Harmony Lost
Warning: There are character deaths in this tale. Is also a creation story! Enjoy!
Ps: Props to Kage Kaldaka for helping me with this monster!
Prologue
The skies of the newly founded land ‘Equestria’ raged with fire and bodies as the war outside Princess Platinum’s castle raged on. She’d decided to hold a meeting of the powers in her sturdy, and well-built castle, as this problem, this war was bigger than any minute tribal differences that the ponies of this land had amongst themselves.
“Well?” She asked the armored Commander Hurricane in her, what he called, ‘fancy’ accent. “What do you wish to do about the dragons?” He thought for a moment, putting a hoof to his chin as his wings flared their bladed armor. He wasn’t exactly the sharpest tack in the drawer, but when it came to battle, he was nigh invincible.
“Hmm…” His hoof tapped a few times on the armor that covered his head, except his eyes, thus making his voice echo a bit. “Dragons are not this organized. Must be some force controlling dragon-kind.” He spoke with a Russian tone, making him sound dull, but, like the blades that lined his wings, he was not when it came to war.
“But what?!” Pudding Head shouted as she stamped a hoof into the ground. She was the loudest of the bunch, but the most level headed as well. Her pink fur stood on end as she witnessed a Pegasus pony having his entrails torn out by one of the dragons in mid-flight. She held back the urge to get sick with pure will and recollected herself. “If they aren’t doing this, who…or what, is?! Huh!?”
Hurricane growled as he heard the screams of his men, growing angrier by the second. “Him. It has to be that damned…thing!” He smashed a hoof onto Princess Platinum’s floor, cracking it a bit as his voice began to sound sharper. His forest eyes looked at the two mares before looking above them, out the window behind them. Lo and behold, there it was. A smile cracked under the armor on his face as his wings flapped.
“Hurricane…” Platinum warned.
The colt bellowed and took off, leaving the mare’s manes ruffled and tangled as he smashed through the window, heading straight for what looked like the shadow of a small, harmless dragon. Platinum sighed as she attempted to fix her mane. The thing wouldn’t do what she wanted though, just flopped to the floor, looking as saddened as she felt. “That male knows not what he does, and he is needed, here.”
---------------------------------------------------Present Day, Royal Wedding--------------------------------------------
As Twilight sang ‘Love is in Bloom’ for her brother and Cadence, Rainbow eventually wandered into the crowd. She wasn’t much for these sappy-happy occasions, but it was important to Twilight and she -did- get to show off her ‘Sonic Rainboom’ to the crowd. Oh their faces were priceless when the sky had exploded into the rainbow of color; she couldn’t help but cheer to herself before she landed. But now Twilight was singing, still, that mare had some pipes on her, making Rainbow think why she didn’t get a singing cutie mark. Her thoughts vanished when she spotted Soarin, one of the Wonderbolts, at the wedding with a few others who she couldn’t name off the top of her head. Evil plots, invasions, Canterlot being taken over, that took a toll on the little mare. Soarin began dancing a little to the beat that Pinkie and Vinyl had put down for the song, so she just moseyed her way on over to the colt.
“HEY!” She shouted over the beat and Twilight’s vocals, again, why didn’t she have a talent for singing? He didn’t notice her. “HAAAY!” She shouted a bit louder. The colt’s head turned to her after a moment.
“HEY! YOU’RE THAT MARE FROM THE YOUNG FLYERS, AREN’T YOU?” He shouted, as to be heard. Rainbow pointed toward the Gardens that were sure to be quieter than Twilight’s singing and Pinkie’s DJ’ing. Soarin Nodded and the two went off, finally able to speak normally instead of shouting.
“Yeah, that’s me!” Dash proclaimed as the two entered the garden.
“Yeah, we never really thanked you for savin’ our lives back then, I mean, you spent a day with us but…yeah.” Soarin let out a small chuckle as he kicked at the ground a bit. Wait a minute…That was perfect. Soarin smirked and flared his wings. “We’ve got a race co-“
“YES!” Rainbow shouted. “I’m in!”
“-ming up…” Soarin finished. “Awesome, cool.” He looked back toward the party, namely the five mares that were poking around the garden, no doubt looking for Dash. “I’ll get you in. Let’s just say…It’s a race that most pegasi would die for.” That made Rainbow’s eyes grow wide with excitement, and he loved it when she looked that way. Happy, raring to go.
“Awesome!” She jumped up and down for a moment before collecting herself.
“Rainbow!” Some mare called from behind her. It was Twilight. Must have been checking up on her. “Rainbow, Cadence is getting ready to-“
“IT’S MINE!!!!” Somepony screamed as she knocked a few others over.
“…Nevermind. Oh, hey.” Twilight had just noticed the Wonderbolt standing there, looking utterly confused at the white unicorn that now slowly backed away from the other mares with the bouquet. She pointed a hoof at the stallion and blinked, “Soarin’ right? Yeah, you’re one of the Wonderbolts, aren’t you?” The mare smiled and shifted her lavender gaze to her friend for a moment before looking back at the other. “So, whadya think of our most loyal Pegasus?”
“We’ll see in a few weeks, won’t we?” Soarin shot a smirk toward Rainbow, making her smile brightly.
“You’re gonna eat those words!” Dash walked toward the stallion and poked him in the chest playfully before leaving him in the garden.
Another stallion of the Wonderbolts floated next to Soarin as the mares walked away to watch the carriage depart with the newlyweds. He had his flight suit on, so not much could be seen other than his dark red mane and lavender eyes. “So, what do you plan to do with that one?” He asked. His voice was soft-spoken, nearly ‘fluttershy’ level, but not quite as whispery. When Soarin just kind of shrugged, the stallion blinked and landed gently on his hooves.
“Donno.”, Soarin replied.
***
Luna sank into the warm, relaxing waters of her private bath as she closed her eyes. What. A. Damn. Day. Canterlot had been invaded, her sister had been defeated, the elements had been blocked off, and to top all that off, there had been a wedding and reception. She was dead to the world as sleep blanketed her in a soft embrace, but, she didn’t fall completely into sleep. No, something kept her awake, a memory…of her father. Why was he showing up in her head? She hadn’t thought about him for…centuries. She drowsily shook her head, smacking against something cold, and metal. Her deep blue eyes opened and met those of one of the royal guard. “What-What are you doing here!?” She demanded.
“Well, Princess, um…”
“Yes? On with it…”
“Well, we have reason to believe that…The prisoned one may be free.”
Luna’s eyes grew wide at that. “No.” She whispered. “How? He was sealed with the-“
“I know, but the statue, it is missing.”
The princess of the night shook her head and groaned. “What reason has he to escape?” The guard just looked at her. “Other than the obvious…” She added as she thought. Luna jumped out of her bath and rocketed toward the gardens. When her hooves touched the soft, wet grass of the gardens, she laid her eyes upon an empty pedestal, mouth agape. “How?”
“Because.” Somepony spoke behind her. “His son is free.”
That pony turned out to be her sister, Celestia. She was the keener of the two, though; Luna could best her in magical combat. “That’s impossible!” Luna exclaimed. Alarms went off in her head. How could that…thing be free this early?! What had freed him?!, or more importantly…who? Somepony’s head would roll for this, literally. Treason was punishable by death in Equestria, though it depended on the offence of the matter. This matter was worthy of death ten times over. Celestia spoke again in that strong, firm voice that embodied Canterlot Castle.
“Evacuate Ponyville. The forest is nearest there.” she ordered.
Luna only nodded and took off toward the sleeping town. This ‘son’ was bad news. His father was bad, but he never killed anypony, just made a mess of everything, literally. The son, however….She shook her head, not wanting to think of him. Okay, so, what’s happened today? Threat against Canterlot. Wedding planned. Canterlot invaded. Ponies captured. Celestia defeated. Wedding and reception. And now one of their most secure statues has gone missing. Great! Just perfect. She landed next to the library where her sister’s student, Twilight Sparkle, resided. She was a smart one, and had helped save Equestria, so she bet that Twilight was just as tired, if not more so, than she, but she had a job to do. Putting a hoof to her cheek she spoke, using her Royal Voice.
“CITEZINS OF PONYVILE! COME, GATHER AROUND YOUR PRINCESS, FOR THERE IS NEWS THAT MUST BE SHARED WITH THEE!” The ponies did as they were instructed, though groggy and cranky, as it was about 3 AM. Most of them fell right back to sleep as they stood around her. Luna felt a smile creep onto her face as Spike lay sleeping on Twilight’s back, but soon looked at all the others and flared her wings before speaking again.
“A TRAIN WILL BE HERE SHORTLY TO GATHER YE FROM THY TOWN. CANTERLOT WILL SHELTER YOUR BODIES UNTILL TIME COMES THAT IS DEEMED SAFE ONCE MORE.” That last part got their attention. She led them to the depot and aided them in boarding the train before taking off for her home.
***
Twilight looked at the other ponies on the train with her. Some were chatting among themselves, others were entertaining their young, but most were asleep, like the five next to her. She began to think to herself. Why were they evacuated? Why had Luna come? And most importantly, where was her brother? If they needed protection, her brother could easily shield Ponyville. Luna was hiding something from them, and she-….Why hadn’t Celestia called her from Canterlot? It dawned on her. Celestia would usually call on her to help save Equestria, wouldn’t she? Let’s see…Nightmare Moon, yep. Discord? Yep. Changelings? No, but it was lucky that she’d been there. Two out of three times she’d been called to help save Equestria. She tapped her hoof to her chin and sighed. Maybe…she’d think more clearly after resting. She looked at the little purple dragon that was snoring next to her and nuzzled him with her snout. Spike was loyal, but then again, she’d controlled his growth, and…God she was tired.
Twilight opened her eyes to the blinding sun that shined through the window of…wherever she was. Sitting up, she noted that she was in a small, two bed motel room with Pinkie in the other bed, still asleep. Spike was nowhere to be seen, however. She’d go talk to Celestia today and find out what was going on, and then maybe head to the Canterlot library and try to find a book she hadn’t read yet. She hopped off the bed, and then made it up with a quick levitation spell before brushing her mane and tail into their normal, straight form. “Ah, that’s better.” She sighed before heading out. She hadn’t walked along the streets of Canterlot at this slow pace in a while, and so, she took her time heading up to the castle. Along the way, she did find Spike, with Rarity and Sweetie Belle, of course. She just shook her head and kept walking. She stopped though when two metal spears formed an ‘X’ in her path.
“Excuse me boys.” She smiled and walked forward, smacking into the still crossed spears.
“No entry allowed.” One of the Pegasus guards informed her.
“But I’m her student.”
“No. Entry. Allowed.” He restated with more force. Twilight blinked and stood there for a moment. Okaaaay…she wasn’t getting in anytime soon. With a sigh, she turned and decided she may as well enjoy the gardens. Fluttershy was there too; big surprise, but she did enjoy the company of her Pegasus friend. The two talked about the various animals and flora in the gardens, eventually reaching the statue where they’d imprisoned Discord, the spirit of chaos.
“He just wanted to take back what was his…” Fluttershy tried to reason.
“Yeah, but he made everypony’s life miserable. Remember?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Anyway, the look on his face was…wow.” Twilight laughed a little as she looked up toward the missing statue-MISSING?! Twilight took a step back and just blinked as Fluttershy just watched. When Twilight pointed up at the empty pedestal, the yellow Pegasus squeaked. Twilight however charged back to the castle, again being stopped by the two guards.
“No en-“
“Shut up!” Twilight bucked the spears out of the way, then slammed open the huge double doors.
What she saw…Oh God, no…
***
Cloudsdale stadium was packed full of Pegasus ponies that were on the edge of their seats, along with a few Unicorns and Earth Ponies. There hadn’t been a race like this in at least 15 years, and there was more on the line than simply winning a day with the Wonderbolts. Deep bass beats pounded through the semi-solid clouds as Vinyl played the song that the ace flyers had chosen; Pegasi Wings. She seemed to be enjoying the song herself, though she did usually stay in the world of wubs and dubs, rock was a nice change of pace.
“Where is she?” Rarity asked as she scanned the stadium’s starting line that already had at least 15 Pegasi on it ready to take off at any moment. The others shrugged, but soon turned their attention to the doors behind the starting line as they burst open, revealing a light blue Pegasus that flared her wings with a cocky smile. The ponies on the starting line instantly clasped their wings to their sides when they caught sight of her. She chuckled a little and took her place on the checkered line.
“Welcome, ponies, to a very special event! As many of you know, Wing Trick of the Wonderbolts, has retired from his career!” Celestia announced. This was responded to by a rain of ‘aww’s and sad looking ponies. “Fear not, my little ponies! For these aces have decided that a select few could take the place of this former Wonderbolt!” Cheers exploded from the stands at this, then grew louder as the mentioned Wonderbolt, Wing Trick, flew into the middle of the stadium. He had nothing on but his light grey coat, and dark, navy blue mane. He soon floated down in front of the racers; spoke to them in private for a moment, then turned his attention to the audience. Rainbow resisted the urge to squeal as one of her heroes spoke to her. The stallion waited for the music to start, then raised a hoof.
“This round will allow those who pass to qualify for the next trial. Only the top three will have a chance!” He spoke in a deep, booming baritone that sounded more like a dragon than a pony. “….Ready!....” He looked at the other racers once more, and then lowered his hoof in a swift swing. “GO!”
Rainbow took off in an instant, leaving a trail of rainbows behind her as the other ponies struggled to catch up. “Heh, too easy.” Her wings caught a wind current, letting her glide for the time being. Man, these ponies were slow! She was, she’d guess, about a mile ahead already, but this was a lap race so it wasn’t like she could show off much. That didn’t bother her though, she was blazing past the others once, twice, three times she passed the rest, and she hadn’t even broken a sweat. Hold on, what had Soarin told her?
“Don’t try to impress on the qualifier, it’s an endurance test, not a speed run.”
“Yeah, yeah, Nopony can beat me in the air.”
Horseapples! She slowed down, looking back at the other ponies that were still way behind her. Let’s see, 5 mile track, 400 laps….That’s 2000 miles. Damn, that was nearly from Cloudsdale to the Manehatten. Rainbow looked around for an air current, anything she could ride as she kept flying. No. Nothing…Damnit. She flapped her wings and headed skyward, thinking there might be one up above her, and she was right! Perfect, it carried her halfway around the track each time! That meant that she only had to fly 1000 miles. Still, that’s a lot. She growled and took off again once the air stopped carrying her. Yeah, this was gonna be a snap. She cheered to herself and heard a small, muffled ‘Boomph’.
Spike watched the pegasi go around and around the Cloudsdale stadium, but soon became bored, as it was just the same thing over and over, that is until he heard an explosion. Somepony had broken, no, shattered the sound barrier. The purple dragon looked up at the racers once more, gaining his interest back in an instant as the five ponies around him cheered wildly, especially Fluttershy. Rainbow was nothing but a blur of blue and rainbow now, just circling around the track at least a few hundred times the speed that the others were flying. These were supposed to be the best? Spike shrugged and joined in the cheering.
“Yeah! Leave em in the dust!” he shouted.
“YAAHHH! WHOO!! SHE’S IN THE LEAD!” Fluttershy screamed, putting Pinkie’s antics to shame. Spike looked at the yellow Pegasus and shook his head, knowing she’d get like this. At the end of the race, the other ponies had made it to about 250 laps and Rainbow had to have a thick cloud brought in to stop her, lest she tore her wings off trying to stop herself. After suffering the intro of Face meet Cloud, She floated toward the others.
“You were great Rainbow! You beat those ponies like a bag!” Spike punched the air to illustrate his point. Rainbow laughed a little.
“Yeah, it was fun. I just hope that the next race will be…ugh my head…A little funner.” She placed a hoof on her head and shook her head a little. “How fast was I going exactly?” Spike shrugged.
“I don’t know. You were just a blur though.” Rainbow looked at the others, silently asking the same question. They too all shrugged. After a moment of chatting about the race, Celestia, Luna, and Soarin joined the group, informing them that the next race would be in Fillydelphia, then the finals in Las Pegasus a month after the Fillydelphia race. Soarin gave his best wishes and flicked Rainbow’s mane, taunting her. She laughed, and then turned to Twilight.
“So! What’s this big news ya got?” Rainbow asked eagerly.
“Well, I’d like to discuss it back in Canterlot..”
***
“NO WAY!” the group shouted all at once. Twilight simply nodded.
“Yes way. Apparently there was a deal struck and…well, Shining Armor’s already gone to investigate the area, but, I was told not to get involved.” The purple unicorn’s head sank a bit as she told them what Celestia had told her. Turns out that Celestia was born from a cruel father and kind mother, how’s that for childhood trauma? Celestia had killed her father before Luna was born and hid the body in the Everfree Forest. Not soon after that, Discord had come into power with his son, Locura. Locura and Discord were the last of a race that were caught in the crossfire of an ancient war that not even Celestia remembered well, all she knew was that all the Draconequus race was wiped to near extinction. Discord had grown weak by this time, partially from raising Locura and partially from ruling the world with an iron fist, that he was an easy target to take down. Locura however…well, that was a different story. Seeing as he wasn’t the flesh and blood son of Discord, and only pure chaotic energy, he couldn’t be destroyed, as no energy can, so Luna and Celestia had decided to lock him away, as they were out of options.
“Well…where?” Rainbow asked, closing her wings to let them rest a little more. “Where is this…uh…guy? It was a guy right?” Twilight nodded then shrugged.
“I…She wouldn’t tell me any more than that.” The mare’s head sank a little more, now visibly saddened. “She used to tell me everything. I haven’t even heard of this-“She made hoof quotes at this. “-Locura guy. It’s not in any of my books, or anyone else’s in Canterlot for that matter.” The other five ponies and Spike thought for a moment.
“You know…Those dragons you guys rescued me from didn’t look like they were happy to see you…” Spike perked. “In fact, they looked like they wanted to….Eh…Nevermind. Hey is that a sapphire?!” He tried changing the subject only to have it backfire on him as the other ponies glared. Tossing his hands up, he spoke, annoyed. “Fine, they looked like they were hungry. Dragons don’t eat just gemstones, y’know.” So that’s were Fluttershy’s chickens had gone…
***
---Ancient Equestria---
They were losing the war, fast. The three tribe leaders had to come up with…something that could stop the Dragon Warlord that was advancing toward the final stronghold for ponykind. Cloudsdale had already been destroyed, and Princess Platinum’s City was next.
“AGH! What the BUCK do we do!?” Hurricane roared as he twisted a baby dragon’s head clean off in one of the raids that he lead with a small party of pegasi. It wasn’t too helpful, but it got the ponies food and water, and some dragons off the battlefield, so it was a little helpful. Hurricane smashed the baby’s skull under an armored hoof before collecting some of the dragon eggs in his saddlebags.
“I-I don’t know, sir!” one of the privates responded. This guy had just come out of Training Camp and was fresh blood on the field.
“Then shut up and get some water!” Hurricane was in no mood to stick around here. As soon as the fumbling private did as he was told, Hurricane and the others took off with him, heading back toward Platinum’s place where they’d deliver the relief supplies. Problem was….It was on the other side of Equestria. Fan-bucking-tastic. After a long, and far from safe flight, the pegasi group finally reached the castle and burst open the doors just long enough to get the supplies and the commander himself inside the building.
“Hehehe…”
What the hell? Who would laugh at a time like this? Hurricane floated around the castle, following the sounds until he finally found Platinum, but she was looking for the sounds herself. Odd…Pudding Head! Where was that mare?
“Hehehe…”
The kitchen, of course, she loved to cook.
“Um…Pudding Head, did you…hear that laughter?” Platinum asked kindly. The pink earth pony shook her head.
“Laughter? Anyway, I was thinking, about the war. We’re going to need…well…a super pony. Like…all three of us combined.” She stated while mixing some cookie dough.
“A super pony?” Hurricane asked. “You know that Pegasi won’t even talk to Unicorns or Earth ponies, don’t you?” Pudding Head nodded and began placing the cookies on a pan.
“But if ponykind is at stake…who knows what will happen?” The others agreed and thought for a moment.
“I know my men, they won’t put others first.” Hurricane shook his head and sighed. “I’ll have to give some kind of Pegasus traits.”
“And the unicorns won’t lower their standards.” Platinum added.
“Then you know what’s gotta happen, right?” Pudding head asked. The other two nodded and sighed, but this was for the race.
“Hehehe…”
***
---Las Pegasus Finals---
“Hey all!” Luna’s voice boomed through the cloudy neon city’s stadium, which looked nearly identical to Cloudsdale’s. Probably because Cloudsdale’s stadium was one of the sturdiest ever built. “Welcome to the Las Pegasus Wonderbolts Finals!” Cheers erupted from the city of lights as the Wonderbolts stepped onstage. Soarin took over the talking at this point.
“I know you have waited much too long for this! I present our two finalists!” He backed away as a young brown stallion with a dark black mane styled in slick looking spikes entered, flaring his wings. “Nightwind!”, Soarin shouted. The crowd cheered wildly for the Pegasus. “And of course, the one! The only! Rainbow Dash!” The stadium shook on its foundation, partially from the cheering and screaming, and partially because Rainbow’s song that Vinyl had written blared through the city. It was an…interesting song, having to do heavily with her element. In fact, the song’s title WAS her element!
Rainbow’s friends, consisting of many more than that of the Cloudsdale Endurance, or the Fillydelphia Speed races, had come to watch her. Now her section consisted of, fans, of course. The five mares that she’d saved the world with, twice. The Cutie mark Crusaders. The Cakes and their kids. Even Gilda had shown up, not that she was any nicer, but she still saw Rainbow as a friend. Scootaloo nearly fell out of her seat as her ‘big sister’ came up on stage, Twilight held her back though so that she didn’t fall. They did NOT want another Rarity episode. That had been stressful enough. Scoots watched as the stallion, who was it? Oh yeah, Soarin, talked to the two competitors, nodded, then walked away, back to the other Wonderbolts. The other stallion, Nightwind, went first. Apparently all they had to do was wow the judges. That sounded easy enough, problem was, the Judges were from the Griffon Provence of Equestria, and Griffons were…well, stubborn. Nightwind was apparently from a foreign area that Scootaloo had never heard of, either that or he had a weird taste in music. The song that he’d chosen for his routine was different than the ‘Loyalty’ song that had been playing. It was darker and made Scootaloo uneasy. All she could pick up as it played was something that sounded like ‘metaknight’. As the song started, the stallion took off with a slow glide, at least until the singer laughed. Nightwing then took to the skies and flew in a rapid circle, blotting out the sun and casting a dark shadow over Las Pegasus. The stallion then pointed to where the sun had once been and the shadows parted and contorted, taking the shape of a beast, a dragon on all fours, with the sun posing as its fiery breath. It was pretty cool that a Pegasus could control shadows, but Unicorns could do that too. Maybe he was counting on the fact that he was a Pegasus? He got a pretty good score anyhow, so the judges must have been somewhat impressed. 7, 8, and 8. Not bad, but now it was Rainbow’s turn. This time the music was more Scootaloo’s style. Rock.
“Listen to her howl and roar…” was what got Scoots hooked on the song, and also why she almost fell out of her seat…again.
“You really need to be careful.” Twilight scolded light heartedly. Scootaloo didn’t even hear her; she was watching rainbow color the sky with some basic tricks. Flips, barrel rolls, just…simple stuff. What was she planning? Zzt…zzt…zzz-BOOMPH! Rainbow had pulled off one of her Sonic Rainbooms, heading straight for her section, but made a sharp 90degree turn, leaving the sparkling rainbow close enough to touch. The supersonic mare then rocketed upwards and signed her name in the sky before heading back to the starting line so she could finish. Scootaloo’s eyes widened with wonder though when the sky suddenly exploded with every color she could name, and some she couldn’t. This would seal Dash into the spot of the Wonderbolts, it was too cool not to.
“Okay, now I just gotta finish this.” Rainbow thought aloud as she plummeted toward the starting area. Man, it was hard to see from this height. Wait that’s not why she can’t see! All she heard was a shatter; she didn’t even feel herself make a crater in the ground below the city.
***
“We’ve got to get everypony to Canterlot.” Celestia ordered one of her elite guards. The Unicorn Stallion looked uneasily at the pair of royals.
“But what about-“
“He will cause no harm. It is forbidden. Now, go! Get everypony in Equestria!” Celestia’s wings and horn flared in a brilliant blue blaze as she pointed toward the door. The guard was gone in a matter of seconds.
“Oh, I’d forgotten how cruel you can be, Celestia.” Celestia turned her gaze to the chaotic father, glaring.
“You’re the one who birthed him. You must know something.” She demanded. He shrugged and shook his head.
“I know nothing of him, being locked away for a thousand years in STONE wears on the memory.” He poked at his head and rolled his eyes, taping the throne that Celestia usually sat on. “Although, the Elements might work, since he IS pure chaos…” Celestia thought for a moment and agreed, then levitated a quill and a sheet of parchment.
“My faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.” She read aloud. “I must call upon you once more for your assistance in saving this fair land. I understand that what you have seen may plant mistrust and deceit in your heart, but all wi-“
“Princess!” The same guard that she’d sent out a few moments ago burst back into the room, looking like he’d seen a ghost. His fur stood on end as he looked at his ruler. Celestia raised a brow.
“Yes?”
“You must come to Canterlot Hospital at once!” He shouted. Celestia and Discord looked at each other for a moment.
“Come, Discord!” And with that, the two vanished in a blinding flash. The receptionist at the desk looked frightened when the two showed up, but had an idea of what they were looking for. She pointed to the left.
“Just…down the hall. On the 4th floor…Room-Room 114.” her voice quivered and her eyes never left the Draconequus that stood, or floated rather, before her. With a nod of thanks, Celestia and Discord vanished once more, going straight to the room that they were directed to.
***
---Ancient Equestria---
“We came here to kill these heretics!” Crudelis shouted in anger after being told that they were to keep guard over the dragons they had captured. Dragons didn’t follow the pony way, and since Crudelis was the single most powerful pony, no one dared to go against his word, save his best friend, Pietas, but he did have orders from higher up in the Royal Guard, as his father sill ruled Equestria after his mother’s passing. As he spoke, Crudelis’ horn and wings were set ablaze in fury, making him even more intimidating than the bloodstained steel armor he wore over his head had already. Pietas locked horns with his friend.
“NO!” He cried pushing back. “We came to negotiate their freedom!”
“Negotiate?! “ Crudelis swung his friend aside and stabbed a bipedal dragon mother through the heart before her two children. As his anger boiled, his fire became hotter and more furious boiling the dragon from inside out as the children watched the crazed Alicorn. “Enough! ENOUGH! ENOUGH! ”
“NO!” Pietas tackled his friend after he’d killed the mother dragon.
“They! Are! Dragons!” Crudelis pushed himself up and expanded his blazing wings.” Fight with me! Bathe in the blood of dragons! Let us clean this land of their cruel ways!”
Pietas refused to join in the slaughter of the dragon prisoners they had captured and tried to stop his friend with multiple spells, hoof smacks, anything he could use to make his friend somewhat normal again. Everything had gone downhill after Crudelis’ 21st birthday… He ultimately failed and fell beside the dragon mother that was holding an egg. That egg was the last thing he saw…so innocent, pure…unborn. There was still time for it. With a small gurgle from the hole in his throat that his friend had given him, Pietas touched the Egg with his horn, placing a two part spell on it. It would not be found until it was ready to do so, and only the best of the best unicorn could hatch it. Alicorns were too…cruel.
---Present time, Canterlot Hospital, Room 114---
“What happened?” Celestia asked calmly, despite Scootaloo’s wails of guilt and loss. Discord shook his head and tried to come up with another plan, as the elements were out of the question.
“We dunno Princess. She jus’ up’n fell on us.” AJ looked back at her friend, then to Scootaloo. “ ‘Scuse me.” She took Scootaloo into the hall and got her to stop crying. For a moment at least. Celestia looked at the door and sighed. She knew how much Scootaloo looked up to the Pegasus that now lay unwaking in the bed in front of her. The doctors here had done all they could to fix the shattered skull and wing bones, but…it wasn’t looking good. Even if she did wake up, she’d more than likely suffer heavy brain damage and may never fly again. To lose your sister, Celestia had been down that road before, and she pitied the orange filly outside. Her star pupil wanted to join her in wails and tears, but those logical lavender eyes were locked on the creature next to Celestia, Discord.
“Twilight, please, he is forbidden from acting as he wishes.” Celestia explained, placing a hoof on Twilight’s head.
“He’s free. How could you allow this?” the unicorn glared at her second mother. “First Rainbow, now…Him!”
“Yes, I know it is unusual, but he is needed. Remember the story I told you? “ Twilight nodded. “He is the key to keeping Equestria safe from a far greater evil than he.” Celestia looked at her temporary ally. “I think you should go, we will get nowhere at the moment with you here, Discord.” He silently agreed with an affirmative nod and vanished with a snap ‘n flash. “We had planned to use the elements at first but…” She looked at Rainbow, then at Twilight. “I see no possible way to defend this land now. We cannot win, and we cannot fight this.” Celestia spoke in a tone that Twilight hadn’t heard before. This was...hopelessness. Celestia, the ruler of Equestria who had defended the kingdom alone for a thousand years had…given up. Anger boiled in Twilight as she reached up and smacked her tutor in the cheek.
“Perhaps you’re half right. We can’t win. But we can fight!” Twilight stormed out of the hospital with one goal in mind. She had to find her brother.
Celestia stood there, awestruck, for a moment before rubbing where Twilight had hit her. Even in the face of death, her student wouldn’t give up, but without the elements, it was hopeless. This wasn’t like the Changeling invasion where they could just be pushed out, nor was it like Discord or Luna, as the elements were unusable now. The other mares in the room stared at her for a moment before she vanished.
***
What happened? Where…was she? She’s in some kind of bed, probably asleep. She must have celebrated too hard after her win, yeah, that’s it. Well, it’s time to get up; her alarm’s going off anyway. Beep. Beep. Beep…Okay, just reach over…Um…Reach…She couldn’t move. The beeping became more rapid as panic set in.
“What happened?” someone spoke. Someone was in the room with her. She knew the voice. Celestia.
“Rainbow! It’s my fault!” Another? This one was more…emotional. Full of so much pain and loss. “Rainbow!” What came afterward was distorted by sobs and choked words.
“ ‘Scuse me.”. AJ was here too? Wait…No; no she wasn’t knocked out was she? Well she supposed that it was time to tell them that she was fine. As she tried to open her eyes, she…couldn’t. She couldn’t move, or open her eyes. This had to be a dream; maybe sleep would help her to wake up. Whoever was crying protested being dragged out kicking and sobbing. She was too tired to care who it was.
She heard someone talking, to her. She didn’t know who it was though. It was some mare older than her though, that much was certain.
“I can clear the sky in ten seconds flat.” They said. Well how about that, looks like someone looked up to her-Scootaloo. It was Scootaloo. But, that’s impossible. She was still a filly. A kid! She was the one crying. Whatever happened that day had broken her heart and shattered her mind. It all finally clicked together in her head. She’d fallen after going too fast, the Pegasi couldn’t catch her and…there was a hole in her memory, all she remembered was Celestia asking what happened.
‘You can give your broken heart to me, cuz you know that I’ll stay with you.’ She thought ‘That’s why they call me Loyalty.’ She felt a hug, then a sigh as she listened to the mare leave.
“See ya, Dash.” Those words were almost forced out. Strange. Two more ponies came in and started talking. She couldn’t hear much but she didn’t want them in here, something was…wrong. Very wrong. Another one came in too, she sounded kinda like Twilight.
“There’s...no way.”, some Stallion said.
“…I don’t want this.” The Twilight sounding one responded.
“She’ll be miserable if we leave her like this.” The stallion spoke again.
“I know.” There was a sigh. “Give me a moment.” The sound of ponies leaving told Rainbow that she was alone with the mare. “Rainbow..” She started. “It’s me…again, Twilight. I know you’d wanna know what happened that day 10 years ago.” Yeah, she wanted to kn-10 Years?! What the hay?!! “Well, you were in Las Pegasus in the Wonderbolts Final, you got a perfect 10 and a place in the Wonderbolts, but when you went to land, you didn’t stop. You…shattered science. You did the impossible, somehow. You went faster than the speed of light for a fraction of a second.” She felt Twilight playing with her mane and something drip onto her chest. “You…You were knocked out instantly.” She sniffed and continued. Twilight was crying…but, she was okay right? Rainbow was going to make it out of this…”Coma. You’ve been in a coma for 10 years. There’s no way you’re going to wake up. So…” She paused, as if not wanting to talk. Instead of telling her what was going on, she just sat there and cried. “We…won’t….” Sniff. “Damnit Dash! Why’d you have to go into a coma!?” Rainbow felt a hoof hit her cheek in anger and sadness. “We loved you like a sister!” At this point she was dragged out, still crying. Rainbow knew what was coming out of the context of what she’d heard before Twilight had told her what happened though.
‘I love you too…’ was the last thing that ran through her mind before the ‘beep beep beep’ turned into ‘beep….beep…beeee….’
***
---Canterlot Castle---
A lot had happened in 10 years, but not much progress had been made with Locura. Discord had no idea where he was, or how to defeat him, as he was locked away in stone at the time of Locura’s defeat. Twilight had let Spike go on his own, thinking that he’d grow stronger and wiser without being around ponies and their problems, and hey, she was right! He had claimed Ponyville for his own territory about 6 years later and man had he grown! He was at least, gosh…50 if not 60 feet tall now? And as it turned out, dragons grow differently based on environment. If the dragon was greedy and beastly, they grew into quadruped beasts that could only growl, if they were greedy, but only so, they grew into lean, powerful bipedal speedsters. The Elements of Harmony had lost their color and were now just diamonds in golden necklaces and a ‘big crown thingy’, but the most disturbing news of all was that when Ponyville had been deemed safe once more, ponies from all over Equestria had begun to commit suicide, though, strangely, it was only mares or fillys. Never a colt or stallion. Hanging, bleeding out, Magic Overloads, even Pegasi falling from the sky with no intention on catching themselves had been reported. There were a few survivors though, thanks to the response teams that worked with them. The ponies that did survive though, they begged to be killed, or would just mumble nonsense. Some of the more gifted unicorns would confess to hearing what was now known as ‘Discord’s Laugh’, though he had nothing to do with the suicides. If Equestria was destroyed, he would have nothing to rule over, or no one to enjoy his gift of chocolate rain. They described the laugh as a high pitched giggle with a low baritone chuckle in the background, thus earning its name.
“He’s hiding.” Discord thought aloud. “He’s hiding from…something, or someone.” Twilight looked at her brother who had called Celestia, Luna, Discord, Twilight, and her friends to Canterlot Castle. Cadence had passed away as one of the suicide victims much to Shining’s horror, scarring him for life. She’d found an old sword that Shining’s grandfather had used and spilled her entrails out on the floor by committing seppuku.
“Where would he be hidden?” Shining asked the others. Most of them gave a general ‘I don’t know’ answer, except Celestia.
“I may know, but I have dreaded speaking of that…” She froze, anger slowly boiling under her pure white coat. “That…Bastard.” The curse shook the rest of them back a bit. Celestia had always been well spoken and well mannered, even when she was downright furious, like when the Changelings took over. She didn’t call the queen a bitch or anything, just fought her.
“Princess?” Twilight asked, but was interrupted by Celestia’s stern, harsh voice.
“I have told you little of my family, have I not?” Twilight nodded. “My father was a cruel Alicorn. His name meant cruelty in fact. Yes, he did help win the ancient war that not even I remember, but…” Another pause, as if she really didn’t want to talk of him. “He slaughtered any who would not bow to his ways. His fury was so great that he had gone after our mother while she was holding Luna. He fell, to my horn. I ended his life the same way he told his tales of war and his so called ‘glory’. I burned him from the inside out.” Her eyes swept across the others, even Discord seemed a little uneasy by the tale of Celestia’s murder. “Have you not noticed that there are no male Alicorns?”
“But…That’s impossible. Genetics say that an Alicorn being male is dominant.” Twilight pointed out.
“And there are only two Alicorns alive. Luna and myself.” Celestia explained.
“What happens to the males?” Twilight asked, but soon figured it out in her head. “N-Nevermind. But that still doesn’t answer the question, princess.”
“Before he died, my father had ordered Canterlot Castle to be built, but midway through, he ‘vanished’. I had the project moved to its current location to hide away Locura and seal him below this fortress. He was…quiet for some time, but I knew that when Discord had been freed that he was going to follow in his father’s footsteps and be free as well. Discord was only a test for you and your friends Twilight. Granted, he wanted to take Equestria back.” She looked at the floating reptile, then back to Twilight. “If he is free, then we must find him, quickly.” Twilight thought for a moment, without Spike to send letters to and from Celestia, it’d be much harder to stay in contact, but she’d made the right choice in letting him live in the Dragon Lands, she thought. She hadn’t seen him in years, but something told her that he was around. Her gaze turned to her friends, now including the older Cutie mark Crusaders.
“Hmm…We need to find that body, princess.” Twilight announced after an eternity of silence. Celestia blinked and stepped back a bit. “And you need to tell me everything about him. Every. Last. Detail. Everyone else, comb the Everfree forest for that body.” She ordered. Celestia grinned a little at her student then sighed. “Alright…Well...”
***
Night fell onto Ponyville, coating it in a cool, crisp air that tingled with danger. This especially held true thanks to the sounds in the distance. They came from the direction of the Dragon Lands, but no dragon had been to Ponyville since Spike had left. Twilight and Shining Armor had learned to ignore these distant roars, seeing them as nothing but disputes between dragons, however, they still stayed on alert whenever they came about. No body had been found in the forest, only the bone of an ancient horn where Celestia had burned it, it would do though. Turns out that her father, who she refused to call by name, had many mares taken with him, and he took many mares, but only married one for the throne, Celestia and Luna’s mother. Twilight tried desperately to put all the pieces in place. The suicides, the laughter, Celestia’s father, and Discord’s freedom. Groaning, she walked outside, thinking the air would clear her head. She stopped though when she heard crashes come from Sugarcube Corner. Shining Armor followed her in full gallop to the sweets shop to see what had made the noise, but that was answered by a deafening roar that erupted and cracked the sky. In the middle of Ponyville Square stood a huge bipedal purple dragon, standing a towering 75ft tall, at least. Its wings were…massive, and it easily took to the skies with a mighty flap, and then began to circle the town, roaring once again. Everypony had been woken up by this point and watched the beast circle. Another dragon, this one a dark brown quadruped, roared back at the purple one that they’d first seen. The two seemed to be in a dispute over…who knows what, because the brown one expelled a mighty stream of molten fire at the purple one who responded with his own green flame. When the brown one’s flame had died, the purple dragon showed off its wings, roared and tossed the brown one back to the Dragon Lands with a great hurl. It roared once more and left.
“That was…strange.” Shining armor said to his sister.
“That was Spike…” Twilight whispered to herself.
“Sorry? What was that, Twiliy?” her brother asked.
“Oh, um…I just said that…that was….exiting. Dragons are known to fight over towns as a status symbol, y’know! That dragon must be like…the prince or something.” She smiled and returned to her home with her brother. She had to piece this all together, the laughter, the coma, the suicides, everything. Nothing added up though, it was as if something were controlling the ponies, but no, they weren’t being controlled like a zombie, they still had free will and could choose their course of action, so that didn’t make science. Hmm…Twilight couldn’t sleep, not with all this on her mind, she just had to find out more about these guys, Locura and Celestia’s father, problem is, she didn’t know the father’s name. Just Locura then, maybe she’d get lucky. She quietly snuck out of her own house, then teleported to Canterlot as silently as she could. She had to find something in the library.
***
“Do we have a deal?” A heavy cloth bag was levitated in front of the beast, but it stayed silent, thinking. If he did this, it would allow him to rise in power, but what was the cost? Nothing, not as far as it could see. It had been let go, and so, lived by the Dragon’s way. Power meant respect, and turning this man in and having him imprisoned would make it all the more powerful.
“Yes.” The beast took the bag and flew off with a mighty flap of its massive wings, not looking back.
“It is for mother.” The first one said.
“Indeed.” Another, younger one spoke before the two flew away.
***
“AHA!” Twilight shouted in the middle of the library. The other five turned to look at her outburst. “I’ve got it!” The mares gathered around her and listened to her story.
“But…how come Discord couldn’t do that?” Fluttershy asked.
“He was young! His power hadn’t developed by then!” Twilight’s smile beamed, she’d finally figured out the problem! Locura was older than Discord, and because they were the same race, they had the same powers, but Locura was just energy! So he had some…enhanced abilities; shapeshifting, telepathy, corruption, and plane shifting, just to name a few.
“So we had it all upsidedownyinsideoutwards?” Pinkie asked, twisting her neck at impossible angles to illustrate her point.
“Exactly! We’ve got to tell Celestia!” Twilight and the girls rushed off to the Castle, only to see something they still regret to this day. They were led to the Royal Courts by a Pegasus Guard and left there to watch the trial.
“You! They accused! What have you to say?! Are you the one!?” Prince Blueblood shouted toward a huge bipedal dragon whose purple scaled were worn and chipped with age and battle.
“He is blameless!” a dragon in the court cried.
“Let him answer!” the Blueblood roared.
“He was insane!” The dragon growled. The Blueblood didn’t seem to like that.
“LIAR! Take him to Luna!” He demanded. Luna? The audience was then teleported to what seemed to be the same room, but this one was night themed with Luna floating in the air. Her eyes burned white with fury and anger, her voice was no different.
“You! The damned! Are you the scourge of ponies!?” she screamed in her Royal Canterlot voice.
“This is shameless!” another dragon shouted.
“He will answer!” she blasted the outspoken dragon with a beam of lunar magic. Twilight knew that Equestria had courts but this wasn’t like anything she’d read.
“He killed our kind!” The aged beast spoke loudly, not quite yelling, but making his point heard.
“BLASTPHEMY!” Luna cried. “Take him to Celestia!” The whole court began to either cheer or protest.
“Celestia?” Twilight whispered to her friends just before they were teleported to the final room. This one was outside with Celestia standing on a podium that towered over the court and the dragon. She looked different though, it…didn’t look like Celestia. Her wings and horn were ablaze with solar flares, the same could be said for her eyes as well, except that they more matched her mane and tail, looking like the flames where whipped by the wind, that or anger, as there was no wind. Her voice was…horrible, like a dragon’s in volume, but like a stallion’s in tone. Blueblood and Luna joined her on two other podiums on her left and right respectively.
“YOU! THE FORSAKEN! ARE YOU THE MURDERER?!”
“C-Celestia…?” Twilight whispered to herself. She’d never seen her mentor, princess…her second mother, like this. It wasn’t…She didn’t want to believe it was real.
“I saved our kind!” the dragon confessed.
“ENOUGH! YOU HAVE CONFESSED!”
‘No…please not the sun…’Twilight thought.
“TAKE HIM TO THE FACTORY! DEATH TO THE ONE CALLED KING! KING OF THE DRAGONS!”
Twilight felt herself wanting to get sick. Rainbow had told her what ‘the factory’ was, and anypony that was sent there…oh God…There was a vibration, a crash, then a roar. Twilight turned to see what had fallen, or rather, landed. “Spike!?”
“What are you doing!? No one said anything about killing him!” he cried when he landed.
“GET HIM OUT OF HERE!” Celestia pointed at Spike.
“I have betrayed an innocent dragon!”
“WHAT DO I CARE? GUARDS!”
“I don’t want your diamonds anymore! FATHER! What have I done?!” Spike tossed a huge bag of diamonds at the podium where Celestia stood, spilling them everywhere.
“TAKE THE SON TOO!” At her order, Spike was chained, restrained, and the whole group was teleported to the ‘factory’. Twilight was in shock, she couldn’t think, or speak, or move, only stand and watch.
***
Spike watched his father being lowered into the device. “What have I done…to the ones I defended…” His father’s wings had been torn off at this point, staining the pegasi ponies that had done so with blood. “I’m afraid…this choice I’ve made…” He turned to look at the other ponies; spotting five that he wished weren’t there before he was raised above the maw of the device. It was funnel shaped, allowing him to easily fit into the thing. He didn’t roar, or groan in pain as his wings were torn off and lowered into the thing. He was already dead inside, what more could they do to him? As he was being lowered into his death, he only said one line. His final words were a confession, “I…have betrayed…” There was a sickening grinding sound, that of bones and flesh crunching together as the device erupted blood. The dragon’s words echoed throughout the factory until the grinding drowned it out. When the ponies were teleported home, Twilight instantly fell to the floor and began to weep for her friend, her best friend. Her little brother. Her tears came out from her eyes, making great streams on her face as they flowed through the purple fur. Shining armor soon heard her and curled up beside her.
“Twiliy…What happened?” he spoke softly, hoping it was nothing too serious. Her words were nothing but gurgled sobs and sniffs. He could make out the words ‘Celestia’ and ‘why’ though. “What did she do, it couldn’t have been that bad.” He tried to reassure her. That only made the sobs louder though.
“She…” More sobs for a while. “Spike…” It was clear that she was shaken up and not thinking clearly. Even when Twilight was confused, she spoke more than one word at a time. Shining Armor just stroked her mane and let her cry herself to sleep. He was going to see Celestia and get the details later, but right now, Twilight was his main concern. Having her stable was priority one, and no one was going to get between he and his sister, especially after the news that he’d gotten earlier that day. She was all that he had left. If he lost her…he didn’t know what he would do.
***
“So…Celestia and Luna have fallen to my will…” A slick chuckle came from the beast’s foul lips. “And so it begins. Soon they shall join their kind, and dragons will rule the land, as we did before. No more flawed creations, son. I knew that was a mistake, yet I gave it to you anyway. What a fool I was….” The beast ran its gaseous hand through the flames that imprisoned it in its hell. “But soon, I shall be free, and you will know true fear. Chaos.” It chuckled again. “Terror.”
***
“What did you do to my sister!?” Shining Armor demanded of his Princess, who had since recovered from her rather frightening state.
“What have I done? Nothing. I simply condemned a murderer. My father’s murderer.” That wasn’t too far-fetched, as dragons did live for thousands of years, but it still didn’t justify what she’d done to his sister. “Justice was served, nothing more, Capitan.” His title, that wasn’t a good sign.
“Then tell me princess, did you know that she saw the execution?” Celestia stopped in her tracks as a look of genuine shock and regret swept across those kind eyes.
“No…” She spoke quietly. “I did not.”
“You killed her little brother. The one YOU told her to hatch.”
“I know…we…made a deal. He backed out of the deal at the trial. Traitors are unwelcome, Capitan, you know this.” Shining Armor sighed.
“Yes. I know this, princess.” He dropped his head. “Forgive my intrusion.” He left to the courtyard and looked down at Ponyville. He wondered when all this pain would end. Ever since Rainbow’s accident, life had gone downhill for everyone. It was as if harmony had been…lost. With a sigh, he continued to walk in the courtyard; it was beautiful, especially to him, since this is where he and Cadence had gotten married. He missed her, more than anything, but at least he had Twilight. At least he had his sister. He turned and walked back to the castle, where Celestia’s Court was. It wasn’t all bad, he thought, if he had someone to help, he could be happy.
“Shining Armor! Sir!” Odd, he thought nopony was allowed in this court.
“Yes?” He answered. The other stallion’s voice was shaken with fear, as if he didn’t want to talk.
“Half of Ponyville, Sir…It’s been…Blown away.”
“Hah, good one.” Shining Armor turned to look at Ponyville again, nearly losing his lower jaw due to it dropping so fast. The stallion’s words were true; half of the town was…a black scar.
“I…have more news for your ears only, Sir.”
‘Please…no…don’t say it.’ Shining thought.
“It’s…your sister…She was caught in the blast…she…she didn’t survive. I…I am sorry, Sir.” The Pegasus flew away as Celestia, Luna, Discord, AJ, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy joined him in the court.
“No…” Shining’s body froze. He had…nothing. Nothing! A foul, sickening chuckle filled his ears as another pony landed in front of him. This one was a unicorn like him, but looked like a negative of his sister.
“Aww, life just isn’t…ordered. Is it?” The pony teased. In truth, this creature lived for nothing more than the suffering of others. Nothing more. And he had done his job, almost. Only three things stood in his way, well, only one now that he’d corrupted two. This time it mimicked Twilight’s voice. “Ah! Shining Armor! Brother! Where are you!?” A cackle left its lips as it spoke in its normal voice again, sounding more like an insane Discord than anything, really. “Those were her last words, you know. Her love wasn’t enough to save her.” Shining Armor locked eyes with the beast; he would have no more chaos in his life, not in anypony’s life. Chaos was needed to a degree, but not…like this! Not malice! Not the pure, raw hatred for joy that this thing reeked of.
“Shut up.” Shining growled. The beast cackled.
“Or what? You’ll slay me? Hello? Pure energy? Maybe you don’t know who I am. Locura? God of hatred and chaos? Greed and Fraud? Ever hear of the seven forbidden acts?” It took another form, this one looking like discord, but being only pure shadow with some kind of sparkling points, like stars. “I doubt that any of you could slay me! Nay! Even lay a finger on me!” He sent a wave of chaos through Canterlot with that last line, causing a minor quake. “Look how you tremble. Even my laughter causes ponies to fall to me!” He laughed at that. This laugh was different from the cackles that he’d been doing, this one was like a child’s laughter, but something dark was in the back of it, something evil. What Shining Armor’s eyes beheld then, he could never forget. All the ponies, save Luna and Celestia, weather male or female, child or adult, each one took their own life in some way. He didn’t see most of it as his anger blinded him, but he did see the four mares, Twilight’s friends, lying dead on the court floor. “And now…Shining Armor….I shall finish what must be done for a pure world!” Shining didn’t even feel the shadows pierce his heart and rupture it. He didn’t feel the cold stone on his cheek as he fell; he didn’t even see Celestia and Luna scream as their corruption left them, replacing it with a mix of anger and sadness.
“Shining Armor!” Celestia cried. He was her best. He could even best her in physical contests. Losing him was one of the worst things she could imagine. She glared at the being, then at Discord who had been made by him. That’s the way it seemed anyhow.
Locura cackled in its sickening way. “Oh Celestia, did you know that Armor, your little boy, was born only for me to destroy?! I took your son!” It cackled again. “And there is nothing you can do to aid him!” Locura continued his taunting, but soon went to his son. “Now son, come! Let us destroy these hideous Alicorns! The last male was easy to corrupt, especially in wartime. Ah yes, your father, Celestia.” Lorca licked his shadowy lips. “So fun to watch him fall!”
“Did I not tell you to leave ponykind alone?!” a mix of voices spoke. Twilight, Shining Armor, Spike, Pietas, and Crudelis. All five of them spoke from one body, Shining Armor’s. He screamed as his sides split open and snaked out a pair of skeletal wings. These wings soon were covered in muscle and feathers. “Mother’s Kingdom…IS HERE!”
Locus soon got a look of panic on its face. “No! You should be dead! I watched you…All of you…Die!” Shining Armor stepped closer, cracking the floor with each step.
“YOU WILL NOT WIN VICTORY OVER ME THROUGH DEATH!” Shining’s voice had become as loud as one would imagine a God’s voice to be. He cracked the sky with each word. The plants and animals cowered at his very whispers, and the two princesses were stunned.
“I will always hate you, your name I will despise!” Locura backed away from the blinding light that was blinding him.
“THIS BATTLE IS OVER! BUT THE WAR HAS BEGUN!” Shining screamed at the being. “DO NOT MOCK OUR PRINCESS! MY MOTHER WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HAUNTING OF THIS KINGDOM SHE HOLDS SO DEAR!” His horn began to glow as brightly as the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky as the earth started to quake, making Canterlot Castle begin to crumble rapidly. “NOW, PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!” A star from the sky began to draw closer, and fall through the atmosphere. As it reached Locura, he screamed in agony with Shining Armor as they both were burnt and crushed into nothing by the massive star. Celestia’s eyes poured tears as she watched her son die. He hadn’t even known the truth….Only when he died would he know that he was not related to Twilight in any way. Celestia had had him and had his wings removed at birth. It was the only Alicorn son she’d ever had and she loved him, but knew that he would question his being a unicorn if she raised him, so she’d given him away, but did so in Canterlot so that she didn’t have to give up her baby.
“Son…” Her tears dropped onto the now repaired stone. Everything…was repaired. Even the ponies that had died during the past few years by Locura’s hand were back. She didn’t know how Shining Armor had done it, but…She was thankful. He’d loved her like a mother too, it seemed. At the very end, he was the one that chose to defend her kingdom when she couldn’t.
“Ugh…I feel more lit up ‘n a honky tonk on Saturday night.”, AJ replied, rubbing her head.
“Yeah, I feel like I was just on a superduperlooptyloopy roller coaster.” Pinkie agreed. Celestia just smiled and sent them home. She’d tell them the story of what happened later.
---Three weeks Later (Epilogue) ---
Twilight sat on the grass in the Canterlot cemetery, looking at the headstone in front of her. It read ‘Shining Armor, Capitan of the Guard.’ Tears filled her eyes again. She’d been going to this grave for the past week. All she did was sit there and cry. No one had joined her, thinking she needed to take it all in, and she was grateful for that.
“Shining, Brother…I can’t stay away. I miss you so badly…and it’s only been three weeks…Why did this have to be…? I know you died for us…but the future’s hard to see…” She sniffed through her tears.
“Twi…It’s…okay. I mean…he’s not dead.” Rainbow said behind her. Locura had been the one that had helped her break the speed of light, so she’d been brought back, she was confused, sure, but happy to fly again.
“Yeah, he is. This is his grave.” Twilight choked out.
“I mean...um…Well…He saved us all. Brought us all back, y’know?” Rainbow reasoned before sitting down with her friend. Twilight smiled and nodded.
“Yeah. He loved us to the end, didn’t he?” Rainbow agreed and watched Spike fly by with a roar.
“Yeah…he did.” She put a hoof around Twilight and let her weep into her blue fur. “We love ya too, Twi.”
“I know…”
END
