Prelude: One Angsty Winter Night

A single blood-red leaf detached itself from the gnarled, skeletal finger of a tree and drifted slowly downwards, the last clinging ember of autumn burning itself out at last. Pale and ghostly moonlight drifted across a murky sky, illuminating a unicorn's face as he gazed mournfully into the reflecting pool before him. Haunting strains of Disintegration by The Cure bled from the cone of a nearby record player, drifting off into the night like a lost, sad spirit in search of a hug.

The unicorn continued to gaze at his image in the pool; at his worn and haggard features; at his dark and lonely mascara-lined eyes. Eyes that had lived so long; seen so much horror, and so much pain.

"Sadness," whispered the unicorn into the darkness. "Infinite sadness."

His horn aglow, he quickly levitated the quill pen down to the parchment spread out on the rock before him, and scrawled out the final line of his poem.

He brushed the mascara-tears from his eyes, and gave his work an appraising glance.

"Oh yeah," he whispered to himself, smiling. "That's good. That's the shit right there. The ponies in my writing circle are going to eat this up."

"Um, sir?"

The unicorn turned, ready to rebuke his assistant for interrupting his poetry-writing. Then, he remembered why they were out here in the woods in the first place.

"Yes, what is it?" he demanded, perhaps a little too harshly.

His acolyte, well accustomed to his master's moods, was unruffled.

"The preparations are complete."

Evening Musk smiled, and his horn lit up with a violet aura as he quickly gathered up the papers spread out before him. He stuffed them into his nearby saddlebag and switched off the record player.

Musk was a tall, handsome, well-proportioned stallion in his middle years. Ordinarily, his coat was the bluish slate-grey of fading dusk, but tonight he had dyed it black; as black as his very soul. His lavender mane, streaked with silver, was now midnight blue. He had enchanted his eyes into a turquoise color, the pupils resembling those of a kitty-cat or a reptile; a reptokitty, perhaps. He pulled up the hood of his black cloak and rose to his hooves.

"Then let us begin."

His acolyte, ordinarily a rusty brown earth pony by the name of Night Soil, had dyed and clad himself similarly, as had all the members of their order for the evening. The two ponies walked a short distance through the woods until they came to a clearing, where about thirty black-and-blue ponies, cloaked and hooded, were gathered in a semicircle around an altar.

"Brothers and sisters," proclaimed Evening Musk as he ascended the small mound of earth on which the altar stood. "Tonight, we shall reap the fruits of all of our months of effort and research! Tonight, Equestria shall bear witness to horrors and wonders beyond all comprehension! Tonight, we shall see...the resurrection of our Queen!"

There was a small but enthusiastic 'huzzah' from the gathered crowd.

Evening Musk glanced at the altar, pleased to see that the objects had been arranged as he'd asked. The fragments of armor were piled in the center, flanked on either side by a ceremonial dagger and an empty chalice. Directly above the pile, facing due East, was a small brazier in which incense crackled and burnt, causing an otherworldly aroma to waft out and mingle with the crisp night air. In the nearby village of Ponyville, the wrap-up had concluded and tomorrow Spring was here, but in the Everfree Forest Winter still held dominion.

Frowning, Musk suddenly noticed that somepony had also left a rubber chicken on the altar, presumably as a joke. He brushed it aside in irritation, and it fell to the ground with a light squeak. Someone in the crowd stifled a giggle.

He cleared his throat.

"Now then. Bring forth the sacrifice!"

Two more hooded ponies approached the altar from behind, dragging between them a pony-sized burlap sack, a sack that was shaking and struggling. A cold smile spread across Musk's face as it was tossed to the ground before him.

His horn glowed violet, and the rope that bound the top of the sack unwound itself. He peered inside, but immediately drew back as a thick odor of sour wine and B.O. assaulted his nostrils.

"Yecch, she smells like an old wino!" he grumbled. "Are you sure you grabbed the right unicorn?"

One of the hooded stallions, a muscular earth pony whose name Musk couldn't place, looked offended.

"We're not stupid!" he said defensively. "It was Celestia's star pupil you wanted, right? The one who lives in the tree?"

"Yeah, that's her, but...well, whatever; dump her out. Let's have a look at what we've got."

The two stallions each grabbed a corner of the sack in their mouths, roughly upending its contents onto the frozen ground. A purple unicorn tumbled out, sweating profusely and covered in mud and grime. In addition to being hog-tied at the fetlocks, a blindfold of the same rough material as the sack had been tied over her eyes, and a silver magic-blocking collar was fastened securely about her neck. Her lavender-blue mane and tail looked as if they hadn't been washed in days, but Musk observed that the distinctive magenta stripe was present. A glance at her star-shaped cutie mark provided the final confirmation: it was her.

"So," the burly stallion spoke again. "Did we grab the right one?"

Evening Musk nodded.

"Yes, this is her." His nose once again wrinkled with distaste. "But ugh, the smell! What did you do, marinate her in a vat of wine first?"

The stallion shrugged indifferently.

"She was like this when we found her."

The other stallion nodded in confirmation.

"Well, it's no matter," said Evening Musk, "This will all be over soon enough."

He drew up to his full height, smiling imperiously at his captive. He had waited months for this moment.

"So, Miss Sparkle," he said with an aristocratic leer. "How are we feeling this evening?"

The unicorn on the ground before him began to thrash around and groan.

"W-where am I?" she mewled, in a pitiful voice. "Who are all of you big, powerful, scary stallions? Are you going to rape me? Are you going to hold me down and have your way with me? Are you going to violate me, passing me back and forth like a helpless little--"

The stallion to her left rolled his eyes and gave her a sharp kick.

"Oh, shut up!" he growled. "For the last time, nopony is going to rape you. Stop asking!"

"Are you sure?" cried Twilight. "Because I really couldn't do anything about it if you did! And I certainly wouldn't say anything about it to the Princess! I mean, how could I even face her after something like that? To look her in the eye and tell her that a pack of hulking, muscular stallions had flung me to the ground and violated me over and over with their big, thick, veiny--"

"Can we gag her or something?" demanded the other stallion, the one who had spoken first. "Seriously; it's been all bloody night with this."

Evening Musk hesitated, but then nodded. The stallion quickly stuffed a cloth rag into the captive's mouth, temporarily stemming the torrent of vulgarity.

He cleared his throat again, once again turning to address the semicircle of hooded ponies who were still gathered patiently in front of the altar.

"And now," he proclaimed in a booming, theatrical voice. "I offer unto you this sacrifice! Drink of this unicorn's blood, My Queen, the blood of the very unicorn who hath cast thou into darkness!"

"Cast thee into darkness," corrected someone in the crowd. This was immediately followed by a muffled cry of pain as he was kicked in the shin by the pony standing next to him.

Evening Musk went on as if he hadn't heard.

"I offer you this sacrifice, O My Queen!" he cried, craning his neck upward towards the full moon. The ceremonial dagger began to levitate off of the altar. "Drink of this pony's blood, and BE REBORN!!!"

The deadly object turned suddenly, moonlight glinting off the blade, and then it flew towards the helpless mare. Instinctively, Twilight began to thrash on the ground once more, but the two stallions held her down. A muffled, pitiful shriek of terror pushed its way through the gag.

The crowd gasped as the floating dagger drew to a sudden stop at Twilight's flank, made a single, shallow cut, and then drifted neatly back to the altar.

"There we go," said Musk. "That wasn't so bad, now was it, Miss Sparkle?"

Musk now levitated the chalice and held it underneath the small cut, gathering a few drops of the unicorn's blood.

The two stallions, still holding Twilight, looked at each other and then back at Musk.

"Seriously?" said the large, burly one. "That was it? That's what you needed us to drag this mare all the way out here for?"

Musk, the chalice still floating in his horn aura, raised an eyebrow at them.

"Is there a problem?"

The stallion coughed.

"Yeah, well, it's just..."

"...it's just that we had to carry her all the way through town!" the other stallion finished.

"Yeah!" added his partner. "I mean, I don't think anypony saw us, but..."

"But what?" demanded Musk, thoroughly annoyed now.

"Well, I mean, it's just that...I thought this was like...you know. A sacrifice."

"It is a sacrifice. We are collecting her blood to resurrect our Queen."

The two stallions looked at each other again.

"Yeah, but..."

"But what?"

"Well, this wasn't an easy job, you know? Sneaking into Ponyville, kidnapping Celestia's little pet, carrying her around in a bag without anypony noticing...this was a pretty high-effort project."

"And?"

"...and...it feels kind of anticlimactic, you know? All that work, and you're just going to cut her leg a little and then let her go? That's...well, it's just kind of lame, is all."

Musk glanced at the moon. The window would be closing soon; he didn't have time to stand here and banter with these fools much longer.

"What would you prefer I do?" he demanded sharply.

The two stallions looked at each other again for a moment or two, while Musk ground his teeth in frustration. Finally, the smaller one spoke up:

"I don't know, maybe something a little more...sacrificey?"

"'Sacrificey'?"

"Yeah," said the bigger one. "We don't want to tell you how to do your job or anything, but...you could probably stand to zazz this whole thing up a bit, you know?"

"'Zazz it up'?"

"Yeah, you know; add some zazz. Some flair; some showmanship. Some panache. Maybe tie her to the altar, chant some spooky incantations, maybe...I don't know...maybe cut out her heart and eat it or something?"

"Yeah," the other stallion concurred, nodding. "I mean, it's like he said, we don't want to tell you how to do your job or anything, but..."

"...it just lacks zazz."

"Yeah, definitely. Zazz this whole thing up, is what we're saying."

There was a faint gurgling sound as Twilight finally managed to spit out her gag.

"Are you guys going to rape me or just talk all night?" she demanded.

"Oh, shut up!" snapped Evening Musk, aiming kick at her, which she dodged. Scowling, he returned his attention to his two accomplices.

"Listen, you nitwits," he snarled. "Do either of you know anything about the secrets of arcane black magic?"

The two stallions shook their heads.

"Oh, so you mean the two of you didn't spend the last six months delving into ancient, forbidden texts, studying the position of the heavens, scrying into crystals and mirrors and consorting with the foulest of spirits, in order to determine the most portentous time and method for accomplishing our Order's dark purpose?"

They hesitated, and shook their heads again.

"Oh, well; I guess it was me who did all of that, then. So, if there's nothing further, why don't you two idiots go and take your seats, and let me FINISH THE BLASTED RITUAL WHILE THERE'S STILL TIME!!!"

Meanwhile, Twilight rolled over and groaned.

"Hey, if you guys aren't going to do anything, could you untie my front legs at least? I'm starting to get a cramp..."

"AND TAKE THIS INFURIATING STRUMPET WITH YOU!!" Musk bellowed.

The two stallions turned sulkily away and did as he asked, dragging Twilight Sparkle behind them.

"This is the lamest murder cult I've ever been in," grumbled the larger stallion under his breath. His companion nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Evening Musk returned his attention to the altar. Still levitating the chalice, he emptied its contents onto the pile of armor fragments gathered at the center. As soon as the drops of Twilight's blood touched the metal, an eerie, dark aura began to take shape around the fragments. Evening Musk smiled. His efforts had not been in vain after all.

"And now, O My Queen," he proclaimed, once more craning his neck upward towards the moon, "I bid you...ARISE!!"

There was a sudden puff of smoke as the armor fragments ignited. A brilliant green flame erupted from the center of the altar, momentarily bathing the entire clearing in otherworldly light.

"Oooooh...." exclaimed the gathered ponies in unison.

The flame collected itself into a ball, floating into the air like a Will o' the Wisp.

"Aaaaah...." exclaimed the ponies. A few of them applauded politely.

Evening Musk's horn glowed, his brow furrowed in concentration. Now was the most crucial moment. He had to direct the dark energies in just such a way, or else who knew what might accidentally be pulled through the portal....

"FREEZE!! YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST!!"

His concentration broken by the sudden outburst, Musk looked up. He instantly lost control of the spell, and the glowing green ball suddenly zipped off into the surrounding forest and disappeared. In dismay, he saw that the entire clearing was now surrounded by pegasus guards, clad in the armor of the Royal Palace. Scowling, he turned in the direction from which the order had come. Sure enough, it was she who had spoken. Celestia. That bitch.

"Oooh, I hate her so much..." he muttered to himself, his hooves trembling with rage. All that planning, all that work...

A sudden yell from a member of his congregation broke Musk out of his reverie.

"IT'S THE FUZZ!! CHEESE IT!!!"

The hooded ponies began to scramble every which way, tossing their cloaks aside and breaking for the forest as Celestia's guards moved to intercept them. He saw a pair of grim pegasi gliding towards him, their spears brandished menacingly. Regaining his composure, he smiled.

"Not today, gentlecolts," he said.

He gave a low bow, his horn sparked, and in a sudden flash he teleported away. The two guards crashed into each other in the space where he'd been, and tumbled to the earth cursing.

"Your highness!" barked one of the guards, gliding in next to Celestia's chariot. The Princess turned and regarded him calmly. "We've managed to round up a few of them, but the others got away!"

Celestia smiled grimly.

"They were likely prepared for this. Don't trouble yourself; we'll track them down later. The important thing is that we stopped..."

She glanced around her, taking in the sight of the altar and its ceremonial instruments, as well as her student lying trussed-up on the ground nearby. Twilight was now snoring loudly, lost in a wine-induced bliss.

"...that we stopped whatever this was exactly," the Princess finished, a bit lamely.

She glanced around her once more. Two or three hooded cult members had been captured, and were now shuffling sullenly towards a nearby caged wagon, shackled at the hooves. However, it appeared that most of the group had indeed escaped.

Twilight suddenly snorted and rolled over.

"...oh no, get off me, I'm so helpless right now..." she mumbled.

Celestia rolled her eyes.

"If somepony will please load my student onto my chariot, I will escort her home," she said. "The rest of you, gather up these...items...and take the prisoners back to my dungeon. I shall wish to interrogate them later."

"Highness."

The captain of the guard gave a brief salute, and the order was swiftly carried out. The snoring Twilight was placed in the passenger seat next to her, and Celestia's chariot rose into the night.

Twilight smelled like Pone's Farm and sexual frustration. Celestia felt as though she probably ought to be at least a little bit cross with her, but then again, she had been a student once herself. Making friends could be tough. She wanted to just write this whole incident off as some kind of weird, geeky frat party gone awry, but some nagging instinct told her that there might be something darker at work here. Something about the way those ponies had been dressed...

Meanwhile, back in the clearing, the two remaining guards were cleaning up the last traces of the cult's presence.

"Man, we always get stuck with the shit jobs," grumbled Guard #1, stooping to pick up yet another discarded cloak with his teeth. He tossed it into the nearby wagon.

"Yeah, tell me about it," said Guard #2. "Look at all this junk. Cloaks, mascara, reptokitty contact lenses, more mascara...what kind of a freaky goth party did we break up, anyway?"

"Hey, speaking of goths, get a load of this!" Guard #1 called out.

Guard #2 trotted over to where his friend had opened a pair of saddlebags that lay discarded in the mud. A few sheets of parchment, covered with over-elaborate horn-writing, were spread out on the ground.

"What did you find?" he asked.

Guard #1 chuckled.

"Heh, check it out. Turns out one of these freaks was a poet. Listen to this:

"'Dark'ness consumes my immortal soul,
"'In my heart is only pain.
"'Infinite pain. (Infinite)

"'In the space betwixt light and shadow,
"'My soul cries out (cries out).
"'Tears of blood stream from my fetlock,
"'I know naught but the abyss.

"'My icy blue eyes like limpid tears,
"'Deep inside my soul cries out (cries out):

"'Sadness.
"'Infinite sadness. (Infinite)'"

The two of them burst out laughing.

"Wow, what a loser!" said Guard #2. "No wonder he was hanging out in the woods with a bunch of geeks dressed up like Nightmare Moon!"

"Is that what they were doing?"

Guard #2 shrugged.

"I assume so. Didn't you notice how they were all dressed up like Nightmare Moon?"

"I figured they were just furries or something," said #1. "I wasn't really paying that much attention."

2 shook his head.

"See, this is why you'll never get promoted to detective. You have to learn how to notice these things. Here, look at all this stuff we found: black dye #4 (Nightmare Moon shade), black cloaks with Nightmare Moon's emblem on them, Nightmare Moon wigs, official Plot-Topic-exclusive Nightmare Moon reptokitty contacts, a framed photo of Nightmare Moon, this limited-edition cassette bootleg copy of Nightmare Moon's demo album from when she was trying to become a folk singer, Princess Luna's memoir 'To The Moon and Back'..."

Guard #1 grunted, and began stuffing the papers back into the saddlebag. He seized it in his teeth and flung it into the wagon with the rest of the 'evidence' they'd collected.

"So, basically what you're saying is that these guys were some kind of Nightmare Moon fan club?"

"Seems that way."

"Should we tell the Princess?"

"I already put it in my report. Anyway, hell; I'm beat. I think we pretty much collected everything. What do you say we head down to the Rusty Horseshoe and tie one on?"

Guard #1 grinned broadly.

"Now you're talkin'. Hey, what's that over there?"

His outstretched hoof pointed toward a patch of thicket at the edge of the clearing, from which an eerie green glow was emanating.

Guard #2 squinted at it for a few seconds, and then shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. "Probably nothing. Somepony dropped a glowstick I guess."

"A glowstick?"

"Yeah. All these raver-types like to wave glowsticks around when they dance. It's part of their religion or something."

Guard #1 frowned.

"Ravers? I thought you said they were goths."

2 shrugged disdainfully.

"Goths, ravers, furries; same damn difference. It's all a bunch of bmm-tss, bmm-tss techno-crap as far as I'm concerned. Me? I likes me some good old-fashioned rockabilly."

"Amen to that."

Guard #1 stepped into the wagon's harness. The two guardponies spread their wings and glided off into the night. Meanwhile, in the thicket, the eerie green light continued to pulse and glow.