinets and shelves for anything that he could write with.
Twilight turned back to the other two, who had checked the few bodies that were scattered in that area. They checked the pulses of the ponies, yet not one beat had been found yet. Soarin felt like it was pointless to continue checking. He knew whatever had attacked this place, it had made sure that all of the ponies in this area had perished.
After another minute of unsuccessful searching, the three ponies continued through the street. It seemed as if the destruction did no end; it just continued on. Rainbow just couldn’t accept what had happened, “What in Equestria could have done this?”
Twilight turned to her saddened friend, “I don’t know Rainbow.” She watched as Soarin walked over to Rainbow, laying his wing over her back and bringing her closer for comfort.
A sudden shift in a pile of wood snapped them out of their trance. All three of them stopped and saw the movement; followed by a loud moan of pain Soarin could not believe it, “Some ponies alive!” He rushed over to the stack, trying to lift the heavy wood up. Before he could strain himself, Twilight came over, using her magic to lift the large chunk of pillar and rocks up. Underneath, they saw the battered body of a blue unicorn.
Twilight gasped at who she saw, “Captain Ares!” She dropped down to remove the last few pieces of wood off his body. Using her hoof to prop his head up, she then saw that his armor had been severely burned, and most of his exposed fur was singed. Twilight tried to wake the injured captain, “Ares…Ares wake up!”
Ares soon came to, his breath coming in raspy gasps. He looked up and saw the purple mare come into focus, “Tw-Twilight?”
“Yes, it’s me Ares! Are you alright?”
Despite barely conscious, he managed to glare at her, “D-Do I look l-like I’m alright?”
Twilights face scrunches up, but she continues her questioning, “What happened here? What attacked this place?”
“It-It was an alicorn.”
All of the others shot confused looks at each other. Twilight’s eyes were filled with shock, “An alicorn!? That’s impossible!”
Ares allowed his memories to flow for a second, grasping an image to the beast he saw. He turned back to the ponies around him, “It was large b-blue alicorn, with silver eyes..” he stopped to take several deep breaths, “… and, it-it had dragon wings.”
Rainbow dash tried to picture the description she had heard, but shook her head after a few moments, “Are you sure about what you saw? That doesn’t even sound real.”
Twilight shot her friend a glare, “Rainbow, not now!”
Soarin wasn’t sure of what to believe either. He turned and walked past the final store blocking the view to the eastern Canterlot Park. He walked around the corner, but when he saw the clearing, his body nearly collapsed. He could barely keep his balance from the shock, “Rainbow! Twilight, get over here!”
The other two heard his scream, and quickly left the now unconscious Ares on the ground. When they came up to the trembling Soarin, and saw what had caused him to become panicked. Rainbow’s jaw hung from her mouth, and Twilight nearly fainted to the sight.
The clearing had an enormous crater within the center, still smoldering from the previous impact of whatever hit. Debris had been thrown for hundreds of feet in every direction from the center. And scattered throughout the entire clearing were bodies, or what was left of them. All of the corpses seemed as if they had been laid in a fire, the outer layer of flesh completely turned black. Then, Twilight gasped when she saw the two larger bodies, “Are- are those dragons!?”
Soarin could not believe it. In all the years that he had lived in Canterlot, he had never heard of a dragon coming to invade, “Do you think they could’ve attacked the city?” he asks.
Twilight shakes her head, “No, they’re burnt too, which means whatever did attacked was not an ally to the dragons either.”
Rainbow Dash cannot believe that this had happened. It was nothing that she had ever experienced before. She looked past the clearing, and saw another set of houses. He began to panic, since those homes were so close to the battle that had taken place. She knew a specific pony in one of them. When her eyes found that certain home, her heart began to race; the door had been ripped off from the wall. Her thoughts began spiraling, ‘No, Spitfire!’.
She took off into the sky before her friends realized what was happening. Twilight tried to call out to her friend, “Rainbow, wait! Where’s she going, Soarin?”
He looks across the valley, and sees the house as well, “No… that’s Spitfires house! Come on!” He takes off to the skies, flying as fast as he can across the clearing. Twilight teleports herself across the field, landing by the door way right behind Rainbow Dash.
“Spit! Spitfire!” Dash yells out as she enters through the opening. She sees most of the house is untouched, except for the large desk thrown into the side wall. Then, in the corner of the room, sat a trembling yellow Pegasus. Rainbow’s heart flutters seeing that her friend is still alive, “Spitfire!”
When she ran over, she put her hoof onto Spitfire’s shoulder, who immediately began thrashing and screaming, “NO! PLEASE NO!”
Rainbow jumps back in shock as her friend began swinging her legs at her. Reacting, she jumped onto the panicked Spitfire, holding her down, “Spitfire, stop-”
“NO! DON’T KILL ME!”
“SPITFIRE! ITS ME!”
Spitfire finally stopped when she looked into her friends face. Her eyes immediately began pouring once again, burying her face into Rainbow’s chest, her sobs blocking most of the words coming out of her mouth, “R-R-Rain-bow, I-I th-th..” her fear was too intense for her to finish her sentence.
Rainbow looked down to her friend, “Spitfire, what happened?”
“it-it came to th-the town. I-it had s-s-silver ey-eyes and… OHH RAINBOW!” she wrapped her hoofs around her blue friend as tight as she could, her tears now drenching Rainbow’s shoulder.
Rainbow wrapped her hoofs behind her friend, pulling her closer. She looked back towards the door and saw Twilight and Soarin standing there, shock and sadness plastered on their faces. She glanced back toward Spitfire, her thoughts began racing, ‘Spitfire, what happened?’
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“Surprised to see me, princesses? I’m so glad that you two have never forgotten me.” Aligon smirked as he walked towards the terrified alicorns.
Celestia felt as if her heart was going to burst out her chest from beating so hard. She couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing or what her ears were hearing. All of her memories were rushing back to her in painful waves. Luna was also trembling as well; she may have been just a filly, but that night still burned in her mind as if it had just happened. They both didn’t move as the dragon winged creature came closer. Celestia finally spoke, “Your-you died! Our father killed you!”
Ohh, well I’m sorry to disappoint you. I was growing tired though, seeing this world continue on without me here to control it.” Aligon stopped thirty feet from the two, looking past them and seeing the dragon lying on the ground, “It seems as if my plan to stay hidden from you two has failed. This pathetic creature got to you before I stopped it.”
Celestia’s eyes somehow opened even wider than before, “Yo-you attacked Canterlot?”
“Well, I had to collect my personal pet.” He cast a fang filled grin.
Both sisters knew exactly what was meant by that. They locked eyes, knowing what had to be done. They both stood their ground, allowing the flow of internal energy to their horns, causing them to glow. They spread themselves from each other, beginning to walk around the tall alicorn.
Aligon smirked at the two, all while trying to hide the uncertainty in his mind, ‘Damn it, this isn’t good. I did not expect to run into the two of them while separated.’ He glanced back and forth between the white and the dark blue alicorns, ‘At this level of power, I don’t think I can beat them at the same time.’
Aligon knew the risk of separation; while split, the bearer will not be able to perform all of the normal spells at full strength, and if one of the bodies died, that portion of power will be lost as well. If this happened, all of his plans would be useless, and he would never see the power he wanted. Still, he wasn’t going to show fear to the two in front of him.
Luna circled the demon as her sister set herself across from her on the other side of it. Her eyes were now filled with the hate and emotions she remembered that night; Aligon attacking the castle, her father fighting it to defend all of them, and her mother… her mother, laying on the ground, bleeding to death. With all of the images coming to her, her horn began to glow, then sending out large sparks of electricity, “I have never forgotten what you did to us, Aligon! You will die for what you did that night!”
Aligon gave her a questioning look, “Oh, what night are you talking about? Hmm… Oh, that night…” he once again smiles, “you mean when your pathetic mother couldn’t do anything to stop me? Are you referring to that night; when I crushed her chest right in front of you? I could understand, since how much blood came out and-”
“SHUT UP!” Luna screamed, launching a large bolt of lightning at Aligon. Seeing the attack, he jumps into the air the moment it strikes where he stood. Looking up, he sees Celestia already cut him off without him knowing it. She charges her own beam, sending it down to him. Grimacing, He shoots up his own blast, colliding with hers, the mixing energy causing a small explosion.
Flying out of the smoke, Aligon noticed the multiple blue beams shooting at him below. Barrel rolling, he dodges all of them, diving to the ground and charges the lunar princess. He charges up his own blast of magic, sending the small ball of matter straight at her. She lowers her head, raising her shield up as it closed in. Striking the barrier, it pushes her back several feet, but the barrier remained intact.
Aligon now had worry growing inside of him, ‘Damn, either I’ve grown weaker, or the two of them are much stronger than I anticipated. This is going to be more of a hassle’.
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“Ya’ll find anythin’ yet?” Applejack asked as she looked through the shelves. She then glanced over to the others, who were all scrounging around for anything that matched what they had heard.
“No, there is nothing in this one.” Rarity answered, tossing aside the book she had been reading.
“Nothing.” Florence frowned from the other side of the room.
“All the books I’ve found in here, none contain our goal I fear.” Zecora said, flipping through the many pages she had in her book.
“OOOH, look at this!” Pinkie shouted across the library.
All of the others turned, curious to what she had found. Applejack ran over, “Did ya find out bout that war?”
Pinkie shot her a glance, “What? No silly! I wanted to show how Twilight has this book!” She lifts up a thin pink book titled ‘Cake Decorating tricks’.
All of the others glared at her, and walked back to their sections of the library. Fluttershy came out of the other room, looking exhausted from her search. Her sorrow expression showed she did not find anything either. She floated over to Applejack, “I’m sorry. I can’t find anything on what Twilight asked us to.”
It’s all right sugarcube. We just can’t give up.”
Florence was focusing on the book he had found on past conflicts. He read about the battle of Montara, when 500 years ago, a rogue dragon clan tried to overthrow the leader, Volvack, but failed. Another chapter talked about the reign of Discord, when the spirit of chaos attack Equestria, nearly claiming victory until the princesses used the elements to seal him away. He then saw…
“Nightmare Moon” he says to himself, looking at the picture drawn of the tyrannical queen. HE stared at the image, still trying to fathom it; a mare he had fallen for was once the figure who tried to cover the land in darkness until she was imprisoned on the moon. He tried to figure out what would’ve happened if the elements of Harmony did not release Luna from the dark power. He tried to shake out the distracting thoughts and went back to searching.
“What in tarnation is that!?” Applejack yells out.
Florence jumps up from the yell, “What’s wrong?” She doesn’t answer him, she only stares out the window of the library. He runs up to it and sees it as well; from the forest, blasts of magic and lightning are being shot from the ground in different directions. All the others in the library see the sight as well.
Fluttershy trembles to the strange sight,”Wh-what’s happening out there?”
“Ah don’t know. Ah never seen anythin’ like that.”
Zecora focuses her eyes, noting the angles they are coming from, and the positioning in the forest, “Those are blasts of magic that I see. And it is coming from the direction that the princesses should be.”
Florence felt panicked; there was something happening to the princesses, and none of them were there to help them. Without saying anything, he turned and ran to the door. Applejack had no idea what had gotten into him, “Florence, what are ya doin?”
He doesn’t answer her as he charges up his horn, encasing himself in magic. Never stopping to open the door, he materializes himself and passes right through the oak door. He sprints through the streets of Ponyville towards the blasts in the distance.
________________________________________
Luna flew up into the sky above the trees. Her eyes began to glow white, using her magic to summon the dark storm clouds. As the energy grew, wind began to blow harder, causing the large trees to shake. She looked down to the creature below her, making her become or enraged.
The many shots of lightning bolts struck all around Aligon as he raised his shield. Folding his wings around him, the grey energy encircled him and hardened. The powerful strikes from Luna repeatedly slammed into his barrier over and over, causing him to stumble back a step. Before he could counter, he saw Celestia to his side, charging another powerful blast of light. Cursing, he teleported to the edge of the clearing as the beam came rushing at him.
Landing on the ground, he took several deep breaths, trying to regain his energy. He glared back to the princesses as they came together. While they did seem tired, he knew they had more energy together than he did. He was frustrated that he didn’t realize the sisters had become so strong in the time he was absent.
Luna was panting as well; it had been a long time since she had to use this much magic. Despite being tired, she smiled, seeing that there was the chance to stop Aligon. She looked over to her older sister, "Celestia, we can do it. We can beat him."
Celestia, however, was not as excited as Luna. She knew that both of them had become strong in the last few years, but she also knew the power that Aligon possessed; even together, she knew that her and luna should not even have come close to his level. She knew something was wrong, seeing how he was not fighting like he did in the past.
"well well, I must say I'm surprised by you two..." Aligon smirked, "your a lot stronger than I thought you would be. Defiantly stronger than your bitch of a mother."
"Don't you dare mention our mother!" Luna screamed, her eyes glowing again.
He laughed at her anger, "and I must say Luna, you have changed a lot since we were together."
"I was a filly, of course I changed you idiot!"
"No no no.. You have changed since I invaded your body a thousand years ago."
Luna's heart began to race, "wh-what are you talking about?"
Don't you remember? The strange feeling you had after you fought Discord? The change you underwent?"
"Liar!" Celestia screamed, "Luna was corrupted by dark magic that fed on her anger, she-"
"and where do you think that dark magic came from?" he smiles at Luna, "you know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you Luna."
"Luna, he's lying!" but Celestia knew something about what Aligon said was true; just days after Discord was sealed, Luna's transformation began.
Luna's heart felt as if it had been ripped out. She was so shocked, she did not notice the large black blast heading directly towards her.
Chapter 12: Savior and the Tormentor
Princess Celestia saw the attack rushing through the air towards her. She quickly sprinted to the side, but she stopped when she noticed that she was the only one running. “Luna, move!” Celestia screamed, seeing that Luna had not budged from her spot.
Luna, however, had not even noticed the energy coming at her. In fact, it felt as if time simply froze where it was to herself as her mind was spiraling. Her head was rushing over the fact that she had just learned, and whether she wanted to believe it or not. She tried thinking back as far as she could, and-
“LUNA!”
Her sister’s scream snapped her out of the trance she was stuck in. She then saw the beam coming straight at her chest. Luna tried to charge her horn, but realized the energy would strike her before she would be able to form her shield completely. She panicked at the thought, causing her magic to falter. She froze as the blast was only ten feet from her, and she was too afraid to scream.
The instant before she was struck, however, a blue wall of energy rushed past her, forming a barrier inches in front of her face. The beam struck the blue wall with a loud crack, but the barrier did not dissipate. Aligon was shocked to what he just saw, “where in the hell did that come from?” He was certain that he had Luna dead on the spot, and he was defiantly sure she did not make that barrier that had formed.
Luna hyperventilated from the fact that she nearly died that moment. She had allowed herself to succumb to panic and fear that she couldn’t even defend herself. But her attention was turned to the blue shield around her which began to dissipate. She then turns to see some pony she truly did not expect standing just a few feet away, “F-Florence?”
The white unicorn was standing right next to her, but he did not turn to look at the princess, for his focused gaze was locked onto the strange creature across the clearing. Inside of him, his emotions were clashing over two different reasons; fear, for the strange animal in his view was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and could tell that it was extremely strong. He also felt anger towards it, for it had the audacity to attack the royal princesses, and one in particular that he cared for.
Celestia ran over to Luna’s side, her face in shock, “Luna, are you alright?”
Luna did not respond. Her eyes were on Florence, who had walked up, standing between herself and Aligon. Her heart was racing over the fact that she had let her fear take control of her and was nearly killed for it. Although, something else was causing her heart’s rapid beat; seeing the once so nervous pony risking his own life to keep her from harm.
Luna then turned to her sister, still shaking from what happened, “He, he saved me.”
Celestia turned her head to look at Florence, who was determined to protect them. “I know.”
Florence finally glanced back behind him, “Are you two alright?”
Celestia took a few steps toward him, “Yes, we are fine. Thank you, Florence.”
He gave a small grin, but it disappeared when he turned back to the dragon winged alicorn, “What is that thing? Who is it?”
Aligon had been standing there the whole time, filled with surprise and anger. He was surprised by how even at his lower power level, that a basic unicorn would be able to stop his attack so easily. He had only met several unicorns who had reached past this level of power, but they were legends in magic abilities and were long since dead. He was also angry that another strong opponent guaranteed his defeat here. He would have to leave this place soon and rejoin his other body.
Luna walked up to her two allies standing in front of her. She glanced over to Florence, whose face sat still as stone. She then felt worried about him; while she could tell he was a strong unicorn, she knew his power was still not at their level. She did not want him to get hurt. “Florence, you should leave this place.”
Florence quickly shot his head back toward her, his eyes filled with confusion. After a second, he rolled his eyes and turned back to the clearing, “Sorry princess, but I can’t do that.”
“Please, you will only get hurt here. You don’t know the power that he possesses.” Her voice was filled with a soft, yet concerning tone.
He simply gave a small chuckle, “I think I can handle myself. You haven’t seen what I can do yet.”
Luna was caught off guard; Florence’s attitude was completely different from what he had before when she met him. He had changed from a butter kneed pony to a hardnosed warrior in such a quick time. She couldn’t tell if it was from past training, or simply the determination to protect her. Despite the fact they were in conflict, the thought of him protecting her made her heart flutter.
Aligon glared at the trio standing there, his anger growing. Knowing he had to get away, he opened his wings and head on charged them. He charged his horn and blasted a barrage of attacks their direction. The sisters began to charge their horn, but before they could, Florence once again shot out his blue force field, expanding it around all three of them. It repelled all of the beams coming at them from that direction.
Celestia was shocked by how fast he was able to summon his shield. She was also surprised that it was that powerful. ‘He rivals Shining Armor in defense magic’ she said to herself.
Aligon continued forward, this time tilting his head up in the air as he flew. His horn glowed grey, then shot a blast thirty feet above the shield. The beam suddenly stopped and formed into a small ball of energy about a foot across. He banked upwards and flew towards it.
Celestia had no idea what Aligon was trying to do. She opened her wings to follow, but froze when Aligon passed the sphere in the air. The ball started to spin rapidly, firing small blasts of energy at an incredible rate towards them. She ducks down, pulling Luna down in a huddle. Florence remained standing, however, his horn glowing, preparing for the worst to come.
The rain of energy came down over the shield, hitting it with tremendous force. The barrage struck over and over again, yet the shield continued to hold itself up against it. After several more seconds, the swirling ball had used up its final shot and disappeared into the air. Below, the unicorn finally allowed his shield to be lowered. He saw the ground around himself and the princesses intact, while just on the outside where the shield was, the clearing littered with pot holes and burns from the last attack.
Luna stood up out of her sisters embrace, looking at the once peaceful clearing that had been turned into a horrible battleground. She then locked eyes with the white unicorn in front of her, causing her to smile. She trotted over to him, her mane nearly brushing his side, “You came back for us?”
Florence cocked his head sideways in surprise, “Of course I came back here. I saw the blasts in the distance and ran as fast as I could. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to you.” He suddenly shot a nervous glance to Celestia behind them, “you-you both.”
Luna blushed at his reaction, “And I thank you. You saved my life.” She leaned forward and laid her head over his shoulder, giving him a warm embrace. Florence’s heart began beating so fast he thought he was going to faint. Luna could feel his nervousness, but she didn’t let go, instead pulling him closer to her. A happy grin spread across her face.
Celestia saw the two together, causing her to smile in happiness for her sister. But her smile quickly faded when a puff of green smoke in front of her face appeared. She took a step back as it began to materialize, taking the form of a roll of paper. Once it settled, she quickly opened it and read the short message;
‘Celestia, Canterlot has been attacked. Much of the shopping plaza has been destroyed. There are dead ponies everywhere. You need to get here now.
Spike’
Her mind began to race; in the heat of the battle she had forgotten about the message from earlier. She now feared what she was going to expect when they arrived. She then became curious on how Spike found out about what happened. She looked back to the spot where the small black dragon still laid. She knew that whatever had happened, it was just the beginning. “Luna, we need to go now.”
Luna lifted herself away from Florence and gave a questioning look to her sister, “go where?”
“Canterlot. We have to see what he has done to our city.”
Florence was confused, “What happened to Canterlot?”
Celestia looked at him, then turned away, “Go back to Ponyvile.”
Florence knew something was happening and she wasn’t going to tell him. He decided to say something, which was probably a stupid idea, “Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Soarin are in Canterlot.”
Celestia’s ears shot up when she heard that. Inside her chest, her anger slowly started to bubble up. Her thoughts became enraged, “Twilight, I told you to stay in Ponyville! How dare you go against what I said.’ She then took several deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves, ‘she is probably trying to look through the archives for information.’ She also grew concerned to the horrible sights that Twilight had probably seen.
Celestia turns back to Florence, her face free from her anger, “Alright, I need you to help me. Go back to Ponyville, and tell our guards to return back to Canterlot castle as soon as they can.”
“But I want to come as well.” He pleaded.
“No, you must stay here.” She began to walk away before stopping, “And tell NO PONY of the creature that attacked us.”
Florence was really confused now, “Why? We should be alerting every place about-“
“NO!” She snapped, causing Florence to take a step back. Seeing his face, she quickly calmed herself, “Please, I need this to stay between as few ponies as we possibly can.”
‘Are you serious!? Canterlot has been attacked! How is that going to stay low for long?’ He screamed inside of his head. Despite not agreeing with what was happening, Florence nodded to the princess.
Celestia began to walk off again, using her magic to lift the unconscious dragon up and levitate it in the air. Opening her wings and prepared for the flight. Before she did, she quickly turns back one more time, “Thank you, Florence. Thank you for saving my sister.” Flapping her wings, she takes to the sky, pulling the black drake with her through the air.
Florence turned his attention to Luna, who had also turned back to him. He forced himself to give out a small grin, “So, I guess I’ll be going back now. I’ll tell your guards to head back as soon as I get there.” He turned away and started walking towards Ponyville.
“Wait.” She quickly called.
Florence turned back as she trotted up to him. She lowered her head, pulling off the large crescent jewel necklace that she wore around her neck, and placed it over is, “This is my personal necklace. All of the guards recognize it. When you tell them the orders, show them that so that they know it is official.”
“Won’t they just know that you haven’t come back and I would just have to tell them?”
“No, because you will also need to use that to prove you and others can come to Canterlot.”
His eyes went wide, “Wait, what?”
Luna gave a big smile toward him, “I want you to gather the others from earlier and all of you come to Canterlot. We will need the help.”
Florence looked down, lifting up the hanging jewel with his hoof. He returns his eyes to the princess, “Thank you.”
“No. Thank you.” She leans forward and gives him a kiss on his cheek. Before he can even say anything, she turns around and takes off into the night.
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Discord continued to follow his master through the dark night sky. They had been flying for a while without a single word being said. Aligon had not said anything about where they were going or what he was planning. Flustered, Discord wanted to at least know when he could get some kind of information passed his way. He flew a little bit faster to match his creator’s pace, but before he could say anything, Aligon quickly descended to the ground.
Angered, Discod follows him down, landing on the dirt below. Aligon is standing tall in the air, his eyes closed. Discord has no idea what is going on, “Master, what are you-”
“Quiet.” Aligon snaps. His eyes remain closed as his mind is processing the signals he is receiving. From the direction he came from, he can sense pulses of energy that his other half was sending out, demanding that they remerge. He then turns his head to the right, sensing powerful waves of energy being shot about 3 miles to the east.
His magic reading was a special trait that he possessed. Whenever he was not using his own aura, he could sense other forms of magic that were in effect. The only downside to the ability was it did not work while his own magic was in use, since his blocked out incoming signals. He also had to focus to feel it, since he had to concentrate to determine what kind of magic was being used. It didn’t help either that being separated lowered his ability to register the readings, making it harder to decipher what it was.
After a few silent moments, Aligon opened his eyes in the direction of the new magic. He decides to go and investigate it while he waits for his other half to return. He starts to walk in that direction, signaling Discord to follow him.
After a few more minutes of silence, Discord becomes even more flustered; he wanted answers to what was happening. He came close to Aligon’s side , “can I ask you something, master?”
Aligon glanced over to the floating spirit, “what do you want?” Seemingly annoyed he had to talk.
Discord gave a small glare, “You said that you ‘were dead’. What did you mean by that?”
Aligon gave a small grin to the question, “Like I said, I thank you for that.”
Discord shook his head, “Ugh, what does that even mean!? I don’t understand.”
I created you Discord; I infused you with some of my own powers. I even added parted of my life force within you.”
“Your own life force?”
“Yes. I had created you to serve me and to assist me after I had taken over. I did, however, also used you as a backup plan in case I ever did die. Even if my physical body was destroyed, I soul survived within you.”
“After I was destroyed, I laid dormant inside of you for 500 hundred years, waiting for the right moment to come out.”
Discord couldn’t hold back the sarcastic comment, “And it took 500 years to do that?”
“You didn’t exactly do anything while I was gone. For over 480 you sat in your little section of the world, messing with small creatures until you finally decided to act on the ways that I taught you!” Aligon was screaming now, his eyes glowing with hatred, "And even then, you falied to defeat the two princesses!" Discord cowered to the ground under the stare his master gave, trembling with fear. Aligon stepped closer, baring his teeth, “You will regret ever disappointing me.”
Suddenly, Discord felt as if his internal organs were being shifted around within his body. He clutched at himself in pain, screaming in agony as his body was being twisted and bent. During it, he was able to catch a glimpse at Aligon; his horn or eyes were not even glowing. Since his life was created by Aligon, his masters’ simple thoughts could kill him at any moment.
Aligon stopped the torment to the spirit. Discord dropped down, gasping for breath. His sore body could hardly move from all of the pain in his bone and muscles. He looked up to the glaring alicorn standing above him, afraid to say anything else.
“Now, don’t ever fail me again Discord. I will not give you a second chance.” Aligon turned away and continued to walk on. Discord slowly crawled up from the ground, shaking like a beaten pet. Thinking of it, Discord sneered, knowing that is all he was to Aligon, but no matter how much he hated it, he did not have a choice in the matter. He floated on after his master.
After twenty minutes, Aligon came over a small hill, giving him view to what was giving off the readings of magic he had detected; Overlooking the oncoming desert stood was a large, stone coliseum.
This is an uncorrected version. It will be revised when my proofreader is done. I just thought i should put this up for making everyone wait. Enjoy
"Hurry, move the serious injured to the left half, anyone who can handle your injuries stay to the right! Please, we need organization!" Twilight screamed out over the panicked crowd trying to rush past her.
Canterlot hospital was a madhouse from ponies trying to force their way past others to get ahead in the line. If it wasn't for the multiple guards Soarin had found, it would have been impossible to keep every pony in check.
The doctors were scrambling as they ran through the crowds of screams and cries of agony. They checked over the many ponies that were bleeding the most or that we're unconscious first, seeing which ones would need medical attention first.
"Twilight!"
Hearing her name, Twilight turned to see Rainbow flying in above the crowd. Landing on the ground, she was panting heavily, "I found another." she said between her breaths. She then lifted to show the item in her forelegs.
Twilights breath caught in her throat. The young filly in rainbows arms must have been only three years old, its small body littered with cuts and bruises. Twilight used her magic to gently lift it out of her friends grip. She glanced up to Rainbow, "where are its parents?"
Rainbow lowered her head and turned away, not wanting to tell Twilight what she had seen. The look she gave was enough to tell her friend the answer.
After handing off the filly to a passing nurse, Twilight returned to Trying to help out any pony in need. Suddenly, every pony in the street went silent, parting there way for the two walking alicorns coming towards the hospital.
"Princess!" Twilight yelled out as she ran up to the two sisters. When she came close, she noticed the many cuts, dirt and bruises all throughout both of their bodies, "Oh my gosh! Are you alright? What happened to you?"
Neither princess answered to the questions, there attention turned to the whimpers of pain all around them. Both of their faces had the look a pure torment, having seen the destruction that had been done to the great pony capital.
Celestia stopped in the crowd, bending over to a young Pegasus. Seeing the large gash on its shoulder, she filter her head down to use her magic, but as soon as her horn began to glow, the eyes of the Pegasus went wide in terror. It dropped to the ground, curling into a shaking ball as if his death was upon him.
Celestia stepped back from the reaction, startled at first, then tried to relax the ponies nerves, "it's alright. I'm not going to cause you harm."
The pegasus slowly stood back up, closing his eyes as the princess put her horn to the wound.
Sending out small sprinkles of light, she guided the magic over the opening, forcing it into the wound. After several moments, the blood stopped running, and the wound itself slowly closing up. While it would not heal completely, it would help until the doctors could tend to the wounds themselves.
Smiling, the princess stands and goes to another seriously injured pony to aid in dulling their pain. Luna was doing the same to another set of ponies huddled against a wall off to the side.
Some of the royal guards came running past Twilight, kneeling beneath Celestia, "princess! We need to have you come to the operating room. We need to have yours and princess Luna's wounds tended to."
Celestia turned to glance at the guards, then went back to healing a young unicorn, "I'm fine. Go and tend to other ponies that need help."
"But my princess, your wounds could be-"
"I said that I am fine. The citizens need the attention before us." the guards bowed their heads down, but before they could leave, Celestia called them back, "Actually, take this to the emergency infirmary." her horn glowed again, lifting up a dark figure from the grass where she had laid it. Small shrieks came from ponies as the body passed them.
When it came into the light below the hospital, Twilight gave a gasp as well, "Is-is that a dragon!?" she stared at the limp body of the black dragon held by Celestia's magic.
"yes it is. It crashed in the forest, warning us that Canterlot had been attacked. I want to find out what it was doing here in the first place."
Twilight sat confused as the guards took the drake without question and Carried it inside.then shot a glance in her direction, "and as for you; did I or did I not order you to return to Ponyville?"
Twilight's heart began to pound rapidly beneath her ribs. She was afraid of what her mentor would do to punish her for disobeying a direct order to not go looking in the past.
"I thank you for not listening."
Twilight couldn't believe what she had just heard, "wait... Your not mad at me, princess?"
Celestia gave a small grin towards her pupil, "you coming here saved many ponies that would not have had a chance if you hadn't. You created order when panic ran through my soldiers." she stopped and looked around the guards that were spread throughout the area, "where's captain Ares?"
Twilights eyes went down to the ground, "Ares is in operation right now. He's in bad shape."
Celestia's eyes went wide with Twilight's answer. She turned and began to walk inside the hospital, leaving Luna to tend to the ponies outside.
Twilight did not understand what was happening. She turned to Luna, who was staring right back at her with eyes showing pain. She knew that there was more to what was happening. She walked over to the princess of the night, "princess, Ares says that an alicorn with dragon wings attacked Canterlot."
Luna immediately cringed at hearing the description from Twilight, powerful memories from just occurred earlier that evening to herself. She couldn't stop the small tremble in her shoulders. Twilight saw the reaction, now knowing that part of the Secrets had to do with this strange creature.
"Twilight, We must talk."
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The two carriages flew through the dark sky, the cold air blowing past. Inside of the white carriage sat Zecora, fluttershy and Applejack. The blue carriage next to it held Florence, Pinkie Pie and Rarity.
When he returned to the town, Florence had gathered the others as fast as he could, bringing them all back to the chariots that sat in the town square. At first when he told the guards the orders, they were skeptical to believe the story. When Florence showed them the necklace, however, they immediately accepted the orders and took off towards Canterlot.
Flying over the Everfree forest, Florence looked down to the fluttering necklace on his neck, thinking of what feelings were flowing through him. His thought process was broken when Rarity gave him a friendly slap on the behind, "well, look at this," she said with a grin on her face, "Luna is giving you her personal belongings. She must like you."
Florence once again blushed, yet tried to keep his face straight, "she gave this so we had permission to come to come to the city."
Pinkie Pie hopped up and down excitedly, "Hehehe! Oh she is all over you! I want to throw a party now!"
Florence shot a confused look at her, "A party for what? You already threw me a party for moving to Ponyville."
"No silly, I need to throw a princess is dating party!" she starting jumping up so high that Rarity had to use her magic to hold her in the cart, "I've never done that kind of party, and I want it to be super-duper good!"
From the other carriage, Applejack shouted to the others, "Hey Florence, what did happen to ya in the forest? Y'all never told us."
Turning away, Florence went over the order that Celestia gave him about not revealing what had happened. He was already coming to Canterlot against her will despite Luna inviting him; he did not want to face what would happen to him if he told what he saw.
After a few more minutes of silent flying, Canterlot came into view, and the shock hit them all like a powerful wave. Smoke rose from multiple destroyed buildings throughout the plaza. The red glow of fire lit up multiple spots in the city rear capital.
"W-what happened?" Fluttershy whimpered, fear overcoming her nerves.
"Ah can't believe this." Applejack said, staring wide eyed at the city.
Zecora was too stunned to even talk. In the many years of her travels and other past events in her life, she had never seen destruction like this before. The nearest form of damage she had seen was during the last time she lived in her former home; around the time she was banished.
_____________________
Twilight sat still on the steps below the hospital. The crowd of ponies in front had been filed through to the different area within the hospital, giving a quiet moment of seemingly tranquil peace to what was minutes earlier.
For twilight, though, peace ways not something she felt at the moment. It wasn't just from the rush of the hundreds of bloody ponies that once crowded the streets, but it was what princess Luna had told her before she went inside. Her mind was trying to figure out the new facts that she had learned, but it seemed as if she just couldn't accept them.
Looking up, she saw the two incoming chariots coming in for a landing. Touching to the ground, all of the passengers quickly ran out. Even the guards unhooked themselves and team towards Twilight, there faces locked in fear as well to what they saw in the city.
"Twilight, oh thank goodness we made it! What happened here?" Rarity yelled as she came to a stop in front of her friend, quickly followed by the others.
The guards pushed past them and came face to face with Twilight, "Where's princess Celestia and Princess Luna!?" the lead white one blurted out, "Tell us quickly!"
Twilight's face seemed unemotional; a blank expression was locked on her as she looked at the guards, "the princesses are fine. They are inside right now. You need to go through the city and help the rest of the soldiers look for survivors and to aid in the putting out of fires."
The soldiers were hesitant about accepting the orders at first, but since they knew Twilight was the personal assistant to Celestia, they knew it would be best to accept her demands, they bowed slightly, then turned and took to the skies once again back into the city.
All of the others stared curiously at Twilights strange behavior she was doing; it seemed as if all her emotion were stripped from her, and left with a blank plate to pick from. Applejack approached her purple friend, "Twi, are ya alright? Y'all don't look too good." she tried to sound reassuring as possible.
Twilight turned away so she didn't look at her friends, "I'm fine."
Zecora walked forward next, her eyes scanning Twilight's body language "you are troubled the scene of this town, I can tell. Yet, I can see something is bothering you as well."
Twilight did not answer the question from the zebra, but simply started walking to the door, "this way."
Florence sat still for a Second before yelling out behind her, "hey, aren't we here to help out? That is what princess Luna told me."
"princess Luna has ordered us all into the hospital, she needs to see us all immediately."
The group looked at each other curiously, then decided to follow in suit after he strange acting unicorn. As they walked through the hospital, they saw the many beaten and bruised ponies that were scattered throughout the floors on makeshift beds of blankets and cushions. The moans of adults and the cries of fillies echoed through the large halls. Fluttershy cringed and huddled closer to Rarity for comfort.
Florence could not believe how many ponies were injured here. When her heard that he city was attacked, he had no idea that there would be so many hurt. Suddenly, his mind went to the creature that he saw in the forest, and how powerful it was. That must have been the creature that attacked.
They walked though the long hallway until Twilight stopped at a large door at the very end. Opening it, Twilight walked through. When the others came in, they saw Rainbow Dash and Soarin by a bed, and Spike standing to the side. All three of their heads turned to the crowd that entered the room.
"Rainbow!" fluttershy screamed, running forward and throwing herself onto the cyan Pegasus. Soon the others came over to join in the embrace.
Rarity only sat in the group for a moment before turning her attention to the purple dragon looking at her, "oh my spikes whikey!" she ran forward and jumped onto the small drake, who threw his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace. She looked up at him with teary blue eyes, "when I saw the city, I became so worried about you!" she then leaned up and planted a kiss right on his lips.
After the group broke away from Rainbow, they turned their attention to the Pegasus in the bed. Florence couldn't believe it, "Spitfire! What happened?" he went to the bed, looking at the unconscious mare, seemingly unharmed, "is she alright?"
Soarin walked over to him, putting a hoof on his shoulder, "she's fine. She was in shock from what had happened. We were finally able to calm her down not to long ago."
"But what did happen here?"
"That is why I brought you all here."
A new voice came into the room from the doorway. All of the ponies turned to see Luna entering the room.
Florence gave a surprised look at the entering alicorn, "Princess? What's going on."
"She is here to tell you our entire world is a Lie." Twilight shot out, her face showing her anger. The others in the room looked in suprise to the outburst.
Luna looked down to the ground, her eyes filled with guilt, "I am sorry, but we had keep it a secret."
Twilight shook her head, trying to control the anger which had been built from learning her master's lies were true. "What happened, princess? What was so horrible in the past that you had to lie about it?"
Luna looked back up, a small tear falling down her cheek, "I will show all of you." pointing her horn to the ground, she shoots out a mist that envelopes all of the members in the room.
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Chapter 14: Creation of the World; flashback pt 1
4000 years ago, there was nothing but darkness across the world. There was never any sun. Never any life. Nothing. That is, until the six great beings came to the land.
No creature knows who they were or where they came from, but they do know that these six were the ones who brought everything that we are or ever will be to the barren land. One of the creators became the sun, casting a powerful glow across the black land and bringing forth warmth in the cold realm.
The next creator realized that the sun could not stay up forever, yet without it it would become pure darkness. Using its powers, it transformed itself into the small moon that gave light during the dark night.
The next being saw that the world had no form of liquid for anything. Changing his body, he became the water that flows across the ground and in all the rivers and oceans.
The youngest of the group noticed how the water would allow life to grow. The young being also took note how the ground was plain and barren. Spreading the energy within itself, it transformed into the many different plants that grow on the ground.
The second oldest of the group wanted to bring forth lifeforms to live on the land. Using his energy, he created the many creatures that roamed. Some took the shapes of the smaller creatures like birds and fish. Most of the energy, however, was focused On making intelligent creatures.
To give order to the animals, the final being, the oldest and the strongest of the six, gave his energy to develop the forms; ponies, zebras, griffons and dragons. One population of an origional number of 100 animals were given the power to watch over the others; the great alicorns.
The alicorns were blessed with the gift of immortality, never able to die from old age. They had magic which gave them the ability to control the many things within the world.
The strongest of them was a single alicorn of solid black color. His power was beyond any other alicorn alive. His name was Solaris.
Solaris was a figure who led the many species to learn to live their own ways, allowing them to choose the forms of practice to follow. The ponies, however, wanted to stay with Solaris, seeing that he was a great leader and could give a great future.
Seeing that Solaris cared for the world, his blood was gifted by the creators to control the movement of the sun and the moon, allowing himself and those of his lineage to complete the important tasks. Giving up the last of their powers, they turned themselves into 6 jewels that would aid him in the safety of the planet; the Elements of Harmony.
For over 2000 years, the world lived in peace without trouble. however, peace would not last forever; the dragons were also given extremely long life and great power. And yet, they would not live forever or be given the chance to control the great sun or the night time moon.
The jealousy and hatred of the alicorns began to grow to a point where many head members of the clan wanted to take control of the elements and make the other species know that they deserved to rule.
The leader of the dragons, Montara, launched a full scale assault on the pony race. Unprepared, the ponies were overwhelmed in the beginning, killed by the hundreds as the dragons scorched the land as they attacked any creature that stood in their way.
Seeing that the conflict could not be avoided, Solaris had only one option; he would have to face the dragons and fight to protect the ponies that he was entrusted to do. Total war broke out between the great clans. While the alicorns had great magic and were aided by the tribes of earth ponies, pegasus and unicorns, the dragons had great power as well and sheer numbers on their sides.
The war for the Heavens began.
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This is the first of several flashback chapters. This chapter is just to explain what happened. This is the only one which will be under 2000 words, so be prepared.
Chapter 15: Uneasy Choice ; Flashback pt 2
1505 years ago
smoke rose from the mountains in the distance, signaling the presence of another dragon had used its power on an unfortunate creature. It was something that was a common sight, but taken as something seen every day. The sight was seen from the white walls of the palace of the king.
The great palace of Canterlot stood towering over the surrounding village. It's large white tower served as the capital to the pony empire, a land which served as a safe haven for all ponies trying to escape the bloodshed from the war ravaging the world.
Inside of the main courtroom, two figures stood by the large window overlooking the great field surrounding the small community. One was a blue coated unicorn standing about five feet tall, larger than average for that species. His mane and tail were a mix of different shades of Magenta. His cutie mark was of a star surrounded my a pattern of sparks circling it. The hat he wore was topped with a bell that jingled as he turned to look to his king.
The seven foot tall black alicorn stared out into the distance past the edge of the town. His mane and tail flickered and pulsed as if they were black flames that danced in the air. His cutie mark was a sun partially eclipsed by the moon, showing the task that was given to him by the great creators of the world.
The unicorn stared up to Solaris, seeing how upset he was to the smoke in the distance, "Should I summon the wonderbolts for a fly over, my lord?" he asked.
Solaris looked to his second in command, then back to the window, "No Star swirl, that won't be necessary. That beast won't be foolish enough to come here."
"Well of course it wouldn't be foolish enough. We have the ultimate weapon here."
Solaris shook his head, giving a little chuckle, "Oh yes, making it sit through your lectures on spells is truly the most devastating force we have."
Star swirl rolled his eyes at the comment, "Well I was going to say you are, but...I guess I could give it an extra long session if it chose to listen to me."
Solaris laughed at the sarcasm given by his good friend. While he had joked about the lesson, he knew what Starswirl said was right; while battling the dragons over the years, he and a few other alicorns had discovered a way to dramatically increase their powers to another level, known as awakening. While the other alicorns who reached it could only use that power for a short time, Solaris had been able to stay in that form permanatly without harming himself.
Despite having the power, he saw it as an affect from the great war.
For the last two hundred and Fifteen years, the War for the Heavens had claimed the lives of thousands of ponies because of the greed of the dragon race. Their simple drive for power was Doing nothing but destroy the lives of living souls on both sides of the conflict. The waves of dragons seem to never end, no matter what was used to stop them. Even the elements of harmony seemed useless since they could not be used often.
The dragons weren't the only problem, however; ninety five years before, a strange creature appeared out of nowhere and began to kill anything and everything in its path. The demonic beast was of an alicorns form, but with traits unlike any creature known to the world. Solaris had only seen it once, but chose not to confront it, since he was alone and sensed a power within it greater than anything he had ever felt. It went on a killing spree to both dragons and ponies, not caring what was its next target. Then, suddenly, five years before, it disappeared.
The race of ponies had been devastated by the bloody acts of war and that strange creature; over half of all earth ponies, Pegasi and unicorns had been killed. The alicorns, despite being the strongest, had suffered the worst; at the start of the war, over six hundred of them were alive. Now, only twenty-four were left, including the two Small ones running through the open doorway, "Daddy!" they yelled out in excitement.
Solaris smiled when he saw his daughters enter the room, "Hey girls!" he said as he trotted over to meet them halfway.
The older of the two was ten years old, her white coat and pink mane glistening in the sunlight, "Dad, your not going to believe what we saw out by the pond!"
Solaris gave raised his eyebrow to his daughter, "Oh? What was it Celestia?" his attention was then focused on the giggling blue filly wrapped around his hoof.
The small, blue alicorn smiled brightly up to her father, "There was a giant frog there. It was bigger than me!"
"Wow! It could have eaten you Luna!" Solaris responded wide eyed to his six year old daughter, who started crawling up his leg, trying to get on his back, "Hey, you two haven't given uncle Star swirl any hugs today."
Star swirl's eyes went wide, "wait, what? I- oof!" he was caught off guard as two giggling filly's tackled him to the ground, tickling at his stomach, "haha! Girls, girls! Enough I- haha!" His sentence was cut off as the sisters continued their tickle assault.
"You girls being nice to him?"
Solaris felt his heart flutter when he heard the voice from the door. Turning, he saw the love of his life, her white coat shining as she entered the room. Her lavender mane flowed in the air as she took her steps. Solaris smiled as walked over her, nuzzling her neck, "Hello Magnis."
Magnis smiled at her husband, "Hello darling. I wished you could have come to the lake with us. The girls enjoyed it."
They both looked over to Star swirl, who had lifted the two sisters off him with his magic. Celestia frowned through the magenta energy that surrounded her, "No fair, Uncle Star swirl."
The unicorn chuckled at the filly, "I have to defend myself." ever since Solaris had chosen him as his daughters godfather, they had come to the idea of calling him "uncle". Despite not being related, he felt like he could call them family. He and Solaris had been good friends for as long as he could remember, and he has been around the girls ever since they were born.
The fun filled room was suddenly interrupted by a guard barging into the room, "Your highness, we have a problem!"
Solaris flipped around, seeing how panicked the soldier was, "What's wrong?"
The guard panted, trying to catch his breath, "My king, a squadron of dragons have landed outside of the town."
"What!?"
"Twelve dragons are waiting outside the limits of the village."
Star swirl set the two fillies over by their mother and walked forward, "What do you mean they are waiting there? They aren't attacking?"
"No. Sir..." the guard stopped, beginning to slightly tremble, "Sir, Volvack is with them."
Solaris's eyes went wide hearing that. Volvack, the son of the dragon king Montara, one who Solaris had fought multiple times in the past, coming to his castle. He turned to his wife, "Magnis, take the girls and go down to the castle lockroom."
Magnis could see the panic in her husbands face, "But... What about you?"
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Take them and go!"
After hesitating for a moment, Magnis began pushing Celestia and Luna toward the doorway, taking them down the hallway to the center of the castle. Turning back to the guard, Solaris tried to keep his nerves intact, "Summon the soldiers outside the city."
"They are already waiting, my king." the guard replied.
"Good. Go outside of the lockroom and guard my family."
"Yes, your majesty." the guard turned and ran down the hallway after the queen.
Turning down to the blue unicorn next to him, Solaris signaled it was time to go. Knowing what that meant, Star swirl lifted his hat off and tossed it to the floor. He then closed his eyes and focused his energy. After a second, his mane and tail suddenly burst into bright red flames, and his coat turned bright white.
His sudden change was a level of power that few unicorns had ever been able to achieve. It was when a unicorns power had reached a point that even many alicorns couldn't obtain, causing a physical change and new abilities given to the user. It was given a name by those who had seen it happen before; the level of Demi-alicorn.
Opening his eyelids, Star swirl turned his now red eyes to his king, "Let's go."
Going through the side door, the two figures walked to the edge of the balcony. Solaris took to the skies, his wings beating through the air. Star swirl ran off the edge, but instead of falling, patches of fire appeared under his hooves as he ran through the air, following his king.
After a few minutes, the alicorn king caught sight of his platoon of soldiers standing ready in formation against the towering wall of scales and claws facing them. Dropping down from the sky, both him and Starswirl landed with intense force onto the ground in front of the other ponies and alicorns. In from of him stood several dragons over eighty feet tall, yet one in particular caused him to tense up.
A single dragon stood in the center of the group, towering over the others. Standing at a hundred and fifty feet, his golden body dwarfed all other life in the clearing. The gargantuan stepped forward from his group, "Hello Solaris. It seems you didn't hesitate to come out here."
The black alicorn glared to the large drake, "Here for another round, Volvack?"
"Solaris, you and I both know you could kill me if you wanted to right now. Besides, if I wanted to attack your palace, wouldn't I have brought a larger force with me?"
"So the dragon prince comes here-"
"It's king now, actually." Volvack blurted out.
Star swirl's eyes went wide from the discovery, "Montara is dead?"
"Did you kill your own flesh and blood to take the throne?" Solaris sneered at the golden dragon.
Volvack glared at the two accusing ponies, "If I wanted to be king, I would have killed him in his sleep years ago. A creature came to our lad and took his life." he paused for a moment, "You have heard of the demon from the mountains, correct?"
Solaris heard many of the soldiers behind him gasp at the words Volvack spoke. It was what every creature called the strange alicorn that appeared in the past. Solaris turned back to the new dragon king, "What about it? It hasn't appeared for several years."
Well, it came a week ago to our land. It went directly for my father, ripping out his heart. It then left, but not before declaring what it was going to do."
"Which is?"
"It said it was going to open to open the gates of Tartarus."
Every pony and alicorn gasped at hearing what was said. Even Solaris felt his heart racing from the possible threat of Tartarus, the prison to the number of abominations formed from the mutations of the original creatures made by the six creators. Seeing how dangerous the animals were, the six created an alternate realm to seal away the beasts from causing havoc to the world.
Shaking his head clear, Solaris looked back to Volvack, "That is impossible; there is no way for the beast to open up the doorway."
Volvack eyes closed, thinking back to what he saw, "The creature somehow absorbed all of my fathers power into a strange staff before he left our land. And..." he looked back up to the alicorn in front of him, eyes suddenly filled with hate, "I have discovered why it is so powerful."
From the back of the dragon pack, a small dragon was pushed to the front. It stood about nine feet tall, it's copper colored body covered in open wounds and bruises. Both of its wings we're snapped in multiple places, twitching from the pain in the delicate bones. Volvack glared as the injured drake was thrown to the ground in front of Solaris.
"I found this pathetic excuse hiding on the outside of our land. We have been looking for him for a long time." Volvack hissed.
Solaris stared in confusion to the crippled dragon in front of him as it started to crawl to its feet, "What crime did he commit?"
Volvacks eyes never took his eyes off the dragon in the center of the two groups, "Perhaps he should tell you."
The small drake looked up to the alicorn standing over him, it's eyes filled with the pain that pulsed from its broken wings, "For years, this war has ravaged our species as well as yours. Not all of us dragons wanted to fight, however, since we saw this conflict as pointless."
Aligon listened intently to the words that came out of the dragons mouth; it was the first time he had heard a dragon hate the war.
"Myself and others that felt the same way confronted Montara over a hundred years ago, pleading that we stop the bloodshed. He did not even consider our request an option, and threatened to kill us if we ever asked him again. So, we sear left our land, and searched for other ponies that believed in what we wanted as well. That is where we met Corvolus."
"Corvolus!?" Solaris shouted. He remembered that alicorn, who came to him and asked the same request this dragon did to its former king. He had to refuse the offer, since attempts at peace had already been tried.
The dragon continued with his story, "After we met him, we began to think on what we could do to end your stupid war. We knew we could never get enough followers to resist both sides. It was then we came up with the solution; create a creature that was of both clans."
Star Swirl deactivated is Demi-alicorn form, his mane and tail returning to its normal magenta blend, "What do you mean of both clans."
The dragon shot a glance over to the unicorn, "An animal, which was a blend of both pony and dragon. We wanted to show that the species could coexist with one another, even on cellular level." the dragon cast a small grin, "And after years, we finally created the ultimate being; half alicorn, half dragon, but stronger than both."
"But... Something went wrong. When the creature awoke, it began to slaughter all of the scientists present when it came to the world. I was at the entrance to the room, helpless as the monster we made for peace, wanted nothing to do but kill. I felt fear as it laughed when it butchered every being in the room, so I fled. Only me and a few others escaped."
"And he has been hiding ever since." Volvack yelled from behind, "When we found him recently, we had no idea who he was, until we found out the information hidden in his cave."
"We made it for peace. We had no idea that it would turn on us and begin killing everything!"
"No, what you did was guarantee the destruction of our world!" Volvack roared as he raised one of his enormous arms.
The small dragon trembled as the shadow encircled him, "No my lord!" he screamed. His plea was cut short as the mighty arm crashed over him, turning the drake into a bloody pile of scales.
Solaris cringed at the pile of blood on the ground. He turned his attention to the dragon king standing in front of him, "So, did you fly all the way out here to show me that and to claim you are the new ruler?"
Volvack snorted out, Turning his head away as if not wanting to say what was on his mind. He finally did after a moment, "I came hear to join forces with you."
Solaris nearly stumbled back in shock from what he heard, 'Did I hear that right? He wants peace?'. Then, he began to think back to all of the horrible things that had been done to so many innocent ponies in the past. How could the dragons expect them to just work together after everything that had happened?
A look of hatred escaped Solaris's eyes, "No."
"What?" Volvack said in shock.
"Do you expect me to just lay my trust into you dragons? Your greed and hatred has already destroyed much of this world. Now, since this other threat has appeared, do you expect us to just forget everything!?"
Volvack held back the anger that was boiling in his chest, "I know our relationships have been hard from this war."
"Yes, a war that your father started!" Star Swirl shouted out.
Volvack glared down to the blue unicorn, "I was talking to your king, not -you, wizard!" he returned his gaze to the king, "I may not be one to want to give up, but this was my fathers war, not mine. I have already lost many hatchlings from his conflict. And besides... You know you need help."
"What do you mean?" Solaris questioned.
"Don't give me that; you and I both know not even you and the elements of Harmony would stand a chance against this creature, let alone the demons of Tartarus."
Solaris turned away in frustration, knowing what the drake said was true; if the gates of Tartarus were to open, both clans would have to work together to stop it. Looking back, he glared up to the dragon, "Fine. Hear me now, dragon, for after we deal with this monster, our conflict with each other is over. Understood? I am tired of this fighting."
Volvack snarled, but decided to agree as well. The high council had unanimously chose the same agreement when they heard the pan of the creature. Looking down to the black alicorn below, he nodded his head in approval, "It looks like I will no longer be trying to kill you."
"Don't sweet talk me, Volvack, for if you try to double cross me, I will unleash every ounce of my power to turn you to dust."
Volvack roared in anger. He knew this was going to be an uneasy peace.
Chapter 16: Death; Flashback pt 3
The sky glowed a deep red as it swirled above the ground. To many, such a strange sight would cause panic for anyone who had seen it. For the last two months, however, the colored sky was a normal scene for the ponies and dragons that entered the dark world.
The sky belonged to the realm of Tartarus.
After the leaders Solaris and Volvack joined together, they led their forces toward the portal which led to the great prison built by the creators. As they arrived the demon had already entered through and shut the door behind himself. Unable to do anything else, the mixed armies waited for the gate to reopen. Once it did, though, none of them were prepared for what came out.
Waves of strange beasts of different shapes and powers poured through the moment it opened, charging straight for the Facing armies. Bracing
themselves, Solaris led the counter attack as he and every other creature pushed forward, attacking every demonic being that crawled out of the gateway.
Seeing that the only way to stop it all, the allied forces had no other choice but to enter Tartarus and personally fight the one responsible for bringing the calamity upon the world.
For two months, the dragons and the ponies fought inside of the alternate world against the seemingly endless hordes of minions and titanic beasts that continuously bared down upon them. Life after life was being lost as the endurance of the soldiers began to slowly wither away, but they refused to give in to defeat.
The great plains of Tartarus were littered with corpses of beasts on both sides of the battle, but the most important conflict was set on top of the cliff that overlooked the fighting below. Here, a single demonic being stood against three figures, his silver eyes looking back and forth between them.
Solaris panted heavily as he stared at the monster in front of him. He glanced over to his left, seeing his friend Star Swirl in his demi alicorn form, but he noticed how the flames of his mane barley flickered, signaling his exhaustion. He became worried that the form was beginning to eat away at his comrades body for using it too much, "Star Swirl, power down; you can't handle much more of that."
"Don't... Worry about me..." the unicorn responded through his rapid gasps for air, "we need every bit of strength."
The the right of the alicorn king, the great dragon lord held his ground despite having his right eye ripped out minutes ago, the blood still leaking out of the open hole. He kept his remaining eye locked onto the hybrid creature in front of him. He took several steps forward, his great body causing small tremors with each step he took. Volvack stopped two hundred feet from his opponent, his eye filled with hatred, "You may be powerful, but you will die today... Aligon."
Aligon glared right back at the dragon king, his solid silver eyes giving off their usual soulless, lifeless look. He was furious that the two clans had been able to come together so quickly after he opened the gates. He had expected the demons he now commanded to have the chance to get out and wreck more havoc than they had been able to, but all of them that did get through we're killed within three days.
Not only were the soldiers of the clans not backing down to his own army, but the three figures in front of him had just gotten through fighting he most powerful creature within all of Tartarus with their armies, but they still had I enough strength to face him for the last two hours. He could feel his body beginning to tire from the use of magic and his wounds.
After a moment, though, Aligon began to chuckle, "Now, I must say, I never expected you to still be alive after fighting my favorite monster in this world; not even I contained the power to stop it."
"Because we are not alone..." Solaris said, "we have come together to face the monster that you are. We will never give in until we see you dead."
"Ha ha ha, I may be alone on this cliff, but the three of you are exhausted from this fighting. There is no way you can beat me!"
"We will see about that!" Volvack roared out. After Inhaling a deep breath, he lunged forward, releasing an enormous fireball that rushed forward. Aligon chuckled once again, curling his wings in front of him as his gray shield encircled him. The fire struck the barrier, it's bright embers slowly dwindling away. Through the dying flames, the large dragon wings of the demon flapped as he flew through the air towards his targets.
Volvack took to the skies, the gust from his monstrous wings creating hurricane like winds as they lifted his large body. As soon as he cleared the ground, the rushing red and white figure of Star Swirl charged forward, his hooves leaving spots of fire as he ran across the stone. His horn charged up and shot out a large beam of energy.
Aligon barrel rolled around the blast, creating his own attack from his horn. The magic enshrouded the curved bone on his forehead, forming into a plasmic ball. Once it reached eight inches, the ball raced through the air at incredible speed toward the unicorn.
Star swirl barely jumped over it in time as it came at him. He took to the skies, but suddenly Aligon teleported above him and kicked him hard in the back, sending him towards the ground. Before Aligon could watch the wizard hit the stone below, the flying black form of Solaris was coming straight for him.
The bright blast of the alicorn king lit up the entire cliff in a bright light as it moved through the air. Aligon quickly shot a large blast of his own towards the king, the mixing magic causing an enormous explosion that sent out an enormous shockwave, catching both flying alicorns off guard and knocking them out of flight.
Aligon caught himself in the air before he hit the ground, casting a look to kill at Solaris, "You are going to die when I-".
Aligon was cut off when he suddenly felt enormous claws wrap around his body. He glanced up to see he large arm belonged to Volvack, who quickly lifted his arm and through the dark alicorn at the ground below.
Aligon felt his body tossing uncontrollably as he fell down through the air. He didn't have time to gain control of his body before it slammed into the hard stone bedding below. He screamed out in pain when he felt something on his back crack when he made contact. As he slowly stood up, he winced as his left wing limply hung on torn muscles.
Volvacks impact from landing back down shook the entire area. The large drake grinned in the direction of the wounded Aligon, "It seems even the all powerful demon can be killed."
"You don't have the power to kill me..." Aligon sneered through the pain in his back, "...you never will."
"He may not, but all of us together do." Solaris said a he walked forward. His horn began to glow, then out of a patch of light a large crown appeared. Encircling the top of the large head piece were six colorful jewels that gave off their own bright glow.
Aligon immediately recognized the elements of Harmony, causing a small feeling of panic to creep into his mind. He knew that in his now exhausted state that the combined powers of Solaris and the elements alone were enough to possibly kill him, and he also had Volvack and a Demi alicorn to fight at the same time. He tried to activate his teleportation spell, but felt felt something restricting him.
Star swirls restriction spell strained as the magic from his horn covered Aligon, "Hurry, I can't hold him much longer! Do it now!" the wizard screamed, the stream of his magic sputtering every second.
The crown levitated down onto Solaris's head, then all of a sudden began to glow even brighter than before. His eyes turned a bright white as the rainbow colored power shot out of the jewels, accelerating towards Aligon.
To the side, Volvack once again inhaled heavily, arching his neck back into a tight s- shape. After a moment, his head snapped forward, releasing a fireball thirty feet across that screamed through the dark sky.
Aligon felt panic now, seeing that he could not survive the incoming attacks. He tried to activate his horn, but the cast from demi alicorn restricted his weakened magic, "I will not die!" he charged up his magic, causing the restriction spell to slowly stretch outward away from him.
Star Swirl struggled to hold it, but his power was no match compared to the dragon hybrid, "I can't hold it anymore!". He the. Felt his spell break, allowing the gray magic from Aligon to come out.
Volvack smiled as he watched the attacks closing in, "Too late."
The colliding attacks created an explosion that sent a shockwave out that knocked all three of the other beings on the cliff several hundred feet. The enormous cloud of smoke rose hundreds of feet into the air above the crater that now laid in the stone. Once recovering, Solaris and the other two returned to the crater. Expecting to see the corpse of Aligon, they were surprised to to not find any trace of him, except for three strange artifacts Laying there; a staff, a mask, and a gem.
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Chapter 17: The fateful Night; Flashback pt 4
1500 years ago
The great sun was slowly in descent above the city of Canterlot. In the five years of peace, the city had expanded by nearly one half of its previous size. Many of the buildings had been improved, even to the point of matching the royal castles design.
Down by the local lake, a white, teenage alicorn was kneeling down by the water with her favorite book. Her pink mane hung down her side as she skimmed through the lines. Humming to a old past time tune, she gently swayed back and forth on the blanket she had spread across the grass.
Celestia liked coming by the lake because of it was always quiet, not to mention it was always good to get away from her sister. She flipped to the next page, then screamed out loud when a cold bucket of water was dumped over her head. The sudden hit from the chilly liquid caused a shiver to run through her body.
Looking up, she saw her ten year old sister hovering above her, bucket in the grip of magic. Her eyes went angry at the laughing blue alicorn, "Luna, I'm going to get you for that!"
Luna just continued to laugh at her sisters expense, wings steadily flapping to keep her afloat, "Oh, did Tia get a little wet? You should chill out... Wait a minute, I did that for you!" she laughed hysterically at the joke.
"What's going on here?"
Both sisters turned to see their mother coming through the side trees. Celestia quickly stood up and pointed a hoof at her sister, "Mom, Luna dumped water on me again!"
Magnis lifted an eyebrow, inspecting the puddle at the feet of her still dripping daughter. Looking up, her eyes met with Luna's, whose smile had disappeared, "Luna, we have told you before not to prank your sister when she is reading." Her horn started to glow, enshrouding the gray bucket with her own pink aura and setting it on the ground.
Luna dropped to he ground below, head hung low and turned away. Celestia was about to say something, when she felt her mother nudge her, winking and signaling her to the bucket. Grinning, Celestia's horn started to glow, and ever so quietly lifted the bucket and dipped it into the lake. Lifting it back up, she positioned it over her sister and tilted lit.
Luna squeaked from surprise as the water drenched her coat. Jumping back, she glared up to her big sister, "Hey, I get scolded for pouring water on you and then you get to pour it on me?"
Magnis laughed at her daughters reaction, "It's only fair. Besides, you needed to... Chill out." After a moment, all three of them started laughing together.
On a nearby hill, Solaris sat quietly while he watched his family play by the water. Looking up to the sky, his horn started glowing, and almost instantaneously the sun moved down and set below the horizon. Several moments later, he guided the moon up to the sky, placing in position. "Perhaps I should let Celestia raise the sun tomorrow, she could use some practice." he chuckled to himself.
Smiling, he felt truly happy that his land had been at peace for the first time in nearly three hundred years. Looking up to the sky, his mind began reliving the history of what happened in the past five years.
After the war of Tartarus had ended, it took Sloaris, the elements and nearly every unicorn in the army to close the portal to the realm. While some creatures were able to get through and hide before it closed, the numbers were so few that beasts chose to hide in the shadows of the world.
Volvack had proven to be very successful after the conflict in calling back the dragons from attempting to restart any assault on the ponies. While many thought it was an act of disgrace to agree to peace, none would dare challenge the order of the great king.
Volvack has also been the one to hide the three artifacts that they found after the end of the battle. While no pony could control them, neither leader wanted to take the risk of some crazed pony to attempt to reopen the gates. The mask and the staff were sent off to the farthest reaches of the world, given in secret to other clans of animals that not even Solaris knew where. With the small jewel, he had even gone to the lengths of having the item placed inside of him next to his heart, to ensure it would always be safe.
After peace had been achieved, official borders were created to distinguish where each clans belonged. The volcanic range to the east was given to the dragons and named after the first king, Montara. The area just east of that now sat under the control of Solaris, who gave the land the ideal name for their kind; Equestria.
Despite having a feeling of success after the war, the harsh reality of war always ate at the back of his head. The entire population of ponies across Equestria had been reduced to a third of the population before the war for the heavens began. The dragons had nearly half of all of their breeds driven to near extinction.
Looking down at his family, he felt an even worse pain inside of him; besides himself, Magnis and his daughters were the only alicorns left in the world. Every other member of his race had lost their lives to the wars. His daughters would be the ones to hurt the worst, for they would never be able to find a suitable husband.Since no other pony would live long, they would have to suffer the reality of mortality by watching the one hey watch die from age.
BOOM!
Solaris jumped up immediately at the sound of the explosion. Getting up off the ground, he saw past the town an immense cloud of smoke rising from the nearby forest. Then, another large explosion erupted from the ground not far from it. Each blast destroyed an area of at least five hundred feet.
'No, it can't be.' he said to himself. He sensed a power in which he had not felt since Tartarus, and one of which was stronger than himself.
"Daddy!"
Solaris turned to see Celestia running up the hill towards him, with Luna and Magnis following en suit. All of them had fear plastered across their faces. Getting up to the top of the hill, both of his girls wrapped around his legs. He could feel Luna trembling as she looked up to him with wide eyes, "Daddy, what's happening?"
"Don't worry..." Solaris said as he bent down to nuzzle her neck, "We'll be alright." he tried to keep a reassuring smile, but looking to his wife, she could see the look in his eyes.
Magnis came up to his side and stared at the rising smoke. Her magic level was nowhere near her husbands, so she could not sense whatever what making him so afraid, "What is that?"
"My lord!"
Solaris looked to see Star Swirl running towards them from the city. His mane blew freely behind him since he did not take the time to wear his cap. He stopped at the top of the hill, "Solaris, I've already prepared the guards at their post in the inner city. We have to go back now." Star Swirl looked at the cloud of smoke in the trees. He also sensed the horrible feeling of who it was, "My king, I'm afraid it's-"
"Hello Star swirl." a cold voice said.
All of them turned to see a dark gray unicorn with a blonde mane standing not forty feet. The malicious grin the pony had sent chilling feelings down the two younger ones. Star Swirl felt his heart begin to race when he recognized who it was looking at him, "Malvelin?"
Malvelin chuckled at the look the Wizard had before him, "It's so, so good to see my former master again. How long ago did you banish me again?"
Star Swirl stepped forward, glaring down at his former student, "It was four years ago, and you are still not welcome in this place."
A slight frown appeared on malvelin's face, "oh yes, you reject a unicorn who you fear could be stronger than you."
"You were banished for your experiments and with dark magic!"
"It doesn't matter whatever happened..." the gray unicorn smiled once again, "... For I have a new master now."
A flash of gray energy appeared behind Malvelin, causing the others to shut their eyes monetarily. When they reopened, a tall figure stood in the place of it, causing a shake to the five ponies together. Solaris stared in disbelief at who it was, "Aligon." he muttered through quick breaths.
The tall blue alicorn had large burn scars set across his chest area, stripped of any fur. His left eye was nearly shut closed from improper healing. His left wing also suffered the effects of unchecked recovery; the long main bone was visibly bent in several odd angles down its length. His back right leg was also disfigured, completely missing the hoof and the next eight inches of limb.
Despite the horrid appearance, Aligon smiled, his sharp teeth visible through his open lips, "You look like you've been taking care of yourself, Solaris." his gaze went to the two small ponies huddled around the kings legs, "Oh my, what beautiful little fillies you have."
Solaris felt his blood boil at the mention of his daughters. Walking forward, he positioned himself between his family and the demon before him, "How are you still alive after that fight?"
"Well, thanks to your little wizard there, I was held until the last moment as your attacks came in. As the energy came in, I teleported out of Tartarus." he glanced back to his stumpy leg, chuckling, "He he, I guess I didn't get out fast enough."
Malvelin spoke up next, "After you banished me, I wandered the land, looking for anything that I could do. That is where I found him in the mountains. He was barely breathing when I got there. I knew exactly who he was... But I saw the power that he possessed, and I saw he needed help , so I agreed to help him and to serve him in exchange for showing me true power!"
Solaris looked back and forth between the two dark figures, "So you will help him in destroying the world just so you can gain power?"
"As long as I get what I deserve."
Aligon stood between them and the castle. Knowing he had to get his family out of here, the king only had one option. Closing his eyes, Solaris focused his energy to his body, causing the dark flames of his mane to shoot four feet into the air. The line of fire then moved down his back and out to his wings, making his size appear to double. He had gone to full power.
Star Swirl was about to go awakening before he was stopped by Solaris, "Take them."
"What?" Star Swirl asked confused.
"Take my family into the forest and hide."
Magnis Gasped, "Honey, what are you doing!?"
Solaris closed his eyes, not wanting to show the pain he had, "Take the girls Magnis. Take them and hide no matter what."
Luna ran forward and latched onto her dads leg, "But- but dad! Don't leave us!"
"Go!" he yelled out.
Magnis felt herself on the verge of tears, but she held them back. Nudging Celestia to go, she then went down and pulled off the now crying Luna. Looking back she locked eyes with her husband, unsure if it was going to be the last time or not.
Star Swirl wanted to help his friend, but he had to serve his king. Turning to follow the queen, He ran after them as fast as he could.
Solaris made his horn glow, once again summoning the elements out in front of him. Aligon just began laughing at the king, "You should have made sure you killed me last time. You are alone, and even with the elements you don't have the power to kill me."
Solaris just continued to glare at the hybrid, "You shouldn't be doing this. You know the consequences if you kill me and my family; the sun won't be-"
Aligon began laughing uncontrollably at this point, his cold voice echoing through the still air, "If your lineage dies then the sun and moon cannot be moved. Such an old tale. I have already thought of that. And just so you know, I just need your girls for that." he looked over to Malvelin, "Go bring them to me."
"With pleasure." the unicorn answered with a devilish smile. In a flash, Malvelin disappeared from the hilltop.
Solaris panicked; his family was in trouble now. Before he could do anything however, a large blast came rushing at him. Flapping his wings, he jumped over the incoming attack and charged up his horn. Forming several small spheres of magic, he launched them at different speeds at Aligon.
Aligon teleported over the hill, looking down at the alicorn king. Flapping his one good wing, he launched himself downward. His dark aura solidified into twelve energy spears and raced towards Solaris, who activated the elements and formed an energy sphere around himself. The long spears struck rapidly after each other, causing the shield split. On the final strike, the shield shattered.
Solaris tried recover from the recoil, but felt the heavy body of Aligon crash into him and drive him into the dirt. Shaking himself free, he only found himself caught in the magical grasp of his opponent. Despite using his own magic to break free, he couldn't match the opposing force.
Aligon snickered at the effort being put up, "You and I are considered gods to the creatures of this world..." he paused as he lifted the black alicorn close to his face, "... But you will never be my equal!"
Unable to move, Solaris could only stare in horror as the curved horn on the hybrids head began glowing brighter.
Chapter 18: the Fateful night part 2
Star Swirl dashed in the air in Demi alicorn form, leading the three alicorns behind him out of the clearing under the moon light. He could hear the massive explosions from behind him, contemplating going back to help Solaris. He chose not not to when he saw the tears running down Luna's cheeks.
Flying low through the trees, Magnis led the girls deeper into the forest away from the horrid creature. Tears began to form in her eyes as she continued, afraid to want to know what would become of her love. She had heard all of the stories of how powerful Aligon was, and she didn't want to-
"AHH!"
Magnis screamed out in pain when a green energy beam struck her right wing. The pain caused her to tumble down to the ground and crash into the dirt.
Celestia panicked as she saw her mother fall backward. "Mom!" dropping down, she ran over by her side, "Mom, you alright?"
Luna came down as well. She was hyperventilating from panic from earlier already, and this only increased as she approached her injured mom. Looking down, she saw the dark burn across her wing, charring several inches of delicate muscles needed for flight. The wave of tears that she had been holding back finally broke through her eyes, staining her blue cheeks, "Mom, are- are you alright?" she said through gasps of air.
"I'm fine. Don't worry Luna." Magnis answered, trying her best to keep her young daughter calm.
Star swirl came back to his queen, afraid of what could be the extent of her injuries. Seeing that she was able to stand gave him a feeling of relief after her hard crash into the ground, but before he could say anything, his magic detected something approaching, fast. Getting in position, he charged his magic up, the flames illuminating the area of the forest, "Stand back my queen."
Coming to a skidding stop, Malvelin stared at the fallen queen with a cold smile, "Hello Magnis, sorry for doing that to your wing, but it was very rude of you to leave without saying goodbye."
Star Swirl walked to place himself between Malvelin and Magnis, his red eyes staring with anger towards his former student, "You have disappointed me, Malvelin. You were once my most prized student."
"Exactly, I WAS your prized student before i found out you were holding me back. I wanted to expand my magic to higher lengths, but you saw me as a threat." Malvelin was yelling at this point, "You were afraid that I would become the strongest unicorn in the world, so you banished me!"
"I am not going to explain my point again. Whatever happened before, this does not give you a reason to join Aligon. He does not care for the lives of this land."
Malvelin just stared quietly for a moment before smiling once again. Suddenly, his coat shifted to a neon blue, then his mane burst out into flickering blue flames, casting a low glow behind him in the dark trees. Even his eyes turned into a bright, golden shine. He smiled at the shocked expression that he saw in the other ponies faces, "This is why I chose to serve him."
Star Swirl stated in shock, "You- you have reached Demi alicorn?"
"Yes I have. I have pushed myself to the next level in power thanks to his training in magic. Now, I will show you right now that I have surpassed you!" Malvelin then rushed across the ground, his flames leaving a bright trail in his wake.
The two girls screamed in fear as they saw they watched the cold hearted pony coming straight at them. Star Swirl quickly turned back to Magnis, "Hold on!" causing his horn to glow, he enveloped the three alicorns in a bright energy shield. Turning back, he launched a fireball from the tip of his horn directly at the incoming unicorn.
Enveloping his body in his green aura, Malvelin Teleported five feet over the fire. As soon as he swung his legs, blue patches of fire shot out from his hooves, giving him the ability to run in the air. Taking off through the trees, Star Swirl dashed under the low hanging branches, his fire mane burning many of the dry leaves that hung on the branches. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure his opponent was following, 'I have to get clear of the girls.' he thought to himself.
Banking up, Star Swirl flew up into the sky above the forest. Malvelin followed close behind as he charged his magic. Shooting up three small fire balls, he the. Focused his energy into the spheres, now manually guiding them. Each ball went out in wide arcs, rushing forward toward Star Swirl. Smiling, Malvelin forced the fire balls to all collide directly on Starswirl, creating a massive explosion.
Malvelin laughed as he watched the smoke begin to clear, "Nice try master, but I have no intention on ever standing below your hooves again."
"Then perhaps you have no purpose in this world anymore." a voice said from behind.
Malvelin whipped around, Shocked to see Star Swirl hovering in mid air behind him. He then snarled, his flames on his neck growing taller. The two unicorns the. Began dashing parallel with each other through the air, launching a barrage of fire balls and energy beams at each other. Both fighters matched each other stride with stride, blast with blast, their attacks colliding with the countering blast.
Malvelin was getting frustrated; despite his increased power with his new form, he had only had the power for several months and had not mastered the power. Star Swirl has had years of practice with the Demi alicorn form, which showed in his ability to keep up his pace with not too much difficulty.
After going back and forth for several minutes, Star Swirl dropped down, diving at a sharp angle before reaching a cloud and kicked off it, launching him up towards Malvelin. Waving his horn, he created an X symbol in the air from his fire and shot it up. Before Marveling could move out of the way, the symbol struck his chest and wrapped around his back. Trying to break free from it, Malvelin charged his horn to teleport, but felt as if his energy was being drained every second ,"What- what is this?"
"My personal spell..." Star Swirl calmly stated as he glided over to the trapped pony, "... It not only restricts the power of another weaker than you, but it also slowly eats away at your magic."
Malvelin growled as he struggled to keep his body afloat, the flames on his neck beginning to flicker. He looked down and saw his fur was beginning to lose its neon shine, starting to return to its gray tone. He turned his head back to his former master, "You are not stronger than I am. I am the most powerful!" he pointed his horn at the white unicorn, trying to shoot out, but all that spit trickled were several sparks.
"you not able to resist it shows otherwise, Malvelin." Star Swirl stopped a few feet in front of the captured unicorn, now holding him up with his magic, "I tried to give you the chance to give up this wretched pursuit of power, but your heart shows that you do not wish to follow the ways in which I taught you." His red eyes began shining brightened, followed by his horn generating a large purple plasmic orb.
Malvelin began to panic, realizing that he was defenseless, "Wait wait! What are you doing!?"
"You threatened the safety of my home. You attack my queen and her daughters. I will not let you hurt them anymore!" Rushing forward, he stuck the ball at Malvelin's stomach, then shot out.
Malvelin felt himself be driven up into the sky as the magic ball began ripping into his stomach, causing pain beyond anything he had ever thought possible. The last thing he could register in his mind was seeing the bright flash of the ball as it exploded at point blank range.
Starswirl watched the bright explosion for several moments. Despite knowing what he did was the right thing, he could not help but feel the aching pain of having to kill one that he was so close to in the past. He felt a lone tear drip down his face as he whispered in the night, "Goodbye, old friend." and with that, he dropped back into the forest and found where he had left Magnis and the other two inside of his shield.
Reaching the spot, he deactivated his Demi alicorn form, then lowered the shield to let them out. Immediately, both Celestia and Luna raced toward him. "Uncle Star Swirl!" Luna screamed out as she kept up and latched on to his neck with her forelegs, burying her face into his fur as she cried.
Celestia came up and embraced his side, her eyes also slowly leaking tears, "We were so worried about you. We thought something had happened."
Star Swirl out a hoof over Celestia and pulled her closer and gave her a kiss on the forehead, "I'm alright. I'm happy that you are safe." Looking up, he watched as Magnis walked over to him, a line of tears falling down her face.
"Star Swirl?" Luna asked as she looked up through glossy eyes, "Where's daddy?"
Star Swirl felt his heart sink at the question. He stared into those sad eyes, not wanting to reveal the fear that clenched his heart. His voice was caught inside of his throat as he tried to speak, "Luna, your... Your father-"
"Is dead."
All four of the alicorns and unicorns gasped as they heart the serpent like voice from the trees. Turning, they saw Aligon trotting into the small area, his cold eyes piercing through the night sky. Seeing the terrified faces in front of him only brought more amusement to him, "I must say, I'm disappointed Malvelin failed. He was quite useful. But it doesn't matter anymore..." he paused as he lifted his long tail, sporting the elemental crown in its grasp, "I have nothing to fear anymore." he grinned as he threw the crown at the feet of his next victims.
"Dad!" Celestia screamed as watched the crown bounce across the dirt and land by them.
Magnis couldn't breathe as she looked at the crown, seeing the traces of blood around the brim. Tears now fell from her eyes as she looked back up to the demon in front of her, "You monster!"
"He he, well, I am what I was made to be... The most powerful creature to have ever existed. Your husband was in the way of my rightful place as the ruler of this wretched world." Aligon said as he came closer towards them.
Star Swirl reactivated his power once again, pushing the two girls back towards their mother, "Magnis, take them. I'll hold him off."
"Actually, none of you are going anywhere." Aligon smirked. Inhaling deeply, he opened his mouth wide, then suddenly a rush of bright red fire erupted out and shot passed the group into the forest. The flames burst all of the trees behind them into Massive torches in the night. His eyes began to glow, then the fire began to spread into a wide arc around them, until it completely encircled the whole area.
Looking around, Magnis began to panic as she saw that they were trapped inside. She glanced down to her daughters as they clutched at her sides. Star Swirl knew that there was no hope in him defeating Aligon by himself, but he would not give up and let the ones he cares about be hurt. Charging forward, he released a barrage of varying sized energy beams at the dark alicorn.
Aligon's smile was replaced by a frown as he watched the attacks coming at him, "This is truly sad if you are actually going to try to fight me." folding his good wing in front, his dark shield materialized as the blasts came in, all of which bounced effortlessly off the barrier.
Star Swirl dashed to the side, creating a large ball once again on his horn, but before he could launch it, Aligon shot a beam straight at him, making him have to dodge, and in tune stop his attack. Levitating into the air, Star Swirl flew straight his opposer, his horn writhed in flames. He wanted to stab that demonic entity straight into its heart.
Aligon just stood still, and at the last moment, he teleported behind the unicorn, his long tail shooting out and wrapping around its leg. Whipping it to the side, he slammed Star Swirl into a nearby tree, then flicked his tail around and bashed him into the ground. The three trembling alicorns screamed out in terror as they watched their good friend be beaten.
after several more hits, Aligon threw Star Swirl into the air and blasted him with a beam of gray energy, sending him through the trunk of a nearby tree. as soon as his body crashed into the dirt, Star Swirl screamed out from the pain coursing his body. His demi alicorn deactivated, causing his mane to revert back to it's magenta tone and coat to standard blue. He gasped for air as he tried to stand up, but collapsed back down.
Aligon watched the unicorn suffer, then turned his attention to the three to his side, "Now, let me see those two wonderful daughters that you have."
Luna squealed as she watched the horrifying creature coming towards them, "Mommy!"
Magnis gritted her teeth, flinging her wings out and rushing at Aligon, "You will not touch my daughters!" Her horn glowed, sending out a bright stream of magic at the hybrid before her.
Aligon smiled at seeing her determination. Charging his own magic, he shot out a beam that easily overpowered hers, knocking her back. He then sent out his aura, enveloping her body and bringing her close to him. Celestia eyes shot open in horror as she saw her mother in the grip of the monster, "Mom! Leave her alone!"
Aligon laughed as he watched the queen flail inside of his magic, kicking her legs out to try to move,"You know Magnis, do you know what's interesting about magic? If you are caught in the grip of another, you can escape by countering it with an equal or greater force. But if you are so much weaker than your captor..." he stopped as the magic began to tighten around her chest, "... There is nothing you can do to stop them from breaking every bone in your body."
Magnis screamed out in pain as her ribs began to crack under the force of his magic. To the side Luna scream out in terror hearing the sounds of the cracks. Celestia could not hold back the tears as she watched her mother be tortured, "Stop it! Your hurting her!"
Aligon smiled as he squeezed tighter, feeling the magic constrict around her. Magnis felt as if she was being crushed by a boulder. Then, she felt something pop inside of her, causing a stream of blood to come out of her mouth. Star Swirl crawled from his spot, trying to get off the ground, "No! Magnis!" no matter how much he tried to get up, however, his body wasn't listening.
Celestia dropped to the ground as she saw the blood, "STOP IT! PLEASE!"
Aligon slightly released the pressure, bringing Magnis close to his face, "Prepare to meet your lover in the next world. And don't worry, I'll take real good care of your daughters just for you."
Suddenly, the fire around the forest was vaporized in a bright flash. Aligon looked around in confusion to what was happening, "What the hell is this?". Before he sense anything, a blast of magic rushed through the night and struck him directly in the face and burning both of his eyes. Screaming out in pain, he released his grip on Magnis as he stumbled backwards.
"Mom!" Luna and Celestia screamed as they saw their mother drop to the ground. Running to her side, they both gasped as they saw the blood leaking out of her mouth in a steady stream.
Star Swirl managed to get up the ground, his legs struggling to he his weight. He turned to the direction of where the blast came from. When he saw who it was, his heart nearly stopped, "S-Solaris!?"
Solaris hobbled out of the trees, his body littered in deep gashes and burns all over. The black flames over his body were barely flickering in the moonlight with each step he took. He looked over to the stunned unicorn, seeing his battered frame, "Thank you, Star Swirl. You did your best to protect my family." turning his gaze forward, he enshrouded his crown with his magic and lifted it towards him.
Celestia lifted her eyes to see her father standing there, giving her heart a jump, "Dad!"
Solaris didn't respond as he brought the crown to his chest. Simultaneously, his eyes and the elements began to glow bright, the light enveloping himself. All of the ponies had to cover the eyes from the blinding shine that came from the king. After thirty seconds, the light began to dissipate, leaving in its spot Solaris. His fur had turned into a vibrant array of flames consistig of nearly every visible hue.
He had fused with the elements of harmony.
Aligon slowly stood up from the ground, his eyes shut closed from the pain of the burns. His senses allowed him to turn towards the source of magic that radiated through the air. He sneered when he discovered who it was, "Impossible, I made sure you died!"
Solaris shot out a bright technicolored beam of magic before Aligon could even sense it. The magic enveloped the dragon- alicorn, lifting it up into the air, causing Aligon to panic, "What the... What is this?"
"I was given the elements by the great creators of the world, so I am bonded to their power..." Solaris said as he floated through the air, "...I put my life force into the gems before you tried to vaporize me earlier. Now, I have given every ounce of power that I have and mixed it with them." He stopped as he passed his daughters huddled over their bleeding mother, all three of them staring at him, "Magnis, I am so sorry that I could not be here to protect you."
Celestia gazed up in shock, the sight of her father both shocking and beautiful, "Daddy..."
"Celestia, I need you to look after your sister for me."
"Daddy!"
"I love all of you so much."
"DADDY!"
Solaris didn't look back as he rushed forward, his energy leaving a bright trail in the air. He collided with Aligon and dragged him through the air up into the sky high above the trees. Aligon thrashed in the grip of the alicorn king, unable to break free of the magic. Then he felt something very strange; his body was beginning to break apart, "What are you doing to me!?"
Solaris continued higher through the clouds, his power lighting up the dark sky. His own body was slowly starting to dissolve from the power surging through him, "You have caused the deaths of thousands of ponies and dragons in the world by your own hooves. Your war killed countless others because of your drive for power."
The magic began to spread out, completely enveloping both of the rising alicorns. Aligon now felt whatever was left of his wings were now gone, and now large chunks of his back were dissolving to dust, "You're magnifying your power and the elements into pure light. You'll kill yourself!"
As long as you die as well, I will accept that. You will no longer have the chance to rule this world. You will never see others bow down and serve you. You will never hurt my family. EVER AGAIN!"
From the forest floor, Luna and Celestia stared up at the bright explosion that appeared in the clouds. Both began screaming out into the night as they dropped to the ground, not wanting to accept the fact that their father her had killed himself. Luna crawled over to her older sister and wrapped her hooves around her, "Tia, he's dead! He's gone!"
Star Swirl stood there, not sure of what he should do. Looking back into the sky, he saw six gems fall through the air, tumbling down and landing in the dirt. He was about go and pick them up, but then his mind clicked, "Magnis!"
He hobbled as fast as he could over to the crippled alicorn, her body slump in the dirt. He saw her chest was visibly disfigured in multiple spots, her bones creating disturbing lumps across the surface of her sides. He followed up her neck to the stream of blood slowly trickling out of her mouth. He knelt down, placing his horn on her chest. Sending an electrical pulse through her body, he saw an image of her insides. He was horrified to discover her heart had been ruptured, slowly leaking out of the side. He placed a hoof on her face, trying to shake her awake, "Magnis. Magnis!"
Slowly opening her eyes, Magnis turned up to see the face of her good friend, bringing a faint smile to her face, "Star Swirl. You're ok. I glad to- agh!" she stopped as she coughed up another mouthful of blood.
"My queen, just rest! I'll get help back at the castle."
"No... It's of no use. I won't make it." she said through her gasps for air.
"But-but Magnis..." Star Swirl began to feel the tears swell up at the bottom of his eyes. His good friend was dying right in front of him and there was nothing that he could do to help her.
Seconds later, Luna and Celestia ran over to their mothers side. Celestia dropped down, laying a hoof across her mothers neck, "Mom! Come on, you've got to get up."
"I'm sorry Tia, but I'm not strong enough to make it." Magnis whispered.
Luna ran over to her mothers face, tears welling in her eyes, "Yes you can. You can do it! Uncle Star Swirl, you have to help her!"
Star Swirl just sat there, not attempting to hold back the tears that fell anymore. He felt completely useless. He choked on his emotions as he tried to speak, "I'm so sorry. I've failed you my queen."
You did what you could. Now *huff*, bend down and place your forehead on my horn."
Not sure what she wanted, he still complied. Limping over, he dropped to the ground and put his head out and placed it on her horn. Immediately, he felt a strange feeling run through his body. After a moment, it subsided. Lifting up, Star Swirl was unsure of what just happened, until he looked at her mane, "what?"
Music
Her hair was no longer its normal flowing energy form, but instead fell down as a standard, maroon mane, she turned we head to gaze up at him, "I've given you my immortality. I need you to live long and look after my girls. I *huff* need you to promise that you will always look after them."
Star Swirl once again felt the tears begin to form in his eyes, "But- my queen."
"Promise me."
"I... I promise."
Smiling, Magnis then turned to her crying daughters by her side, their faces stained from their salty trails of tears, "Girls, I have always been proud of you two. And I'm sorry that I won't be there to see you two grow up."
Celestia wiped her face clear with the back of her hoof, her nose sniffling with each breath, "B-b-but mom..."
You have to be strong and look after your sister now, Tia. You have to for me."
"I- I can't."
I know you can. You *cough* will pull through. I... Love ... You."
After those words, Magnis felt her eyes go blank, her head falling to the dirt.
Celestia started screaming out as she watched the life leave her mother, "Mom! Mom come on, get up!" she dropped down, putting her hooves on her mothers neck, trying to shake her, "please get up. Please!"
She continued to shake, but she was not getting up. Her eyes were now so filled with water she couldn't keep them open, "Mom get up, you can't leave us! Get up! GET UP!"
Luna fell backwards, stumbling away in tears. She dropped down and curled into a tight ball, wailing into her hooves. She then felt a hoof on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw the face of her godfather also writhed in tears. Jumping up, she jumped up and cried into his shoulder, "She's gone, uncle! Sh- she's gone!"
Star Swirl could only put his hooves around her back, pulling her closer into his embrace, "I know, Luna. I'm sorry."
Celestia continued to cry as she looked back to see Star Swirl lift a hoof to give room in his embrace. Standing up, she ran over and through herself into it, "She's dead! She's dead!"
Star Swirl clenched his eyes as he squeezed the two crying alicorns in his hooves. All three of them continued to cry together in the cold darkness of night together.
Dear readers, I am posting this information to let everyone know my situation. My computer is having technical difficulties, so I will not be able to use it anymore. I will, however, continue to write this story from my iPhone. Due to this, my updates may be delayed, and the grammar or format may not be the best.
I was also going to look for an editor to help with my story, so if anyone is interested let me know.
Thanks for working with my situation
To all, I regret to tell you that this is the end for this story. I had many big ideas for this story... Perhaps too big. I was planning out something that would have taken far too long to explain, and the battles that were going to happen perhaps too large to ever be believable on terms of power.
My character Aligon will return in a new story, much different than how he was in here.
Thanks to all who followed this to the end. I wish the best to all