The Bearer of the Apocalypse

It had been a few days since the group was essentially told to wait for anything new concerning Acnologia. Small things happened, but nothing could take their minds off of the black dragon. They hadn’t even seen him and they knew just how terrifying he was. They had all gone about their business as usual, either working or somehow managing to relax during all this.

Rainbow Dash was the master at relaxation.

As for Starlight? She blocked off a small section of Twilight’s castle and she riddled that section with numerous wards and spells to prevent anyone other than herself from entering. Naturally, Twilight was curious as to what she was doing that required a section of her home to be closed off along with so much magical protection.

Starlight responded that she needed the large space for some spell practices that she wanted to keep secret. Knowing how intrusive Twilight could be when it came to magic, Starlight kept what she was doing as vague as possible. She wasn’t trying to be mean, she just didn’t want to answer the inevitable question as to why she had a book containing dark magic.

She herself didn’t have an actual reason other than it intrigued her.

But Starlight was going to examine the book anyway to see if it contained any useful spells that she could use against the Dragon King, within great reason of course. Going off of current knowledge, along with her own assumptions, Acnologia’s scales should be as durable as one of Shining Armor’s strongest shields. As such, Starlight figured that the spell book could contain something that would pierce his scales, or at the very least deal some damage to him.

The downside is that it was dark magic. Starlight had no intention of being corrupted and becoming the next King Sombra, even though she had dabbled in dark magic before. Shaking her head the unicorn made sure that the spells and wards were secured and the section of the library she was using was locked off so that Spike or Twilight didn’t accidentally wander in.

And so something else couldn’t escape.

Starlight sighed as she levitated the book over and prepared herself. Once she opened the book, there would be no going back, but Starlight had the foresight to know that it would take everything to stop Acnologia’s carnage. Tightening her resolve, Starlight opened the book, and the moment she did, the room considerably darkened. The book glowed an eerie dark blue before settling down, revealing the blood-red text to Starlight.

Well, it revealed the text to her, but she couldn’t understand it. Starlight squinted her eyes, as if doing so would make the text readable. Deciding that it was a waste of effort, she flipped through the pages to see if there was anything that she could actually read.

“Having trouble, my little pony?”

Starlight’s eyes turned to pinpricks at the sudden voice in her ears. She swerved around with her magic ready to attack whatever had come out of the book. No one was there. Starlight had her eyes narrowed as she took a few steps away from the book to find out where the being was, and she knew that it was in the room with her.

“Where are you? Show yourself!” Starlight demanded as the entity chuckled.

“As you wish.” The being replied as dark blue mist appeared around Starlight’s hooves. It went past her and started to take form, building itself into a large pony, resembling Celestia in height. However, Starlight narrowed her eyes and could see that the large pony was an alicorn. Despite the misty appearance, Starlight thought that the alicorn looked familiar.

“Princess Luna…?” Starlight questioned herself, but the alicorn heard her and snarled. Starlight immediately felt a power press down on her, trying to force her to her knees. Summoning her magic, Starlight wrapped herself in it as she slowly resisted the Alicorn’s power, and she suddenly knew who she was dealing with.

“Nightmare Moon!”

The power receded. Starlight gained her breath back as she glared at the demonized version of the princess of the night. Nightmare Moon glared back, but it was more reserved than Starlight’s. Her condescending look was replaced with one of indifference, not caring for Starlight’s gaze as she hummed.

“If I didn’t need you, I would squash you like an insect. However, at my current power, I can’t escape my book. And that’s where you come in.” Nightmare Moon snarled at her explanation, hating to admit that she needed Starlight’s help. As for the unicorn in question, she narrowed her eyes at the dark alicorn. Starlight had no idea what Nightmare Moon had planned, nor did she know why she was needed for her escape but she wanted no part in it.

“What makes you think that I’ll help you in any way? And what’s preventing me from telling Princesses Celestia and Luna about this book you're in?” Starlight countered, but the nightmare laughed. Her cackle echoed throughout the room, making Starlight glad that she had soundproofed the room so that no one could hear what was happening inside.

“True, that would pose a problem for me. But how would you explain yourself when you took a book containing dark magic? Moreover, containing me sealed inside it?” Nightmare Moon countered as Starlight’s breath hitched, realizing that she was right. “I see you’ve realized the double-edged sword that you wield. Like I’ve said, I can’t escape this book on my own, but you can’t read its text. It’s far too ancient for you to understand. However, I can help you understand the book, and in exchange, you shall allow me to place some of my essence in you.” Nightmare Moon offered as Starlight stared at her like she was crazy. Oh wait, she was crazy! Making a deal with Nightmare Moon was definitely not on any of Starlight’s lists for the day, much less encountering Nightmare Moon in the first place.

“What are you talking about? Your essence? Like are you going to implant your magic, a piece of your mind or soul, or something similar? What’s the purpose of that and what makes you think I would even consider it?”

“Because you wish to assist your friends in the defeat of Dragon King Acnologia. Correct?” Nightmare Moon asked, even though she knew the answer. Starlight’s eyes widened, wondering how the nightmare could’ve known that. “Don’t look so surprised. Just because I was sealed in my book does not make me ignorant of the world. I heard your conversation with the princesses, and I must say that you were lucky that they didn’t sense me, Luna more so.” Nightmare Moon revealed as Starlight remained silent and did her best to properly form thoughts and analyze everything that she just heard.

The nightmare had overheard everything, meaning that she knew of Acnologia and everything else that was learned from Tirek. Although Starlight did question her age. If she existed before Equestria was even a thought, then it would explain her knowledge of the ancient texts of the book that she was sealed in. Which was a question in itself as to what she actually was.

That aside, Starlight knew that making a deal with Nightmare Moon was the equivalent of making one with Queen Chrysalis. There was a scheme that the alicorn was planning, and she needed Starlight for it. The unicorn didn’t know what she was needed for, but she would learn where she stood if she accepted.

“Seeing as you are taking your time, you must be doubting me.” Nightmare Moon suddenly spoke, breaking Starlight from her thoughts as she nodded. “I thought so. Here, just to show you that I want to be free…” Nightmare Moon’s horn glowed a soft blue as did Starlight’s body before dying down. “There, now flip to a page and it will be translated into modern Equish.”

Starlight did as she was told as she turned her attention back towards the book. Even though she eyed Nightmare Moon carefully, she couldn’t deny that the contents of the book outweighed her suspicions and more into her interest. As such, she walked back to the book and read from the page she was already on.

“Nightmare Sphere. The user casts a sphere, its size depends on the user’s magical power, and whoever is caught within this sphere except the caster will experience horrific nightmares whether they are awake or asleep. The spell can last as long as the user puts magical energy into the sphere, although it will last no more than twenty minutes on its own. This is because the spell will have already done its job the moment it’s activated; causing untold fear which can be amplified via two different spells that are listed in the subsection.

Those under its effects can escape by a third party, magic that counters this, through strong willpower, or negating the spell itself. Depending on how severe the nightmare is, the person under its effects can develop severe mental trauma, memory loss, insanity, and in the worst case, death.” Starlight read off as she regained her breath. She wasn’t expecting to read such a spell, much less learn it. Starlight suddenly realized that this was one dark spell within an entire book, and was almost glad that she and the rest of Equestria couldn’t read its contents.

Starlight wondered if Luna knew the spell, or if she knew of this book at all. There was still more to the page, but the text returned to its original scripture, meaning that Nightmare Moon canceled her spell. At the same time, something told Starlight that there were far deadlier spells in the book; and various forms of unknown magic that would make the gifted Starswirl himself jealous.

“As you can see, I can hold true to my word. Should you decide to accept my deal, you know where to find me. And if you do accept, then you will have a book of spells at your disposal that not even Twilight Sparkle or Celestia themselves would know of.” Nightmare Moon finished as she transformed into blue mist and returned to her book. Starlight watched the book for a few moments before she closed it and sealed it shut. Wrapped in her thoughts, Starlight made her way towards the door, deciding to think over the nightmare’s offer as she weighed the pros and cons.

Quite frankly, she shouldn’t have been considering it all. Starlight knew what Nightmare Moon was capable of, but she knew that no one could read the scriptures in the book except Nightmare Moon. The only other option was Discord, seeing as the draconequus could easily translate the book with a snap of his talons. Starlight knew that he would have questions and possibly report her to the princesses for being in contact with Nightmare Moon unless he chose to keep it a secret for whatever reason he might have.

“This is a bad idea, but I’ll have to sleep on this. Once I have my mind clear to think straight, I’ll make my decision.” Starlight muttered to herself as she replaced the wards and spells on her new study place before heading to her room. This new, powerful information had given her a bit of a headache, and Nightmare Moon’s presence had worsened it. Still, once she had gained enough rest, she would make her decision.

Twilight Sparkle was up late into the night reading through countless books on dragons. She knew that she had nothing on Acnologia, but she decided that reading about dragons in general would help her understand Acnologia’s motives or find a weakness to exploit.

As it currently stood, she found no weakness. Aside from enchanting the ballistas that Equestria possessed for times of war, Twilight had the same assumptions as Starlight, dragons were nearly invincible. Dragons could somewhat resist magic with their scales, although powerful magical attacks could easily bypass them. Twilight continued her self-induced studies, tuning out the world around her as she simultaneously took notes while reading.

“TWILIGHT!!” The alicorn jumped into the air with an “eep!” before crashing onto her desk, sending her notes and books all over the floor. Twilight’s eyes rolled around her skull before she shook her head and glared at her assistant.

“Spike! How many times have I told you not to scare me while I’m studying!?”

“You’ve told me over a thousand times, literally! I was trying to get your attention for the past twenty minutes. Starlight came out of her new study area looking like she saw a ghost, completely exhausted before going to her room.” Spike explained as Twilight’s face softened and grew concerned for her student. Starlight had been very vague as to why she wanted a section of her castle for herself, but Twilight decided to give it to her since she felt like Starlight wanted whatever she was trying to accomplish to be a surprise.

“Well, if she’s in her room then she most likely went to sleep. And I don’t want to invade an area that I gave her for privacy…”Twilight replied before trailing off. She hummed in thought before smiling. “...I’ll just ask her in the morning. I won’t ask what she’s doing, but I’ll make sure that she’s not pushing herself too hard.”

“You should follow what you preach. It’s almost midnight and you’ve piled notes on dragons make a summary, and not to be rude, but it’s still not that much.” Spike rebutted as Twilight found her floor to be quite interesting. The two shared a chuckle before Twilight organized everything and neatly placed it all back onto her desk.

“Fair point. I guess it is pretty late, but there are a few things about the dragons that don’t make sense.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Tirek’s father told him that dragons used to be capable of wielding elemental magic. Assuming that it’s true, the question is what happened? If there was a dragon that could wield and breathe lightning for example, how come its hypothetical offspring didn’t inherit or learn how to do it? Why and when did all of them start breathing and only breathe fire? There’s a mystery involving magic and dragons, and possibly magic itself.” Twilight explained as Spike slowly nodded. Now he understood her thoughts, and the questions were certainly interesting. Spike suddenly grinned and chuckled, wondering if he could—

“No Spike. You can’t start breathing lightning because you can already breathe fire.” Twilight interrupted his thoughts as Spike blushed and nervously chuckled. The young dragon soon went to his room, now wondering just how powerful his ancestors were to be able, presumably, to breathe lightning or other forms of elemental magic.

Twilight had similar thoughts, although she was more fascinated by the aspect of undiscovered magic. Sure, she might not be able to breathe elemental attacks for numerous reasons, but the discovery would change history. As she slowly fell into the realm of sleep, a sudden thought occurred to her.

“Did Discord ever…give us any information on Acnologia?”

The Sun had risen and Twilight was slowly waking up. Her dreamless sleep was well welcomed as she didn’t want to overstress herself, again, with Acnologia’s existence. Being well rested Twilight stretched before opening her curtains and smiled at the beautiful bright day that awaited her. Everything was fine with not a problem in sig—

“AHHHHHH!!”

Well, it was going fine until Murphy’s Law made itself known.

Twilight immediately left her room and sped off to Starlight’s room. She didn't know what was happening or why she was screaming, but Twilight was going to protect her student. Along the way, she grabbed Spike and placed him on her back, who had already been running for Starlight’s room.

“What’s going on? Why is Starlight screaming?”

“I don’t know Spike, but we’ll find out soon enough.” Twilight replied before halting in front of her pupil’s bedroom. She didn’t hesitate to slam the doors open with her magic, but what was happening left her and Spike greatly confused, and amused at the same time.

Starlight was being chased around by, what Twilight knew to be, a black phoenix. The phoenix had white eyes with the upper part of its face being white as well. The tip of its tail feathers and wings are dark gold in color with circles of the same color on the side going down in a v-shape to the black tips.

Starlight turned around and attempted to catch the bird with her magic, but it flew over her head and landed on her back. Even though it didn’t dig its talons into her, she didn’t want it on her and tried to shake it off. This failed and tired her out as she succumbed to fatigue and fell to the floor, allowing the phoenix to fly onto her head and caw in amusement.

“You’re mocking me, aren’t you?” Starlight begrudgingly asked as it cawed again. This time she heard giggling and laughter, looking at her door to see Twilight and Spike respectively finding her situation quite funny.

“So glad to know that my struggling to get this bird under control was amusing to you.”

“Oh, it’s not like that. Besides, we were concerned when we heard you scream, but seeing the phoenix made us a little confused. Speaking of which, was this what you were doing? Trying to summon a phoenix or a familiar?” Twilight asked as she knew the only other pony to own a phoenix was Celestia. Summoning familiars was a forgotten practice, with very few magically talented creatures being able to actually summon something without having it backfire on them. It was, in all honesty, more troubling to summon a familiar. If you wanted something specific, then you needed specific items for what you wanted and the right amount of magic to be poured into the spell as well.

“Uh, yup! That’s exactly what I was trying to do! But there’s still a few more things that I want to do, so I’m still going to need the space.” Starlight decided to lie, although it was really a half-truth as she gave a wide grin. While she didn’t summon the phoenix, she still needed the space.

“Oh, well, it’s amazing either way! So what’s its name?”

“His name!? Uh right! His name is…” Starlight trailed off as she quickly flickered her eyes around her room, trying to find something that would make sense without being too weird. Despite looking around, an unknown word came to her and she decided to go with it. “…His name is Kuro. Kuro the phoenix!”

Twilight and Spike gave her a questioning look. They didn’t know where she got the name from, but a look at the phoenix told them that he didn’t mind. As Spike was admiring the phoenix he suddenly noticed that Kuro’s eyes seemed cold, even though he turned his head to view his surroundings he never kept his gaze on something for more than a few seconds. Despite how amused he was when he was chasing Starlight, Spike could’ve mistaken him to be emotionless if he hadn’t seen the small grin on its face.

Suddenly being caught in Kuro’s gaze, Spike felt himself becoming quite small. Not physically, but Kuro became more intimidating. He felt as though Kuro had become a Manticore while he became a little filly, piercing through him and staring directly into his soul. Before he could say something, Twilight blocked his view of the phoenix with a worried look on her face.

“Spike, are you alright? You got into a staring contest with Kuro before spacing out. We didn’t notice that you were spacing out until Kuro made some noise.” Twilight explained as Spike blinked in confusion. When did Kuro make noise? As a matter of fact, how could he have broken eye contact with him to alert the girls while Spike knew they had both kept their gazes on each other?

“Uh yeah, I’m fine. I guess I was so good that I didn’t even notice I had won.” Spike chose to be ignorant and praise himself as he nervously chuckled. He wasn’t about to admit that Kuro started intimidating him, and Spike internally decided that Kuro had taken the staring contest a little too seriously.

“I was gonna continue my studies, but I think I’ll head over to Fluttershy’s house to see if she can give me some tips on taking care of a phoenix. After that, then I’ll continue my studies.”

“Actually Starlight, I was wondering if you use today as a rest day.” Twilight interjected as her student looked upset. “Don’t be like that. Spike told me how he saw you last night, and while I won’t ask what you’re doing, I will ask you to take a break. Get some fresh air and walk around town before locking yourself away. Trust me, it will do you some good.” Twilight persuaded as Starlight sighed and nodded. Starlight figured that she could use the time anyway to think over her decision of indulging in Nightmare Moon’s offer and essentially powerful dark magic.

“Fine. But what about you? You aren’t going to tell me to take a break while you lock yourself in your room to do exactly what you were doing last night, are you?” Starlight gave an accusing look as Twilight gave a light chuckle in response.

“No no, that’s not what I had planned at all. I have another plan in mind.” Twilight admitted as she used her magic to place Spike next to Starlight. “What I have planned, more like Ember’s plan, is to head back to the Dragon Lands and go through her father’s den. She appreciates that you guys didn’t go through it, but she wants to see if Torch left anything behind that she wants to keep as a memento.” Twilight explained as her friends understood what she was doing. At that moment, Ember peered into the room before walking in.

“Hope I’m not intruding on something here. You ready to go?” Ember asked as Twilight nodded. The alicorn told them that they wouldn’t be gone for very long, and for Spike to either hang out with Starlight or Smolder as she wasn’t comfortable with leaving him alone.

They were wished a farewell before Twilight teleported herself and Ember to the Dragon Lands. Kuro stared for a few seconds before making some noise, making Starlight and Spike aware of him as the unicorn decided to head over to the animal expert of Ponyville. Spike gave a glance to Kuro, but the Phoenix paid him no mind as he was constantly checking his surroundings. He never kept his gaze on one thing for more than a few seconds before switching to another thing to watch, almost as though he was looking for predators that may have been lurking around the library.

“Calm down Kuro. There’s nothing in the library that can harm you that I can’t deal with.” Starlight assured her new pet, seeing as he wasn’t her familiar and had no obligation to listen to her, as she trotted out the castle and into the streets of Ponyville. As she did so, neither she nor Spike noticed how Kuro’s demeanor changed. Going from constant watched to a more calmed, laser-focused look as he eyed the mare that was walking by them.

“AH!” The mare suddenly tripped and fell on top of Spike. Starlight immediately turned around to help them, getting Spike and Bon Bon to their feet. Shaking her face of her distortion and rubbing her muzzle, Bon Bon gave an appreciated look to Starlight while an apologetic one to Spike.

“Sorry, Spike. I should’ve been more careful.” She apologized, gave him a piece of candy, and quickly went to the train station. Kuro watched Bon Bon leave before huffing and started resting on top of Starlight’s and going to sleep. Starlight gave a quiet sigh, pleased that Kuro had calmed down and had chosen to sleep.

“C’mon Spike, we need to get to Flutteryshy’s place while there’s still daylight and then get whatever supplies we need for Kuro.” Starlight explained as she used her magic to place Spike on her back and picked up the pace. She wanted to get this over with so that she could go back to Nightmare Moon. Hearing what Twilight and Ember had planned made her remember what had transpired a few days ago, and she wasn’t going to allow another mass slaughter to happen if she could gain the power to prevent it.

No matter the price

Princesses Celestia and Luna were currently sitting on their thrones waiting for the guest they had called. One had been retired for quite some time, while the other had finished their undercover mission for the assistance of another kingdom. While they wanted the two to relax for the work they’ve done, this was a matter of National Security that would’ve affected the world if they didn’t start coming up with solutions.

The doors to the throne room opened with two mares entering, both having a serious look on their face. One of them was Bon Bon, otherwise known as Agent Sweetie Drops. She had been urgently called by the Princess for an important mission, and she would be joined by Tempest Shadow, a broken-horned Unicorn who had been sent to infiltrate the Storm King’s army and take him down from the inside, which she had successfully done.

“Agent Sweetie Drops, Agent Tempest Shadow, it is good to see you both. Forgive me for the sudden summons, but this is an important mission that needs to be executed at once.” Celestia seriously spoke as the two didn’t need to reply. While they weren’t told what they’d be doing, it was important nonetheless, especially when they were present before both rulers of Equestria.

“It’s perfectly fine your majesty. However, does this mission have to do with why the Dragon Lord is staying in Ponyville? Along with her escort and the injured dragon at the hospital?” Bon Bon asked as Celestia nodded. Tempest Shadow, for her part, had been surprised to hear that the Dragon Lord and three of his subjects had taken residence in the pony town.

Luna saw Tempest Shadow’s confusion and explained. “Torch is no longer Dragon Lord, that title belongs to his daughter Princess Ember. However, the matter at hoof remains the same, and the matter is that Lord Ember along with three of her subjects are the only survivors from the mass genocide of the Dragon Lands.”

The ponies' jaws slightly dropped at the information. How the world, much less them, hadn’t heard of this was troubling. Still, they were being assigned a mission, and whether that was to track down the creature that did this and permanently put it down, or somehow cover all this up was what they would do.

“Your mission is to track down the dragon that did this and keep an eye on him. Watch where he goes and what he does, and nothing more.” Celestia explained as she allowed a small grin on her face. Seeing the bewildered look on two of her best agents was amusing, and she knew the reasoning behind it.

“So this is just a reconnaissance mission? And it was a dragon that did this?”

“Yes to both questions. This dragon has vanished, and you both will find and follow him. It may sound tedious, but this is of great importance. I can assure you that this dragon would kill you both without batting an eye if you attempted to take him down.” Luna coldly spoke up as her tone sent shivers down of the agents spine. “Now then, our only description is that it could be bigger than Torch and possess black scales. And this is how you shall remain in contact.” Luna continued her explanation before summoning a teal-colored orb. She gave it to Tempest before Celestia took over.

“That is a communications lacrima for long distances. Use this to inform us of his whereabouts and his actions. You must send a small magic signal once every three hours when Acnologia is found. Failure to do so…and we will have no choice but to assume that he has found and killed you both.” Celestia regretfully said as she could feel their fears. It wasn’t unwarranted, to be told to track and follow a dragon that killed its kin while also being told that there wouldn’t be a recovery team to collect their bodies.

The two agents looked at each other before nodding. “We understand your highness. We’ll find and follow him, no matter what.” Tempest Shadow proudly said as Bon Bon nodded. The rulers of day and night smiled as they gathered their magic.

“We believe that he has entered the Bad Lands, seeing as it would be the nearest place for dragons to live and that is where we will be sending you. Any more questions?”

“No ma’am!”

With their final words spoken, the Alicorns teleported them to their mission site. Celestia knew it was wrong, but she needed to be blunt with them so that they fully understood what their assignment truly meant. Because at the end of the day, Acnologia wouldn’t hesitate to kill them if he was given a reason to do so.

…Not that he would need one