Dark Horse: A My Little Pony Story

Chorus tucked the black rose into his suit collar. If the strange unicorn was to be trusted, Chorus had to get out of there, and he had to do it quickly. A battle of multiple moral conundrums occurred inside of his head, all at once. If he was going to escape whatever was about to go down, he would have to bring his friends. But what makes him and his friends more important than anypony else at the Gala? It was the Grand Galloping Gala after all. There were loads of important ponies in attendance.

What if there wasn't even anything to be afraid of? The unicorn had been so vague with his wording, and his trustworthiness wasn't exactly provably airtight. What if he stopped the gala, warning everypony of certain danger ahead, and nothing even came up? Then he'd be known as the pony who ruined the Grand Galloping Gala. Chorus could not decide what to do. The only thing he knew he had to do was find his friends. Prose and Ginger Blush would make everything clearer. They would know what to do.

Chorus made his way through the twists and turns of the garden and back towards the main event hall. He re-entered the enormous room and scanned the crowds and ponies for his friends. He aimlessly wandered around, hoping he would run into them eventually. As Chorus searched, a glimpse of a beautiful tan dress caught his eye. Chorus followed that sight and finally found Ginger Blush roaming the hall with her date, Savoir Fare.

"Chorus!" she greeted. "I was just looking for you!"

"I was just looking for you!" Chorus explained.

"Chorus, I think there's something suspicious going on here," Ginger suggested.

"I know there's something suspicious going on here," Chorus confirmed.

"Did you find the barrier too?" Ginger asked.

Chorus raised an eyebrow. "Barrier? What barrier?" Chorus questioned.

"There's a barrier encasing all of-" Ginger was interrupted by the arrival of two familiar ponies. Prose and Twilight Sparkle walked up to stand with Chorus, Ginger Blush, and Savoir Fare.

"Hey guys," Prose greeted the group, trying not to sound worried about current events.

"Hi, Prose. Hi, Twilight," Chorus addressed. He turned back to Ginger Blush. "What were you saying about a barrier?"

Ginger regathered her thoughts. "Oh, yea. There's a barrier encasing all of Canterlot. Nopony can get in or out. Savoir and I discovered it when we went for a stroll outside."

Savoir Fare quietly nodded in agreement with Ginger's explanation.

Chorus watched as all of his iterations of escape plans fell apart in his mind. No escape plan would work if everypony was truly trapped inside. Prose looked over at Twilight Sparkle, not sure what she could say.

"Is anypony going to say anything? Are we not worried about this?" Ginger asked the group.

"Trust me," Chorus began. "I'm definitely worried."

"Should we just tell them?" Prose asked Twilight.

"Tell us what?" Ginger worriedly asked. "Why do I feel like none of us are on the same page right now?"

There was a moment of tense silence before Twilight stepped in.

"Princess Luna is the one holding up the barrier," she explained.

"Princess Luna?" Ginger questioned. "Why?"

Twilight paused and took a deep breath. "There is a threat facing the gala tonight, and we'd prefer if we kept it contained."

"Do we know what the threat is?" Chorus asked, hiding his ulterior motives in asking.

"And aren't you trapping all of us with the threat as well?" Ginger added.

"Yes, and yes," Twilight confirmed. "The princesses are confident in their abilities to protect the ponies here tonight, but they're less confident in their abilities to effectively capture the threat, hence the barrier."

"Why not just cancel the gala? Why go through all of this?" Savoir chimed in.

"We can't let the threat know we're onto him. If he believes we're oblivious, it'll be easier to take him down, to surprise him." Twilight explained.

"Him?" Chorus felt an anxious pain in his chest. "Who are we talking about here?"

Twilight lowered her head, trying to remain secretive, and the rest of the group followed her motion.

"Supposedly," Twilight started. "King Sombra is somewhere here tonight."

The group tilted their heads in confusion. Twilight forgot the Crystal Empire wasn't as widely known as she thought.

"King Sombra," she elaborated. "Evil tyrant of the Crystal Empire."

The group's eyes widened in recognition and understanding. They recollected what they knew about the tragic tale of the Crystal Empire. Chorus felt the tightness in his chest become unbearable as a frightening realization set in.

"If you ponies will excuse me, I have somewhere I need to- something I need to- I just- I need to go," Chorus stuttered.

Chorus abruptly left the group, leaving them in confusion.

"That was odd," Prose commented.