Truth Behind Harmony

Trixie wept as she stumbled along the dirt road, not even caring where she ended up at this point. She had been driven out of another town, had been shunned and attacked because of all the lies and slander that had been spread due to that purple stuck up show off. She cursed the day she had ever gone into Ponyville, for it had been the beginning of the end for her glorious stage life…now she was nothing.

“Oh you poor child,” said a voice behind her, “out in the cold all alone.”

Trixie spun around, expecting another attacker coming up behind her. What she did not expect was a tall black alicorn standing there, her starry mane and tail billowing in the wind as she stared down at her with bright turquoise eyes.

“Who…who are you,” asked Trixie, due more to an odd sense of familiarity with the mare rather than her wanting to actually know who the mare was.

“My name is Nyx, and we have met before you and I,” said the alicorn, “but you were just a foal when we met, so I do not expect you to remember me. I knew your mother long ago, for we are distantly related.”

“You knew my mother,” asked Trixie in surprise, for she had never met a pony who had actually known her real mother.

“Yes I did, and she was a very gifted unicorn, one who held a unique talent for magic, something you and her share I would wager.”

Trixie’s face fell at that statement, “No…Trixie has no talent…she is a two faced fraud that cannot even battle an Ursa when the need calls for it…”

“Oh I doubt that,” said the alicorn, walking around the mare with a loving look in her eye. “For you have talent Trixie, the problem is that your talent has been misguided due to magic I placed on you long ago.”

“Magic…what magic?”

“Protective magic to hide your true talent from the world at large, But I have come to lift that protection, for you are finally ready to embrace your true gift, if you wish it.”

Trixie stared at the alicorn mare with surprise; for what she was purposing was…well…impossible. “Are you saying Trixie’s cutie mark is a cover for her true talent, are you saying Trixie was never meant to be a show mare?”

“That is what I am saying my beautiful Trixie, but it is better that I show you.”

“Your wha…” started Trixie, but stopped as she felt a burning sensation on her flanks. She turned and gasped, for her cutie mark had changed drastically from what it once was. The wand had disappeared from the star, which had become green and had been emblazoned with a red dragon’s eye in its center, and surrounding the star was a field of dark purple mist, sparkling with black stars. She looked back at Nyx in wonder, unable to speak due to her shear amazement.

“Trixie doesn’t…I don’t know what to say…I don’t know why, but this mark feels…right?”

“As it should Trixie, but why not test your new power, just to be sure how right it is.”

Trixie nodded, closing her eyes as she focused on the new power welling within her. Her horn began to crackle with dark magic as she focused her thoughts, choosing a nearby boulder as the target of her new magic. She didn’t really think about the spell she was casting, she just instinctively knew which spell to use. She grinned as her eyes snapped open, purple energy leaking forth as she blasted the boulder apart, and then she turned toward Nyx.

“What is this…this power…I mean it feels so right…yet it feels wrong at the same time.”

“It’s ok Trixie,” said Nyx, “the magic you have just used is dark magic, the magic used long ago by Sombra long ago. It is a rare breed of magic; a kind of magic unicorns of this world have a hard time using. But you my beautiful blue mare can bend that kind of magic to your will, because your talent is dark magic, and thus it responds to your call with ease.”

“My…my talent is dark magic…” said Trixie, her mind abuzz with all the possibilities this presented one in particular snagging in her head. “Does this mean we are the opposite of Sparkle?”

She expected a lot of reactions, hatred at the idea or even an explanation about how they were supposed to work together. What she did not expect was the evil grin that stretched across Nyx’s face as she leaned closer. “Why yes my beautiful blue mare, it does mean you are Twilights opposite. Your magic’s conflict with each other, which is why you knew she was your rival even before she embarrassed you in Ponyville.”

“Yes I knew it,” squealed Trixie, but then something Nyx had said caught her attention. “Wait a moment; you called Trixie your beautiful blue mare, why did you call Trixie this?”

Nyx smiled, bending down and kissing Trixie straight on the lips, freezing the former show mare in place. Nyx pulled away after the long kiss, giggling to herself as she stared at the lovely mare before her. “Because we were betrothed to you long ago Trixie Lulamoon, our mothers promised us to each other long ago, and helped us to form a bond, surely you felt it when you saw me?”

Trixie simply stared, then leaned forward and kissed the alicorn again, pushing herself into those beautiful dark lips. Nyx spread her dark wings around the mare, a smile breaking out on her face as she returned the kiss.

“She may not be my Luna,” she thought, “but she is mine, and that is enough for me.”

Cheerilee sighed as she looked at the new history books that had been sent for her student, browsing one of them with a small smirk. These books were all lies, stories created by the Princesses to cover up the truth about their past…about what they had done. Normally a teacher would be against teaching such lies to her students, but not this particular teacher.

Truth be told the experience excited her greatly, for she held a deep love for spreading such lies. She was good at lies, both in telling them and seeing through them, and she had been ever since she had been a foal.

For instance, she knew her cutie mark was not in fact her real cutie mark; it was just a magical cover to hide her true talent, for who would ever trust a pony whose talent was lying better than any other pony in all of Equestria. But she knew at least, unlike some magical covers she had seen over her short years, her cover could trick even the best magicians, for like any good lie, her cutie mark was laced with truth. She did have a talent for teaching after all, it was almost second nature to her like her other talent, and thus this fake cutie mark was the best dam decoy she could ever hope for.

Still, she occasionally was visited with the insatiable need to use her true talent, but had always kept that urge quit; only doing it sparingly in order not to have ponies get suspicious. She smiled as she remembered talking to Princess Celestia once, asking her pointed questions about Equestrian History and the lands beyond Equestria. That day Cheerilee had come up against the poker face, not just a poker face, but The Poker Face that set the standard for all other poker faces all across Equestria…and she had seen through it like it was nothing but crystal clear glass.

She marveled at how easy it was to just know when a pony was lying, it had helped her get her modest fortune that she kept in the basement when she had visited Las Pegasus a few years back, and it had also come in handy on many a date with both stallions and mares. Of course on those dates she would be lying as well, no sense in letting her little one night stands have all the fun.

She would say that they were the best in the world; that no pony could compare to them, but of course it was all bucking lies. For the truth was she was betrothed, betrothed and destined to become a fellow herd-wife along with two others, whom she had met at one time or another.

She drooled as she thought of her mares, specifically the one they would all be serving, who she had seen on the night of the Summer Sun Celebration. She had been so beautiful, her elegant black coat and starry blue mane and tail shining in all their glory, for she had been perfect. She became lost in her own thoughts then, so lost that she didn’t see the dark grey alicorn enter her school house and walk up to the desk, jumping in surprise when said alicorn cleared her throat to get her attention.

“Hello Cheerilee, pleasant thoughts?”

“Discordia,” Cheerilee squealed, leaping up and hugging the alicorn, happy to see the mother of her betrothed. “What are you doing here,” she asked as she pulled away from her, “aren’t you worried you might get caught?”

“Oh please, you and I both know Celestia is too blind to notice me when I hide in plain sight dear, and plus the news I have just couldn’t wait.”

“What kind of news?”

Discordia smiled, “the first is actually a kind of congratulation of sorts; my daughter has finally decided to commit to her vows.”

Cheerilee’s eyes widened as a smile spread across her face, “you…you mean Nyx is finally ready to…?”

“Yes, she is ready to form the herd, and she has already gone to greet your first herd wife, and I will be bringing the second one after we are done talking and I take care of some business.”

Cheerilee squeed at this, getting up and jumping about like a young school filly due to her excitement. She was going to finally see her Nyx and her fellow herd-wives, after years of waiting she was finally going to be with the mares she had so longed for. She turned her attention back to the matter at hoof though, for she knew Discordia had more important news then just family matters.

“So what was this other news you wanted to tell me, I know your daughters happiness can’t be the only reason your out here.”

“Quite correct,” said Discordia with a grin. “The second bit actually concerns something I am pretty sure you are well aware of, it seems my sisters daughters have finally mended their long standing differences, so I felt it time that I gave you this.”

Discordia pulled out a magnificent necklace, one that Cheerilee recognized as the Element of lies. She reached out a tentative hoof, grabbing the dark metal necklace and bringing it closer, hearing a whispered purr come from it at her touch. She brought it close, and then whispered to it, almost worried that it wouldn’t respond back.

“…we are ready when you are…Cheerilee my love,” said the element, the crystal’s flashing with anticipation as she placed the necklace around her neck. She purred at the contact of metal on fur, feeling the crystals pulse in time with her heart beat as its magic began to flow through her. She felt a burning sensation on her flanks, and smiled as she saw that her true cutie mark had finally shown through, depicting which was her three flowers each holding a new face on them, the last one licking its lips with a silver tongue.

Cheerilee clapped her hooves together, and then used her newly gained magic to hide both the necklace and her cutie mark, turning back to Discordia with a smile on her face.

“So…can I go see my heard mates now?”

“Of course you can, in fact Nyx insisted on you heading to meet her after I was finished. You will find one of your fellow herd wives waiting for you on the outskirts of the Everfree forest, but before you go…” Discordia leaned in, an evil grin stretched across her face, “can you tell me…were Mister Clyde Pie moved his family?”

Prince Blueblood glared at the new set of tax laws that had been shoved onto his desk by his “aunt” Luna, ever since that bitch had returned she had been making things hard for his underground empire. Back before she had come back, Celestia had been too busy to notice all his little underhand deals and back ally bargains, but now…

He slammed his hoof down on his desk, grabbing his lucky dice and began rolling them around his hoof, staring at the intricate patterns on them. They weren’t really lucky in the normal sense, they were lucky because he had rigged them to be lucky, his lucky loaded dice. He rolled them over again, stopping them to examine the intricate cutie mark design that took the place of the six. It was the mark of his one love, a love that had been stolen by none other than Princess Celestia herself; it was the cutie mark of Twilight Sparkle.

He growled as his mind brought forth the memories of when he had confronted the princess about it. He had been betrothed to Twilight from an early age, and had expected her to be waiting for her dutifully when it came time for them to marry. When he had stumbled upon her and the princess…saying sweet nothings to one another…the experience had made his blood boil. He had waited till the next day before confronting the princess, and the conversation still came clear as crystal as he remembered that fateful day. They had yelled, argued, and finally Celestia had left, thinking it best due to how angry she had gotten.

He had gotten filthy drunk after that, torn up by the betrayal he had endured, it was not fair! He was the pony that stabbed ponies in the back, it was he that stole betrothed wives from out from under unsuspecting husbands or wives, not other ponies betraying or stealing from him.

That night he had broken into Twilights bed chambers, figuring to take what he still considered his by force rather than by law as it should have been. He had not gotten far, only managing to pin the unfortunate love of his life onto her stomach before being blasted off by an enraged Celestia.

They had fought, but Blueblood had inevitably lost, though he had dished out his fair share of punishment. The worst blow came later though, for after that incident Twilight had visited him in his cell, condemning him and renouncing her love, which had broken his heart.

“I see your still glowering over your loss eh Blueblood?”

He sighed, “What do you want now Sombra!”

Blueblood turned his chair around, not at all surprised to see the bat winged alicorn in his office, sitting down in a comfortable chair and munching on some of the fruit he often left for guests.

“Oh nothing much; just that Discordia is accelerating her plans, and felt it was time to present you with this.”

He tossed him a dark metallic necklace, which Blueblood caught as wonder stretched across his face as he stared at it. It had an elegant design, the metal surrounding a crystal which was shaped like his cutie mark, except it now held a crack down the middle, the mark of one who had betrayed his destiny. He smiled, for he knew what this crystal was, and he put it on without hesitation, smiling as the power flooded him and granted him his true cutie mark.

“I see you hold no qualms against what this will imply,” said Sombra, his face still a blank mask as he watched him. “Then again I should not be surprised, considering your nature.”

“I only hold allegiance to one being, you know that Sombra.” Said Blueblood with a grin; using his magic to hide his recent change and the Element of Treachery. “It’s not my fault you don’t actually want to play your role in all of this, but that’s what you get for growing a conscious and settling down.”

“Don’t you dare bring my personal matters into this,” growled Sombra, his eyes flashing as he glared at the prince.

“Oh touched a nerve have I, well let’s leave it alone for now. Now I’m going to guess that with your dear mother's plans getting accelerated, she’ll be wanting more foals form the orphanages wont she.”

Sombra growled a bit, but nodded, “Yes…she will need more foals.”

“Just make sure you send ponies to pick them up this time, Luna’s been breathing down my neck about child care and safety ever since she came back from being banished; I’ll take care of the paper work and other matters.”

Sombra nodded, bidding the element holder goodnight as he left, leaving the prince with a smile on his face as he turned back to the now friendly looking paper work, knowing soon it would no longer matter.

Clyde sat at the table, shaking as thunder sounded from outside. A storm had been raging outside for the past hour, and he did not know why, but it did not feel like a normal storm. He sat at the table going over the daily rock charts when he heard it, a voice that pierced both the rain and the thunder.

“Come little children

I’ll take thee away

Into a land of enchantment

Come little children

The times come to play

Here in my garden of shadows”

He froze, recognizing the voice in an instant, and after a moment the voice began to sing again, but this time it was accompanied by a second voice, the voice of his daughter Inkie.

“Follow sweet children

I'll show thee the way

Through all the pain and the sorrows

Weep not poor children

For life is this way

Murdering beauty and passions”

Clyde got up, running outside as he followed the voices.

“Hush now dear children

It must be this way

Too weary of life and deceptions

Rest now my children

For soon we'll away

Into the calm and the quiet”

“INKIE!”

“Come little children

I'll take thee away,

Into a land of enchantment

Come little children

The time's come to play

Here in my garden of shadows”

He saw them at the edge of the rock farm, the large grey alicorn wrapping a wing around his daughter as she leaned against her. He charged toward them as she turned, looking toward him and grinning before teleporting away, leaving nothing behind but the rubble they had been standing upon. He stood there, disbelief etched on his face as he heard his wife burst through the door, coming to a stop beside him as she stared around the field.

“Clyde, where is she, I heard you shout for Inkie…was…was it…”

“Yes…it was Discordia…it’s finally happening.”

Sue hugged her husband, comforting the old colt as uncommon tears leaked from his eyes. “You better get to Canterlot then; the princesses are going to need to know about this. I’ll send out the message to our friends, and then I’ll meet you there.”

Clyde looked up at his wife, not really believing his ears. “Hon…you don’t mean…?”

She nodded, “It’s time Clyde, tis time for the gathering.”