Chapter 1- Into the Portal
A sharp hiss sounded from a train as Twilight, Spike, their friends, and other passengers exited the train at Ponyville station. They were all exhausted from their adventure at the Crystal Empire, especially Spike. Twilight glanced at him and smiled. He had saved the Empire from King Sombra, and she couldn’t have been prouder. That moment when Sombra had trapped her in those black crystals, she knew the little drake could get the crystal heart to Cadence and her brother. Twilight turned her attention from the baby dragon and glanced at the sun, which was now setting on the horizon. Looking to the east, she spotted Princess Luna’s moon, and stars were already fading into existence. Saying goodnight to her friends, Twilight picked up Spike, who looked like he was going to faint with exhaustion, and with her magic, placed him on her back and began to trot in the direction of the Golden Oaks Library. Crossing the threshold, Twilight placed the little welp gently on his bed, laying his blanket over his sleeping body. Turning off the light, she made her way downstairs, grabbed a candle, and began to do some late-night studying.
The sun had risen, and a startled yell awoke Twilight. She had slept in the middle of her studies and had curled up on the floor. Shaking off her grogginess, Twilight rushed upstairs to see Spike clutching a bunch of ashes. “Spike!? What’s wrong? Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, Twi. I just woke up and found my blanket burnt to ashes, and it startled me,” Spike explained with an embarrassed chuckle. Sorry for making Twilight worry and for burning the blanket.
“That’s ok, Spike. Honest mistake. Especially since you are a dragon. Nice to know you learned your lesson to not lie about it this time,” Twilight said with a light chuckle. “I’ll head over to the Sofa Clerk and buy you a new one. Ok?”
“Thanks, Twilight,” Spike said with a smile as Twilight walked out the door. On her way there, Twilight hoped she’d have enough bits for the blanket. As she opened the door, Twilight gasped, and her eyes widened. Bodies littered the entire shop, sitting in pools of their blood. What was worse, the bodies seemed to be empty, as if their bones had been plucked from them. Twilight had to put a hoof to her mouth to not gag at the horrible sight. And screamed
A few hours had passed since the Sofa Clerk Massacre, as it was now being called. Ten ponies had died. Half of them being parents. After Twilight had screamed, a nearby stallion heard her and came to her aid. He, of course, was horrified as well but did his best to hold it in for Twilight’s sake. He brought the mare home, then he told Mayer Mare (Ivory Scroll) and had a letter sent to Princess Celestia.
She had also been horrified. Never before in her kingdom had a crime of that magnitude ever happened in Equestria. Sure, crimes had occurred in Equestrian history. Minor theft, the crimes of villains, and yes, even murders. But never a massacre. Celestia sighed. Her faithful student must be in such distress over seeing something like that. Celestia’s horn began to glow as she performed a teleportation spell and reappeared in front of the guard barracks. “Spearhead?” She called.
“Princess?” A South Californian voice answered. From a nearby room with silver walls, out walked a dark orange pegasus with three individual spears for his cutie mark, blue eyes, and a dark and light pink scarf. A piece of clothing the royal guard always carried. Celestia explained the situation, much to his shock. “That’s crazy. My heart goes out to the victim’s friends and family.” The sun princess nodded in agreement.
“Spearhead, I want you to go to Ponyville’s Sofa Clerk, and with a battalion of guards, I want you to investigate. Maybe you can find out what’s going on.” The guard nodded and rallied a bunch of the royal guards as he walked away.
Rainbow Dash flew lazily across Ponyville, not paying attention to anything. She was not happy. It was two days now, and poor Twilight was still in Golden Oaks, no doubt traumatized by what happened two days ago. Being the loyal friend that she was, Rainbow decided she and her other friends would try and cheer their friend up. Convincing all her friends was not hard in the least. Especially Pinkie Pie, who immediately began picking up party supplies, so she could make a, in her own words a cheer up Twilight party. “How do ya’ll think Twi’s feeling?” Applejack asked in a concerned tone as they trotted towards the Golden Oaks Library.
“Probably still traumatized by what happened,” Rarity replied. Fluttershy looked down at the ground as tears threatened to fall down her muzzle.
“What’s wrong, Fluttershy?” Pinkie Pie asked.
Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack looked at her, waiting for her answer. “I just… I wish those poor colts and fillies could have their parents' back.” Her friends nodded in agreement. As they reached the Library, the sun was about to set. The ponies marveled as they saw yellows and oranges light up the sky. However, when they looked back to the library, They were met with a shocking scene, and Fluttershy screamed.
Twilight sighed. For the past two days, she had never been able to forget that moment. That awful moment. Sure, Twilight had read about such horrific deeds in books, but it was one thing to read compared to actually experiencing it. Twilight felt a little shuffling next to her and smiled at Spike’s sleeping form. Ever since that day, Spike had insisted he sleep next to her to try and calm her down. She was a little hesitant at first since, according to her parents, she moved a lot in her sleep and didn’t want to cause him any discomfort. But after a rather terrible nightmare, she let him sleep beside her for a while. Using magic, she took her blanket of stars and moved it up to their necks. She smiled. Her forearms were still wrapped around him, holding him in a protective embrace.
He was as cute as the day she hatched him. She suddenly felt relieved all of a sudden. Spike had asked to come with her to the Sofa Clerk, but she had said no. Which she was really happy about. He may have acted mature over the one year they’ve been in Ponyville, but he was still a young kid, and no kid should see the horror that Twilight, that kind red stallion, and the royal guard had seen. On the window, there were four letters. One from Princess Luna, one from her parents, one from Shining Armor and Cadence, and one from Princess Celestia. All of which were get-well letters. She smiled again at them. She truly had such loving ponies in her life. Suddenly, Twilight heard somepony yell. Getting out of bed gently so as not to wake Spike up, she galloped down the stairs and out the door. She screamed. It wasn’t as loud as when she had seen all those dead ponies, but it was still shocking, to say the least.
Other than her friends, she saw a black-coated unicorn stallion with a darker black mane and tail, as well as soulless red eyes. But the most shocking thing was the thing behind him. Bones. All shapes and sizes were combined in a way that made it look like some kind of portal. In a blind rage, Rainbow Dash, after comforting Fluttershy, took off at super speeds and pinned the stallion to the ground. And began to punch him as hard as she could. Blood started to flow from his left nostril. What made Rainbow even more furious was his laughter. Instead of screaming or grunting from Rainbow’s assault, he laughed, and with each punch, his laughter seemed to get more manic. Rainbow’s hooves stopped as a gentle hoof was placed on her shoulder. She looked down at the yellow hoof and noticed Fluttershy. Her eyes were flooding with tears. As Rainbow looked into those kind eyes, it was as if her friend silently told her it was ok. And just like that, all of the rage poured out of Rainbow as she hugged her friend, her body shaking all over. “G-girls, Fluttershy, I-I-“
“It’s ok, darling. We forgive you. You needn’t say sorry. We know,” Rarity said with a small smile.
“Who in Equestria are you?” Twilight asked, finally trying to talk to the stranger. The stallion continued to laugh maniacally as his horn glowed bright red. He focused his power on the bone circle. In the center, dark, red, and black substances came into existence. The six mares didn’t even register what happened as the stallion used his magic, lifted all of them, and dove headfirst into the portal, the young mares being pulled along with him as they screamed.
