The SinEater of Equestria: Cataclysm

A/N: Hey everypony! Happy Thanksgiving Break! Yeah, after some relaxation, I managed to get this chapter out. About time the others got some attention on them. It's kinda hard trying to write for everyone and making ti sound authentic. Of course, try too hard and it sounds... false. I will try and get Chapter V out also sometime this week.

Also, I having two open suggestions contests! One is for the name of the changeling in the jar. He will play an important role later on. Two is for what kind of home should Anomaly and Twilight live in. All I will say is it has to be technological. Whoever has the best suggestions, I will place a cameo in my next chapter! Just tell me through comments or messeges!

Enjoy!

Chapter IV: Cause

Celestia’s sun rose above the horizon and the first rays of dawn showered the area. Twilight stirred in her sleep. Anomaly himself began stirring from slumber. They had stopped by a small pond. The Earl of Crawlington had been the first to wake up and was devouring any shrubbery in sight. Anomaly rolled off of the Earl…

…and into the pond.

About a few seconds, he popped put spluttering and wide awake. “Well, I guess a good way to start the day is with a cold shower…” he said as he dried himself and saw Twilight begin waking.

She held her head up, eyes still closed.

What a horrible dream… Twilight Sparkle told herself before she awoke and looked around. Her ears sagged as she looked down.

I guess it wasn’t a dream… Twilight Sparkle said before her face became that of abject horror. She was exhausted from the events that transpired from the invasion and the wedding but after getting rest, she was beginning to absorb the entirety of the massive shift in her life.

She curled up into a ball and wept silently. Her parents, Shining Armor, Cadance, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity…

All gone

She was all alone…

She then lifted her head seeing Anomaly. Part of her wondered if he was the one responsible for the changeling chaos, as an elaborate ruse to get her… however, she deduced that this was unlikely, based on the reactions the critters had on him.

She wiped her tears after sobbing to herself. Realizing crying would not help matters; she decided to investigate what D had been doing. He had been drawing. Now, having Spike as an assistant, she knew about some creatures being able to walk on hind legs and having forelegs to handle objects or people.

However, he lacked claws.

In fact, to Twilight, she was not sure how someone like Anomaly survived…

“Excuse me… uh… master,” Twilight began before seeing Anomaly leap a bit in shock, before tumbling into the pond again. Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at the scene.

“Uh… just call me Anomaly…”  he told her as he stepped out of the pond. “All right then D… what are you?” Twilight asked him. Anomaly faced her. She deserved to know some of the truth. Well, what he perceived as truth anyways. He then felt a drop of rain. He looked up.

“Let’s make shelter first. Then I’ll tell you what I can,” Anomaly told her. While he could have cleared the rain, he did not what to show off all of his power. From the sense he managed to maintain, he figured the less power he used, the better. Well, scratch that. The more carefully he used it, the better he could maintain whatever control he had on who he was.

Also, just plain changing the weather would arouse suspicion.

Now, what to build?

He looked around before seeing a large rock. He noticed the rain was starting to come out a bit more. He approached the rock before simply drawing a door and a two windows on it. “Good enough for Kirby, good enough for me,” Anomaly reasoned to himself. He led Twilight in before looking at the Earl and changelings. He looked to the tall cliffside and drew a target at it. The Earl of Crawlington hissed at it before ran headfirst and created a tunnel. The Earl then proceeded to sleep. The changelings, resigned to their fate, simply slept and hoped things would get better.

Twilight looked inside her new home… well temporary anyway. There was a fire place, a rug, two windows, a bookshelf, a small round table and a bunk bed. “I’ll… come up with a better place for us later…” he told her as he placed the changeling in the jar on the table. H then lied on the top bunk and faced up.

Twilight simply went on the lower bunk and stared at the fireplace. She was not tired… However, there was not much they could do in the rain.

“I’m sorry”

Twilight snapped out of her musings hearing those words. She could not figure out D. There was something odd about him. What was he to her? She wasn’t sure.

Anomaly had curled up into a ball as he was muttering to himself. He was losing himself. ‘Simon… this is what you went through… wasn’t it?’ Anomaly told himself as he recalled the blue-skinned wizard. To think that he is able to relate to fiction in this stage…

Twilight could not understand what he was saying, but she knew something was troubling him. She sought to ask him later. She got out of her bed and her horn glowed. The blanket slipped over him before she faced the fire.

She wondered how everyone was doing….

Did they note she was gone?

Maybe… maybe they can rescue her…

Twilight’s eyes widened as she remembered how Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon. She then remembered Discord… She faced  Anomaly.

“No… maybe they can save us both,” she muttered to herself as she went back to her bunk and fell asleep watching the fire, wondering what her friends were doing.

Meanwhile, at Twilight Sparkle’s house…

Spike woke up and scratched his scales. “Best sleep I had. Hey Twi…” Spike said as he turned around and saw the empty bed. It was still made. That meant she didn’t sleep in it. Now, this concerned the dragon a bit. Twilight would have told him something…

“Well, she did say she was going to say good-bye to the Princesses. Maybe she just arrive and stayed over at somepony else’s house,” Spike figured as he looked outside. It looked beautiful, but he had heard that it was around the time for a storm.

He figured he would start at Sugarcube Corner and start off with cake for breakfast. What Twilight won’t know, won’t hurt her, right?

Spike arrived at Sugarcube Corner and stepped inside. “Hi Mr. and Mrs. Cake, is Pinkie here?” Spike asked the duo. Before they could answer, Spike heard a loud “SURPRISE!” behind him. Spike yelped in shock before releasing a burst of green flame, lighting the candles of a nearby cake.

“Oh… hey Pinkie Pie,” Spike told her as he managed to get ahold. “Morning Spike. Whacha doin?” Pinkie asked him. “I’ve been wondering if Twilight was here. She didn’t come home,” Spike asked her. “Nope. She didn’t stay here,” Pinkie responded in her cheerful fashion. Spike shrugged his shoulders.

There were three other places left to check.

“Well, have a nice day then,” Spike said. “I’m coming along. It will advance the plot,” Pinkie Pie shouted. Spike looked at her for a few seconds before continuing.

Just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.

“Okay then, next stop would be Sweet Apple Acres,” Spike said as Pinkie Pie was bouncing along. Spike looked up and felt a drop of rain hit his snout. “Uh oh…” Spike said before the train began coming down. Spike and Pinkie Pie began running as the drizzle became a downpour. Spike and Pinkie Pie entered the nearest building.

“My, my, try not to get my new dresses wet,” said a familiar voice. Rarity had been working on new designs only to see Pinkie Pie and Spike enter her boutique to escape the rain. Spike just had on a goofy smile. “Hey Rarity. Have you seen Twilight? Spike said she didn’t come home,” Pinkie Pie said. “Yeah, I was wondering if she would have been staying at somepony else’s place,” Spike said.

“No darlings, Twilight didn’t sleep here,” Rarity answered, now interested at Twilight’s absence. “Well, that just leaves Fluttershy’s house or Sweet Apple Acres,” Spike said before his stomach grumbled. “Oh… yeah, I didn’t have breakfast yet,” Spike said as he rubbed the back of his head. “Well, I suppose we can all stop by Applejack’s and see if we can have breakfast together,” Rarity suggested. “Yeah, Twilight search party!” Pinkie Pie added.

Rarity’s horn glowed before some umbrellas began floating. “You know, this rain is giving me some ideas for stylish rainwear,” Rarity suggested as they began going out. The rain has softened up so it wasn’t as hard.

As the trio began heading to Sweet Apple Acres, they saw Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash under their own umbrella. “Hey Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie greeted happily. “Hey guys! Fluttershy and I are going over to Twilight’s to see if the new Daring Do book came out! Wanna come?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“That’s actually why we’re going to Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight’s not at home, so I thought she stayed at somepony else’s house. She wasn’t with Pinkie Pie or Rarity and I’m guessing neither of you seen here since last night,” Spike explained.

“Spikey-wikey thinks Twilight could be with Applejack. Besides, none of us had breakfast yet,” Rarity added.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked at one another in slight surprise. They were surprised that Twilight wasn’t home since last night.

“Well, I’m sure she’s with Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said while Fluttershy simply nodded in agreement. And with that, the friends headed to Sweet Apple Acres and hoped Twilight Sparkle was there.

“What do you mean she’s not here?!” Spike asked once inside Applejack’s home. The rain began picking up when they arrived so Applejack invited them in. They were going to have a late breakfast, what with not having to water the trees early in the morning.

“Sorry Spike, but Twilight Sparkle isn’t here…” Applejack said as they were at a table. “This is really strange. Where could Twilight Sparkle be?” Fluttershy asked the group. “We should check around her house for clues,” Pinkie Pie said as she pulled out a magnifying glass.

“How about after breakfast?” Spike added as everypony’s stomach grumbled. Rarity and Rainbow Dash looked a bit embarrassed, Pinkie Pie just snickered while Fluttershy just eeped. Applejack also snickered a bit while Spike blushed also.

“All right then. We’ll look for Twilight after breakfast then,” Applejack said before breakfast began being served.

After breakfast, at Twilight’s house

“Anypony see anything yet?” Spike asked as they looked around Twilight’s house for anything. Spike figured perhaps Twilight left a note somewhere and it got misplaced. “Nothing here,” Rainbow Dash said. “Well Spike, I reckon there isn’t anything here to tell us where Twilight is,” Applejack said.

“Do you think something could have happened to her?” Fluttershy wondered out loud. Everypony looked at her as they began thinking the same thing.

“Like what? Twilight was in Canterlot. If something happened, the princess would have known,” Rainbow Dash wondered.

“Yeah, and who would have a grudge against Twilight? I mean, Nightmare Moon’s gone, Discord is still in stone and the changelings…”Applejack began before she paused. Everypony felt a chill. While it was Twilight who saved the day, they didn’t know how and they didn’t ask her.

So the changelings were still out there possibly…

“Y-you don’t those changelings have Twilight, do you?” Rarity asked as the thought filled her and the others with dread.

“Look, let’s not jump to any conclusions. I’ll write a message to Princess Celestia. We’ll the go to the train station and asked if Twilight was any of them here,” Spike said as he began writing a letter.

“And if she wasn’t…” Pinkie Pie asked as her hair drooped to its straight position. Spike held his breath before he let it out. “We go to Canterlot then,” Spike said as he finished the letter and let out a breath of magic fire. As soon as the letter vanished, the ponies and dragon began heading to the train station, all of them sharing a foreboding feeling.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot Castle

Princess Celestia had woken up feeling invigorated. She was unusually happy today. Then again, it was hard to question why. Her niece was married to a good stallion and her student had defeated the changeling invasion. Her student had grown so much… it has been awhile since she spent time with Twilight.

Then again, she did not expect much to happen today. She examined her schedule and considering everyone was recovering from the ordeal, decided to spend the day with Twilight and perhaps even her friends. It has been long since she talked to Spike or any of the other ponies.

However, she did have her duties to perform. As she was reviewing the papers, she noticed there was a gathering of clouds over Ponyville. Somehow, this slightly undid her ease.

After breakfast and examining her paperwork, she saw a message appear. Celestia didn’t expect a letter from Twilight or Spike so soon. She unrolled the message and began reading:

Dear Princess Celestia,

It’s Spike. When I woke up, Twilight wasn’t around at all. Her bed wasn’t unmade and looking at her schedule, she didn’t have any plans for leaving. I thought she may stayed at one of our friends’ homes, but she wasn’t in any of them.

We’re scared that the Changelings may have kidnapped her for revenge since we aren’t sure what happened to them. We’re going to ask the train ponies if they seen her arrive and then we’re going to head to Canterlot,

Spike

Celestia’s expression was one of shock before she reread the letter a few times. A stern and worried expression got on her face. It may have been possible that Twilight had decided to stay with her parents and simply forgot to alert Spike. However, a kidnapping was regrettably more likely considering motive and method. Twilight would not forget to alert Spike she would be staying with her parents so he could adjust her schedule.

But a kidnapping?

Motive: Vengeance

Method: Transformation & Kidnapping

Likelihood: Reasonably high

Celestia began getting her guards together and asked to look around Canterlot for Twilight Sparkle. She could not help but feel the unease in her chest grow.

The guard who had been assigned to contact Twilight’s parents were going back, having found nothing. He didn’t tell much to avoid causing a panic. As he headed to the castle, he saw one of his fellow guards, his younger twin brother, run to his side.

One had gold-colored hair with gold eyes and the other had silver-colored hair with silver eyes. They were both a bright shade of white. The silver haired one also had a gap in his front teeth. Their cutie marks were a gold six-sided star and a silver five-sided star respectably. They were some of the best unicorn guards in Canterlot.

“So, Celestia’s pupil isn’t here. This is troubling,” Golden Star muttered to himself. “So you have bad news to report to tell the princess?” Star Silver asked his older twin,

“Princess Celestia will not be happy hearing this,” Golden Star said as they approached the castle. Star Silver nodded. “What is going on? I mean, I go out to visit someone in Manehatten and I find a ruckus going on,” Star Silver asked. “Will tell you later,” Golden Star said as he approached the throne room.

Star Silver simply shook his head before going to the gardens to look around. Golden Star entered the throne room.

“Princess Celestia, I bear bad news…” Golden Star began as he braced himself. Star Silver reached the gardens before hearing the Princess release a surprising “What?!”

Star Silver had been wondering the garden before noticing an empty pedestal. Huh, that was odd. He wondered what was there before looking around. The only one missing was…

Wait a minute, he was in the restricted section and only one statue was supposed to be here…

“HORSEAPPLES!!” Star Silver said as his eyes widened as he sprinted to the throne room.

”Princess Celestia! Princess Celestia!” The guard known as Star Silver announced as he ran toward the throne room, looking haggard, though not as much as Celestia.

“Brother, I apologize for this, but now isn’t the best time. Her highness’ pupil, Twilight Sparkle has gone missing,” Golden Star explained to his younger twin. He pointed his hoof to see the somewhat frantic looking Celestia.

“What?! Maybe it has a connection to the escape!” Star Silver said as he jumped around panicky.

“Who’s escape, Star Silver was it?” Princess Celestia said, trying to maintain her calm stature but looking very worried. Star Silver cleared his throat and waited a few moments to compose his nerves.

“Discord, m’lady. He is no longer in the Royal Gardens…” he began before Golden Star looked shocked.

Princess Celestia just sat there stunned. She began taking deep breaths to calm down. First Twilight disappearing and so did Discord?! I mean, didn’t the land go through enough?

“What do you mean?” Princess Celestia asked as she managed to calm down. “Well, his statue is not there anymore. I don’t sense his magic either,” Star Silver said before the doors burst opened to reveal the ragged looking group of Spike, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack.

“Princess… Princess… we asked the train ponies and they said Twilight wasn’t on any of the trains,” Spike said as he tried to catch his breath.

“Yeah, was it the changelings that got Twilight?!” Pinkie Pie panicked, somehow being the first to catch her breath.

“Calm down, my little ponies. I fear it was not the changelings…” Princess Celestia said as she looked serious.

“My guard, Star Silver, informs that Discord is released from his imprisonment,” Princess Celestia told the group.

“WHAT THE HAY?!” Rarity said in an unlady-like fashion.

“Maybe he’s the one who took Twilight!” Rainbow Dash said furiously.

“Now hold on, sugarcubes! If it was Discord, wouldn’t we see chaos by now? Applejack intervened as she tried to calm everypony down but was also scared.

While the group was debating between changelings and Discord, Star Silver and Golden Star were talking to themselves.

“Your thoughts, brother?” Golden Star asked Star Silver. “Hmm.. wasn’t Twilight the one who disrupted the rehearsal and then Shining told her off,” Star Silver asked before Golden Star nodded his head.

“Correct. Twilight Sparkle is the younger sister of Shining Armor,” Golden Star said. “Well, maybe she left on purpose. Think about it. I mean, her brother, her friends, her mentor all thinks she’s nuts and left her. Then she ends up saving us all from the changelings,” Star Silver says.

“Hmm… interesting. If they have not apologized, then that would serve as a good reason. After all, the betrayal must have hurt a lot. Although she did act foalish in her approach, she did know Princess Cadance and is Celestia’s pupil. That surely must add some merit,” Golden Star says in an agreeing tone.

“Yeah, she then even saved all of our flanks and we really didn’t thank her…” Star Silver said before both brothers realized something.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Slowly, they turned their heads around to see Spike, the rest of the Mane 6 and even Princess Celestia facing them with a mix of horror and shock.

Golden Star and Star Silver faced one another before they facehoofed.

Ooooh colt…oooooh colt indeed.