Author's Note

So, I am sorry for just being gone. Quite a few things have happened including: delayed flights, sickness, more sickness, finals, surprise midterms, storms, sick professors, an impromptu trip where I learned to ski, and death. That is about all the excuse I have, so sorry.
I added a bit to the last chapter and will try to add more as time goes by, I am also thinking about writing yet another story (that makes it 3 (somewhat 4) stories I am trying to put down on paper) that I thought about while I was sick and in bed.
Also, don't worry it wasn't anything dramatic.

I hope you enjoy, I may have lost the flow a bit over the past weeks.

Ch. 6: To Rid Love

It can be quite the challenge to navigate an entire country that may be hunting for you. I, of course, had no idea if I was even being hunted for or expected in Equestria. Nopony searched for me over the past years, as far as I know. So I should be in the clear in terms of my aunt, mother, and siblings.

I did know that I had to be as silent and unnoticed as possible. If ponies see me sneaking around through forests and such, they start talking. When ponies start talking, myths and rumors spread. And if rumors of my whereabouts spread to any of my family, our- no, my destiny would be taken from me once again.

So I decided not to fly during the daytime, when ponies were outside and my coat would stand out against the blue sky. My attempts to learn illusions had only been a partial success, so I did not trust them to be reliable enough to get me from the lowermost part of the nation to the topmost part. I was able to take flight during the night, however, making my treks much longer when it was dark. I had gotten quite a bit of practice flying in the different gravity and presence of wind over the past years.

When I did have to sleep, I typically chose a well hidden and unfrequented spot during the daytime, so that I could get in at least some rest. And I luckily learned how to sate my sudden need for food while in the desert.

So, as the days went on, I slowly made my way up through Equestria, domain of our greatest enemy and of the person that betrayed mother and stole everything from her. I would get my revenge, I would-

Calm.

In.

Out.

The most dangerous part during the journey was passing by Ponyville, the town that harbored the elements of harmony. Due to apparently acquiring an entire school recently, the area was also much more full of creatures of all kinds, so I had to be careful to never get to close and to always keep my eyes open for anything.

The school of friendship, HA! Please! What do the elements know of friendship?!

When they tore my family apart, was that friendship?!

When they called us monsters, were they friends?!

When they decided to mutilate those I cherished, corrupt them, turn them into somepony else, WAS THAT FRIENDSHIP?!

I had realized that I was breathing heavily again, seething with rage and a deep hatred for those six "friends."

Friendship.

They have no idea what friendship is!

Before friendship comes hospitality. They already failed at that!

The elements of harmony my a-

cough

That got my attention.

I did it again, I got so lost again. Somepony came too close to my little camp.

So I hid in the shadows and decided to watch.

Six creatures, all of a different type, were walking through the Everfree forest. Going to their own, personal treehouse. They had been granted the treehouse by the tree of harmony, so they may as well use it.

They were going to spend the afternoon there, having completed their classes and assignments, in order to relax and simply cool down after a long day. Who knows, maybe they would go on some adventure afterwards.

One of them, Ocellus, however, broke into a fit of coughter, having seemingly gotten ill for no apparent reason. This worried her friends.

"Are you alright?" Sandbar, a pony, asked, "You don't look so hot."

Ocellus, after having calmed somewhat, replied, "Yes, there's just a weird pocket of hatred here, maybe something in the forest got hurt. I can definitely feel it getting better, I think I should be fine if we cough move out of the area."

The friends nodded and continued on their way at a faster pace, making sure to not come this way again for the next while.

Was that me?

Is that the effect I have on the love eaters?

Interesting.

I should experiment more with this, a sample size of one could not make any result statistically significant, and the cont-

What the heck am I saying?

I shook my head quickly.

Anyways, I should keep going, staying in one place too long could be dangerous, especially if some of the locals already noticed that something is different or odd.

So I kept going.

And as I trotted to the edge of the forest and beyond, I could see it on the horizon. The trademark and crown jewel of the entire nation. Seat of my aunt and mother, as well as the rest of the government and guard.

Canterlot.

I decided to now only travel at night and stop flying all together. It wasn't worth the time savings to be caught and beheaded, or whatever my aunt planed to do with me.

Maybe she would torture me before my execution? That was always a classic.

You may wonder why I didn't simply try to do a long range teleport all the way to the crystal empire? The explanation is quite simple, really, I am trying to save up my energy and magic. I will have to fight quite a bit in my conquest to restore order to Equestria, so I can't have wasted all I can give by doing teleportation whenever I feel like it.

On the topic of fighting, I do think that some of the alicorns that live here would be of use in our kingdom once it is restored, so it does seem to be in my interest to only incapacitate them until I have gotten rid of Celestia. Afterwards, I shall attempt to retrain them to listen to their new rulers and follow the new orders and laws I will instill.

It only took about a week before Canterlot was well behind me, almost disappearing over the horizon again. Equestria is quite large, these ponies really must be soft to still be under my aunt's control after all these years! But I should not become too ignorant about their whereabouts, danger can come in the masses and the fear inside they grow and harbor. Luckily, nopony seems to have discovered me yet, I have seen neither hide nor mane of anypony in the last week.

By taking the more cautious route, staying just far enough out of Canterlot to not be spotted while still trotting the straightest path possible, I was able to move through a country in which I should be hunted! I can feel the fact that I am moving north, however, as the temperature began to plummet.

This region is too far from the desert, so any contacts or informants I could establish during my time in the south simply didn't have much information about the region. All I really know is that some magical winter surrounds the crystal empire, and that the sovereign over this "empire" seems to be Princess Cadence.

It took me quite a while to find that one out, but once I did I apparently started asking the right kinds of questions as information started to flood in. She isn't the princess of friendship, but may as well be...love, another useless...

Love.

...

Where...ah! Love, another useless byproduct of pony society. You don't need love, love betrays you! Love leads to hurt!

Love takes whatever it can get and leaves!

Calm....in....out....there.

Anyways, she should be easy to take out. Sources indicate that she isn't too good at fighting, her husband however...

Captain Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard. Against my plans, it appears that he won't be joining the trip the guard was supposed to attend, preferring to stay at home with Candence. He could be a real issue, I hadn't studied much about his capabilities, but his rank and his defensive skills are infamous.

I will simply have to be fast.

It was really getting cold! I can't believe how quickly temperature is dropping. The moon always stayed a nice temperature on the light side, the dark side was colder but nowhere this cold! I do not have the gear for harsh winters, I have no real gear at all. All I had was a friendship bracelet I had gotten from Lint when we said goodbye, it was surprisingly well crafted with an impressive amount of skill for...Lint. But sadly, a bracelet won't keep me warm. I do get a small amount of warmth from my saddlebags which held a small amount of emergency food for real emergencies.

I thought I had a blanket...must have forgotten it somewhere, or did I ever have it with me?

By now it had started to snow, so even a blanket wouldn't have helped me.

"It would probably just get soaked," I thought aloud.

This is where things begin to go wrong? I mean, they always go wrong eventually, that seems to be my curse, but it usually takes until a good portion of a plan is done before I regret starting. Though, typically it isn't my fault that a plan fails, mother miscalculated us being brought back to Equestria with her, and my siblings betrayed me with their own weakness, this time is different, however, I failed to pack appropriately for the conditions I will face on my journey.

It is really cold!

It must be well into the negatives by now, I could no longer see a hoof in front of my eyes with all the snow that was coming down, and the diffuse light stung my retinas. I could withstand more than a standard pony, but with me being so used to the warmer temperatures of the desert I could not handle such low temperatures well.

Would be a great way to go, though!

Frozen to death in the pursuit of revenge.

But I can't. I just can't let Celestia win, I can't let the betrayal of my family be justified, and I can't allow the actions of the elements of harmony to remain without consequence!

I can't let Dave win, looking at me, smiling.

I broke into a run in the direction I had been going.

"YOU WANT TO TAKE ME?!" I bellowed.

"I WON'T ALLOW THAT!"

I won't!

I can't!

I have to win, for mother, for my siblings, for my-

Then I came to a stop.

There was something here, I could see a...almost like a glow through the snow.

As I took a few steps closer, it came into view.

My first stop on this long journey:

The Crystal Empire.

Some shield seemed to surround it, far away from the borders of the...well, it was more of a city than an empire, if I am entirely honest. The shield apparently kept off the frigid storms, leaving the city in pristine condition.

Speaking of frigid, I stepped through the shield to hopefully escape the cold. It felt odd, however. Some...feeling went through my body sending a shiver through my spine and making my fur stand on end. I had no idea what to make of it, I couldn't see any runes, so some other type of magic powered the shield.

I wiped a tear I had shed away from my cheek and trotted towards the city, the excitement of being one step closer to my goal had added a spring to my step.

I stopped that spring.

...

As I drew close enough to the entrance of the city, I had realized how much luck I had finding it at all. Somehow, I had ended up by the eastern entrance of the metropolis. That meant that I had somehow walked in a bow and still found my destination, likely wasting time.

Time...how long had I been in the snow storm? Had it been minutes or days? At least I now knew how mother felt when she was confused by the time passing on the moon.

That was worrying, I will have to find the time out eventually or risk my plan falling apart even more than it already has.

And so, I entered the crystal empire, ready to begin my trails.

...

I began with a teleport into the central castle. I chose a random location, since I had no idea about the layout of the structure and would hopefully find the Princess in a quick manner.

The building itself likely had wards against intruders teleporting in, but they were quickly overwhelmed by simply pushing more power into the teleport. Mother had prepared us for teleporting through anti-teleportation wards with wards that were ten times as strong as these. The waste of energy was a pity, but it should be a worthy tradeoff.

When my eyes cleared from the teleport, I realized I wasn't in a normal room. There was a small number of furniture, only basics like a wardrobe and table. There were a few toy animals lying on the ground and a crib by the wall.

A nursery.

Of course! The two had an alicorn daughter, Flurry Heart!

I facehooved.

How could I entirely forget about the existence of an alicorn!?

I went towards the crib and noticed the foal, sleeping.

Looking down at it made me feel an odd storm of emotions. Once I knew, but I did not know where from. Like knowing how to sail, but having never learned what a boat is. Like galloping, without having any legs. Like being happy and yet terribly sad, without reason.

No, it was the last one. I was sad, happy, horrified, excited, relieved, and tense all at once.

That's when I realized she was awake and looking at me, with those eyes only a foal could have. Eyes that had more innocence than anypony else could ever hope to have. Water had splashed onto her face, quickly pulling her out of her slumber.

No. Not water, tears.

My tears.

Had I really gotten so soft? A darn foal made me break down?!

I knew that she likely wouldn't be of use for quite a few years and that she would likely be quite the waste of resources until then. So I should take her out then and there. It would break Celestia's morale and spirit.

I started to charge.

I can't leave too many alicorns, or they may rise up and betray us once again. Not even a-

A f-

A baby.

I have to do this.

No.

No no no no no NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!

NO NO NO NO NO!

"NO NO NO NO!"

Shining Armor was rushing towards the nursery. The wards sounded their alarm once again, but that was nothing new. The maids would often times forget to disable the wards before entering the room, meaning he would have to check and manually turn it off again.

He did have a bit of urgency, Flurry should have slept another couple of hours at least, so it was odd that anypony would be inside of her room at this time. But his daughter's sleep schedule was not entirely set, so small deviations DID happen.

Now, what he expected to happen was that he would simply go into the foal's room, reset the wards, maybe scold whichever maid forgot about the wards again and then go back to finish his lunch. The usual.

What he did not expect was to see his daughter crawling to him teary eyed, and a stranger repeatedly hitting herself on the head with her hooves while loudly yelling, "NO!" over and over and over again.

He stood there for a few moments, simply shocked at the display. Shocked at how somepony who was clearly not a maid had gotten here, and how his foal was not protected from the actions of the mare by any of his guards!

When he regained his composure he decided to first bring Flurry Heart to safety, that was his number one priority. Then he would converse with his wife, and decide what to do with the intruder.

He heard as the outburst of the mare gradually became more silent as she continued, "NO NO NO NO no no no..."

He finally picked up his daughter who had, by this point, crawled over to him and started to gallop.

No No No...

What?

Why did I...

I noticed that the foal was gone and looked up to see a tail leave the door quickly.

"F@ck!"

I have to get that pony before too many others can be warned and the remaining guard forms up!

I go for a teleport, to cut the pony off.

I teleport into a hallway I don't know.

Right, I have no idea what the layout of the castle is.

I go for another teleport.

This time I end up in a larger room, this one with a table that had some food on it.

Dining room.

I almost go for another teleport, but then I see her.

My prize.

My prey.

Princess Cadence.

"Ah, Princess Cadence, how lovely to meet you!"

The pink alicorn only now noticed me, I had to get my temper under control. She would resist less and get less hurt-as well as cost me less energy- if she didn't know what I had planned.

"Oh, hello?" she began, "I...Court is not open at this hour, you could come back at a later time, if that is possible."

"Oh, no. No, I am sorry, I do not have time later. This is rather urgent and I am afraid that we will have to do this now."

"Very well," she responds, at least her manners seem up to standards,"What issue may I help you with my little p-"

Her eyes went wider, then I noticed what had surprised her. My wings.

Ugh, I really did not plan this one out all the way.

So I decide to attack rather than explain. I launch myself forwards using my wings to increase my speed, before Cadence is ever able to react or even comprehend what just happened, I already have her pinned against the crystalline wall with her wings giving a satisfying crunch.

"AAAAUUUU," she yells, likely due to the pain.

I try going for another punch, but see a stallion, Shining Armor, charging towards me. He seems shocked and upset all at once, which is good, they really hadn't expected me. I notice him charging up his horn and prepare a counter-spell, but he doesn't aim it at me. Rather, he simply put a shield around him and his wife which became a solid bubble once the two were close enough.

Ha! I quickly charge up a spell that should dispell his shield. We practiced these often enough for them to be pretty effective.

It didn't work. He didn't even seem strained as he helped the princess to the floor to begin mending some of her wounds.

How did that not work!?

No matter, I decide to go for a spell that would shatter his shield rather than undoing the magic.

It once again didn't work.

"WHAT!?" I yelped.

He isn't an alicorn, so his shield should have easily been destroyed by that!

"What are you doing!" I demanded.

"I simply put up a shield," he replied, "Shields are my specialty."

His frown then lifted into a smirk for the smallest of moments before he looked at his wife again, blood staining feathers where her wing's shattered bones had pierced her flesh.

He smirked.

That f@cker allowed himself to smile? At my inability?!

He was just like them.

Like my mother.

Like my siblings.

Like that white element of harmony.

Like Dave!

I go for-

I have no time for this! To heck with it!

I start hitting that stupid, foolish pony's shield with my head as hard as I could.

Over and over again.

And again.
And again.
Again! Again! Again!

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

...

After a few moments or minutes, I am not sure which, I was able to calm down a bit again.

The shield still hadn't broken.

...no...

It was full of spindly cracks by now, however, and the shield's caster looked fairly exhausted and frightened.

Guards were now flooding into the room with ever increasing numbers.

I can still....

No, I am too exhausted.

My temper is ruining this plan as well now.

Princess one should be incapacitated, I could move on with my plan, but her child...

Her child...won't be a problem for a few more years.

AAAAHHH!

I decide to teleport out of a situation...what was the saying? Number 36, if all else fails, retreat?

Well, all else wasn't failing...yet. If I could control myself better, I still have a chance at my next stop if I am quick.

So I teleport to roughly ponyville.

My teleport...wasn't very exact.

I opened my eyes to see trees, which indicated that I had most likely gone to the Everfree Forest. Highly accurate long distance teleportation requires too much energy to be useful in a situation such as this.

"Ah! Not even my training proved useful! Nothing did!"

We trained to take back Equestria as a group! Everything we learned centered around teamwork! Mother, Shadow, Night, and I, we should have done this. Our team, our family should have worked together!

Team.

"Ha!" I exclaim, brushing away condensation from my eye lids.

My "team" didn't need me! They abandoned me the first second we got, corrupted by those blasted elements of "harmony" and turned against our cause!

No matter, I don't need them!

I just have to strike the Princess of Friendship hard and fast, make her see what friendship gets you!