Dark Cloud

Chapters

Suspicions
Surprises
Discoveries
Attacks (Part One)
Attacks (Part Two)
Casualties
Plans
Lessons
Revelations
Pains
Survivors
Reflections
Oaths
Stories
Confrontations
Lamentations
Sacrifices
Beginnings (Prologue)
Sorrows

Suspicions

The door to the library kitchen opened slowly with a loud creak. Spike looked around from in front of the stove, beholding a very groggy-looking Twilight crossing the threshold. Her mane was disheveled, and her eyes were still half-closed, very obviously still half-asleep.

"Good morning, Twilight," Spike said, cheerfully. Twilight didn't respond, meandering across the kitchen to sit at the table. Unperturbed, Spike flipped over one of the sandwiches he was cooking.

"I'm making lunch," he brightly informed her.

"...Lunch?" Twilight said, confused. Her voice was slightly hoarse from her grogginess. "What time is it?"

"Almost eleven-thirty," Spike said, his cheerful manner faltering at the end of the sentence. Twilight was silent, and Spike was bracing himself for the explosion that he knew was coming.

"...Eleven-thirty?" Twilight asked, her voice becoming clearer now. Spike tensed up, waiting for it.

"ELEVEN THIRTY?!?" Her voice had risen a half-octave, her eyes wide open now. "You know how much I hate sleeping in, Spike! Why didn't you wake me up?!"

"We're not doing anything today," Spike shrugged. "There's nothing written on the schedule."

“Well, at least now I know why you’re cooking…” she muttered.

“Hey,” Spike said, indignantly. “I’ve cooked breakfast before.”

“When have you ever cooked me breakfast when you weren’t in trouble?” Twilight asked.

Spike chose to remain silent. Flipping the two sandwiches onto separate plates, he carried them over to the table.

“I hate sleeping in,” Twilight said yet again, as a grilled hay sandwich was placed in front of her. “So much time gone to waste.”

“You work too much,” Spike informed her, sitting at the other side of the table and biting into his hay sandwich. “You need to take a break sometimes.”

“You know,” Twilight thought aloud, obviously not having listened to a word Spike said, “it’s been a while since we’ve heard from the Princess.”

“Oh, yeah,” Spike said, sheepishly. He stood up, walked into the library, and returned carrying a tightly-rolled scroll that Twilight hadn’t noticed on her way downstairs. He held it out to her.

“This came earlier this morning. It’s marked F.T.E.O.”

For Twilight’s Eyes Only. She rolled her eyes in exasperation.

“Honestly, Spike, you need to remember important things like that!” she scolded, dropping the hay sandwich back onto her plate. She levitated the scroll in midair as it unfurled itself for her to read, and Spike returned to his hay sandwich.

Twilight,

It’s been a little while since I’ve given you an assignment specifically focusing on magic. You’ve been so caught up in studying friendship that I’m afraid I’ve been neglecting your magical training. My next assignment for you is somewhat different than usual.

Years ago, we taught the foals in school about a certain type of magic. However, to to certain extenuating circumstances, I caused that subject to be banned. I’ve already taught you a little bit about this magic. It is the most powerful magic in existence, but it is also the most deadly. It is the magic that King Sombra specializes in: Dark Magic.

Twilight’s eyes widened as she read the letter. The Princess couldn’t possibly mean what she thought she meant… could she?

Centuries ago, I confiscated all of the books related to dark magic known to ponykind, and sealed them in the restricted section of the archives. They still remain there, only to be read by those I deem ready. You, Twilight, are ready for this stage of training.

Most ponies can’t use dark magic because of the dark energies that accompany it. As far as I am aware, Princess Luna and Myself are two of the only remaining individuals who can. But, as you may remember, when you were a filly, I ran many tests on your magical energy.

Twilight did remember. She remembered having amounts of blood drawn, having many examinations to see just how much power she had. She remembered overhearing a conversation about how the tests were taking much longer than usual, because of her amount of raw magical strength.

These tests made it clear to me that you have the capacity to use certain amounts of dark magic without any negative side effects. This became even more apparent during the Crystal Empire Crisis, when you used a basic dark spell of revealing to get past several obstacles. Therefore, I will be sending you forty of the dark magic textbooks, ranging from basic to intermediate skill level, as soon as you reply to this letter. I can only have them out of the archives for eight days, or the pony who checks the restricted section might ask awkward questions. I also can’t order him to not do the count, as that will pose even more questions. I want you to read them all in the next seven days and practice what they’re teaching you, as I believe you will find it useful in the coming days. You are to remain in your study while you work, and disclose the true nature of your assignment to nopony, not even Spike. The public will get the wrong idea if they knew about this, and it would cause trouble for you, me, and the entire kingdom.

I know that dark magic seems like an evil and insidious magic. You saw a small portion of what it is capable of in the Crystal Empire. Letting you learn this magic is a risk, but it’s a risk we need to take. You might be asking yourself why I’m having you do this. If you ever feel uncomfortable throughout the duration of this assignment, remember this:

You cannot fight your enemy without knowing how they think, what their weaknesses are, and exactly what they’re capable of.

King Sombra was not the only dark magic user of this age, and I believe that you will face it again many times throughout the course of your life. Master the things the textbooks teach you, as they are the key to survival. I expect a secure letter from you every two days, reporting on your progress.

Be careful about how you use dark magic in future. Good Luck.

Your mentor and friend,

-Princess Celestia

Twilight re-read the letter, her mind racing. This was definitely something she hadn’t been expecting. She felt a little apprehensive about learning the most evil and most powerful magic in existence, but at the same time, she was excited. Before the Crystal Empire, she hadn’t even known dark magic existed. This was something that she knew almost nothing about, and there would be a lot to learn.

“Anything interesting?” Spike asked.

Twilight snapped back to reality. She had almost forgotten Spike was in the room, and she needed to come up with some excuse that she could use to study without him being suspicious.

“Yeah,” she said, thinking hard. Then inspiration came. Technically she wouldn’t lie, but Spike still wouldn’t know the truth.

“I’ve got forty magic books to read by the end of the week,” she informed him.

“Forty?” Spike sounded dumb-struck. “How are you supposed to read forty magic textbooks in less than a week?”

“I read a dozen books in two days a few weekends ago,” she shrugged. “If I work even harder this time, I can pull it off no problem.”

“Well, do you want me to write the reply letter?” Spike asked.

Twilight paused. She hadn’t thought about the fact that Spike would expect to write a letter for her, as usual.

“No, she says she doesn’t need one,” she lied.

“Really?” Spike asked in surprise, as Twilight hurried and ate the rest of her sandwich.

“Yup,” she replied, after swallowing the last mouthful. “Could you take care of the dishes?”

“Can’t you just do it with magic?” he asked.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"...Oh, all right," he grumbled.

"Thank you," Twilight said in silent triumph, holding up her plate for him to take.

As soon as Spike turned on the water to wash the dishes, Twilight's horn lit quietly, and opened a drawer back in the library. Knowing exactly where she had last left them, she levitated ink, quill, and parchment from the drawer, and levitated them through the open door. She quickly wrote out a reply letter with her magic, moving the parchment against one of the cupboards, where Spike couldn't see it.

Princess,

I'd be honored to study Dark Magic. I understand the circumstances. Nopony else will find out about this. I told Spike I need to read forty magic books, but didn't specify which ones. I'll tell my other friends the same. You can send the books when you're ready.

Your faithful student,

-Twilight

Having recently learned a spell that would allow her to send messages without need of Spike's help, she sent the letter off into oblivion, where it would wait until Princess Celestia chose to retrieve it. This was the more secure message system they had worked out; Celestia had obviously sent the letter to Spike so he wouldn't question why Twilight was working.

Forty books on brand-new magic, Twilight thought to herself, half-scared, half-excited. I'd better start getting ready.

Spike finished washing the dishes just as Twilight finished replacing the quill and ink into the open library desk drawer.

"Well, I'd better get started," Twilight said, standing up. "I don't want any interruptions while I'm working, unless it's really important. I'll make a checklist of chores for you to do every day. If anypony asks where I am, tell them the truth."

"Got it," Spike said, as he followed Twilight into the Library. "What books do you need?"

"I can get them myself," Twilight said, her horn lighting up. She began to pull forty random books off of the shelves, pretending to double-check their names as she levitated each one into a stack. "But it would be nice if you could get the basement door for me."

Spike ran to the basement door, and pulled it open as Twilight and her many books crossed the threshold. She descended the steps into darkness, as the door swung shut behind her. Before continuing further, she used her magic to open the shudders to the one window they had down there. Sunlight spilled through the distant hole, not blinding her, as she hadn't become used to the dark yet. Finishing the descent, she set the pile of books on the floor against the west wall. Moving across to the window, she opened it, and used magic to remove the screen.

At that moment, a yellow beam of light hit the ground, and a large brown box materialized inside. Twilight was surprised that Celestia would deliver the books through solar transport, as it generally took her a large amount of effort to use it. She levitated the box through the hole, then replaced the screen. She tore the magical tape off from the box, opening it eagerly.

She was met with a significant amount of dust. She coughed slightly as it spread from the ancient books. Despite the books being so old, they looked in fairly good condition. There was a note attached to one of them, which Twilight lifted up and began reading.

Instructions

Start with the book entitled "A History of Dark Magic." You will find the title of which book to read next inside the back cover. Keep in mind: Some dark magic is too advanced for even Luna and I, so it will be for you as well. You are to read and study the theory for the whole book, but only actually attempt to cast spells from the list of chapters found in the front cover.

Good luck.

Twilight located the first book in the top of the box. She walked over to her desk, and opened the cover. Inside, she found a small note saying Practical Application: N/A. Curious, she opened the front cover and began to read.

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Aura

All dark magic puts off some kind of aura, but strong users are able to hide it very well if they choose. The stronger the pony attempting to sense them is, the harder it is for them to hide. Typical signs of dark aura are:

Sudden Decreases in Air Temperature
Feeling of Being Watched
Feelings of Fear or Terror

These feelings vary from pony to pony, as dark magic users are constantly trying to hide these signs unless they really want to scare you. Dark Aura can be sensed easily, even by Earth Ponies or Pegasai. This is one of the few downsides to Dark Magic, although it is rarely a problem as most of them cannot tell that they are sensing something magical. Very few are able...

Twilight's eyes moved across the lines of text, taking in every word. It had been two days since she began, but she still hadn't learned any practical application, as most of the beginning books were written to teach ponies how to recognize Dark Magic, not to use it. She hadn't slept a wink, reading straight through the night. In the mornings, she wrote lists of chores for Spike, and levitated them to the top of the basement stairs. She was physically exhausted, but her brain refused to let her take a break; she needed to keep going if she wanted to meet her deadline.

The basement door opened, then closed again. Twilight couldn't see the newcomer due to the way the staircase curved, but she was unsurprised to see Spike standing there, holding yet another grilled hay sandwich.

"I made you breakfast again," he said, bringing the plate over to her.

"Thanks," she said, distractedly, not beginning to eat it. She continued reading, until she registered that Spike hadn't gone back upstairs.

"Was there something else?" she asked him.

Instead of answering, Spike pulled something out from behind his back and handed it to her. It was a scroll of parchment, one that she recognized.

"Royal Duties?" she asked. Spike nodded.

"When do you need to leave?"

"Right now," Spike said. "The next train to Canterlot leaves in 20 minutes."

Twilight found it odd that Celestia would summon Spike to Canterlot now. Why hadn't she just done it yesterday, delivering it with the letter she had sent to Twilight?

"How long?"

"A week," Spike replied.

Perfect, Twilight thought to herself. I'll be done with the books by then.

"Well, I guess you'd better get going," she said, looking back at the book on the table. "Double-check that you've packed everything, and write to me every night."

"I know," Spike said, in a 'quit-nagging-me' tone.

"Do all of my friends know where I am?" She asked.

"Everyone but Fluttershy and Rarity," Spike replied, his eyes going a bit starry upon saying the second name. "But I'll ask Pinkie Pie to tell them on my way to the staion."

"Thanks," Twilight said. Spike turned to go, then paused.

"Twilight? I know books are cool and all, but... can you promise me you'll eat every once in a while?"

Twilight looked back up at him, seeing the genuine concern in his face. It was true; she sometimes went off meals to keep reading. If Spike hadn't been bringing her food, she wouldn't have eaten at all.

"I will," she said, smiling at him. "I promise."

Spike climbed the circling staircase out of sight, and a few moments later, Twilight heard the basement door click shut, leaving her alone with the books.

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Dark Blood

Even the most powerful magic users cannot use dark magic to its full extent while missing this crucial component. Dark Blood is a dangerous substance which will kill you if incorrectly applied. When injected and utilized correctly, it replaces all regular blood you have. Most ponies with dark blood were born with it, rather than given it. When your blood is dark, your healing rate will increase exponentially, making it difficult for anypony to finish you properly. You will also adapt to all of the dark energies known to us, and will be able to use dark magic fully without any side effects.

-Dark Blood: A Mystery of Science

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Just one more page, Twilight. Just... one... more...

Twilight struggled to stay awake, as she attempted to read the final page of a book entitled Dark Blood: A Mystery of Science. She had left the study only to use the bathroom and eat. It would be almost her third day straight of reading, come a few hours. She had to mentally shake herself every few seconds to continue taking in the words she was reading, as her eyes slowly dragged across the black text.

Finally, she finished the final page, and set the book in the stack of other finished ones beside her. 19 down, 21 to go, she thought, dully. At least she finally had some practical application. She remembered the text clearly.

Shadow Magic

Shadow Magic is a rudimentary form of dark magic, which specializes in illusion and deception. Changelings are creatures of Shadow Magic, which is how they can all appear to be any other creature.

The rest of the book had gone into detail on how to disguise oneself, as well as creating external illusions. She had spent the last few hours changing different areas of her body to look like something else, as well as creating a full-bodied pony from thin air. She hadn't quite perfected disguising herself, but she had taken notes on it, and she could perfect it later. But right now, Twilight was barely staying awake. She was going to go take a short nap before getting back to it.

She ascended the stairs, emerging into the Library. The sun still hadn't risen, as it was 6:31 AM. She turned to go straight up to her bedroom area, but as she began walking towards the staircase, a familiar voice sounded from behind.

"Taking a break at last, I see."

Twilight jumped and whipped around to face the intruder. There, sitting on her couch, was none other than Princess Celestia herself, with her hind legs crossed, looking down expressionlessly at Twilight.

"Princess!" Twilight exclaimed, quickly trotting back and bowing to her teacher and friend. "How long have you been here?"

"Oh, a few hours or so," Celestia shrugged.

"I didn't know you were coming," Twilight said. As she realized that she had just been caught going to bed, she hastily added, "I'm not giving up! I can read all of those books, you'll see--"

Celestia silenced her by raising a hoof, effectively cutting off the flow of explanation from Twilight's mouth.

"It's ok, Twilight," she said with a smile. "I don't expect anypony to be awake as long as you have been, especially while doing your demanding task."

Twilight was still slightly worried. "Princess, what if I can't finish in time without staying up longer? I don't know--"

"You'll be fine, Twilight," Celestia said. "I wouldn't have assigned you this task if I didn't believe you could do it."

Something was funny with Celestia's appearance, but Twilight couldn't quite place it. Then she realized; Celestia looked as though she was about to pass out.

"Are you all right, Princess?" She asked. "You look a little green..."

"I'm fine, thank you," The white Alicorn responded. Twilight found it even more odd that Celestia's skin tone returned to normal right afterwards.

"You're sure?" she prompted.

Celestia shuddered suddenly, making Twilight jump again. The Alicorn had a slight fire in her eyes that her student had never seen before. She put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"I need you to listen to me very carefully, my student," she said to her protege, who was still shocked at her sudden change in behavior.

"I cannot tell what quite yet, but I can sense a great danger looming over us. Read the rest of those books, master the magic, and prepare your friends. We are headed for a dark, tragic time, and I want us to be ready."

Leaving Twilight in a state of utter confusion, the white Alicorn stepped out the front door where her chariot was waiting. She stepped in, and her guards pulled her into the air and off back towards Canterlot.

Twilight sat there, in a state of deep-seated unease and bewilderment. She had never seen the Princess behave quite like that before. Unannounced entrance, unnerving conversation, abrupt exit.

If the princess is this bothered, there must be something terribly wrong, Twilight thought as she paced about the room. She wanted to find out more, but she didn't want to bother the princess further.

I'll just have to go ask the chief about it later today, she thought. She yawned hugely, then remembered where she had been going before Celestia showed up. She ascended the staircase to the bedroom, and after setting a magical alarm that would wake her after a few hours' rest, she fell asleep almost immediately.

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The night guard sat at the wooden desk, almost falling asleep as he stared at the computer monitors. It had been another uneventful night in the Ponyville hospital. No one came in, no one came out. He had been sitting there all night, trying not to sleep as he watched the front door and several hallways. Finally, he sat up straight as he watched a lemon-colored Pegasus walk through the front doors. If the newcomer could unlock the door, then it meant the shift was over, and everyone else would be showing up soon.

Odd, the guard thought as he glanced at the clock on the wall. The first shift isn't scheduled for another fifteen minutes.

Figuring that the newcomer just decided to come in a bit early, the guard stood up and began to walk out of the room. The yellow stallion just happened to pass by the guard as he was leaving. The guard opened his mouth to ask why he had come so early when his emerald eyes met the scarlet eyes of the newcomer.

Instantly, the guard's thoughts, ethics, and free will were pushed into a deep corner of his mind, away from where he could use them. He stood silently, waiting for the yellow Pegasus to speak, prepared to follow his instructions to a tee.

You will go back in that room, the guard heard the voice echo through his head, and you'll wait until I leave. Then, you'll alter the video memory to remove me from it. You'll do it thoroughly and effectively, leaving no trace of alteration. When you've finished, you will forget that I was ever here and you'll forget about altering the memory. Do you understand?

"Yes," the guard replied.

"Good," the yellow stallion said. He started making his way upstairs, careful to be completely silent as to not wake the patients as he moved through a few hallways. He made it to the room he was searching for, unlocking it easily with magic. The room was cold, lined with shelves upon shelves of blood packs. Locating the O+ section, he levitated one of the bags down, using a spell to magically stow it away. He then quickly returned to the front of the hospital, passing by the room where the guard was now editing the security files. As soon as he exited through the large set of double doors, he began flying towards the west end of town, finally reaching it after ten minutes. Ponies began emerging from their homes; he would have to make this next part fast.

Hiding behind a building and ensuring that nopony was watching him, he was suddenly enveloped entirely by dark green flames. When they subsided, a dark cyan unicorn stood where the lemon-colored Pegasus had been, but with the same scarlet eyes gleaming in the now rising sun. Although he no longer had wings, that didn't stop his ability to fly. In fact, it assisted his flying. With another spell, his body broke apart, and he transformed into a black cloud of smoke. Flying upwards towards the cloud barrier, he began moving towards the Everfree Forest at a much greater speed than his wings had allowed, a small trail of smoke tailing behind him as he moved across the sky. As the Everfree Forest loomed beneath him, he spotted the small structure where he was hiding almost immediately, and began undoing the dark protection spells that were placed around it. Once he was inside, however, they immediately reactivated themselves.

He retrieved the pack of blood from his magic storage and opened it. He grabbed a small cup with red stains and some grey powder, and poured some of the fresh blood into it. As he mixed the powder and fresh blood with a hoof, he uttered a long, chant-like incantation. As he felt the link form, he brought the memory of his day floating to the top of his consciousness.

That was a terrible performance, the voice said. The cyan unicorn gritted his teeth.

You try impersonating royalty, he thought back, bitterly. It's hard to perfectly imitate Alicorn Aura, especially with somepony like Twilight Sparkle watching you.

I can imagine. Just do me a favor, and don't screw up again. You're the last pony who can help me, and I'd hate to lose you.

Oh, I don't plan on messing up again, the dark unicorn thought, a fresh wave of confidence bringing new fire to his eyes. But it'll end up fine either way. I gave the warning. She will soon realize something's wrong, but as long as no one finds out about me in the meantime, we'll be fine. Celestia doesn't suspect anything... Yet.

He felt the dark spirit's satisfaction before the link died down. Slowly, he let the memories he had been blocking flow back into himself. He smiled.

And neither do you...

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"I'm sorry, Twilight, but that's all I know," the chief of police said, with a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

Twilight stood up and left the police offices, sighing inwardly. She had requested a meeting with the chief, and asked if he knew about anything odd happening in Canterlot. He had informed her that he hadn't heard anything, and after Twilight asked several different variations of the same question, the chief became sick of it.

Twilight returned to her study, reading the next dark magic book in the series. But she was finding it slightly harder to concentrate than normal, as her mind kept wandering back to the conversation she and Celestia had this morning.

By the time 4:00 came, she couldn't stand it anymore. She magically stowed away the next few books in the series, and ran up the study steps, through the library, straight out the door into the street. She began galloping towards the center of town, mind racing. She knew where Rainbow Dash normally liked to nap, but nothing guaranteed that she would be there now. However, a minute later, she relaxed as she saw a cyan shape up in a large tree. Twilight yelled her name until she awoke, and she turned over in the branch to look down at her.

"Oh, hey Twi," Rainbow Dash greeted her, yawning hugely. "I thought you were--"

"Rainbow, I need a huge favor," Twilight cut across her. "Are you doing anything tonight?"

"I was gonna practice some stunts for the Wonderbolt Academy Reunion," Rainbow Dash replied, frowning slightly, "but I can do that tomorrow, I guess. What do you need?"

"I need you to find Dr. Whooves, and meet me at the train station in 20 minutes," Twilight said. "We're going to Canterlot."

Current Equestria Population:
1,634,940

Author's Note

Well, I think I'm getting back into the swing of writing.

As you oldies may be able to tell, this is a very extended version of the first half of the original 'Surprises' chapter.
That's pretty much it. Rock on. :twilightsmile:

Surprises

A/N: Pony Technology

In my mind, Equestria has developed a rudimentary form of internet by this time. It uses magical connections to access servers, a lot like our internet does, but it's still in early development. So, in order to be any form of internet dev, you have to be a unicorn. Security cameras are also in rudimentary development, and are really hard to manufacture. So, as per Celestia's orders, they only have them in medical facilities, but they insisted on also adding surveillance to Celestia's throne room, despite her assurance that she didn't need them. Her throne room surveillance is managed at the Canterlot Police Headquarters. Keep this in mind as you read this chapter, and wonder why the police don't have surveillance if they have it in the palace.

-Darkened5ky

"So... why are we going to Canterlot, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight hadn't given them any info other than the fact that they were going to Canterlot. Now they were on the train, and were eager to know. Twilight told them the story of Princess Celestia's sudden visit and odd behavior.

"Why not just ask the Ponyville authorities if they know anything?" Whooves asked, once Twilight had finished.

"I tried that," Twilight replied with a scowl. "The chief said nothing was wrong."

"So that explains why you're going to Canterlot, but why bring us?" Dash asked. "Unless..." It slowly dawned on her. Twilight could see it in her face.

"I'm going to ask the Canterlot authorities the same thing, and if they won't talk, we're busting in and looking for ourselves," Twilight said grimly. Her team looked surprised.

"It's dirty work, I know, but it needs to be done."

"Well, there's no backing out now," Whooves said indifferently. "What's the plan?"

"You're really good with computers," Twilight said, looking at him. "I'll need you to break into the system without leaving trace of it, so we can do some digging."

Whooves nodded.

"And me?" Dash asked.

"You I brought for physical ability... and... experience sneaking around guards," she said with a smirk.

Dash laughed. It just so happened that she was holding the very same book that had caused her to break into the Ponyville hospital in the first place. Her face straightened, however, as she asked the next question.

"Twilight, you're sure this isn't like last time?"

"What do you mean by last time?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know... I've just been visited by myself from the future! Major disaster incoming!"

She laughed as Twilight scowled at her. "This time is different. This was the princess I'm talking about, not me from a different timeline."

"Suuuure, Twi." Twilight scowled even harder at her.

"I'm kidding," Dash said, finally ceasing to laugh.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence, Whooves lost in his computer, Rainbow Dash re-reading the Daring Do series for the ninth time. Twilight, after glancing around nervously, retrieved the next dark magic book in the series. She felt slightly guilty at slightly disobeying Celestia's orders to only study in the study, but she knew there was no danger. The train was fairly empty, and it's not like anypony else could access her magic storage anyway. She was specifically focusing on illusion magic, as she had a funny feeling that she would end up needing it.

After an hour, a voice rang through the train.

We will be arriving at Canterlot station in a few minutes. Please prepare to disembark.

Twilight looked up to see Whooves putting away his computer, Dash putting away her book. She did the same. Night had fallen outside the train, and the city lights had activated, their glow piercing through the darkness. The train slowed down before grinding to a halt in the station. The doors opened to reveal the crowded platform.

"Try to stay together, everypony," Twilight said. They nodded in acknowledgement, and they stepped out. They swam upstream through the ocean of ponies, being jostled left and right as they moved. After a minute, they managed to make it to the other side without losing anypony.

"This way," Twilight said confidently, and they set off up a system of alleyways. The alleys were barely less crowded than the street, and they were still being jostled by ponies moving the opposite direction.

"I don't know why anypony would choose to live here," Rainbow said with distaste. "This place is more crowded than Manehattan! I can't even stretch my wings!"

"Opportunity, Rainbow," Twilight replied. "There are a ton of good jobs here. And don't worry," she added with a smile, "where we're going, you'll have plenty of space to stretch your wings."

They continued onward, still avoiding the onslaught of ponies coming the other way. Eventually, they came up to a large, fortress-like building with the police logo embroidered into the exterior.

"Well," Twilight said nervously. "Time to see if they'll talk. You two stay here, I'll be back soon."

She trotted up and went through the front door. There was a regular policepony sitting at the front desk. She walked up to him.

"I need to talk to the chief. It's urgent," she said importantly.

"Chief's busy," the stallion said, raising one eyebrow. "Might I ask who's interrupting him?"

"Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia," Twilight declared confidently.

The stallion's eyes widened. "Just a sec," he said, running into the back.

She waited there for a minute or two, before the stallion poked his head back out of the door, gesturing for Twilight to come over. She went to him, and into the office of the chief. The stallion closed the door behind her.

"Twilight Sparkle," The chief said in a deep, strong voice, standing up and shaking her hoof. "I've heard about you and your friends. I'm Chief Iron Hooves, head of the Canterlot police force."

"Nice to meet you, Chief Iron Hooves," Twilight said, looking into his blue eyes. They sat down.

"So," the chief began, "What is so urgent that you came all the way out here to talk to me?"

"Well," Twilight began, "It's actually about the Princess."

Iron Hooves' eyebrows raised in interest. "What about her?" he asked.

"She came to visit me earlier today, and... it was quite an odd visit. She looked pale, and wasn't herself. She told me to prepare, because dark times are coming. I was just wondering..." she hesitated again. "Is there anything... large-scale that could be bothering her?"

The chief contemplated for a moment, before saying "I don't think so, Twilight. Nothing really big has happened, to my knowledge, since the return of the Crystal Empire."

Her face fell. She had almost been hoping that there was something obviously wrong, something to explain the Princess' odd behavior and dire warning. She didn't press the question like she had in Ponyville; at this point, she knew that if they knew something, they weren't going to tell her this way.

"Thank you, Chief," she said in a defeated tone. "I'm sorry for wasting your time."

"It wasn't a waste, Twilight," the stallion replied. "If the Princess told you to be ready for something, then something must be going on. If I hear anything, I'll let you know."

Her heart lifted slightly. It was a step further than what had happened in Ponyville. This act of sincerity almost made her feel guilty about planning to come back and break in.

Almost.

But the feeling passed after a second. She had to be sure they weren't lying.

"I appreciate it, Chief Iron Hooves," she said. "Thanks again."

She left the building, and walked back to where Whooves and Rainbow Dash were sitting.

"Any luck?" Rainbow asked, but she already knew the answer from the look on Twilight's face.

"Nothing," Twilight replied glumly.

"So, are we coming back later?" Whooves asked.

Twilight nodded. "We'll give it another hour; the station should be closed by then. Then we'll get in and look at the computer system."

Whooves used his computer to obtain a blueprint of the police station, and they spent the hour until the station would close by studying it, wondering how best to break in. They had a route picked out when the clock struck 10:00, and the regular policeponies began piling out of the fortress, each moving in different directions up the street back towards their various homes. They each retrieved the black suits that were customary to wear when sneaking around, and put them on.

"All right," Twilight said, nervously. "Here goes nothing."

They moved around to the north end of the building, where there was a side door that wouldn't trigger any alarms. Twilight used her magic to unlock the heavy lock, and moved the few huge deadbolts that helped lock it. They entered the fortress into a dingy storage room, moving across it quickly to a door that revealed a long hallway. They moved quickly down the hallways, peeking around corners to see if there were any guards. On the fourth turn in their route, they finally had to hide behind pillars to avoid a single guard on patrol.

In the next hallway, they weren't so lucky. This one had two guards standing right in front of a set of doors, making it virtually impossible to sneak past them.

"What now?" Dash asked in a whisper. "There's no way to sneak around them, and this is the only way through."

The first thing that popped into Twilight's head was illusion magic. But would it be safe to use it in front of Rainbow Dash and Whooves? But even as she wondered that, something from an earlier textbook popped into her head.

Dark Aura can be sensed easily, even by Earth Ponies or Pegasai. This is one of the few downsides to Dark Magic, although it is rarely a problem as most of them cannot tell that they are sensing something magical.

I knew illusion magic would come in handy, Twilight thought to herself. Her horn began to glow with an ever-so-slightly darker shade of lavender than usual, as Twilight created a full, true-to-life copy of Chief Iron Hooves right beside them.

"How did you do that?" Whooves asked in amazement.

"It's a new magic I'm studying," Twilight said, completely truthfully. She made the illusion of Iron Hooves trot around the corner. The two guards jumped as they saw their chief approaching them.

"Chief Iron Hooves," one of them said, respectfully.

"Hello," Twilight said. Her voice had been modified to sound exactly like Iron Hooves, and rather than coming from her own mouth, it seemed to be issuing from Iron Hooves'. "Anything to report?"

"Nothing, sir," the other guard answered.

"Good, good," Twilight replied, thinking hard. She had once been in here with Celestia, and she had learned the inner workings of the rotation system. She struggled to remember all of the details, but a moment later, she had a plan.

"You guys have been doing good. Why don't you go on your break early tonight? Go use the lounge in the southern wing."

"Really?" One of them asked, awestruck.

"Sure," Twilight said, in an attempt at a jovial voice. "I'm in a good mood tonight."

"Thank you, chief," the other guard replied, and they both turned and headed up the hallway, away from Twilight's group.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Dash exclaimed, as Twilight's illusion of Iron Hooves dissipated into thin air. "But it would've been cooler if you created somepony to seduce the guards into letting us in, just like Daring Do."

"Noooot really," Twilight said, with an embarrassed little laugh. "Let's keep going."

After those two, they didn't have any more problems sneaking around the guards on patrol. After ten more minutes, they reached the room where the main security for the palace was regulated. They remained hidden as a few guards moved past them.

"We need to get the guards out of there," Twilight said in a quiet whisper. "Any ideas?"

"We need a distraction," Rainbow Dash whispered back. "Something to draw the guards away."

Twilight thought hard. She couldn't use another illusion; she had to maintain eye contact with it for it to remain intact.

"I'll be the distraction," Dash said.

"What?!" Twilight exclaimed quietly. "Are you crazy?! They'll catch you!"

"No they won't," Dash said, optimistically. "It's me, remember? Tell you what - meet me back at the station in an hour. That should give you enough time."

Before either of the other two could do anything to prevent it, Rainbow Dash had put her hood from her suit up so it completely obscured her face, and hurtled out of their hiding place straight at the guards on patrol.

"HEY! UP HERE!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. The guards looked up at her in alarm, as she flew down the corridor at top speed. The two guards in the hallway hurtled after her, as well as the third guard who had been in the palace security room. He left the door wide open as he left.

"She's crazy," Whooves breathed, as an alarm sounded throughout the fortress. "Absolutely crazy."

"Well, let's not let her sacrifice be in vain," Twilight said. She and Whooves raced into the main security room. He instantly got on the keyboard and began hacking into the system. Twilight sat there, breath held, watching him while also worrying about Rainbow Dash as the alarm continued to blare in their ears.

"Got it!" Whooves cried triumphantly a few minutes later. He had logged into the system as an administrator. He began searching through the files, while Twilight watched over his shoulder. After a couple of minutes, the brown stallion looked up into the eyes of the lavender mare.

"There's nothing, Twilight," he informed her.

"WHAT??"

She watched as he went through the system for a second time, sifting through all of the minor cases. "I'm pretty sure that if there was something major, it would be easy to find, Twilight."

She couldn't believe it. There had to be something. SOMETHING had to explain this.

"Look at the surveillance for Celestia's throne room."

He found the video files, and fast forwarded through them. At the time when Princess Celestia should've been visiting Twilight, she still had not exited the throne room.

"But..." Twilight said, completely lost for words. She felt as though her brain had evaporated. "But... HOW?"

"I don't know," Whooves said, looking worriedly out into the hallway.

"She was there!" Twilight exclaimed. "She talked to me!"

"Twilight, we've got to move!" Whooves said, standing up suddenly. "I think they're coming back this way!"

Not bothering to stay hidden anymore, they both put up their hoods to hide their identities as they hurtled down the hallway. They collided with three guards a minute later, and Twilight used magic to instantly put all three to sleep. They left the guards on the ground as they hurtled out of the hallway. When they were close to the exit, the alarm stopped, and a voice came over the loudspeaker.

"The intruder has escaped. Detectives are on their way to survey the scene. All night guards are to return to their previous stations immediately. The detectives will come question you as they see fit."

"Take cover," Whooves hissed, as the sound of several sets of hooves became louder and louder. They both shrank into the shadows, as several guards came moving past them. They could overhear bits of the guards' conversations.

"--just flew out of the window. I didn't think she'd dare--"

"--faster than anything I've ever seen. I couldn't keep up with--"

"--but nopony saw what they really looked like. I don't think the detectives will get very far without--"

The voices of the guards faded into the distance. Twilight and Whooves exited the police station the same way they came in, taking off their suits as they melded into the crowded alleyway. They moved back towards the train station, and waited there for half an hour. Finally, Twilight saw the unmistakable rainbow-mane moving towards them through the crowd.

"You're crazy," Twilight said, exasperated. "If they'd caught you..."

"You're welcome," Rainbow Dash replied with a smile. "What did you find?"

"...Nothing," Twilight said, "nothing. Except..."

She told her how it seemed Celestia hadn't left her throne room all day.

"You sure you weren't dreaming?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight hesitated, then shook her head. "I honestly don't know anymore."

"Well, I had a lot of fun anyway," Rainbow Dash said, with a grin. "Turns out, I did get to practice my moves for the Wonderbolt Academy Reunion."

Twilight couldn't help herself. She smiled.

She had no memory of the train ride home, and she didn't bother reading up on dark magic. She was completely preoccupied with one pressing question:

If Celestia hadn't visited her...

Who had?

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The dark cyan unicorn cursed under his breath, as he stood, invisible, in the police corridor.

"You say they looked at the throne room surveillance?" A detective asked.

"Yes," Iron Hooves replied. "I don't know what they were looking for, but they didn't delete anything or change anything. They just looked."

The unicorn moved back out of the Police Station, not bothering to keep quiet. Once outside, he once again transformed into a dark cloud of smoke and streaked back over Equestria. He reached the Everfree Forest ten minutes later, descending into his hiding place, and using what he had left of his O+ blood to contact the dark spirit, again blocking out certain memories he didn't want it seeing.

As you can see, there's a slight problem. Twilight Sparkle knows that I wasn't Celestia.

That's not something we were counting on, the spirit replied. How close are we?

Close. I just need to make a couple more preparations, and the ritual will be ready.

Good. We can't afford to wait much longer. She might approach Celestia at any time now.

He felt the link die. He let the rest of his memories flow back into him.

Don't worry. The world will soon be rid of the scum up north...
And you.

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Twilight,

I promised I'd tell you if I heard anything. It didn't take very long, did it?

Well, somepony (we suspect multiple accomplices) broke into the police station last night. We don't know who they were or what they were after, but they looked through the surveillance files for Celestia's throne room. Maybe Celestia does know something that she's not telling us. It's just too ironic for her to tell you that, and then have somepony look through the surveillance.

I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anypony I wrote you this; I'm not supposed to be talking about this because a gag order gas been imposed, which is why I'm sending it securely.

I'll let you know if I find out anything else.

-Chief Iron Hooves

Twilight felt a slight pang of guilt as she read the letter. Not only had she been the one who had broken into the station, but Iron Hooves was now breaking the rules to unknowingly remind the culprit of her guilt. But the guilt was only temporary, and after all, she had more dark magic to read up on. She carried the letter back upstairs, and threw it into the everburning fireplace. It was not a sign of disrespect; she was keeping her promise not to tell anyone (or show anyone) that he had written her. She watched it fold up and crumble, before it was nothing more than ash. She then retreated back down to her study, retrieving the next book from her storage, and began to read once again.

Read the author's note for some clarification on visualization

Current Equestria Population:
1,634,940

Author's Note

Hey guys.
So, I discovered that sneaking around is not my strongest area of writing. Maybe that's why I skipped over it the first time. It's waaaay easier when they're invisible.

So, since I'm sure we're all imagining different things when I say "Black Cloud of Smoke", I picture it like how the Death Eaters fly in the Harry Potter movies, except slightly more smokey instead of wispy. Also, for you first timers, The mystery Dark Unicorn is ~~the same one that is my profile picture.~~ Found here.

Since this is the chapter where I originally did it, I'll do it again. Special thanks to my friend Shadowflame for pre-reading every single chapter I write, and for providing the initial feedback I needed before I published this originally.

Stick around guys. There's some crazy stuff to come, whether you're brand new or old to this story.

Discoveries

Mental Control

Dark Magic users have an uncanny ability to hide their true thoughts and emotions from those around them. This allows them to fool other mind readers, or even hide their dark aura completely from those around them. In fact, usually the only dark magic users who are discovered are the most careless or weakest ones, because they haven’t learned the mental discipline required to hide properly. If you are even slightly weaker or more inexperienced than the pony you’re searching for, then you will never be able to sense them unless they want you to. The most experienced Dark Magic users can operate, true to their name, completely in the dark.

-A History of Dark Magic

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Dear Princess Celestia,

I am very pleased to report that I have finished all 40 books. I’ve learned a lot, and I’m ready to return them. They’re all in the same box you delivered them in, and the box is sitting in my basement windowsill.

Your ever faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight re-read the short letter, feeling confident. She rolled up the scroll, sealing it with magic. She concentrated on it, and as her horn glowed, so did the letter. It dissolved into the air, and vanished into oblivion.

It was a few hours before her allotted time slot with the dark magic books would end. She had finished the final book, one containing the darkest and most complicated spells ever documented by ponykind. While reading this book, Twilight had unwillingly found herself wishing for some dark blood. Some of the spells she had read about would have been extremely useful. The most powerful forms of Shadow Magic would’ve allowed her to hide in plain sight, completely invisible. She could’ve flown without wings, and the mental discipline would be incredibly useful.

This must be why Celestia forbade this magic, Twilight thought to herself. If somepony was powerful enough, they’d be able to hide for years without being caught.

Her head hurt, and her eyes were bloodshot. She hadn’t slept for three days, and her mind was pounding with all of the knowledge she had taken in such a short space of time. For the first time in her life, Twilight was sick of studying. Immediately after sending Celestia her letter, Twilight went upstairs to her bed. She was going to set a spell to awaken her after a few hours, but she didn’t have the chance. The moment she had laid down on the bed, she fell asleep. She slept the whole day and whole night through, not waking up for a full 24 hours. In fact, she would’ve slept even longer if somepony hadn’t come and hammered on the library door at 9:00.

“I’m coming,” Twilight mumbled, not noticing what time it was as she descended the staircase into the library. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Rainbow Dash standing there.

“Hey Twi,” Rainbow said, brightly. “Sorry about this.”

“About what?” Twilight asked, rubbing her eye with a hoof. Next moment, she had poked herself in the eye as she was lifted off the ground.

“OW! Rainbow, what’re you--”

“We’re going to Sugarcube Corner,” Rainbow Dash informed her, as she held her in the air by her front two legs. Before Twilight could say another word, they had landed back on the street, right next to Rarity.

“Oh, we just can’t take her into public like this," Rarity said, looking Twilight up and down. She obviously hadn’t been taking care of herself during this assignment; her mane was disheveled and greasy, and It had been a while since she’d showered.

“Get her to my place, stat! I’ll meet you there.”

Once again, Rainbow Dash lifted Twilight into the air, and flew the short distance to the Carousel Boutique. Moments after they had arrived, Rarity appeared next to them, rushing them over the threshold into the boutique. Twilight allowed herself to be lowered into a bath, as she knew it would be pointless to try resisting Rarity's pampering. After almost half an hour, when Rarity was trying to decide on a dress for Twilight to wear, Rainbow Dash put her hoof down.

“We’re going to Sugarcube Corner,” she yelled, “not the Grand Galloping Gala! She doesn’t need a dress!”

Rarity put away the next dress she was going to try with a huff, and they walked the short distance to Sugarcube Corner, finding Applejack and Fluttershy already in a booth waiting for them.

“What the hay took you so darn long?” Applejack asked. “We’ve been here for forty-five minutes!”

“We got a bit sidetracked,” Rainbow informed her, glaring at Rarity.

They all sat down, as Pinkie Pie appeared holding a pink (go figure) cardboard box. She didn’t say a word, which is highly unusual for her, as she placed the box in front of Twilight.

“Well, open it up,” Rainbow Dash said, “before Pinkie explodes.”

Indeed, Pinkie looked as though she was bursting with excitement, eyes shining, her hair almost floating as she held her breath. Twilight levitated the lid off the pink box. Inside, she beheld a simple chocolate cake, with words written across in pink icing.

GOOᗡ JOB, TWILIGHT

“I made it myself!” Pinkie finally burst, screeching for the whole world to hear. “I wanted to throw you a super-duper-huge congratulations party, but Fluttershy and the Cakes wouldn’t let me - they said you wouldn’t like all the noise after reading books alone all week! So I asked--”

Her OCD senses triggered, Twilight was staring at one of the words on the cake, barely hearing Pinkie Pie’s rant.

“The ‘D’ is backwards…” she muttered.

“--and they decided we could have a nice, quiet party with just our friends!!”

“Thanks guys,” Twilight said, looking around at them all with a small smile on her face. Her gaze lasted slightly longer as she looked at Fluttershy, silently thanking her for saving her life by stopping Pinkie from throwing a full-Ponyville-attendance party.

They cut the cake, and spent a good thirty minutes talking. Twilight made up some stuff about how difficult the books had been, and they seemed to believe her. She asked them what they had done in their weeks, and they each shared. Finally, it was Rarity’s turn.

“I fell further behind in my work,“ she said, with a small pout. “You must’ve had Spike helping you; He didn’t come to help me all week!”

“Spike’s been in Canterlot on royal business,” she said, frowning slightly as she remembered something odd. “But he was supposed to get back yesterday.”

“Well, you should write to Celestia and ask,” Rarity said, but Twilight had already pulled quill, ink, and parchment from her magical storage, and had began to write.

Princess,

When you summoned Spike to Canterlot, you said he would be back today. Were the courts delayed? When will he be back? I’m just worried about him; he hasn’t written me any letters like he said he would.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

She reread it one time as Rarity watched over her shoulder, before it disappeared from the table as it was sent.

“When did you learn that??” Rarity asked, eyes wide. “I’ve never heard of anypony but Spike being able to send letters straight to the Princess.”

“It was a chapter in one of the books I read this week,” Twilight improvised swiftly. It was a lie, of course; it wasn’t even dark magic, and she had learned it before the assignment. But she wasn’t supposed to let anypony know that she could talk directly to Celestia. “It’s really complicated.”

The reply letter came a few minutes later, just as they all finished off the cake. Twilight pulled it out of her magic storage, as everypony in the vicinity gasped.

“She already replied?” Rarity asked.

Twilight didn’t respond. She merely stared down at the reply, her eyes wide, mouth open in shock.

“What is it?” Rarity asked, reading the reply over Twilight’s shoulder.

Twilight, I need you to come to Canterlot immediately. I will explain further upon your arrival.

-Celestia

They sat in silence for another few moments.

“What… what the hay does that mean?” Rarity asked. The reply hadn’t answered anything, and now Twilight, the only pony who could directly converse with the Princess, was leaving.

“...I don’t know,” Twilight said, standing up. “But I’d better go find out, shouldn’t I?”

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The Everfree Forest looked the same as it usually did, the tall trees swaying in the wind, the grey storm clouds moving themselves across the sky, the unnaturally dark lighting level beneath the trees. The only thing out of place was the black cloud of shadow, which rose suddenly out of an abandoned wooden hut.

The shadow cloud moved in a northern direction at a speed unmatched by even the fabled "Sonic Rainboom." Over the course of an hour, It moved over the entire Everfree Forest, over mountain ranges and fields, even over the arctic cold of the north and past the Crystal Empire. Dark storm clouds loomed overhead, and were dumping buckets of snow into the air. The shadow cloud, seemingly unaffected, kept moving. Its course seemed as though it were set for the mountains beyond the Empire, outside of Equestria’s boundaries. It moved into the shadow of the tallest peak, and slid into a cave situated almost halfway up it.

The shadow cloud converged in on itself, and reformed into his true form; a dark cyan, black maned, scarlet-eyed unicorn. Lighting his horn, the unicorn moved along the rocky passage until he came across a large silver door that almost looked like the entrance to a vault. He unlocked the door with his magic, and it swung inwards, revealing the unicorn’s own high-quality living area. He had recently remodeled it to look like a room that he had snuck into in the Canterlot Royal Palace. Conjuring a plate of food from thin air, the Dark Unicorn sat down in a soft-looking chair. He sighed in relief.

It's good to finally be back home…

However, his relief was short-lived. He pulled out quill, ink, and parchment, and began writing. Once finished, he rolled it up, and put it in his magic storage. After the dark unicorn ate the whole plate of food he had conjured, he walked back out of the door, sealing it behind him. He transformed back into the dark cloud, resetting his dark shielding and concealment spells, and setting out into the blizzard in the direction of another peak.

Once he drew close to the mountain, he entered another small, nearly undetectable cave. Inside, he transformed back into his pony form, his horn lighting up the darkness around him once again. He walked further down the short, narrow entrance hall, and emerged into a small cavern. He saw a curled-up figure at the other end of the cavern, and approached it cautiously.

The figure was evidently asleep, for his chest was slowly rising and falling. The dark unicorn retrieved a sack from his storage, setting it before the sleeping prisoner. Retreating a short distance, he cast a spell that jolted the prisoner awake, and immediately turned away from him.

There was a slight yelp, and then a snarl. The prisoner turned and saw the dark unicorn sitting there, facing away from him.

"Dinner," the unicorn said, still not looking at the prisoner, who looked down to see the sack at his feet, and opened it.

"I don't understand how you find all of these," the prisoner said, beginning to eat hungrily.

"They're not hard to find," the unicorn replied, now contemplating the stalactites high above him, while the prisoner ate noisily behind him. Neither spoke for a few minutes. After the prisoner had finished eating, the dark unicorn broke the silence.

"She'll be coming for you soon," he said, without emotion.

The prisoner snarled again. "Why do you need her? Why not get another unicorn to do it?"

"Nopony else can," the unicorn replied harshly. The prisoner scoffed at that.

"You're more powerful than she is," he said, his anger boiling. "Why don’t you fix this yourself?"

The dark unicorn scowled, even though the prisoner could not see him. "First, I’m not stronger than she is. Once this happens, she’ll be the most powerful being in history. Second, My ancestors weren’t exactly the most respectable of ponies. They were banished from Equestria after some... Incidents... involving dark magic. I’m the last remaining member of the bloodline, and even though Celestia wasn’t the one who banished my ancestors, she has still outlawed dark magic. She still wouldn't like to see me."

The prisoner felt no sympathy for the dark unicorn. "What you're doing is still despicable."

The unicorn was becoming angry now. "This is the only way!" He said, his volume rising. "I might be an outlaw there, but I don't want to see Equestria fall any more than you do!"

They sat there in silence for another minute, before the prisoner asked another question.

"Why don't you ever look at me?"

The dark unicorn smiled. He retrieved the scroll he had written on earlier from his magical storage, and looked at the time. Twilight Sparkle should be meeting with the Princess in a few minutes. He had set a spell in Canterlot that would block any letters from him from arriving, until it was deactivated by the two mares being in contact with each other. He sent the letter, then addressed the prisoner again.

"I don't look at you because you have a weak mind."

"What the hay does that mean?" The prisoner asked, confused.

The unicorn stood up. "Having dark blood means that I can control the minds of anything that has a weak mind, or in other words, any non-equine creature and most non-unicorns." He smiled evilly. "But it comes with a slight side effect."

The unicorn turned and, finally, made eye contact with his prisoner. His scarlet eyes instantly pierced through the emerald eyes of the prisoner, and into his mind. Before he took over, however, he said:

"It takes effect as soon as eye contact is made."

The prisoner felt his free will dissipate, and the emerald eyes suddenly had a glazed look, but was still somehow alert as he listened wraptly to the dark unicorn's instructions, determined to follow them exactly.

You will go to the base of this mountain. Once there, you will fall asleep. You won't wake up until Twilight Sparkle comes to find you. You will remember nothing of where you've been ever since you disappeared from Ponyville, and you won't remember me or retain any knowledge you gained from me. But if you see me again, you will have an unnatural urge to trust me, despite anything Twilight Sparkle or anypony else might say. Do you understand?

"Yes," the prisoner said.

The prisoner stood up and began walking towards the exit. The dark unicorn, thinking ahead, cast a spell on the prisoner that would prevent him from freezing to death in the cold. He watched as the prisoner exited the cave and disappeared into the horrible blizzard, undoubtedly beginning to descend the mountain. The unicorn still watched the exit as he said,

"Goodbye..."

And good luck to you.

After another few moments, the dark unicorn accessed his magic storage, retrieving a small, green crystal from within it. He then contacted the dark spirit again.

She will be leaving Canterlot soon. Everything is set in motion. Are you ready?

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We will be arriving at the Canterlot North Station in a few minutes. Please prepare to disembark.

Twilight looked up from her book suddenly, taken aback. To her, it seemed like she had only boarded the train a few minutes ago, but here she was, almost done with the several hour trip. She put away her book, and watched as the large city of Canterlot rolled beneath her.

Before she knew it, the train was grinding to a halt in the station, and the doors were opening to reveal the late-afternoon sunlight. She took to the streets, galloping hard as she moved quickly towards the large palace. She wasn't even paying attention to the route she took, and she didn't have to worry about dodging ponies much. The northern city was much more costly to live in, and was therefore much more empty.

She quickly approached the palace gates, the two guards letting her pass once they saw who she was. She ran up the hall, up several flights of stairs, and through the doors to the throne room. Celestia was sitting on her throne, looking unusually grim. Twilight bowed to her mentor before speaking.

"I came as fast as I could, Princess."

The princess motioned for her protege to stand before speaking.

"Thank you, Twilight. I apologize for making you come so quickly. You must have been looking forward to a nice rest after that last assignment, but this cannot wait."

"It's alright, Princess," the lavender mare replied. "What's the problem?"

"Well..." The royal alicorn hesitated, before finishing her sentence. "It's actually concerning your letter."

"Really?" Twilight was shocked. What could her letter have said that was concerning?

"You asked me why Spike was late, but... He's not here, Twilight."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, a feeling of dread creeping inside her. "You summoned him here on royal business again!"

"I didn't, Twilight. He hasn't been here in months."

Twilight was in shock. She sank to the floor, eyes unseeing. First, she had imagined a visit from the princess, and now she had apparently imagined Spike being summoned… She put her hooves to her temples.

What’s wrong with me?

Princess Celestia turned to one of the guards beside her. "Find Shining Armor. Tell him to set up a search party to find Spike." The guard immediately galloped out of the room, and Celestia looked back at Twilight.

"He might not be here, but he has to be somewhere. We'll find--"

She was cut off by a roll of parchment appearing in front of her. She opened it, and her eyes instantly grew wide in alarm.

"Princess? What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

The white mare didn't respond, instead levitating the scroll over for the unicorn to read.

Hello, Twilight Sparkle.

Yes, I know you, but you don't know me. I've been observing you for a while now. Now you're going to do something for me. Go up to the Crystal Empire, alone, then keep heading north. There's something up there you need to see. If you bring anypony else, well... they won't come back. It can get very dangerous up here, after all.

Now, I know you're thinking, "Why should I take orders from some guy I don't know, who is threatening me?" Well, I think you'll find the trip worth your efforts. You might even find something you've lost. If you don't come up here, well... lets just say that Equestria will suffer.

Hurry, Twilight. Remember, the fate of Equestria is hanging in the balance.

She looked up at the Princess, contemplating the strange letter's contents. It had disturbed her. Undetected by her, someone had been secretly watching her movements...

But who was it?

"What do I do, Princess?" She asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

The princess looked at her with a grim face. "I'm afraid there's no choice. You'll have to go."

"I'll leave immediately," Twilight said, before turning to go.

"Wait," Celestia said. Twilight paused, and turned back to look at her.

"You'll need to take the VIP train," Celestia said. "It's faster, safer, and driven by somepony I trust."

"Who's that?" Twilight asked.

"My chief of security," Celestia said, with a small smile. "It's safe to show yourself, Ventus."

No response. Then, without warning, something tan appeared next to one of the stain-glass windows. It was a unicorn stallion, who looked no older than Twilight was. His hair was two different shades of teal and blue. He looked over at Celestia.

“Shall I take her down now, Princess?” he asked. He had a strong voice, but it was somewhat calming still the same. Celestia nodded, but then silently thought to him, Remember what we discussed.

I will, Princess, Ventus thought back, before he beckoned for Twilight to follow him as he left the throne room. Twilight hurried to catch up with him.

“So, chief of security,” Twilight said, as they descended the spiral staircase, “how were you hiding like that?”

“A spell Celestia invented not too long ago,” Ventus said, opening the palace doors for her. “It’s not amazing, but it works fairly well. Although, if you really wanted to, you could’ve sensed me there.”

They remained silent for another minute, before Twilight asked another question.

“So why are you, the chief of security, also a train driver?”

Ventus smiled. “All of us are train drivers, Twilight Sparkle. Or, in other words, every single VIP train driver is a member of my task force. The driving job is just a cover.”

“Task force?” Twilight was confused. “I thought you were involved with the police force.”

“No,” Ventus shook his head, “no. You’re thinking of Iron Hooves.” Twilight thought she saw a flash of malice in Ventus’ eyes, but next moment, she decided she had imagined it as he continued, “I’m the chief of Celestia’s personal task force.”

“What do you do?” Twilight asked, awed. This was something she knew nothing of.

“Although she says she doesn’t need them, the law states that Celestia must have bodyguards. That’s one of the things we do. We drive the VIP train both as a cover, so we can guard Celestia more easily while she’s on it. That’s why I’m coming on this trip,” he confessed, looking at her. “Celestia wanted one of the best train technicians and agents running it.”

“And that’s you?” Twilight asked.

“Yup,” Ventus said, looking forward again. “That’s why I’m the chief.”

“That’s amazing,” Twilight said, as they approached the train station.

“It’s also classified,” Ventus said, glancing sideways at her so only a sliver of his blue eyes made contact with hers. “Celestia trusts you to not tell anyone else anything about it.”

“Of course,” Twilight said promptly.

The VIP train was easily distinguishable from the others; the only electric train on operation thus far, it was enormous, sleek, and silver. It looked absolutely nothing like the rest of the steam trains in the place. As they approached it, the doors slid sideways as they automatically opened. The first car was lined on both sides with comfortable-looking individual seats. She assumed there were bunks in other cars.

“When are we leaving?” she asked.

“As soon as the other passengers show up,” Ventus said, looking out at the station. “This is a regularly scheduled run. We’ll actually be stopping in Manehattan and Baltimare before getting to the Crystal Empire. Princess Celestia didn’t want to arouse any suspicion.”

Twilight moved along the row of seats, picking one about halfway down the train. She summoned quill and ink from her magic storage, and wrote a short letter to her friends.

Met with Celestia. She told me she never summoned Spike to Canterlot. Then we got this letter from some guy. He told me to come up north, or "Equestria will suffer." I don’t know what that means, but he also told me I’d find something I’d lost.

Act like nothing’s wrong. Pretend I just got summoned to help with royal business if anyone asks; Princess Celestia doesn’t want pandemonium, which is what would happen if everyone knew about this. I should be back in a couple of days, and hopefully, we’ll have a lead on Spike by then.

-Twilight

Satisfied, she rolled the scroll up and sealed it, then, after some careful thinking, cast a spell on it that would allow only Rarity (the only other unicorn in her group of friends) to open it. She sent it, hoping that Rarity could figure out how to receive it and open it. By this time, others had begun piling onto the VIP train, and she could hear Ventus greet each of them. She stood up to talk to him again after a few moments. Ventus opened his mouth to greet the next passenger, but then he stopped. His look of welcome immediately turned into a scowl, and he glared at the next pony in the doorway.

“What’re you looking at?” he snarled, uncharacteristically. The old, wrinkled, crimson unicorn in the doorway didn’t say a word, but merely stared at Ventus for a bit before taking his seat.

“What was that??” Twilight asked, looking at Ventus again.

“That was Chief Iron Hooves’ grandfather,” Ventus said, still glowering at the old crimson stallion. “His name is also Iron Hooves.”

“And you’ve met before?” Twilight asked.

“It was a long time ago,” Ventus said, shaking his head. “It’s not important anymore. I think that’s everyone now,” he added, looking out at the platform. “I’d better go get the train ready.”

He moved through a door ahead of her, and disappeared from sight. Twilight walked back to her seat, just before Ventus’ voice came on over the speakers.

”Good evening, mares and gentlecoats. My name’s Ventus, and I’m your driver for today. We will be making three stops this trip; Manehattan, Baltimare, and the Crystal Empire. Due to recent safety concerns, the maximum speed I’m allowed to drive you has been decreased slightly. It’s now 180 miles per hour, so we should reach Manehattan at roughly 11:30 tonight. Thank you for choosing the VIP train, and enjoy your ride. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to come and ask.”

“You’re friends with this Ventus guy, right?” A voice asked.

Twilight jumped, as she looked to her right. It was Iron Hooves, and he was looking at her. He didn’t sound nearly as old as he looked, and now that she had heard his voice, she could’ve guessed that he was related to Chief Iron Hooves.

“Um, yeah, I guess?” Twilight shrugged. She honestly didn’t know what to think of Ventus yet. “Why?”

“Because,” the old stallion said darkly, as he looked up towards the driver’s door. “He’s not as great as you might think.”

“What does that mean?” Twilight asked.

“I’m sure you’ll find out,” Iron Hooves said, dismissively, as he stood up surprisingly fast. “I need to have a word with him.” Iron Hooves trotted over to the driver’s door, and it automatically opened. He stepped through to find Ventus on a raised platform, surrounded by controls. He waited for the doors to close behind him before he spoke.

“So, the devil returns,” Iron Hooves said.

“I don’t know what I am,” Ventus said, glaring out the front windshield, “but I’m no devil. They don’t even look like ponies.”
He glanced over at Iron Hooves. “The years haven’t been good to you, have they?”

“They’ve obviously been pretty good for you. Here we are, a hundred and ten years after that, and you still look like you’re five.”

“Give me some credit,” Ventus said, staring out of the windshield again. “I’m one of the most powerful unicorns alive nowadays.”

“Is it safe for you to be driving us?” Iron Hooves asked, legitimate fear in his voice.

“Yes, it is,” Ventus replied, flipping the autopilot switch to turn and face him. “I’ve gained control over that side of me.”

“We’ll see about that,” Iron Hooves replied before turning to leave. The doors wouldn’t open.

“You know, you’re still under strict orders to not breathe a word of that to anyone,” Ventus said, calmly. “You're still being watched. But hey, we could just wipe your memory now and make it easier.”

“You know you still can’t wipe my memory,” Iron Hooves sneered. “My family would still be able to break it. I taught them everything.”

“Well, hate to break it to you,” Ventus said, with a half-smile, “but we’ve developed a new type of memory modification. Now we actually alter the blood flow in the brain slightly, and it physically erases the memory instead of just blocking it out."

Iron Hooves' eyes widened. "That doesn't really sound legal..." he trailed off, feebly. Ventus smiled.

"There's no way to counteract it. But we've only used it so far on ponies who would've been banished for their crimes. Now, you should really go back and sit in the train where you belong."

Ventus turned forward again, flipping the auto-pilot back off.

"If I sense one little bit of dark aura..." Iron Hooves mumbled, before crossing back into the passenger's car.

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The train ride to the Crystal Empire was a long one, even with the speed of the VIP train. Twilight spent the remaining few hours of the day thinking about who was watching her, and was making her come up North in the first place. By midnight, after they had stopped in Manehattan and a few ponies got off, Twilight had fallen asleep on her seat.

Her dreams were twisted and disturbing. A faceless figure popped in and out of them, and a voice kept whispering in her head; Remember; the fate of Equestria is hanging in the balance. Spike came in and out of focus, always beaten, starved, or dead in some fashion. But her nightmares were nothing compared to what woke her up.

As she saw Spike falling off a cliff, she had been wishing she could save him. She wanted dark blood, so she could just use dark magic to fly up and save him. But as she thought this, she heard a voice. A voice that wasn't invented by her subconscious. A deep voice with a dark, unearthly, incredibly terrifying feel behind it.

Yes... dark blood would be nice, wouldn't it, Twilight Sparkle?

She jumped in fright and cried out as she awoke, instantly readying her magic. But there was nopony there aside from the few remaining passengers, several of which had jerked awake from her scream. She stood there, rooted to the spot in fear. Was it just her imagination, or had the temperature in the cabin dropped several degrees? She shivered, as chills ran up and down her body. She faintly sensed a distinct, unfamiliar, but incredibly powerful aura in the cabin. She cast a spell of revealing, which instantly scanned the entirety of the train. The spell revealed that there was nopony else on board, aside from all of the passengers and Ventus.

Ventus, She thought, glancing over at the driver's door. Maybe he's still awake.

She began walking towards the door, still cold and frightened. But as she made to open it, she shivered violently again. It was as though she had passed through a cloud, but instead of a cloud made of water, it caused chills to run through her body.

"Who's there?!" Twilight shouted in fear and hysteria.

"What's your problem?!" a nearby mare yelled back, obviously annoyed at being awoken. "Shut up and sit back down!"

Twilight paid the mare no heed, as the doors to the driver's room slid open. She burst inside, and Ventus looked around, surprised.

"Sorry to bother you," she said awkwardly, "but... do you mind if I stay here for awhile?"

He shrugged. "Sure. I could use the company." She sat down in one of the chairs at the back of the room, which were on either side of the doors she had entered through.

"So," Ventus said, looking back out the large windshield in front. "How come you're still awake? You've got a lot to deal with tomorrow."

Twilight didn't know whether or not to tell him the full truth. It might be important, but it was kind of embarrassing to admit you were hearing voices.

"Had nightmares. Couldn't sleep," she replied. She looked at the clock, and saw that it was 3:41 AM. "Why are you still awake? Doesn't this train have autopilot?"

He shrugged. "I've never really been able to sleep well at night. I've been almost nocturnal ever since I left school. I do this long night run more than anyone else on the task force." He looked into Twilight's eyes. "But come on, I know you didn't just come here because of a few dumb nightmares."

She could tell that he saw it in her. Something in those blue eyes could see the fear she was experiencing beneath the surface. Ventus suddenly flipped on the autopilot switch, and went to sit across from her. He looked at her expectantly.

She sighed, before asking him a question that she hadn't wanted to.

"How much do you know about dark magic?" she asked.

"Oh, I know a lot more than you'd think," Ventus said. "I'm one of the few who Celestia has allowed to study it. But she wouldn't let me do any practical application, so I can't actually use it."

I should've known that, Twilight thought, inwardly facehoofing herself. He's the chief of security.

"Well, The nightmares aren't actually what woke me up," she continued. "While I was dreaming, I saw Spike falling off of a cliff. I wanted to have dark blood, so that I could just fly up and go save him. Then..." she hesitated. The tan unicorn just kept looking into her eyes expectantly. There was something in his gaze... they hadn't broken eye contact since Ventus had activated autopilot, and Twilight knew she wouldn't be the first to look away. Encouraged by the confidence that his eyes evoked, she continued.

"Then I heard a voice. It told me that dark blood would be convenient. That's when I woke up. I could feel some kind of aura, I can't describe it. It's almost like it was there, but not there at the same time..."

"Did you cast a spell of revealing?" the stallion asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "There's nopony here but you, me, and the other passengers."

They spent another half hour talking. The whole time, Twilight never broke eye contact with Ventus, and found him easy to talk to. He preferred to listen instead of talking, so Twilight did most of that. After a while, Ventus said, "You should go get some sleep. I know what that letter said, and you should probably be awake for whatever this guy has in store."

He walked her back to her seat, but then they stopped.

"Tell you what. I'll let you use the Princess' private cabin."

"Really?" Twilight asked, surprised. "But isn't it her private cabin?"

"I'm sure she'd be fine with it," Ventus said, indifferently. "If it makes you feel better, I'll write her and tell her I'm doing it, but I'm not taking no for an answer. Come on."

He led her past the rest of the seats, and into the next car, which had even more seats. The train was obviously built to accommodate more ponies than were there. Ventus cast another revealing spell along the way.

"It couldn't hurt to double check," he said. "There's still nopony else here."

They walked a bit further, now approaching the door of the Princess' cabin.

"You're sure the Princess will be fine with--"

"Shh," the stallion said suddenly, holding out a hoof to stop her. His magical senses sharpened, as he was now putting all of his mental focus into them. His eyes widened.

"Who's there?"

There was no reply, but the stallion could feel it. There was definitely somepony near them. Twilight sensed the same aura she had felt beforehand. The stallion opened the door, and both of them instantly felt the chilling sensation pass through them.

But then it was gone.

"It went back up the train!" Ventus cried, before tearing after it back the way they had come, Twilight barely keeping pace with him. They came bursting through the door to the passenger car. Some of the passengers had obviously also sensed the thing. Iron Hooves was in hysterics.

"It's happening again! I knew I couldn't trust him! Him, with all of his talk about how he's 'mastered that side of him,' I knew it was all lies!" He then looked straight at Ventus.

"You're still a--"

"SILENCE!" Ventus roared, and Iron Hooves immediately shut his mouth. Twilight, horrified, looked at the pair of them, as did everypony else on the train. Ventus looked scary. His eyes alight with fury, his teeth bared as he glared at Iron Hooves. His anger had completely changed his aura, and suddenly Twilight wasn't sure who to be more afraid of- Ventus, or the unknown entity they were chasing. His voice had changed; it had sounded slightly distorted, and much deeper. Ventus shook his head slightly, coming back to reality as he felt the eyes of everypony on the back of his head.

"It's. Not. Me," he said, trying to suppress the century-old hate he still felt for that stallion who had provoked him that day. "I swear to you, it's not me. There's something else on this train, and I need to figure out what it is."

He then galloped forward through the doors to the driver's room, Twilight following close behind him. As they beheld the empty room, the temperature in the train rose back up the few degrees it had fallen. Ventus swore under his breath.

“It’s gone,” he said. “We lost it.”

“What... what was that?” Twilight asked, trembling slightly.

“I don’t know," Ventus said, “but I’ve never sensed dark aura that strong before. Whatever it was, it was evil.”

“So, that’s what dark aura feels like?” Twilight asked. She hadn't been trying to sense her own aura while she was studying Celestia’s books, so she hadn't had any firsthand experience with what it felt like.

“Yup,” Ventus said. “Although, something’s weird.” He frowned slightly. “Either that thing was weaker than us - which I seriously doubt, judging by how strong the aura was - or it wanted us to sense it. But why would it want to be discovered? It should know we’re going to hunt it down now. Why would it do that to itself?”

He stood there in thought for a moment longer, before looking over at Twilight. His small frown changed immediately to an expression of concern as he looked upon her.

“You OK?” He asked. “You look really pale…”

“I’m fine,” Twilight said, even as she struggled to hold in the contents of her stomach. She looked into his eyes, and immediately realized it was a mistake.

“Liar,” Ventus said.

He helped her over to one of the chairs beside the door, as she was swaying on the spot and was unable to walk properly. Once she was in the chair, he conjured a bucket from thin air, and levitated it in front of her.

“No need to stop it now,” he said, turning away. “Don’t try to move until its all out.”

Twilight then proceeded to hurl the entire contents of her stomach into the bucket. Ventus walked calmly back to the train controls, ignoring the retching sounds and the splatter of vomit hitting the bottom of the bucket. He flipped the autopilot switch to off again, and took his position at the controls. Focusing his magical energy into his horn, he did what only a few ponies alive had ever been allowed to do, and sent his thoughts straight to Celestia. He didn’t actually say anything the first time - it was standard to send an empty thought, and then for the other to send an empty thought of their own, so each could verify they were receiving the other’s messages. Soon, the empty reply came from Celestia, and Ventus began sending words to her.

”You were right, Princess. Something evil was here. I’ve never sensed more powerful dark aura.”

Due to the distance between them, there was about a half-second of time lag between the time Ventus talked, and the time his thoughts reached her. So, he had to wait for a bit to receive her reply.

”What did it do?”

“As far as I can tell, it spoke to Twilight in her sleep. I don’t know exactly what it said, but she could sense it as soon as she woke up.”

“I believe that was her first encounter with true dark aura. How is she?”

“Not good. She’s reacting basically the same way everyone else does...”

“Well, I hope you’ve become smart enough over the years to have a bucket nearby.”

“Believe me, I have.”

There was silence for a few seconds, before Ventus remembered something else.

”Princess, I have some other rather unfortunate news.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. It’s… Iron Hooves.”

“You mean the Iron Hooves of your childhood, right? Not Police Chief Iron Hooves?”

“Yes. We had an… exciting conversation before the trip. I gave him the warning. But when he sensed the dark aura tonight, he assumed it was me, and lost it. He almost let the secret out, and I had to resort to… drastic measures.”

“But he didn’t say anything?”

“...Well, no, but he came pretty damn close.”

“He has one more chance. He’s still under heavy observation. If he says another word, we’ll know, and we’ll be there.”

More silence. Then,

“Princess, what’s happening? Why, after all these years, are the dark ones getting so aggressive?”

“I’m not sure, Ventus. The dark activity has really picked up in the last thirty years. I don’t know what they’re planning, but I think we need to be ready for anything.”

“All right. I’m letting Twilight into the cabin for the rest of the trip, though. She needs the rest.”

“Good idea. Actually…”

“Yes, your highness?”

“After you stop in Baltimare, I want you to stand guard outside the cabin, in case something comes back.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“One more thing, Ventus. You are not, under any circumstances, to accompany Twilight on this task. You’ll be endangering her life as well as your own.”

“How did you know I was--”

“I know you better than you think I do, Ventus. You spend forty years with somepony, you learn how they think, even if they try to hide everything from you.”

“...Yes, Princess. I’ll come right back after I drop her off.”

“Good. Keep me advised.”

The connection died, and the large city of Baltimare came into view. Ventus’ voice filled the train, as everypony but Twilight would be getting off at this stop.

We will be arriving in the Baltimare train station in a couple of minutes. Prepare to disembark. Also, would Iron Hooves kindly report to the driver’s room for a moment?

As they came to a halt in the Baltimare train station, the doors into the driver's cabin opened, and Iron Hooves crossed the threshold, looking apprehensive, but aggressive.

“I just thought I’d tell you,” Ventus said, before Iron Hooves could even begin. “You have one more chance. Another word about what happened that day, and I've been given authorization to personally remove every. single. memory you have. Are we clear?”

Iron Hooves’ eyes had widened, but he understood perfectly. Before he turned to leave, his eyes filled with malice, and he spat one word at Ventus.

"Demon."

He galloped out of the room and off of the train before Ventus could stop him. The word had stopped Ventus dead, eyes wide, as he stared at the spot Iron Hooves had just vacated. He had only heard the word once, and it had been decades before, but it was a word that still haunted him.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked, feebly.

Ventus looked around. She seemed to have finished throwing up, and was looking up at him curiously.

"It's nothing," Ventus said, before moving back over to her. "You done?"

"I think so," Twilight said, staring down into the bucket. "I've... never felt like that before."

"Most ponies react that way the first time they sense true dark aura like that," Ventus told her, casting a spell on the bucket that caused both the bucket and the vomit to vanish. "As you now know, it's pretty horrifying. Before I learned how to just make it disappear, I was used to cleaning the vomit of new recruits off the floor."

Ventus moved back to the control station, leaving Twilight looking slightly disgusted. He waited a few moments, looking at a red dot on one of the displays. As soon as the dot turned green, he started the train forward again, and flipped the auto-pilot switch on. He trotted back over to Twilight.

"Well, let's get you back to the private cabin," he said. "Can you stand?"

Twilight slowly got to her hooves. She was still slightly shaky, but she looked overall way better than she had a few minutes before.

"I guess so," she said.

Ventus escorted her back down the two cars to the doors of the private cabin.

"Well, Celestia's orders were, if anything happened, to stand guard outside here. I think she expected something like this to happen, and I think she expects it to come back. So I guess I'll be here all night if you need anything."

Twilight felt slightly bad, knowing she was causing him to stay there all night. "Sorry," she muttered, not looking at him.

"It's fine," Ventus said, waving a hoof indifferently. "I pull all-nighters all the time."

"...Thank you," Twilight said, smiling warmly now, "for everything."

"It's nothing," Ventus replied, scratching the back of his head and looking at the floor. "Anypony would've done the same."

Twilight slowly closed the door behind her, and turned to see the cabin. It looked a lot like the spare bedrooms that Princess Celestia would loan to ponies in the Canterlot Palace, except that it was rectangular shaped. It had the same type of four-poster bed in the corner, though. She made straight for it, and slumped down gratefully. It was much more comfortable than the seats had been, but as she lay down to rest, she felt better than she had all night. She couldn't quite figure out why when she thought about it, but in her heart, she knew what it was. She knew she wouldn't be having any nightmares, at least not for tonight. The thought of Ventus being out there, standing guard through the night for her, gave her great comfort. She smiled into her pillow. For the first time since she had departed Ponyville, she felt truly...

Safe.

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Twilight awoke after several hours' peaceful sleep. She looked out the window and, to her surprise, saw the Crystal Empire drawing nearer. She walked outside the private cabin, and saw Ventus sitting against the wall, still awake. He looked up from his book, and saw Twilight standing there.

"Sleep well?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yep," Twilight replied with a smile. "No nightmares. I feel great!"

"Well that's good," Ventus said, his face growing more serious, "but you'd better get ready; we'll be through the empire in a couple of minutes, and I'm letting you out right after that."

Twilight hadn't brought anything on the trip, so she had no need to go back into her cabin. She went with Ventus back up to the driver's car. On the way, she asked; "Did that... thing come back?"

"Nope," he said. "Nothing exciting happened."

They reached the cabin, and Ventus began to slow the train down. They were approaching the final station on the railroad; The Crystal Empire Northern Border Station.

"This is as far north as I can bring you," Ventus said, with a grim face. "I would go with you on foot, but I'm under direct orders not to."

"Really?" Twilight asked, looking into his eyes. "You'd do that?"

"Yeah. Celestia knows me too well, and figured I'd want to. But you saw the letter; she won't let me risk it."

He brought the train to a complete stop, opening the doors.

"Be careful," he said with concern. "This guy could have anything in store."

"I will," Twilight said. Then, surprising even herself, she threw her arms around the stallion.

"Thanks for everything," she said into his shoulder.

"Uh, yeah..." Ventus replied awkwardly, shocked at what was happening. "No problem..."

The mare broke off from him, and went through the doors. Before she got out of sight, Ventus called out to her.

"If you ever need anything, send me a letter. I'll be there to help."

"I will," she called back, waving. Then, she turned and began heading north towards the snow-covered mountains in the distance.

Ventus watched her go until she was out of sight, thinking. Somehow, in his one-hundred-twenty year lifespan, he had never found the time for mares. He was being raised to become the head of Celestia's task force, and didn't think about much else in his youth. But judging by what he did know, he wished he could've spent more time with her...

He shook his head a bit, coming back to reality. He closed the train doors, and reversed a bit onto the giant turntable behind the station platform. One he had fully turned around, he began heading back south to Canterlot. Now free of the legal limitations regarding the train's speed, he worked the engine like only he could. He pushed the engine harder than he ever had before, and was going a ripe 750 mph the whole way, barely avoiding shattering the sound barrier.

With this new speed, the return trip only took a couple of hours. He pulled into the emergency station hidden in the mountain beside the palace, and he immediately galloped to the Princess' throne room. Upon entering, he knew that there was something wrong. Princess Celestia looked more anxious and scared than Ventus had seen her in the last twenty years.

"I'm back, your majesty," he said bowing.

Celestia nodded, "And?"

"Whatever that thing was, it didn't come back," he reported.

"Good," Celestia said, breathing a sigh of relief, "because we have much worse and more pressing matters to deal with now."

The stallion was shocked. "Much worse matters?" he asked, a sense of dread creeping into his chest. "What could be worse than what's already happening?"

Celestia held out a letter. Ventus took it and read it quickly. His eyes widened, and his mouth fell agape in horror.

"No..." he said under his breath. "It can't be..."

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The pristine white snow reflected the overhead sun as Twilight trudged her way across it, having to drag her hooves with the effort. There had obviously been a blizzard recently; the snow was powder, but it was so deep that she sank almost completely into it. Her horn was alight, shooting a constant blast of hot air at the ground in front of her. Just as she was thinking about trying to send a letter to the mystery pony, asking what to do, she felt another note enter her magical storage. She retrieved it, and hurriedly tore it open.

Good. You came alone like I asked. Congratulations. You're doing good so far, so I've
decided to give you a little reward. If you go to the base of the tallest mountain, you'll see what I mean.

She changed direction slightly, but she wasn't far from the mountains now. They rose brilliantly into the sky, obscuring even the sun in their height. It took her about ten minutes to reach the base of the peak. As she drew nearer, she saw something laying on the ground not far from her. A small, purple something, with green scales.

"SPIKE!/u]"

Twilight ran up to the dragon, who appeared to be unconscious. She turned him over. He appeared to be physically unharmed, and was dead asleep. Hurriedly, she used a spell to check that he was still alive, breathing tiny sigh of relief when he still had a pulse. She shook him until he began stirring. His eyes slowly opened, and focused on the lavender mare looming over him.

"...Twilight?" he said, groggily. "What's goin on?"

"Spike!" She hugged the dragon tightly. "You're all right..."

"Twilight," Spike gasped pleadingly, "that's painful!"

She ignored him, continuing to crush him in her iron vice-like grip for another several moments before relinquishing him.

"Where are we?" he asked, looking around.

He doesn't know? she thought. She knew it wasn't a good sign. "We're north of the Crystal Empire. Do you remember anything? How did you get here? What happened when you left Ponyville?"

Spike closed his eyes, straining to remember.

"Well... I was making you some food," he began, putting one of his hands on his temple, "I was about to bring it down..."

"Yes?" Twilight prompted.

"Then... pain. My head hurt..."

Twilight waited, holding her breath.

"...That's all," Spike said, looking back up at her. "Everything after that is a big blank."

Twilight sighed, "You've been gone for a week. You brought me a note from the royal courts, saying you'd been summoned to Canterlot on royal business, but I guess it'd been forged. You never came back home, and--"

She stopped when yet another note entered her magical storage. She opened it as well.

I told you it would be worth it, right? Well, that's not the only reason you're up here. Believe it or not, I actually care about Equestria. If you do too, climb that mountain and look into the valley behind it. There's something you need to see.

Spike had read over her shoulder. "Who's this guy?"

"I don't know," Twilight replied. "He's the one who brought me up here to find you."

"Well, are we climbing the mountain?" Spike asked. Twilight nodded shortly, and began walking to the mountain.

She began climbing, Spike coming behind her. It took almost two hours to reach the peak, and both Twilight and Spike were exhausted. But finally, they could see over the rest of the surrounding mountains.

Twilight looked at the valley beyond with an expression of horror.

"No..."

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A unicorn sat on a throne-like chair, lost deep in meditation. He was contemplating all of the magic he had learned in preparation for this day. His meditation was interrupted by a voice, which came in from outside the tent.

"My lord, the preparations are complete. We are ready to take action at your command.

The unicorn thought of the Crystal Empire just south of them, then smiled evilly.

"Time for this wretched kingdom to fall, once and for all..."

He walked outside, immediately flying up to a raised wooden platform, which overlooked the valley, which was completely covered with the thousands and thousands of assorted monsters and dark creatures. He magically magnified his voice, and said only two words;

"It's time."

His voice echoed all the way up to where Twilight and Spike were standing. Immediately, Twilight turned to Spike.

"Quick, take a letter to the princess."

She turned to see Spike immediately ready, having already guessed her reaction to this problem.

Princess, I found Spike up north. He doesn't even remember leaving Ponyville, but I've discovered something else that's much, much more urgent.

King Sombra has returned. I don't know how he survived, but he's back. And...

He has an army.

Ventus looked up from the letter at Princess Celestia.

"What are we going to do?" he asked.

"The Crystal Heart is still in place," Celestia began, "but he will find some way to get around that. We need Shining Armor, along with a division of our soldies to return there immediately; he was here on a bit of royal business."

"I'll take him back up," Ventus immediately volunteered. "I can drive the train a lot faster than anypony else. I can have them all up there in a couple of hours, and you know how good my combat skills are."

Celestia smiled. "Is that the only reason you want to go back? Is there not... somepony else that you already took up there you want to see again?"

Ventus' eyes widened. "What? You mean-- no! Well, sure, I'll look for her to make sure she gets through the battle okay, but--"

Celestia laughed. "Just joking," she said.

"This isn't really the time to be joking!" Ventus said, indignantly. "There's a horrible situation building here!"

"Exactly," Celestia said, suddenly dead serious again. "I fear these are the last times we'll even be able to joke around. If we're going to war, I want to keep morale up."

Feeling slightly guilty at telling her off, Ventus stood there for a second longer before nodding. "My apologies, Princess. I'll go collect Shining Armor." He turned, and began galloping towards the doors.

"Be careful," Celestia warned. "If Sombra re-conquers the Crystal Empire, it will mean trouble for Equestria as well."

"We'll do everything in our power to stop him," Ventus said, as he exited the throne room and descended the staircase at a gallop, determined to find Shining Armor.

Current Equestria Population:
1,634,940

Author's Note

Hey, fans.

Firstly, HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!!! 10,015 WORDS!!! New record!! I considered splitting this into two parts, but then I though "meh, why not?"

Secondly, I know that took slightly longer (double the time) than a week. Now you know why, I guess.
Wow, I can take a break from editing and go back to pure, creative freedom!! Get ready to finally see stuff once again that has never been published before!!

I'm in a good mood. :pinkiehappy:

Aww yeah, this is f :yay: king awesome!!

:pinkiehappy: :rainbowdetermined2: :pinkiecrazy: :flutterrage: :raritystarry: :yay: :twilightoops: :ajsmug: :trollestia: :moustache: about sums it up.

Attacks (Part One)

Twilight was hurtling back down the steep mountain slope as fast as her legs could carry her, Spike barely keeping pace with her. He was panting hard, and only kept going due to the knowledge of how grave the situation was.

"We'll have to split up," Twilight began as they approached the town boundaries, "You make sure that the Crystal Heart stays safe, and I'll go up to the throne room to talk to Cadence."

"O...kay," Spike replied, in between labored breaths.

They didn't quite know the layout of the Crystal Empire yet, and stopped as their skin began sparkling slightly. After deciding which way to go, they moved into the full boundaries of the city. Their bodies began to sparkle and glow, but they didn't stop to appreciate the beauty of the effect. Instead, they moved towards the palace, passing crystal ponies that had no idea they were in any danger, who were just enjoying their lives as usual. She didn't tell any of them what was happening out of fear of creating widespread panic.

As they approached the palace, two crystal-pony guards stopped them in their tracks. Twilight skidded to a halt, and Spike keeled over on the ground beside her, clutching the stitch in his side from all the running.

"What business do you have with the Princess of the Crystal Empire?" one of them formally asked.

"My name... is Twilight Sparkle," said Twilight, who was still panting slightly from the long run, though not nearly as much as Spike was. "I need to see Princess Cadence immediately. It's urgent."

"Do you have an appointment?" he asked her.

"Uhh..." Twilight faltered. She had momentarily forgotten how tight security was in the Empire, as they were still pretty shaken up by Sombra's previous attack, even all these months later.

"All conferences with the Princess need to be scheduled at least three weeks in advance," the guard said. "If you would like to schedule one, send a letter to--"

"Look," Twilight interrupted, throwing caution to the winds. "Your empire is in danger. I need to see the Princess, right now."

The guard's eyes widened, and then narrowed again. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Can't you send the Princess a note, telling her Twilight is here to see her?" Twilight said, growing more desperate. The guard looked to the other.

"I suppose," he said suspiciously. "But only because our empire might be at risk."

He pulled out a paper and quill, and scribbled a quick note to the princess. When he was done, he handed it to another Pegasus guard, who flew to the balcony above. After a minute, the Pegasus flew back down to rejoin them.

“She said it's fine,” he told the two guards. “Come in,” he said, looking at Twilight. Looking slightly off-put, the two guards moved aside, allowing Twilight and Spike to cross the threshold. After King Sombra had been defeated, the castle had been completely destroyed, his hidden passage along with it. They had completely rebuilt it, and Twilight didn't know the new layout. The guard led her as they moved up towards the stairs, rapidly approaching a room that held the Crystal Heart. With a nod from Twilight, Spike hung back next to the Heart. Twilight went up more stairs and into the throne room.

Cadence was sitting on her throne, shining and looking perfectly cheerful. When she saw Twilight come in, she jumped off her throne in excitement.

“Twilight!” she said, as she ran towards her sister-in-law. When she got there, they immediately did their regular greeting routine.

”Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!”

Cadence laughed, and although Twilight had done the little dance, she wasn’t smiling. Sombra was her first concern at the moment.

“It’s about time we got together!” Cadence said enthusiastically. “I’ve only seen you lately when the fate of Equestria has been hanging in the balance!”

Twilight hesitated, hating to crush her old foalsitter’s good mood.

“Yeah... about that...” she said, awkwardly.

She watched as Cadence’s face fell.

“Don’t tell me...” she said, looking crestfallen. "What's happened?"

Twilight explained how Spike left Ponyville, the mysterious letter in Celestia's throne room, and finally, the events that occurred just north of them. As Twilight finished talking, Cadence looked slightly shocked, but still relatively calm.

"As long as the Crystal Heart is being powered, Sombra can't get in," she said. "I'm not too worried about it. Celestia will be able to banish him."

"He's bypassed the Crystal Heart before," Twilight retorted, thinking about the first time Sombra had invaded the empire. "Why couldn't he do it again? He's even more powerful now than the last time he attacked."

"He was a citizen of the Empire the very first time he conquered," Cadence replied dismissively. "He had clear access to the heart."

As she finished this sentence, a letter delivered itself to Twilight's magical inbox. As she pulled it out, she spotted the royal seal, and tore the letter open. She read it quickly, and then held it out for Cadence to read.

Twilight,

If you haven't already done so, meet with Princess Cadence. I'm sending reinforcements immediately, including Ventus and Prince Shining Armor. If Sombra corrupts the Crystal Heart again, the rest of Equestria will quickly follow. You must protect the Empire.

-Celestia

"Celestia seems to think there's danger," Twilight said. Cadence re-read the letter, unwilling to believe it. But halfway through, her eyes widened, and her head whipped around towards the window.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"The heart," Cadence said, with complete surprise in her voice. "It's being moved!"

"What?" Twilight gasped, as indeed, her skin stopped sparkling. The visible reflections of love and harmony suddenly vanished from the sky, and ponies on the street began to scream.

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Spike stood sentinel, guarding the Crystal Heart from anypony who tried to touch it. There was nopony in sight but the guards who were protecting the palace gates, but he stood there regardless. Twilight had seemed worried that somepony would try to disrupt the heart, so he didn't abandon his post.

"Hello, Spike," a voice said suddenly.

Spike jumped, and turned to see a pony leaning against one of the pillars. The newcomer had a black cloak on, the hood of which shrouded their face completely, but Spike could tell it was a stallion due to the deep voice with which he spoke.

"Who're you?" Spike asked, narrowing his eyes at the newcomer. "How did you get in here without the guards noticing?"

There was a low chuckle from the hooded stallion.

"It doesn't matter. I'm not here to hurt you."

"What do you want, then?" Spike asked.

"I need this heart moved," the stallion said, falling to all fours and beginning to trot towards Spike. "But I can't move it myself."

Spike was about to call out to the guards, but something in the back of his mind stopped him. He didn't know why, but he felt that the stallion coming towards him was sincere. An overwhelming feeling of trust suddenly washed over him, and he knew the stallion was on his side. After all, if his overall intentions were bad, the Crystal Heart would've expelled him, right?

"You're the only one who can move it," he told the dragon. "You brought the heart to the Princess. You have to be the one to remove it."

"Yeah," Spike said. He didn't know why the stallion would want the heart removed, but if he was asking, it needed to be done. So Spike walked up to the heart, and easily removed it from its stand. His scales stopped sparkling abruptly, and screaming filled the streets. He dropped it on the ground at the stallion's feet.

"Thank you," the stallion said.

"SPIKE!"

Spike looked up to see Twilight and Princess Cadence running down the steps. They skidded to a halt right in front of him.

"What did you do?" Twilight asked. "Where's the heart?"

"Its right here, with--" Spike began to reply. But as he turned to point at the hooded stallion, he saw nothing but air. The Crystal Heart was also gone.

"...Where'd he go?" Spike asked, looking around in confusion. "He was just here!"

Twilight tilted her head slightly, and then began magically examining Spike. He made a sound of discomfort as he felt Twilight's presence in his mind. She couldn't read his thoughts, but she could see the way his brain waves were working, and she could tell something was wrong.

"Interesting," Twilight muttered.

"What's wrong?" Princess Cadence asked. Twilight didn't respond immediately, but continued looking at his mind.

"There's an anomaly in his cerebral cortex," Twilight began. "It looks like parts of it are being overlapped."

"In Equestrian, please," Spike said.

"Somepony is controlling parts of your thoughts," Twilight finished. She and Cadence both looked at him. His eyes had widened.

"That's crazy!" Spike exclaimed. "I feel fine! I'm not... being controlled, or anything!

"I think we'll have to worry about it later," Cadence interrupted suddenly. "Right now, we have to prepare the Empire."

"Right," Twilight replied, suddenly remembering the serious threat lurking beyond the town boundaries. The screaming was growing worse, and Twilight could tell it would be outright panic soon. They ran outside the palace, moving towards the gate guards.

"Princess, what's going on?" one of them asked. "What happened to the Crystal Heart?"

"The Empire is under attack, Commander," Cadence said swiftly. "I need you to gather your forces, and meet me in the courtyard in ten minutes."

"Right," the Commander replied, galloping away immediately. Within a minute, there was a loud, deep gong, and Twilight thought of a clock tower bell ringing. But she quickly realized what it meant, as a stallion's magically magnified voice rang through the entire land.

"This is not a drill. All citizens apply defensive plan Theta. All military personnel gather in the castle courtyard immediately. I repeat, this is not a drill."

Twilight turned to look at Cadence, who was smiling slightly.

"We're more prepared than Celestia thinks," she said.

"How many defensive plans are there?" Twilight asked.

"There are six," Cadence said, proudly. "We have drills once a week, switching plans every time."

"That's incredible," Twilight said, amazed at how quiet the streets now were. "We should start doing the same thing everywhere else, too."

They began climbing the steps back into the palace, and ascended the stairs to the courtyard balcony. There were already a couple hundred ponies gathered there, all wearing golden armor similar to that of the Canterlot palace guards. After several more minutes, there were at least a thousand ponies gathered in the courtyard. Cadence cleared her throat, and cast a spell on herself to magnify her voice. The courtyard went dead silent when she was ready to speak.

"As you all know, the kingdom is in grave danger," she began. "The Crystal Heart, due to unknown circumstances, has vanished."

There was an outbreak of muttering at that, as the soldiers quietly voiced their surprise. Cadence held up a hoof for silence, and then continued, gesturing towards Twilight.

"Twilight Sparkle has sent for reinforcements from Canterlot, which are on their way. Now, I think it's time you knew the nature of the threat." She hesitated a moment, wondering what the general reaction of the crowd would be.

"Sombra has once again returned to conquer our empire."

Even more muttering broke out at this, and the tone of it sounded much more frightened. Some soldiers were visually shaking, while others hardened their faces, seeming ready to fight him. This time, Cadence waited for silence to descend on its own. After a short time, it did.

"We don't know the full extent of his power, only that he is more powerful than before."

She hit the balcony rail with her hoof.

"But we too are much more powerful than before!" She said, both glaring and smiling down at them. They looked a bit more hopeful.

"We have fully restored our powerful military, and more! Crystal Heart or not, we are strong!"

A few loose whoops followed this statement, and the army below suddenly seemed much bigger as those who had been slouching in despair straightened up again, turning their full attention to their princess.

"We came back after a thousand years! We have endured hardships most can't even imagine! And we won't let somepony like Sombra manipulate us anymore! We'll show him that we can't just be wiped off the map again! We'll remind him who we are! WE ARE THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!"

There was an eruption of cheers and stomping, as the crystal soldiers' morale was greatly increased. Cadence had thrust one hoof in the air as she finished her statement, and now slowly let it back down. She turned to a grey stallion next to her, who was enormous and powerfully built.

"They're all yours, General."

He nodded as she cast a voice amplification spell on him.

"We'll be using offensive plan Shining. Commander Cinder, your squad will take position A..."

"That was a good speech," Twilight said to Cadence as they descended the stone steps into the throne room.

"Thanks," Cadence replied. "Now, I have to get ready myself. Sombra could attack at any time."

"Right," Twilight said, as Cadence ran off. She ran outside, finding Spike next to the slot where the Crystal Heart belonged, right where they had left him.

"Come on," she said to him. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" He asked, as they began to move out of the palace boundaries.

"The train station," Twilight said as they began moving through the streets. "We'll meet up with the reinforcements and fight with them."

They continued moving towards the edge of town. After a couple of minutes, a voice rang out through the whole city. She recognized it as the voice of Princess Cadence.

"King Sombra. Your actions today have been a declaration of war against the Crystal Empire. This is your only warning. Surrender, or face the consequences."

A few moments of silence. Then,

"This is your only warning, Princess Cadence. If you don't surrender, my forces will kill every single pony hiding beneath this city."

"Sorry. I don't respond well to threats," Cadence replied coldly.

"Have it your way then," Sombra said.

A loud, high-pitched screeching filled the air, and Twilight had to stop in order to cover her ears with her hooves. She screwed her eyes shut in pain, as the screeching was so loud. As it stopped, a deep rumbling shook the ground, and she heard the distant sound of weapons clashing.

"Come on!" Twilight said. She levitated Spike onto her back as she continued to gallop toward the distant train station. They were drawing closer to it, when Spike yelled to her from her back.

"TWILIGHT! ON YOUR LEFT!"

She looked left, just in time to hurl herself forward, barely avoiding the dark figure hurtling itself at her. She whipped around to look at her assailant.

It had the shape of a pony, with the same body, legs, and head. But it was covered in what looked like black fire, and its eyes were a gleaming, bright yellow. It looked at Twilight and Spike with the expression of seeing a delicious meal after not eating for days. It charged at them again, and they dove in opposite directions. Twilight took note of the fact that it couldn't change directions very well. Twilight lit her horn, and a streak of orange flames moved toward the dark creature. It barely avoided them, and shot forward to attack again. This time, Twilight shot a beam of white light straight at it, which hit it right in the chest. It screeched another high-pitched screech as it burst apart, the remainder of the black fire slowly dissipating into the air.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked Spike.

"I'm fine," he replied, looking shaken. "What... what was that?"

"I don't know," Twilight replied. "I've never read about anything like it..."

Spike suddenly went rigid again, staring at something directly behind her.

"What?" She asked. When he didn't reply, she turned and saw, quite plainly, what. She also froze in place.

There was another shadow pony behind her, but this one looked quite different. It too was glowing with the black fire, and still had the yellow eyes, but its colors and mane were an exact replica of her own. It smiled at her with her own teeth, and lit up its horn.

She moved to the left slightly, but her dark doppelgänger mirrored her movements precisely. Even as she charged a spell to hit it with, it blocked it. They began to fight, perfectly synchronized. As she couldn't simply overpower herself, she began to analyze her own weaknesses. She had a tendency to leave herself slightly exposed just before casting a spell. As she prepared to take advantage of this fact, the doppelgänger hit her in the side unexpectedly, taking advantage of the weakness she had just spotted herself. She crashed to the ground in a heap. As she stood up, the doppelgänger stepped on her chest, forcing her back to the ground. She looked into its eyes, as it charged a spell to kill her.

Twilight waited to receive the blow, but it never came. She opened her eyes and watched in surprise as her dark doppelgänger disappeared into the air, just like the one before it. Looking left, she glimpsed a large, silver train that had just docked in the station; the Princesses' VIP train. Standing in the doorway was none other than...

"Shining Armor!"

"Hey, Twilie!" he said, as she galloped forward into his embrace. He was fully decked out in golden combat armor, which was light enough to grant almost full range of motion, but heavy enough to protect him from a lot of damage. Behind Shining Armor stood at least five hundred ponies from the Canterlot Palace Guard. To the left stood Ventus, who had just exited the driver's compartment. He grinned at her.

"Glad to see you're still in one piece," he said.

"What's happening, Twilight?" asked Shining Armor, letting go of her. "Why did that... that thing look like you?"

"Honestly," she began, "I have no idea. King Sombra is attacking, and somehow managed to remove the Crystal Heart."

"Celestia said he'd find a way," Shining Armor said, grimly. "But do you remember the names of the plans they were using?"

Twilight racked her brain, thinking hard about the words she had heard before the battle began.

"The defensive plan... was plan Theta," she said, suddenly remembering, "offensive plan Shining."

He turned to the palace guards, who he had once commanded himself back in Canterlot.

"In your terms, we're running D-A and O-F," he said to the soldiers. "You'll take the west side."

It made absolutely no sense to Twilight or Ventus, but the rest of them seemed to understand, for they instantly began filing past them out the door. Shining Armor then turned to Ventus.

"I'd understand if you wanted to stay here," he said. "I know you don't have much combat experience, and you don't have any armor."

"I’m Celestia’s Chief of Security," Ventus said, looking slightly annoyed at being treated as a civilian. “I think I can hold my own.”

"...All right then,” Shining Armor said, looking slightly embarrassed. “Let's go."

"Hang on," Twilight said, looking around. "Where's Spike?"

"Spike's here?" Shining Armor asked, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't see him outside with you."

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Spike ran as fast as he could through the city, waiting to meet opposition at any moment, but no monsters or spells met him as he moved. What his destination was he didn't know, but he knew he had to keep moving. He ran through alleyways, making a beeline for the boundaries of the Empire. He finally reached it, and stopped running.

He was winded, but didn't pant as he stood there, waiting. After a few minutes, a dark, hooded pony appeared seemingly from nowhere, just as Spike knew he would.

"You brought it like I requested?" the newcomer asked. In answer, Spike reached into his pocket, and pulled out the Crystal Heart, which had been shrunken to the size of a large gem.

"Good," the dark stallion said. "Now, hand it to me."

Spike extended his claw, and dropped the miniature heart into the dark cyan hoof that the stranger had extended.

"Thank you," the deep voice said.

"Why do you need it?" Spike asked. He still felt guilty at the fact that he had stolen it, and he didn't even know why he had.

"Don't worry, it's in good hooves," the stranger replied. "Just make sure nopony knows where you've been, or that I was even here. Try to make it look like you've been fighting."

"All right," Spike replied. He still didn't understand it, but he knew that what he was doing would help Equestria in the long run. He turned to run back into the city, as a corridor of darkness appeared just behind the hooded stallion. He disappeared into it, carrying the Crystal Heart with him.

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"He must be out in the fight," Shining Armor said. "We should be, too. Let’s go."

Twilight didn't argue. After all, she knew the only way to find Spike would be to get out there.

The three of them ran from the train and into the streets. There were a few more of the shadow ponies lurking around, and they hit them with beams of light as they passed.

"I've never seen anything like this!" Twilight called to the others as she blasted yet another shadow into oblivion. "Where did Sombra find these things?"

"He must have had some traveling time," called Shining Armor, as he too blasted some more shadow ponies into nothingness. They came to a fork in the road, and paused.

"You guys keep moving, and kill as many of these things as you can," Shining Armor said. "I've got to find Cadence and lead the troops." He took the fork on the right, while Twilight and Ventus headed left. They didn't come across any more shadow ponies for a minute, but instead heard a mighty crashing up ahead.

"What do you think that is?" Twilight called.

"Something big?" Ventus said, rather unhelpfully. But as they rounded the next corner, they indeed saw something big.

A fully grown Minotaur was smashing through buildings in the road ahead of them. It turned to look at them, and charged at them, letting out a bull-like roar. Twilight managed to dive out of the way as it rocketed past her, but Ventus wasn't nearly as lucky. It smashed into him with full force, sending him flying backwards several dozen yards. He crashed into the ground, hard.

"Ventus!" Twilight yelled in horror, as the Minotaur whirled around to charge again. She tried to throw him aside, but to her horror, found that she couldn't affect his range of motion quickly enough. She instead skidded on her hooves, and slid underneath him. He looked around in confusion, as Twilight hit him in the back with a disintegration spell. However, his skin was so tough that it had no effect. He turned to swipe at her, but missed.

She continued darting around him, trying to come up with something that could affect him, but she was fresh out of ideas. She was becoming tired, and knew she wouldn't last against him much longer. Finally, she stopped moving. The Minotaur turned, and looked right into her eyes. She knew there was nothing she could do. He reached down, undoubtedly to pick her up and throw her aside like a rag doll.

But as his monstrous hand was about to close around her, his entire body began to glow light blue. He was lifted slightly into the air, and was launched sideways at high speed. There was a terrible crash as the creature smashed to the ground twenty yards away. Twilight looked around to see who had saved her. To her great astonishment, she saw Ventus standing there, horn aglow.

"Ventus?" she said, not believing her eyes.

"Come on," Ventus said, helping her up, "before it wakes up again."

They resumed their journey towards the palace, galloping hard away from the figure of the Minotaur.

"How are you not... you know, dead?" Twilight asked, still astonished. "That thing smashed into you hard! You should at least be knocked out!"

"I was," he replied. "I woke up, and saw him about to smash you."

She was still amazed. When he had been hit, he created a small crater in the road. She thought for sure that he was dead. But instead, he had saved her.

They continued moving up the street, not meeting anything as horrible as the Minotaur had been; though still meeting a lot of shapeless shadow ponies.

"How did Sombra get a Minotaur on his side?" Twilight asked, blasting yet another shadow pony aside. "I thought they were some of the most independent creatures alive."

"Probably the same way he got all of these things," Ventus replied, blasting some shadow ponies into oblivion as he spoke. "I can see the palace ahead!"

Twilight looked, seeing that they were indeed only a few blocks from the Crystal Palace. The street they had just entered was thick with shadow ponies, all evidently trying to force entrance into the palace, but were being held back by the soldiers in the courtyard. The back half of the group turned, staring right at the two newcomers. They looked at each other.

"You sure you can handle all of these?" Twilight asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," he replied, grinning. "I bet I can kill more of them."

"Is that a challenge?" Twilight said, giving a half smile. "Only one way to find out, isn't there?"

They waited a split second longer before launching themselves forward, horns glowing white identically. They both began launching pure, white light at the creatures, killing an almost equal number. There were tons of them, but they seemed pretty weak, especially the ones who weren't specifically mimicking anypony. Twilight and Ventus kept attacking, and had soon killed about half of them. The ones closer to the front, however, seemed to be stronger than those in back. Some of them actually managed to dodge the light spells. Twilight began breathing more heavily, and though Ventus didn't show it, his horn was beginning to hurt from casting all of these light spells, and his head was pounding. He could tell that he would have a splitting headache the next morning. The shadows began dodging the attacks more frequently, and one approached Twilight from behind. Ventus saw it in time to launch it away from her, but it was a close call. Twilight just kept firing spells, her mind only intent on killing as many of these things as possible. That is, until she saw the colorings of a pony she recognized. Though it was still covered in black flames, it had a yellow coat and a long pink mane that curled once on one side of her face. Twilight couldn't help but cry out.

"Fluttershy?"

She had frozen. The shadow version of Fluttershy had somehow retained her exact eye color. It was this detail that had caused her hesitation. Ventus looked over after deflecting a shadow pony's attack to see her frozen in place.

"It's not real, Twilight!" he called, as he struggled to cast another light spell. The battle was becoming even harder, and his headache was already forming. "That's not a pony!"

Twilight quickly came to her senses, and took a fighting stance. The shadow ponies seemed to take on the potential of the pony they were mimicking, and she knew that the Cutie Mark Crusaders called Fluttershy "The Stare Master." She had never found out why, and didn't really want to in this moment. She took comfort in the fact that Fluttershy was a very timid pony, but didn't like the way that this shadow pony was looking at her.

To her astonishment, the dark figure launched itself at her with blinding speed. She dove aside, rolling to avoid the attack. When she popped up, the shadow pony landed on its hind legs, and then spun around backwards, bringing up a hoof to kick Twilight in the head. She barely managed to lean far enough back to prevent this. The Dark Fluttershy began throwing a series of fast punches and kicks at her, and she was having difficulty moving fast enough to block them all. Sure enough, the seventh kick caught her in the stomach, and she fell to the earth in a heap. The shadow closed in, preparing to deliver the final blow.

As it was about to do so, something hit it from the side, and it staggered. The punch hadn't been that hard, and it looked up. Ventus was standing there, having looked in time to see Twilight fall to the earth. Due to the fact that his head now felt like it was going to split in half, he had abandoned his spellcasting and had thrown a punch at it instead. As the Dark Fluttershy ran towards him, a brilliant white light enveloped it from the side. There was a long, high-pitched scream of Fluttershy's voice as the pony lost its form, and dissipated into the air. Twilight's horn ceased fueling the light, and it vanished. She sat up roughly.

"I think I killed more of them," Ventus teased, holding out a hoof for her to grab.

"I was a bit distracted in killing the most powerful one," she retorted playfully, taking his hoof and standing again. "It counts as twenty."

"Oh, come on," Ventus complained, a smile still on his face. "No it doesn--"

Before he could finish the sentence, a deep rumbling shook the earth. They wobbled slightly, but managed to retain their balance. Soon after it began, the rumbling stopped.

"What do you think that was?" Ventus asked.

"I don't know," Twilight replied, slightly apprehensively. "I'm not too sure I want to know."

After another couple of moments, they resumed moving up the street. Twilight felt something odd, as if everything was calmer than it should've been. The reason suddenly struck her, and she paused in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" Ventus asked.

"You remember how only half of the shadows fought us?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ventus replied, tilting his head slightly.

"Then where'd the rest of them go?"

He opened his mouth to voice his confusion, but he realized what she meant right at that moment. His eyes widened.

"Oh, no," he moaned.

They immediately resumed their gallop towards the palace. As they approached it, foreboding in their hearts, they stopped at the ominous sight before them.

"Sweet Celestia," Twilight exclaimed softly.

The gate was nothing more than charred, twisted iron. They could still see part of the gate attached to the hinges. The rest appeared to have been blasted clean off. With a sense of dread, they clambered over the iron wreckage into the deserted courtyard.

"Where is everypony?" Ventus asked.

Twilight raised a hoof, pointing at the Crystal Palace. The front wall was in a similar state to the courtyard gate, but on a much larger scale. However, they could see a blue magical field covering the large hole that had once been a thick wall.

"Someone's got to still be alive to cast that," she pointed out.

They moved up to the large palace. Twilight knew that after the Changeling invasion of Canterlot, Celestia had worked to modify the shield spell a little bit. Instead of merely repelling them, it now burned through them. Sombra had experienced it firsthand the last time he had invaded the Crystal Empire, though in that particular instance, having part of his horn cut off ended up helping him in the end. Assuming that this was the same type of magical shield, Twilight slowly extended a hoof to test it.

"No, let me," Ventus said, holding his leg up to impede her progress.

"Cadence has known me since I was a little filly," she pointed out. "Her shield is more likely to recognize me."

Reluctantly, Ventus withdrew his leg. Twilight resumed extending her hoof, and tentatively touched the shield with the very tip of it. She let out a sigh of relief, as her hoof passed through it rather than being burned off.

"Wait here," she said to Ventus. "I'll get someone to raise this for you."

He nodded, and she stepped into the immense entrance hall. She galloped through several rooms, repeating her route she had taken in her earlier visit. She ran past the plinth where the Crystal Heart had been, and up several flights of stairs. She saw the large set of double doors, and moved through them into the throne room.

Hundreds of ponies had been stuffed into the throne room. The remaining unicorns were healing the injured in a back corner, while others simply lay on the ground, recovering from the intense battle. Up on the throne platform stood Shining Armor and Cadence. Twilight galloped straight to them.

"Twilight!" Shining Armor exclaimed, as his sister ran forward into his embrace. "You survived..."

"Raise the shield out front," Twilight said to Cadence over her brother's shoulder. "My friend is still out there."

Cadence's horn glowed slightly, and an opening appeared in front. As soon as she sensed a pony move through it, she shut it again.

"How many survived?" Twilight asked, letting go of her brother.

"There's five or six hundred of us in here," Shining Armor said as they were joined by Ventus. "There are also a few foals upstairs, being watched by some guards."

"Foals?" Twilight exclaimed.

"Yeah," Cadence replied, sadly. "After you left, some of the soldiers brought them here. Apparently, they were just standing in the street."

"What happened?" Ventus asked, looking between the three of them. "Why'd Sombra's army retreat?"

"We aren't sure," Shining Armor replied. "Right after that earthquake, they all just disappeared."

They stood in silence for a minute, each lost in their own thoughts. Twilight was worried sick about Spike, who she hadn't seen since Shining Armor had arrived.

"Spike isn't in here, is he?" she asked, looking between the Prince and Princess. They shook their heads.

"Nopony's seen him," Shining Armor said, "but that doesn't mean he's dead. We'll find him. But right now, we need to re-coordinate." He turned to a nearby guard.

"Gather the commanders, and tell them--"

But he was cut off as all light was suddenly drained from the room, despite it being mid-afternoon. It wasn't a natural darkness either. Even though it was totally dark, they could still see each other clearly through the darkness. They exchanged worried looks, as sounds of shock and fright filled the hall. There was a sudden glow of deep red, as something began materializing just above the throne. Through the now crimson-tinged darkness, Twilight could see a pair of scarlet eyes, and a set of silver armor. She recognized the figure immediately.

"Sombra."

Shining Armor hurled a throwing knife at the evil king with magic, but it sailed straight through him.

"I'm afraid that won't be of any use to you, Prince," he said, as Shining Armor appeared shocked. "You see, I'm not actually here."

"What do you want?" Shining asked aggressively. "Why'd your troops retreat?"

Sombra merely chuckled darkly.

"They retreated because I told them to. You see, I have one final offer for you all," he said, looking around at the crowded throne room.

"Either you surrender and survive, or you all die. I'll give you ten more minutes. Anyone who surrenders within that time limit survives. Everypony else... won't be so lucky. Your ten minutes start... now."

Upon saying the word 'now', his figure vanished, and they were all blinded as the real afternoon light hit them once more. Fearful voices filled the hall, as the impact of what had just happened hit them.

"What now?" Twilight asked, looking between the two royal ponies in front of her. Shining Armor's face had hardened.

"We keep fighting," he replied, looking around. "I need to talk to the commanders." He left the throne platform, and disappeared into the crowd.

"What am I going to--" Twilight began, but Cadence held up a hoof to cut her off. Her horn was glowing slightly, and her ears were perked up, listening hard.

"There's something at the front door," she said, eyes widening.

"A pony?" Twilight asked.

"I don't think so," she replied. "It doesn't feel like one."

Twilight, Ventus and Cadence descended the stairs and exited the throne room, moving back down towards the front wall. As they entered the entrance hall, the sun was setting, and the newcomer was nothing more than a silhouette. As they drew nearer, it came into greater focus, and Twilight recognized what it was.

"Open the shield," she requested. Cadence's horn glowed blue once again, and a gap appeared in the shield. Knowing what was about to happen, Spike attempted to scurry past Twilight, but to no avail. He was lifted into the air by a lavender field of magic, floating back the way he had come. He was then physically trapped in Twilight's grip.

"Where did you go?!" Twilight was half crying into his shoulder in relief. "What happened?!"

"I was fighting one of those dark pony things, and you just disappeared," Spike said, relieved that she wasn't yelling at him. As she set him down, however, Spike's sense of security of shattered as he looked at her face, which was now contorted with rage.

"Do you know how worried I was?!" She yelled. Spike shriveled up and backed away on the floor in the wake of her terrifying anger. "You could've been dead for all I knew!"

It seemed to go on forever to Spike, who was now cowering against a wall. He didn't have a chance to interrupt, and was forced to sit there and wait for Twilight to pause, which took a while.

"I'm fine!" he interrupted loudly, when Twilight finally paused to take a breath. "I'm not even hurt!" Twilight's face didn't lighten.

"Don't. Ever. Do that. Again," she snarled threateningly. Then her face finally broke, as she pulled him into another hug. "Don't make me lose you... not for a third time..."

"I won't," he said, patting her lightly on the back. "Pinkie Promise."

"Well," Cadence said, sounding amused at Twilight's behavior, "we should get back upstairs, and find out what Shining Armor is planning."

"Yeah, come on," Ventus said, also sounding slightly amused.

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As they re-entered the throne room a minute later, the last of the injured were being hurriedly healed, and the soldiers were gathering up their gear, preparing to resume battle. Shining armor was standing on the throne platform again, sorting through his weapons. He looked up as the group of four rejoined him.

"Hey, Spike," Shining Armor said, grinning at him. "Where've you been?"

"Oh, around," Spike said, evasively.

"There's no time for this," Twilight interrupted, looking daggers at Spike. "There's only five minutes left."

"Yeah, because you wasted three of them screaming at me..." Spike muttered under his breath. Luckily for him, Twilight had stopped paying attention.

"Right," Shining Armor said. His expression changed into that of a general about to direct his troops. "Twilight, I think you, Spike, and Ventus should get the foals out of here."

"How?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. "The streets are about to be full of fighting ponies again."

"We built an escape route," Cadence began explaining, "in case we ever needed to quickly evacuate the castle. It leads straight from here to the train station. You can take them through that, and get them back to Canterlot."

Twilight nodded, but something else was bothering her.

"I'm not good with foals," she said. She especially doubted that she'd be able to control a bunch of foals who were scared out of their minds.

"You'll be fine," Cadence said. "Besides, you're the Element of Magic. You should probably get out of here as fast as possible, so there's no chance of losing the Elements of Harmony."

She still wasn't convinced, but due to the lack of time to debate the matter, she agreed.

"Where are the foals?" She asked.

"Upstairs," Cadence said. "I'll lead the way."

They once again exited the throne room, ascended one staircase, and entered a small room. There were about 15 colts and fillies huddled in the middle. Some of them were still crying in fear. The rest were looking fearfully around at the sound of the opening door, but looked slightly happier to see the princess crossing the threshold. Cadence walked up to them, wearing a warm smile on her face, and began to point at each of the newcomers in turn.

"This is Twilight, Ventus, and Spike. They're going to get you to safety, but you have to do exactly what they say, okay?"

The foals remained silent, but a couple of them nodded. Looking nervous, they stood up and shuffled over to the group. They all followed Cadence back out of the door.

"I'm not good with foals either," Ventus told Twilight in a whisper as they descended the stairs. "There were never very many of them on my train, and when there were, well..." he hesitated. "They were children of the richest ponies around."

He didn't need to say more. Twilight understood what he meant. The foals he had seen were rich, meaning that a lot of them had probably acted similarly to Diamond Tiara.

"We've still got to try," Twilight whispered back.

As they re-entered the throne room yet again, the crowd of soldiers parted, making a path that led to the throne. They walked up to it and stopped. Cadence's horn glowed, and the whole platform slid aside, causing several of the foals to cry out in shock. When it had finished moving aside, they beheld a spiral staircase that descended into darkness.

"I'll go first," Ventus offered. He began to descend the new staircase. Twilight found it slightly odd that he hadn't lit his horn up to provide light. He just walked, until the darkness had swallowed him whole. Spike began to herd the young foals down the steps as well. As he did so, Twilight turned back to Cadence.

"I'll see you guys when this is over," she said.

"I hope so," Cadence replied, rather gloomily. Her face then lightened. "Thank you."

"For what?" Twilight replied, looking puzzled.

"For warning us about Sombra, and telling Celestia in time to get Shining Armor back up here," Cadence said, smiling.

The two mares trotted forward, and embraced each other briefly. Time was running short, and they both knew it.

"There's still two minutes before time's up," Shining Armor told her, as she next hugged him. "Hurry, and keep the foals safe."

"I will," Twilight said. She turned and began to descend the staircase, lighting her horn as she did so.

"Good luck!" Cadence called after her. The throne then slid slowly back over the hole, clicking loudly into place. Cadence turned to survey the remaining guards, as her internal timer told her they were reaching the end of the allotted time. She looked to her left at Shining Armor, and they could each tell that the other was feeling the same thing. Cadence's eyes filled with tears, and Shining Armor's had a sense of finality in them. He began counting down the last minute in his head.

"Get ready," he called for the whole room to hear. "Time's almost up!"

The soldiers began quickly moving out of the throne room to take up their assigned positions. Shining Armor grabbed Cadence's hoof, as there were only 20 seconds left.

"This time..." Shining Armor continued loudly so all of the soldiers could hear, "either we're going down, or they are!"

He counted down the last seconds aloud.

"Five..."

"Four..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

Current Equestria Population:
1,562,348

Author's Note

BWAHAHAHA!! Cliffhanger.

There we have it. Part one of Attacks.
~~This is the longest chapter I've ever written, and it also took me the longest to write.~~ I split it into two chapters because it's so long. I'll try to get the next part polished up as quickly as possible.

Attacks (Part Two)

"...Zero."

As the words left his mouth, he had expected Sombra to immediately resume his attack. He was surprised, however, when the air around the empire sat just as still as ever, the tense silence so deep that it pressed in on his eardrums, feeling unnatural. Several more tense seconds ticked by, and everypony's nerves got worse and worse, as each sat waiting for something to happen. After what felt like an eternity, a voice finally filled the courtyard, but it sounded different than the last time they had all heard it. It was quieter, and less menacing.

"Well, time's up," said Sombra's voice, matter-of-factly, "and you haven't surrendered to me."

Nopony in the castle or the courtyard made a sound.

"Why are you going to waste your lives on this futile attempt to fight me?" he asked, sounding slightly frustrated. "My forces are limited, and you already did a pretty good job at killing many of them. We all know that I'll need more, given time. So, I'm giving all of you, individually, one last chance."

More silence.

"Your Prince and Princess have already shown that they are not going to bow down to me, but I don't think you all feel that way. Some of you want to live, I'm sure of it. If you come to me now, you'll live."

Still more silence, though this one wasn't as deep as the rest, as several ponies shifted nervously. The shifting ones were actually considering Sombra's statement. One in particular, a grey unicorn stallion in the courtyard, was about to take a step forward, away from the palace, closer to the evil king. But as he was about to do so, a voice filled his head, the voice of the princess, as he recalled her speech from earlier.

"We came back after a thousand years! We have endured hardships most can't even imagine! And we won't let somepony like Sombra manipulate us anymore! We'll show him that we can't just be wiped off the map again! We'll remind him who we are! WE ARE THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!"

He took a couple of steps forward, then stopped. Instead of walking further away from the castle, his horn lit up, magically magnifying his voice for the whole kingdom to hear.

"My name is Commander Steelheart," he began, "and I'd like to say something."

"Go ahead," said Sombra's voice. "I'm sure I can spare a few seconds."

"We've suffered heavy losses, have had our streets ravaged, and have had some of our friends and family destroyed already," he began. Some ponies looked downcast. How this was supposed to improve their morale, they didn't know.

"Some of us have considered your offer," Steelheart continued, addressing Sombra. "I myself have considered it. But I think I speak for everypony here when I say this:

"Go to hell, where you belong."

Some of the soldiers looked up, surprised. Steelheart went on, now glaring at the empty patch of sky he was focusing on.

"I remember what it was like when you ruled over us. Nothing but work, all day, every day. Now, I might be scared of death, but I would rather die in agony while defending my kingdom than slink back to you again like a coward."

Even more ponies looked up, feeling empowered by his words.

"None of us are coming, Sombra. We will die before we submit to you again."

There was a short pause as Steelheart finished his speech. Then,

"Have it your way," Sombra said, spitefully. "If you would rather succumb to death than to me, so be it."

At that moment, the ground shook with a mightier tumult than ever before, as Sombra's forces began swarming back into the streets. All of the soldiers raised their weapons into defensive positions, as they abandoned their fear.

It was all or nothing now.

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Twilight finished climbing down the steps as the cavern descended into total darkness. The temperature down here was at least twenty degrees colder than it had been above ground. She lit her horn to observe her surroundings. Ventus, Spike, and all of the foals were standing in a big group about ten feet away. For some reason, Ventus had still not lit his horn, so the foals looked grateful as Twilight approached them. She looked at the male unicorn, whose eyes were unfocused, and was obviously zoned out.

"Why haven't you cast a light spell?" she asked.

"What?" Ventus asked, snapping back to reality as he looked around at Twilight.

"Your horn," she said, gesturing up at her own, which was ablaze, filling their surrounding with a soft glow. It took Ventus a moment to process what she was saying.

"Oh, yeah," he said, slightly embarrassed. His horn began to glow with a cyan light, but flickered. He struggled to cast the spell again, as his head began pounding and his horn began throbbing with pain.

"It... won't... go... through," he gasped out, giving up as he slumped to the ground. Twilight walked closer, to illuminate his face, and gasped at the sight of his horn. There were large, purple spots running up and down the length of it, as if somepony had been pummeling it with their hooves for hours. She recognized it almost immediately: Magic bruising.

"Do you normally use this much magic in a day?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ventus replied. "I do some form of bodyguarding every single day. I always have to hide."

She sighed. "Well, I don’t know why, but you, my friend, have a simple case of Magic Bruising."

Ventus groaned.

"I can fix it," Twilight continued, "but it'll take a few minutes to complete."

"We don't have a few minutes," Ventus pointed out. He stood up, brushing himself off. "I'll be fine for now. We need to get moving."

Twilight considered him for another moment before nodding, and moving back towards the foals, who were shaking both with fear and cold.

"Alright, everypony. Let's go," she said.

Spike had picked up a stick from the ground, and ignited it with his green flames, further helping to illuminate the large tunnel. It looked like a long, underground cave, with dirt floor and walls that were damp with moisture, and a ceiling that was ten or twelve feet above them. Spike led the way, as Twilight walked behind the group of foals, urging them to keep moving. Ventus walked several feet behind her, mostly hidden in the darkness since he was so far from the sources of light.

Magic Bruising, he cursed inside his head. It's been years since I've had Magic Bruising.

They walked in silence, apart from the sounds of their hooves hitting the ground. After a couple of minutes, however, the silence was broken quite suddenly.

A deep rumbling shook the whole tunnel, knocking down several of its occupants. The screams of fright from the foals pierced the air, as the deep rumbling went on and on. After a minute, it suddenly stopped.

Twilight stood up, dusting herself off, and surveying the scene. Thankfully, the tunnel hadn't caved in on itself. The foals and other adults were still on the ground. Several of them were coughing, due to the cloud of dust that had now filled the air. Being unable to discern individual faces due to the cloud of dust, Twilight trotted over to the figure nearest her, which turned out to be Ventus. He was still lying on the ground, teeth clenched from both the pains of both his horn and his fall.

"You alright?" Twilight asked, extending a hoof to help him up.

"Yeah," he replied, rising. "What do you think that was?"

"I think we ran out of time," Twilight said, sounding nervous at the prospect. "We'd better get moving."

But as she turned to look at the group of foals around her, she realized that it was going to be a lot harder than it sounded. Most of them were still on the ground, and almost all of them were panicking. There was crying everywhere she looked. Their fear had completely overcome them. Twilight looked around, nervously. She didn't know how to handle foals under ordinary circumstances, let alone when they were all scared out of their wits.

Well, she thought, I'd better try.

She began walking towards the large group, seeing Spike uselessly attempting to calm them all down.

"Everything's fine!" he called over the din they were making. "Come on! We need to go!" But none of them seemed to be listening to him. Twilight noticed one filly that wasn't making any noise. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, her front legs hugging her back ones to her as she stared at a fixed point in space. She was rocking slightly as she sat, tears glistening in her blue eyes. Twilight approached her, and then leaned down so that they were on the same level.

"What's your name?" Twilight asked her. She looked up at the lavender unicorn.

"...Evening Star," the orange filly said.

"Evening Star," Twilight said, lowering her volume even more so her voice was barely more than a whisper, "can I ask you something?"

She nodded.

"Are you scared?"

She looked slightly surprised, and didn't say anything.

"Don't worry, I can keep a secret," Twilight reassured her. Evening Star still waited a few moments before whispering her answer.

"...Yes."

"Can you keep my secret?" Twilight asked.

Once again, the filly nodded.

"...I am, too," Twilight said, in complete honesty. Evening Star looked surprised, as she looked into the lavender mare's face. Twilight was voicing her real concerns, concerns that she hadn't even confided to Cadence or Spike or Ventus, and she began shaking.

"In all honesty, we might not make it out of here alive. Sombra's army might kill us all. I might not ever see my friends again."

If this is supposed to make me feel better, Evening Star thought, It's not helping.

"That's why I need your help."

Evening Star looked confused, as she said "Me? What can I do?"

"You're handling your fear pretty well, but these foals are just as scared as we are," Twilight said, pointing around at all of the foals who were crying, "and I don't know how to calm them down. We need to get moving if we want to live, so I need you to help me get them moving."

Evening Star considered her for a moment, then unraveled her legs and stood. She began walking to different groups of foals, and talked to them for a short time. Twilight couldn't hear what Evening Star was telling them, but whatever it was, it seemed to be working. They didn't really look any calmer, but they were at least not screaming anymore. However, she did notice that most of the groups were looking over at her shortly before Evening Star ceased talking to them. After a minute, she had talked to all of the foals, and they were all looking at Twilight.

"All right, let's keep moving," Twilight said confidently.

Spike took the lead again with his torch, and the foals began shuffling along behind him. Evening Star trotted beside Twilight, with Ventus once again bringing up the rear, still seemingly able to see despite the complete darkness.

"What did you say to them?" Twilight asked the filly alongside her. Evening Star gave a small smile.

"I told them what you told me," she said, looking ahead at the group. "That you're just as scared as we are, but you're handling it fine. And that we can make it out of here alive if we do what you say."

"Did I say that?" Twilight asked, looking down in confusion at the little orange face below her. "I don't remember--"

"No, I added that last part," Evening Star admitted. "But it's true... isn't it?"

Twilight thought about the evil king above them, who had no doubt resumed his siege of the castle, and of his forces.

"I hope so... for everypony's sake..."

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As the rest of the front wall collapsed in on itself, Cadence expanded the size of the force field to cover the holes, but they all knew it wouldn't last long. All kinds of dark creatures were attempting to force their way into the palace, to clash with the few hundred guards that still remained. Shining Armor was still in the throne room, standing next to Cadence, who was now wearing golden armor fit to her proportions. They were both surrounded by commanders, who were there to relay their orders. Small tremors still shook the ground as Cadence's force field was hit by powerful spells and objects. Shining Armor's horn was lit up, and he was magically observing all areas of the palace.

"How're you doing?" He asked, turning to look at Cadence, who was putting all of her strength into maintaining the force field.

"I'll survive," she said, grimly. "I've maintained bigger force fields than this."

"There wasn't an entire army trying to force its way through that one," Shining Armor pointed out.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she replied, rather coolly, but Shining Armor was no longer paying attention. He had returned to magically observing the castle.

"The turret unicorns are doing alright," he said, "though if they're not careful, they'll run out of juice." Turning to one of the commanders, he continued "Go tell them to save the really powerful spells for later."

"Yes sir," the commander saluted, before hurrying off through the crowd of soldiers still in the room.

Shining Armor continued directing the battle in this fashion for several more minutes. Cadence, meanwhile, was finding it harder and harder to maintain the force field's full strength. Despite her best efforts, it began to slowly weaken. After another few moments, she let out a huge gasp.

"What?" Shining Armor said, slightly panicky, as he looked at her again. She had bent double, fighting to put all of the force she had left into the force field.

"Somepony's... trying to... force... their way... in," Cadence said, through clenched teeth, as she continued to force all of her strength into her spell. "Using... spell..."

All of Shining Armor's attention had turned to his wife. So, naturally, he didn't notice when the temperature in the throne room dropped several degrees, a typical sign of dark aura. He also didn't notice as one of the massive crystals above the throne began to glow black.

"I... can't... keep him out," Cadence said, as the external magical force broke through her resistance. As Shining Armor turned and finally noticed the crystal above the throne, it shot a beam of blue light straight at Princess Cadence. It struck her, and flung her through the air above all of the soldiers. At the exact same moment, the force field around the castle flickered, then died. The ground shook horribly as Sombra's army lept forward, all forcing their way into the palace. Cadence smashed against the wall, and slid to the floor below.

"Cadence!" Shining Armor cried, beginning to force his way towards her through the shocked soldiers. As he moved, a huge black cloud of smoke began pouring through the doors of the throne room, and swept over the heads of the soldiers towards the throne. It began to swirl around the throne, solidifying, as Shining Armor reached his wife. She had been knocked unconscious. He used magic to reawaken her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, with a fearful voice. She slowly nodded, then began to stand up.

"I'll be fine," she said, now standing up fully, though she winced as pain shot through her head. They both turned, and saw King Sombra begin to decimate the other soldiers in the room. Pressed in from both sides now, what remained of The Crystal Empire had no chance, and both of them knew it. Cadence looked at Shining Armor again, the stallion she had secretly loved for so long. He too looked at her, the mare he hadn't though he stood a chance with. Memories of old days flashed before their eyes. Cadence's filled with tears.

"This is it," she said, her voice quivering. "This is the end... isn't it?"

Shining Armor shook his head.

"It's not over yet," he said. "I plan to fight to the end."

She nodded. "Me, too."

Simultaneously, they galloped forward to re-join the soldiers. Two of their commanders were nearby. Shining Armor ran up to them.

"Get your troops and go help the outside forces!" He ordered them. "Leave King Sombra to us!"

"Yes, sir," they both replied at once.

Shining Armor's horn glowed, making him virtually weightless as he jumped onto Cadence's back. Her wings spread, and in one powerful motion, she took off into the air, her husband in tow. They flew over the heads of their soldiers, straight at Sombra. As Shining Armor prepared to fire a deadly spell at the king, Sombra turned back into smoke, flying up and out one of the already-shattered windows. Changing the spell, Shining Armor instead teleported the two of them into the air outside the palace, in time to see Sombra turning around to come back at them. Cadence flew sideways to avoid him, and descended towards the crystal-covered ground. When she was close enough, Shining Armor flipped off of her, landing squarely on his hooves again. Sombra too had descended - he appeared unable to cast any offensive spells while he was smoke. He solidified into his pony form again as Cadence landed next to Shining Armor.

It was a standoff now. Sombra’s eyes shifted between the two of them as they stared him down, all waiting for somepony to move first.

The tension was shattered as Shining Armor shot a bolt of light straight at Sombra’s chest. Ready for it, A small wall of dark crystals formed right in front of the king. The crystals reflected the bolt straight back where it came from. Shining Armor had to sidestep to avoid his own attack, as a large, sharp piece of crystal from the top of Sombra’s wall suddenly shot straight at Princess Cadence. It was moving so fast that she was barely able to move her torso out of the way. Time seemed to slow down as Cadence saw her own, terrified face reflecting back at her from the crystal. She watched as her expression changed. Her eyes narrowed, and she glared at herself.

No matter what happens, she thought to herself, I am not letting my fear control me.

Her horn lit up, and the ground beneath Sombra began to shake. He realized what was happening just in time to avoid being impaled. Instead, as his hooves made contact with the giant crystal as it rose from the ground, he used it to hurl himself upwards, bringing his wall of crystals with him. As he reached the peak of his ascent, the crystal wall shattered, the pieces flying down at the other two with the speed of bullets. Both had to conjure magical shields to avoid being torn apart. Sombra transformed into the cloud of smoke, and flew down towards them. But instead of focusing on one pony, he smashed into the ground in-between them, creating a huge shock wave. Both Cadence and Shining Armor were knocked off of their hooves.

Cadence slowly got to her hooves again, wincing at the pain of her injuries. As she looked up, she saw King Sombra flying straight at her.

“NO!” Cadence heard a voice cry.

She stood her ground, glaring at the approaching cloud. She knew she was done for, and she was going to die staring death in the face. She saw the crimson horn solidify, and knew what he was going to do.

Just before Sombra reached her, there was a flash of light, directly between them. Something appeared, blocking Cadence’s view of her approaching death. A split second later, her eyes made contact with the horn again as it easily stabbed straight through the chest of Shining Armor, emerging even more scarlet than it had been before.

“Shining Armor! NO!” Cadence shrieked. Sombra swung his head around, launching Shining Armor away through the air. Cadence’s horn glowed, and she appeared right next to him as he hit the ground. She didn’t care about fighting Sombra; her entire universe was dying at her hooves. She knelt down, and the couple’s eyes met for the final time.

Then, something vanished in the teal pair.

Shining Armor was gone.

Cadence’s senses stopped working properly. She couldn’t hear her own shrieks and sobs as she sat, tears pouring onto her late husband’s face. She didn’t even react when King Sombra approached. She would welcome death. She had nothing left to live for. Her empire had fallen, her subjects had been slaughtered, her husband was dead. She wanted it over.

But her wishes weren’t granted. Sombra placed a spell on her that paralyzed her entire body. If she could’ve fought tooth-and-nail to get back to Shining Armor, she would’ve. But she couldn’t even shed a tear now. She was left to experience all of her misery internally, with no way to release it, as Sombra levitated her limp body back over the Crystal-covered grounds to the palace.

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The group of foals and adults continued moving down the passageway, which was now getting narrower and rockier. Ventus could feel the magical bruising rapidly receding from his horn, but he knew his horn would be incredibly sore the next day. The shakes from the battle above were growing even worse now.

“How much further, do you think?” Ventus asked Twilight.

“It can’t be much further now, can it?” Twilight asked. “We’ve been walking a good twenty minutes now.”

“Yeah,” Ventus replied. “We should be getting close.”

They kept going, as the rumbling grew even worse. The tunnel felt as though it was about to collapse in on itself. Soon, it was shaking almost as badly as it had when the attack resumed.

“This can’t be natural!" One of the foals finally shrieked. Ventus, unbeknownst to the others, was scanning the long tunnel, his vision easily piercing straight through the darkness. Looking deep back the way they had come, he finally found the source of all the rumbling. His face turned chalk-white.

"Twilight," he said, trying his utmost not to yell in his horror, "we need to move. Like, now."

"Why?" Twilight asked, looking confused.

"Because," Ventus said, still in a falsely-calm voice, "There's about 400 different creatures moving right at us."

Twilight's eyes widened, and she lost it.

"Run!" she screamed. "Run as fast as you can!"

The foals didn't need telling twice. Now feasting on their withheld panic, everypony was galloping faster than a coalition of cheetah on a hunt. It didn't help; Sombra's army was still closing in on them.

"We've got to block them off!" Ventus yelled to Twilight across the deafening uproar.

"How?!" Twilight yelled back.

Ventus gestured up towards the rocky ceiling with his head. Twilight thought for a moment, quickly connecting the dots.

"Are you insane?!" She shrieked. "That'll bring down the whole tunnel! We'll all die!"

"No, we won't!" Ventus said, confidently. "Not if I hit it in exactly the right way!"

"And if you don't, we--" Twilight began, but stopped. Ventus had skidded to a halt, and she was looking back at him over her shoulder as she continued galloping.

I won't, Ventus thought at her, even though he knew she couldn't hear it. He charged a spell, turning back towards the incoming horde of monsters. He aimed for the ceiling ten yards away from him, and fired. Immediately, the tunnel shook worse than ever, as large chunks of rock fell from the spot he had struck. They quickly formed a nice, huge pile of boulders, which soon blocked the entire corridor.

Satisfied, Ventus turned back and ran on the same way the rest of the ponies had.

He emerged into daylight not even thirty seconds later. He hadn't seen it coming; the illusion spell on the outside had made it appear as if the tunnel kept going on the inside. On the outside, however, it appeared to be one of the white, smooth brick, outside walls of the train station. Ventus squinted in the blinding, unexpected sunlight, and found the rest of the group not far away. Twilight looked livid.

"I can't believe you tried that!" she scolded, stalking up to him. "You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"But I didn't," Ventus said. "I'm fine, and those monsters aren't getting through ten metric tons of rock anytime soon."

Twilight didn't appear consoled. "You scared me," she said. Ventus raised his eyebrows.

"Didn't realize you care so much," he said, with a smug little smile.

"Of course I do!" Twilight exclaimed. Then, her face reddened, and she looked at the ground to her right. "I -- I mean, who would -- drive the train if you were gone?" she fumbled, still looking to her right. "I don't know how, and I seriously doubt any of the foals do either."

"Uh huh," Ventus said, clearly skeptical as he nodded his head. "I'm sure that's what you--"

A/N: Hee Hee Hee, time for something I've never tried before. I know it's like the end of the chapter, but here's some OPTIONAL background music from the actual Dark Cloud game. Adds a creepy effect to the story. I'm probably gonna be putting more of these in here, depending on how this one works out.

He stopped, looking at something over Twilight's head, his mouth half-open.

"What?" Twilight asked. When Ventus didn't reply, she turned to see for herself.

The castle had been built so anypony could see the balcony from almost any part of the Empire. Therefore, they had a clear view of King Sombra on the palace balcony, with none other than an expressionless Princess Cadence.

"No..." Twilight said weakly, sinking to the ground.

Ventus turned white as he realized what was about to happen. He turned to Spike.

"Get the foals in the train," he said, hurriedly. "I don't want them seeing this."

“O--Okay,” Spike said, trying to keep the horror out of his voice and failing dismally at it. He began hurriedly shepherding the foals onto the VIP train. But the location of the foals became irrelevant, as Sombra magnified his voice to echo across the whole empire, reaching any who happened to have survived.

”Your battle has been fought, and lost. Your troops have been slaughtered. Your Prince is dead. You are all defenseless. You will now watch, as I destroy your last piece of hope, your guiding beacon, your final leader, your Princess, Mi Amore Cadenza.”

Twilight could only watch, as Sombra stripped off Cadence’s remaining pieces of armor, and held her up with magic on her hind legs. Still, her face appeared emotionless, as she was unable to move. Inside her head, she pleaded with Sombra to make it quick. She would be back with her husband soon.

Sombra backed up, and galloped hard straight at Cadence, his head bent down, his horn in front. It easily pierced her back, and went straight through, protruding out of her chest an inch or two.

“NO!” Twilight screamed hysterically, tears pouring down her face. “No!”

She sank to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Ventus stood rooted to the spot, still staring wide-eyed at the palace balcony. A single tear welled up in his left eye, and it slid down his cheek, off his chin, creating a little splash as it hit the ground. Spike was trying his utmost not to cry as he consoled the terrorized foals, but even he had a wet face as tears streamed freely down it.

Gradually, Twilight’s sobs changed, turning into labored breaths, then into snarls. She slowly looked up at the castle again, her teeth clenched, glaring through her river of tears.

“SOMBRA!” she screamed. The very air seemed to vibrate in her anger, her sadness, her drive for vengeance. Ventus realized what she was about to do, and teleported beside her in a flash. Just as she took the first step back towards the castle, Ventus' hoof was on her shoulder, restraining her.

"Stop, Twilight!" He yelled, as he struggled to hold her there. "We need to retreat! We need reinforcements!"

"I DON'T CARE!" Twilight yelled, trying to throw him off with magic that he was easily countering. "HE KILLED MY BROTHER! HE KILLED CADENCE! I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"

"There's nothing you can do for them!" Ventus cried, now fighting hard as her magic became even stronger. She ignored him, still fighting tooth and hoof to escape his grasp.

"I know you'll hate me for this," he said, charging a spell, "but it's for your own good."

He cast it. She, being unprepared, couldn't counter it fast enough. Her eyes closed, her aura died. Ventus levitated her over to the train, and set her down in a reclining seat.

"Watch her for me," Ventus said to Evening Star, who was sitting close by. The filly nodded. Satisfied, Ventus entered the driver's cabin, and started them back home.

Current Equestria Population:
1,430,246

Author's Note

This was a fun chapter to write. It's nice to be back to writing new stuff. Finally, some complete, creative freedom.
I'm working on the next chapter.
Yeah.
Fun stuff.
Merry Christmas. I'll be working hard on this story since I have nothing else to do while my entire family drives... somewhere for Christmas Break. It's gonna be a two-day trip and I can't do Zelda speedrunning in the car (I get carsick when I play games, but not when I do anything else...), so I'll have a lot of time to kill.

Casualties

The mood on the VIP Train was not a happy one. The foals were still traumatized by Princess Cadence's murder, and Spike's attempts to calm them down were completely useless, as he was just as hysterical as they were. Eventually, he simply gave up, curling into a little ball on one of the seats, hugging his legs to his chest, trying his utmost not to bawl in front of everypony.

Ventus stood at the train controls, staring unseeingly out of the front window. His report to Celestia was still fresh in his mind. He could still remember the exact words they exchanged. Princess Celestia had begun by violating protocol, and sending her real thoughts immediately instead of finishing the test.

"Ventus?"

"Yup, I'm here."

"Thank goodness you're okay. What happened?"

He had hesitated at this point, wondering how on earth he could break the news. After a few moments, he decided there was nothing that would break the ice, and he said it outright.

"...I'm sorry, your highness. The Crystal Empire has fallen."

Silence. Ventus waited for the reply, not wanting to interrupt whatever was going through Celestia's thoughts.

"Well, tell me you're not the only one who escaped," Celestia said, her voice worried.

"No, I'm not alone. Twilight and Spike, and a bunch of foals that were found in the street are with me." He paused again. This news would be worse than the fall of the empire, and he knew it. "But... I regeret to report that..."

"What?" Celestia demanded, the panic evident in her voice, which was an extraordinarily rare occurrence. Celestia had always been known for how calm she could be, even in the most dire situations.

"They... killed in action," Ventus fumbled. "They were both murdered personally by Sombra."

An even longer silence. This time, after it had stretched on for a full two minutes, Ventus broke it.

"We're on our way back to Canterlot, but it'll take a while to get there because of the passenger speed-limit laws."

"...Keep me advised," Celestia finished, as the connection broke.

He spent the next hour silently contemplating the grief Celesita must be feeling. Never in Equestria's 6300 year lifespan had an Alicorn been slain in battle. The astronomical pain this must be putting her through... Ventus didn't even want to think about it. It would be worse than when Luna had been banished; Cadence wasn't ever coming back.

He was saved from his own dark thoughts when the doors to the driver's cabin slammed open, which was impressive considering they were both electric doors. Jolted from his stupor, Ventus turned to see Twilight crossing the threshold, her face exceptionally livid. Ventus wouldn't have been surprised if she burst into flames.

"I had to," Ventus said, before she could even begin telling him off. "He beat Shining Armor and Princess Cadence single-hoofedly. He would've torn you to shreds."

Twilight opened her mouth to give an angry reply, but it slowly closed again as the will to fight drained from her. If there was one thing she had learned about friendship thus far, it was that your friends usually want what's best for you. She knew going after Sombra alone would've been idiotic, since he had an entire army up there with him. Her glare faded.

"...I know," she said a few moments later.

They sat in silence, as Ventus stared out the front window again.

"Where are we?" Twilight eventually asked.

"About two hours south of Baltimare," Ventus replied. "I've already been in contact with Princess Celestia. We're headed back to Canterlot."

Desperate for something to distract herself with, Twilight spent the next two hours talking to Ventus again. Since she had done most of the talking the first time, she wanted to hear about his life.

"How does somepony become Chief of Security if the security is secret?" she had asked.

"Well," Ventus began, doing some very quick thinking. He would have to warp parts of the story in order to not reveal classified information.

“I was a smart colt. Too smart. When I took the aptitude test, my results were so high that they accepted me, even though I hadn’t ever managed to do any magic. I did fine in class. I knew all of the theory. Something about me caught Celestia’s attention. She gave me a private lesson, and finally, I could use magic.

“Since then, I’ve never had any trouble with any magic I’ve studied. Celestia had me study dark magic, but she wouldn’t let me try to use it. Then, a few years ago, she told me what she was training me for. her Chief of Security was growing old, and wanted to retire. She was training me to be his replacement. Of course, I accepted. I’ve been driving this train and guarding her ever since.”

Twilight had more questions, and Ventus strained himself mentally to come up with more believable lies for the next while. Twilight was trying hard to not think about Cadence or Shining Armor, but she couldn’t help it. Their faces kept creeping to the top of her mind, and she couldn’t suppress the grief forever.

“You couldn’t have done anything,” Ventus told her the third time she had tears in her eyes. “Sombra won this time, but the fight isn’t over yet. We’re going to destroy him and his army in due time. He won’t be able to hurt anypony else. He won’t tear apart any more families.”

Twilight let the tears slide down her face, but nodded. Then, she turned and went back to the passenger car.

Ventus returned his whole focus to his train driving, and was suddenly annoyed at how slow they were moving. He contacted Celestia again, and received her direct permission to violate the passenger-speed-limit laws. Pushing the train much further now, he smiled as they broke 500mph.

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Princess Celestia,

I understand you’ve already been informed of our fate by Ventus, but he doesn’t know about one minor detail. I’d like a full mental and physical examination performed on Spike the moment we arrive. I believe he’s the one who removed the Crystal Heart, but I also believe he wan’t acting of his own free will. I did a minor, shortened mental examination, and was getting some odd readings in his cerebral cortex. I believe an exterior force was, and maybe still is, manipulating him. If Sombra is indeed moving against the rest of Equestria, I don’t want Spike to be used as a spying device.

I’m doing fine. Hope you are, too.

Your ever faithful student, Twilight Sparkle

After ensuring Spike wasn’t watching, she sent the letter off into oblivion. Realizing just how exhausted she still was, she turned over in her seat, curled up again, and fell back asleep.

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Twilight awoke as the train rolled into the Canterlot Palace Emergency Station. Ventus came out of the driver’s cabin to speak directly to the foals.

“All right, there are some nice ponies out there who are gonna take care of you,” he said. “Just do what they say.”

The foals began shuffling off the train and onto the platform, where several foalcare professionals were waiting. Twilight could see a few guards also standing out there. Spike exited the train next, and immediately, the guards moved forward. One lifted Spike off the ground, while another hit him with a blast of magical knockout gas. Twilight winced. She felt bad about it, but if Spike really was being controlled, it was necessary. She looked at the guard levitating Spike’s limp figure in the air.

“Please, be gentle with him,” she pleaded. The guards galloped off of the platform, disappearing into the palace.

“We’re going to see the princesses,” Ventus informed Twilight from behind. “They… they’ve called a war council.”

Twilight’s heart sank right into her stomach. A war council hadn’t been called in over 1000 years, since Celestia had been forced to fight Luna (Nightmare Moon) for control of the kingdom.

They didn’t head to the throne room like Twilight had expected them to. Instead, they descended a stone staircase, into the rarely-used basement level of the castle. The guards in front of her seemed to know where they were going, as did Ventus. Twilight followed the crowd, as she’d never needed to come down here before. They went through a pair of iron doors, into a dark, cavernous room. It was lit with a soft, light-blue light, coming from a circular device in the center of the room. It threw the faces of everypony present halfway into shadow, creating an eerie feeling in the air. Twilight immediately spotted the dark figures of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, as they were the tallest ponies in the room. She galloped over to them, where Celestia stood ready to receive her.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight,” Princess Celestia said, after Twilight had galloped straight into her embrace. “I’m sorry you had to watch that.”

Fresh tears came from both mares, as Twilight realized this was just as hard, if not harder for Celestia. Never in recorded history had an Alicorn been killed in battle.

“I’m sorry, Princess!” Twilight cried into her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him!”

“There’s nothing you could have done,” Celestia said, almost mirroring what Ventus had said to her a few hours’ previous. She slowly ran a hoof through Twilight’s mane as a mother would with her daughter. “Your actions were heroic. You saved 20 foals, at least.”

Knowing it would be a while before Twilight would’ve, Celestia relinquished her hold on her student. Her eyes were dry now, though Twilight’s were still swimming in tears. Celestia gave her a warm smile.

“There’re some other ponies here who I think you need to see,” she said, shifting sideways. Twilight noticed, with a jolt of surprise, the rest of her best friends from Ponyville. Rarity and Applejack were closest, wearing looks of concern on their faces. Rainbow Dash was a bit behind them. Predictably, Fluttershy was towards the back, with tears of her own in her eyes. Uncharacteristically, she was accompanied by an extremely downtrodden Pinkie Pie. She wasn’t bouncing off the walls as she usually would, nor did she look worried for Twilight. Pinkie looked as lost and confused as though she was on a different planet. It was slightly unnerving to behold - she looked worse than she had on the occasion when she thought all of her friends had abandoned her, worse even than when she had cloned herself a thousand times in the mirror pool.

Look strong, Twilight thought to herself. Be strong for your friends.

She embraced each mare closest to her, who all expressed their remorses.

“I liked them,” Applejack simply stated. “They were good rulers, good ponies.”

When it came to be Fluttershy’s turn, she burst into audible tears.

“I’m - so sorry, Twilight!” She sobbed into Twilight’s shoulder. “Th-they, ..gone!”

It was all she could coherently say. Her crying almost shattered Twilight’s resolve, as tears welled up in her eyes again, threatening to burst forth once more. Something about Fluttershy’s grief was a thousand times worse than anypony else had been so far. But she somehow managed to hold it in, as she finally released Fluttershy. She looked around at them all.

“Why are you all here?” she inquired. “Why does Celestia need us at a war council?”

"We were kinda hoping you could tell us," said Rainbow Dash. "You're the one who's read all the history of--"

She went silent. Celestia had risen a hoof, and all noise had ceased immediately. Twilight then remembered they weren't the only ones in the room. Several Generals and military commanders were there as well.

"As I'm sure you're all aware of by now," Celestia began, "the Crystal Empire fell today. An old foe of ours, King Sombra, has gathered an army. They marched against the empire today, and though the empire fought gallantly, they stood no chance against Sombra's forces."

Silence.

"Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with us. Why call a war council if the war is already lost?"

A few ponies shifted uncomfortably. Obviously, they had been wondering exactly that.

"Well, I have reason to believe he intends to move against the rest of Equestria as well."

Muttering broke out at that. One pegasus spoke up.

"How can we be sure, your highness?" He asked. "Sombra did have a vendetta against the empire, after all. Why would he go after us if he has nothing against us? Surely, he realizes he doesn't stand a chance against us as a whole?"

"Because, Commander Cloven Hoof, I have it from him firsthand," Celestia swiftly replied, pulling something from her magical inventory. Even more muttering broke out as she unfurled the letter.

"You have twelve hours," she read aloud, "to surrender the Elements of Harmony. Now, how he found out about the Elements, I have no idea, but he seems to know they'll be able to stop him."

"Is that our plan, your majesty?" another general asked, "To bring in the Elements to stop him?"

"Indeed," Celestia said. "We plan to deal with Sombra in that way, but..." She looked sideways at Luna, who nodded slightly.

"We are unsure about how destabilized Sombra's forces will be once he is gone," Princess Luna picked up where Celestia left off. "It will be the army's responsibility to wipe out any who still seem to want to fight for him."

"Sombra will be the responsibility of the Elements of Harmony and myself," Celestia said, pointing a hoof at Twilight and her friends. "Princess Luna will oversee the efforts of the military. Now, I don't want these ponies to stay here longer than they have to, so if you all excuse me, I'm going to show them to their rooms. Princess Luna, if you could begin the debriefing. We leave at dawn."

Luna nodded. Celestia beckoned, and Twilight's group all followed her out of the throne room.

"Pardon me, Princess," Rarity trotted up alongside Celestia immediately, "but where's Spike? I heard he was coming back."

Twilight froze. She hadn't had time to explain Spike's situation before the meeting. Celestia glanced over at Twilight.

"I'm sure Twilight can tell you," she said.

Everypony looked at Twilight expectantly. She, however, could only focus on Rarity's suddenly panic-stricken expression.

"Where is he?" She demanded, wide-eyed. "What's wrong with him?!"

Feeling the dozen eyeballs focused on her, Twilight recounted what had happened, where Spike was and why. Rarity looked appalled.

"Someone might use him to spy on us?" She asked, mouth half open. Then she shook her head. "No, Spikey-wikey would never let somepony use him like that. He's too strong."

Twilight remained expressionless, but on the inside, she was surprised. She hadn't ever heard Rarity talk about Spike like that.

Celestia led them to a set of spare bedrooms, informing them that they'd be under guard for the night. She left them, needing to get back to the war council. Everypony, expect Twilight and (predictably) Fluttershy, began talking.

"Fighting Sombra again!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "This time, he's going down for good!"

Eventually, Rarity noticed that Twilight was just standing there, staring out a side window.

"What's wrong, darling?" She asked.

Twilight didn't honestly know. Her brother and Cadence were still fresh in her mind, of course, but that wasn't the only thing eating at her.

"I don't know," she sighed, looking out upon the large city of Canterlot. "I just... I feel like things are going to get a lot worse from here on out."

As she said them, she knew her words were true. She felt as though everything was about to spiral downhill and crash into the ground in a blazing fireball.

"How can it be worse?" Rainbow Dash asked, hovering above her. "I know Sombra's back and all, but we'll take the Elements of Harmony and blast him into a pile of jelly. Piece of cake!"

"Oooh! I've got one!" Pinkie Pie squealed. Reaching into her mane, she retrieved a piece of strawberry cake with pink frosting on a glass plate. She took an enormous, loud bite out of it, noisily chewing it up. She then noticed the funny looks she was getting from the others.

"Wan sum?" she asked through her mouthful of cake, "I hahv more."

She reached into her mane again, retrieving the rest of the cake. Everypony's jaws dropped.

"Think I'll pass," Rainbow Dash said, looking slightly revolted. Pinkie shrugged, and returned to her piece.

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. She wasn't wondering how Pinkie had managed to break the laws of physics - she had learned to stop that long ago. She was thinking about how quickly Pinkie's mood had changed. Not five minutes earlier, Pinkie had seemed to be one of the most depressed ponies alive, and now she was back to her regular, overly-cheerful (and crazy) state. If she was honest to herself, It was unnerving.

Soon thereafter, although it wasn't all that late, somepony unexpected arrived to chivy them into their rooms; Ventus.

"Celestia wants you all to have a decent night's rest for tomorrow," he said. "You should really all get to bed."

Silence. Then they all drifted into the various rooms; Pinkie Pie with Rainbow Dash, Applejack with Rarity (ironic, right?), leaving Twilight with Fluttershy and Spike, if he was discharged. Fluttershy went straight to her bed without saying anything. Twilight, meanwhile, lay on her bed, trying not to think about anything as she attempted to sleep. But her long naps on the train were catching up with her, and she wasn't even remotely tired anymore. She lay awake for a while, until there was a loud rapping sound on her door. She jumped about a mile into the air before running to the door, remembering that it couldn't be anyone bad because there were guards out there. She wrenched open the door to find, for the second time that day, Spike waiting to enter.

"Spike!" She exclaimed, pulling him through and shutting the door again. "You're all right! What happened?"

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Five Hours Earlier

The guards carried the limp dragon into the exam room, closing the doors behind them. The examiners were ready, as per Celestia's orders. As soon as the unconscious dragon was placed on the bed, they immediately set to work. After a few minutes, the chief examiner walked through the door, a grim expression on his face.

"Find anything?" he asked.

"Nothing so far," one of the examiners said. The rest, save one, nodded in concurrence. The chief raised his eyebrows at the one examiner who hadn't nodded.

"...I think I have," he said, his mouth open. "Look at his subconsciousness."

Horn lit red, the Chief began scanning the subconscious, and soon found what the other stallion had been referring to. Most of the subconscious looked normal, but there was a giant black mass hidden deep in the recesses of it.

"What could that be?" the Chief wondered aloud, scratching his head with a hoof. "I've never seen anything like it before."

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"...I don't exactly know," Spike replied. "I woke up, they said I was fine and could go. What happened? Why was I at magical exam?"

After explaining what she had done and why she had done it, Spike refused to speak to her for the rest of the evening, despite her repeated apologies. Eventually, she grew frustrated.

"It was for the best!" She yelled. "How would you feel if something had used you to kill one of us?!"

When he continued to lay in his bed in huffy silence, Twilight growled in frustration. Stalking to her four-poster bed, she laid down and magically extinguished the lamps, almost shattering the light bulbs in her silent fury.

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"...I know you've never fought in military battle before," Ventus said to the ponies before him, "but you've trained for years in the best combat programs known to ponykind. If you're in top form tomorrow, I have full confidence we will all return alive, and Kick Sombra's army's butts. Dismissed."

The guards all stood up, as they began filing out of the door, some talking in low voices. Ventus kept up his confidence facade even after all of his team had left. They had been asked to assist the army in the eradication of Sombra's army. He felt fine about it - he was sure the ponies he had worked with for years would be more than enough for a disorganized army of selfish monsters. But something felt slightly... off. He couldn't quite place what it was, but something wasn't right. he felt like he was forgetting something, like there was something really important he had to do.

But what could it possibly be? he silently pondered, as he trotted toward the doors. The security rotations have already been sorted out. That's all it really could be.

Before he knew it, he had ascended three floors, and he was looking at the hallway where three of his guards were stationed, each guarding a door leading to where the Elements of Harmony were sleeping. Ventus could see them, even though they were invisible to almost everypony else. As he passed them, the one guarding Rarity and Applejack shifted slightly. Ventus paused, looking sideways at him.

Something wrong, Forest Shade? Ventus thought at him.

No, sir, the green stallion replied swiftly. Just surprised to see you out in the open. It's not really like you.

Ventus shrugged. All right, then. He moved on.

Forest Shade breathed the teeniest sigh of relief, before internally smiling.

This will work perfectly, he thought to himself. I just need to wait a bit longer...

Ventus ascended several more stories, his ominous feeling growing even stronger with every step he took, growing to occupy his entire focus. Finally deciding it wasn't natural, he changed course slightly, heading for the other side of the floor he was on. He approached the inconspicuous room, which was being guarded by a large unicorn stallion from his force. The unicorn immediately moved aside, allowing Ventus to knock on the door.

"Come in," the Princess said. Ventus opened the door, entering the room he had only been in a few times before. Celestia closed it behind him with magic.

"Well, this is a rare treat," she said, turning to face him. "It's been a few decades since you've visited me here."

Ventus nodded, unsure how to respond.

"Well, pull up a chair," Celestia said, conjuring an armchair from thin air. "Let's have a nice, long chat."

Ventus walked over, sitting in the soft chair. Celestia was the only pony who had ever seen straight through Ventus, knowing exactly how he felt no matter how hard he tried to hide it. It was slightly uncomfortable, as that was normally his job, but it was kind of nice to have somepony to confide in, too. Especially since that somepony was a ruler of the land.

"So," Celestia began, looking at him. "What's on your mind?"

"...I don't know," Ventus said, looking at the floor. He suddenly found it hard to meet her gaze, not used to having his emotions seen so easily.

"Don't know, huh? Well, plenty has happened lately. Is it the Crystal Empire? That's gotten to all of us."

"No, it's not that," he said, looking at her to reinforce that he was telling the truth. "I just... I feel like I'm forgetting something. Something important."

"To be honest," Celestia said, frowning slightly, "me too."

Ventus cocked an eyebrow. "That makes this even weirder."

"It's also a familiar feeling," Celestia said, her brain working quickly. Then, she remembered where she had felt this before. Her eyes widened slightly.

"Remember Summerlight?" She asked. Ventus racked his brains, and then knew what she was talking about.

"Yeah," he replied. "We never really figured out how he died. But that was 25 years ago, Princess. What does it have to do with this?"

"Didn't we both feel like this that night?"

Ventus opened his mouth, but then it hit him; she was right. He had felt this exact same way just minutes before Summerlight's body had been found. His eyes widened slightly, just as Celestia's had.

"That can't be good, can it?"

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Rarity sighed as she walked through the blank landscape. She had no idea where she was, and there seemed to be nowhere to go. So she walked on into the endless emptiness, the clip-clop sound of her hoofsteps vanishing into the emptiness.

A speck of purple on the ground came into view, sticking out like a sore thumb in the white landscape. She made a beeline for it. Growing impatient, she broke into a gallop as the speck grew even larger. She recognized it almost immediately, and galloped even harder to Spike's fallen figure. He was face-down on the ground. She reached him, as his body turned over.

And his black eyes came into focus.

Rarity let out a huge gasp as she sat up in her bed, drenched in her own sweat, her eyes wide. She was panting as though she really had ran the distance to Spike's body. She calmed down slightly as she realized she had been dreaming. Thankful that she was not having to share a bed with Applejack, who was still asleep on the other side of the room, she stood up and moved to the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror.

She was a mess. Her hair was sticking out in odd places, and it was rather greasy. She could smell the musty scent of sweat coming from her own body.

Unwilling to return to bed in such a disgusting and uncouth state, she ran a bath, and washed herself, spending the entire time dwelling on her odd dream.

Why are you so worried about Spike? she asked herself, as she soaked in the lukewarm water. He'll be fine. He's been in worse spots than this before, and you never worried...

Her dark thoughts kept her company even as she drained the bath and dried herself off. Wondering if there were any extra sheets she could use so she wouldn't be forced to lay in her own sweat again, she opened the bathroom door just a crack, intending to return to her four-poster.

Immediately, her heart began to race, and her vision shook slightly. She didn't know why; she physically felt fine. But there was an ominous feeling in the air that, for some reason, was terrifying her. Wondering what she was about to face, she opened the door the rest of the way. The reason became apparent immediately.

A light-green stallion was lying on his back a few feet away from Applejack's bed. He wasn't moving.

Eyes wide, Rarity ran over to him.

He didn't seem to be breathing.

Holding her breath, she rolled him over.

And let out a huge gasp.

The stallion's eyes, like Spike's had been in her dream, were pitch-black. No pupils, no iris. His mouth was half-open, and he wasn't breathing.

He was very obviously dead.

Rarity fell back, scrambling back several yards from the fallen body on all fours.

"Applejack!" she cried. "Applejack! Somepony's dead on our floor!"

There was no reply. Rarity looked over at Applejack's bed, barely seeing it in her hysteria. She stood up, scrambling over to it as fast as she could move in her shocked state.

"Applejack!" She yelled again, shaking her hard.

Applejack's limp figure turned slightly, revealing her profile.

Which was identical to the green stallion's. Half-open mouth, pitch black eyes, no warmth in her body.

Rarity opened her mouth and let out a blood-curdling shriek, loud enough for the entire castle to hear;

"HEEELP!"

Current Equestria Population:
1,430,244

Author's Note

Heeey, I lost a dislike and gained a like! :raritystarry:

Theories on what the hell happened in this chapter?? Post them in the comments below. (Except my pre-readers. You both probably know already.)

I left a lot of unanswered questions. Just wait - I'll answer them in due time.

Why am I getting almost no feedback anymore? (Except you, Cool_story_reader. I appreciate how you say something about every single chapter. You're awesome. :twilightsmile: )
I like hearing what you guys think, your theories on what's gonna happen (without referencing the 'old' chapters...) and how you think I'm doing. Even if you think I'm doing a crappy-flank job, I wanna hear it. So please, take two more seconds out of your day to say something. Please. :fluttershysad:

Anyway, that's enough of my whining.
I'm beginning work on the next chapter almost immediately. Yay, Christmas break.

Plans

Author's Note

EDIT: Sorry for the unpublish and republish. I knew I was forgetting something when I published, and it turns out I had forgotten to put this chapter in the correct place! :twilightsheepish:

I know it's a day later than I said, but that's why I'm publishing this without any pre-reading. (My pre-readers usually take a couple of days to get back to me on my chapters. That's why they're late sometimes.)

Nothing feels better than getting new favorites. I haven't been individually sending each of you a message every time you favorite it, but thank you all for even beginning to read this story, and especially you who have stayed current with it. Because of the view counts, I know Cool_Story_Reader isn't the only one who stays fairly current, even though no one else ever says anything. So even though I have no idea who is even reading this anymore, thank you to you unknown beings who are. :twilightsmile:

Now, get on with reading!!

-Ben (Darkened5ky)

P.S. Dark Cloud has gone over 2,000 accumulated views!!! You guys are amazing! I never expected I would hit numbers like that. Thank you all again for being awesome and reading my (not?) awesome story!

Plans

You want to tell me what the hell is going on?

...You think I know? None of this was me! You've been part of everything I've done!

So you're telling me that Sombra's found another one that'll cooperate with him?

I don't think it's another one... I think this one is full-blooded.

...But why? What's it after?

I don't know! We're all after different things.

Well, this sure works out well for Sombra. He's now bypassed the Crystal Heart and eliminated the Elements of Harmony as factors.

It works out well for us, too. We needed those things to happen as much as he did.

You needed them to happen. You're the one who wants Equestria destroyed, not me.

True.

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"How did he slip past you?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Why didn't you sense him, or notice the door opening?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Why weren't you paying closer attention?!"

"I don't know, sir."

"How the hell did two ponies die on my security team's watch?!"

"I don't know, sir."

"Who can tell me ANYTHING?! Who isn't so completely fu--"

He felt a hoof on his shoulder, and stopped talking immediately. Only then did he notice the dark forces stirring up in his anger. He breathed deeply in and out, pushing it back down.

Ventus was livid. Never had anypony under his team's guard been killed before. And now, not only was one of the ponies they'd been guarding dead, but so was a member of his team. Nopony knew how Forest Shade had slipped past the two guards protecting Rarity and Applejack, or why he had done it. Celestia had her hoof on Ventus' shoulder, stopping him from losing control in front of his guard. She addressed them next.

"I'm sure none of you are at fault," she said. Some of them, most notably, the one who had been guarding Applejack and Rarity's room, looked surprised.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with my security chief."

They spread, conversing in low voices.

"If you want to keep their trust," Celestia said to Ventus, "I suggest NOT yelling at them like that."

"...I know," Ventus said, looking downcast. Then, he looked back at her. "You don't think any of them are at fault?"

"No," Celestia replied. "I don't think anything could've been done, not even if you or I had been there, looking right at him."

"This IS identical to the Summerlight case," Ventus admitted. "Do we know how this happened?"

"Whatever did this was being a little less careful this time," Celestia said. "There's a witness."

"You mean the Element of Generosity?" Ventus asked. "I thought she wouldn't answer questions."

"I think somepony can persuade her to talk," Celestia said, half-glancing at him. He raised his eyebrows.

"Me?" He asked. "She doesn't even know me. Why would she tell things to me if she wouldn't tell them to you?"

"I'm not a mind-reader," she replied.

"Well, neither am I," Ventus reminded her.

"Well, no," Celestia admitted. "But you have an uncanny ability to know exactly how people are feeling."

"I'm not any better at it than you are," he said. She looked at him blankly.

"I know how you're feeling because I practically raised you," she said. "I'm no better than most ponies with anypony else. No, you're the pony for the job. No more buts. You're going in there. Now."

"But--" Ventus began to object, but next moment, Celestia was dragging him across the crime scene to the hallway. She opened the door, and dragged him over to where Rarity was sitting, surrounded by her remaining friends. Ventus quit fighting once they were all in sight. Celestia ceased dragging him, turned tail, and disappeared back through the door. Ventus approached the circle of six, who were all, some more silently than others, grieving. He noticed Twilight, with red, puffy eyes, but didn't approach her. He walked up to Rarity, who had her head buried in the shoulder of Spike.

"I need a word with her," Ventus told Spike. Spike narrowed his eyes in slight distrust, but then quietly coerced the traumatized mare into showing her face.

"Your name is Rarity, isn't it?" Ventus asked, gently. She nodded.

"I need a word with you," he said. "Alone."

"...Who are you?" she asked croakily; she had lost her voice when she shrieked.

"I'll tell you, but we need to be alone first," he said, gesturing around.

Taking the hint, Spike unwrapped himself from her clutches, gathered up the rest of them, and had them all retreat from the pair.

"My name is Ventus," he said, as soon as the others were out of earshot. "I'm Twilight's friend and Chief of Celestia's security force."

"...Celestia's security force?" Rarity asked.

"That's right," Ventus replied. "Now, I've been completely honest with you. Time for you to be completely honest with me."

Rarity looked slightly taken aback, as Ventus took a seat beside her. "About what?" she asked.

"I need details," Ventus said, "about what happened tonight."

Rarity didn't say anything. Ventus did some quick thinking.

"Think about Applejack," he said, pulling the name from his subconsciousness. "Think about how she would've answered me if you'd been the one killed."

That did the trick. Thinking about her late friend, the Element of Honesty, Rarity appeared ready for questions.

"What exactly happened?"

She recounted her nightmare, her bath, and her discovery of the bodies.

"Did you feel anything... strange tonight? Did something feel out of place?"

She hesitated. "I don't think so..." but Ventus could tell she was unsure. She was thinking about something, debating.

"Are you sure?" he prompted. "You didn't, say... feel like you were being watched? You didn't feel anything at all?"

"...There was this one thing," she said. "Right before I opened the bathroom door..."

"Yes?" Ventus asked, his heart beating fast.

"...I got scared," she admitted, looking at him wide, tear-streaked eyes. "I knew I was about to see something horrible. My heart was pounding, I opened the door, and then... and then...."

He knew he had asked enough questions for the time being, but that last answer was the golden ticket. It was exactly what Ventus had been fearing.

"That's all I need to know for now," he said, getting to his hooves. "I might be back if I think of anything else. Thank you."

Unsure of how she had helped anything, Rarity nodded. Ventus walked away, watching out of the corner of his eye as everyone slowly came back over to her. He approached Celestia.

"Well?" Celestia asked.

"It was definitely some kind of dark magic," he said. "She could sense it."

"See if you can pick up any echoes," she said. "You're more sensitive to it than I am."

"Funny how that is, seeing as you're the princess of light," Ventus said. But he lit his horn still the same.

Putting more focus into it than he had ever put into any scan, Ventus scanned the magical energies in the room. When he passed over the bodies of Applejack and Forest Shade, he got a sense of the dark aura. Whatever had done this, it was nasty. He felt as though he were dipping his horn into foal's blood every time he passed over them. What was even scarier was that it almost felt...

He couldn't allow that disturbing thought to finish forming. Disgusted with himself, he tried to pick up any traces of anything else, but he was sure he wasn't finding anything more.

He emerged from his magical senses back into reality, panting from the strain he had been putting into his horn.

"I've never sensed anything like this," he said. "I don't think the culprit... is even Equine."

As he said it, something somepony said to him recently came flooding back.

Iron Hooves’ eyes had widened, but he understood perfectly. Before he turned to leave, his eyes filled with malice, and he spat one word at Ventus.

"Demon."

"Princess?" Ventus said, realizing he had never asked her before, "what's a Demon?"

"A what?" Celestia asked, puzzled.

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The funeral for Applejack was held as soon as the police had determined they would gather no further evidence from the crime scene. Her family came up from Ponyville a few hours after the murder. Applebloom didn't stop crying. The grief of the other two, however, was beyond that. Tears were unable to express the level of grief they were feeling. Speeches were given, tears were shed. Applejack was buried.

Immediately after the funeral, Celestia brought the remaining Elements of Harmony into yet another war council. This one was notably more subdued than the last, as the events of the previous night were still fresh in their minds.

"Well," Celestia began, face blank, "our previous plans are now obsolete. Only five Elements of Harmony will do nothing, and the new bearer of Honesty will not be chosen for at least a month."

"So why are we still here, Princess?" Twilight asked. Her eyes were still puffy and red from the tears. She had lost Cadence, Shining Armor, and Applejack, three of the ponies she was closest to, in one day.

"Because I have new tasks in mind for you five," she replied. "And with that, let us begin."

The spherical device in the center of the room glowed blue for a moment, then glowed blindingly white as a beam of light shot towards the ceiling. It then spread, creating a perfect circle of light about eight feet in diameter. The device's function became immediately apparent, as an image of Equestria appeared in the circle.

"The military is large, but right now, our troops aren't split into enough squadrons. We don't know what Sombra's next move is, so we need to be prepared for anything. I want to move at least one squadron into each outlying city of Equestria. That we can do right now, but it leaves a significantly smaller number of ponies here, meaning we're less flexible than before since we can't easily send greater numbers of ponies to other areas."

It seemed to go on and on for Twilight and her friends. Celestia didn't make their roles clear for a long time. But finally, one of their names cropped up.

"We need more Commanders, both to train new recruits, and to lead new squadrons. Fluttershy, you will be training a new squadron, which we shall call squad A for the time being. You will then lead them into combat as I see fit."

Everypony stared at Fluttershy in shock, as her mouth fell open.

"M--Me?" she asked.

"Yes, you, Fluttershy," Celestia replied, smiling at her. "Pegasi have a militaristic background. It's in your blood, whether you realize it or not. Somewhere, deep inside you, is a brilliant leader and strategist."

Fluttershy nodded, but she still had serious reservations.

"Anypony with further concerns can come talk to me after the meeting," Celestia continued, then moved back to the listing.

"Rarity," she said, causing said mare to look up in surprise.

"We can't afford to lose any of the remaining Elements of Harmony, as we'll need them once the new bearer of Honesty is chosen in a month. I want you, as well as a team of armor experts from Manehattan, to create specialized armor for each of you. You'll be given the strongest materials available."

"Me? Creating armor?" Rarity repeated, taking it in. Then, she stood strong. "I'll create the finest armor Equestria has ever seen!"

"I hope so," Celestia replied, smiling warmly before continuing.

"Rainbow Dash, you'll be commanding a squadron consisted of both veterans and newcomers. You will escort Rarity to Manehattan, where you will remain until given further instruction."

Rainbow Dash nodded, showing her understanding.

"Twilight, you will remain here in Canterlot to coordinate troop movements."

"Princess?" Twilight said, interrupting her. "With all due respect, I'd like to go to the front lines."

"No."

Celestia's wasn't the only voice that spoke. To Twilight's surprise, Ventus had also narrowed his eyes at her.

"It's not a good idea," he affirmed.

"How do you figure?" She asked.

"Hmm, I dunno... Maybe because you tried to run back to Sombra in the empire, expecting to take both him and his army all alone?"

"So you think I'll be reckless?" Twilight asked, growing angrier. "You think my judgement will be impaired just because I'm angry at him?!"

"Yes, I do," he replied, firmly.

"How do you know?" She snarled. "You just met me! You don't actually know how I feel! You don't--"

"Enough."

It wasn't the royal voice, but it was pretty close. A slight breeze passed through the room from the force of Celestia's tone. Twilight stopped talking immediately.

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but I have to agree with Ventus on this one," she said. "Your best place right now is here, with me."

Twilight nodded, still glaring at Ventus across the room. After a few moments of silence, Celestia continued down the list.

"Pinkamena Pie, you'll also remain here with us. Your... unnatural sense of situations will be useful in our coordination efforts. You will also be trained in combat, and be part of the force protecting the city."

It didn't take much brainpower to figure out that Celestia was referring to her Pinkie Sense, but Pinkie didn't seem to be paying attention. She looked even worse than when Sombra had destroyed the Crystal Empire. Lost and alone, her hair hung straight down over her face.

"General Iron Hooves, you will also help with the troop movements."

"Wait, General?" Iron Hooves asked. Celestia smiled at him.

"Yes. Congratulations, Chief. You've been promoted. As have you, Ventus."

"Me?" Ventus asked. "General? Um, can't I just keep my security force?"

"Your security force is part of the military now," she informed him. "I'm sorry, but we need all hands on deck, and your ponies are already trained up for the job."

Both Ventus and Iron Hooves' mouthes opened in shock.

"That sums up this war council," Celestia said, deactivating the holographic projector with magic. "You will each have further orders in the morning. Go get some rest."

Everypony present stood. Each member of Twilight's group, aside from Twilight herself, still looked surprised as they walked towards the exit.

"Me? A military commander?" said Rainbow Dash. "Awesome! I can't wait to whoop Sombra's flank!"

"I need to start drawing up the armor!" Rarity said.

As they were leaving the room, Ventus just heard Rainbow Dash ask "Which sounds more awesome, Commander Rainbow or Commander Dash?" before the door shut. He moved over to Celestia.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, slightly resentfully.

"It's easier this way," she said. "If you had known, you would've given them some kind of final speech."

"But the last thing I did as their leader was scream at them!" he said.

"Not all of them are gone," she said. "Some will still be under your command, as your squadron will be in charge of the southern half of the city."

It made him feel slightly better, but he then asked the question that he had been waiting to ask all day.

"Did you find anything last night?"

Her face fell, if that was even possible when you weren't looking happy.

"Nothing," she said. "The restricted archives had nothing on the word 'Demon.'"

"Figures," he grumbled.

"I know I've heard that word before..." she said. "I just can't remember where..."

She remained in thought for a few moments before continuing.

"We'll just have to go back to the source," she said. "Find the pony who called you that."

"That part's easy," Ventus said, turning to the group of ponies who remained. "Iron Hooves!"

"Yes sir?" he asked, even though Ventus was no longer his superior.

"When does your grandfather come home?"

"My grandfather?" he asked, looking puzzled. "He should be getting home tonight. Why?"

"Because I need to have a little chat with him," Ventus said.

"I'll let you know when he returns," Iron Hooves said, before turning and exiting as well.

"Well, we'll just have to wait until then," Celestia said, before smiling. "In the meantime, you've got work to do."

"Work?" Ventus asked. His security force was no longer in action, and militarily, he had no assignments until tomorrow. "What work?"

"Twilight seemed pretty mad," Celestia replied. "It might just be another way for her to show her grief, but believe me, that girl can hold a grudge. You've got a lot of work to do if you want to be on speaking terms with her again."

"I don't -- she's -- I don't need to be on speaking terms with her," he lied. Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently, you still haven't learned that I'm the one pony you cannot lie to," she said, smiling wider. Ventus' face turned slightly red.

"...I'm still trying to figure out why she's so mad," he said. "Girls are weird sometimes..."

"Well, get going then," Celestia said, before once again practically dragging him out of the room and throwing him into the hallway.

Current Equestria Population:
1,430,244

Lessons

C'mon, everypony! Take 'em down! ordered Rainbow Dash from the sidelines. Make me believe you're fighting for your lives!

Her soldiers ran forward, meeting the other group with full force. They showed no mercy; this was a full-contact drill, after all.

Silver Spire, cut around to the right side, Fluttershy's voice carried across the field. There're weaker soldiers there; you'll be able to cut through.

Silver Spire looked around, but didn't move immediately. Instead, he sent one final blow towards his current opponent, which missed. Another opponent took the opportunity to attack. Silver Spire received a blow to the temple, and he collapsed on the ground, completely unconscious.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had met up a couple of days after training began, and decided the best way to get practical application was to take on each other. Fluttershy was losing, but only because of the way some members of her squadron still looked at her.

She growled in frustration. "Why won't any of these ponies trust me?" she said under her breath. It was safer to say it aloud than to think it.

You see, the thought sending abilities aren't limited to only Celestia's security team. They are given to any group of ponies who are working together militarily. But you can only communicate with those you are working with. Even if somepony else has the spell on them, unless you're working with them, you can't send your thoughts to them. Both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had been linked to their squadrons.

It only took a couple more minutes for Rainbow Dash's squad to win.

"The enemy has been neutralized, Commander Dash," Big Mac informed her.

"All right!" Dash whooped. "That was even better than practice yesterday!"

The unicorn medic chose that moment to begin reviving all of the unconscious ponies, and to ensure there was no lasting damage. Since she had lost, Fluttershy's soldiers were first to be healed. Silver Spire stood up, and began to stalk away.

Mentally preparing herself, Fluttershy flew after him. She caught up with him quickly, and landed hard directly in front of him.

"Just where do you think you're going?" she asked, in a menacing voice. "I haven't dismissed you yet."

"I'm going back to the barracks. This is pointless," Silver Spire replied.

"I order you to turn around and rejoin the others this instant," she said, her voice even stronger now.

"No," Silver Spire said again, glaring at her.

Fluttershy inwardly cursed. She thought back to her first day with her squad, wishing for the thousandth time that she hadn't ruined her first impression so horribly.

"So... They're in here?" Fluttershy asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"Yep," replied General Iron Hooves, who was leading her up to a set of doors. "Some are new, some are veterans. I leave them to you, Commander Fluttershy."

He trotted back the way they had come and out of sight. Gulping rather hard, Fluttershy walked through the doors.

About thirty ponies were spread throughout the room. Some were large, strong-looking stallions. Others were medium-sized stallions. There were only two mares, though they both looked a lot stronger than she was. She approached the group, apprehensively. One of the larger stallions noticed her.

"What? Does somepony have a message for us?" he asked, in a deep, strong voice. "Do you know where our Commander is?"

"I--" she stuttered, slightly intimidated. "I'm... y-your commander."

The stallion looked as though he had been clubbed over the head. "...You?" he asked in disbelief. His thoughts were clear in his voice; he didn't see her as military potential in the slightest, and the fact that she was his commander was practically an insult. "Seriously?"

It hadn't gotten any better that day. She spent the next several hours reinforcing her soldier's belief that she was a nervous wreck. That night, she had silently cried herself to sleep, wondering why she, of all ponies, had been chosen to lead a squad of soldiers whose trust she did not have.

She was much less nervous the next day, however, and her military training of the few days beforehand had kicked in. She began putting them through rigorous physical training, in order to get the weaker ones more shaped up. In order to improve morale, she did it with them, and was surprised to find that she wasn't getting worn out.

Something began to change in Fluttershy. The way she viewed the world changed completely, and that in turn changed her personality and tendencies.

She glared at Silver Spire.

"I will have you court-martialed for insubordination, Private!" she yelled. Her stutter and quiet manner had vanished entirely, and her resemblance to Rainbow Dash when she had played Commander Hurricane was suddenly quite striking.

Silver Spire's eyes widened. The quiet little mare who had walked into that room earlier in the week was gone. A ferocious battle commander now stood before him, ready to tear him apart.

"Now," Fluttershy continued, her voice dangerously low, "you go back over there. Right. Now."

Private Silver Spire glared at her for another moment before whipping around and stalking back to the large group.

When the medical pony had finished reviving them all, Fluttershy addressed her soldiers.

"That was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen from you," she snarled. "You were slaughtered. I've trained you to be better than this. Silver Spire! Why didn't you fall back and circle around when I ordered you to?"

He hesitated for a moment. "I saw an opening in the guy in front of me. I thought I could finish him off. But instead, one of his buddies got me."

"Feint Heart!" Fluttershy snapped, moving on without comment. "I ordered you to move in deeper. Why didn't you?!"

"I didn't think I could make it with the two guys I was fighting there."

"No, you could've easily made it," Fluttershy berated him. "Is anyone smart enough to have seen the pattern yet?"

"They didn't listen to you, Commander Fluttershy," one of the mares announced.

"Precisely," Fluttershy said, her teeth gritted. "When I give you an order, I expect that order to be carried out immediately, without question! Understood?!"

"Understood, Commander!" her soldiers chorused in unison.

"We'll see about that," she said. "Be back here at 1500 for more practice. Dismissed!"

They broke ranks, filing back towards the makeshift barracks that had been installed just outside Canterlot. Fluttershy rubbed her eyes, unable to determine why they were hurting so much. Next moment, Rainbow Dash had flown over.

"I didn't know The Stare worked on ponies, too!" she said, in awe.

Fluttershy's eyes widened.

"Was that what I was doing?" She said, surprised. Then the dots connected. "That's why my eyes hurt..."

"I'll bet they do," Dash said. "I'm surprised the guys you yelled at didn't melt into puddles!"

Part of her, the part of her that was still the timid, shy, caring pony she used to be, felt guilty about subconsciously using her stare on her soldiers. The rest of her, the military commander, felt as though she had a powerful weapon nopony else could ever have.

"That's how I can get them to obey me..." she said.

Rainbow Dash considered her.

"You've changed, Fluttershy," she said, her face serious. "Something's changed you..."

"Being a military Commander?" Fluttershy supplied, helpfully.

"...I'm not sure I like it," Dash said.

Fluttershy raised her eyebrows in disbelief. Rainbow Dash was always the one who had been the most exasperated when Fluttershy was timid or scared. How could she not like the change?

As if she had read Fluttershy's thoughts, Dash continued.

"I mean, it's great that you can finally stand up for yourself and all. Really. But leading soldiers isn't something you want to do through fear."

"What does that mean?" Fluttershy asked, slightly annoyed. "You want me to stop making them obey my orders?"

"No, no," Dash said, waving a hoof. "You need them to obey you, I understand that. But I don't think The Stare should be the only thing motivating them to obey you."

"But if I don't use it, they just see me as the shy pony who couldn't get them to do anything!" she said.

"You need to re-earn their trust," Rainbow said, turning to leave, "by not using the stare."

"What will that accomplish?" Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash spread her wings, preparing to take off.

"It'll show them that they have your trust," she replied. She then took off, soaring through the air back towards Canterlot.

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Ventus walked through the empty hallways, searching for somepony. He had just finished addressing the group of commanders that had been assigned to him. Three of them were stallions that had been on his security force. He was fairly confident that all six commanders would be able to lead well and do what they're told.

The seventh one assigned to him, he was less sure about.

He had been given charge of Discord, god of chaos. He hadn't shown up until ten minutes after the meeting began, and when he did show up, he had come riding a pogo stick. Just as Ventus had opened his mouth to ask what the heck was going on, fifty more riderless pogo sticks burst through the door at once. They bounced around the war room, smashing into walls, commanders, and the holo-projector.

It had taken nearly twenty minutes to subdue the pogo sticks, fix the holo-projector, and get the meeting back on track.

Sighing to himself, Ventus walked through hallway after hallway, peering into rooms as he passed by. Eventually, he ran into General Iron Hooves.

"I've been looking for you," Iron Hooves said. "My grandfather got home half an hour ago. You can talk to him."

"Thank you," Ventus replied, before hurrying down flights of stairs through the palace. As he approached the entrance hall, he almost ran headlong into a mare who unexpectedly rounded a corner in front of him. The moment after he had dodged her, he recognized her; it was Twilight.

"Oh, hey," he said, embarrassed. "Sorry, didn't see you coming."

She didn't respond, simply narrowing her eyes at him before continuing on as if nothing had happened.

Ventus sighed yet again. The same thing four days running now. Twilight had refused to speak to him ever since the war council. He had tried apologizing, but it didn't change anything. Truth be told, it was actually she whom he had been searching for earlier.

How could she forgive me so easily on the train, but not over this? he wondered to himself. Then, he remembered where he had been going. He raced out of the palace, and into the streets.

It didn't take long for him to reach Iron Hooves' place. They lived in the northern end of town, close to the police station, which was not far from the palace. He knocked upon arriving, waiting a minute before the old crimson stallion opened the door. His eyes widened, then narrowed in plain hatred.

"What do you want?" He snarled.

"To ask you some questions," Ventus replied.

"Can't it wait?" Iron Hooves asked. "I just got back. I'm a one-hundred-ten-year-old unicorn. I'm exhausted..."

"I'm a one-hundred-ten-year-old unicorn too," Ventus pointed out. "And no, it can't wait."

"Very well, very well," Iron Hooves said impatiently. "Come in then."

Ventus crossed the threshold into the entryway, and Iron Hooves closed the door behind them.

"So," Iron Hooves said when they had seated themselves in the living room. "What questions do you have, old bag?"

Ventus ignored Iron Hooves' slur on his age. "You called me something just before you got off the train," he dove in immediately. "I need to know... what a demon is."

Iron Hooves remained silent for a long, long while.

"I'm not the pony you should be talking this through with," he said. "Others will be able to help you, but I'm afraid I'm not allowed to speak of demons."

"Why not?" Ventus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's a long story," Iron Hooves said. "But I can direct you to someone who can help you. They call him The Shadow. He lives in Detrot, and he's the smartest stallion I've ever known. Find him, and he can tell you all about them."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Ventus asked, suspiciously. Of course, he already knew Iron Hooves' words were true, but he still asked, just to see what would come out.

"That fact that you guys are already sick of me as it is," he replied, coolly. "Pretty sure if I lied to you, you'd find some excuse to take my memories."

"You've never spoken truer words," Ventus admitted. He pretended to reach a conclusion. "Very well, then. Who is this 'Shadow?'"

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"Gather round, everypony!" Fluttershy called out. Her squad ceased talking amongst themselves, and turned to face her.

"This is the last day we get to do this!" she announced. "Rainbow Dash's platoon leaves for Manehattan this afternoon. We only have one more chance to show her up!"

"We're doomed," Feint Heart whispered to the stallion beside him. Luckily for him, Fluttershy hadn't heard.

"I want you all to follow my orders this time," she said. "No hesitation. Don't question it. If I tell you to do something, not only will you stay safe, but it will be a good tactical move. Understand?"

"Understood," the soldiers all replied.

"Good," Fluttershy said. "Battle starts in two minutes. Feint Heart, you start by going around the east side..."

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"He was telling the truth, Princess," Ventus informed Celestia. "I request a temporary leave of absence from the military to find this pony."

"Your request is granted," Celestia said. "I believe we need to know what these 'demons' are. You, however, still need to transport the troops to Manehattan this afternoon."

"I remember," he said. "Detrot isn't too far from Manehattan, assuming I'm allowed to go as fast as I want now."

"Of course you are," Celestia said. "This is war. Speed is the least of any pony's concerns right now."

"Thank you," Ventus replied. "I'll try to return here as quickly as I can."

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"Three... two... one..."

The medical unicorn let out a blast from his horn like cannonfire, and the two platoons of soldiers charged at each other. Immediately, both commanders began giving out orders.

Group Two, fall back and let Group Four in, Fluttershy commanded. Then you guys go assist Group Five.

To her surprise, Group Two immediately fell back, allowing Group Four, which was a little bit stronger, to attack. It had been exactly as she had envisioned it.

The battle continued in this fashion for a while. Rainbow Dash finally seemed to be on the losing side. With their morale improved by how badly they were annihilating Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy's soldiers continued to carry out her orders flawlessly.

"What the hay?" Dash whispered to herself, confused as to how yesterday she had annihilated Fluttershy with ease, but today, her soldiers barely seemed able to make a scratch in the others. She continued calling out orders, but it was practically pointless. Soon, she only had three soldiers left; Big Mac, Spike, and a large Earth Pony stallion. Even they were having struggles, despite their strength and endurance being far superior to anypony else present. The Earth Pony went down first, and Big Mac quickly followed. However, Spike, probably due to his incredibly strong exterior, didn't seem like he was going down anytime soon.

Knockout gas, please, Fluttershy thought to a unicorn stallion close by.

With pleasure, Commander, the unicorn replied. He stepped forward, and enveloped Spike in a yellow cloud of smoke. When it subsided, Spike was out cold.

"Now that is how you fight a battle!" Fluttershy exclaimed in jubilation. Her soldiers began cheering alongside her. Not a single one of them had been knocked out. There were a couple of minor surface wounds, but no serious damage had been done. Silver Spire approached her.

"I... I want to apologize..." he mumbled, "...for everything. You're a brilliant commander, Fluttershy. I'm sorry I never even gave you a chance."

"Thank you," she said, giving a small smile.

In victory, Fluttershy realized how she had been acting over the last few days. When her soldiers hadn't been performing exemplary, she had resorted to brute force to get them to obey her. But she realized now that wasn't the way to lead. Regaining their confidence had not only worked a thousand times better, but she was no longer yelling at them.

And she liked it.

Rainbow Dash walked up.

"Were you holding back on me before?" she asked, eyes wide. "You weren't even using your stare, and you slaughtered me!"

"I just took your advice," Fluttershy replied, smiling. "I convinced them to trust me by showing my trust in them - not using the stare."

"Did you tell them you didn't realize you were doing it?" Dash asked, glumly. Fluttershy smiled mischievously.

"I may have left that minor detail out," she said.

"Well, thanks for destroying my soldier's morale right before we're deployed," Rainbow Dash sighed. Obviously, not just her soldiers' morale had been crushed.

"No problem," Fluttershy said. "If you ever need morale crushed again, I'll be more than happy to help."

"Very funny," Dash growled, before turning and heading back to her soldiers.

"Pack it up, boys. We're headed for Manehattan now. I want everypony at the train station in fifteen minutes."

Fluttershy turned back to her soldiers.

"You guys take the rest of the day off," she said, in a moment of inspiration. "No training today. You guys were amazing."

"Seriously?" Silver Spire asked, eyes wide.

"Seriously," Fluttershy repeated. "Now, you'd all better get out of here before I change my mind."

They dispersed, still not willing to believe it. Fluttershy smiled as she trotted away from them. "It's nice to be able to be kind to them..."

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"Commander Vortex, Commander Rain-- er, Commander Dash, I mean. Your squads both here?"

They nodded.

"And Rarity?"

"I'm here, she said.

"Cool," Ventus said, stowing away the list. "Everyone on. Sit wherever, as long as it's not the back car."

As everyone filed over to the train, Rarity noticed a purple something standing slightly taller than the others. She approached it, realizing who it was a moment later.

"Spike?" she said, surprised.

"Hey, Rarity!" he greeted her brightly.

"What... what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm part of Rainbow Dash's squadron," Spike informed her. "We've been assigned to Manehattan."

"You're fighting in the war?!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Of course I am," Spike affirmed, slightly affronted. "Did you honestly expect me to sit at home and do nothing after what's happened?"

"But-- Celestia didn't have me make any armor for you!"

"The armor's being made out of dragon scales, Rarity. I don't need it."

They stood in silence for a brief moment.

"Well... in that case..." Rarity began, hesitantly. "If it's not too much trouble..."

"Yes?" Spike prompted, his heart beating fast.

"...Could you keep me company during the train ride?"

Spike's heart skipped about five beats. "Yes!-- I mean, I suppose I could," he said, expression suddenly aloof. Rarity giggled, and they boarded the train together a minute later, talking about the new armor design.

Ventus boarded last, as usual. He double-checked that everyone was present before entering the driver's cabin.

"The other trains should be completed by tomorrow, your majesty," the stallion informed Princess Celestia brightly.

"Thank you," Celestia said, before exiting the garage. She had asked the engineering department to build three more VIP trains for the war efforts, and she had been checking up on their progress.

Not wanting to move through the Canterlot streets, her horn and eyes glowed yellow, and she disappeared in a yellow beam of light. Solar transport could technically take her anywhere, but it took a large toll on her if she used it too much, or on anypony else.

She reappeared inside her price quarters in the palace. Then, realizing she hadn't seen Twilight that day, she left her quarters to check on her.

As the train flew down the tracks, Ventus couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. He had triple-checked that everyone was present, and not in the Princess' cabin.

"What else could it be?"

Did she honestly expect me to do that?

"Twilight?" Celestia knocked on the door to Twilight's quarters. No response. She turned the knob, and the door creaked open, revealing the dark interior of the room.

"Twilight?" She said again, taking a step inside. Deciding Twilight must be out somewhere, she wrote a note with instructions to be in the war room the following morning.

Affect my judgement... I'll show him... I'll show them all...

There's. Nothing, Ventus firmly told himself, as the train sped over the Manehattan bridge. He stopped in the station and opened the train doors.

And trying to separate me from Spike again...

"I'll show them," Twilight said aloud, from her comfortable position on the bed in the Princess' cabin of the train. She felt the train come to a stop in the station a few minutes later, and magically observed the train car next door, watching for an opportunity to blend in.

Using illusion magic to disguise herself as just another soldier, she joined the crowd leaving the train when no one was looking. No one thought twice about her, as they all filed out onto the platform.

Rather than grouping up with the soldiers, Twilight slipped into the streets of Manehattan, trying to think of a place she could stay.

Current Equestria Population:
1,430,244

Author's Note

I've been forgetting to do the population count thing, so I just went back and did it for all the previous chapters! It's just to show how many ponies are still left, and for you to do the math and realize how many fatalities there have been.

Did you honestly expect Twilight to obey those orders? :trollestia:
I'm not spending a ton of time developing Sparity. Other stuff is more important.
Next chapter is focusing only on Ventus. A lot of crap is going down.
:yay:

Revelations

It only took half an hour to reach Detrot from Manehattan. Ventus pulled into the train station, and was immediately met by a pair of angry guards. He rolled down one of the electric windows on the left.

“This arrival is unscheduled! You are not authorized--”

“This arrival is code 624a,” Ventus interrupted, “so to hell with your authorization. You’re going to keep my train company until I get back.”

Muttering to himself, the guard didn’t dare say another word. Ventus pulled the train deeper into the station, onto a giant turntable, and into one of the parking sheds. He deactivated the train, stepping outside into the city.

Detrot was one of the earliest cities to grow so large, and they hadn’t yet optimized their construction of large skyscrapers. It now looked a bit run-down. Ventus kept on high alert as he moved through the cracking streets. Following an address Iron Hooves had given him, he moved quickly across town. He approached a tall apartment complex, and began ascending stairs.

As he approached the thirteenth floor, he noticed something odd in the magical energies around him. His mind flashed back to what Iron Hooves had told him.

”This pony doesn’t like to be met by uninvited guests. He is constantly on the alert, and usually has a security guard, who can apprehend any unwanted visitors. You’ll need to keep on the lookout for him; he might be hard to see.”

“What do you mean?” Ventus asked, puzzled. “I can usually sense when ponies try to sneak up on me.”

“Not when they use shadow magic, you can’t,” Iron Hooves replied swiftly.

Shocked silence.

“What do you mean, use shadow magic? Nopony can really use shadow magic.”

Iron Hooves smiled. “That’s exactly what you’re meant to believe.”

He sensed a unicorn falling towards him from the floor above, and jumped back down a few stairs. The unicorn landed roughly on his hooves, only to be grabbed and pinned to the ground in a hoof-bar.

“That was some nice Shadow Magic,” Ventus told the now visible stallion, pushing him a bit harder into the lock. “But I’m afraid it wasn’t quite good enough to fool me.”

“How did you see me coming?” The stallion asked, voice strained from the pain of his leg.

“I'm not your average unicorn,” he replied. “A friend sent me. When the winter winds of death plauge our land, the few who know the truth will rise out of the shadows.”

The stallion’s eyes widened. Ventus, judging it was now safe to do so, released the hoof-bar, and let the stallion fall back to earth.

“You know the password,” he said, shocked. “Who sent you?”

“Iron Hooves,” Ventus replied. “I need to talk to The Shadow.”

The stallion led Ventus up the stairs and to apartment 13162. The stallion opened the door, and gestured Ventus inside. He crossed the threshold into the dark room. He had no problem seeing, as usual. It was a high-ceilinged room, with a large chandelier that was not lit. The walls were covered in bookcase upon bookcase, all of which extended to nearly the top of the room, filled to the brim with books.

“If you’re standing here,” a deep voice rang through the room, “you’ve obviously proven your trustworthiness to somepony.”

An armchair Ventus hadn’t noticed before spun around, revealing a sky-blue unicorn with dark navy hair, who looked to be in his late forties. He looked at Ventus, who instantly felt as though his brain was being probed.

“...Well,” he said, a few moments later, “you’re something different. What are you?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am,” Ventus replied, assuming the stallion had misspoken in saying 'what' are you. “You’re The Shadow, right?”

”Nopony knows his real name. He’s never told anypony what it is. But we all know that he’s a brilliant leader, so we follow his commands without question, and thing always end up okay.”

“Indeed,” The Shadow replied. “Who sent you here?”

“Iron Hooves,” Ventus said, pressing on before The Shadow could comment. “How does he know you?”

“He’s known me for years,” The Shadow said. “He saved my life a while back, and he joined my research team shortly after.”

“And… he never said anything about me?” Ventus asked. The Shadow raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “He’s never given me any new information, but he’s certainly worked well with what we already had.”

”I told you guys the truth when I said I’ve never told anyone about you, Ventus. It might seem like I told The Shadow, but I assure you, I did not.”

“But you didn’t come here just to ask that,” The Shadow said. “What do you need from me?”

Ventus took a deep breath, preparing himself.

“I need to know… what a demon is.”

Silence.

“...You don’t know?” The Shadow asked, eyebrows raised in suspicion. “That’s surprising…”

“What does that mean?” Ventus asked, puzzled.

“Nothing, nothing,” The Shadow said hastily, before getting to his hooves.

“If you’re asking about Demons, I assume you know nothing about Dark Spirits or Daemons either, right?”

“Wait, what?” Ventus was lost. He had never heard those terms before.

“Didn’t think so,” The Shadow sighed. “Looks like I’m starting from the beginning.”

He began pacing the room as he started explaining.

“My grandfather began the search for dark magic nearly 200 years ago. He never told my father what had happened, but I do know something attacked him in his forest home, killing his wife. He vowed to hunt it down and destroy it. I don’t know what his research involved, but I do know what the results were.

“Demons are beings of total darkness. Nothing more evil has ever lived in this world. We still don’t know where they come from or why, but we know they do come. They don’t have physical bodies. They exist only as large clouds of black smoke, and they have to possess somepony in order to use any magic. But they are beings of darkness, so once they’ve found somepony they can possess, they can use dark magic to extents that we can scarcely even begin to imagine.

“Most ponies, however, are not fit for possession. Usually the host body of a demon will be overwhelmed by the dark energies after a short time, and they usually wind up dead when the ordeal is over. Still with me so far?”

Ventus was still with him. Not only that, but certain events were starting to make sense. Forest Shade, Applejack, and Summerlight, for a start.

“I understand,” Ventus said. “Is there any way to kill them?”

The Shadow shook his head. “None that we know of. Demons are eternal. They come and go, but as far as we know, they never die.”

Ventus nodded.

“That’s all we know about demons so far, but I’ll tell you more about two other things, which are equally as important in this context. The first: Dark Spirits. Tell me, do you know what happens when you die?”

Ventus was shocked he was even being asked. “Of course I don’t! Nopony knows that! Not even Princess Celestia--”

“What Celestia doesn’t know could fill several books,” The Shadow said, dismissively. “She hasn’t traveled the world like others have. No, we know what happens when you die. Your spirit ascends into the heavens, and you come to the crossroads.”

“Crossroads?”

“Indeed. You take one of two paths - light or dark. What happens after this, we have no idea. Anypony who goes down either road never comes back.

“But how do you know about them, then?” Ventus asked. “If no one has ever returned, how did they--”

“I didn’t say that,” The Shadow interrupted impatiently. “I said nopony’s ever returned from the paths of the crossroads. But you can stop yourself from reaching them.”

“How?” Ventus asked, awed. He knew he was hearing the truth, and this was something not even Celestia knew about. He was listening raptly.

“If you can use dark magic, you can bind your soul to an object on the earth. This pulls you back from the crossroads and traps you in a state of limbo, somewhere between life and death. Now, if the object you’re bound to is a regular, everyday object, you’ll just be stuck in limbo until that object is destroyed. But if you bind your soul to a very rare type of crystal, not only will you be able to return one day, you can still affect the living world.”

“What crystal?”

The Shadow smiled. “I think you know. It’s very rare, but it exists. Figure it out.”

Ventus racked his brains. Very rare, allows you to affect things you can’t normally affect… does that mean it amplifies your soul’s power? And if that’s true, it’s got to be…

“Focus Crystal,” he took a guess. “Instead of focusing your magic power, it amplifies your soul’s power.”

“Correct,” The Shadow said, impressed. “Magic Focus Crystal. Once you’re trapped in limbo, you’ve already made the transition from equine into something else. You will never be equine again.

“Dark Spirits feed on fear. It makes them stronger, increases what they can do. If they can enlist the help of another dark magic user, they can return one day.”

“How do you communicate with a spirit?” Ventus asked. “I mean, you can’t hear them, right?”

“Right,” The Shadow said. “But your thought-communication spell that Celestia ‘invented’ is limited. There’s a stronger, better way to do it that can be used, and can be casted on the focus crystal. Then, you just read each other’s thoughts. This ensures that the two of you have nothing to hide from each other. Then, you begin searching for a powerful unicorn.

“You need a unicorn who can survive great amounts of dark energy. For you see, the way to come back is to rebind your soul into that of another. You begin using their magical ability to regenerate your own. This, in turn, transplants dark blood into their body. That’s why they need to be strong - if their body rejects the dark blood, it will kill both them and you. You get no second chance. Since they didn’t have dark blood before, there’s no way they can have their soul bound to the earth. Therefore, since you’re still bound to them, you are dragged with them down whatever path they’re dragged down, and you’re both gone forever.

“But, if the binding is successful, you regenerate to the point of full strength again, and you are soon able to break the bond between you and your host. When this happens, you become a black cloud of smoke, very similar to a demon. The only difference is that you can create a makeshift body of your own, that is very similar to your own, to possess without any opposition.

“At that point, you have become a daemon. You are almost immortal, since there’s only one way for daemons to die.”

“Which is?”

“The soul the daemon used to regenerate leaves certain coding in his own soul. If the daemon tries to attack it’s host pony, the host pony can sometimes force the daemon back within themselves. The daemon will fight tooth-and-nail to escape, of course, but if the host pony dies before it gets out, the same thing happens - they’re both dragged down the crossroads, never to be seen again.”

Finishing his explanation, The Shadow sat back down in his armchair. Ventus’ head was spinning from the sheer amount of new information he had just stuffed inside it.

“How did your research team learn all of this?” he asked. “How did you know what spells to use, what crystals to use, and things like that?"

“We have done a lot of world traveling,” The Shadow said. “I mostly stay here, but my operatives go pretty much everywhere. Equestria is very limited on its knowledge of the darker side of magic, but that doesn't mean all cultures are. We got the spells from them.”

“And all of this without Celestia ever knowing?” Ventus asked. “Why?”

“Well, it’s illegal,” The Shadow said, narrowing his eyes. “Celestia banned all new dark magic research nearly half a millennium ago. We had to do all of our work in secret, because all three things I've told you about tonight still exist in this land.

“But unfortunately, I’m going to have to ask you to leave now,” The Shadow informed him. “You've spent a lot of my time, and I need to get ready.”

"To do what?"

"To flee Equestria, of course," The Shadow replied. "This place is going down, and I don't want to be here to see it. Most of my dark research team is joining me."

"Wait," Ventus said, hurriedly. "If you won't tell me more, can you direct me to someone else? I have more questions that need answering."

The Shadow thought for a moment.

"If you need questions answered, there's only one who can do it, no matter what the question. We call him 'The Eye of Truth.' He speaks in riddles, but he can help you."

It wasn't much, but it was something. Ventus decided it was worth a shot.

"Where do I find him?"

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Ventus approached the ominous-looking forest with apprehension. The Whitetail Forest looked even worse than the Everfree, but he was sure there wasn't anything in there that he couldn't handle.

He stepped into the thick darkness beneath the trees. Able to see straight through the darkness, he glanced around as he walked. It was eerily silent. Not even the chirp of a bird or the buzz of an insect; the only noise was the echoing hoofsteps of Ventus. So naturally, when he heard a new noise to his left, he jumped about a mile into the air. He whipped around, magic at the ready.

"There's no need to fear," a deep voice rang out. "For nothing will harm you here."

A silhouette emerged from behind a think tree trunk. It took Ventus a few moments to realize what it was; a Zebra.

"Zebra?" he said, straightening up. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"I needed a place to hide," the Zebra said. Ventus wanted to guess this one was male, but it could be hard to tell, especially when they're wearing cloaks. "So in this forest I abide."

"Maybe you can help me, then," Ventus said. If this Zebra lived here, he might know. "I need to see the Eye of Truth."

"Looking for The Eye of Truth, you say?" What little of his mouth Ventus could see split into a smile. "In that case, you have come the right way."

He turned to Ventus' left. "I know where he dwells, you see. If you wish to meet him, follow me."

Ventus followed behind him as he began walking through the trees. Ventus didn't say a word; he was too busy wondering what The Eye of Truth would tell him. Soon, they came to a wooden hut, built into the side of a large tree trunk.

"Here?" Ventus asked. The Zebra walked up to the door and opened it.

"If The Eye you wish to see, you must first place your trust in me," he simply stated, holding the door open. Slightly apprehensive, Ventus crossed the threshold.

There were no masks or potions as there had been in Zecora's hut. Instead, the walls were covered in papers. Ancient writing he couldn't read, symbols he had never seen before.

He turned around, and jumped in fright as he was now eye-to-eye with the Zebra, who was standing right behind him. Ventus hadn't even heard him move.

"When do I meet The Eye?" he asked again. The Zebra was beginning to give him an odd feeling, an uncomfortable feeling. The Zebra just smiled.

"Oh come now, you're not that dim. Can't you tell? You've already met him."

"Wha--"

"You never asked whom I may be. For you see, the one they call The Eye of Truth... is me."

Ventus' mouth fell open, as he stared in shocked silence for a few moments. "You? You're The Eye of Truth?"

"Indeed," The Eye of Truth replied. "Now, what from me do you need?"

Ventus shook his head, trying to return to reality.

"I hear you can answer any question?"

The Eye nodded. "My power reveals all, knowledge both great and small."

"I need to know... what I am."

The Eye raised an eyebrow. "You are not a pony? You look like one to me."

"I don't know," Ventus said. "But I guess that's why I'm here."

"I will summon my power within," The Eye said, "and then we can begin. But first, I must meditate for some time, if you wish for the truth sublime."

The Eye took a seat on the hard wooden floor in the middle of the room, and closed his eyes. Ventus followed suit.

Fifteen minutes they sat there, but to Ventus, it might as well have been eternity. The moments crawled by slower than snails as he sat, waiting for the answers that Celestia didn't have, that even all of the dark magic books in the archives didn't have.

"From the depths of my soul, I summon the power to see all truths," The Eye suddenly muttered, his voice growing even deeper with each word. For the third time that day, Ventus nearly jumped out of his skin, surprised at both the broken silence and broken rhyming.

"Let pure truth flow forth, that I may answer the questions of the needful ones."

The Zebra's eyes reopened, now a particularly eerie shade of violet.

"Ask away," The Real Eye of Truth said. "I will remember nothing of this conversation when the trance breaks."

Questions Ventus had held for decades began bursting forth like an eternal waterfall.

"Why have I lived for so long? How have I survived injuries that should've killed me? Why do my eyes go dark like they do? Why was I born the way I was? How--"

The Eye raised a hoof, stemming the flow of questions.

"I know what you need to hear."

Ventus stood, silently waiting for the explanations.

"Dark Blood does more than enable you to use dark magic. It completely alters the way your body works. Your body is at it's peak. Your healing rate is unmatched. This lengthens your lifespan exponentially. Even I don't know how long you will live. I'm sure you've discerned by now that you have dark blood."

Ventus nodded. He had guessed he had dark blood, and now he knew why he had survived that Minotaur's attack in the Crystal Empire, and why stopped aging as well.

"But what runs through you is not merely dark blood. It is something far more evil than that.

"You are darkness; darkness is you. It created you. It molds you. It supplies you. It saves you. It blankets you in your deepest emotions, your most dire and desperate situations.

"It is forbidden darkness. It is demonic darkness.

"Ventus Nightingale. You are half-demon."

Ventus' mouth fell open, but he didn't even have time to process what this meant before the eye continued.

"Nothing like you has ever lived before, and nothing like you will ever live again. This is all in your father.

"Yes, you have a father. And this tale begins, and ends, with him.

"For you see, your father is Varázslat Sötétvarázsló. Son of Erősszél Sötétvarázsló, the unicorn responsible for thousands of deaths, the terror of Unicornia, the instigator of dark blood.

"My power cannot see anything beyond this realm, so I do not know all of the details. But I do know that Varázslat, through methods that are unknown to me, became a full-blooded Demon after his death. Your mother could sense him within the house all night long. She convinced herself that she was hearing things, and went to sleep. He possessed her, and altered her. His reasons for doing so are unclear, as he disappeared from this realm immediately afterwards. But the result... was you.

"Dark blood enables all to survive for millenia, and Varázslat had more children in life as well as in death. One of them you know quite well - Sombra Sötétvarázsló, now known as King Sombra. He is your half-brother. The other child of Varázslat also has a large role to play in this tale, but his role will help Equestria, not destroy it.

"Ventus Nightingale, you walk a very dangerous path. You do not yet realize how much rests on your shoulders. I leave you with one final piece of advice.

"When the final light of day fades away, return to where your role with this began."

The Eye took a deep breath, and his eyes slowly returned to their previous shade of grey, leaving Ventus completely dumbfounded by all of his new knowledge.

Current Equestria Population:
1,430,244

Author's Note

Aaaaand... bam! This chapter was completed (not published) about two hours after I published the previous one!
It's so damn hard to rhyme sentences and not use the same rhyme more than once!! Shoutout to whoever writes Zecora's dialogue. You're amazing.
Yeah, this should've answered a lot of questions. And yes, when you're overloaded by dark energy, you look like Applejack/Forest Shade.
I just realized I'm stealing two chapter names from the bible - Revelations and Lamentations. Heh.
I'm considering returning to my other fic (my gore fic...) for a chapter or two. It's been a while since anything was published for it, but that doesn't mean I won't work on Dark Cloud. I'm writing ~~four~~ five different stories right now, and one of them is a three-person coeffort. Think I can manage.

ありがとございます！
（はい、私は日本語をすこし話します。）

Pains

Iron Hooves walked through the doors to the war room, a bit groggy from his bad night's sleep. He trotted to the holo-projector in the center of the room, meeting Celestia, who was already standing there.

"Good m--ooorning," Iron Hooves said, failing to stifle a huge yawn. As he looked into Celestia's face, he immediately knew there was something wrong. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Twilight is late," Celestia said, anxiously.

"Maybe she slept in?" Iron Hooves suggested. "I could use some more sleep myself..."

"No, Twilight is never late. Something is wrong."

In a flash of light, Celestia used an ordinary teleportation spell to ascend a few floors. Soon, she was standing in front of Twilight's quarters, and she didn't even bother to knock. The door swung open, and Celestia ran inside. It was eerily still. She looked at the bed, where her note still lay, completely untouched. Twilight hadn't seen the note. But if she didn't see the note, then she must not have slept here.

"She's not here..." Celestia reached her conclusion with a sinking feeling of dread in her stomach. "She's not here... but if not here, then where?"

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Iron Hooves stood waiting for Celestia to return, now fully awake. Just when he had decided to go see where she had gone, he heard something. He paused. He couldn't quite be sure, but it sounded a lot like a voice.

“Hello?” he said into the emptiness. No response. He stood stalk-still, trying to hear anything else.

Nothing. After another few silent moments, he decided he was hearing things, and took another few paces towards the door.

And came to a dead stop. The rasping, whispering noise rang through the emptiness, lingering much longer this time. He didn’t know why, but when he heard it, he got a nasty feeling in his stomach.

“Who’s there?!” he exclaimed. Still no response. Now panicky, he broke into a gallop for the door. Before he could reach it, it slammed shut of its own accord. His heart began pounding in his chest, as the light from the holo-projector died out, leaving him in complete darkness.

His head began to spin. He ran blindly through the room, determined to be anywhere but here. He tripped over something in the dark, and smashed headlong into the floor.

In the silence, he shivered.

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“All right, you know the rotation schedule,” Rainbow Dash said. “Dismissed!”

As the rest of the soldiers moved away from her, Spike took a few steps closer to her.

“What is it, Spike?” she asked. He had an odd look in his eyes that she couldn’t quite place.

“I got a letter for you from Celestia,” he said, holding out a scroll.

“For me?” Rainbow Dash asked, surprised. She took the scroll from him, unfurled it, and began to read.

Rainbow Dash,

Twilight has gone missing from Canterlot. I have strong reason to believe she snuck off with your squad to Manehattan. I need her back as soon as possible. Search the city for her, and let me know if you find her.

Princess Celestia

“Twilight’s here?” Rainbow Dash said, confused. Then she smiled. “Of course she is. She’s crazy…”

“Should we start looking?” Spike asked, having read the letter over her shoulder.

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Rainbow Dash replied.

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Celestia made her way back to the basement, and was surprised to find the door shut tight. As soon as she reached out to open it, it burst open in a frenzy. A very panic-stricken Iron Hooves scrambled across the floor, stumbling into the hallway. He was white as chalk.

“Th-there’s -- s-something -- in th-there,” he stammered, shaking violently. Next moment, he retched, and vomit splattered the hallway floor.

If Iron Hooves was this terrified, something was very wrong. She looked into the room, which was lit by the holo-projector. There was nopony in sight, but she knew that never meant anything. Her spell of revealing, however, also revealed there was nothing. She looked back at Iron Hooves, who was still throwing up.

“Was the dark aura that strong?” she asked.

“Stronger than anything I’ve ever sensed,” Iron Hooves choked out, before returning to vomiting. Celestia magically cleaned up the floor and wall when he had finally finished

“What happened?” she asked him.

Still shaking slightly, Iron Hooves recounted the terrifying experience.

‘What on earth?’ Celestia silently thought. ‘I’ve never heard anything like this before…’

Princess.

She almost hadn’t noticed the foreign blank thought. Immediately, she replied.

Ventus. What’s your status?

I’m on my way home. You’re not going to believe what they told me. Everything makes sense now, but it’s too much to try to discuss like this. It’ll have to wait until I’m back.

All right. I’ll see you soon.

As soon as the connection died, a new letter entered her magical inventory, which she hurriedly retrieved.

Princess Celestia, guess who we found hiding downtown.

-Rainbow Dash

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Manehattan was densely populated, but it didn’t cover a whole lot of surface area, as it as a small island. It didn’t take long, with everypony searching, to find Twilight where she was hiding.

Rainbow Dash walked into the room where Twilight was being held, sitting across from her.

“Hey, Twi,” Rainbow Dash said, casually. “What’s up?”

Silence. Twilight’s face was impassive as Dash looked at her.

“Decided you were coming to the front lines after all?”

Still, nothing.

“I mean, I'd totally be fine with it, Except, you know, Celestia kinda ordered you not to.”

Nothing.

“Why’d you do it?” she asked. “What’s gotten into you?”

“What do you mean?” Ice broken at last.

“You used to follow Celestia’s orders to a tee. What changed?”

“.....Sombra,” she said. “Sombra changed me.”

“How so?” Dash asked.

“He killed my brother. He killed Cadence. And I’m betting he had something to do with Applejack.”

She stared hard at Rainbow Dash unblinkingly, as her eyes suddenly turned colder than ice.

“And I’m going to tear him to shreds.”

Rainbow Dash just stared. Twilight was practically unrecognizable. She was no longer the egghead Dash had once known. Cold fury in her eyes, she looked ready to kill anything that stood in her way.

“...Well,” Dash said, standing up. “I’ll leave you to think about that. You may want to consider doing what you’ve been told instead of what you want.”

She walked out of the room, not looking back, leaving Twilight to her thoughts.

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Two Days Later

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As the moon rose high in the sky, casting its full light across the city, two soldiers stood on the northern Manehattan watchtower, staring blankly out into the northern sea.

“Why do we need to watch the water?” one asked.

“Good question,” his friend replied, looking sideways at him. “I mean, it’s not like they’re gonna come up out of the water, right?” He looked back to where he was supposed to be looking.

Just in time to see the arrow a foot away from his head.

The first guard looked around at the sound of the arrow piercing his friend’s head, in time to see his own rapidly approaching death. They both fell to the floor, dead, as the water began churning violently.

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“Aaaaaaand… done!” Rarity exclaimed, holding up the suit of armor in triumph. “Do the final test.”

She levitated it over to the Earth Pony stallion in the room, who was in charge of testing durability. He beat it a few times with the large sledgehammer he was wielding, which echoed loudly around the room for a few moments every time it hit.

“Pass,” he declared.

“Ensure it’s sent off to Fluttershy,” Rarity requested. “That is all I require from you tonight.”

They both left the small building, and Rarity walked herself to the large hotel where she was staying.

“Just two more to go,” she sighed to herself, as she flopped onto her four-poster bed and drew the curtains with her magic. “Mine, and Rainbow Dash’s…”

She had endured an exhausting couple of days. In the beginning, it had been a constant argument between the armor experts and herself. They had to quash several of her plans, because the armor was “meant to protect, not to look good.” She had been forced to redo her design plans three times until the experts were convinced it could properly protect them. Then, finally, she had began almost nonstop work on them. Twilight’s and Pinkie Pie’s had been completed first, along with Fluttershy’s that day. She had began preliminary work on her own and Rainbow Dash’s, but they weren’t quite ready.

She started to drift off to sleep...

The sirens started to blare.

Rarity sat bolt upright in bed, eyes wide as dinner plates. Those sirens meant one thing. Attack. She rushed over to her window, throwing open the curtains in an attempt to see what was going on.

But her view was obscured by fire.

She didn’t even have time to cry out in alarm. The giant fireball collided with the outside wall, and exploded with as much force as the Elements of Harmony. Her world became hell. All of her senses cut out, and she was blindly thrown around the room, cut by splintering wood, and burned by the incomprehensible amount of fire.

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Report! Dash commanded her soldiers. How did Sombra sneak up on us like this?!

Unclear, Commander, one of them replied. It appears he ambushed the watchgaurds.

Everyone to secondary defensive positions! MOVE! she screamed at them.

Looking left, she saw Spike frozen in horror, mouth open.

“Spike, get a move on!” she yelled. “Don’t just stand--”

“That’s Rarity’s hotel!” he exclaimed, pointing to the building Sombra had hit first. Ignoring his orders, he tore towards the front door of the hotel.

Inside the hotel, pandemonium reigned. Ponies ran in every direction, unsure of where to go. Spike forced his way through them and ran up the several flights of stairs to Rarity’s floor.

Everywhere he looked, fire lit up the darkness of the night. He ran to Rarity’s room, brutally smashing down the remnants of the door. The hotel room was unrecognizable. Debris and splintered wood lay everywhere, but Spike immediately located Rarity in the mess.

"RARITY!" He exclaimed in horror. Quicker than a flash, he found himself beside her.

"S...Spike..." Rarity moaned. He bent down to take her in his arms, horrified at how scarlet the floor seemed to be.

"Oh, Celestia..." Realization hit him hard, as he located the wound in her neck. Something had punctured her artery. She was losing a large amount of blood.

"Stay with me, Rarity!" he cried, holding the mare in his arms like she was a newborn filly. Tears welled up in his eyes, as he watched the mare of his dreams splattering blood on the floor. “Stay with me…”

“...I don’t... think I can,” Rarity said. Spike was panicking. There weren’t any powerful unicorns who could get here fast enough to help, and they both knew it.

"Rarity, I need to tell you something," Spike said hurriedly, as the mare got paler and paler from the blood loss.

"I... I love you. I always have... from the moment I first saw you, I've loved you!"

Tears were falling thick and fast down him now, as she lost even more blood. They both knew she only had a few moments left. The mare opened her mouth, and was surprised by what came out of it.

"I... I l...ove y..ou... too, Sp...ike," she managed to say. As she said them, she realized that they were true. She hadn't really cared for him much at the beginning, but recently, she had been subconsciously developing affection for Spike. She had worried when he hadn't returned. She had been overjoyed when he accompanied her here, and was even more happy that he was here now, in her last minute.

She looked into Spike’s emerald eyes, and the two stared at each other for her final moments. Something in the blue eyes flickered, then went out, and her body slumped, never to move again.

Spike clung to her body, crying his heart out on her shoulder. He knew that Sombra might attack the building again, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t leaving the mare of his dreams alone in this room, even if she was dead. He wished more than anything that he could’ve died in her place, that she could still be alive, even without him...

He didn’t know how long he lay there, crying over her body. To him, nothing mattered anymore. Rarity was gone. He wouldn’t have ever moved if somepony else hadn’t come in. He didn’t even look up to see who it was. If it was Sombra, he would be dead, which was what he wished for anyways. He had not expected to be lifted from the floor and carried away from Rarity. He began to struggle, fighting the powerful force that was holding him.

“Let me go!” he yelled, still trying to free himself. His assailant didn’t relinquish him. He finally got them to speak by blowing a burst of green flame at them.

“C’mon Spike, none of that now,” said a deep voice that was quiet, yet powerful. He recognized the voice immediately.

“Take me back in there, Big Mac!” he screamed, still attempting to get to Rarity’s body. “I can’t leave her!”

“Ah’m sorry,” the large red stallion said, still bringing Spike down from the building. “We’ve got other things to be doin now.”

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The moment the sirens began, Twilight knew she had to get out. The soldiers who had been guarding her all left, and a few minutes later, she was able to break the bands holding her. She ran outside straight into the city, straining her magical senses trying to find King Sombra.

And then she sensed him, only a couple of blocks away. She tore down the road, evading a few groups of fighters along the way. As she rounded the corner, she finally laid eyes on the dark king. He seemed responsible for majority of the destruction happening. Everywhere he looked, green flames followed, which turned their natural shade of orange as soon as they made contact with the buildings. Twilight, however, was immediately distracted by a cyan figure lying closeby on the side of the road.

“RAINBOW!” she cried, running over to where Rainbow Dash lay in a crumpled heap. She stirred a bit, making eye contact with Twilight. There was no visible damage to her, but Twilight could sense the internal magical damage. Rainbow Dash was a goner.

“Twi… I’m sorry,” Dash choked out. “I failed... the... Princess…”

She drew her final, shuddering breath, and slumped to the ground, her eyes devoid of all light except the reflection of the moon in the night sky.

Hatred such as Twilight had never known before shot through her veins like poison. She looked back up at Sombra, who had now taken at least one more of her friends, if not more, away from her.

“Sombra!” she screamed his name. The dark king stopped launching fire in every direction, and turned to face her.

”My, my, isn’t this a surprise?” he said. His eyes glinted maliciously, and the newborn firestorm was reflected in them, giving him an even more eerie look. ”I didn’t know there were three Element bearers in this city. It must be my lucky day.”

“You won’t be killing any more of us tonight,” Twilight snarled at him. “I’m going to tear you apart.”

”Bring it on, little girlie,” Sombra sneered.

Twilight lost it. Charging a spell, she ran forward at him full speed.

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Celestia hurried up the stairs in a panicked frenzy, passing several confused guards along the way. She paid them no heed, as she tore up more staircases towards Luna’s tower bedroom. Two night guards stood there, impeding her progress.

“I’m sorry, your majesty,” one of them began, “but Princess Luna asked not to be--”

”If you do not move this instant,” Celestia yelled in her Royal Voice, ”You will both spend eternity on the moon!”

They looked at each other for a split second, before hurling themselves sideways out of the way of Celestia’s fury. She opened both doors violently with magic, causing them to swing all the way inwards and crash horribly against the inside walls with a loud bang. Celestia hurried across the threshold into Luna’s darkened bedroom. Luna lay in the middle of the room, reading something out of an ancient-looking book.

“Luna!” Celestia cried, coming to a halt feet away from her. Luna looked up.

“I thought I told my guards I did not want to be disturbed,” she said, frowning. “What do you need?”

“I need to raise the sun early,” Celestia said.

Luna stared at her, blankly.

“Why?” she seemed annoyed. “It is two o’clock in the morning, and the last time I checked, it is still supposed to be ni--”

“Manehattan is under attack,” Celestia hurriedly cut across her, “and they’re losing. Badly. I need to go assist them, but I need to be at my full power if I need to use solar transport. And for that, I need the sun.”

It was a good reason, and Luna knew it, but…

“If we raise the sun in the middle of the night,” she began, “what will that say to the rest of Equestria?”

“We can’t worry about th--”

“They will discern what is going on,” Luna interrupted her sister. “They will know we are losing if we have to do something like that, and then what? Ponies would panic. Before long, we would have rioting in the streets.”

“So you’re saying we should just leave them?!” Celestia said, indignantly. “Are you really that cold, Luna?”

“I said no such thing,” Luna said. “We cannot raise the sun. But we have the moon,” she gestured to the moon, high above them, “and it is nearly full tonight.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Celestia said. “The moon can’t help me.”

“No,” Luna said, “it can help me. I will go in your stead.”

Celestia looked taken aback. “You’ll go? Are you certain?”

“Of course I am,” Luna said, standing up. “I will go fight Sombra myself.” She put her book away, and turned towards the window.

“No!” Celestia said, grabbing Luna by the shoulder. “What if you lose? I can’t lose you! Not again!”

Luna looked back at her.

“No offense, sister, but If you went now, you would certainly lose,” she said, matter-of-factly. “And Equestria needs you a lot more than it needs me. You have been the beacon of hope for the entire lives of everypony here. And where was I for their whole lives? On the moon.”

“Luna…” Celestia said, trying to think of another reason to stop her. But she couldn’t.

“It is unlikely I will lose,” Luna said, shrugging Celestia’s hoof off at last, “but if I do, it will not be as much of a blow as it would if you had been killed.” She began walking back towards the window again.

“Please, Luna… be careful,” Celestia said. Luna looked back over her shoulder, and gave Celestia a half-smile. Then, her horn began glowing white. A moment later, her eyes had turned white likewise, and the light around her became slightly distorted. Then, in a flash of white, but not blinding light, Luna vanished.

“Be careful…” Celestia whispered to the now empty room. She didn’t know why, but she had a sorrowful feeling at Luna’s departure. A single tear welled up in her right eye, and slid down her face to splash onto the floor.

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Sombra was trying to move, and Twilight was chasing him relentlessly, throwing all sorts of spells at him in rapid succession. Right now, his sole tactic was to gain an advantage she couldn’t have: air power. But he couldn’t begin flying because of the time he needed to be standing still in order to do so, and she was attacking too rapidly for him to transform. He was running for the edge of town.

Soon, he had reached it. He was now cornered, with only the open water behind him. Twilight’s livid face was clearly visible, even though they were far from any fire now, as she shot a green beam of light at him. He sidestepped it, before looking back at her.

”Disintegration spell, eh?” he said, mildly surprised. ”That’s dark magic.”

“I’m aware,” Twilight snarled.

That split-second distraction was all King Sombra needed. He had fully charged his flight spell, and now launched himself into the air, sailing over the ocean water away from the mare. She cursed inside her own head, infuriated at how she had been fooled.

C’mon, Twilight. Think…

Water. She was surrounded by water. Perfect.

Summoning a great amount of magical energy, she jumped into the air over the ocean water. As she fell a foot or two, the water rose up and caught her. But it didn’t stop. It kept rising, beginning to spin in a cyclone-like manner as she rose higher and higher into the air, and willed her pillar of water to carry her towards the evil king.

Sombra was clearly surprised. He hadn’t expected her to do something like that. But as he looked at her, she shot another green beam of light at him. He flew quickly out of the way. Though he was technically smoke, if he wasn’t careful, he could still be hit by spells.

Their battle resumed, but this time, Sombra began fighting back. He launched a few orbs of pure dark energy at her, which she was able to easily dodge as she shot bolts of light at him. Next, he tried blasting her with fire, but she raised a pillar of water to block it. The bottom of her cyclone broke contact with the ocean surface, and swung upwards behind Twilight. She flipped forward as she brought the massive cyclone over her head, and brought it crashing down towards Sombra. He couldn’t evade it. The water smashed into him, and dragged him down into the ocean. As her cyclone made contact with the ocean surface again, Twilight used it to set herself upright, as she had lost some height while in the air. Sombra struggled against the torrents of swirling water holding him under, and after several long moments, he managed to break free. He flew back up to Twilight’s level, and they stared at each other, facing off again.

“You’re strong,” Sombra commented. Twilight didn’t respond, and just kept glaring at him as the water beneath her swirled.

“But not strong enough.”

He charged a spell, but instead of looking at Twilight, he looked down at the water. She realized what he was doing far too late. Several bolts of forked white lightning shot down from Sombra at the speed of light. The entire ocean nearby them electrified, including Twilight’s cyclone. She shrieked as she was electrocuted. Almost immediately, she blacked out from the pain. The water cyclone stopped swirling, and died out. Twilight began falling back down to the water. Sombra knew that even if she had somehow survived the lightning, the fall would kill her, and if not that, then she would drown.

Just as Twilight was ten feet from death, however, something dark swept in and caught her in mid-air. It was moving so fast that Sombra couldn’t make out what it was.

”No!” he yelled, as Princess Luna sped back towards the tall buildings of Manehattan at top speed. Twilight looked a mess. Her hair was singed. Luna went from maximum speed to zero as she lightly touched down on the roof. Drawing power from the moon once more, she sent Twilight back to Canterlot before flying back to Sombra.

”Well, well, well,” Sombra smiled sadistically. ”Princess Luna. Three Elements and one Princess dead in one night. This is truly--”

”Can you feel it?” Luna’s voice overpowered Sombra’s. ”The moon's power?”

Sombra doubled back. Luna was truly terrifying, even in her icy calm.

”Moon, shine down!” she yelled. She rose up, and raised her front legs to the sky. The moon grew in size as it drew closer to the earth, now casting it’s pale glow bright enough to illuminate everything in ghostly light. The final corner of shadow on the moon vanished, and it shone fully in the night sky. Luna’s eyes flashed a brilliant white, stronger than they had ever done before, as she drank in the power from her moon. She looked at Sombra, and her eyes flashed.

Sombra felt as though a piano had dropped on him. He plummeted towards the ocean again, crying out in pain. Just as he was about to hit the water, he flew parallel to it. Luna fell from the sky, smashing into him and knocking the wind out of him as he fell into the water. He resurfaced, spluttering and gasping as he again tried to flee from the terrifying figure above. Luna kicked, and the magical force of it hit Sombra from ten feet away. He rolled in the air, attempting to fly straight as he soared for the mainland. Luna tore after him, launching several bolts of light at him as Twilight had done. But hers were far more powerful, and each one hit its mark.

Sombra was now struggling to even stay conscious, let alone fly straight. As soon as he was close enough, he crashed into the ground in a crumpled heap. Luna descended right next to him, kicking him as he attempted to sit up. Luna's horn glowed, and an enormous pitch-black sword appeared in front of her.

"In the name of justice, die, vermin," Luna snarled, before driving the sword straight through Sombra's chest. He didn't even cry out as his heart stopped, and he slumped to the ground.

Luna sighed as her eyes stopped glowing, and the moon retreated to its regular distance from the earth. It was finished. Sombra was dead. The war was over.

Or so she thought.

As she turned to leave, however, the dark king stirred. His horn was beating like a heart, and for good reason. He sat up, as his wounds began healing. Even though he hadn't regained his full menacing voice, he spoke.

"You'll have to do better than that, Princess Luna."

She whipped around in horror, as he fired a green beam of light at her.

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"We can't just leave!" Spike cried, still fighting against Big Mac as he was carried across the Manehattan bridge.

"We have to," Big Mac said.

"We can't just abandon our squad!"

"Our squad's gone," Big Mac informed him. "Ah've tried to talk to 'em in my head, but there ain't anypony left but you ta talk to."

Soon, Spike gave up, and slumped over in despair. Rarity was gone, Rainbow Dash was gone, their squad was gone, and Twilight was probably gone, too.

What was left?

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"Come on, Luna!" Celestia muttered to herself as she stared up at the enlarged full moon through Luna's window. "Come on..."

Soon, the moon returned to its natural size.

"Thank goodness..." Celestia sighed in relief, turning away from the window at last.

Why is it that whenever you feel you're safest, the worst thing possible happens?

As Celestia approached the door of Luna's bedroom, total darkness descended over the room.

"Oh, no..." Celestia said, as her heart began beating like a bass drum with fear. She lit her horn and tore back across the dark bedroom to the window, praying in her heart that a cloud had drifted across the moon.

But of course, the sky was completely clear.

The moon had completely vanished from the night sky, leaving only the stars to illuminate the night with their dim light. That could only mean one thing.

Celestia's eyes filled with tears, and as she began to sob, she screamed to the night.

"LUNA!"

Current Equestria Population:

1,003,072

Author's Note

Hey guys. Sorry this took so long. I've been doing other stuff.
That's all. Stay cool.

Survivors

Celestia stood, staring out the window, when the door opened behind her. She didn't look around to see who it was.

"Princess, it's time to lower the sun," Ventus' voice said.

"No," Celestia said, monotonically.

"I know you miss her," Ventus said, walking up beside her, "but you need to lower the sun."

"I can't," Celestia said, looking at him with red, puffy eyes. "I can't look at the sky without the moon there."

"I know," Ventus said, sympathetically. "But there isn't anything we can do. The last thing we need now is for the regular day/night cycle to cease. The country is distraught enough as it is."

Celestia looked at him, and sighed. She knew he was right. Looking back out of the window, her horn glowed with her usual yellow aura. The sun finally dipped beneath the horizon in the distance, and the sky began to slowly darken. Immediately, Celestia turned to leave, Ventus following.

"Any news?" Celestia asked. "How many cities fell today?"

"I'm not a huge fan of this new pessimistic outlook," Ventus said, bluntly. "It'll be bad on everypony's morale."

"How many?" Celestia asked again.

Ventus sighed. "None since Manehattan. We've transferred the Element of Kindness and her squad to Las Pegasus."

"Good idea," Celestia said, as they descended the spiral staircase from what had been Luna's tower. "That'll throw him off. If he's only working off of the old intel, then he should strike Fillydelphia next. If, as I suspect, we have a traitor in our midst, then he'll hit Las Pegasus."

"So you really think somepony's passing information to Sombra?" Ventus asked.

"Yes," Celestia sighed. "I don't want to believe it, but I seriously doubt that Sombra attacking the city with three Elements of Harmony as his first strike was a coincidence, especially after what Big Macintosh told me."

"What did he tell you?" Ventus asked, curious.

"Sombra's first strike, the very first spell he cast, directly hit the hotel room where Rarity was staying," Celestia said. "And I had that information stored in the database."

Ventus could think of nothing to say to that. They continued down the hallway in silence for a moment.

"How's Twilight?" Celestia asked.

"You're asking me?" Ventus said, surprised. "Wouldn't that be a better question for the doctors?"

"But you know," Celestia gave him a sideways look. "Don't you?"

Ventus sighed once again. "She's doing better. They've stabilized her, and she could actually wake any time now."

"I need to be there when she does," Celestia said immediately, before turning down a different route.

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Under the now darkening sky, a dark shape stood, seemingly waiting for something. Soon, a corridor of darkness appeared several yards away from the figure, and a pony wearing a black cloak and a hood stepped out of it. The corridor disappeared behind the newcomer.

"What kept you?" King Sombra asked, slightly annoyed.

"I was busy," the voice replied. "You like the intel I bring, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Sombra replied, indignant. "It's been very--"

"Well, if you want it to stay that way," the voice cut him off, "then I'll need to come slightly later than usual sometimes. It was slightly harder than usual to obtain today."

"We have a different problem," Sombra said. "The Element of Magic, whatever her name is..."

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Yes, her. She's going to be a problem."

"Oh?" The voice sounded unconcerned. "How so?"

"She doesn't have dark blood, but she can use dark magic."

"Really?" the voice asked, now showing genuine interest. "How strong was this dark magic?"

"Disintegration."

"That is a problem," the voice admitted. "That's almost on the advanced level of dark magic. If she receives dark blood, she will not be easy to kill."

"She's already hard to kill," Sombra said. "I barely managed to beat her. I electrocuted her, and she still survived."

"I wondered what had happened to her," the voice said. "I saw she was in intensive care. But we can worry about her later. I have your next target."

"Where?" Sombra asked, eagerly.

"The Element of Kindness is in Las Pegasus. She's a yellow pegasus, with pink hair and three pink butterflies as a cutie mark. She's in charge of a squadron in the southern side of the city."

"We'll leave immediately," Sombra said.

"Not quite immediately," the voice said, pulling something from beneath it's cloak. "I have something for you."

"What is it?" Sombra asked, puzzled.

"A way to cripple them," the voice said, throwing a book at Sombra. "Permaneantly. Read up, and be sure you've mastered it before you go."

The hooded figure then turned, and the dark corridor opened again. He stepped into it, and it vanished, as Sombra eagerly opened the spellbook.

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A confused jumble of voices.

A splitting pain in her head.

Darkness.

A white ceiling.

Twilight's eyes slowly fluttered open. As soon as she realized she was conscious and in an unknown place, she tried to sit up rapidly, only to be stopped by soul-crushing pain. She flopped back down onto her pillow, only then realizing that she wasn't alone. A pale white mare with flowing green and pink hair sat beside her bed.

"Glad to see you're finally awake," Princess Celestia said.

"Where am I?" Twilight asked. "What happened? Where's Sombra?"

"You're back in Canterlot, in intensive care. It seems King Sombra electrocuted you. We don't really know anything other than that."

"But how did I get here?"

Celestia's warm smile faded.

"My sister saved you. She sent you back here, unconscious."

"But wouldn't she know more about what happened?" Twilight asked, confused. "Did she beat Sombra?"

Celestia's eyes watered slightly.

"...No. Princess Luna, she... she's gone." She looked away.

Guilt shot through Twilight like fire. Princess Luna was dead, and she had been saved. It was entirely possible that Luna had died because she had saved her.

"Princess, I'm sorry," she said, fighting to not choke up. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you! I'm sorry I snuck off to Manehattan! I'm sorry she had to die to save me!"

Celestia smiled again, the tears gone from her eyes. "I don't blame you, Twilight. You arrived a while before the moon vanished from the sky. And given the circumstances, I think we'll forgo any consequences."

Her face grew serious again. "But I do want to ask one thing."

"Yes?" Twilight prompted.

"Your full cooperation from now on. I can't have you disobeying orders again."

Silence. Then,

"Of course, Princess. Thank you."

"Unfortunately, you're in no condition to leave intensive right now," Celestia said, "and we have important business to conduct. Would you mind us holding our meetings in here for the next little while?"

"Of course not, Princess!" Twilight said, excitedly.

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The holo-projector wasn't exactly easy to move, but Iron Hooves and Ventus managed to get the job done. They got everything set up at the foot of Twilight's hospital bed, and Twilight was immediately given the job of scribe. Celestia informed the doctors that they were not to be disturbed, and she locked the door behind her.

"All right, let's get started at last," Celestia said. "What you're about to hear is highly classified information, that could cause panic if spread to the general public. Twilight, you're to encrypt this information when we're finished."

"Yes, Princess," Twilight said immediately. "I'm ready."

Celestia continued. "After transporting the troops - plus Twilight - to Manehattan, Ventus did some investigations into the cause of the deaths of Forest Shade and Applejack. The information he discovered is of vital importance. Ventus, if you could tell us what you learned."

In her head, she added but leave off the fact that you're half demon.

"Of course, Princess," Ventus said, both in his head and aloud.

Ventus spent the next hour explaining the dark research team, and everything they had taught him about Dark Spirits, Daemons, and Demons, but didn't mention a thing about his journey to visit the Eye of Truth. When he was finished, both Iron Hooves and Twilight seemed appalled.

"So Applejack and Forest Shade were both killed by a demon?" Twilight asked.

"Definitely," Ventus said, face grim. "And one other pony that we know of."

"So does that mean there's a demon here?" Iron Hooves asked, looking nervous.

"There definitely was one here at that time, at least," Celestia said. "But it's certainly possible that it's still here."

"Wait a minute," Twilight said suddenly. "Is there any way to tell if someone's been possessed?"

"Unless you sense it or see it in their eyes, I don't think so," Ventus said. "Why?"

Twilight was thinking back. "Because I think I know how the demon got here. And it explains some things."

"Please, elaborate," Celestia said.

"Can somepony else be scribe for this part?" Twilight asked. Ventus nodded, and took control of the holo-projector from her.

"Remember how the Crystal Heart was moved, and I theorized that Spike had done it?"

Celestia nodded.

"Well, I think this demon had something to do with it. I think it possessed Spike, since Spike was the only one who could've removed the Crystal Heart, and did so. I did a mental examination, and got some odd readings in his cerebral cortex. I think that was the demon I was sensing. It rode home with us on the train, and possessed Forest Shade and Applejack in order to kill them."

"There's one problem with that theory," Celestia said. "If the demon did ride home in Spike, it definitely didn't leave him by the time he got to magical examination like you requested. And they said they didn't find anything wrong with him."

Twilight had thought of that, and was ready with her counter-argument. "Who's to say they didn't find something wrong? The demon could have possessed any one of them to file that report, and it could've easily modified the memories of the rest of them to think there had been nothing wrong."

"...You have a point," Celestia admitted. "All right. I think it's safe to say that theory is true. If it is, that should mean we can see if the demon is possessing somepony. It also means the demon is in league with King Sombra." She looked like she was contemplating something for a moment.

"I think we have a way to identify our traitor."

"Really?" Iron Hooves said. "How?"

"Perhaps the traitor isn't a traitor at all," Celestia suggested. "Perhaps the demon is possessing one of us at this very moment, and is passing information to King Sombra in that way."

The room was dead silent. The other three looked at each other nervously as they contemplated that.

"So, I'm going to scan all three of you right now."

None of them dared to object. Celestia scanned Iron Hooves, and found nothing. Twilight, nothing. Then she scanned Ventus, and found nothing in his cerebral cortex, but she could feel something else in his mind. She dug a little deeper, and immediately wished she hadn't.

She barely managed to keep a straight face, as the strongest wave of fear she had ever felt in her 6300 year lifespan washed over her. She could sense nothing but evil, the nastiest evil she had ever felt. Worse than any of the few serial killers she had convicted, worse than anything that had ever threatened her or Equestria.

Worse, even, than the residual aura around Forest Shade and Applejack. But if the demon was possessing Ventus, shouldn’t the aura be the same?

After some quick calculations, she realized that this must be the demonic half of Ventus. Inwardly shuddering, and sincerely hoping she never had to feel that again, she looked around.

"Well, either our theory is incorrect, which I seriously doubt, or there aren't any demons among us," she said.

No hostile ones, anyway, she thought at Ventus. He gave no sign that he had heard.

"So what now?" he asked.

"Well, that concludes the classified portion of our meeting," Celestia said. "Now, let's move to less secret information."

After spending the next half hour going over troop placements and war strategies, Celestia dismissed the meeting. Iron Hooves was the only one who left.

"We'll leave the holo-projector in here until such a time when Twilight is able to leave intensive," she said to one of the doctors. "How quickly should she fully recover?"

"If we keep her in here, she should be up and running again in a couple of days," the doctor said. "We've already repaired some of the damage, but there's a bit more work to be done."

"Excellent," Celestia said, before turning back to Twilight.

"I think there's somepony that wants to see you now," Celestia said. "I'll tell him to come down now." She stood up, and left the room, leaving Twilight alone with Ventus.

"Happy now?" Ventus asked. "You went to the front lines after all."

Twilight shook her head. "I didn't make a difference. Sombra still won, and now Princess Luna is dead."

"I think you sent Sombra a pretty strong message," Ventus said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if the demon passed information to Sombra, then he should know that you survived," Ventus said. "How many ponies, if Sombra decided he wanted them dead, have ever been survivors? Not a lot."

Twilight smiled. Then, she thought back to how she had treated him in the days before she snuck to Manehattan.

"Ventus, I'm sorry," she muttered, not looking at him. "I'm sorry I--"

"Don't worry about it," he interrupted. "It's fine, and you learned your lesson, right?"

"Do what Celestia says."

"Then I guess there's no harm done," Ventus said, before standing up. "I think I'll give you two some privacy."

"Who are you talking--"

But at that precise moment, the door to the room opened, and a purple dragon entered her room as Ventus left it.

"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed. She had forgotten to ask about him.

"Hey Twilight," Spike said. "Feeling better?"

"Not really," Twilight said. "Can't sit up yet." She looked suddenly concerned. “What happened? How did you get away?”

“Big Mac and I fought our way out,” Spike said. “I wrote a letter, and one of the trains picked us up.”

“No… No one else?” Twilight asked, hesitantly. Then she noticed just how red and puffy his eyes were.

“Oh, Spike…” she breathed, holding out her front-left leg. Spike walked into her one-armed embrace. “I’m so sorry…”

“I had to watch,” he said, voice quivering. “I had to watch her die in my arms! Why her?! Why couldn’t it have been me?!”

“Because I’ve already lost half of my family,” Twilight said, stroking Spike’s scales soothingly with her hoof. “I couldn’t bear losing you, too. But at least Rarity got to see you one last time.”

“I told her!” Spike choked, almost at the breaking point. “I told her how I feel!”

“What did she say?”

Spike couldn’t bear it any longer.

“She loves me back!” he wailed. “She loves me back, but now she’s gone!”

He began sobbing into her, as her eyes welled up with tears. So little Spikey-wikey worked his way into her heart after all. But now, they couldn’t act on that love. She continued holding him as he cried his heart out into her.

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Ventus could hear the sobs of the dragon all the way down the hallway, as he turned a corner and ascended a stone staircase. He wandered aimlessly, wondering where to go and what to do. He hadn’t expected to be almost trampled by a rushed Celestia, hurrying back down the stairs.

“Sorry, Ventus” she said quickly, as he stood up again.

“Princess?” Ventus looked into her eyes, seeing a mix of emotions. Panic, anger, and sorrow were all present. “What’s happened?”

“Our theory was correct,” she said. “Sombra is getting current information.”

“How do you know?” Ventus asked, already guessing what the reply would be.

“Las Pegasus has been invaded.”

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Fluttershy stood atop a large skyscraper in Equestria’s largest, though not most populated metropolitan city. A city that was now under siege.

I want to hear from each of you every five minutes, she commanded her squadron in her head. Silver Spire will remain with me to monitor your movements, but we can’t tell who’s wounded and who isn’t. Get to your battle positions.

She watched the holo over Silver Spire's shoulder, as the soldiers all moved to their positions. All but one of them. Feint Heart had paused about three-quarters of the way to his assigned position.

"What's he doing?" Silver Spire asked.

Feint Heart! Fluttershy called out to him in her mind. Why aren't you moving to your assigned position?

No reply. Fluttershy looked at her recently appointed second-in-command.

"He's not answering. I'm going to go find out for myself."

"All right," Silver Spire replied. "Be careful, commander."

She galloped for the edge of the building, spreading her wings. She jumped into the air and took off, soaring quickly for the position where Feint Heart's dot had been, flying low to be able to spot him in the darkness of the night. She spotted him quickly. He wasn't alone, but he wasn't fighting, either. She descended, heading right for them.

Oh, no, she thought to herself, as the other ponies around Feint Heart came into greater focus. They were civilians, regular, everyday civilians, about thirty in all. She landed lightly on the ground not far away.

"Commander, thank goodness," Feint Heart said in relief. "I was just about to call for you."

"Why aren't you inside?" Fluttershy asked the ponies around them. "I thought you were all ordered to apply defensive plan Gamma."

"The doors all locked before we could get inside," one nearby stallion said. "There wasn't anything we could do."

"And they won't let you back in?" Fluttershy asked. The stallion shook his head.

She stood for a few moments, torn within herself. Half of her, the military commander half, wanted to just give them weapons and let them fend for themselves. But she knew this was not an option. It wasn't their fault, and they needed protection now.

"Damn it," she cursed under her breath. Being the Element of Kindness could be hard sometimes. She looked at Feint Heart.

"Protect them," she commanded. "I will return shortly."

"Yes ma'am," Feint Heart said, saluting her as she took back off into the sky.

Change of plans, she called to all of her soldiers. Everypony gather at HQ as soon as possible. I will give you more information when you arrive.

"What's going on, commander?" Silver Spire asked as soon as Fluttershy descended onto the roof again.

"Are there any trains still in the station?" Fluttershy asked, ignoring his question.

"Two," Silver Spire said, taken aback. "Why--"

"Inform whichever train can move faster to prepare for departure," she said.

"Okay," Silver Spire said, still confused as he sent a message to one of the trains.

"Now, pack up the holo," Fluttershy commanded, as her squad began to gather at the bottom of the building, looking just as confused as Silver Spire. "Then meet me down there."

She jumped off of the building, landing directly in front of her soldiers.

"We've got a bit of a problem," she informed them. "Feint Heart found a group of civilians who were unable to make it inside before the doors closed."

Muttering broke out at that, but Fluttershy raised her hoof for silence. It fell immediately.

"We're escorting them out of the city. The other task forces will do just fine without us. No arguments. Pegasai, follow me in the air. Unicorns and Earth Ponies, try to keep up."

She took off, along with roughly a quarter of her squadron, as everypony else began galloping down the road to keep pace with them. She led them quickly to where Feint Heart and the civilians stood waiting.

"We're going to get you out of here," she reassured the civilians, who all looked a lot happier to suddenly be surrounded by a large military squad. Then, she continued to her soldiers, "Pegasai, remain in the air. You're going to guide us to the train station in the fastest way possible, and inform us of any of Sombra's forces who will be obstacles. Earth Ponies, stay by the civilians. You're to protect them at all costs. Unicorns, you'll fight off Sombra's forces in our path as the Pegasai point them out to you."

She turned back to the civilians again. "We'll have to run if we want any choice of escaping this alive. Just stay with the Earth Ponies, and you'll be safe, I promise."

They didn't look completely reassured, but some of them nodded.

"All right, everypony. Move!"

They took off, heading east down the road. Fluttershy ran on the ground, leading the pack. The Pegasai sent her directions, and she followed. After a few minutes, they finally approached a street with some enemies.

"Unicorns, we've got company around the corner," she called back to them. "Civilians, halt."

They stopped, as Fluttershy and the Unicorns flew around the corner. She led the charge once again, ready to fight. But as they approached Sombra's monsters, they turned to look at them.

"There she is!" a shadow pony cried out in a warped voice. Next, all of the monsters were hightailing it away from the incoming soldiers. Fluttershy's forces came to a halt.

"Well that was anti-climactic," one of the mares said. "Why'd they all run?"

"I don't know," Fluttershy frowned, "but I don't like it."

Slightly apprehensively, they continued moving forward. Some of the civilians seemed ready to pass out, and Fluttershy ordered a pair of the unicorns back to cast stamina spells on them all.

"We're almost there!" she called back. "Just a few more--"

"KING SOMBRA!" the lead pegasus' voice exploded, both in Fluttershy's head and aloud. "Heading straight for us!"

Those six words sent chills of horror down Fluttershy's spine, not for her sake, but for the civilians' sakes.

"EVERYPONY RUN!" she screamed. "RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!"

As the panic-stricken group picked up speed, Silver Spire appeared right beside her.

"He's coming for me!" she called to him. "He's been specifically targeting the Elements of Harmony, and I'm next! I'm leading him straight to these ponies!"

"No!" Silver Spire yelled, before she could even finish. "You're not leaving us!"

"Get these ponies out of here!" she ordered him. "Get them to safety!"

"That's your job, commander!" he cried back. "You can't abandon them!"

"I'm giving you a direct order! Lead these ponies to safety!"

"No." His face was set. He wouldn't obey.

Fluttershy was infuriated. "I'll have you--"

"Court-martials aren't that much of a threat right now," Silver Spire pointed out. His eyes were fixed with determination. "Equestria needs you! You're the most brilliant commander I've ever seen, and an Element of Harmony to boot! I won't let you sacrifice yourself for these ponies!"

He hesitated for a split second, but then finished. "I'll do it."

"WHAT?!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"I'll hold Sombra back, so everypony has the chance to escape!"

"No!" Fluttershy cried, as tears filled her eyes.

"Get them out!" Silver Spire cried. "I'm sorry, Commander! I'm sorry for everything I put you through in the beginning! Let me make it up to you now!"

Before Fluttershy could protest further, he disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing behind the galloping group as a massive dark cloud loomed over the road, barely visible in the dark sky. Silver Spire looked back, and gave Fluttershy a sad smile as he looked at her for what he knew would be the final time. Then he turned, never to look back, as he channeled an enormous amount of power in his horn, more than he had ever dared try before.

Well, he thought, at least I won't have the headache tomorrow.

He conjured an enormous magical shield, large enough to prevent Sombra from moving on, directly behind him, very effectively impeding Sombra's progress. Sombra roared in fury, looking around for the source of the magic shield. He saw the unicorn standing there, and lunged down at him. Silver Spire ran forward to meet him, offensive spells at the ready.

"Bring it on!" he cried, as he launched a spell at the black cloud.

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The group of ponies boarded the train station, moving straight for the VIP train docked there. As they moved in front of it, however, the door wouldn't open.

"Unicorns, can anyone get the door open?" Fluttershy asked, looking around.

Several of them tried, until finally, they managed to force them open.

In time to see the driver scream out in pain.

Fluttershy rushed across the threshold to the driver's side, but stopped. His eyes and mouth opened wide, and something began pouring out of them. It was black, and looked a lot like King Sombra did when he was flying around. The soldiers and civilians ducked as the cloud swept over them, and off into the city. The guard finally stopped screaming, and fell to the ground. His eyes were black, just as Applejack's had been.

He was dead.

"What... what the hell was that?" Fluttershy asked in shock, receiving no answer. After a few silent moments, she bent down next to the stallion's body.

"This was our driver," Fluttershy said, checking for a pulse that she knew wouldn't be there. "Can anypony drive trains?"

"I can drive steam trains," one of the civilians said. "Never tried electrical before."

"Anypony else know computers?" Fluttershy asked.

"I was a computer developer before joining the military," Feint Heart said.

"You two get in there and get us going," Fluttershy commanded. "I need a couple of unicorns to move the driver's body. Everypony else, sit down and buckle up."

Everypony followed her commands, with two of her soldiers moving the driver's body into the next cabin down. Soon, the train began to slide forward, gathering speed as the civilian steam driver became more accustomed to the controls. Feint Heart asked Fluttershy where they were going in his mind.

Back to Canterlot, Fluttershy told him. She stayed up long enough to ensure that they were well away from Las Pegasus before she curled up in her seat and fell asleep, exhausted.

But of course, it's impossible to stay asleep when you witnessed death five minutes earlier.

Her dreams were haunted by black eyes and clouds of smoke, as well as Silver Spire's face. She awoke a few hours later, mentally shaken, and was unable to fall back asleep.

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"I want every single building in this city searched!" Sombra roared at his forces. "Do not stop looking until--"

"You know, she's not here anymore," a voice said lazily, sounding about as interested in the news as last week's weather forecast. Sombra whipped around to see the familiar black cloak and hood of his informant.

"How do you know?" he snarled.

"Oh, I watched her leave ages ago," the voice said.

"And you didn't consider that as important information?!" Sombra yelled, angrily.

"Relax," the voice said, coldly. "She's returned to Canterlot. Now, cripple them, and you'll be able to take out the remaining three all at once."

The owner of the voice didn't even bother to walk anywhere this time. His dark corridor enveloped him where he stood, and he disappeared, leaving Sombra to angrily mutter curse words under his breath.

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"And it all came out of his eyes and mouth?"

"Yes, your majesty," Fluttershy said. She had bags under her eyes, as she had been unable to sleep since her nightmares. "Then it flew out of the train and away from us."

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Fluttershy," Princess Celestia said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to have a private word with Ventus."

She looked at Ventus, and he nodded, following her out of Twilight's hospital room. Iron Hooves got up and left too, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy in the room.

"So, it's just the three of us left, right?" Fluttershy asked, tears filling her eyes.

Twilight nodded. "I can't believe it, but yes. We're the only survivors."

"There were only fifty survivors from Las Pegasus," Fluttershy said, looking downcast. "I could only save fifty of them, and that includes my squad..."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of," Twilight said, firmly. "That's more than any other city so far. Did Sombra come after you?"

"...Yes," Fluttershy said, tears filling her eyes again. "Silver Spire, my second in command, stayed behind to hold him off while the rest of us escaped."

"Then I think you sent him a pretty strong message," Twilight said, thinking back to what Ventus had told her.

"What's that?"

"How many ponies have ever been survivors if Sombra wanted them dead? Not a lot. And you just added another fifty ponies to that list."

Fluttershy smiled gratefully, pushing her pain deep beneath the surface and wiping her eyes.

"Where's Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy asked, looking around. "I'd like to see her."

"Honestly, I haven't seen her since we got our assignments," Twilight said, frowning. "But I can't really go looking for her today, can I?"

"No," Fluttershy said, before yawning hugely. "Well, I need some sleep. I haven't slept properly since the siege on Las Pegasus began. I'll see you tomorrow." She stood, and left the room.

Twilight stared after her. If she hadn't known better, she would have said that wasn't Fluttershy at all. She was left to her dark thoughts, wondering how much more this war could take out of everypony.

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"So, there are either multiple demons in this mix, which is highly unlikely, or demons can move incredibly fast," Celestia said.

"Well, there's almost no limit to how much dark magic they can use," Ventus pointed out. "With a strong enough host, who knows how much they can really do? But why did you feel the need to tell me this away from Twilight and Iron Hooves?"

"Because you and I are probably the only two ponies who cannot be possessed," Celestia said, "and I want to throw Sombra off the trail. I'm sending Fluttershy and her squad to Ponyville tomorrow, and Twilight, as soon as she's recovered enough. All off the record. I don't think the demon will notice."

"Sounds good," Ventus said. "But why not--"

He didn't get the chance to finish. A horrible, metallic screeching noise shot through the air, causing both of them to cover their ears with their hooves.

What is that?! Ventus thought at Celestia.

I don't know, but not many things could make a sound like that, Celestia replied. A few moments later, it stopped.

"What in the hell--" Ventus began, but a frantic message reached him, sent by one of the members of his ex-security force.

General Ventus, sir, I think you need to look at this, he said. Ventus and Celestia both rushed outside to where the voice directed them.

The railroad tracks were rent and twain, completely and totally unusable. One of the VIP trains lay on it's side, debris scattered everywhere around it.

"What... what could have done this?" Ventus asked, bending down to look at the rails closer.

"I'll give you one guess," Celestia said. Ventus looked up at the other stallion.

"Did this happen all over?" he asked.

"I'm afraid so, sir," the stallion replied, heavily. "The steam lines, the electric lines, everything."

"Anyone using the trains when this happened... they're all probably gone," Ventus said, looking at the upturned VIP train and imagining that amount of destruction on a national level.

"Our source of transportation, and troop movement, has been destroyed," Celestia said, horror struck. Ventus looked up at her, more afraid than he had been in quite a long time.

"We don't stand a chance... do we?"

Current Equestria Population:

717,002

Author's Note

Hey guys.
Finally done with this chapter. We're getting to the really fast-paced stuff now. Yay. There're only two more chapters to go before I'm editing the old ones, and then that'll be all! It's weird.
I can't wait, though.
Later.

Reflections

Twilight galloped through the Everfree Forest, panting hard. The weather in the forest took care of itself, so even though everywhere else sported a grey, cloudy sky, the Everfree was unpredictable. She finally succumbed to fatigue, and sat down against a large tree. There she sat for several minutes, not wanting to get up again.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

She jumped in fear, whipping around to face the new voice. A pony in a dark cloak stood between the two trees, shaded in such a way that Twilight couldn’t see under the hood.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked, charging a spell as a precaution. “What do you want?”

The hooded figure chuckled darkly. Twilight could tell, through the deeper tone of voice and larger build, that it was a stallion under the hood.

“Who I am is of no importance. As for what I want… I want the same thing as you.”

“Which is?”

“Sombra’s head on a plate,” the stallion said. “I have an offer for you. One that will help you end him, once and for all.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, her curiosity sparked. The hooded stallion took a few steps closer to her.

“I’ve done some international travel in my time, and studied many different kinds of magic. I know very much that nopony else in Equestria does. One of the things I learned… was how to grant a pony dark blood.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. She could already guess where this was leading, but she didn’t know if she believed it.

“I want to give you dark blood, so you can use dark magic to obliterate Sombra and save the other survivors of this war.”

Twilight’s brain shot into overdrive, thinking back to the dark spellbooks she had studied so long ago. She knew she wanted it. Badly. But she also knew how evil and dangerous it was. Her mind was completely torn between these thoughts, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to decide.

“I don’t know,” she said, hesitantly. “I think I should write to Celestia and ask her what she thinks.”

“You haven’t heard?” The stallion sounded mildly surprised. “Canterlot is gone.”

“WHAT?!” Twilight exclaimed, as a letter delivered itself to her. She pulled it out and tore it open in a frenzy.

Canterlot gone. Only me, Pinkie, Ventus, and Discord got out alive. Ventus says “The Demon is gone.” What the hay is a demon?

Ponyville is the final city left. You and Fluttershy need to protect it.

-Spike

“You make your own decisions now,” the stallion said, as Twilight knelt to the ground, tears filling her eyes. “So what will it be? Will you let the rest of us perish? Or will you stand up and fight with any and all power available?”

There was only one option, and Twilight knew it. She took a deep breath, wondering what long-term consequences this would bring. She stood up.

"...I'll do it," she declared. "I'll use dark magic to beat Sombra."

"Excellent," the stallion said. "Now, follow me."

He turned back the way he had come, as Twilight silently followed behind. He led her through the forest for several minutes, their destination unknown to Twilight. Finally, a ramshackle wooden hut loomed into view. The stallion opened the door with a loud creak, gesturing her inside. With trepidation, Twilight walked inside. There was a single wooden table, with a few chairs. No windows. No other doors.

“Sit,” the stallion said. She did as she was asked, cupping her hooves on top of the table. He sat down opposite from her.

“Have you ever done hypnosis?” he asked.

Hypnosis? Twilight thought to herself. Why does he need to know?

“...A little bit,” Twilight admitted. “I never got deep into it, though…”

“Well, this is about as deep as hypnosis gets,” the stallion informed her. “But it’s necessary for the spell. Don’t worry - there won’t be any lingering effects once it’s over.”

Even more nervous now, Twilight nodded.

“The induction will take a few minutes,” he continued. “Close your eyes, relax, and don’t open them again until I say.”

Twilight followed the directions, breathing deeply through her nose. The stallion’s hidden horn glowed, and slowly, a transparent mist surrounded Twilight. She began to feel even more relaxed, as all of her thoughts and emotions grew distant and unimportant. She even stopped feeling the hard chair she was sitting in, feeling as though they were merging into one.

“Open.”

She opened her eyes. She wasn’t in a wood hut anymore, and the stallion was nowhere to be seen. She was on a lone boulder, surrounded as far as she could see by eerie, smooth water.

“Can you hear me?” a voice said, seeming to echo to her across the ghostly water.

“Yes,” she said, her voice echoing back across the emptiness in response.

“Tell me what you see.”

She looked around.

“I...I’m on a rock. There’s water all around me…”

“Can you see your reflection in the water?”

She looked down. “Yes.”

“Jump in.”

She didn’t even think twice about it. She immediately jumped into the water, breaking the glass-like surface as the water completely enveloped her. It didn’t feel like natural water - she wasn’t sure what it was. It was almost as though it was glass, but made as flexible and malleable as water.

The mirror pool, a distant part of her brain told her. It’s the mirror pool.

She didn’t have time to react to this before she was swallowed in darkness.

The stallion smiled, as Twilight sat perfectly still on the table, eyes still closed, in the exact same position as when they had started.

“Induction complete,” he said to no one, as he cast a spell to see directly into her subconsciousness. “The rest is up to you, Twilight.”

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When she awoke, the first thing she registered was that she was no longer in a trance. Her brain had fully reconnected itself… or so she thought. She stood up, unsure where she was. For a moment, she thought she hadn’t left the mirror pool cave after all. But then she looked down. She was no longer on a rock. It was now a small little island of sand. The water was still eerily still, although it was definitely water. She looked more into the distance, but couldn’t see anything else. The light-grey sky seemed to extend forever, as did the water, as they met at the horizon in every direction.

“What now?” Twilight wondered aloud. “There’s nowhere to go.”

Not wanting to stay on the island the entire time, she took a few tentative steps forward towards the water. Her hooves made contact with the surface, and she was surprised to find that the water was warm. She took a few more steps, but it wasn't getting any deeper.

"I guess I'll just start going," she concluded, and began walking away from the island. What she was supposed to do, she had no idea, but she figured nothing would happen if she didn't move. She glanced back at the little island about twenty paces away, and doubled back.

The island had spawned a small, dead-looking tree. She approached it again, curious. There hadn't even been any sound. It was as if the tree, which was only about fifteen feet tall, had just appeared there. She walked up to it, putting her hoof against the trunk. It was definitely solid.

"This is weird," Twilight said, perplexedly. She hadn't ever done much research on hypnosis, so she had no idea where she was in her mind.

Unable to find anything else interesting about the tree, she walked back off the island in a different direction. She didn't look back for almost thirty paces, but then, unable to help herself, she looked back.

The tree was still there, but something was different this time. Something grey stood on the island, directly between Twilight and the tree. Her curiosity sparked again, she walked back towards the tree. She couldn't tell what the grey thing was, even as she drew nearer. Only as she drew within a couple of yards did she realize it had an equine shape. She took one more, tentative step towards it.

A yell, almost like a combat yell, rang out in the emptiness, as the grey equine jumped forward at her. Caught by surprise, she dove aside as the dark shape skidded past her, sending water droplets spraying into the air. The grey figure turned and ran at Twilight again, and she tried to charge a spell by reflex. To her horror, however, her magic seemed to have no effect in this place.

I'll have to fight by hoof, she thought to herself.

As the thing prepared to lash out at her with it's front hooves, she sidestepped and hit it in the face, jumping back to avoid it's next strike. The figure began to become more defined, as though it was still fading into existence. Its attacks grew more brutal as well, and Twilight took several blows, unable to predict what it would do.

The dark pony came even more into focus, and as Twilight landed a lucky hit that sent it to the ground, she gasped.

The pony was turning into her. A dark grey version of her, with red eyes, and black hair with a dark blue highlight. Finally, it fully solidified, glaring at her with those red eyes.

Am I fighting my own dark side? she wondered, diving aside as the Dark Twilight flew at her with a kick. What will that accomplish?

Twilight began to fight more brutally, soon almost matching the fury of her dark side. Then they were evenly matched, each pony blocking the strikes the other threw. Then, slowly, very slowly, Twilight began to overpower her dark side.

She began landing several heavy blows, similar to how badly her dark side had been beating her not all that long ago. As she threw many punches and kicks in quick succession, she didn't notice the change in herself. Her dark side was changing skin tone, becoming lighter, as Twilight began to grow steadily darker in contrast.

Although they had been fighting for a couple of minutes now, Twilight felt as though she was gaining energy instead of losing it. She picked up the pace even more, and her other self soon couldn't even move due to the blows kicking her this way and that. The red receded out of the other Twilight's eyes, quickly fading to lavender as Twilight's grew steadily more red. Finally, Twilight kicked the legs out from under her other self, knocking her to the ground. She jumped into the air, front flipping and bringing her back hooves crashing into her other self's chest. Her front hooves quickly followed, pounding her other self's muzzle in.

Her other self's eyes rolled back in their sockets, and she stopped moving.

Sadistically satisfied, Twilight jumped off of her other self's chest. Only then did she realize that her "dark" side looked exactly like she did.

Then she looked down at her reflection in the water.

She let out a scream of surprise, as she saw the grey body, black hair, and red eyes her dark side previously had.

"What have I done?!" she yelled to the emptiness, as her other self began bleeding into the water, and the blood billowed out like red clouds around her.

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"She's ready," the dark unicorn muttered to himself, as he watched Twilight finish taking her dark side's form. Retrieving a small green crystal from his magical storage, he used a knife to cut an incision in Twilight's side, about half a foot to the left of her cutie mark. He pushed the crystal into the hole, making sure it went all the way in. He then healed the wound, trying to leave no trace that he had cut into her. He used his magic to observe as the crystal fractured, leaking a dark substance within her. Quickly, the darkness found one of her blood veins, and it spread through her like poison.

The dark unicorn held his breath, as the dark substance reached her heart. It made contact with it, and her heart beat out of place a couple of times. Then, it returned to its normal pattern. The dark unicorn sighed in relief, and smiled.

"Injection complete," he said, triumphantly. He cast a spell to retrieve Twilight from her magic subconscious, but immediately cast another that would ensure that she slept long enough for him to get out of sensory range. Leaving her slumped over the table, he walked out of the shack, taking off into the air and soaring north.

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Ventus, Pinkie, Spike and Discord climbed up the steep slope, trying to reach the top of the mountain. Nopony was talking as they walked, each dwelling on all of the dead ponies they had left behind.

They climbed for almost an hour, until they finally stopped to eat. Discord spawned a flamethrower to light the campfire, and they sat down around the fire.

"All right," Pinkie said, looking at Ventus. "Want to explain what the hell happened back there?"

"What do you mean?" Ventus asked, with a failed attempt at an innocent tone.

Pinkie glared. "You know what I mean. How did you survive, and why were your eyes black?"

"Black eyes?" Discord exclaimed. "You mean, like this?"

His eyes immediately turned a deep shade of black, making Spike cry out in alarm.

"Worse than that," Pinkie said, still glaring at Ventus. "He didn't have any white in his eyes."

"Well, well," Discord said, as his eyes returned to normal. "You've been mixing it up with the wrong crowd, General."

"What do you mean?" Spike looked lost. "What happened?"

Ventus sighed. "Look, Canterlot fell today. We all experienced horrific things. I don't want to immediately relive it."

"But you can't pretend that didn't happen," Pinkie protested.

"Just... give me until tomorrow," Ventus said, raising a hoof. "Tomorrow, I'll explain everything.

"And how do we know we can trust you?" Discord asked, arms folded and an eyebrow raised. "I haven't met any decent beings of that kind before."

"Because if I was going to kill you, I would have done it already," Ventus pointed out. "And I certainly wouldn't have been trying to destroy the other one."

"What are you talking about?" Pinkie asked, looking just as confused as Spike now. "What other one?"

"Tomorrow," Ventus reminded her. "You'll know tomorrow."

They ate their food in silence for several minutes.

"So what now?" Pinkie asked, eventually. "I guess I'm the only remaining Element of Harmony."

"Not true," Ventus interjected. Now that the demon was gone, he could tell them. "Fluttershy and Twilight were both secretly reassigned to Ponyville. Neither of them were in the city."

"So that's why I couldn't find them," Pinkie muttered. "But why didn't you or Celestia tell me--"

"Tomorrow, Pinkie," Ventus said for the third time, slightly exasperated now.

Nopony talked until they had finished eating, and then it was only to discuss whether they would camp there or not. In the end, they moved a bit further up the mountainside, where they found a small cave. Discord provided them with sleeping bags, with the slight side effect of the bags hopping around the cave trying to tackle each other, making it impossible to get in them.

"Discord, can't you make them stand still?!" Pinkie yelled in frustration, after she had dove for a bag and missed, as it jumped aside when it saw her coming.

"No," Discord replied, completely serious.

Quite suddenly, the sleeping bags all stopped hopping, and all four flopped back to the ground on top of each other. Everypony, eyes wide, looked at Ventus. Even in the poor light of the cave, each could see that his eyes had turned black as night. Immediately after this, they faded back to blue.

"You... you just cancelled out my chaos magic!" Discord exclaimed, sounding genuinely astonished. "How in the bouncing buck did you pull that off?! I didn't even think it was possible!"

"I... I don't know," Ventus said, sounding as confused as Discord. "It just sorta happened. I didn't even think."

"What are you?" Discord asked, still appalled.

"...Tomorrow," Ventus said for the fourth time, stalking to the sleeping bag pile and dragging the top one off of it. He looked back at the other three, seeing that none of them had moved.

"They won't eat you, I swear," he said, before dragging his bag further away and smoothing it out on the damp cave floor. Glancing at each other, the others followed suit.

Ventus laid in the bag on his stomach, his head facing away from the others. Using magic, he began doodling idly on the cave wall, trying not to think back to the day's events. But he couldn't help it. Celestia, his foster mother, had been killed before his very eyes. He had finally seen a full-blooded Demon, the true nature of them. He became even more angry every time he remembered that he was so deeply connected to the demons, that he was so deeply connected to something so evil.

He was so focused on trying not to focus that he didn't hear the clip clop of a set of hooves approaching him, nor the sound of a sleeping bag being dragged along the ground.

"What're you drawing?" Pinkie asked. Ventus gave a start, looking up to see the pink pony standing above him. He didn't know when it had happened, but her hair no longer hung completely straight. It hadn't returned to the messily poofy state he had first seen it in, but it was a lot more comely than having it all hang down over her face.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I've never been any good at drawing."

Pinkie giggled slightly, before asking something else.

"Mind if I join you?"

"...No," Ventus said, untruthfully. In fact, he would've preferred to have been alone at that moment, but it wasn't like he would say no. Pinkie flattened out her sleeping bag next to him, on his left, and laid down on her left side on top of it, so she was facing him. They sat in silence for a minute, as Ventus continued doodling on the wall.

"So," he said, deciding to break the silence, "are you less scared now?"

"Why would I be less scared?" Pinkie asked. "It's still just as likely that Sombra will kill us."

"But you actually fought in battle today, and held your own," Ventus pointed out.

"...That's true," she admitted. Then, she sighed. "But no, I'm not any less scared."

More silence. More doodling.

"So why'd you come over here?" Ventus asked. "I thought you still weren't sure about what I am."

"...Do you really want to know?" Pinkie asked. He nodded.

"...Then I'll tell you," she said, hesitantly. Ventus stopped doodling, and turned onto his right side so they were both facing each other.

"I'm still not sure about whether I should trust you," she said. "I'm not even a unicorn, and I could feel it when you... when your eyes were black."

To his surprise, she blushed slightly, as she continued.

"But... when I'm with you... I feel safe," she admitted. "I feel like if you're by my side, I'll be fine."

She stopped, with a rather awkward few moments of hesitation, as Ventus thought back to how she had pressed up against his side when the shadow ponies were bearing down on them.

"I'm still terrified," she said. "I still don't want to die... and I still want you to keep me safe."

She turned even redder, and looked away. Ventus was lost for words for a few moments, but then smiled.

"All right," he said, warmly. "I'll... I'll keep you safe, for as long as I can."

"Th-thanks," she stammered, before getting into her sleeping bag properly. Ventus was amazed that Pinkie, heck, that any mare thought of him in that way, especially considering how terrifying demonic aura was. But here was a mare who, without any explanation from him, still trusted him, still felt safe near him, even after seeing him at his scariest.

"Hey," Pinkie said. Ventus turned to look at her. She had one hoof extended, looking innocently hopeful. It was incredible that she could look so innocent, considering how deadly of a soldier she was. But apparently, under all of that cold power, a little filly still slept, waiting to manifest once more. With a small smile, Ventus took her hoof in his.

"I'm looking forward to hearing your story tomorrow," she said with a smile, before settling a bit more comfortably in her bag, and closing her eyes.

Ventus felt slightly guilty, as his thoughts drifted to Twilight. But in all reality, he didn't know if he would ever see her again. And here was Pinkie Pie, with her surprisingly soft hoof in his, looking so peaceful as she lay beside him. He smiled slightly, before closing his eyes as well.

The sound of water hitting the ground outside told Ventus that it had started to rain. Between Pinkie's hoof in his and the lullaby of the rain outside, he felt much happier than he would've believed possible ten minutes ago as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

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Sombra had long since finished mutilating dead bodies in his rage, and now walked through the destroyed, completely abandoned city of Canterlot.

That damned demon, he cursed silently. Leaving me with no army or anything to work with...

He kicked some rubble aside as he walked. He didn't want to take the demon's advice, but he knew it was right. If he didn't destroy Ponyville, the survivors would gather there, build up over time, and come to destroy him again.

Do I really have a choice? he thought.

Rain began to fall softly at first, but got harder and harder as time wore on.

I'll leave tomorrow, Sombra concluded, as he began to seek undestroyed shelter.

Current Equestria Population:
397

Author's Note

Tomorrow. Everything is happening tomorrow. :raritywink:
Damn, I wasn't even planning on having that ship. It just sort of came while I was writing it. Almost like Ventus' new spells. :derpytongue2:
I think I actually like Ventus/Pinkie more than Ventus/Twilight. I'm such a douchebag.
Well, I'm working on the next chapter. It'll be easier now - we're back to editing the existing chapters! The rest of this should go pretty fast, so stay tuned!

Oaths

Twilight groaned, as she faded back into consciousness. The shack was abandoned, the stallion nowhere in sight. She sat up, not wanting to remain slumped over the table. Then she noticed the change, and she gasped.

Her sensory input had increased drastically. She breathed in through her nose, feeling as though she had never taken a proper breath before. Everything was so much more crisp, so much more... real. She could smell the scent of rain, even from inside the hut. She got off of the chair, and as her hooves made contact with the ground, she could feel her new raw physical power pulsating through her.

"This is amazing," she muttered. Next, she moved to her magical sensory range. She could already see all of Ponyville, despite the fact that she was still deep within the Everfree.

"Impossible," she said, in astonishment. She thought back to her dark magic research, eager to try one of the more complicated dark spells. One that quickly came to mind was the dark flight spell. To her surprise, she didn’t have much trouble visualizing the pages in her head, as she recalled the theory behind the spell. She concentrated magic into her horn.

Immediately, almost effortlessly, the spell pushed through. She felt the strange sensation of her body transfiguring, becoming much lighter. Black wisps of smoke began to billow from her, as her atomic structure altered, and she transformed into a dark cloud, just as she had seen Sombra do several times. She leapt into the air, continuing up beyond the thick canopy of trees into the grey sky.

So this is what flying felt like. As she changed direction at top speed, she felt an exhilarating rush of adrenaline pump through her, one that couldn’t be brought on by anything else. Never before had she experienced anything like this. She couldn’t help but laugh maniacally. Never before had she felt so free, so powerful, so in-control. So good. Why didn’t everypony do this?

She calmed down a bit eventually, knowing she had to return to Ponyville. She flew incredibly fast towards the town. As she reached the outlying buildings of the town’s limits, she realized she would cause panic if she flew in as a dark cloud. She touched down, solidifying into her normal self again. Still not wanting to be seen, she used the most advanced form of shadow magic to conceal herself from view, both physically and mentally. No unicorn would be able to sense her.

Fluttershy, she thought. I need to find Fluttershy.

She moved to the town square, but couldn’t find her pink-maned friend anywhere. She wanted to fly up for a better view, but she couldn’t stay invisible if she did. She looked over at town hall, and it’s large spire atop the roof caught her attention.

That’ll work, she thought with a smile.

She galloped for the bottom railing, and grabbed it with one of her front hooves. Using her newfound physical strength, she flipped sideways, pushing with her front hooves. She launched upwards, and gripped the railing of the second floor with her back hooves. She did a full sit up, and used the momentum to fly upwards once again, soaring up to the rooftop. She landed on all fours, using the momentum to gallop up the roof as hard as she could. Then, she climbed the spire.

"...Awesome," Twilight breathed, exhilarated at how easy that had been.

She scanned as much of the city as she could see, trying to lay eyes on Fluttershy, with no success. She ended up becoming visible again for a few moments so she could just scan the city magically. The moment she had pinpointed Fluttershy's location, she faded away once more, and jumped off of the roof. She fell through the air in a rush of wind. As her hooves hit the ground, she launched herself forward into a roll, avoiding any harm from the 30-foot descent.

This is insane, she thought as she ran, amazed by not only her new abilities, but also how naturally she was using them. It was as though she had been able to do it for years.

Soon, she reached the alleyway where Fluttershy was conversing with a pair of unicorn soldiers.

"--lack of communication with Canterlot concerns me," Twilight heard her say. "Come straight to me the moment either of you receives a reply. Dismissed!"

They saluted her, and ran off. Fluttershy spread her wings, preparing to take off.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight called out, fading back into visibility. Fluttershy looked around, surprised.

"Twilight?" she said, perplexed. "I thought you were stationed in Canterlot. What are you doing here?"

"Celestia... reassigned me," Twilight muttered, as a knot formed in her throat. "But I can tell you, you don't need to keep waiting on word from Canterlot."

"What do you-- you mean... you mean it's gone?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes wide. Twilight looked at the ground, which Fluttershy took as a 'yes.'

"Any survivors?" Fluttershy asked, her voice dull and flat, not wanting to express her true horror at the news.

"...Four," Twilight said. "Spike, Discord, Ventus, and Pinkie Pie."

"Discord got out?" Fluttershy said, breathing a sigh of relief. "That's good... and the others, too..."

"Celestia's dead," Twilight informed her, as a new knot formed in her throat, which she pushed down. "We're the only city left in the entire land."

"Then we'd better get ready," Fluttershy said. "Sombra's army will be here anytime soon."

"You don't need to get anyone ready," Twilight said, flatly. "I can take on Sombra by myself."

Silence.

"No, you can't," Fluttershy said. "Last time you tried that, he electrocuted you."

"I wasn't as strong then as I am now," Twilight informed her. "I can kill him."

"But going out alone is pointless," Fluttershy pressed, trying to recall Twilight to her senses. "If you take the army as well, we can finish him much--"

"NO!" Twilight bellowed, losing control as a rush of air blew through the alley, causing Fluttershy to skid backward an inch or two. Twilight's teeth were bared in a snarl.

"No one else is dying to Sombra! I'm much stronger than him! I'm taking him down by myself!"

A terrified Fluttershy showed no sign of fear on the outside. If there was one thing the war had taught her, it was how to withhold emotions, and wear a perfect mask. Fluttershy just stared in surprise, as Twilight's eyes flashed menacingly. Fluttershy could've sworn that something had happened to them.

"Twilight? What's wrong with your eyes?"

Twilight blinked, taken aback by the random question.

"Uhh, nothing?" she shrugged. Then she mentally shook herself.

"Look, Fluttershy, there're only about 400 ponies left in Equestria," Twilight said. "I don't want to lose any more of them. I'm strong enough. Let me do this."

Fluttershy wanted to argue, but she slowly nodded as she realized it was hopeless.

"All right. I won't get the soldiers ready."

"But you might want to get them inside," Twilight said, her horn glowing slightly. "Sombra's on his way."

Fluttershy looked scared, but she nodded, running past Twilight out of the alleyway.

As she watched Sombra from so far away, Twilight thought back to everypony she had lost. Shining Armor. Applejack. Rainbow Dash. Rarity. Her parents. All three princesses. She clenched her hoof in mixed anger and sorrow, as the air around her grew darker.

I swear in Celestia's name, that I'll protect all of you. I'll avenge all of you. No matter the cost.

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Sombra flew through the air, over the mountain range that Canterlot was built in, still griping over the demon.

Deal with it, he told himself firmly. Just get to this final city. Give them the offer. Then you'll be free at last...

But as he drew closer to the town of Ponyville, he began to feel something. It was so faint that it was barely noticeable, and might as well have not been there at all. But it was dark aura.

Dark aura almost as nasty as the demon's had been.

But then, next moment, it was gone again.

Sombra shook himself mentally. You’re imagining things, he told himself. Been awake too long.

Something about that aura felt ominous, though. He attempted to ignore it as he flew onward.

Keep it together, he told himself again. You've got to make this offer...

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Ponyville wasn't a big town, but that didn't stop it from being a lively town. Normally, you'd walk past several ponies running their errands, waving hello to them as they go. Normally, you could go to any one of the nearby shops and keep yourself occupied, enjoying yourself. Normally, life was happy in this town.

But not now.

Now, as Twilight walked through the deserted streets, she felt as though she was walking through a ghost town. There was no sign of the vendor owners, nor of anypony else who would usually hang around. The ghostly silence was broken only by the slight breeze. It was unnerving, especially with her new and improved hearing. The silence was so absolute that it pressed in on her eardrums.

Things can never be the same, she thought to herself. Even when I beat Sombra, this is all that's left... a ghost town.

The silence was soon broken, as she heard the rustle of wings. She turned towards the source of the sound, noticing that Fluttershy was still 30 yards away. Fluttershy quickly swept in, landing right beside Twilight.

"The soldiers have been informed," she reported. "I instructed them to take refuge with the citizens. Sombra will be yours and yours alone. I'll watch from here, but I won't intervene, unless..."

She let the sentence hang there, and Twilight knew what she meant.

"Don't worry," Twilight reassured her. "Sombra won't be a match for me now."

Fluttershy walked with Twilight to the edge of town.

"Good luck," Fluttershy said. "I'll be watching."

"Thank you, Fluttershy," Twilight said. "Thanks for everything."

Twilight walked over, and embraced her. Fluttershy returned the hug, as a tear built up in her eye.

"I won't disappoint you," Twilight said, as they broke apart.

Fluttershy spread her wings, and took off into the air with a powerful whoosh. She flew high into the air, and out of sight.

Yeah, Twilight thought to herself, thinking back to how weak of a flyer Fluttershy used to be. How timid she was. How terrified of her fears she was. Things definitely won't ever be the same...

Turning from her dark thoughts, she focused again on Sombra. He was drawing close now, and she knew she would be able to see him visually in a few moments. Then, the black cloud emerged from behind a mountain top, still several miles away. It moved down, flying level with the ground now.

Well, it's now or never, Twilight thought.

She breathed in, expanding her magical power, channeling it. She felt as though her energy was expanding, stretching sideways. She then cast a spell.

A gale of wind blew, suddenly and powerfully, sweeping across the entire field with incredible force. It hit Sombra head-on, blowing him backwards through the air. Quickly, Twilight transfigured into black smoke and tore towards him.

Sombra continued flying back, unable to fight the blast of wind. He may have been smoke, but that didn't stop him from smashing into the mountainside with full force. The blow knocked the wind out of him, as he returned to normal and slid to the ground. He looked up, hazily, in time to see the black cloud bearing down on him. It stopped a few feet away, and began to solidify. He recognized the pony, but didn't know how it was possible. The Element of Magic hadn't been able to use this advanced of dark magic beforehand.

"You received dark blood... didn't you?" he wheezed.

Twilight didn't respond, but began charging a spell.

"Wait," Sombra exclaimed, panicked. "I'm not here to fight!"

"Likely story," Twilight snarled. "Your mind games won't work on me now."

"It's no mind game," Sombra said, looking legitimately terrified. He could sense how strong she had become. "I didn't want all of this! I didn't want to attack all of Equestria - just the Crystal Empire! I was forced into it!"

Twilight looked into his terrified face. It was odd, but she didn't think this was a mind game after all.

"Spill it," she said, coldly. "What could force an evil unicorn like yourself into anything?"

"The demon," he said, still cowering away from her. "The demon forced me into it!"

"Explain," Twilight said, unrelentingly. Though, her curiosity was sparked. They had assumed that the demon was helping Sombra. What if, this whole time, Sombra had been helping the demon?

"I wanted to take back the Crystal Empire," Sombra admitted, "but I was in no shape to do it. The Crystal Heart tore me apart. I was as good as dead, weak and alone, with no body. But, as I'm sure you now know, it's almost impossible to die once you have taken in dark blood. So I was forced to sit there, plotting revenge against those who had killed me.

"Then... it came."

"The demon?" Twilight pressed.

"...Yes," Sombra said. Then, he looked into her eyes.

"You don't have to take my word for it," he said. "You have dark blood now. Read my mind."

"What?" Twilight exclaimed.

"Look into my eyes, and see the truth that lies before you," Sombra said.

Not helpful, Twilight thought. But she looked at him anyway.

And immediately, it happened. Almost as though a holo-projector had turned on, she was inside Sombra's memory.

It was a blizzard. She could hardly see, no matter what direction she looked. They were obviously beyond the Crystal Empire's boundaries. The only thing Twilight could make out in the combined darkness of the night and blinding blizzard was a small red object, lying about five feet to her right.

Without warning, a large dark cloud descended on the horn, surrounding it. Immediately, Sombra's body began to reform, as the pieces came together after appearing from nowhere. Soon, a full-bodied King Sombra stood there, being blown around in the wind, as the black cloud backed off and hung in the air, seemingly unaffected by the blizzard.

"What in the hell?" Sombra said, seemingly not able to believe his eyes as he turned about, taking in his rebuilt body. Then, he looked back at the dark cloud.

"What is this?" he asked aloud, seemingly asking himself, as he didn't know what the cloud was.

Your lucky day, a deep, distorted voice replied.

Sombra jumped, scrambling back and launching a bolt of lightning at the cloud. With absolutely no effect.

That won't be necessary, the voice said, perfectly audible over the howling wind of the blizzard.

"What are you?!" Sombra yelled. "Why did you heal me?!"

I am something far more powerful than you are, the voice said. At this point, Sombra had finally connected the voice to the dark cloud. You brought me here, Sombra Sötétvarázsló.

"What do you mean?!"

I am something of a... live wishing well. I can grant anything something that it wants, in exchange for a couple of things. I understand you want something, Sombra.

He did want something. The Crystal Empire in his possession again. But for that, he needed an army...

"On what terms?!" he called over the wind. "What do we need to pay?!"

Just a couple of things, the dark cloud replied lazily. For me to grant your wish, you have to grant a request of mine. And when you finally die, totally and completely, something a little different will happen. It's nothing to worry about.

He didn't like the sound of it at all. "It sounds like I'm selling you my soul!"

Your soul will remain intact, the voice replied. But I wouldn't worry about that. I'd be thinking about how long you've been lying here, pained and alone, and who brought you back. I'd be thinking about how the ponies of the Crystal Empire blew you to shreds.

It was almost as though the dark cloud could read his thoughts.

"...All right," Sombra said, gritting his teeth. "I'll do it!"

Very good, the dark cloud said. Name your wish.

"I want an army to destroy the Crystal Empire and all within it," he said.

Done, the dark cloud said, triumph in it's voice. Now, for my request.

"Name it!"

Once you're done destroying the Empire, I want you to take your army, hunt down the Elements of Harmony, and destroy them, even if it means the destruction of all of Equestria.

Silence.

"And why would I do that?!" Sombra yelled, angered. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are there! They'll destroy me!"

Because you've already accepted the offer, the dark cloud said, still with that triumphant note in it's voice. And now you're under oath to destroy the Elements, or die trying. Because if you don't, you'll spend the rest of eternity in the worst corners of existence, suffering pain as you've never known before.

With an almighty jerk, Twilight came back to reality, with a much more defeated-looking Sombra still on the ground before her.

"You don't make deals with demons," Twilight said, coldly.

"For the record, I tried to avoid this war," Sombra said, pleadingly. "I sent Celestia that note asking to surrender you six to me! But she wouldn't listen! And now Equestria is gone!"

"Why tell me all of this?" Twilight asked. "You know you're dead anyway."

"Because I'm offering to make a new oath, right here, right now," Sombra said. "The demon broke contract and fled, so I am no longer bound by his terms, and I don't have an army any longer. I will return to the Crystal Empire, and you'll never hear from me again. I won't destroy this last city. But in exchange, you must never come looking for me."

Twilight thought about it. It was a good deal, and she knew it. She had read his mind. She knew he was sincere.

But then her thoughts returned to her three dead best friends, and all of the others. All of Equestria, save 400, had fallen because of his mistake.

"I have a counter-oath for you," Twilight said, her anger boiling again. "You never have to worry about us finding you. But in exchange, I get to kill you. Deal?"

At least I tried, Sombra thought to himself. It's all or nothing now.

The king began to cast a spell, but Twilight was way ahead of him. She countered the spell easily, jumping sideways. She launched a beam of white light at him, which was so packed with power that it felt like an electric current moving through the air. Sombra's eyes widened, as he barely managed to dodge the beam. It made his hair stand on end as it passed, colliding with the ground behind him with a powerful, low-frequency boom. He flipped over one hoof sideways, as he began launching blasts of pure dark energy at Twilight. She countered each of them easily. Then, summoning up a partial amount of energy, she cast another spell at the king.

A solid wall of green flame, wider than the length of Equestria's biggest trains and train cars combined, launched towards Sombra. He had no way of dodging or countering it this time. He took the full force of the flames, screaming as third-degree burns covered his body and he was thrown backwards. He hit the ground hard, but immediately flipped backwards and upright again, despite the pain it put him in.

His horn glowed silver, and something thin, shaped like his horn, flew from him at her. It looked to Twilight as though it was razor-sharp. She burst into smoke, quickly dashing sideways to avoid it. She flew straight for him, but he conjured a dark shield to block it. A dark shield that didn't last too long, as Twilight next bombarded him with a violet beam of dark energy which was much more powerful than his dark energy blasts had been.

"I expected it to be harder than this," Twilight taunted the King, as his dark shield shattered under weight of her spell. "But this is easier than my magic kindergarten final was."

She descended, and kicked him with the force of ten rampaging rhinos. He flew away through the air, coughing up blood as he hit the ground and skidded to a painful halt. Burned, bruised, and broken, he knew he was done. Twilight descended to the ground a few feet away, returning to her regular form a moment later and walking slowly towards him.

There's no way that's her in there, Sombra thought. One mare doesn't get that strong so fast, dark blood or no. She has to have help.

As Twilight drew closer, he took her by surprise, and casted a dark spell of revealing. He used it to peer right into her soul.

"Holy--" he began to exclaim, but he couldn't finish. Twilight, without knowing how she had done it, had used her magic to literally manipulate the dark blood inside the King. She forced him to the ground, and locked out his horn. He struggled, and looked up at her.

"You can't say anything about my deal being evil, you hypocritical bitch," he choked, fighting to even speak. "You've done something far darker, far more evil than anything I've EVER done."

Twilight, not knowing where it came from, exploded with fury that wasn't hers.

"SHUT UP!" she bellowed. "Shut the HELL up, you evil bastard!"

Sombra watched, as her eyes turned from lavender to blood-red.

"Do it," Sombra said, glaring at her. "I'd rather be dead than stay here with what you've done."

Twilight wasn't going to make it an easy death. She focused on the dark blood, and forced it all inward. With a sickening crunching and a scream of pain from the King, Sombra's bones all snapped into several pieces, one by one. It was the most painful form of death that Twilight had available to her at that moment. Eventually, his heart stopped, and his horn fell off of his head.

Twilight wasn't finished. Obviously, destroying his body wasn't enough.

She levitated his horn from the earth, and held it in her hoof. She clenched it, and she drained the dark aura containing him from it. Then, she launched it upwards.

Little did she know that Sombra's soul launched up with it. He continued floating up, until he saw something.

"What on--" he said, in awe. There were two objects ahead, with what looked like a dirt path he could walk on beneath them. The right path looked a lot like the archway that was present at the entrance to the Crystal Empire. The left, he got a nasty feeling from. It was almost identical to the dark corridors the demon had used. He had no control over where he was going, and was surprised when he came to a sudden halt.

"Hello, Sombra Sötétvarázsló."

Even though it wasn't distorted or deep anymore, he knew that voice anywhere. He looked to the path on the left again.

A grey pegasus stallion floated there, with short black hair and emerald green eyes.

"You?! I thought you said you would be dead for breaking contract!"

"I thought I would be," the stallion shrugged. "Turns out, the big boss is perfectly happy with the way things turned out. In fact, I've been promoted."

"Why are you here?" Sombra muttered. The stallion gave a rather nasty smile.

"Remember how I said something slightly different would happen when you died?"

Sombra couldn't do anything about it. The grey stallion grabbed him, and dragged him down the dark path, as Equestria disappeared from beneath them.

Sombra's horn shot past the moment after the dark corridor vanished. Twilight continued to watch as the horn exited the atmosphere, and turned to dust. When she was sure it was gone, she cast a disintegration spell on Sombra's body. It dissolved into nothingness.

She would have been exhilarated with her victory, but the moment Sombra's body finished melting into oblivion, she felt a horrible feeling in her stomach. She keeled over, retching. She would've been perfectly happy to throw up, but her stomach didn't seem to want to empty itself.

"What... the hell?" She moaned, as she lay on the ground.

Current Equestria Population:

396

Author's Note

I wrote about 1000 words two weeks ago, and then the other 3000 today during school. :/

I actually think I'm going to release another original chapter in-between Stories and Confrontations.
Later.

Stories

Ventus awoke, his eyes opening and beholding his pillow, as he had slept with his face in it. They were still in the cave, and judging by the lighting level, he assumed it was early morning. He turned his head to the side, and was surprised at the sight next to him.

He and Pinkie had fallen asleep holding hooves, and they were still linked. Pinkie's bag had actually slid closer to him, so they were now only two inches apart. Her hair was loose, and strands of it hung over her head, not obscuring her face. She was lightly breathing, as her stomach filled with air, and let it out again. Ventus still couldn't comprehend how she could look so innocently peaceful, when he had seen her in combat mode.

It can never happen, he told himself. Not now... not after I tell her what I am.

He softly dislodged his hoof from Pinkie's, in order to not awaken her. He stood up, as Pinkie shuffled slightly in her bag, but didn't wake up. Now able to see the whole of the cave, he saw that Spike and Discord were both still sleeping as well. Finding himself with a want for fresh air, he walked towards the mouth of the cave and walked outside.

The rain had stopped sometime in the night, but everything was still wet and refreshed. He inhaled deeply through his nose, taking in the smell of the rain and everything it had touched. It felt so wonderful, as he continued breathing and smelling the air. He felt as though the scent was inside of him. Never before had he felt so relaxed, despite what had happened the previous day.

Eventually, something else joined the scent of rain. Something that was hard to catch at first, and that he didn't register for a while. But once he did, dread shot through him. It wasn't a physical smell - it was a magic aura. An incredibly powerful dark magic aura. Eight miles away, and closing fast.

But when you can fly, eight miles doesn't mean much, especially when you can move faster than any Pegasus ever could.

Ventus tore back into the cave, awakening the others in a frenzy.

"I think we're about to be attacked! And whatever it is, it's strong!"

Discord's face told Ventus that he was sensing the same thing. The four of them ran outside again, in time to see the dark smoke descending from the sky. It descended, but didn't attack as they had been expecting. Instead, it began to swirl around, reforming into none other than...

"Twilight?" Ventus said in astonishment, as she finished solidifying into her real body. Everyone stared at her, but she didn't seem to notice or care as she galloped straight into Ventus' arms.

"You're all right," she said in relief. "All of you are all right..."

"Uh, Twilight..." Ventus began, awkwardly. Twilight didn't respond, as she turned to Spike next and hugged him. Then she hugged Pinkie, and even Discord, who looked as though he had witnessed pigs flying.

"I killed Sombra," Twilight said, after breaking away from Discord. "He's gone. We won the war!"

None of them said anything as they all looked at Twilight, with worry and slight fear in their faces. Ventus and Discord made eye contact, and each could tell that the other was sensing the same thing.

"...What?" she asked at last, looking at each of them in turn.

"Well..." Ventus said, trailing off, wondering if there was any way to put it delicately.

"What?" Twilight asked more forcefully, narrowing her eyes at the group.

"Well, it's just..." Ventus said, stumbling again. "Your eyes... they're..."

"They're red, Twilight."

Her mouth fell open in shock. "Red?"

Discord provided a mirror from thin air, so that Twilight could examine her eye color in it. When she saw that they were telling the truth, she began to internally panic. First the pain, and now this... she didn't know what to think.

She focused, hard, and could feel the energy within her eyes. She began to breathe deeply, and slowly, her eyes returned to their natural lavender color.

"Oh, come on," Pinkie groaned. "What's with all the freaky eyes lately?!"

"What did you do, Twilight?" Ventus asked, a bit more gently. "Where did you get this dark power?"

Twilight looked around nervously, then sighed in defeat. She told them the story, how the dark unicorn had shown up, and offered her the dark blood. How she had completely and utterly destroyed Sombra with ease. Then, she hesitated, wondering if she should mention the pain in her stomach.

"There's a bit more," Ventus said. "Go on. Tell us."

She sighed, knowing that Ventus could see it in her. She told them.

"...This is bad," Ventus muttered, turning away. "Really bad."

"What's bad?" Twilight asked, now lost.

"Come inside," Ventus said, beginning to walk toward the cave entrance. "We have work to do."

Twilight didn't know what he meant, and judging by the looks on everypony else's faces, they didn't either. But they all followed Ventus inside.

"Sit down," Ventus said, pointing at the pair of sleeping bags side-by-side that had held him and Pinkie. Twilight did as she was asked.

"I think there's more to this than the pony told you there would be," Ventus said, with a grim expression.

"What do you mean?"

"...I'm not sure yet," Ventus said. "But bear with me."

Twilight nodded, still confused.

"Ventus, what are you doing?" Pinkie asked, but he didn't answer.

"I need you three to keep absolutely silent," Ventus said. "This will take my deepest concentration."

His horn glowed jet-black, which made Twilight gasp in surprise. She hadn't thought he could use dark magic, but here he was, using a dark spell of revealing to peer into her soul, just as Sombra had done before his death.

"...I thought so," Ventus said, as his suspicions were confirmed.

"What? What's wrong?" Twilight said, panicked.

Ventus deliberated, wondering if there was any way to put it delicately. Deciding there wasn't, he dropped the train on her.

"There are only two ways to get dark blood that I know of. One is to be born with it, and the other... is to host a dark spirit. Twilight, I need to know exactly what the unicorn did to you. Everything you can remember. Every tiny detail."

She continued explaining, talking about how he had asked about hypnosis. What he had done. How she had fought what she took to be her own dark side.

"...This is really, really bad," Ventus reaffirmed.

"What's bad?!" Twilight exclaimed, finally bursting under the pressure. Ventus looked straight at her.

"There's a dark spirit latched to your soul. It's feeding on your now-physically-manifested dark side... and it has the same aura as that thing I sensed on the VIP train before the war."

Silence. Dead, shocked silence from all the others.

"WHAT?!" Twilight yelled, as the red returned to her eyes in full force. "What the hell do you mean?!"

"I can try to get it out," Ventus said. "But I need you to hold absolutely still."

He closed his eyes, and breathed deeply in and out. When he opened them again, everypony gave a shudder as the temperature in the cave dropped by about five degrees. Twilight could sense something within Ventus. And it terrified her. It was much darker, much more terrifying, and much more evil than anything she had yet encountered.

Ventus raised a hoof into the air, pointing it towards Twilight. He grabbed hold of the dark spirit, and began to try to force it and Twilight's soul apart. His body strained, as he threw everything he had into the demonic magic coming from his hoof. He was straining himself so hard that a few droplets of blood leaked out of his nose, as he tried to force the dark spirit out. But to no avail. After a minute, he stopped, and collapsed to the ground, panting. His eyes receded to their natural blue.

"I... can't... get... it... out," he said, between labored breaths. "It's... latched... too tight... to you."

"What in Celestia's name was that?" Twilight asked, now confused and terrified.

"We've waited long enough, Ventus," Pinkie said, with an insistent tone. "It's story time. What in the name of all things holy are you?"

Ventus looked around, and sighed in defeat.

"I'm going to need to start from the beginning," he said. "Everything will make more sense then."

"Go on," Pinkie pushed. Ventus took a deep, slow breath, and began.

"My mother was a single pegasus mare living in Canterlot, named Tenderwing Nightingale. She was pretty shy, and lived alone. No coltfriend. Not many friends. But one night, she felt like she was being watched. She felt as though somepony was lying in bed next to her. Even though she was scared to death, she ignored it, and went to sleep.

"A couple weeks later, she got sick. Really sick. She went to the doctor, and they gave her the impossible news. They told her she was pregnant. She didn't believe them - she hadn't ever had sex. When she told them this, they did some more scans, and the scans proved her point. They were left with a medical mystery, and I was born as a unicorn eight months later.

"Then, when I was just six years old, my Mom died. She hadn't seemed sick, and had been completely fine the day before. She just went to sleep, and never woke up. I was hauled off to the orphanage, where I lived until I was almost eight. Then... Celestia saw me."

At this point, his eyes watered a bit, as any thoughts of his dead 'foster mother' were still painful. But he continued anyway.

"She found me on the street when I was walking home from school. I don't know what she saw in me, but she took me to the Canterlot Advanced Academy for an aptitude test. I passed with flying colors, and was admitted. Then the bullying started."

He continued for some time, telling them how old he really was, how he had terrified Iron Hooves and his classmates, how they couldn't wipe Iron Hooves' memory (because his father was the unicorn who had developed the spell, and could break it), and how Celestia had taught him magic. He ended with the continued story from Detrot, how he had gone to see the Eye of Truth, and finally, that he was half-demon.

"...Whoa," Pinkie said, completely dumbfounded. "I have a crush on an old man..."

"What?" Ventus asked, not having paid attention.

"Nothing," Pinkie said, with her best and terrific poker face. "I just said I can't believe you're half demon."

"I'm sorry I doubted you," Discord said. "I've run across a few demons in my time, and I thought you had traded your soul for their power."

"I'm so lost," Spike said, shaking his head.

Twilight just stared.

As Ventus had told his story, he remembered the final thing the Eye of Truth had told him.

"When the final light of day fades away, return to where your role with this began."

The final light of day, he thought, thinking hard. What could that mean?

"What now?" Twilight asked. "What will we do about this... dark spirit?"

Twilight... the final light of day! he realized with a jolt. When Twilight fades away - when she goes darkside! It makes sense!

He grinned, and clapped his hooves together. "I know what we need to do!"

"What?" half the room asked at once. Ventus pointed at the earth pony, dragon, and draconeqqus.

"You three need to get back to Ponyville," he said. "Coordinate with Fluttershy. Tell her that we'll be back soon."

"But--" Pinkie began, but Ventus raised a hoof, and she fell silent.

"Don't argue," he said, with a dark look in his eyes. "Sombra might be dead, but with this new situation, We're not in the clear yet. Keep the military attitude."

It was an unusual look for Ventus to have. Pinkie nodded, ears drooping slightly. Discord snapped his fingers, and the sleeping bags all vanished after standing up and doing a couple of flips. He and Spike were prepared to leave, but Pinkie suddenly ran at Ventus, throwing her front hooves around his neck in a tight hug.

"Thanks," she said into his shoulder, "thanks for everything. Stay safe. Please."

"Oh-- all right," Ventus said, unsure of what to do as Twilight raised an eyebrow. Pinkie let go, and followed Discord and Spike out of the cave. She waved to the two, and they waved back. Pinkie smiled, and disappeared out of sight.

"What are we doing?" Twilight asked.

Ventus recounted his breakthrough to her. "So, the only problem is, where did my role in this begin?"

Twilight thought. "...The Crystal Empire, maybe?"

"It's worth a shot," Ventus said. "But it's a long walk."

"Who said we were walking?" Twilight said, with a slightly manic glint in her eye and tone of voice.

"Well, how else--" Ventus began, but he never got to finish. Twilight grabbed his shoulder, and immediately, they transformed into one cloud of black smoke. Ventus would've cried out in alarm if he still had a mouth, but that was no longer applicable. They flew out of the cave entrance, and began tearing north, much faster than the VIP Train could have ever moved.

(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)

The dark path was a long one, but Sombra didn't really have a choice. The grey Pegasus had him suspended in midair, and they walked down the seemingly never-ending dirt path. There was nothing but darkness everywhere he looked, besides the path, and the stallion suspending him in midair.

"How long?" Sombra asked.

"Not much further," the stallion replied, not looking at him. "I wouldn't get too excited, though; this is the most pleasant part of the path."

They continued on in the seemingly infinite darkness for a while longer, until something changed on the path ahead. A new dark corridor lay directly ahead.

"This is it," the stallion said, dropping Sombra at last. "This is the gateway to where we exist. After you."

Sombra, extremely apprehensive, walked straight into the corridor, and came out on the other side.

Immediately, he wanted to go back through. The sight before him was almost indescribable. The assault of noise on his eardrums was deafening, and had he been alive, he was sure he would've lost his hearing. Simply put, it looked like hell. The hazy air around him didn't let him see very far, but he could see plenty enough to make him terrified beyond description. There were indentations in the rocky earth, creating five by five foot squares in the earth. In each square, a pony lay. They were either passed out, or in the company of another pony. The second pony in each square had a pushcart, and the pushcarts had all sorts of tools on them.

Tools of torture.

The screaming noises still assaulting his ears were the screams of the victims. And judging by the volume, there were hundreds of victims. Thousands. Maybe even millions, for all he knew. Who knew how ancient this place was, how many ponies that have ever existed made deals with demons?

He was tapped on the shoulder, and he whipped around. The grey stallion, unable to speak due to the noise, gestured for Sombra to follow him. He led Sombra on a path through the haze, in-between the squares. After another several minutes, they came to another dark corridor. Sombra jumped through it with relief, praying to every imaginary deity he knew of that it led somewhere better.

And boy, did it. The next place was a building, built like nothing Sombra had ever seen. Nicer than Canterlot. Nicer, even, than the crystal palace, which had been Sombra's favorite place on earth.

"What is this place?" He wondered aloud.

"It's different for everyone," the stallion said. "We stole it from the light path. And this is just a small piece of what awaits those who are lucky enough to go there."

"So... it's not like this everywhere?"

"Of course not," the stallion said, amused. "It's the dark path. Did you honestly expect it to be paradise? You saw the torture room."

They kept moving, and almost immediately, yet another dark corridor came into view.

"So, what have you worked out so far?" the stallion asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a demon, and obviously I'm from here. What does that make you?"

It clicked. "I'm a demon now?"

"Damn straight," the Pegasus replied. "You make a deal with one of us, you die, and you become one of us."

“So what’s the story of the torture room, then?”

“Oh them?” the stallion shrugged. “They’re demons too, but the big boss is mad at them for one reason or another.

“There’s a big boss?” Sombra asked, surprised.

“Of course,” the stallion said. “We’re on our way to meet him now.”

He gestured forward, and Sombra walked through the next corridor.

He found himself in the largest single room he had ever seen. It was completely round, and had a diameter greater than twenty hoofball fields. The ceiling was a dome shape, encompassing the whole room. The stallion came through the corridor right behind Sombra.

“Every damn demon was a sentient being once,” the stallion informed him. “And like all sentient beings, they need sociality. Come on, let’s go meet some other demons.”

The stallion led Sombra across the giant room, towards a few ponies in a group not far away.

“What’s up, Wind Chime?” a voice said. “Congrats on the promotion!”

“Thanks, pops,” the stallion, apparently named ‘Wind Chime,’ responded. “I’ve got someone for you to meet.”

Wind Chime and the other ponies of the group stepped aside, so Sombra could see who Wind Chime had been talking to. He recognized the stallion almost immediately. It was Varázslat Sotetvarazslo.

It was his father.

“...Dad?” Sombra said.

“Sombra,” Varázslat replied, holding out his hooves. Sombra walked forward and embraced his father for the first time in 1100 years. “It’s good to see you, son.”

They broke apart.

“I wish you hadn’t needed to come here, though…” Varázslat trailed off.

“You two can catch up later,” Wind Chime said from the side. “He hasn’t talked to the big boss yet, pops.”

“Oh, you should go then,” Varázslat said. “I’m having a long, hard talk with you when you get back, Sombra.”

They continued to walk across the massive room. A few more demons called out to Wind Chime, but he informed them he was busy. They walked to a pony sitting at a desk, looking bored.

“Oh, hey, Wind Chime,” he said as soon as he noticed them.

“Hey Trans. Taking this newbie right here to meet the big boss.”

“Ooooh, can’t go in there right now,” Trans replied with a grimace. “Talken came home, and the Boss is pretty pissed with him. I can send you to observation for now, if you want.”

“That’ll work.”

Trans raised a hoof, and a dark corridor appeared. Wind Chime and Sombra walked through it.

“Trans is the only one allowed to open corridors in here,” Wind Chime explained. “Keeps things a lot more secure.”

The observation room was small, and had a single padded bench. A massive window showed a big, black abyss. Only a small blue platform was visible from where they sat.

“The Big Boss is the only demon without physical form,” Wind Chime said as they sat down. “He was the first demon, and opened the gateway for us to exist. Soon, things started making deals with him, and he had a plentiful supply of demons. But they were hunted. They needed a place to hide, where none could reach them. So the big boss opened the crack.”

“Wait, when you say The Crack, do you mean the World Crack? Leaking out all of that ley stuff?”

“Yes, the very same,” Wind Chime replied, looking smug. “This place, where we are, is right in the center of the heaviest ley concentration in the world. Nothing can reach us here. That’s why we only have Trans using portals in here. It keeps things from following us through.”

“But I tried my hardest!” a voice wailed. Sombra looked back out of the window with a jerk, realizing for the first time that there was a stallion on the platform. “I really did! Eden is just plain impenetrable!”

Silence.

“Where is the big boss, anyway?” Sombra asked. Wind Chime’s face got slightly darker.

“Imagine, for a moment, that you were the one who opened the world crack. Right there next to Eden, where only the most powerful beings in creation live. What do you would happen to you?"

"I'd be dead," Sombra said.

"Exactly. But they couldn't kill him. No one knows how, and no one dares ask - he gets touchy when it comes to Eden. But they couldn't kill him. They could only trap him so deep in the earth that he can never resurface. But he gave the other demons the opportunity they needed. They escaped into the ley, and moved within it to this spot. Then some other demons figured out how to move the cage the big boss is trapped in, and now he's here."

"NO! PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING!" Talken cried.

"Poor Talken," Wind Chime said, sympathetically. "He had an impossible mission."

"What was it?"

"To find a way into Eden. No one could accomplish that."

"I'LL TRY AGAIN! I'LL GO BACK AND TRY AGAIN! PLEASE!"

"Watch carefully, Sombra," Wind Chime said. "This is what happens if you really offend the big boss."

Talken let out a scream of horror, as his body flattened on the earth as though the gravity had increased tenfold. The demon lit on fire, as his entire body burned away into the air.

"Since he made it possible for us to exist, he has absolute power over us," Wind Chime said over the screams, as Sombra grimaced at the sight before him. "He can utterly obliterate us."

"What happens afterward?" Sombra asked.

"I don't know, and I never want to find out," Wind Chime said with a shudder, as he stood up. "But now it's your turn."

Sombra never normally liked to admit he was scared of anything. But he did now. "And how do I avoid, uh... getting zapped?"

"Just don't mention Eden and you'll be fine," Wind Chime said, as he walked towards the exit.

"That's all? Are you sure?"

"Of course," Wind Chime said dismissively. "Besides, you're new. He usually has some degree of allowance until you get to know things here."

Though he didn't want to, Sombra stood and exited through the corridor.

"You're through this one, Sombra," Trans said, as Sombra exited the corridor. "Go on in."

"Where's Wind Chime?" Sombra asked. Trans raised an eyebrow.

"You go in alone," he said. "Wind Chime is probably still in the observation room."

Sombra looked back at the dark corridor he was supposed to be going through, and gulped. Summoning up his courage, he walked into the darkness.

He found himself on the blue platform he had seen earlier. Looking around, however, he couldn't see the observation room.

"Hello?" he called out.

For a minute, there was no response. Then,

Well, well, well. What do we have here? an icy, chilling voice said in his head. He gulped loudly again.

"I'm--"

I know who you are, Sombra. It was a rhetorical question.

Not knowing what to say, Sombra waited for the voice to say something else.

So you're a demon now. Do you know what demons do?

"Besides making deals with people? No," Sombra replied.

We do a lot. But your job is to do what I tell you. I know you saw what I just did to Talken. Just know, that's what happens if you fail. Or the torture room. It depends on how useful you are.

Sombra knew he had to do whatever this "first demon" wanted him to. "I'll do what you ask."

Good, good, the voice said. I normally give new demons a few days to get used to everything, but you're a special case. I want you started as soon as possible, because I've been waiting a long time for you, Sombra.

He was surprised. "Me? What for?"

I see a lot, Sombra, even in prison. From the moment you were born, I knew this job had to be you.

"What job?" Sombra asked, confused by how fast things were moving.

All in good time, the voice said. Right now, you have training to do. Tell Wind Chime that he is to train you in everything he knows. Then, you will have private training with me, on magic I've never given any other demon access to.

Sombra didn't know what to say. "I... yes sir," he said, awkwardly. "Thank you."

As soon as you're trained up, I will promote you to second in command. You're here for great purposes, Sombra. Don't disappoint me.

"I won't," Sombra said.

You are dismissed.

Sombra looked around. "How do I talk to Trans?"

But at that precise moment, a dark corridor opened right on top of him. It engulfed him, and he walked forward, exiting right in front of Trans. Wind Chime also stood there.

"What'd he say?" Wind Chime asked, eagerly. "You seemed pretty surprised.

Quickly, Sombra recounted the Big Boss' instructions, leaving off the part that he would be made second in command.

"...Private lessons with the big boss?" Wind Chime looked dumbfounded. "I've been here for thousands of years, and I've never heard of that before. He must have some hard work for you ahead."

"Better get started on the training then, right?" Sombra said.

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Twilight and Ventus flew over the icy cold of the north, drawing nearer and nearer to the Crystal Empire. Ventus was inwardly thankful that he didn't have a mouth, because he was sure he would've thrown up within the first fifteen minutes. He was definitely not a fan of flying when someone else was in control, just like he was with trains.

Soon, they were flying over the long-destroyed ruins of the Crystal Empire. Sombra had been merciless. Every building was ravaged to an unrecognizable state. Both Twilight and Ventus had brief flashbacks to the battle here as they flew overhead. Ventus was scanning for the ruined northernmost train station, but Twilight beat him to it. She descended, landing on the patch of station that was the least rubble-covered. They both reformed into their real bodies.

"That wasn't too bad, was it?" Twilight asked, looking around for Ventus. She found him keeled over on the ground, face green.

"You okay? You look pretty green..."

"I'm fine," Ventus lied, as he attempted to hold in the contents of his stomach. He looked into her eyes, not knowing that it would end up being a mistake.

"Liar," Twilight said.

She helped Ventus away from the platform, as he was unable to even stand up. Once they were near some bushes, she let him down.

"You don't happen to have a bucket in storage, do you?"

Twilight grinned, conjuring a bucket from thin air. "I learned from a friend once that you should always have one of these on you. No need to stop it now. Don't try to move until it's all out."

Ventus then proceeded to hurl the contents of his stomach into the bucket. Twilight calmly retreated a small distance, ignoring the retching sounds and the splatter of vomit hitting the bottom of the bucket. It took ten minutes, before he finally declared that he was done.

"All right, I'm good," Ventus said, casting a spell to cause the vomit to vanish and handing the bucket back to Twilight. "Next time, I get to do the flying."

"You don't know how," Twilight retorted.

"I'll learn," Ventus said. "And you can teach me."

"Or I can just fly," Twilight pointed out.

“Anyway, we don’t have time for this,” Ventus said, standing up again. “We need to figure out what to do.”

“The Eye said to return to where your role began, right?” Twilight asked.

“Yes,” Ventus replied, thinking hard. Then, it clicked.

“When I first brought you up here, where did you go?”

Twilight thought back. “Towards the northern mountain range.”

“Well, I vote we go there and see what we can find.”

Twilight didn’t have any other ideas, so she nodded, and the two set off towards the mountains.

Little did they know that the dark unicorn was waiting for them.

That he had been expecting them.

That they were acting exactly according to plan…

Current Equestria Population:

396

Author's Note

Well, here you go. A much more exciting version of Stories.
So that original chapter I mentioned last time? It was Sombra in the demon realm. So that means I won't be writing it after all, because it's here.
I'm using the map from Where the World Ends, if you couldn't tell. If you want a more full description of my canon version of that map, let me know in whatever way you choose.
Well guys, only three chapters left! It's been a crazy, but awesome year and two months. Writing is amazing when everything fits so well together.
Later.

Confrontations

Twilight and Ventus approached the northern mountains, with more apprehension every step. They had no idea what to expect, which meant they needed to expect anything to happen.

"What happened once you got here?" Ventus asked her.

"Well, I got a bit closer, and he sent me a note. It led me to Spike. Then, I got another note which told me to climb the mountain. I saw Sombra and his army preparing to invade. That's all."

Ventus scratched his head. "What should we even look for, then?"

"Dark aura?" Twilight suggested with a shrug. Ventus tilted his head.

"Actually... that's not a bad idea," he said, looking at the twin mountains before them. "Funnily enough, dark spells of revealing catch dark aura more accurately and more often than normal ones."

"Why is that?" Twilight asked, realizing she hadn't ever really thought about that.

"Because we know what to look for," Ventus said. "It's harder to hide when your enemy knows how you do it."

Something from a million years ago popped into Twilight's head. A sentence from Celestia's letter about dark magic.

You cannot fight your enemy without knowing how they think, what their weaknesses are, and exactly what they’re capable of.

"So, we can find something?" she asked.

"It's the only idea I have right now," he replied. "Why not?"

Both of their horns glowed black, and they scanned the mountain. Nothing.

"Well, that was a dud," Twilight said, glumly. But Ventus wasn't finished.

"I have more up my sleeve," he said.

He breathed deeply, and as he was now so adept at doing, he summoned the demonic forces from his soul, and his eyes turned pitch-black. He searched the mountainside, and immediately found something.

"There're dark spells protecting a cave up there," he said, in his distorted demonic voice. "I'd bet anything somepony lives up there."

He pushed the demonic forces back down, and his eyes returned to normal.

"Let's go check it out," he said, resuming their course for the mountains.

Twilight followed a few paces behind him.

"Can't we just fly up?" she asked. Ventus shook his head.

"Can't risk it. If there is somepony up there, they'd probably sense it."

As Twilight walked, looking at Ventus from behind, she realized how much about the stallion she didn't know.

"Hey... Ventus?" she said, hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"So... being half-demon... what does it mean?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... I've seen you using some demonic power. But what can you do? What kinds of magic can you wield?"

Ventus thought about it. How would he explain it? He barely knew anything about it himself.

"Keep in mind, I only found out about this a few days ago. Celestia wanted me to hold the demonic powers down, and not use them. She didn't know anything about demons, and didn't know what I was capable of. So I don't know how far my power stretches."

He paused. But that couldn't be all. He did know some things about it, and Twilight knew he did.

"But so far, I've discovered a few things. Obviously, I can use dark magic. I also seem to have power over demons. When Sombra invaded Canterlot, the demon who had been spying on us made an appearance at last, possessing Iron Hooves. It's psychic powers didn't work on me. And once it killed Celestia, I went full-on demon... and I forced it out of Iron Hooves."

"Forced it out? What does that mean?"

"Demons have psychic abilities. They can use their hooves to throw ponies, even if they're possessing a Pegasus or an Earth Pony. But he couldn't throw me. And once I went demonic, I could use the same abilities on it. I used it to force it away from Iron Hooves' soul."

Shocked silence seemed to be a common thing between them.

"Is that what you tried to do to the dark spirit in my soul?" she asked, connecting the pieces.

"Yes," Ventus said. "But it's latched too tightly to you. I couldn't get it out."

"What else can you do?" Twilight asked. It was more magic she knew absolutely nothing about, and she would've asked a million questions if they had time.

"I can see in the dark," Ventus said, "and... I've only figured out one other thing, and I haven't figured out what it does yet."

"What is it?"

"In Canterlot, I rescued Spike. He was fatally injured. But I cast some demonic spell on him, and he began healing at dark-blood-rate. I don't know how, because I seriously doubt demons even need healing spells."

Twilight thought about it, brainstorming.

"Have you ever done it other than that once?" she asked. He shook his head.

"Try it on me."

Again, the usual shocked silence, as Ventus came to a halt.

"You want me to try an unknown demonic spell on you? Right now?"

She nodded.

"...Have you lost your mind?!"

"It saved Spike from fatal injuries," she pointed out. "How bad can it be? And if it's really bad, I know healing spells."

"...Good point," Ventus admitted. His horn glowed black, as he recalled the feeling of the spell from the last time he had done it. He focused the aura on Twilight, as his eyes went black again. She was enveloped in dark aura, and she felt an odd tingling sensation in her eyes as she was levitated slightly off the ground. Then, only a couple seconds after it had started, it stopped, and Twilight glided gently back to the ground.

"You all right?" Ventus asked. She nodded. "Feel any different?"

"Not really," she replied. "Was that the right spell?"

"It looked and felt exactly the same as last time," he said with a nod. "I don't know what it does."

"We'll figure it out later," Twilight said, looking back up the mountain slope as she struggled to ignore her burning curiosity about demonic magic. "We've got more important things to deal with right now."

They continued up the mountainside in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Before either of them knew it, they were approaching the hidden cave.

"...I think I sense it now," Twilight said, with a confused tone. "Are we about fifty feet below it?"

"Y...yeah," Ventus said, surprised. "How can you see it now?"

"I don't know," Twilight said. "It's like it just popped up out of nowhere."

"Well," Ventus said, shrugging off his surprise, "if you can see it, you can help me break in."

They walked until they were only a dozen yards from it.

"Dark energy blast?" Ventus asked. She nodded.

"In three... two... one."

At the same moment, violet energy exploded from both unicorns in beams, which flew forward and assaulted the dark shield guarding the cave entrance. The shield, which had been disguised as rock face with shadow magic, burst apart, revealing the mouth of the cave.

"If somepony's in there, they probably sensed that," Ventus said, matter-of-factly.

"So why couldn't we fly up here?" Twilight asked, slightly annoyed.

"Because they might've stopped us from getting in," Ventus pointed out. "Let's go. No light spells - we might be able to slip past them if we don't use any more magic. Stay close behind me, since I'll be able to see."

They galloped forward, entering the mouth of the cave. Instantly, Ventus' eyes dilated, and he was able to see straight through the cave. Behind him, Twilight let out a sharp gasp of surprise.

"What?" Ventus breathed.

"I... I can see," Twilight said, staring in shock around the dark, but completely visible cave. "I can see everything!"

Ventus looked at her eyes, and saw with a jolt that they had dilated, just as his had.

Then the pieces clicked together like a jigsaw puzzle, and Ventus' eyes lit up with realization.

"I've got it!" He whispered excitedly. "I figured out what the spell does!"

"What?" Twilight asked, her barely-containable curiosity bursting forth once more.

"It made Spike heal as fast as I do, and it made you see in the dark as well as I do. I think I'm transferring abilities to you guys!"

"Is that even possible?" Twilight asked. She hadn't ever heard of anything like it.

"I don't see why not," Ventus shrugged. "I can manipulate demons like puppets. Why couldn't I give abilities to people? It seems more plausible."

A noise cut through the silence, a noise like shattering glass. They both fell silent immediately, looking around. Ventus gestured, suggesting they move onward. Twilight nodded.

They continued onward through the cave, as it began to grow slightly larger. Soon, they reached what seemed to be the end of the cave, aside from the large set of iron doors set into the wall. Twilight looked at Ventus, who nodded, knowing what the question was before she had to ask it. She used her magic to unlock the door, and cast a dark spell of revealing.

"There's nopony in there," she said with a sigh of relief, pushing the door open.

Her mouth fell open. They were in a tall room, all elements suggesting they were really in a cave forgotten. The walls were no longer made of rock, but were now ordinary, dark blue walls. The whole place highly resembled Twilight's library back in Canterlot. There was even the same enormous window directly opposite to them, but instead of showing the city of Canterlot, it gave a spectacular view of the ocean. She knew it was shadow magic, though, as they were hundreds of miles away from it. The other two walls had bookcases that were almost as tall as the window, and were completely filled with thick-looking books. There was a single, soft-looking armchair in the middle of the room, as well as a wooden table and chair against another wall.

On the east wall, beside the bottom of the bookcase, there was a maroon door. She opened it, and beheld a short hallway that held two more doors. One of them led to a bathroom, and the other to a smaller room with a large bed, with a small window against the wall, this time giving the illusion of the sky, which Twilight figured would show the stars at night.

She came back into the main room to see Ventus already searching through the books, seemingly unaffected by the spectacular cavern. She too began looking at the books. She had read a lot of them in her dark magic training, but there were also a lot that she had never seen. Some had symbols of dark magic that she recognized for covers.

They looked for well over an hour, searching for any clues as to what they should do. Twilight ended up getting buried in what looked like a journal. It mostly held notes for spells, and what looked like brainstorming notes for the first several pages, but she finally came across actual journal entries. She skimmed through them, until she found one particular entry that intrigued her.

I messed up. I didn't do a good enough job of impersonating Celestia, and I think Twilight noticed. Erősszél wasn't happy. I still don't think he suspects anything, though. I'm still successfully blocking portions of my memory, so that he can't see what I'm really planning. After all, he still doesn't fully exist in this world, which means he can't see everything. If the plan works, he will never fully exist again.

Erősszél, she thought, racking her brains. Where had she heard that name before? It was hard to think about it, as she processed the other information. It seemed that whoever wrote this had impersonated Celestia at some point.

The visit during your assignment, her brain told her. It explained a lot. No wonder Celestia had seemed so off. Twilight continued on to the next entry.

Today went badly. Twilight knows that Celestia didn't visit her. But my error aside, things should go smoothly from now on. Twilight should now be noticing that Spike is overdue, and come looking for him. Erősszél is still unsuspecting, and at this point I don't think he will expect anything. Which means I can finally rid him from not only haunting me, but from the world altogether.

"Ventus, come look at this," Twilight said, without looking up from the book.

There was no reply. She waited for another couple of seconds, not looking up as she pondered the book's contents. When he still didn't reply, she called to him again.

"Seriously, come read this. It explains eveyth--"

She was cut off by the sight that met her when she finally looked up. Ventus was upright, standing on his back two hooves, with his front legs snapped to his sides like a soldier. His eyes were wide with terror, looking down at the dark cyan hoof which was holding a knife to his throat. Attached to the hoof was an arm, and that arm was attached to a pony wearing a black cloak. Immediately, Twilight recognized the newcomer. It was the stallion who had offered her dark blood in the Everfree. His hood was shrouding less of his face than last time, and Twilight saw a flash of red for a moment from beneath it.

"You're going to do exactly as I say," the hooded stallion said in his deep voice. Twilight began to think fast, slowly charging up a spell. If she could hide the magical power, then she could force the knife away from Ventus' neck.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the hooded stallion said threateningly, twitching the knife in his hand, which was fifteen inches long and horribly sharp-looking. "Not unless you want to see exactly how dark his blood is. And yes, this knife can kill dark-blooded ponies."

She stopped charging the spell in defeat, letting the magical energy absorb itself back into her.

"Good," the stallion said.

Instead of slitting Ventus' throat, he withdrew the knife, and smashed the butt of the handle into Ventus' temple. He was instantly out cold, and he slumped to the ground.

Twilight's anger instantly became paramount, breaking her self control as her eyes flashed back to red menacingly. Before the hooded stallion could react, she had blasted her friend away from him, and had tried to force the metal of the knife to contort, rendering it useless. To her horror, however, the knife remained perfectly intact and sharp. The hooded unicorn hurled it to the side, directly at Ventus. Before Twilight could react, it sliced easily through the right hind leg of her friend, driving itself at least a foot into the floor, effectively pinning the stallion to the ground. Twilight had been watching this, and hadn't noticed the second knife in the left hoof of her assailant. It too found a home in the floor, beneath Ventus' front right hoof. He didn't scream out in pain, as he was still unconscious from the blow moments before.

Twilight began launching more spells at the stallion, yelling at him, punctuating each word with a spell.

"You. Celestia-damned. Heartless. Son of a bu--"

Before she could finish cursing at the stallion, he let off a blast of energy that knocked her back, diagonally. She smashed into the wall above the doors, and slid down it to the ground. Groaning, and barely not blacking out, she stood back up. Her head was throbbing, and she knew she would no longer be able to fight as she raised a hoof to her right temple.

"The more negative emotion you feed him," the hooded stallion began, "The stronger he'll get."

His cloak began to turn transparent, and after a moment or two, the whole thing faded away into nothingness, leaving Twilight to finally look into the face of the stallion. He had a dark cyan coat, with long black hair, and a dark magic symbol for a cutie mark. His red eyes stood out to her more than everything else, which were slightly darker than her own. She momentarily became distracted from her anger as his previous words fully registered in her brain.

"What do you mean, the stronger he'll get?" She asked, her eyes and teeth clenched from the throbbing pain in her head.

The stallion sighed. "Look, I know you don't trust me, considering everything that I've done. But I had to do them."

Twilight scoffed at that.

"Really, I did. I suspected you'd attack me on sight, but I didn't know how well I would hold up against your attacks. I wasn't sure exactly how strong you are."

"You didn't know how powerful I would be?" She asked, flaring up again. "You're the one who gave me this power in the first place!"

The stallion closed his eyes, and shook his head.

"Look, it'll be easier if I just started from the beginning. You're going to hear me out."

She thought about saying no, about trying to fight and force him to remove the dark spirit from her. But then she remembered how easily he had overpowered her, and how much her head was hurting, and the fact that Ventus was unconscious and pinned to the ground by two knives. She sighed in defeat, and nodded.

The stallion sighed, regret already visible on his face.

"I'm one of the last descendants of my bloodline. Both of my parents died right after my birth, leaving me in the care of my older brother, who was already an adult at the time. Sombra."

Twilight gaped at the stallion. "Sombra? As in King Sombra?" She asked, unable to believe her ears.

"Or, as he is named in ancient Equus, Sombra Sötétvarázsló. In Equestrian, that translates to Shadow Darkmage. He's the one who raised me. In his childhood, he had followed closely in the footsteps of our father, Varázslat, and that made him into a powerful dark sorcerer."

"Your father is Varázslat??" The mare gasped, looking over at Ventus. "But doesn't that make him--"

"What?" The stallion asked, looking over at the tan unicorn still out cold on the floor. "What about him?"

"...Nothing," Twilight responded, deciding it was better to not say anything. But now she knew - this stallion was technically Ventus' half-brother. Twilight's head was throbbing even worse now, as she looked over at Ventus. He now had blood running out of his cuts and onto the floor. But it didn't look like blood.

"Is that...?"

"Yes. Dark Blood. The same blood that flows through me, and now you as well. It's why I'm able to hide my aura from you so well; it's familiar to you now."

She crept forward for a close look. The dark blood was unusually thick-looking, and seemed a lot more like tar than anything else. She also noticed that it was leaking from Ventus' wounds at a much slower rate than normal blood would've, with those kinds of injuries.

"Dark blood's healing rate," the dark unicorn said, having read Twilight's expression correctly. "In fact, he won't feel any pain; it'll just feel like he's pinned down."

Twilight looked down at her friend, then looked up at the dark unicorn. She noticed something in his eyes as he looked down at Ventus. It almost looked like... jealousy.

"He got lucky," the stallion said bitterly. "An Equestria-born citizen, living with normal ponies. Dark Blood, and not forced out for it."

If only you knew, Twilight thought. But despite that, she realized that she was feeling sorry for the dark unicorn. More of her anger abated as she looked into the eyes of the dark cyan stallion, who looked genuinely sad and lost.

"How long have you... been up here?" She asked delicately.

His shoulders slumped, and bowed his head.

"I don't know exactly how long. But think about it. Sombra left me here and tried to conquer the Crystal Empire, then it disappeared... for a full millennium." His eyes slowly closed.

Twilight looked on him, feeling genuine sadness for him. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what his life must have been like.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sure you could've talked to Princess Luna about it. She was alone on the moon alone for a thousand years, after all. You could've swapped stories."

The stallion looked up, wearing an ironic smile.

"...I wasn't alone," he said with a dark look in his eyes. "I wish I had been alone, to be honest."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, confused. "Who else was here?"

The stallion straightened up before continuing his story.

"After Sombra was gone, I continued to teach myself dark magic. I had all of the books, and kept myself busy. After a couple of decades, I felt that I was getting pretty strong. But that's also when odd things started happening.

"I began having very... disturbing nightmares every night, and I couldn't figure out what was causing them. Then one day, I was reading. The book was in ancient Equus, so I couldn't understand most of it. However, at the end, there was a picture of a shovel, and a magical navigation frequency. I followed it, and started digging when I arrived.

"I found an abandoned underground fortress. When I went inside, it was full of traps and puzzles to solve. After I solved the last riddle, it opened the final door. I found a green crystal sitting on the table. But when I reached out to touch it, I sensed something... evil."

He shuddered. If even thinking back to it was frightening, Twilight didn't want to think about what it must've felt like.

"I panicked. I ran home as fast as I could. But I hadn't realized that when the final door had opened, it shattered a magical barrier surrounding the room. The evil feeling never left, and followed me all the way back here.

"I did some more reading, and figured everything out. The thing that had followed me home was a dark spirit, somepony who had long been dead. The spirit... of Erősszél Sötétvarázsló."

The mare's mouth opened in surprise as this last statement hit her.

"After I figured out what he was, I stopped fearing him. Dark spirits thrive off of negative emotions, and I was just making him stronger. Instead, I began working on a plan to be rid of him.

"When Erősszél knew his end was near, he cast a binding spell on a magic focus crystal. When he finally died, the spell took effect."

Twilight realized what had happened before the stallion had to tell her.

"And that was the crystal in the fortress?" she asked, her eyes widening. The stallion nodded.

"Luckily," he continued, "Erősszél became weak after I stopped feeding him emotion. His presence almost completely faded from the world, and I actually had to find a way to communicate with him. But I knew that if he found somepony else, then he could become strong again. I knew I had to rid him from this world."

At this point, a rage began building inside Twilight's mind. It wasn't a rage from her, though. It was unbidden, and stronger than any other so far. She felt a sudden, unwarranted, but overwhelming urge to attack the dark unicorn. She closed her eyes, and sank to the ground, grimacing as she fought with this newfound rage.

"Twilight? What's wrong?" the stallion asked, looking down at her in concern.

She opened her mouth to respond, but the voice that issued out of it wasn't hers alone. There were two voices issuing from her. One of them her regular voice, but the other was deep, bone-chilling, and full of malice.

"You have betrayed and failed me, Midnight Sky, and I have no further use for you.

The voice incited terror in the dark unicorn, and merely hearing it was chilling him. He breathed deeply, employing the complete emotional control that he was so well practiced at. His fear had been feeding the dark spirit further, and he now realized that Twilight must be scared too.

"Twilight!" he called through the deep rumbling that had begun to shake the mountain, as mare and spirit fought for control of her body. "He's not strong enough to win yet, but whatever you do, don't be afraid! It will only make him stronger!"

Twilight struggled to contain the dark presence that had awakened in her blood. Midnight Sky looked around, and saw Ventus beginning to stir, finally awaking due to the ground trembling. He was over there in a flash, instantly knocking Ventus out again. He couldn't be awake yet; he would interfere with the final stage of the plan.

It's just this one last step, Midnight Sky told himself, then it'll all be over. No more planning, no more Erősszél.

Twilight could feel the dark spirit attempting to force her mind out of her own control. She had momentarily lost it when she felt him use her mouth, but was now forcing his conciousness back down. She would not let him control her like this, and though she knew she would feel scared later, she buried her fear for now, knowing it would empower him further. Finally, with a bit more effort, the consciousness of Erősszél was silenced, and she stood back up. She looked around, and saw the dark unicorn standing a little ways behind her. She opened her mouth to shout angrily at him, wanting to insult him greatly for what he had done. But she instantly remembered that it would make Erősszél stronger. So she forced herself to remain calm, as she said,

"So, you decided to seal the spirit of Erősszél inside of me?"

He nodded grimly. "It was the only way to give you dark blood, and to ensure he didn't find his way into somepony else. It's also the only way for him to be killed."

"How?" she asked, burning for this dark spirit to be out of her as soon as possible.

Midnight Sky took his time, turning away from her and beginning to trot towards Ventus before responding.

"When he is not within another body, the spirit of Erősszél cannot physically be harmed. But he was too weak, and needed a host to regenerate his power. I also knew about Sombra regenerating nearby. Then the idea hit me. I knew nopony would be able to beat Sombra, and I also needed to get rid of Erősszél. So I thought, Why not kill two birds with one stone?"

The dark unicorn was now standing right beside Ventus, looking down at the two knives pinning the stallion to the floor.

"You see, Twilight, in order to share your body, he had to share your soul as well. Your souls are currently intertwined, and can only be separated in two ways. The first is for the invader to grow stronger than the victim, and break the bonds. The other way..."

He reached down and easily yanked the knife out of Ventus' front right hoof, leaving it covered in glistening black blood.

"...is for the host to die."

Immediately, Twilight realized what was going to happen next. She tried to move, but to her horror, found that she was paralyzed. The dark unicorn's horn was faintly glowing black, and he was holding her in place. Before she could stop it, extreme fear shot through every fiber of her being, which brought the spirit inside her back to life.

"Killing tears the soul apart," Midnight Sky continued as he slowly walked towards her, "leaving nothing behind. It's the only way..."

Inside Twilight's head, a verbal battle ensued, as Erősszél fought for control of her body.

Just let me take over.

No.

I can break the bond, and we'll both survive. Just let go...

NO, she repeated more firmly, but her resolve wasn't holding as the knife drew closer and closer to her.

"I'm so sorry," Midnight Sky said as he raised the long knife, "but this is the only way... I hope you'll forgive me in the next world."

TWILIGHT SPARKLE!

"NO!" the mare screamed aloud, as the dark spirit finally broke through her mind's resistance.

A shock wave blasted from Twilight as the dark spirit, now fully empowered by Twilight's fear of death, broke through and took full control of her body. Twilight was now putting off an aura so powerful that it felt like fifty versions of Hell had dumped themselves into the room.

Ventus awoke with a yell, encumbered by the knife in his lower leg as books fell onto him. He forced the knife out of his leg with a grunt of pain, and looked up.

Twilight's body had levitated off of the floor, and she was looking up. She felt as though she was being torn apart inside. As the other two unicorns watched, her mouth opened, and she let out a blood-curdling scream. She was in more pain than she had ever been in before, as she felt her insides contorting.

Ventus looked over and saw the dark unicorn. His anger returned to him, and he wanted more than anything to run over there and punch the stallion in the face. But he remembered the pain that Twilight was experiencing, and restrained himself. Instead, he ran over to the stallion to ask questions.

"What's happening to her?!" He yelled over Twilight's screams, and the sudden wind that had burst through the cave.

"The bond is breaking!" Midnight Sky yelled back. "Erősszél is becoming a daemon!"

Before either stallion could say anything else, another sound joined the screams of Twilight. They looked over to see that her eyes had opened as well, and there was a lot of black smoke escaping from her eyes and mouth. They watched, mouths open, as the demonic black smoke continued to pour out of the mare. After another few seconds, it stopped, and Twilight fell to the ground, unconscious. Ventus caught her with magic, and levitated her body over to them.

The Dark Cloud was swirling around, condensing. The two watched as it began to form a pony, a pony who hadn't been seen for thousands of years. He had a white coat, a black tail and mane, and even wore a black cloak. His horn ended in a point, rather like an alicorn's, but the biggest thing that stood out were his eyes. Instead of just the iris being red, the pupil had been transformed as well. The newly formed daemon looked over at the gathering of ponies, and smiled with pointed teeth.

"Ah, it's good to be back," he said, his voice still just as menacing as it had been in life. It was designed to inflict maximum fear on those who heard it, so that he could gain even more power.

"But I believe we have some unfinished business, Éjfél Légkör."

"Don't call me that," Midnight Sky snarled, baring his teeth. "I'm not afraid of you... Gale."

The daemon's eyes flashed as he heard his Equestrian name. He stood, ready to fight. Midnight Sky turned to the stallion beside him.

"Take Twilight and run," he said, looking fierce and determined. "I'll hold him off for a while."

"But that's suicide!" Ventus protested. "You'll--"

"Don't argue," he said, cutting his half-brother off. "This is my fault, and I need to fix it. Just go."

"But--"

"GO!" Midnight Sky yelled.

Ventus didn't protest further. Carrying Twilight, he ran from the cave. Gale (Erősszél) turned and attempted to follow, but found his way blocked by a powerful dark barrier. He whipped back around to see Midnight Sky's horn glowing with a dark aura.

"Why?" he asked his final true descendant, as they simultaneously began to pace in circles. "We could have ruled the world together, free of those who banished us. Why did you turn on me?"

The stallion looked into the eyes of his daemon-turned ancestor, unwilling to believe he had descended from such an evil being.

"I have to admit," he said, still looking at Gale, "Your philosophy had me convinced for a while. But I grew older, and smarter. I was sick of you talking in my head, and I wasn't prepared to go as far as you have. But I managed to hide my suspicions from you, didn't I? I've been plotting, waiting for three centuries for the chance to betray you, and you never knew."

The daemon snarled in displeasure. "But you must have realized it was futile. You must have known I'd kill you in the end."

"Ah, but my true plans weren't the only things I was hiding, were they?" Midnight Sky said, with a satisfied smile. They both stopped circling at once, looking at each other from both ends of what had been their home for centuries.

"I've hidden centuries of magical knowledge from you," the dark unicorn continued, "and I'm much more powerful than you know."

At this point, Gale finally snapped in anger, and launched an orb of lightning across the room. Midnight Sky countered it, circling around to launch it back at the daemon, who sideflipped out of the way before he was hit. He kicked the table across the room at the dark stallion, and picked up one of the blood-caked knives off the floor. As Midnight Sky jumped over the table, Gale hurled the knife at him, which he just barely managed to dodge as well. After landing, the dark unicorn rolled forward, and sent pure white flames across the room, the heat of which was so great that a plastic container which had fallen to the floor began to melt. The daemon dodged the flames and then paused, panting. He was surprised by the fight so far; he didn't think the unicorn had been this powerful.

"Tired?" he taunted across the room. "I could do this all day."

"Not in the least," his descendant replied boldly, while wiping sweat from his forehead.

Gale's horn glowed again, and immediately a lot of the water from the bathroom burst through the doors, and began rushing at Midnight Sky. But Sky's power was greater, and he was able to force the water around him, soaking everything left on the ground in the process. Sky reared onto his back hooves, and stomped the front two back onto the ground. A shock wave ran through the floor, and knocked Gale off his hooves. As he jumped back up, however, he literally felt his nerves freeze, and he was rendered completely immobile. He tried to break the bonds, but Midnight Sky wouldn't let him go. Sky retrieved the knife, and walked towards the daemon who had made his life living hell for centuries.

"Goodbye, Gale."

He plunged the knife straight through Gale's heart, and kicked him towards the wall. He then sat down on the ground, panting. Holding Gale in place had taken a slight toll on Sky, but it was worth it. Erősszél was finished.

Or, at least, he thought he was finished.

Upon a second glance, however, he saw that there wasn't as much blood coming out of the daemon as there should've been. He moved closer to investigate.

Suddenly, Gale kicked out, and Sky flew across the room. He crashed into the wall, in time to see the demonic figure across the room yank the knife out of his chest.

"Remember, I'm not a pony any longer. That dark cloud is my true form now. Which means, I have no organs, and can't die."

He hurled the knife at Sky at such a great speed that he couldn't move fast enough. With a sickening crunch, Sky's very own sharp knife cut through his bone, and cut his whole front-left leg off, splattering black blood onto the floor.

Unable to help it, he yelled in pain, as the daemon continued towards him.

"Say goodbye to this world, Éjfél Légkör," the daemon taunted as he charged a fatal spell. He was slowly moving towards Sky, who couldn't move due to the holding spell that Gale was dual-casting. But as Gale fired the spell that would stop his heart, Midnight Sky broke the magical bond in a swift motion, and released a spell.

Everything froze. Gale, his spell, sound, everything but light and oxygen. Sky tried to run from the cavern, but quickly realized that it was impossible with only three legs. He instead transfigured into the dark cloud, and exited the cave. He flew southwest as fast as he physically could while holding a time-freeze spell. It was very mentally taxing, and knew he wouldn't be able to go really far away. He still moved a decent distance away, however, and flew into a large forest beneath him. At this point, he released the time-freezing spell, which took a huge burden off his mind, leaving his head throbbing in pain.

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Ventus emerged into the sunlight, carrying the unconscious Twilight. They moved a little ways down the mountain before Ventus gently set her down. He charged a spell, and used it to awaken her. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as she woke, then quickly widened as she remembered why she had passed out. She looked at her friend.

"What happened?"

Ventus hesitated. "Well... I woke up, and you were floating in the air, screaming. Midnight Sky said that Erősszél was breaking the bond. He became a daemon. Midnight Sky took him on, and I took you and ran.

"Who's Midnight Sky?" she asked, confused.

"That unicorn who held the knife to my throat," Ventus explained. "You were only unconscious for like five minutes. So now, tell me what happened while I was unconscious."

Twilight relayed everything that had happened, everything Sky had told her. Ventus looked surprised.

"He tried to stab you? It's no wonder Gale got out."

"Who's Gale?" Twilight asked, confused again.

"Erősszél is an Eqqus name. In Equestrian, it translates to Gale. But he got pretty pissed off when Midnight Sky used it."

"I'll be sure to use it when I next see him, then," Twilight said, which was rewarded by a half smile from Ventus. She stood up, and began pacing.

"So, what now? How do we--"

She cut off, sensing an unbelievable rage from someplace nearby.

"Get into the trees!" she hissed. They tore for the trees immediately east of them, and Twilight used shadow magic to completely hide them. No auras, no sight, no emotions. It was as if they weren't there. In the nick of time, too. A moment after they were hidden, a dark cloud flew out of the cave, and began magically searching the mountainside. Twilight was just as, if not more powerful than him, so they weren't detected. They both felt the rage, as the demon above them cursed silently, beginning to fly south.

Twilight waited until she couldn't sense the demonic unicorn any longer to release the hiding spell. But after she did, realization hit her like a bomb.

"Ventus!" she exclaimed, with fear in her voice. "He's heading south! Back towards--"

"Ponyville," Ventus finished, looking alarmed.

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Midnight Sky released his hiding spell as he sensed Gale fly overhead. Once Gale was gone, Sky was left to fully dwell on what he had done that day.

The plan failed, he thought to himself, as he recalled how terribly wrong things had gone. Tears began building in his eyes, for the first time in almost a full millennium.

Gale has returned to the world...

And it's all my fault.

Current Equestria Population:

397

Author's Note

Aaaaand, now you know everything. Who saw it coming? Unless you've read this before. You don't count.
Heh heh heh heh heh.

Lamentations

Without the sun to give it energy, the large field of grass and assorted plants had turned brown some time ago. A slight breeze blew across the land, creating a rustling noise in the shriveled-up bushes and dead grass. The grey storm clouds overhead just hung there, looking dull and completely still. Weather duty was something that was shuffled aside when the war turned so bad, so forecasting was easy; overcast skies, with a slight chance of rain.

The breeze wasn't the only thing making sound, though. The rustling of the dead plants turned to thick crunching, as they were squished underhoof. Three figures walked across the dead field, their hooves threatening to splinter and fall off from the pain of waking all day.

"Why couldn't you have just teleported us there, Discord?" Spike whined for the eighth time. "My feet are killing me!"

"I've told you, I'm the God of Chaos!" Discord replied, throwing both hands into the air, quite literally. "We could've ended up anywhere!"

They walked in silence for a while.

"I wonder what Twilight and Ventus are doing," Spike said. "What did Ventus mean when he said we weren't in the clear yet?"

Pinkie and Discord sighed in slight exasperation. They had already explored this subject thoroughly several times, and couldn't figure out what Ventus had meant, or why he had been so scared. But Spike continued on, adding something he hadn't said previously.

"When Twilight yelled... when her eyes turned red..." he began, eyes glistening, "...it was scary. She was scary."

Neither of the others could think of any words of comfort to give him, so they just continued walking in silence.

As they drew very, very close to Ponyville, Spike stopped in his tracks.

"You guys hear that?" He asked, straining his ears to pick up the faint sound. The other two listened hard, and heard it too. It was slightly muffled, but it sounded like...

"Music?" Pinkie said. They approached the town borders, and the unmistakable sounds of celebration reached them. Pinkie gasped dramatically, making the other two jump.

"Somepony threw a party and didn't invite me?!" she practically yelled. She hovered in the air for a second, then streaked off towards the center of town.

"That's the Pinkie Pie I remember," Spike chortled, laughing at the mare's sudden departure. As they walked further, he quickly grew serious again as he turned to Discord.

"How're we gonna tell everypony what Ventus said?" he asked.

"Oh, lighten up, Spike!" the Draconeqqus replied, his old voice having returned. Out of nowhere, he produced some cotton, and some grabbed some old, rock-hard candy from the pocket of the passing Granny Smith. He merged the two into bright pink cotton candy, which he then held out to Spike. "Sombra is gone! Have a little fun for a change!"

Spike was not reassured, and his face still held a worried expression. Discord put his lion's paw around him, bringing his own head down to Spike's level.

"Look around you. Is anypony here really likely to leave?" he asked, growing more serious now. "Where would they go? Equestria is gone, and no one outside would be willing to help."

Spike opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't come up with a counter-argument. He knew Discord was right. Almost everypony who had survived were civilians, who had been hidden during most of the war. None of them really knew how to fight, and wouldn’t take their chances in the outside world.

"SPIKE! DISCORD!"

They turned to see a yellow pegasus streaking towards them at high speeds. The pegasus slammed into Discord, hugging him tightly as he fell over and they hit the ground.

Spike turned, immediately wanting to leave them be. The friendship of the two had grown greater and greater ever since Fluttershy had reformed Discord, and Spike strongly suspected that they were more than friends these days. He was actually quite happy for the pair of them, but seeing romance at the moment was not good for him.

He walked down the road, passing ponies who were enjoying the end-of-war festivities. He couldn’t find the heart to join them, even though he knew he should be happy. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a fire ruby. He had been growing this gem carefully, but he had no intention of eating it this time. He clenched the gem in his claw.

“Rarity...”

Spike teared up as his memories of the mare he loved cut through him like a dagger. He attempted to push them away, but to no avail. He couldn’t help thinking about her now, wishing she was standing beside him, with the chaos of the war finally gone. A lump formed in the dragon’s throat, and he tried to fight it down. He didn’t want to be caught bawling in public. However, as the lump rose up and out of him, he realized that it wasn’t a sob; It was a letter. Knowing who this must be from, he unfurled the scroll in a slight frenzy and quickly read it.

He almost shouted aloud in horror, but managed to restrain himself. Shaking with fear, he ran into the partying crowd. He ran right to the town square, and found one of the ponies he was looking for almost immediately, who was near the DJ stand.

“C’mon, everypony!” Pinkie yelled. “I wanna see you DANCE!” Spike walked up to her.

“Pinkie, come with me,” he said urgently.

She looked as though she was going to protest, but the unusual look in his eyes silenced her. They moved out of the crowd, also finding Fluttershy and Discord along the way. He headed for the first secluded place he could think of at the moment; the library.

“What’s so urgent?” Pinkie asked the moment the door had shut behind them, annoyed at being pulled away from the party that she had swiftly commandeered. Spike was unable to speak from all the running he had done, and instead handed the letter over to Fluttershy. She began reading it aloud.

Spike,

I've got some terrible news. The Dark Spirit that was attached to my soul was Erősszél Sötetvarászlo, the first unicorn mass murderer on record. He escaped from me. He's incredibly strong, strong enough to slaughter everypony left. He's headed right for you guys. Gather as many ponies who can possibly fight, and try to hold him off. We'll be there as soon as we can.

-Twilight

As she finished, fear was evident on the face of everyone present. They were all thinking the same thing.

"We're totally bucked," Discord said. "Ten times over."

"Maybe we can still gather some forces--" Pinkie began, but was cut off mid-sentence.

“I think it’s too late for that.”

Spike was pointing out of the window, and they all rushed over to see what he was talking about. A large orb of fire, larger than what had hit Rarity's hotel, was flying towards them.

"GET DOWN!!" he yelled, pulling Fluttershy down with him.

The world around them exploded in a blast of heat, and Spike was thrown against the opposite wall of the room, bringing Fluttershy with him. He held her under him, protecting her from the torrents of tree debris now crashing down onto them, which he could withstand due to his scales and strength. He waited until the explosions subsided before he stood up.

The explosions were finished, but there was still a large fire brewing. He realized, with horror, that the tree would fuel the fire very quickly, as would the books. They had no time to save the place. Fluttershy ran from him, digging through the debris. After a few seconds, she found who she was looking for.

Blood was running down his whole body, due to the many cuts in him from the splintering wood. But the most alarming thing was the large piece of wood that had found a home in the Draconeqqus’ ribcage.

“No... NO!” Fluttershy cried, as she held his head in her arms. He stirred, as his glazed eyes focused on the mare with difficulty.

"Fluttershy... go," he managed to choke out. Tears were falling from the dragon, as he watched. He knew Discord was doomed, for there weren't any powerful unicorns close enough to get there in time. Fluttershy was sobbing as she clung to the head of her dying coltfriend.

"Discord!" she cried. But the eyes of the ancient creature had gone entirely blank, and he slumped back to the ground. The mare dove onto his chest, sobbing harder than ever. Spike too was having to fight the urge to cry, as he walked up to the yellow pegasus.

“Fluttershy! We’ve got to move!” he called, above the creaking of the tree and noise of the flames. “This place is gonna go any second!”

“I can’t leave him here!!” she cried back, clinging to the dead draconeqqus body as though it was a life raft.

“Come on!” Spike cried, trying to bring her to her senses. “The last thing he would’ve wanted is for you to stay here and die, too!”

She still would not let go. Spike knew they had seconds before the library collapsed. He hated to do it, but he grabbed onto her and pried her off of Discord. She was not going quietly, though. She fought against him the whole way, trying to get back to him. Spike didn’t have time to see if Pinkie had survived the blast or not. He pulled Fluttershy out of what had been the front door, and down the road slightly, before stopping.

Pinkie stirred in the rubble, coming to. The world had transformed into pain. Third degree burns covered her once-soft pony skin, and she was covered in blood from her several slashes from the debris.

"I'm sorry, Ventus," she said, though she couldn't hear her own voice as her eardrums had taken heavy damage from the blast. "You couldn't protect me... See you in the next world."

The tree, finally taking more damage than it could handle, began to collapse. Oddly enough, Pinkie smiled at her rapidly approaching death.

"At least I can see my other friends again... maybe I should throw them a party."

Fluttershy and Spine turned back to the library, just in time to see most of the remainder collapse in on itself. He winced, as he imaged Pinkie and Discord being squished by the heavy wood the tree had consisted of.

Fluttershy collapsed to the ground, sobbing harder than ever over Discord. Spike knelt down, putting an arm around her shoulders.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, knowing what was happening within her mind. “But I had to do that. You wouldn’t be able to avenge his death if you died in there.”

She looked up at him.

“Yes, I know,” he said. “You want to kill the thing that killed him, right?”

“How did you--”

“How do you think I felt when Rarity died?” he asked. He had acted the exact same way in Manehattan.

He briefly flashed back to how Big Macintosh had dragged him out of Manehattan kicking and screaming. Shaking it off, he continued.

"Lets round up whoever we can. We've got to try and fight."

Fluttershy nodded, and they galloped towards the town. As they went, they saw a black cloud of smoke, launching many of the deadly fire orbs down at the town.

"Do you even know how to kill a daemon?" Fluttershy asked as they ran.

Spike thought for a second.

"Now that you mention it... no," he replied, dully. "But we've got to try. Twilight and Ventus won't get here in time to save anypony."

They galloped through Ponyville, attempting to find anypony who wasn't already injured or dead. To their horror, however, they couldn't find anyone. They did, however, locate the Dark Cloud that was launching fire orbs everywhere.

The moment she saw it, Fluttershy was possessed with an uncontrollable rage. That thing had killed Discord, had killed Pinkie, had killed all of Ponyville already. She spread her wings, and launched powerfully into the air.

"Fluttershy, NO!" Spike cried in alarm, reaching out in an impossible attempt to grab her, even though she was fifty feet above him already.

But it was too late. She was flying full speed at the dark cloud, which was hovering above the town, unmoving. It, of course, sensed her coming a mile away. But she didn't care. She had a murderous fire in her eyes, and didn't care what would happen next. As long as she died trying to kill the thing.

Spike just managed to turn away in time, as the dark cloud launched a blue beam of energy at the once-shy pegasus. There was a loud, horrible-sounding crack, and Spike looked back up. Nothing remained of Fluttershy. Not her body, not half of her body, not even a stray hair or feather. She had been completely vaporized in midair.

Overcome by pure terror, Spike ran for his life. He fled the town, and found a place that hadn't yet been assaulted. He fell on the ground, heaving from all the running. He pulled out parchment and quill, and quickly scribbled a letter, sending it away once he was done.

Tears ran down the dragon's face, as he thought about everypony who had just died. Ponyville was nothing but a firestorm now, and he doubted anypony had made it out in time. The attack had barely lasted 10 minutes, much shorter than anything King Sombra had ever managed. And the city was decimated.

They're all gone, he thought to himself. Everypony I care about is gone... and they're never coming back.

He heard a soft swishing sound behind him, and turned to see the dark cloud landing on the ground. He knew what was about to happen, and didn't fight. Instead, he reached into his pocket and retrieved the fire ruby from within, clutching it tightly as he stared at the cloud.

Don't worry, Rarity...

I'm coming.

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Midnight Sky awoke suddenly in the forest, still having not moved from his hiding place. He didn't remember falling asleep, though, and momentarily felt confused. As he sat up, a sharp pain shot through his body, starting in his head.

"Damn it," he whispered, grabbing his head with both front hooves. He remembered why he had passed out now. Performing the healing spell on his leg had left him exhausted, but that wasn't it.

The time spell...

Normal ponies couldn't travel through time without the effects reverting. Even dark blooded ponies were unable to. Sky didn't know why he could do it; he actually suspected it was demonic magic. But he could do it. He had to watch the negative energies, though, as he wasn't built for the magic. Using it always took a toll on him.

And this time, it was too much of a toll.

He knew that his remaining time was limited. Gale had escaped, but he would be stopped. He was sure Twilight knew what needed to be done to stop him. But as he looked around the forest, he knew what he needed to do before he died. It wasn't going to be easy, and he certainly didn't want to, but it needed to be done. He sighed as he contemplated the task ahead.

You need to do this, he reminded himself. You need to fix what you've done to this world. You've destroyed the country you fought so hard to save. If you had just killed Twilight before Gale escaped, Ponyville would've survived. The remaining citizens of Equestria would've survived. But you couldn't do it.

Tears began leaking from his eyes. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t quickly kill the mare that was housing one of the most evil beings to have ever lived, and instead had felt the need to explain everything to her. And he was now slowly dying for that mistake. He began to climb back up the mountain, towards the home that had sheltered him for so long. He had made preparations for this very scenario, but had hoped it would end up being in vain.

He entered the almost-destroyed entryway of his old home, moving straight to the only bookcase that still stood in the room. His horn glowed, and the bookcase began sliding to the side. When it was finished, it revealed a small, hidden room behind it. Moving into the room, he saw a small safe hidden in the corner. He moved to the safe, opening it with another complex series of spells. Inside, there was a small blue crystal that looked a lot like the one which held the spirit of Gale. He retrieved it, and moved back into the main room. He pulled an old, ancient-looking book from his magic storage. The cover was written in ancient Eqqus characters, but his study of the language was enough for him to understand what it said, thus allowing him to reiterate it.

Before he began, he pulled out another parchment and quill, and scribbled a quick note. Similar to what he had done in Canterlot, he set another spell to repress the deliverance of this letter. He didn’t want them reading it before Gale was gone.

I think that’s it, he thought. He looked around the library, and recalled the hundreds of years he had spent there, studying magic in it’s entirety. He was slightly sad, but he knew what he was doing was for the good of everypony. In the end, he just might be able to change their fate. He might be able to undo what he had done.

He began with the most complex incantation he had ever read, all in Eqqus. As he read, he reassured himself.

Don’t worry. You’ll fix this mess, and almost everypony will survive...

Except you...

Current Equestria Population:
3

Author's Note

Gaaaaaaaaaah, feels!
Well, this is it. Only one more chapter to go! Weeeeeeeird.

Sacrifices

Twilight and Ventus flew at breakneck speed back toward Ponyville. The fields below them rolled past, looking brown and sullen. They hadn't had sun or water for weeks, and everything was dying.

Including Ponyville...

They couldn't talk to each other while flying, so they were each lost in their own thoughts. Twilight was worried sick about everypony who had survived. Looking at some of the spells she had learned in her study of dark magic, she knew Gale could lay waste to a town very quickly. She picked up speed, pushing herself beyond her regular magical capacities to go even faster. The strain on her increased the longer they flew, especially since she had to transfigure Ventus alongside herself. Thus, she was slightly relieved when a letter entered her magical inbox, giving her an excuse to descend.

She swooped down to a patch of brown grass, and they both reformed into their natural bodies. Ventus was also relieved they were taking a break, since he was so prone to airsickness. Twilight's relief evaporated a moment after they landed, changing instead to terror and nervousness, as she realized that this letter could only have come from Ponyville. She retrieved it, and read.

Her mouth fell open, and her face filled despair as her eyes watered immediately.

"What's happened?" Ventus asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer. She still didn't move, seeing as her brain had just melted inside her skull. Ventus trotted over, and read the letter for himself. It was short, hastily written, and sloppy.

Ponyville destroyed. No survivors.

Don't come. Hide. You're the last ponies in Equestria. It's over.

Spike

Sorrow hit him like an asteroid as the words registered in his brain. It really was over now. There was no one but them in the whole country. Spike had undoubtedly perished soon after he sent the letter.

He turned to Twilight, who had fallen to the earth. She wasn't audibly crying, but tears were running down her face, as the weight of the world crashed down on them both.

Ventus was sad, wounded, and angry, but he wasn't going to just let hope die. He didn't want to do this, after everything Midnight Sky had done, but he didn't really have a choice. He accessed his magical storage, and pulled out paper and quill. Feverishly, he began to write.

Midnight Sky,

Equestria has fallen. We just received word of Ponyville's destruction. If we do nothing, he'll find us eventually. And if he doesn't... Equestria isn't the only land on the planet. He might move on to the others. We have to save them. If you could help us, that would be great.

-Ventus

He sent the letter off, and waited. Twilight was still on the ground, torn apart inside by their circumstances. Ventus was surprised by how quickly the reply letter came.

If you're receiving this, then I'm already dead. I set a spell to send this if you survived, just in case something happened to me. I'm taking a wild guess that Gale has destroyed Equestria by now.

I'm praying that Twilight has survived as well. If she has, then she might know what to do. Gale must be stopped at all costs. There are still other species outside Equestria who will die. It won't be easy, but I trust you guys to do what needs to be done. Don't let me down.

-Midnight Sky

Ventus stared at the letter for a few moments, taking it in. He handed it to Twilight for her to read. As she did so, her expression hardened, but she never seemed confused, which meant Midnight Sky had been right. She did know what to do. She turned to look at Ventus.

"What did he mean?" He asked her. "What can we do?"

Twilight didn't answer at once. She did know what had to be done, but the prospect of doing it wasn't pretty. She didn't want to tell the stallion who had been with her through the whole nightmare, and who was still there, even when everypony else was gone. However, it wasn't going to be any easier if she waited longer. She turned back to him.

"Gale used my soul to regenerate, which means his soul has certain coding. If he tries to attack me again, I can absorb him back into me, and trap him. His soul will be temporarily intertwined with mine again, which means if mine goes anywhere, he'll be dragged with me."

"What are you saying?" Ventus asked, but he had a sickened feeling that he already knew where this was headed. Twilight put on a sad little smile.

"I'm going to trap him in my soul again, then..."

The plan clicked into place in Ventus' mind, without needing to hear the rest of it. His expression changed from one of worry to one of outright horror.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no," he said repeatedly, backing away. "You can't mean what I think you mean."

She still wore the sad little smile, which confirmed the stallion's fears.

"It's the only way," she told him.

"You can't-- you couldn't possibly-- you're asking me to--" Ventus spluttered, unable to complete a full sentence.

"Everypony else is already dead," she reminded him. "The rest of the world will follow. Millions more will die. Unless we do this. This is the solution, this is the way."

Her mind was made up. She wasn't going to let the outside countries be wiped out as well. But Ventus wasn't going down without a fight.

"Can't you just... you know... stab yourself?" He asked, before realizing how dark of a question that was. But then again, it was suicide, or murder.

"It's not a murder," Twilight said, correctly interpreting his thoughts. "It's a sacrifice. And sometimes, sacrifices are necessary."

"I can't kill you!" Ventus exclaimed, voice shaking. "I just can't!"

She sighed. They were wasting time, and she knew it. Gale might move out of Equestria, and they would have to find him again. Plus, she didn't know if her resolution would hold. The longer she contemplated sacrificing herself to kill the daemon, the worse the prospect seemed. She didn't know how long her willpower would withstand her fear. This needed to be done now, before she changed her mind.

"Look," she began. "We don't have time for this. I'm going to trap Gale before he can move on." She glared at him. "He'll probably kill me, even if you don't. So, unless you want my sacrifice to be in vain, I suggest you come here."

She held out a hoof, wating for him to grab it so they could begin flying again.

Ventus' conscience was still screaming in protest, but he didn't have much of a choice. He grabbed her hoof, and they transfigured into a black cloud, resuming the flight back to Ponyville. He was still attempting to think of a way to sway the mare from her plan. But his mind was blank, and he didn't know how it could be done.

He watched as the scenery rolled beneath them, as they moved towards Ponyville at a greater speed than anypony had ever moved before. They approached the city rapidly, and Twilight set them down just outside the town boundaries. She was more scared than she had ever been in her whole life, as she contemplated the task ahead. She turned to look at the stallion beside her, who had been through so much with her.

"Promise me," she said simply. "Promise you'll kill me when I trap Gale."

Ventus looked into her lavender eyes. He saw, clear as day, how scared she was. But he also saw the determination to kill off this evil. He didn't know what to do, as he hesitated.

"Promise," Twilight said, more forcefully this time. Her eyes began tearing up, as she looked at her friend. His resolve dissolved as he looked at her. He knew he had no choice.

"Pinkie Promise," he replied. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Twilight's mouth quivered slightly, as she almost smiled. The two looked at each other for another moment. Then, they simultaneously moved towards each other, and wrapped their hooves around each other in a gentle embrace. As he held her, Ventus considered what could've happened without the war. If he could've gotten to know Twilight before all of the death and destruction, maybe something could've happened. But it was a life that he would never know. The war had changed everything, and there was nothing he could do about it.

After a minute, they broke apart. They looked at each other one last time, before turning to survey the ruined city. Smoke still rose from the smoldering wreckage of what had once been the most peaceful town in all of Equestria, what had once been Twilight's home. Her eyes filled with tears again, as she thought of everypony who had died.

Don't worry, she thought. I'll be with you soon.

She charged her horn, preparing to cast multiple powerful spells at once. When she released them, they were hidden completely from view, and her magical senses swept the town's remnants, locating Gale fairly quickly.

"He's by the town hall!" she said. "Let's go!"

She began running off into the town. Ventus could still see her, because it had been she who had turned them invisible. He hesitated for a moment longer, then followed. She turned corners without slowing down, moving for the center of town. He didn't know where they were going as he had never visited the town, and stayed as close as possible to her.

After another minute, they ran towards the remnants of city hall. The dome had fallen sideways, and cracked into several pieces on the ground. Within the pieces of the dome, a snow white pony stood, facing away from them.

"Can he sense us?" Ventus asked. Twilight shook her head. They looked at the daemon who, for some reason, was rooted to the spot.

"What's the plan?" Ventus asked in a whisper, just to ensure the stallion couldn't hear them. Twilight also quieted her voice as she responded.

"You're going to show yourself."

"Are you crazy?" he whispered, looking stunned. "He'll tear me to shreds!"

"I can only trap him while he's casting an offensive spell," said Twilight. "Don't worry, I won't let him hit you."

He was still having doubts about the entire plan. He didn't know if he would be able to kill Twilight when the time came, but he didn't have a choice. He was going to do one last favor for the mare beside him.

He nodded. "I'm ready."

Her horn glowed, and a black streak formed in the air. Something silver fell from it, and Ventus caught it before it could hit the ground. He recognized it. It was fifteen inches long, horribly sharp, and had once been held to his own throat.

"Isn't this one of--"

"Midnight Sky's knives?" Twilight finished the question. "Yes. It's called Cultro Venántium. The spell description says it can kill almost anything that lives, including most dark-blooded ponies, and can unlock almost any lock."

"Sounds pretty deadly," Ventus replied. He took the knife in one hoof, knowing full well what he would have to do with it soon.

Twilight turned back to look at Gale, who still had not moved. She looked to Ventus, who nodded, signaling his readiness. She released the concealment spell on him.

"Gale!" He yelled.

The daemon whirled around, enraged at hearing his Equestrian name. Twilight prepared to trap him, as he charged a spell to hit Ventus with. But at the last second, Gale turned to look right at where Twilight was. Instead of attacking Ventus, he launched himself backwards, transforming into the dark cloud as he did so. He quickly flew away from them.

Twilight cursed. She too transformed into a dark cloud, and flew after the daemon. Ventus tried to summon up the demonic forces from his soul, but to his horror, they seemed to have frozen.

"What the hell?!" he snarled, trying to get the horribly evil power to surface. But it was no good. His most powerful magic was dead to him in this moment, and he didn't know how to cast any dark magic spells without it.

Ventus knew he couldn't just sit there, waiting for them to return. He called up his memory, attempting to remember exactly the aura he had felt when Twilight transformed. He thought he had a pretty good idea of how the spell was performed. He charged his horn, attempting to mimic the spell. He put all of his mental power into it, but couldn't get the spell to go through.

"Oh come on," he muttered in frustration, as he attempted to transform again.

Meanwhile, Twilight was still chasing the daemon. She threw obstacles in front of him, trying to slow him down, but he managed to dodge them swiftly. She chased him around for several minutes, climbing higher and higher into the sky as she did so. Gale suddenly shot straight upwards, heading straight for the cloud barrier. She followed without hesitation. He vanished above the clouds, and she followed shortly after.

As she broke through the cloud barrier, the sky suddenly turned piercing blue, despite the lack of the sun. It was such a stark change from the greyness that they had experienced ever since Celestia's death that she had to cover her eyes.

Gale had landed on a cloud, and reformed into his pony form. She did the same, easily casting the spell to let her walk on clouds that she had learned so long ago. When she was done, the two faced each other. He smiled menacingly at her.

"You're trying to trap me?" he taunted across the gap at her. "Did you honestly expect that to work?"

Twilight bit her lip. She needed to word what she said carefully, or he would just start flying again.

"I don't need to trap you," she said, trying to bluff. "We've got Cultro Venántium. We can kill you without trapping you."

Gale laughed evilly once again.

"That blade can't kill me. But you already knew that," he taunted.

Twilight launched an orb of green fire at the daemon, who did a back hoofspring to avoid it. He laughed at the mare, as she again attempted to hit him with a spell, and he again managed to dodge it.

"Give it up, Twilight. You and your friend are finished. You--"

He was cut short, as the knife slashed through his stomach, then his chest. The pain of it was so great that he actually screamed out in pain. The knife felt like fire. He fell over sideways, falling fifteen feet to the next cloud below him.

Time for background music of feels.

Twilight smiled, as the black cloud which she knew to be Ventus shot above them, a glint shining off the silver knife. Twilight launched herself across the gap between clouds, landing on top of the daemon. She cast a spell to bind him there, rendering him unable to escape.

"Cultro Venántium might not kill you," she began. Her eyes shifted to red, and she smiled more evilly than Gale had.

"But it'll still hurt like hell."

In his cloudy, adrenaline-fueled state of pain, Gale lost control of his rage, and at last charged a spell to launch the mare off of him.

It was just what Twilight had been waiting for.

Her horn lit up with a black aura, and as the daemon began to cast his spell, he suddenly split apart, dissolving into the black cloud again. He then re-entered the mare in the same way he escaped; through her eyes and mouth. Ventus descended to the white clouds, reforming into a pony beside her. She finished absorbing the daemon, and instantly keeled over from the pain of it.

She could feel him immediately try to force his way out, fighting with every ounce of strength he had. Not thinking, she devoted her whole focus to stopping him from getting out. But in doing that, she stopped focusing on the cloud walk spell, and she fell right through the clouds. Ventus caught her, and levitated her back up to him. He recast the spell on her, and set her on the cloud's surface.

Twilight's teeth were clenched, and her eyes were screwed tightly shut, as she struggled. It was a thousand times harder than any other magic resistance she had ever needed to do. Struggling to do so, she opened her eyes and looked up at Ventus, tears flowing down her face.

"Do it," she pleaded with him.

Ventus was unable to suppress his tears, as he clenched the knife in his hoof. He began shaking violently, as he raised the knife. He froze in place as he made eye contact with her, and looked into her lavender eyes. He could see the effort it was taking to keep the daemon imprisoned, as she laid there on the cloud. There was pain in her eyes. She trusted him, and was begging him to do it.

"Please."

Ventus now had a river of tears flowing from him, as he raised the knife high. There was no escaping it now. He either did this, or it would all be for nothing.

He closed his eyes as his leg plunged. The knife lodged itself in her heart, and he cringed at the sickening crunching sound. Immediately, Gale stopped fighting. There was nothing he could do now. He didn't make a sound, as he began to perish with the mare he was prisoner of.

Twilight's mind slowed down as began to fade from consciousness, and she felt her heart valiantly trying to keep her alive. But Ventus had done the job right, just like she had wanted him to. Ventus cradled her head in his arms, as she slowly ticked through her final moments.

"Ventus..." she said weakly, as her senses slowed even more. He sat there, knowing she had seconds, fighting his brain into saying the words he wanted her to hear. The words he had been wanting to say for a while now. The words which had been put on hold because of the war.

"Twilight Sparkle... I love you," he declared, tears running down his face, thick and fast.

She looked slightly surprised, as the words registered. Her mind quickly flashed back through the entire time she had known him. How he had been so willing to listen to her on the train, how he had stood guard all night after Gale had been there, how he had immediately come back to the Crystal Empire after she had wrote to Celestia, how he had gotten to know the rest of her friends before official war had been declared on Sombra, how he had refused to let her go to the front lines, and how concerned he had been whenever she had been injured, whenever she was in pain. Whenever she made terrible decisions. She smiled as she realized something herself.

"I... love... you..... too," she managed to say. She weakly moved her hoof into his, and he clenched it as if he could keep her there by doing so. They looked into each other's eyes for what they both knew to be the final time.

Something in the lavender pair flickered, and then went out. Twilight Sparkle slumped in his arms, and she moved no more.

Her soul shot upwards like a rocket, dragging the spirit of Gale along with her. Approaching the crossroads, Twilight had no control over where they would go. But to her relief, they floated towards the light path, and disappeared within, never to be seen in this world again.

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Ventus was unaware how long he stayed up there, holding the dead body of one of the only mares he had ever loved. He was unwilling to accept the fact that she was dead. He felt as if his entire world had just died with her. After all, there were now no other Equestrian ponies left on the whole earth. There was nothing left for him, nothing whatsoever. No one to protect. No one to talk to.

Not even anyone to fight with.

Eventually, however, the stallion came back to his senses. He wrenched the knife from Twilight's chest, stowing it away magically. Being able to fly without his demon half now, he carried her body with him as he flew back towards the earth. Being able to control his every action was much better for his stomach, and he was no longer feeling airsick.

He descended all the way back to the ground, and reformed his body. Using magic, he dug a hole five feet in length and width, and two feet deep. He was determined to give the mare a proper burial, unlike all the rest of her dead comrades. He covered her in dirt, and smoothed the surface out. He found a large rock, and levitated it over to where he had buried her. Using magic, he inscribed the tombstone.

Here lies
Twilight Sparkle
Who sacrificed herself for the good of all the survivors.
May her spirit rest in peace.

It wasn't anything beautiful, but he never had been good with words

It's better than nothing, he told himself. He stood there, looking at the grave. It took him a while to notice the letter that had been delivered to him some time before. When he did notice it, he retrieved it, and opened it.

If you're reading this, Ventus, it means you've succeeded in killing Gale. Well done. But your work for Equestria isn't finished yet.

Many died during this war. But what if I told you I had a way to save them all? I know you must think I'm crazy, but if you come up to the cave where I lived, you'll find something that will help you.

I'm counting on you.

Ventus sat there, confused by the letter. How could he save everypony if they were already dead?

But then again, he thought, the letter did say I would think it was crazy... he decided it was worth checking out.

After all, he thought, everypony else is gone. What else am I gonna do with my time?

He took one long, final look at the tombstone of Twilight. Then, he transfigured and flew away, leaving her behind forever. He moved quickly back north, reaching the Crystal Empire a little over an hour later. Entering the cave, he turned back into a pony. He walked for a minute, having no trouble seeing through the total darkness.

When he reached the door that led to the real living space, however, he found his way blocked. The door had decided to seal itself shut. He retrieved Cultro Venántium from his storage, and inserted it into the door's crack. He heard a click, and the magical barrier vanished. The door swung easily open, leading him to the study.

Looking around, he noticed a small, blue crystal sitting on the table. Curious, he reached out for it. But as he did so, an image flashed across his vision. An image of a dark cyan unicorn crying out in pain. He could also hear the scream for a split second. Both vanished as quickly as they came. He jumped, withdrawing from the crystal slightly. But he reached back forward, and picked it up anyways.

He felt a strange aura pulsating from the crystal. As he held it, he suddenly realized that there was something else as well. It was as though somepony was trying to talk to him. He focused, trying harder to make out what they were saying.

Ah, it feels good to be out of that thing. I don't know how Gale could've done 8000 years, let alone a few hours.

He jumped again, as he registered who the voice belonged to.

Is this...

Yes, Ventus. This is Midnight Sky. Now, I need you to listen to me very carefully...

Current Equestria Population:
1

Author's Note

And there you have it. For the second time, the story is over.
I was much more emotionally attached to my ponies this time around. Guess that means my writing is improving. :yay:
Well, it's been one hell of a ride. I had some ups and downs, but in the end, I'm extremely happy with this. I will be kinda sad to be done, but hey, there's still the sequel. And yes, there is a sequel, so don't be too sad. And if you've followed me, don't get too excited when I publish a new story - I'm definitely posting one, and maybe a second story that aren't the sequel. I'll put out a blog post when I publish the actual sequel.

You guys rock. Thanks for putting up with me, and taking the time to read my compilation of crazy ideas and even crazier characters.

ありがとう。じゃね。
-勉 (ベン)

Beginnings (Prologue)

The schoolhouse bell rang, and the foals began piling into the little classroom, all talking as they took their seats at their usual desks. A minute later, the classroom door opened again, and a much larger silhouette crossed the threshold. The talking died at once, and the students all tensed up as the mare began walking to the front of the room. She wrote a few words on the blackboard, then sat down at her desk.

"Good morning, children," she ceerfully greeted them.

"Good morning, Ms. Sunshine," the foals chanted glumly.

"Good," said Ms. Sunshine, as she pulled a stack of papers out of a desk drawer. "I hope you all studied what I taught you about Magical Energies yesterday, because we're having a test on it in a minute."

The foals all let out a collective sigh. Most of them had been dreading this very thing. As she smiled at them, several of them wondered to themselves why she was called Ms. "Sunshine" when she was so good at squashing any happiness they had.

"Don't worry if you forgot to study," she consoled them, still smiling brightly, "I'll give you a minute or two to study right now."

Some of them hurried and pulled out their notes from the previous day, but most of them sat back in defeat. The eyes of the few flew across their papers, fully aware of exactly how short Ms. Sunshine's minutes were.

"Notes away," Ms. Sunshine commanded less than thirty seconds later. Her horn lit up, and tests flew across the room, landing in front of each student face-down as they sluggishly put away their notes.

"You have twenty minutes," Ms. Sunshine said, glancing at the clock one of her students had made for extra credit. "Ready... begin."

There was a rustling of paper as each student flipped their test over, quills at the ready. Ms. Sunshine leaned back in her chair, listening to the scratching sound of thirty quills filling out answers. She continued watching the clock, counting down the minutes. The expressions on each foal's face varied. Some showed nothing but intense concentration on the test. Others appeared nervous, and some were obviously scared. One foal, a medium-sized tan unicorn, finished filling out his last answer only ten minutes in, and leaned back in his chair, staring around with a bored expression on his face.

"Five minutes," Ms. Sunshine eventually called. The foals that were scared were now downright terrified as they began to feverishly write answers. In their rush, there would undoubtedly be many mistakes from their tests. Finally, the twentieth minute came.

"Time's up," Ms. Sunshine said as she levitated every paper off of it's desk, leaving the foals who were still scrambling to write a final answer looking rather distressed. The tests arranged themselves in a neat little pile on Ms. Sunshine's desk, as she stood up and walked over to the blackboard once again.

"Get out your notes," she said, as she began writing something else on the blackboard. This time, the grumbling of the students was clearly audible.

"We never have a lesson after a test," one filly complained to her friend. Ms. Sunshine smiled, as she finished writing the letter M on the board.

"I know this is unusual," she said, still writing, "but I think you'll all be excited to see what we're discussing today."

The filly who had spoken scoffed, as though she seriously doubted it. Ms. Sunshine finished writing, and stepped aside so the foals could all see what she had written.

Immediately, the room was struck with dead silence. The foals who had been leaning back, preparing to completely ignore her as a sign of protest, sat up straight. There was a look of anticipation on each face. The tan colt who finished his test fastest leaned forward, quill inked up and ready to quickly take notes. Ms. Sunshine smiled, the victory clear in her yellow eyes.

"I thought you'd all be interested," she said. "Many of you have been asking if you're old enough for this lesson. It's really bugging me. So I decided to give this lesson a bit early."

A large, crimson unicorn colt gave a satisfied smirk at this. He had been one of the few who had been preparing to ignore her. Ms. Sunshine began teaching.

"Dark Magic is a fascinating and incredibly rare form of magic. It is the most powerful and most dangerous magic known to ponykind, boasting incredible sensory abilities and horrifying spells. However, almost nopony can use it. Who can tell me why?"

Dead silence. The foals all looked around in anticipation, wondering who would dare speak up.

"Nopony?" Ms. Sunshine said, looking around with a disappointed expression. "Come on, we just finished the Magical Energy unit, and you all got into the Canterlot Advanced Academy. One of you should be able to tell me. Why can't we use Dark Magic?"

The tan colt let out an internal sigh, already guessing at what consequences this would bring later. He slowly raised a hoof into the air.

"Ventus," Ms. Sunshine said, pointing at him.

"Because Dark Magic uses a different Magical Energy than we're built for," he said, in a quiet voice.

"Exactly," Ms. Sunshine said. The foals around him looked at Ventus somewhat resentfully. "Dark Energy is the polar opposite of what our bodies are used to. Technically we can still use it, but who can tell me what happens if your body can't handle the darkness?"

Again, dead silence.

"Ventus?" Ms. Sunshine asked.

"You'll die?" he guessed.

Ms. Sunshine tilted her head. "I'm starting to see why you're here," she told him. "You're pretty smart. I don't understand why you can't use any magic."

Ventus shrugged. Some of his colleagues looked slightly smug, and looked forward again. But the crimson unicorn continued staring resentfully at him.

"Ventus is right," Ms. Sunshine continued. "If you can't handle the dark energies, then they will kill you in the end. To handle dark energy, your own magical energy needs to be extraordinarily strong, strong enough to withstand its opposite. Therefore, there are only a handful of ponies who have been recorded to use Dark Magic successfully. Two of them, as you all might know, are the two Princesses. Some of the others are members of a bloodline, a bloodline of the most powerful magic users ever seen. They were all banished by the Queen of Unicornia long, long ago, when the head of the family used Dark Magic to terrorize her civilians. Of course, there have been some others, but they have all been imprisoned or destroyed, so none of them could possibly put you in danger."

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At the end of the day, the bell rang, and the foals began packing their school things away.

"No homework for tonight," Ms. Sunshine called over the din the foals were making. They exited the school house one by one, beginning to make their way through the streets of Canterlot back to their homes. A large group of foals all piled out of the schoolhouse, headed by the large crimson colt. The colt looked around, spotting a lone, tan figure in the distance. His group broke into a gallop to catch up with the lone colt.

"Ventus!" the crimson colt called out. The lone colt stopped walking, turning to see who had called. After meeting the eyes of the crimson foal, he turned and continued walking as if no one had called him. The large group ran harder, and caught up with him quickly. The crimson colt put a hoof on Ventus' shoulder, spinning him around roughly so they were face to face.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he demanded harshly.

"What does it look like?" Ventus asked, gesturing forward. "I'm walking."

He turned to continue onward, but the crimson colt jerked him around again. This time, Ventus whipped around and knocked the hoof away from him.

"You know what I meant," the crimson colt snarled at him. "What are you doing, answering her questions like that?"

Just leave me alone, Ventus thought to himself. I just want to go home.

"Well?!" The colt demanded.

"Somepony had to," Ventus shrugged, once again turning to continue home. This time, he found his progress impeded by the rest of the big group. They had formed a large circle around the two colts, and there was no gap between them. They were obviously looking for a fight.

"No, they didn't," the crimson colt retorted. "You made the rest of us look stupid."

"How do you figure?" Ventus asked, one eyebrow raised.

"If you'd just kept your big mouth shut, nopony would've answered, and it would've seemed like none of us geniuses knew. But instead, you said the right answer without thinking, and made the rest of us look like morons."

"It's not my fault none of you knew the answer, Iron Hooves," Ventus said, staring the colt straight in the eyes. The surrounding foals began tightening the circle, pushing Ventus and Iron Hooves closer together.

"Well, it had better not happen again," he snarled. Then, his face twisted into a smug smirk. "Or I'll have to talk to my uncle."

Ventus raised both eyebrows this time.

"One of my uncles can use dark magic," Iron Hooves said. "Next time, I'll have him come... talk to you."

"Bull."

Iron Hooves' smirk faltered, and Ventus half-smiled.

"You probably stopped paying attention after she told us that Dark Magic is the most powerful kind, so I'll tell you again. Only a select few ponies can use Dark Magic without the dark energies killing them; the Princesses, a family of ponies who were all banished, and others who are all neutralized. If your Uncle is a dark magic user who's not in prison, I'm certain we would've heard of him."

"How do you know he can't?" Iron Hooves asked, his smirk slowly sliding back onto his face. "For all you know, he just doesn't tell anypony outside the family."

"You know what?" Ventus said, narrowing his eyes, "Fine. Have your Uncle come prove it, right here, right now. We're close enough that Celestia will see it too. Then she can tell the whole world by throwing him and the rest of your family out."

Iron Hooves flushed, as his cronies all turned and muttered among themselves. Ventus turned to continue home, despite the group of ponies in the way. Iron Hooves racked his brains, desperate for something, anything he could use to retaliate.

"At least I can actually use magic!" he yelled.

Ventus came to a dead stop. He opened his mouth to retaliate, but nothing came out. As he stood frozen in place, that awful truth hit him with the force of an iron fist. No matter how hard he tried, he had never so much as levitated a pebble from the ground. Iron Hooves, reveling in Ventus' silence, continued on with an evil smile.

"You come to the CAA, but why? What does Princess Celestia see in you, a colt who still can't use magic?"

Ventus stared at the ground as Iron Hooves' insults hit him. Just leave me alone, he thought for the second time. I just want to go home.

"You're nothing, Ventus. Nothing, compared to the rest of us."

Ventus' hoof clenched into a fist on the ground.

"Shut up," he said, softly.

"What did you just say?" Iron Hooves asked, his eyes widening as his triumphant smile slipped off his face, immediately replaced by a snarl.

"I said," Ventus declared, much louder, looking up to glare right into Iron Hooves' crimson face, "shut up. As in close your mouth and stop talking."

Iron Hooves turned an even deeper shade of crimson, clenching his teeth as Ventus pressed on, forgetting his need to get away, forgetting he was surrounded by a gang of bullies, forgetting he would be unable to escape.

"You don't know anything about me. Because you're so dumb that your family had to bribe the officials into letting you in the CAA."

He knew it was hopeless the moment he said it. Iron Hooves' anger broke, and he threw his punch forward. It hit Ventus right in the jaw, causing him to sink to the ground in pain. Iron Hooves then walked forward and kicked him, as his cronies cheered him on.

"I told you you're nothing," Iron Hooves snarled, as he punched Ventus in the face again. "And that's all you'll ever be."

Ventus lay there, taking a couple of more blows as his anger and pain built up inside him. As his will broke, he felt something stir inside of him. Something deep down he had never felt before.

"Leave. Me. ALONE!" He suddenly burst out, as the unfamiliar force burst out of him.

Ventus' outburst was immediately accompanied by a silent shock wave, which flung Iron Hooves and all of his cronies backward. They cried out in alarm and fear as they smashed to the ground one by one, and clumsily rose to their hooves again. As Ventus slowly rose, eyes closed, a sudden chill swept the area, and all of them, even the non-unicorns, sensed something.

Fear. Every single foal had a sudden, soul-chilling feeling of terror as they stared at Ventus. It was worse than any nightmare, any past horror any of them had ever experienced.

"What is going on out here?!" A mare's voice demanded. Ms. Sunshine was galloping towards them at full speed. She came to a halt and shrank back a bit when she noticed Ventus.

"Ventus...?" She said. He was looking at the ground, eyes still closed.

"What's going on?!" Ms. Sunshine demanded of the colt next to her. He, eyes wide with horror, slowly shook his head, quivering slightly. Ms. Sunshine took a couple of tentative steps towards Ventus.

"Ventus," she said, her voice slightly higher pitched than normal. "Could you look up at me please?"

Ventus didn't respond.

"Ventus, please look at me. Tell me what's going on," Ms. Sunshine said, in a tentative voice. He continued standing still.

Then, without warning, Ventus' head snapped up, and his eyes flew open faster than a blink.

Every single foal let out a gasp of horror as the fear they had been feeling intensified, and the temperature dropped even further. Ventus' pupils were gone - or rather, the rest of his eyes were gone. They had turned pitch black, with only the sunlight reflected in them as he glared at them all. Ms. Sunshine stumbled backwards several paces in panic, as the rest of the foals gathered behind her, using her as their shield. Ventus began taking slow steps towards Ms. Sunshine.

"Ventus, what are you--"

"Move," he said, simply. There was something different in his voice; it was slightly lower than usual, and sounded a bit... distorted. His expression slowly grew darker and darker, as Ventus glowered at his teacher. The fear and cold reached their strongest points yet as Ventus drew even nearer.

"...No," Ms. Sunshine protested, determined to protect the foals.

Ventus' gaze suddenly intensified on Ms. Sunshine, and she gasped as she felt a contortion in her chest. It was almost as though a hook had been attached to her ribcage. Ventus turned his head to the right, and Ms. Sunshine let out a scream as the unfamiliar feeling threw her through the air like a frisbee. She smashed into a brick wall several yards away with a horrible crack, losing consciousness as she slid to the ground.

Ventus continued his slow walk towards the little group of foals. The rest of Iron Hooves' cronies attempted to create a wall of ponies in front of him, but Ventus only had to move his eyes to toss the rest of them aside like rag-dolls. Finally, it was just Ventus and Iron Hooves left. The latter was trembling with fear as tears ran down his face. Ventus' horn glowed with a menacing black aura as his new, uncontrollable power threatened to burst out of him in full measure.

Ventus was so intent on Iron Hooves that he didn't notice the yellow beam of light hurtling towards the ground from above him. The beam collided with the ground thirty yards away from them, and a large white mare appeared within it. Turning immediately towards the source of the dark aura with a swoosh of her mane, Princess Celestia began galloping at full speed towards the two. Both her eyes and horn alike glowed yellow as she charged a spell.

"I command thee to surrender thyself in a peaceful manne--" Princess Celestia began in her strongest Royal Canterlot Voice, but when she saw her target properly, she skidded to a halt as confusion hit her harder than she had hit the ground. Her target, the pony putting off the strongest dark aura she had sensed in 800 years, was a small colt, no older than eight. And not only that; she recognized him.

She walked up to him, both her eyes and horn still lit, as Ventus prepared to unleash a terrible spell upon a larger unicorn colt on the ground. She touched the tip of her horn to his head, and immediately Ventus began to calm down. The dark aura began to disappear, the blackness receding from his eyes as they returned to their natural state, the full warmth of the day hitting them all once again. Ventus looked up at her, his blue eyes filled with shock. Iron Hooves was in hysterics.

"What was that?!" he screamed, neither noticing nor caring about the pony beside Ventus. "That wasn't pony magic!"

"Calm yourself, child," Princess Celestia said gently, but Iron Hooves plowed on.

"He's not a pony!" Iron Hooves shrieked. "He's a devil!"

"I said calm yourself," Celestia said more forcefully. She wasn't offended herself by his words, but she worried about the prolonging effect they would have on Ventus.

"He's a freak! A monster! He should be banished to the moon, like Nightmare M--"

"SILENCE!" Celestia roared in the royal voice, losing her temper for the first time in decades. She had regretted what she did to her sister for nine hundred years, and it was still a touchy subject. The foal fell quiet immediately. He wasn't crying, but he was paralyzed with shock and fear. The sound of hooves suddenly echoed through the air, as the rest of Celestia's task force arrived on-scene.

"You're late, commander," she said to one of the iron-clad stallions beside her.

"My apologies, Princess," the stallion said, bowing deeply. "But, you used solar transport. No one could have gotten here as fast as you did."

"We'll talk later," Celestia said, without acknowledging him. "Right now, I need you to gather everypony who witnessed this except for Ventus here and that one," she said, pointing at Iron Hooves, "and escort them to the throne room."

"Yes, your Majesty," the commander said at once, and the rest of the task force began gathering the foals and the unconscious mare.

"You two," Celestia said, pointing at Ventus and Iron Hooves, "Need to come with me. We have much to discuss."

Current Equestria Population:
924,327

Author's Note

So there you have it. A prologue.
For those of you who are reading this story for the first time, welcome! But keep in mind; I'm redoing basically the whole story. It'll still be the same, but there's going to be a lot more chapters and heavy, heavy editing done to the existing ones (including storyline changes that weren't there the first time, for those of you who aren't first-timers to Dark Cloud). So feel free to read on, but keep in mind that I first wrote this story in January, and it was my first work. That is NOT a permanent excuse, though. (Hence, the re-writing)

For those of you who have followed this story from the beginning and are wondering just what the hell I'm doing, as I said before, I'm doing some heavy editing to everything I've published already before publishing Part Two of Attacks. This editing will include changing little parts of the storyline. The fact that the bully in this chapter's name is Iron Hooves (which happens to be the name of the Chief of Canterlot Police in Twilight's day) is not a coincidence. You'll find out more about that when I finish editing 'Discoveries'. :twilightsmile:

Since I won't be publishing any new chapters for a little while, I'll put out a blog post for those of you who follow me every time I finish editing a chapter. (I'm going to be editing it outside of FimFiction, so all of the chapters will still be exactly as they were until I'm done editing.)

Sorrows

The thunk of a knife making contact with something wooden could be heard even from where Fluttershy stood outside the room. Slightly nervously, she opened the door into the room. A pink Earth Pony stood in the middle of the room, which had wooden targets covering all of the walls. Fluttershy approached the pony cautiously.

“...Pinkie Pie?” she said. The pony turned, revealing her face to Fluttershy. It was definitely Pinkie, but her appearance was… off. Her hair all hung straight, like a curtain, over her face, and her eyes had a cold, dead look in them. Even her skin had more of a grey tone than usual.

“Hello Fluttershy,” she said, without the slightest bit of enthusiasm in her once bubbly, light voice. “It’s been a while.”

“Pinkie-- what-- how are you doing?” Fluttershy fumbled.

“I’m doing great,” Pinkie said, though her face said otherwise as she glowered at Fluttershy. “I’ve mastered throwing knives.”

Without warning, an enormous knife appeared in Pinkie’s right hoof. She turned and hurled it at one of the wooden targets highest up on the wall. It soared through the air faster than Fluttershy could track it’s progress, striking the exact center of the target with a loud thunk a split second later. Fluttershy’s eyes widened.

“I haven’t missed a target since the first day of training,” Pinkie said, staring around at the walls, which were covered in her knives.

“Have you seen Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, worry in her tone. She may have been a hardened military commander, but that didn’t mean her other personality had completely vanished. Right now, her only concern was for her remaining close friends.

“No,” Pinkie Pie said, flatly. “I haven’t seen anyone.”

“Why not?” Fluttershy said, surprised.

“Too busy training,” Pinkie said.

“Pinkie,” Fluttershy began, “that… that can’t be good for you! You don’t need to train every second of every day!”

“The railroad system is gone,” Pinkie said. “We’re in for the fight of our lives. Training is the only important thing right now. Survival is the only important thing right now. If you’ll step outside for a minute, I need to run my full practice.”

She turned away from Fluttershy, yelling to a pony that Fluttershy couldn’t see, “Prepare the full practice!” Fluttershy ran to the door, but didn’t leave, wanting to see what Pinkie was about to do.

All of the targets vanished from the walls, and there was silence for a minute or two. Then, one by one, illusions of ponies and various monsters began appearing in the room. But they hadn’t even been there two seconds before one of Pinkie’s knives found a home in their chest. Each illusion collapsed to the ground, as they all received fatal injuries. Fluttershy stared in amazement as Pinkie killed at least sixty illusions in less than a minute. Where she was hiding so many knives, Fluttershy had no idea, but she appeared to have more than enough. The illusions stopped, and Fluttershy watched as Pinkie hurled a knife straight for her. If she hadn’t been paying attention, she would’ve been just as dead as all of the illusionary ponies. But luckily for her, she moved fast enough to see the knife travel right past her head, hitting the wall behind her with a clatter.

“Oh my gosh,” Pinkie said, finally showing an emotion; concern. She rushed over to Fluttershy.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I thought you were another illusion!”

“Pinkie, this isn’t healthy,” Fluttershy said, choosing to not comment on her near-death experience. “It’s amazing that you can do that, but you need to take a break.”

Pinkie wanted to argue, but she knew Fluttershy was right. She sighed in defeat.

“All right,” she said.

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“How many?” Celestia asked. “How many cities have fallen today?”

“Too many to count,” Ventus replied, his head in his hooves. “Fillydelphia, Baltimare, Detrot, Hoofington, Cloudsdale…”

“How on earth are they moving so fast?” Celestia asked, pacing about the room. “It shouldn’t be physically possible.”

“I don’t know, but at this rate, Equestria won’t even last three more days,” Ventus said. “Without the railroads, we can’t move anypony anywhere fast enough to be of any help.”

“I can use solar transport,” Celestia said, “but it takes too much out of me for it to become the main mode of transportation. I can only use it about once a day.”

“Shall I gather Fluttershy and her squadron?” Ventus asked, finally taking his hooves off of his face. “We’re still moving them, right?”

“Yes,” Celestia replied, looking grim. “I’ll move them using solar transport. Go find them.”

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In Twilight’s hospital room, Pinkie stood in the middle of the three, looking downcast. Fluttershy stood beside Twilight’s bed, as they stared at the pink earth pony.

“...I’m sorry,” Pinkie said, looking at them. “I’m sorry I’ve been hiding from you both.”

“It’s all right, Pinkie,” Twilight said, soothingly. “Just don’t hide anymore, all right?”

“Why were you hiding from us?” Fluttershy asked. Pinkie took a few moments to respond.

“...Not from you,” she mumbled. “I wasn’t hiding because of you.”

“For what, then?” Twilight pressed.

“I…” she gulped, hard, before the words came tumbling out of her.

“...I was hiding from myself. From the truth. I didn’t want to face the grief. The pain… or the fear. I wanted to detach myself from it all.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“But the truth is… I’m lost inside. And… and I’m scared.”

Her voice began trembling.

“I’m scared as hell, and there’s nothing I can do! Our friends are gone, and they’re not coming back! I can’t do it! I can’t be brave like you all are! I don’t want to die!”

Her resolve finally broke, and she burst into tears. Fluttershy held her in her arms, letting her release the emotions she had blocked out for so long. Several minutes later, Pinkie’s sobs subsided into just tears.

“...Thank you guys,” Pinkie said, wiping her eyes as she withdrew from Fluttershy’s embrace. “I needed that.”

“Withheld emotions become stronger over time,” a new voice said. “While you don’t have to experience them immediately, they can come to destroy you in the long run.”

Ventus smiled at Pinkie, who looked surprised to see him.

“How long were you standing there?” Twilight asked, having not noticed the stallion.

“Only about thirty seconds,” Ventus said, indifferently. “Commander Fluttershy, the Princess wants a word with you in the throne room.”

“Oh... all right,” Fluttershy said, confused. She stood and exited the room, waving over her shoulder at her two friends. They waved back, as she walked down the hallway away from them. Next, the doctors came in, and ordered Pinkie Pie and Ventus out so they could do work on Twilight. Reluctantly, the pair left the room.

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that,” Pinkie said, awkwardly.

“We all need to cry sometimes,” Ventus shrugged. “Like I said, ignoring your feelings hurts way worse in the long run.”

“I’ll have to remember that,” Pinkie said, as they walked down the corridor together.

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A day passed by, and they received even more reports of fallen cities. Fluttershy and her entire squadron were sent to Ponyville via solar transport, but Celestia wouldn’t tell Twilight or Pinkie that. She told them she was giving Fluttershy a few jobs to do, so the demon wouldn’t be able to find out where she had gone.

“Why is Sombra so fixated on destroying the Elements of Harmony?” Ventus asked Celestia in a private conversation. “I mean, once the Element of Honesty died, the rest were rendered ineffective, right?”

“Correct,” Celestia said. “I don’t know why myself, but it’s better to keep them safe. If we can somehow survive this mess for another two weeks, the new element bearers should be chosen, and we can destroy Sombra.”

The doctors soon came to inform Celestia that Twilight had been restored to full health and functionality. Celestia brought Twilight to the throne room to relay her new orders.

“I’ve been lying to you, Twilight,” she said. “I haven’t been giving Fluttershy work to do. She and her squadron have been reassigned to Ponyville.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Twilight asked, confused and slightly hurt at the revelation.

“I don’t want the demon knowing we did it,” Celestia said. “Which is why I’m reassigning you to Ponyville as well. You need to leave immediately. Unfortunately, without my solar transport or the railroad system, you’ll need to go on hoof.”

“I can make it,” Twilight said, confidently. “I’ll leave right now.”

“That would be excellent,” Celestia said. Then, surprising Twilight slightly, she walked forward and embraced her student.

“Be careful, Twilight,” she said.

“I will, Princess,” Twilight replied, as Celestia released her. “I will.”

Twilight, not having anything she needed to pack, departed immediately, heading through the now-empty city towards the Everfree Forest. Celestia watched her go with a sick, twisting feeling in her stomach. She felt that she would never see her student again, which was entirely likely, given the circumstances. She shook it off, and walked back to the throne room.

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Pinkie Pie walked down the road, kicking a loose pebble as she did so. She had tried to find Twilight after she had been discharged from intensive care, but couldn’t find her anywhere. Now that she wasn’t avoiding them, she was dying to see either one of her friends.

Who’s hiding now? she thought to herself, not really paying attention to where she was going.

Without knowing how she got up there, she found herself on top of one of the enormous buildings. She had a view of the entire city just from where she stood. She stared out into the fields and the Everfree Forest beneath the city, unseeingly. The clouds overhead were a pale, storm-cloud grey. So at first, when she saw a speck of black in the sky, she didn’t register what it meant. But as it drew closer, she realized just how fast it was moving.

“Is that… is that Sombra?!” she exclaimed, as her knee suddenly grew pinchy - the sign of something scary about to happen.

Her question was answered when she saw a large number of monsters beginning to pour out of the Everfree Forest. Immediately, she jumped up and streaked back towards the palace, running as fast as she could. A minute later, she burst through the palace doors, frantically searching for anypony to warn. She almost ran headlong into Iron Hooves in her panic.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, looking concerned.

“Sombra…” Pinkie panted, “Attacking… Canterlot… any second…”

Iron Hooves, looking scared, ran off. A moment later, the city alarm system was triggered. Pinkie grabbed one of her many knives, and clenched it hard in her hoof.

This is it, she thought to herself. It's all or nothing now.

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Ventus burst through the doors to the throne room, galloping towards Celestia at full speed.

“Princess, what’s going on?” he asked, panic in his voice.

“Sombra’s forces are approaching from the northeast,” Celestia said. “My magic shield should protect us for a while, but I don’t know how long I can hold it.”

The throne room doors burst open once again, and a surprisingly calm-looking Iron Hooves crossed the threshold.

“Iron Hooves?” Celestia seemed surprised. “Why aren’t you--”

She cut off, as she inhaled sharply. Iron Hooves had blinked.

And his eyes had turned blood-red. Not just the iris - the pupils had turned as well.

“Demon,” Ventus breathed.

The demon’s eyes hardened on Celestia. Next moment, she was flying through the air as if snagged by an invisible hook. She landed roughly at Iron Hooves’ feet.

“No!” Ventus cried, rushing forward. The demon raised a hoof, and attempted to fling Ventus aside as though he were a ragdoll. To it’s immense surprise, however, Ventus remained firmly planted on the ground, even after the demon’s second attempt. Instead, it grabbed Celestia, and pulled her with it as it glided back several yards through the air.

“That’s close enough,” the demon said, holding Celestia up on her back hooves without touching her. It didn’t even bother to warp it’s voice: it was feeding on the combined fear of every single pony in Canterlot. Ventus stopped dead, staring into the demon’s red eyes.

“Well, you’re certainly interesting,” the demon remarked, smiling evilly. “What are you?”

“Shut your mouth,” Ventus snarled, maliciously.

“Ooh, not very polite, are you?” the demon said, smiling even wider with Iron Hooves’ teeth. “I’ll just have to see for myself, then.”

The red eyes flashed, and Ventus felt an eerily familiar feeling in his mind, similar to his own dark powers. He was easily able to push it down and out of him. The demon looked shocked now.

“You’re not pony,” it said, shaking it’s head. “There’s no way a pony could’ve done that.”

“Why are you helping Sombra?” Ventus asked. “What’s in it for you?”

“You don’t know how hard it is for demons to exist outside of our realm, do you?” it said, glaring at him now. “Almost everywhere else knows exactly how to destroy us. Equestria is ideal, but there’s the small problem of the Elements of Harmony.”

“The Elements are useless now,” Ventus said, through gritted teeth. “You should know that; you’re the one who killed Honesty!”

“If so much as one of the Elements exists in this land,” the demon continued, “then my… less powerful friends can’t get in. Why do you think demonic activity here is so uncommon? I’m using Sombra to build a better world for my race, where we can exist without any outside interference.”

“I swear, I will tear each and every one of you apart,” Ventus snarled.

“Ventus, don--” Celestia began, but the demon twisted it’s hoof, and her voice shut off as though someone had hit mute on the television set.

“Shut your mouth, you light-worshiping whore,” the demon said, malevolently, before grinning evilly at Ventus once again.

“Anything you do will only hurt this body, and only after I leave it,” it said. “I have all of the power here. In fact, why don’t I give you a little demonstration?”

Before Ventus could react, the demon punched at Celestia, and a horrible rushing wind swept the room, almost as though death itself was rushing at Celestia. Her heart stopped, and she fell to the ground, as both the magic shield surrounding Canterlot and the sun vanished, leaving Equestria still lit, but with a much more grey light than before.

“No!” Ventus screamed, as the demon threw Celestia’s dead body out of one of the palace windows. He fell to the ground, overcome with grief. “No…”

“Now,” the demon continued, as though nothing had happened, “I can’t have you messing around with my plans, but my power doesn’t seem to work on you. I guess I’ll just have to get creative with how I kill--”

”Do you know how dead you are, you son of a bitch?” Ventus snarled, his now-distorted voice much deeper than before. He felt his own dark forces stirring, stronger than they ever had before. Except, this time, for the first time in a century, he wasn’t planning on doing a damn thing about it. The demon’s eyes widened in shock.

”You killed the mare who might as well be my mother,” Ventus said. It was almost time. He could feel his eyes trembling, begging for it to happen.

”What say you, we have a face-off…”

He let the darkness take over, and his eyes went pitch-black. Not even the whiteness outside of the iris remained, unlike the full-blooded demon across from him.

”...Demon on Demon?”

Never had any demon looked as terrified as the one in Iron Hooves now did.

“No,” it said, taking several hasty paces back. “This isn’t possible! You can’t be! You’re not the--”

He was cut off, as Ventus moved his eyes and sent the demon smashing into the ground. It tried to move, and couldn't.

"Pathetic," Ventus said, with a much more evil smile than any the demon had previously made. He raised a hoof, and Iron Hooves began to gag. The demon tried to fight it, but it was no match for the demonic half of Ventus, which was not only feeding on the fear of the entire city, but also on the real demon's fear.

Iron Hooves' eyes and mouth opened, and black smoke began pouring out of them. Ventus easily forced the demon away from Iron Hooves.

"You should have stayed where you came from," Ventus snarled, his deep distorted voice as menacing as ever. "I'm going to rip you apart from the inside. Then I'll put you back together, good as new, so I can do it again. And again. And again..."

But at that precise moment, the demon barely managed to break free of Ventus' grasp. It flew as fast as it could out of the broken window.

"You can't hide that easily," Ventus said. He walked to the window, and burst apart into smoke. Not smoke like King Sombra's dark magic, but a real, demonic dark cloud. He tore out of the window, following in the demon's wake.

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As Sombra approached the palace, he knew something was wrong. He could sense the demon in the place; he was familiar with it's aura. But he sensed another power. Something much darker, much more evil, much more powerful, and much more terrifying than the demon he knew.

What could be doing that? he wondered. The demon said it's the only one in Equestria at the--

He stopped, as he heard the unmistakable sound of a knife flying towards him through the air. If he had stood there a spit second longer, he would have been dead. But he just managed to move aside fast enough to avoid death. He turned to look at his assailant, as Pinkie Pie hurled another straight at him. Again, he only just avoided death.

Pinkie kept him busy, hurling knife after knife at him. He didn't have time to cast any spells, as the concentration he needed for them would slow him down too much. But after a minute, he decided to chance it. He charged his horn, preparing to burst into smoke.

A knife struck him in the side, the searing pain distracting him. He spun sideways, as two more knives grazed him in the sides. Instead of taking off, he turned and ran for it. Pinkie chased after him, determined to destroy her wounded prey, as two dark clouds burst out of the palace window ahead.

The demon flew hard away from Ventus, but it couldn't move fast enough, and without a pony to possess, it couldn't go anywhere. It could only run from Ventus' fury, but he wasn't making it too easy for it. Ventus constantly sent psychic blows at the demon, forcing it to change directions when it didn't want to. The pair of them flew right over Sombra, who looked up at them as he ran.

Two?! he thought in surprise, but he couldn't keep looking up. He was getting slightly ahead of Pinkie Pie, and he turned a corner to see a group of shadow ponies trying to break into some buildings, dead bodies of soldiers lying in the street. Sombra forced several of them back between himself and Pinkie, and as she rounded the corner, her knives struck them instead.

Pinkie swore. Sombra was nowhere to be seen. Only the shadow ponies remained, and they seemed to be immune to her attacks. She had no choice but to turn and run in the opposite direction, desperate to find some unicorns to kill the shadows, as the two dark clouds of smoke flew overhead again.

The demon changed direction quite suddenly, catching Ventus a bit off-guard. He compensated, now about a second and a half behind. The demon swept down to the street, and shrouded the body of a dead unicorn soldier on the road. It stood on the soldier's hooves right as Ventus arrived. And as Ventus transformed back into his pony self, the demon summoned its dark corridor. Before Ventus could stop it, it stepped into the darkness, and it vanished. It had escaped.

"Buck!" Ventus swore nastily, kicking over a nearby light pole in fury. As he did so, Pinkie Pie emerged from an alleyway ten feet from him. One look at his black eyes was all she needed. Her knife flew through the air, finding a home in Ventus' chest. He looked down at it in curiosity, as the black receded from his eyes slowly, his clear blue ones fighting to be present once more.

"...Ow," Ventus said. Pinkie stared in amazement.

"How... how are you not dead?!" she exclaimed.

"I'll explain later," Ventus said, yanking the ten inch blade from his chest and tossing it aside.

"I'm sorry," Pinkie said, trotting closer. "It's just... your eyes... they were--"

"I don't blame you," Ventus said. "I'd have done the same."

As he said this, a large group of shadow ponies rounded the corner from the same place Pinkie had come from.

"Light spell! Light spell!" Pinkie exclaimed, cowering against his side.

"Umm..." Ventus said, awkwardly. He had been unable to do any light spells since the battle at the Crystal Empire, a million years ago. "I can't--"

But the need for him to do the spell work vanished, as an enormous spotlight fell from the sky, crashing into the ground directly in front of them with a ground-trembling thud. They jumped about a mile into the air.

"What the--"

"Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" A voice cried out deafeningly, and the spotlight burst into life. The entire street was enveloped in blinding white light. The shadow ponies all screeched and burned to dust. A giant axe appeared, swinging downward with a swoosh. The spotlight exploded, bursting into millions of tiny metal and glass shards. The shards began to move, floating into the air, reforming themselves into an enormous figure that the two instantly recognized.

"Nice timing, Discord," Ventus said in gratitude, as the draconeqqus finished reforming into his true self. "But was all the flair really necessary?"

"I'm the God of Chaos, General," Discord exclaimed indignantly. "I can't simply cast spells without doing anything exciting! It'd kill me!"

"Well, we owe you one," Ventus said, stepping away from Pinkie's side. "What's happening?"

"This battle is already lost," Discord said, his voice growing serious. "The soldiers were all slaughtered. I'd be willing to bet we're the only ones left."

"Then there's no sense in staying here," Ventus said. "We need to get out. Can you teleport us?"

"There's no telling what'll happen," Discord said. "You could all end up falling into a pool of lava or materializing inside the walls and getting crushed. I don't recommend it."

"We'll have to go on hoof, then," Ventus said, stepping forward. "But first, I need to know."

"Know what?" Pinkie asked, but Ventus ignored her. Turning away from them, he closed his eyes, and bent closer to the earth. His horn lit with black aura, and his eyes grew slightly darker, but not as black as they had been. He cast a dark spell of revealing - more powerful than the normal spell, which swept the entire city in a manner of seconds. As Discord had predicted, most of the soldiers were dead. But there was still one more.

"Spike," he muttered, before coming out of the spell. "Spike is still alive, and he isn't far. You two get moving. I'll grab him and follow."

They nodded, immediately turning to run. Ventus wasn't accustomed to seeing Discord following orders, but Celestia's personal training of the chaos god seemed to have gone well. He turned and ran through the city, passing through alleyway after alleyway. Soon, he reached the road where Spike lay, gravely injured.

"Hey, Spike," Ventus said. The dragon was unconscious, and slightly pale from blood loss. Ventus didn't know any healing spells, as he had never needed them, and cast about his mind for an idea of what to do.

It came to him naturally, without even thinking about it. His horn glowed, and his eyes instantly flashed back to black again. Spike was enveloped in dark aura, and something entered his bloodstream. Immediately, his wounds began to close up.

"What...?" Ventus said, not even finishing his sentence in shock, as his eyes returned to their natural blue.

Where the hell did that come from? he wondered, silently. Spike was healing at dark-blood-rate, and Ventus could sense he hadn't given him dark blood.

But he didn't have time to deliberate the matter, as he sensed Sombra moving about the city. He lifted Spike into the air with his magic, and galloped hard back the way he had come. He used magic to track down where Pinkie and Discord were headed, and caught up with them quickly.

"Let's go!" he called, as he pulled ahead of them.

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"Where did they all go?!" Sombra yelled, still flying over the city. "There's supposed to be three Elements of Harmony in this city, and there are none!"

A spot of darkness on the ground distracted him. He swept down to the ground, meeting up with the demon.

"What is going on?!" Sombra asked. "There aren't any--"

He stopped. The demon didn't look nearly as imposing as usual. He had ditched his dark cloak, leaving Sombra to look into his blood-red eyes, which were still wide with fear.

"What happened?"

"I'm getting out," the demon said, voice shaking. “I can’t stay here.”

“What do you mean, you can’t stay here?!” Sombra asked.

“There’s a pony. Ventus, he’s called. He has demonic power.”

“How did he get it?” Sombra asked.

“Don’t know. He could’ve made a deal, but I highly doubt it. All I know is, his eyes go black when his demon powers take over.”

“So?”

“So,” the demon said, angrily, “there’s only one other demon on record that had black eyes, and he was no pushover.”

“So this Ventus pony is stronger than you?”

“He nearly killed me,” the demon said, shaking his head. “I don’t have to deal with this. I’m off. I’m releasing the army, and your obligation to kill the Elements. I’m done.”

“You can’t do that!” Sombra yelled, angry. “You said a demon can’t break a deal!”

“And I would rather face the consequences of breaking a deal than stay here with that thing inside of Ventus,” the demon said, turning away.

“But-- but--” Sombra spluttered, angrier than he had ever been before.

“Look,” the demon said, turning back to face him again. “You should be glad I’m leaving. You weren’t going to survive. As soon as you were finished doing my dirty work for me, I was going to rip your soul from your body, and let some demon possess your corpse for the rest of eternity. No relaxing in the Crystal Empire for as long as you want. You were never going to see it again.” He glared at Sombra. “So quit. your. whining.”

“So these past two weeks have all been for nothing?!” Sombra roared, walking towards the demon. “I could have just stopped with the Crystal Empire like I wanted to?!”

“You made a deal,” the demon reminded him. “I would grant you an army to take back your Empire, and you would destroy the Elements of Harmony for me in return. Now, I’m breaking contract. Your army goes bye-bye, and so do I.”

It turned, and opened up a dark corridor.

“I would go destroy the final remaining city,” it said, looking back over its shoulder. “They might come find you in a few years to slaughter you if you don’t. But if you see Ventus, I recommend hauling ass.”

Before Sombra could yell anything else at the demon, the soldier’s mouth opened wide, and he let out a yell as the dark cloud exited from him. It swept right into the dark corridor it had opened earlier, and the moment the last bit of smoke disappeared into it, it vanished. The soldier’s dead body fell to the ground, eyes black as night.

Sombra let out a strangled yell of fury, and disintegrated the dead soldier’s body. He was infuriated. He hadn’t needed to go to all of this trouble after all, and now his forces were coming out of their trances. He was alone, completely and totally alone, left to face the combined threat of the Element of Magic and, apparently, an extraordinarily strong demon.

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The dark unicorn sat, watching King Sombra destroy more dead corpses in his rage. He sent his thoughts to the dark spirit, for the first time in a few days.

Canterlot has fallen. The demon is gone.

Gone?

Yup. Sombra is furious about it. Apparantly, his army existed because he made a deal with this demon. But it just broke their contract.

Looks like I'll get to do some destruction of my own after all. What is the status of Twilight Sparkle?

She's still on her way to Ponyville.

Is the ritual ready?

Yes, it is. Do you think it's time?

Yes. Sombra only has one more city to destroy, and she's heading for it. This is the perfect time.

All right. I'll move to intercept her now.

The connection died, and the dark unicorn sighed, looking away from Sombra, who was still vaporizing even more dead corpses in rage.

All right, he thought to himself, taking a deep breath. This is it. Let's see how this goes.

Current Equestria Population:

397

Author's Note

Hey all.
So "Here's Johnny" is there because John de Lancie.
Uhh, yeah, that's all I got. The most intense parts of the story are coming up!
Oh, and for those of you who don't know what I mean when I say Dark Corridor, I picture it like this.