Empire of the Sun

Pinkie was jumping around the library, spewing her obscure nonsense, as Twilight was examining the map of the mountains. She tried to find out about the caves in the mountains. She heard the bell toll in the distance. Rainbow was late. She was meant to fly directly back at the library after she'd reach Cloudsdale. If things got heated in the mountains, they might need the help of the pegasus ponies living in there. She had come up with an escape plan in case everything went wrong. Pinkie Pie's chatter somehow felt calming. Even when they were facing a terrible foe and their lifes and the fate of the entire kingdom of Canterlot was at stake, the pink pony still kept on spewing her nonsense. She knew Pinkie could be trusted to act seriously if they needed her to, so she wasn't worried.
At least they had their own embodiment of chaos with them.
Fight fire against fire, they say. Maybe if the elements fail, Pinkie could outdo him in a duel of sheer chaos, she thought to herself, smiling at the idea.
Suddenly Pinkie stopped her singing and frolicking, and froze next to a window. She stared far into the treeline of the Everfree forest.

"Twilight..? I think there's something fishy up there."

"Sorry Pinkie, I don't have time for your games right now."

"I'm serious. I think that's Fluttershy over there. And she's with Discord."

The map fell from her hooves to the floor, and she quickly ran to the window, nearly tripping in her own books that were scattered all around the library.
In the far distance, over the treeline of Everfree, Twilight saw a yellow pegasus, flapping her wings in mid-air, and next to her was a shape much more massive than she was. It loomed above the pegasus like a flying whale. There was no mistaking.

Discord was with Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was too scared to scream. Normally she'd be too scared to even fly, but she had already forgotten she was in mid-air. She just flapped her wings instinctively. She gazed upon the creature she was so horrified of and trembled in fear, as the monster spoke in his demonic voice.

"Fear not, Fluttershy, my kind and tender friend, for I will not hurt you, for today, I'm not a fiend.
I want you to send a message, to tell the Keepers of Harmony, and Celestia especially;
I have no intention of wreaking havoc this time, no, I'm here to rewrite history, I am but a mere revolutionary. I assure you, I will get my revenge, and all of Equestria shall be covered in the blood of those wretched alicorn sisters.
For when I finally choose to emerge, I will crush their skulls between my fingers.

You will all be subjected to the beautiful creation of my likening, a world where there is no gods, and no masters or nothing else as frightening.
I will free the world of their tyranny, and chaos will loom.
And the time for anarchy will come, not now, but soon.
I want you to tell them that searching for me is pointless, you're just wasting your time.
It is not me that you want. Find the Zebra. She's still alive.
You know where, and you'll know when, She'll lead you after them."

The creature then flapped it's wings and rose upwards, and flew towards the mountains. The sunlight hit Fluttershy again. It blinded her as she slowly started descending to the edge of the forest. She hit the ground softly. Then she fell down on the grass, crying like she had never cried before. She couldn't feel her legs, they were too weak to carry her. Not only was she scared, but she also felt relieved. She stared right in the eyes of Discord, who could've killed her immediately if he would've wanted to. But she lived. She still had the chance to see her friends. She saw in her head their faces as she kept reciting Discord's words in her head.

"You know where, and you'll know when."

Twilight and Pinkie both ran out of the library and headed towards the Everfree forest. Twilight prayed that they wouldn't be too late. The sight of the mauled guards at the Inner Sanctum flashed in her mind. She bit her lip and fastened her pace. Pinkie was silent and looked serious. Twilight had problems keeping up with her. She had forgotten Pinkie's physical prowess. She was so used in her hyperactive and carefree spirit, that she had forgotten that this was the same pony who had on numerous occasions shown speed that rivals that of Rainbow Dash herself.

Pinkie noticed that the unicorn had difficulties in keeping up with her. That's why she didn't run as fast as she could've. On her own, she could reach Fluttershy faster. But she was smarter than ponies around her thought. She already knew that even if she'd reach Fluttershy on her own and she was with Discord, there was nothing she could do on her own. And if they'd find her mauled by the beast, she'd need medical attention. And of the two, Twilight was the only one who'd have any knowledge on first aid. If there was anything left to save.

Rainbow Dash flew towards the library when she saw Twilight and Pinkie running towards the Everfree further in the distance. She looked towards the direction they were heading, and saw a flying figure in the distance, heading towards the mountains. Too far away to actually see what it was. She headed towards the two, and quickly caught up with them.

"Where are you going? I thought we were supposed to see at the library. And did you see that flying thingy? Are you chasing it?" She quickly started questioning them.

"That was Discord. We saw him from the library. He was on the edge of Everfree, and he was with Fluttershy." Twilight responded, panting.

Rainbow instantly felt an immense fear taking over her. Fluttershy was her oldest friend, and she was one of the most important ponies in her life. Just the thought of losing her caused immense pain. She had never been good at coping with emotional pain. Without saying a word, she quickly accelerated and left a trail of dust behind her as she disappeared into the distance. As she flew towards Everfree, the only thing she could think of was whether her friend was still alive. She hated herself for even thinking of the possibility that she'd be dead.

She quickly arrived at the edge of the forest, and she immediately noticed a yellow blob on the field. She knew it was Fluttershy, but she didn't see her move. She flew to her, calling her name and hoping for any response. She felt relieved as she noticed that she was crying and shaking. She was still alive. She grabbed and held her in her hooves.

"Thank Celestia you're alright, I was so worried."

As soon as she realized who had grabbed her, Fluttershy hugged her back and started crying out loud. The fear had held her from doing so, but knowing that she wasn't alone, she knew it was safe to break down.
Rainbow was crying out of relief. For a moment she had already thought that it was too late. She then remembere that Fluttershy was supposed to be with Applejack and Rarity. Knowing that the two of them would never leave her behind, the fear struck her heart again.

She lifted the sobbing, yellow pegasus and looked her in the eyes.
"Fluttershy, I know it's hard, but I need you to listen to me. Where are Applejack and Rarity? Are they alright? "

Fluttershy quickly remembered her mission. She was supposed to get help for them. She wiped her tears and responded.

They're... Zecora's in trouble. We found her house destroyed and there were hoofmarks... They went on to track them and I was coming to get you guys when I saw...
Tears rose to her eyes again, but she continued.
"You need to go help them. I'll go get Twilight and Pinkie."

"They're already on their way. I'll head into the forest to help Applejack and Rarity. I'll need you to wait here for Twilight and Pinkie. Tell them what happened. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I'm just a little shaken up. Please, go. I'll be fine", she responded to Rainbow, giving her a small smile.

Rainbow hesitated a second and took off to the forest.
Fluttershy was still shaking. She sat down and decided to wait for Twilight.
She kept reciting Discord's words in her head. She didn't understand them, but she was certain Twilight would get more out of them than she could.

Applejack and Rarity ran deeper in the forest, when they suddenly heard voices coming from the distance. They headed towards them, and arrived to a small meadow, in which they found several ponies dressed in matching dark robes, gathered around a beaten zebra that was barely alive anymore.

"Hey, what are you doing!? Get away from her!" Applejack shouted to the group as she ran towards them with Rarity.

Zecora saw the two of them and tried to lift her head, only to have it stomped on.
The ponies around her immediately attacked them, surrounding them quickly. Zecora tried to stand up, but her legs couldn't carry her.

"No, Applejack, you must get out of here! You need to go find---"
Zecora's voice was quickly cut off when one of the ponies next to her kicked her in the head again.

Applejack's anger exploded when she saw the two ponies beating Zecora further.
"What are you doing!? She's already down! She can't even fight back!" She shouted desperately. She knew they were outnumbered, there was about eight ponies standing around them. But she knew that Rarity was no slouch. She might be a fashion diva, but she could hold her own in a tough situation. They might just be able to hold them off until Fluttershy brings backup.

"Rarity?"

"Yes, Applejack?" Rarity responded, knowing what the earth pony was about to suggest.

"I think we might need to use a little force with these guys."

Rarity smirked impishly at her friend.
"I agree, dear. These ruffians clearly have no manners. It's about time someone teaches them some."

Applejack smiled back at her.
"That's what I thought. Shall we?"

"After you", Rarity replied.

Applejack quickly jumped towards one of the ponies around them, taking him by surprise and knocking him over. The remaining ponies immediately attacked them. She quickly jumped on the pony she had just knocked down and hit him in the head with her hooves until she was forced to back down by the other ponies that were attacking her. She dodged their attacks and backed down until she couldn't retreat anymore. She was in between a large tree and four other ponies. She backflipped against the tree and pushed her backlegs against it, and propelled herself against the ponies, managing to get through them and hitting two of them hard enough to send them flying. She landed behind them and wasted no time. She quickly drew near the surprised ponies and and delivered a massive two-hoof blow against one of them that sent the target flying backwards. She the proceeded to kick a the pony standing next to her, hitting him straight in the head. The two ponies that fell over when she flew past them had gotten up at this point and were running towards her. She tried to dodge them, but they managed to knock her down on the ground.

Rarity elegantly dodged an attack and slided behind the attacker, grabbing his robes with her magic and pulling him down on the ground. Two ponies quickly surrounded her and one of them charged at her, forcing the unicorn to throw herself on the ground to avoid the attack. The other pony next to her noticed that she was defensless, and stomped the unicorn with his front legs. Air escaped from her lungs and she gasped for air, as the pony prepared to attack again. Rarity rolled over and the attacker's hooves hit the ground. Rarity quickly stood up and turned towards the pony that had just stomped her and struck him in the head with the side of her front leg. The pony fell down, recoiling in pain and Rarity ran a bit further to concentrate on her magic. Her horn started to glow, as did the large rock next to her. The rock was heavy and she didn't have much time, but she needed to use her surroundings, and there was nothing else around them that she could use to fend of the attackers.

Meanwhile one of the ponies who had knocked Applejack over leaped on top of her, attempting to strike her head. But he underestimated the earth pony's strength and failed to keep her down. She kicked the attacker away from her, just to be struck in the head by the other pony next to them.
Rarity noticed that Applejack was in trouble, so instead of using her magic against her own opponents, she hurled the boulder she was levitating against the two ponies attacking Applejack, knocking them down on the ground. Rarity didn't have enough time to use her magic against the enemy rushing towards her, who managed to strike her down, and who was quickly joined by two other ponies, all of which proceeded to beat the downed unicorn mercilessly.

Applejack stood up and rushed towards Rarity, but she was struck down from behind. One of the ponies she thought she had already knocked out had managed to get up and was joined by one of the ponies attacking Rarity. They were both pinned down, taking blows and unable to counter or escape.

Suddenly the ponies beating Rarity flew away from the unicorn, when a rainbow-colored beam flew against them. They stood up to see a cyan pegasus in front of them, and before they realized, she vanished. She was way too fast for them, and she struck one them in the head. The other one tried to kick her, but she again vanished and reappeared behind him, grabbing the pony who was still recovering from his attack and flew upwards, spun around and came crashing down on the other one on the ground. The two ponies lied on the ground immobile, and Rainbow flew to aid Applejack.

The ponies beating Applejack didn't even have the time to react to Rainbow's attack, as they were blasted away. Rarity joined Rainbow and Applejack despite being in a pretty bad shape, and they helped Applejack up. They were now facing the group in front of them, still outnumbered. Applejack and Rarity were in a bad shape. Rainbow was strong, but the situation looked bad.

The remaining six enemies gathered in a group and were about to attack, when suddenly their attention was drawn towards the forest, from where the sounds of Twilight, Pinkie and Fluttershy were heard. The attackers then retreated, grabbing with them the two unconcious members of the group. They quickly disappeared into the forest. Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack quickly ran to see whether Zecora was still alive or not. She was still breathing, but unconcious.

Twilight, Pinkie and Fluttershy arrived at the scene, noticing that there had been a fight. Pinkie ran to see Zecora better.

"Applejack! Did you beat her up!? Why'd you do something like that? Oh! Was she an evil enchantress after all? I knew my song must have been---"

"Easy, Pinkie. We didn't do this to her. We saved her." Applejack interrupted.

"Then who did?" Twilight asked them while she sat down next to Zecora to give her first aid.

"We sure don't know, but there was a lot of them."

Rarity was brushing herself clean from the dust.
"Yes, there was about eight of them, all dressed in these ghastly, dark robes. They apparently had something against Zecora, as they were beating her mercilessy when we arrived, even though she was in no shape to resist."

Twilight stood up and watched the unconcious zebra.
"She's badly beaten, but she'll live. We need to get her to the hospital. She needs more medical attention than I'm able to give her."

A green flash lit up the library for a second, when Spike received a response to Twilight's letter to the princess. She had explained her the situation in a letter earlier. Celestia had agreed that Zecora was in danger, and it wasn't safe to keep her in the Ponyville's medical center. They had decided to transfer her to Canterlot Castle's private hospital wing for intensive treatment. She was their only solid lead, and too valuable to lose.
Altough Twilight was more certain about Discord's whereabouts than before, seeing that he had fleed towards the mountains, there was still too many unanswered questions hanging around to be ignored.

Twilight sat at her room, trying to put the pieces together. Whoever they were, the attackers wanted Zecora dead for some reason. And regarding the identity of the one who set Discord free, they were the only suspects so far. But if they did it, it'd make sense that they'd have the same goal as Discord. But if that's the case, then why did Discord want them to save Zecora?
But she was more confused about Discord's message than anything else. She had written it down with Fluttershy, and she couldn't understand what Discord was up to. Planning and waiting wasn't his style. Twilight's lack of sleep and frustration were creeping up to her. She tried to write notes, but the letters were starting to get blurry and she couldn't concentrate on what she was doing. As she was writing, she accidentally knocked her ink down on her notes.

Spike was startled when she heard Twilight's frustrated scream. He knew not to bother her when she was acting like that, but he had to. Twilight had been up for nearly three days straight. He climbed upstairs and as he arrived into Twilight's room, he noticed the broken ink bottle on the floor next to the door, and the ink stain on the wall next to it. Twilight was busy scribbling something down, and she didn't seem to notice Spike's precence.

He hesitated for a second before he opened his mouth.
"Umm... Twilight? Are you okay?"

"No! Do I look like I'm okay? Someone set Discord free and tried to kill Zecora and nothing makes any sense, Spike!" She yelled at him, making the purple dragon flinch a bit.

"I'm sorry. Look, I know that you're busy, and what you're doing is important, but I think you need to rest a bit. You're been up almost three days. You need to sleep."

"I don't have time to sleep. You know me. I can't sleep in a situation like this."

Spike knew that she was right. Twilight was a brilliant pony and a magical prodigy, but she had her flaws. She was at times anxious and neurotic, and she seemed to lose her mind over every single obstacle she couldn't fix instantly. He still remembered how Twilight refused to sleep for days because she feared for a catastrophe that never happened.

"Yes. I know. Can at least bring you some tea to calm you down? You have to admit you're acting a bit... cranky when you're tired."

She wanted to yell at the dragon for his inconciderate blurt. As if she'd have the luxury to act nicely when the whole kingdom was in such danger, but she swallowed her anger. She didn't have time for arguing.
"Yes. I'd love some tea."

Spike smiled at the unicorn, not that she'd notice it. She didn't even raise her head to face him while they talked. Spike went downstairs to prepare the tea for Twilight. As he left, Twilight bit her lip to contain her frustration.

A while later Spike brought her the tea. Neither of them said anything as he served it to her. As he left the room, he stopped and turned around.

"Twilight, I'm goin to bed. Please, try to get some sleep."

"Yeah, I'll try", she lied to him. "Good night, Spike."

"Good night", he replied, knowing that in the morning he'd find her either snoring at her desk, or still awake and even more cranky and tired than she was now.

Twilight was glad that he left, she didn't like to be disturbed while she was trying to concentrate. She sipped the tea and looked at the flickering flame of the oil lamp at her desk. She heard Owlilicious' faint hoot somewhere behind her.
Spike was right. The tea was calming.
Maybe she should close her eyes for a moment.

Twilight woke up in the darkness, feeling weightless. She quickly realized that she was floating. She then noticed the familiar dim light in the distance. She headed towards it and felt it's power growing stronger. Stronger than she had ever before felt it. It was like it had made her a god already.

Something woke Spike in the middle of the night. He yawned and looked outside. It was still a few hours until sunrise. He felt uneasy for some reason and decided to go and see if Twilight was still awake. He walked upstairs quietly, not wanting to wake her up in case she was in bed after all. He felt more anxious at each step he took. Something felt terribly wrong. As he neared the Twilight's room, he noticed a faint glow in the hallway leading to it. He finally stopped at the doorway and peeked in the room. His jaw dropped. Twilight laid on her desk, and her eyes were wide open. And they were glowing brightly along with her horn. He noticed that she was shaking slightly. Was this because of the stress and staying up for days? Or did she fail in a spell of some sort? He had never seen anything like it. And never before had he felt the magic around her so strong. As a dragon he could sense magic differently, but he had never felt anything like it. It sent shivers down his spine and he felt fearful.

Like an animal does, when it faces a beast stronger than itself.