Harmony Lost

Twilight Sparkle arrived in Canterlot at noon. This wasn’t the Canterlot she had grown up in. This was a Canterlot that seemed under siege, and the enemy had already infiltrated the premises.  The ponies looked tired and scared. They really have no clue what was going on. The image of Canterlot mirrored that of the rest of Equestria so far as Twilight could tell. The amount of corpses left in fields beside the tracks made her sick to her stomach. It was so bad that only after a half hour Twilight started pretending there was nothing to see out the window at all. Why bother with the grief and fear when I ignore it? This was the shared the attitude of everypony on that train.

Twilight had not gotten a bite to eat on the train, and barely eat breakfast. Luna did not specify a time that Celestia wanted her to show up so Twilight decided to stop for lunch. She went into a diner. It was one that she liked to go to during her official visits to Canterlot, but could never seem to remember the name of. It wasn't the classiest of eateries. It was more a place that travelers passing through went to rest up. A good place if you did not want to be recognized.

Once inside she saw what seemed to be the survivors of the night before. Almost everypony had some sort of wound. Most had cuts, while others seemed to have bites. There was barely any chatter. What there was was spoken in hushed voices. This was the quietest this diner had ever been in all the times Twilight had been there.

Walking up to the counter Twilight caught pieces of hushed conversation. “-you think this was an attack?”

“What the hell is Celestia doing about all this?”

“I hear the Crystal Empire is untouched. Clearly they are behind this. This is war!”

“I lost my entire caravan last night. The devil walks I say.”

            Twilight got up to the counter. The bartender was having a conversation with a black faced unicorn. Twilight listened in on their conversation.

“That's right. One of Celestia’s own royal guard was found mutilated outside the throne this morning,” the unicorn said.

“Well that's it then. If whatever the hell is attacking folk is in the castle, we're are hooped,” replied the pony working the bar.

“What confuses me is the lack of action by anypony at Canterlot Castle,” said the black unicorn, “shouldn’t the princess be telling us to keep calm? I can see why they would cover this up, and that scares me more. What else have they covered up?”

“Maybe she is trying to figure out what is going on so she can tell us to relax,” Twilight added into their conversation. The black faced unicorn turned to face Twilight. He smiled a slightly vicious grin and seemed to slice right through her.

“Perhaps,” he replied. Then he turned to the bartender, “I do believe this should cover my tab. I think it is time I should be going.”

“Stay frosty. These are some dangerous times we now live in.” After the unicorn paid and left Twilight moved over onto the stool he was sitting in.

“Who was that?” Twilight asked the bartender. She was wondering how this drifter would know of any sort of cover up, if such a thing actually existed at all.

“ Didn't get a name. Apparently he was studying at the library when this all started last night. Why, who are you?” asked the bartender suspiciously. The whole place suddenly got quiet. Everypony was staring at Twilight.

“Just somepony with business at the castle,” Twilight responded trying to draw attention away from herself. That didn’t work however, and the mood in the diner was growing increasingly hostile.

“What kind of business?” somepony asked from the back.

“You know something? Well do ya?” asked another pony.

           “I-I don’t know.” Twilight said. She took off out of the diner before the situation escalated. There goes lunch, she thought. Still hungry Twilight decided to go to the castle. Those ponies were scared out of their wits, thought Twilight.  If I didn’t leave I could have been mobbed. They seem to be looking for a scapegoat. Why shouldn’t they? What do they know? They do not know Princess Luna was foolish enough to make a deal with Beelzehoof. Still though, say somepony was actually killed, I wonder who it was.

“Hey Twili!” somepony yelled from behind her. There is only one pony who calls me that! Twilight turned around to find her older brother Shining Armour and his wife (and Twilight’s old foalsitter) Princess Cadance running up toward her. Twilight met them and embraced her older brother then performed the ritual she and Cadance had since Twilight was a foal.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

“My aunt sent me a letter asking to see me today. Your brother just tagged along.” Cadence said.

“So how are things in the Crystal Empire? How bad did you get hit?” asked Twilight out of curiosity for how far spread the damage was.

“Hit by what? Everypony here seems scared. Why? Why are they scared?” Shining Armour asked. Both her brother and sister in-law seemed a little jumpy.

“I don’t exactly know myself,” admitted Twilight, “I am sure the Princess will give all of us the whole story. Don’t worry, I’m sure its not anything too major.” Ignorance is bliss, shedecided, these two seem agitated. Knowing the truth will upset them. They deserve to find out, but not from me. “Come on, lets go to the castle together”

The walk to the castle was not a long one, but it wasn’t a short one either. This fact however was lost on the trio who spent the whole time chatting about familiar things. They arrived at the castle laughing and in general high spirits. So good was their mood that the general sense of fear shared by the Canterlot Guards was lost on them. Once they got inside the castle walls Shining Armour left them for a brief moment.

“I am going to go say hi to a few buddies,” was his excuse. This left Twilight and Cadance alone together. With one in the party gone the positive mood was lost and the gloom of Canterlot Castle set in. The guards looked tired. Instead of greeting Twilight and Cadance as was norm, they kept their silence.

Cadance, being tuned to the feelings of others was getting anxious herself. These ponies are afraid. I don't know what of, but it has them all scared. They were passing through the garden when out of the corner of her eye Cadance caught a glimpse of a black face she had not seen in just under ten years, and wished to never see again. Impossible! He can`t be here. This did a lot more to make her nervous, and even Twilight started to pick up on it.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

“It’s just...Canterlot seems grim. I don’t think it has ever been this depressing.”

“You really have no idea what is going on do you?” Twilight said more as a statement than a question.

“You do?” Cadance inquired.

“Look, I am sure Princess Celestia will explain everything.” Twilight replied. She was avoiding answering the question, or at least it seemed so to Cadance. They reached the the throne room door only to be met by an attendant informing them they can’t go in.

“I am sorry but, you won’t be meeting the princesses in here,” the attendant told them. “You will instead be meeting in the library.” From inside the throne room was heard raised voices and a crash which was followed up with the sound of a raging inferno.

“What the hell is going on in there?!” Cadance demanded. She was tired of being kept in the dark on the whole situation. The fear of not knowing was beginning to drive her temperament more than anything.

“The dragon ambassador I am afraid. The dragons are severing their diplomatic ties with Equestria for the time being. Something to do with this weird superstition of theirs involving evil in this land. Anyhow the princess had a few choice words to say about that and they have been calmly solving their differences for the past ten minutes.”

“Calmly indeed,” replied Cadance. The sarcasm brought a slim ray of light upon the gloom that had fallen upon her. “Well, lets get to the library”

“Cadance!!!” shouted Shining Armour as he dashed down the halls. He was still dazed hearing what he heard. His old pal Aden murdered the night before while on watch in front of the throne room. The castle isn’t safe, and he had foolishly left his wife alone with no protection. It was not that Twilight doesn't have the power to fend for herself or protect anyone, good god no, but it was that she does not know how. Lucky he had found them. “Stay close to me,” he ordered her.

“What?” Cadance replied rather confused. ”Is something wrong?”

“I should be asking the same thing. The throne room is that way,” he pointed opposite to the direction he found them walking, “I should think that is the place for a royal meeting.”

“Oh I wouldn’t want to go in there. At least not until it has been refurbished and aired out,” the attendant that was with Cadance and Twilight answered. Shining Armour was lost in the attendant's dry detached tone, but luckily Twilight saved him from his ignorance.

“Princess Celestia is having a rather toasty disagreement with a dragon in there-”

“-and it is too lit,” finished the attendant. Too lit? Shining Armour thought to himself, What does that mean?

“I will come with you. I don’t trust these halls. You remember Aden? Well, he was murdered while on duty last night.”

“So it was Aden...” Twilight said absently. Shining Armour knew that Twilight would be upset. He remembered when Twilight was just a little filly she had a crush on Aden. Aden was so kind to her. What troubled him though, was how she worded her statement. So it was Aden... Twilight knew more than she was letting onto.

        The trio walked together through the stone walls of Canterlot Castle remembering Aden. The warm safe haven that was the castle they knew was gone. It was replaced with a cold, dark fortress where the shadows seemed to creep a little farther than natural. It was as if the keepers of the once harmonious palace had decided to morph it into a dark tower. Even the oil flame lamps seemed not to burn as bright.

Wait a minute. It is the middle of the day, thought Shining Armour, “Why did it get so dark all of a sudden?” he asked aloud.

“That would be for Princess Luna,” the attendant answered. Before Shining Armour could question further the attendant spoke again. “We are at the library now. Princess Luna is already inside, Princess Celestia will be joining you shortly.”

The attendant hurried them in then closed the door behind them. Shining Armour could not help but feel locked in a dark room with his sister and wife even though this was not actually the case. The door was not locked. His wife shared his feelings, but his sister seemed pretty relaxed.

“Princess Luna,” she called out.

“Over here, just trying to find a book on advanced magics... ah, here it is.”

“In pegasus histories?” Twilight questioned. Leave it to Twili to know the layout of this library so that she could find a section in the dark, Shining Armour thought to himself.

“Yes Twilight Sparkle, in pegasus histories. What do we pay these royal librarians for anyway?” replied the voice that seemed to be Princess Luna. Shining Armour had actually never spoken with the Princess of the Night. Despite being captain of the royal guard he could not actually determine whether or not the voice really was Princess Luna. He was forced to assume.

        “I know right? I said the very same thing at least once a week when I studied here. Being a librarian isn't that hard” Twilight replied.

“No kidding. Maybe you could teach these librarians a thing or two.” Luna replied.

“Yeah. I just get Spike to do it.” Leave it to Twili.

“Is the Crystal Princess with you?” Luna asked.

        “Y-yes I am here” Cadance called out into the shadows in answer. From behind the bookcase where the voice was coming from they heard the clop clop of hooves on the stone cold floor.

Something’s off, Shining Armour thought, I’ve seen Princess Luna. She is just a small thing and those are heavy hoofsteps. Way too heavy for her. The pony alleged to be Princess Luna turned the corner from around the bookcase to face them. Shadows concealed all of her body save for her eyes. Cool blue eyes pierced through the darkness and locked on Cadance causing her to freeze up.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?” addressed the eyes.

“Y-yes?” replied Cadance with a very tight throat that she barely made a sound. Cadance hid behind her husband and Shining Armour got ready to defend his wife. Twilight seemed calm. The eyes stepped out of the shadows to reveal a full body. The body did not belong to the Princess of the Night, but rather her corrupted other. Cadance screamed and Shining Armour understood.

“Twilight how could you! Of all the ponies, I would not expect you to go along with this. What happened? What did she do to you? Is Celestia even still alive? Answer me you bitch!” he demanded.

Twilight’s response was a mixture of confusion followed swiftly by anger. “What the- of course Princess Celestia is still alive, and since when do you get off calling me a bitch!? Ass!” Twilight responded.

“I think there has been a grave misunderstanding,” Nightmare Moon said. However this did little to calm the situation as the door opened and Shining Armour saw who was standing in the doorway. Oh no!

“Oh has there been a misunderstanding! At first I thought that we were in danger of an eternal night to come along with a usurper ruler, but now I see before me two of the four alicorns of the apocalypse. I bet my sister and my wife make four.” His words seemed to hang in the air for a few seconds.

“Huh???” all three mares in the room said collectively. At that moment Shining Armour realized that he had jumped to the most extreme conclusion imaginable. Even Cadance had relaxed.

“Hello Twilight,” said Princess Celestia. The three mares started to pretend that Shining Armour was not even in the room, “How was your trip?”

“Bad,” Twilight replied, “Equestria is under attack, there is no doubt. I hope that the ponies learned a lesson from last night and will stay inside after dark from now on. Otherwise...” she trailed off.

“As I feared,” replied Celestia who then shot a dirty look at Luna. “I will put a royal curfew into effect that starts at sundown. That should help.”

“You aren’t going to tell the public what is going on?!” Twilight exclaimed slightly appalled.

“No, it is for the best,” her mentor replied.

“Excuse me for butting in, but what the hell is going on? All day I have been told that you will explain. So explain,” injected Shining Armour.

“Very well, here is the latest crisis Equestria has to face.”

“So why are we here?” Twilight asked after Princess Celestia had finished explaining. Twilight had heard all of what Princess Celestia had said the night previous from Princess Luna. Their accounts differed little save for personal details.

“You are here to pick up some spell books. See if you can find a spell to counter Beelzhoof’s magic.” Celestia told Twilight. “Cadance is here as a consultant. With all this chaos I am sure you can understand me when I tell you to close off the borders to the Crystal Empire. I am also sorry to say we can’t count on any dragon aid with our situation.” To Twilight laughed under her breath. No kidding!

“I understand why I should close the borders, but why am I here. What will I be consulting on?” Cadance asked, however seeming to already know the answer.

“If I recall you had a brief demon obsession a few years back.” Celestia answered. Cadance started going red.

“My god I totally forgot about that! Black and red really didn't suit you dear” Shining Armour remembered.

Cadance replied to him through clenched teeth,“Thank you.”

“The fact here is,” Luna said pulling them back on topic, “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza-”

“Please, just call me Cadance,” Cadence interrupted.

“Princess Cadance,” Luna continued, “is the foremost expert on this topic of study. I am sure you are quite familiar with Beelzehoof?”

“More than you know,” a voice from the shadows called.

“Beelzehoof, show yourself!” Princess Celestia demanded. Things were about to get interesting.

        “As you wish,” Beelzehoof stepped out from where Luna had been searching for a book. He had a smirk on his face, something that seemed to be his default expression. “I congratulate you for finding the one pony in Equestria that knows me best. How you doing Cadance.” Cadance turned away from Beelzehoof. “Cold, Cadance. So very cold. The Crystal Empire has really affected your personality. Climate, you know?”

“Have you been following me!?” demanded Cadance.

"Ever since you got off the train. Figured we could, you know, catch up?” Beelzehoof said casually.

“You know him personally!?” Princess Celestia said with disbelief. “Please don’t tell me you are friends with this-this black soul!”

Cadance replied to her aunt with a single, bile filled word. “Former,” she spat.

“Former what exactly. Cadance what is-was your relationship with Beelzehoof?” Shining Armour asked his wife. Beelzehoof responded with the answer Shining Armour did not want to hear..

“Cadance, Cadance, Cadance. They know you were into me once, but not how much. Lets enlighten them, shall we? Me and that crazy mare over there were more than just friends. We-”

That was all the details Twilight heard about the nature of Cadance’s relationship with Beelzehoof. Sensing the direction that Beelzehoof was headed Princess Celestia used her magic to block sound from coming into Twilight’s ears. For the entire six minutes Beelzehoof ruined Cadance’s reputation (and marriage) in front of the two rulers of Equestria she had only physical reactions to use as a judge for what it was he was saying.

Beelzehoof talked with much passion describing his time with Cadance. Clearly he had enjoyed it. Cadance’s reaction was getting redder and redder, and after a while smaller. There were times when Beelzehoof must have mentioned something that even Cadance remembered fondly because a phantom of a smile would creep onto her face, then disappear. Her brother showed no sign of being amused. His expressions were of shock over time growing to anger. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had almost foil-like reactions. Luna seemed to be mildly amused by the details where as Celestia held the expression of a disapproving parent the whole time. When Beelzehoof seemed to be finished Princess Celestia released the spell on Twilight’s ears.

“You and him did what?!”

This was the first thing she heard. Shining Armour was very angry having learned a piece of his wife’s history he would rather have never learned, and Cadance hoped would remain buried. Cadence remained quiet and all the attention in the room shifted to the married couple.

“If that would be all, I think I need to have a long chat with my wife.” Shining Armour addressed the council. Getting no reply he and Cadance left the library, slamming the door behind them.

“Shit!” Luna yelled, “He disappeared. This is the third time he has done this!” Beelzehoof had vanished.

“Twilight,” began Princess Celestia, ”here are the books you will need. You have now seen Beelzehoof in the flesh and know his game. Do not let him play you or your friends. Be vigilant for any signs.”

“Don’t you worry. I will not let him play anypony. I will crush any attempts on my friends,” Twilight declared assuredly. However her assurance was empty, even if neither she nor Princess Celestia knew it yet. Twilight rushed out of the library with her new spellbook eager to start practicing the spells within.

At that moment a shadow laughed, “This will be fun indeed”

The game had begun.