Heart Of Equestria

Chapter 2: The New and The Weird

Guys, I'm sorry for this, I know we have authors note for a reason but I felt this needed to be before the chapter; while I have no intention of making this fic gorey there is some serious nightmare fuel coming up in this story, just thought I'd warn you all[

On the quiet beaches of Destiny Islands, Sora, Riku and Kairi sat and waited; their rucksacks were full of everything the trio could possibly think would be needed. In spite of the king’s assurances of how this would be a simple journey, the three had long ago learned to expect anything in their travels.

Sora paced up and down the beach, unable to stay still longer than he needed to, which as far as he was concerned was never at all; just when Kairi was about to tell him not to dig a trench in the sand with his feet, he stopped and pointed to the sky.

“Look, it’s the Gummi Ship, they’re here!”

Riku leapt to his feet, followed closely by Kairi; sure enough, against the horizon they could see the familiar jagged red and yellow ship that had carried Sora to so many worlds.

In no time the ship had lightly touched down a short distance away; almost before the ship had even touched down the exit ramp was lowering at the back.

The second the ramp touched the sand they saw the small figure of King Mickey running toward them, Riku ran to meet him in a hug halfway. Sora and Kairi couldn’t help a chuckle at Riku; he had learned to loosen up much more since their journeys began.

Mickey and Riku separated so that Kairi and Sora could give welcoming hugs of their own; once his hug ended Sora looked expectantly at the exit ramp, his smile faltering slightly as he saw no sign of his dear friends anywhere.

Behind him he could hear Mickey chatting energetically to Kairi and Riku, as cheerful and full of life as always.

Sora turned to Mickey and asked the question he hoped he wouldn’t have to.

“Um, Your Majesty?”

“Yup Sora?” Mickey turned to Sora, frowning as he saw the concern in his face.

“I mean, it’s wonderful to see you again Your Majesty-“

“Mickey please Sora, you three are more deserving of a throne in my book.” He beamed at the three of them, Sora’s shocked but grateful expression in particular.

Sora shook his head and carried on.

“Uh, Mickey, where are Goofy and Donald, I just thought they would be coming with us?” He couldn’t keep a slight hopefulness out of the question.

Mickey’s ears drooped slightly.

“Aww Sora, I’m sorry; I coulda sworn I put it in the letter I sent you all. I’m sorry but Goofy and Donald had to help out Donald’s Uncle in Traverse Town; they’ll be coming to Equestria a few days behind us.”

Sora tried not to look disappointed but he must have failed because he felt Mickey’s hand on his arm and Kairi’s on his shoulder.

“Sora, don’t worry; we’ll see them really soon, I bet they’re dying to see you too. You don’t think they would have chosen to delay seeing you do you?” Kairi’s voice was warm and comforting, almost how a mother would calm a child.

It worked; he still felt the urge to see them but Sora smiled at the thought that he would soon be seeing his two other closest friends very soon.

“Alright, how about we get on the ship before Sora starts pining?” Riku smirked as he carried all three rucksacks onto the ship.

Sora blushed as Kairi giggled at his expense before making her way onto the ship, Mickey and Sora following behind.

In the familiar control room Riku was already sat at the co-pilot seat, which of course was the most comfortable, and Mickey made his way to the pilot seat, leaving Sora and Kairi to strap themselves into the passenger seats behind them.

“So, Your Ma- Mickey, what’s this world we’re going to like?” Kairi asked, relaxing into her chair as they felt the rumble of the ship powering up.

Mickey didn’t answer right away, waiting until the ship had taken off from the sandy beaches of Destiny Islands; Sora got a good final look at the Islands from above as they took off.

No, not final: if we pull this off, we may never need to leave again.

“Well, to tell you guys the truth, I don’t know a terrible amount about Equestria; me and their Princess Celestia have been in contact for a while but we’ve never met in person. All I know for sure about the world is its inhabitants and that they rely on Friendship for magic.”

“Seriously,” Riku asked from beside Mickey, “it’s a wonder the Heartless haven’t attacked that world before now, you’d think it’d be number one on the list of things they hate, a world running on Friendship.”

Mickey grinned.

“Oh I’m sure they’d love to, but this Princess Celestia isn’t just there to be a ruler; from what she’s told me, she and her sister are two of the most powerful beings I’ve ever heard of. They control the night and day on their world and they’ve protected it for thousands of years now.”

Riku’s eyes widened; that was certainly an impressive boast.

The rest of the flight passed relatively quietly, with the ship now in the Void the group of friends were able to relax and entertain each other with stories of their lives since they had last seen each other; Riku in particular seemed very glad to be able to enjoy time with Mickey instead of being constantly in danger when with him.

Just over an hour after they had left, there was a sudden beeping from the ships radar; Mickey excused himself to go and check it.

Sora was just about to ask Riku how he and Mickey had even ended up in an arcade machine when Mickey’s voice sounded from the front.

“Quick everybody, something’s coming right at us out there, Sora and Kairi, man the guns!”

They nodded and ran to the two laser cannons on either side of the ship while Riku returned to his chair and manned the outside camera, searching around for whatever was coming at them. He glanced at the radar and frowned.

“Wait a minute Mickey, this thing is smaller than us.”

Mickey gave him a strange look.

“Riku, this ship is as small and light as it can be while withstanding the void, you don’t GET smaller than this travelling around worlds.” Mickey reminded him, though he looked worried.

“Well look for yourself my friend, half our size, moving very fast and…” He trailed off; in the few seconds since he had looked away, the object had already reached them.

Whatever the object was, it was circling the ship from underneath right at that moment.

“That’s impossible; you can’t move that fast through here without hurting your own vessel, this doesn’t make any sens- Ahh!” Riku yelled as an explosion of confetti and spiders interrupted him from the console.

“Making sense, now why in all the worlds would you do that?”

Riku froze; that voice sounded like it had been whispered right into his ear, and he could just barely see from the corner of his eyes that Mickey had clearly heard the same.

In a flash both of them held their keyblades at the ready, slowly rising from their chairs and facing the room behind them, only to find it deserted.

The two scanned all around themselves, sure they had heard the voice right beside them.

“Now, why would a ship full of warriors with magic swords be flying towards Equestria; oh I could ponder the possibilities all day… oh well, time to die!”

Riku scowled.

“SHOW YOURSELF, come out and fight you coward!” He yelled, hoping he sounded braver than he felt.

“Oh now, tut tut, it’s not polite to raise your voice to your betters boy; say, that’s a thought, why don’t I take you to them, they’ll deal with you.”

The ship rocked violently as soon as the mocking voice stopped; even as it stabilised Riku and Mickey could see darkness engulfing the ship from the outside, accompanied by a strange popping sound.

As the light finally disappeared, leaving the cockpit lit by only the glow of computer screens, Mickey and Riku looked to each other faces full of fear and worry as the unknown creatures words repeated in their minds.

****

The Everfree Forrest terrified the ponies of Ponyville and with good reason; all manner of horrible creatures lived within, some even their own dear Fluttershy could not tame or reason with. Many ponies in town refused to even approach it and greatly admired their friendly neighbour Zecora for willingly living within it.

Never was that fear more justified than tonight.

In a clearing of the Everfree Forrest, the darkness of the night and the shadows cast by the trees buzzed with a life of their own; a horrible, seething hatred took on form as the darkness coalesced in the centre, great chunks of shadow breaking away and forming in the centre; initially no more than a mass of pure shadow and darkness, soon a horrible pulsing took over as the mass of hatred and evil forced itself into a more defined shape.

The being that eventually stood within the clearing was an impossibility; its horn was ferocious looking, a horn of jet black bone jutting from the forehead, ringed purple markings up and down the length.

To the ponies side large, imposing wings flared outwards in a show of strength, a wingspan rivalling or possibly exceeding the princesses of the land themselves. Like the rest of her body, the mare’s feathers were the most impossible black, seeming to suck what little light existed in the clearing away by her very presence.

But it was the mare’s eyes that were truly awe inspiring and terrifying; as she opened them her captive audience could see countless auroras, event horizons, supernova, countless celestial displays of pure, unbridled destruction danced within her sockets. It was like seeing the destruction of every world, in every possible scenario, all at once in the eyes of a mare who would clearly revel in the endless possibilities for pain.

For the first time, she acknowledged her surroundings and her admirers.

In the clearings darkness most of her observers were hidden but it mattered little to her, nothing hid from her; the very depths of a ponies mind was not safe from her, a darkened clearing would provide no safe haven. In the depths of the darkened trees, she could sense them, an emptiness that only they could instil filling her senses.

It almost excited her to feel so much concentrated aggression and hunger gathered in one place.

Heartless.

Hundreds, thousands, possibly even tens of thousands of Heartless observed her from the forests depths; some hid in the shadows of trees, some within the branches, some even merged with the darkness itself but all were staying respectfully out of sight of their new deity. They were weapons to be used, creatures of savage instinct, nothing more.

The pitch black mare stepped closer to her subjects; now more visible, her mane became visible to their eyes. Like most of the Alicorns’ body it was black and sleek, shimmering like the stars in the night above; much like the shadow she herself had emerged from and which made up the Heartless, it seemed to writhe and occasionally lash out with a will of its own.

“I must admit,” The Alicorn whispered to herself, “these pitiful creatures know more of respect than some other creatures I have known, more of love, compassion and gratitude, yet they are considered monsters. Hah! Just as much as I am a monster?”

Even as she allowed the question to hang with the mindless vermin, she heard the scurry of hooves within the thrush; a sharp snap sounded from within the ditch as several tendrils of darkness burst into existence and entangled the unwilling spy.

Dragging and clawing at the ground all the way, The Alicorn could not help but let herself beam in delight at the creature dragged before her; she had never been given the opportunity to torture a creature such as this before, the possibilities ranged so far and wide so as to be positively endless.

“After all,” she mused as one of her tendrils casually forcefully snapped a leg into an awkward angle with a horrible crack, “a Changeling can be wonderful for practice against certain other nasty people, see how they’ll die. I confess I don’t think that seeing Celestia die in agony once will be quite sufficient. Aren’t you a special subject of mine?”

The Changeling child could only cry in fear and pain as The Alicorn returned to the clearing, the cries of the child ending as darkness enclosed into a seemingly solid dome around the clearing; as it cleared a plain clearing stood, no Heartless, no Alicorn and no screaming child, as if they had been nothing but a nightmare of the dream state kind.

But Zecora knew better, as she recovered from the horror of what she witnessed; she didn’t need the Alicorns ranting or the thousands of dark creatures to know a threat when she saw one. She had a theory on who this new threat could be already in her head, only time and tests would see if it were anything more than that.

She prayed to Celestia, Luna and any other possible deities that she was wrong.

****

“Wake up buddy.”

Lyle grumbled but grudgingly clambered to his feet out of the comfy bed as the curtains were drawn in his room to expose the sunlight; the orange sky showed it could not be far past dawn.

Looking toward the windows he was surprised to see not Applejack but her brother Big Macintosh pulling the curtains apart and giving him an odd look; Lyle had the distinct impression he was trying to see beyond the hood and glare at him.

Yeah, you figure out a way to see my face you tell me buddy.

“So, Big Mac, what you doing today anyway? Applejack told me there’s not much to do on a Saturday, got anything planned?” Lyle asked, eager to get to know the friendly family better.

Big Mac said nothing but looked away with an almost guilty look on his face.

“What? Did I say something bad? Touchy subject?” Lyle frowned.

“Nope.”

Lyle tilted his head to the side before something clicked in his head; he was glad the almost herculean pony couldn’t see his smirk.

“Ah; got yourself a special someone eh?”

Big Mac’s slight blush was answer enough.

Lyle, still grinning broadly, walked over to the red stallion and gave him the closest he could manage to an elbow bump.

“So, come on, whatcha got planned big guy? Romantic picnic with expensive wines, watching the sunset together in the park on a blanket, can’t see you busting out into love poetry anytime soon though… as much as that sounds awesome!” Lyle couldn’t hold back anymore and succumbed to laughs as he finished.

For his part, Big Mac couldn’t help an embarrassed smile of his own; the human was certainly odd but he was nice enough at least.

Big Mac nodded and left the room, Lyle following him downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast; Lyle was delighted to see that while there were things such as hay as he expected, there was also an abundance of apples and pie which he could eat. He hadn’t eaten since before he had arrived in Equestria.

Looking around after filling his plate, he was surprised to find he and Big Mac were the only ones in the kitchen.

“Say Big Mac, where’s everyone else right now?”

Big Mac looked up from his salad to answer, a slightly odd look passing over his face as he laid eyes on Lyle again.

“Applejacks’ gone to see Twilight. Dunno where Applebloom goes, ah tend to just follow the noise when ah want to find her.” The stallion promptly returned to his salad.

Lyle shrugged; he could understand how Applebloom would be easy to find by noise alone.

Suddenly, he remembered the first part of Big Mac’s answer.

“Wait a minute, if she’s gone to see Twilight, that means she’s back and if she’s back then I’ll be able to talk to her and then hopefully she can get this coat off, thanks for the breakfast Mac, I gotta go, see ya later!”

Mac had to admire the speed with which Lyle managed to wolf down the apple he had held and zoom out the door as if he had wings propelling him but he couldn’t ignore the feeling of dread that spread over him as he saw him disappear over the hills leading back into Ponyville.

Guess being a bad liar runs in the family…

*****

“Darling, can you please just tell us why you have called us here so early? A mare such as myself does require beauty sleep, much as it may surprise you.” Rarity yawned; the six friends who also happened to be the bearers of the Elements of Harmony were sat around a long, official looking table in the Royal Canterlot Throne Room.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were both asleep in their chairs, while Pinkie was buzzing with energy and trying to examine every detail of the throne room all at once.

Applejack and Rarity sat alongside Twilight, all the mares clearly tired from the early hour.

“I’m sorry Rarity but we really didn’t have a choice, Luna said that this might be the darkest hour Equestria has ever faced.”

“No offense sugarcube but hasn’t it been that way the last three times?”

Twilight had to sigh at that and almost flapped her wings in frustration; Applejack and Rarity were lucky she was gaining more control or they would probably have ended up across the room.

“Twiley!”

Twilight bolted upright, instantly awake though she didn’t remember falling asleep; she swivelled right around in her chair and thought her smile overtake her face as she saw her Big Brother his wife and best foalsitter ever Cadance in the doorway to the Throne Room both rushing toward her.

She met them halfway and wrapped both her wings and forelegs around them in a crushing hug, which they returned happily; Shining moved off to say hello to the others as Twilight and Cadance performed their special welcome for each other, as they had done since Twilight was a filly.

He could only hope the meeting would not be as sombre as he expected it to be.

****

Lyle tried his hardest to ignore the looks he got as he walked through town; he had briefly considered sneaking to the library but he wasn’t about to hide from the townspeople, surely that would look even worse than just walking through town.

To their credit, the other ponies did make at least a token effort not to make their looks judgmental or overtly suspicious, putting on looks of innocent curiosity or confusion. He appreciated it nonetheless, if they had enough decency to try and hide their fear it probably meant they wouldn’t let it make their minds up for them.

Soon enough he had found the bizarre tree/house/library again but after five minutes there was no answer from inside.

Sighing in frustration, Lyle decided he might as well get to know the town he was stuck in for a while, at least until he could figure out how and when he would be getting home and out of the cloak.

He was glad to see that the park benches in Ponyville were mostly the same as human ones, allowing him to sit back and relax peacefully.

“OH CELESTIA THANK YOU!”

Lyle almost fell off the bench as the loud voice interrupted his dozing; looking to his left he found himself almost nose to nose with a mint coloured pony that was grinning broadly and hopping with excitement.

“Um, hello?”

“Hi!” The mare responded, still bouncing in place.

Lyle shuffled nervously across the bench to make room for the mare, who immediately plopped down into the spare seat; Lyle was amazed to see her sitting on the bench just as a human would.

“So, what’s your name miss?” Lyle asked delicately.

The mint mare looked as though he had told her she was more beautiful than the princesses.

“Oh I’m Lyra, it’s so awesome to finally meet someone like me, I’ve always sat on a bench like this and never got why and when I use magic it has those weird stubby things on the end of your hooves and I even try to walk on my hindlegs even though Bon Bon says I’m just going to hurt myself and that I probably just dreamt up a creature who could do all that stuff but now you’re here, like right in front of me and talking to me and sitting right by my house like it’s destiny, this is so awesome!” Lyra finished, grinning like a mad pony.

Lyle wouldn’t have been surprised if his head was physically spinning; Lyra had finished her entire joyful exclamation in the amount of time it had taken him to ask her name.

“So, Lyra?”

Lyra nodded.

“Are there really no humans on Equestria, like never, no books on them, no visitors, nothing?”

Lyra shook her head sadly.

“Nope, never. I always knew I wasn’t just crazy though when I walked and sat like I did, I mean I wouldn’t just do that for no reason right?”

Lyle chose to change the subject rather than answer that.

“Hey Lyra, if you’re so excited to meet a human how’d you like to show this one around town? I have to admit I really don’t know what you guys do for fun around here.”

Lyra looked as though she might explode from sheer happiness.

“Yesyesyesyesyesyes!!! Come on, this way!” Lyra took off at a full gallop toward the town square, forcing Lyle to run after her wondering if it was just customary to lead strangers around at top speed or if it was just Lyra and the CMC.

****

In a sky of blackened clouds adorning a blood red sky, an Alicorn as black as the depths of a black hole itself looked down upon her kingdom with a gleam in her celestial eyes; everything would soon be ready for her to take vengeance on Celestia and to drag Equestria to true glory, whether it liked it or not.

Below her a bright blue pegasus with a snow white mane emerged from the huge building of clouds, the huge double doors shutting behind him.

“Your majesty.” He began, bowing low. “I assure you, we are all ready to be a part of your wondrous plan; that you would bestow Equestria such an honour as to be ruled under you speaks of your kindness and mercy.”

The Alicorn smiled, pleased to see such loyalty from her subjects.

“And you are confident my loyal subjects within the Everfree will maintain their loyalty after so many years?” The Alicorn lowered her head so that her horn was directly poised in front of the Pegasus’s eyes.

For his part, the blue Pegasus did not look remotely threatened, though she suspected that was out of loyalty rather than actual bravery.

“They will have little choice Your Majesty; they are trapped in their torture forever until you see fit to release them. Well, there is another who could release them but- gahhk!”

The Pegasus struggled momentarily then ceased as he saw the tendrils of shadow pinning him to the door by his neck; his Queen’s expression had not changed, in fact she had not even moved, but her voice dripped venom.

“That mare is not any of your concern, nor any of my subjects’. I shall deal with her if and only if the time comes.” She sighed and released the Pegasus, who collapsed in a heap.

“I understand Your Majesty; I shall never even think of that mare ever again, nor shall any of my subordinates or I shall make them pay dearly.”

The Alicorn smiled almost warmly, though it was a façade.

“Excellent, you have done very well today; for now I must check with my other lieutenants, they must all be prepared.” Before she could take off The Alicorn spoke again. “You are sure your leader could not meet with me today?”

The Pegasus gulped.

“She is deeply sorry Your Majesty, she and I both know the penalty but I am afraid it was unavoidable, truly. She and I are both willing to offer penance for our actions that have displeased you.”

The Alicorn nodded and left the shivering Pegasus in front of the cloud building as her flight took her towards a rural settlement not far from her royal palace; this was where only those ponies who represented the very ideal of what all ponies should be resided.

Her loyal guard pegasi swooped just low enough to confirm it was her before retreated to their hidden perches within the clouds; had it not been for The Alicorn’s remarkable sense she would never have known they were there.

Touching down, she was pleased again to see her subjects all drop what they were doing and emerge from their homes to bow before their ruler; she raised a hoof in acknowledgement before their leader, silently ordering them to cease their worship and to stand before her as subjects.

She beckoned to their leader, a purple earth pony, who swiftly marched up to her Queen and fought the urge to bow.

“Walk with me my little pony.”

The Earth Pony nodded and followed at a respectful distance to The Alicorn; as respected as she knew she was in Her Queen’s eyes, she would never deign to consider herself even remotely an equal or anywhere close.

“Are you and my Earth ponies ready?”

The purple pony spoke in a voice free of emotion.

“Yes Your Majesty; we are ready to do whatever you command of us and bring another kingdom into your reign, to have them experience the joy of your rule, to-“

“That will do.”

The purple pony almost blushed and stopped as she noticed they had come to a cliff edge which The Alicorn was now staring out over, almost as though she were reminiscing.

“Do my subjects know what they volunteer themselves for?”

The Purple Pony was surprised, The Queen hardly ever spoke of uncertainty when others were in her presence, though she kept silent, unsure of her place.

The Alicorn turned, slightly annoyed.

“I ask you again my subject, do you know what you are about to do?”

The Purple Pony bowed low; to converse with the Queen and give input was a rare, possibly even unique, opportunity.

“I do. We all do Your Majesty, we are all ready to die for you, suffer for you and kill for you.”

The Alicorn chuckled. “I rather think you don’t need my encouragement for that last one my dear pony.”

The Purple Pony grinned sheepishly.

“Oh my dear little pony, you will have to be ready for more than that; I wish I could avoid it but our enemies have far worse punishments than death. I hope you understand why I must do this, put you at such risk?”

The Purple Pony nodded, either oblivious or uncaring to the grin on The Alicorn’s face as she once again showed her blind loyalty.

“Wonderful; I have one more visit to make my loyal subject, please return to your people and ensure they are ready to begin at a moment’s notice; glory will not spare the ill prepared.” As she spoke black tendrils wrapped around The Alicorn, engulfing her form until it concealed her completely, where it faded into nothingness, The Alicorn gone once again.

****

Finally, it seemed to have taken hours for Rainbow Dash though it had been only ten minutes, everyone was gathered at the long council table; the element bearers sat together, beside them, now next to Twilight, sat Shining Armour and Cadance.

Across from them Princess Luna sat, looking more sombre and concerned than any could remember seeing her for a long time; Celestia herself had yet to sit and was conversing with two other ponies that were just out of sight by the front doors.

Eventually Celestia returned with her two companions.

Rainbow was shocked to see-

“Ditzy? No offense but why are you here, isn’t this like a meeting of all the guardians of the realm and all that good stuff?” Rainbow questioned before she could stop herself.

Ditzy Doo for her part just smiled and shook her head.

“No silly, me and The Doctor were called by Celestia to talk about other worlds and stuff.” She spoke with the tone of explaining to an overexcited filly.

Beside her the Mayor of Ponyville’s assistant Doctor Whooves seemed, if anything, even less attentive than Pinkie Pie, going on about “big flashy lighting things” at the chandelier and asking for a jelly filly.

“Ahem.” Celestia serene voice carried around the room.

Doctor Whooves immediately snapped his attention to Celestia with a silly grin.

“Doctor Whooves, if you would please to explain the situation to our friends.”

He nodded.

“Absolutely, hello everybody I’m the Doctor, though I guess you already knew that which is a shame I do like to introduce myself and see everybody’s expression when they realise that my name is the Doctor because-“

Luna clicked her tongue impatiently.

“Ah, of course, to business, the business of this whole new threat lark, never understood why evil threats can’t sometimes just take a holiday, maybe Barcelona or Fillydelphia, or perhaps even-“

With a loud crack and a flash of white The Doctor was cut off by the chaotic form of Discord, the spirit of chaos currently the size of Celestia and wearing a bizarre suit with a bubble helmet. Doctor Whooves knew it as an astronaut suit but the others were baffled.

“Ah, am I interrupting something, oh well I was invited after all, I just don’t think you expected me to actually appear did you my dear Celestia?” He smirked as he leaned right across Luna to leer at Celestia.

Celestia was not amused and nodded with approval as Luna used her magic to shove the Spirit of Chaos out of their personal space.

“Who’s that?” Ditzy asked, having never encountered the spirit of chaos before.

Rainbow Dash scowled.

“The jerk who tried to turn Equestria into a madhouse and who everyone decided deserves another chance even though he’s probably just another- but he’s probably better now.” She trailed off as Fluttershy showed signs of unleashing The Stare.

“Ah, I see someone brought the Derpy little pony.”

Doctor Whooves moved in front of Ditzy with a scowl as Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood from their seats to stomp their hooves in Discord’s direction.

“Fine! No one has a sense of fun anymore, I just came by to dump a burden on you anyway, and it’s not my problem.”

Before anypony could ask what he meant, Discord reached into his ear with his entire left arm; his head inflated like a balloon as he pulled and pulled, expanding his head even further until a full sized spaceship was sitting in the middle of the room. Even as it his head returned to normal Discord disappeared with a laugh.

****

Inside the Gummi Ship, Riku and Mickey looked in confusion toward each other; mere moments since they had been enclosed in impenetrable darkness the shadows had cleared. The Gummi Ship now looked to be in a grand throne room, not unlike Mickey’s own back at Disney Castle though this one was decorated with many stained glass windows and a large council seat at which sat-

“Princess Celestia!”

Even having never met the pony before, Mickey could make a pretty good guess as he took in the rising sun cutie mark, long flowing mane of many colours and the dark pony sitting beside her with a mane that looked to be made of the night sky itself, clearly her sister Luna.

He quickly leapt toward the exit ramp and rushed out to meet the ponies.

He swiftly found himself pinned to the side of the ship by Luna’s magical aura as the Alicorn approached him with anger in her eyes.

“What is this, yet more of the fool Discord’s trickery, we have no need of your pranks in a time of crisis you lout!”

“Luna, calm yourself.” Celestia spoke in a diplomatic tone.

Luna swivelled to her sister with eyes widened in surprise.

“King Mickey of Disney Castle?”

Mickey nodded.

“Yup, here to help you with The Heartless, well me and my friends.

Celestia observed Riku coming down from the ramp, looking momentarily stunned at the idea of talking horses but quickly shrugged it off, having seen much stranger in his travels.

“Okay, I think we all need to do a bit of explaining here, how about I start?” Mickey asked as he began explaining to the others everything that had happened before their sudden arrival.

****

From behind the trees of the Everfree Forest one could get a clear view of the majority of Ponyville, the town square bustling with activity, fillies playing at the schoolhouse and the hundreds of apple trees making up Sweet Apple Acres.

All of it would soon be dust.

A Pitch Black Alicorn shifted into a cloud of pure shadow and slinked her way deeper into the trees, weaving between poisonous plants and sharp drops that made this path almost impossible for Ponies to navigate.

Soon, she saw it.

The remains of what had once been a village still held a vaguely medieval feel to them, with their once thatched roofs and banners and flags for a party, which had long since rotted to nothingness.

She smiled as she sensed many pairs of eyes on her.

No, not eyes; these creatures had lost that particular part of themselves many years ago, possibly even immediately after their punishment began. She turned sharply to face one before it could retreat into the shadows, catching it by surprise.

It was a truly wondrous creature; the skeleton of the pony was clearly visible, bones that had rotted to black and were encrusted with both mould and what she hoped was dried blood. The eye sockets were empty as she had expected but a tiny red pinprick of light could be seen peeking from within the seemingly never ending darkness.

Their flesh hung in loose ribbons from their ribcages and hooves, various forest mosses and tree branches tangled in with the ribbons of flesh and for some vague remainders of manes but all that had retained that had the same colour, blood red patches of manes matted by blood and mud.

She delighted in seeing them examine her for a moment before recoiling in fear, though some hissed in hatred and anger. Clearly they had recognised her.

She observed the only one that hadn’t backed away; this creature seemed even ragged and ancient than the others, and was looking at her with an almost pleading look, with what little she could express with so little of her face remaining.

Apparently deciding that The Alicorn was just not understanding her rather than enjoying her plight, she flung herself forwards and sobbed at her feet, careful not to touch her hooves or any other part of her.

“Please! Please, let us die, we have paid for our crimes surely, we have regretted and suffered over our choices, I beg of you let us die!” She sobbed pitifully into the ground, tears of blood staining the grass.

“No.”

She looked to the Alicorn with a broken look in her face as the others hissed and muttered angrily; why had this monster come here then, simply to mock them?

“You have not regretted your crime; you have killed anypony who has come your way, forced them into your ranks as your pitiful guards. You are a pathetic people to think you can lie to me.”

She hesitated just long enough to let them prepare a response before interrupting it.

“But I have an offer to make of you.”

The creature at her hooves peered up at her with hope and desperation, while the others seemed genuinely curious; some even emerged from their pointless hiding places.

“Equestria… is dead. It does not know it yet but this land cannot continue to exist this way, it is on a path to degradation and uselessness. I do not intend to let this happen.”

She turned toward the criss-crossing path of jagged spikes, poisoned plants and steep drops that she had drifted to in order to reach the town; her horn illuminated as, as one, the obstacles cleared, shifting to other parts of the forest or rotting into dust, whole trees also fell until a clear path opened in the Everfree Forest.

The path exit looked straight out onto Ponyville.

She turned to the Creatures, pleased to see that some had adopted sadistic grins while others had a look of gratitude toward the Alicorn, one had even gone as far to bow.

“You will find your way into the town of Ponyville tonight and eliminate any abominations you find; the unblemished are to be captured and brought to me but if I find a single one of them has been harmed in any meaningful way I will ensure you will wish for your old punishment back.” The Alicorn grinned and bared her teeth as the Creatures bunched together, already planning how they would enter the town and who would do what.

“We thank you Princess Luna; we shall not disappoint you your majesty!”

She turned to the evident leader of the group, a tall and lanky creature that was bowing to her.

She scowled. “Just “Your Majesty” will do my ponies; you are going to be the first in a series of steps for Equestria to reclaim its glory.”

He nodded and went back to his colleagues as The Alicorn perched herself on a mountain further into the Everfree Forest and looked down on Ponyville, every detail leaping out at her with her near perfect vision.

“Time to begin,” She muttered to herself.

Illuminating her horn once again, The Alicorn revelled in her show of power as Celestia’s Sun was forced below the horizon, and the majestic moon rose into place only thirty minutes after she had left The Creatures.

Tonight, Celestia will see how futile her kingdom is, I will take her down pony by pony and then drown her in her subjects own blood. If she’s lucky.