Banishment of The First

by IntoxicatingColors

The chains of the past rattle as the door to the dungeon falls. His choices that once scorched Equestria have resurrected once more. His life inside the black has had no effect on diminishing his power nor has he lazily let it fall. He could accept the fact that he was hated, unwanted, and a living sin to this world. He just wanted one last chance to watch over and protect them.

1. Feared to This Day

Banishment of the First

[Disclaimer] I own nothing that involves My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Any apples also belong to Dole. Yeah you read it right, this is an MLP Fanfic. Yes I can be classified as somewhat of a brony, but not one that fawns over the show. Yes I like the show, it's not bad, animation is pretty good, voice acting is good although sometimes it grates my nerves, and surprisingly there's violence even if it's the harmless cartoonish kind. So if you want to go and flame war this story well FUUUUUCK YOUUUUU!...But hey, you can always...ya know...check out my other stories. Seriously though, if this isn't your cup of tea than hey it's fine. Not everybody is into the same things as others. And hey, if you're willing to give this a shot please do. If you've read anything else I have posted, then you know that those bright ass colors just mean brighter shades of red. If you have only just joined my madness, then welcome to the slaughter.

Chapter 1 - Feared to This Day

How long had it been, three years, six, maybe seventeen? No, it had been a much longer sentence than that. It was rather hard to tell when there was no such thing as time, day and night in his prison. For all he knew, nothing that he remembered existed anymore. Hell the whole world he knew could have been utterly annihilated and he was waiting for nothing. He sat on his haunches, the same thing he had been doing since this whole thing started. Other than days of combat practice he really didn't have anything else to do other than wait. He wasn't sure of what was to happen to him once he was actually freed from this black void. He had found that time wasn't relevant in his prison, so eating never became a necessity. And that meant that it was possible for him to shrivel up to nothing but bones once he was out. It didn't matter to him either way. He just wanted to get out and get another breath of some natural air, his last or not. He dropped from his haunches to his back and stared up at same black space he had lived with for as long as he could remember. He wondered exactly just what his warden was doing these days. Maybe they could all have a big reunion, that is, if they were alive. And maybe if he wasn't still remembered as the terrible being he is. He just scoffed at the thought. Naaaahh, they wouldn't hold that against him. Knowing them they would welcome him with open arms and a war- He let out a burst of laughter at that train of thought. Yeah right! Not after the event that put him here in the first place. That would be a memory etched into the witnesses' memory, and forever unseen to history's timelines. His fit of laughter ended and he was again left to ponder on his thoughts. He was honestly curious of what had become of their band of misfits. They used to be really close, but now there was no telling just what it was like between them. The terms weren't exactly the best when he was sentenced to the darkness.

But even past all of that, he wouldn't mind seeing his troop of friends again. It was obvious that they wouldn't forgive him, but just to see them...one more time, hated or not. They were the only ones that had actually accepted him so, hated or not, he would want to give them his final farewells. He pulled himself forward and back onto his haunches letting out a long sigh. Thinking on the past was doing nothing to help him. The only thing he could do was wait for his sanity to snap and he ends up taking his own life. That was all that was left for him. He picked himself off the ground and rose to all four hooves. Stretching out his limbs with a multitude of popping sounds he got ready for some exercises. A prison didn't mean he should stop any training sessions. Getting out of practice could bring about fatal consequences should he get into any brawls. Finished with stretches, he stood his full height and readied his muscles. Taking in a few deep breathes he jumped into the air. He pushed himself into a mid-air frontward somersault, gaining more and more rotations adding to the speed of the acrobatics. The somersault became a large neon green sphere with the speed picking up. He was close to following through with a final attack when a flash of blue caught his attention. Still airborne, he put the brakes on his somersault to look at the black void around him. He checked every angle even after he had touched down. That flash of color was not a trick of his imagination, he definitely saw something. He stared at every bit of his surroundings, looking for any other colors. It was when he finally caught a glimpse of what looked to be a tree that everything got a little...confusing. As soon as the tree was identifiable it had quickly disappeared again. It was weird though, the tree had appeared and was then gone as if it had interference or a glitch. The tree had repeated this process many times, but other objects started to come into view with it. Soon there were not only multiple trees, but clouds, bushes, and a small pond. He closed his eyes and rubbed his head as the multiple flashes of different colors were causing a headache.

The reason for these happenings left him stumped. This was the first time anything so bizarre had ever happened in his prison. Coupled with this was a strange pull at his hooves. He looked down to find the only black left in his solitary confinement. Nothing was there, but he could still feel something tugging on him. Without warning he was suddenly pulled to the floor, but when he looked up his eyes began to widen. It was impossible to tell if he was falling, but when he found that the glitches were getting farther away he was surprised to say the least. He continued to be pulled farther down; now losing sight of everything that was teleporting in and out of his prison. He just kept going deeper and deeper, until he saw nothing but black.

Princess Celestia quickly bolted upright in her bed. A light sweat covered her as her face was gently placed in her hooves. It had been that same dream again. It had become less frequent from the past, and soon had almost vanished. But now it had reemerged and came bearing a stronger feeling. It held no difference from her past experiences in the beginning, but the ending had engorged her with a great fear. It was an image of him staring back at her as if he had been in her very room at that moment. It was rather brief, but those eyes had left a deep impact on her for years.

She was given a second scare as Luna quickly entered her room with a throw of the door. Luna had a resembling look on her face as to the one plastered to her sister's. "Sister, I had a dream about...him." Celestia's eyes widen at the statement as she began to swell with an even greater fear. Her having a dream was one thing, but both of them. This brought thoughts to her head she wanted nothing to do with. If something had really happened she didn't want to think of the chaos.

"Are you positive, Luna?" Celestia had hoped it was just a fluke, and her problems were just on her and her alone. But that hope was shattered with a rather aggressive nod from Luna. There was only fearing the worst now. If this problem got out of hand it would be difficult to fix it. His power was rather vast and continually growing; making it more difficult to believe there was any way of stopping him.

"Now what seems to be the problem here? Why the long faces?" In a flash of light, Discord appeared with his legs lazily crossed and just floating above the ground with each flap of his wings. The Draconequus levitated in front of the sisters; a rather annoyed looked on his face. He was enjoying a rather wonderful dream when he was awoken by a commotion between Luna and Celestia. Celestia looked to Discord and quickly got her suspicions out of the way.

"Discord; have you had any dreams concerning him lately?" That question brought a very wide smile to his face.

"Ah yes, I was just having one a while ago. Remembering him and his destruction always seem to bring a jovial feeling." He comically wiped a tear from his eyes and threw it off in a random direction. "Ah...good times." His expression was changed to confusion after seeing the fear on Celestia's face. "Now what's with that look? It's like you've met with your worst nightmare." Celestia could only sigh at how he had hit the nail on the head. Nothing could deter her suspicions on his return.

"It seems that everything points to it then. After so long, he's finally coming back." Luna's face mirrored utter shock while Discord's was of sheer joy. He fell to his feet only to start hopping up and down.

"Are you telling me big brother is coming back? This has to be the happiest day of my life! Even with me being chaos incarnate, his always had a rather unique taste to it." While he continued jumping Luna was left slack jawed. It had been a great deal of time since she was banished and returned, but the time they had been separated from him was immeasurable. Out of her, Discord, and him, he was the very first of them to be banished. Not only that, but he has also been banished for the longest. Celestia had never forgiven him for the atrocities he committed. Even she couldn't believe what she had seen that day. It was still hard for even her to think a pony could do so much damage alone.

"Sister," Celestia was shaken from her thoughts by Luna's call. Looking over at the Princess of the moon she found the same look of fear from the thought of seeing him again, "just what are we going to do?" That was the question that left her stumped for minutes on end. If he was free, then there weren't many options to fall back on. The only thing that could possibly defeat him would be the Elements of Harmony, but even she doubted it would be enough. Friendship had the power to change many, even Discord, but he was a different story. The only ones he would not harm would most likely be herself, Luna, and Discord. They had been something of family for many years and he had never shown intentions of harming them in the past. A part of her was glad to be able to see him again, and another feared what he might do now that he was free. He was always there to protect the three of them, being one of the strongest in the group. It had honestly hurt her when she had to sentence him to his banishment. He meant as much to her as Luna did, but his actions had left her no choice. She had to ensure the protection of the ponies she watched over and disperse the evils that threatened them.

"I honestly can't say Luna. We haven't a clue where he might be. For all we know, he could be far off from Ponyville in some other part of Equestria." Celestia slowly put her face back inside her hooves in deep thought. Would he repeat the past and reenact that horrific day, or had his time in solitary confinement changed him. It was all so confusing and kept adding to the stress. "Just how will you play your cards?" Celestia stared at a small, framed photo sitting on a small night stand beside her bed. It had a young Celestia, Luna, Discord, and a small Colt grouped together in the shot. They all had huge smiles on their faces, enjoying the company of one another. "Feral."

The darkness had returned to befriend him once more. Dammit, he thought that he might have been freed. His one chance to be able to see them again had been dashed away. He moved to get up and quickly froze. What was he sleeping on and why did it feel good? Surprised he opened his eyes and quickly shut them again when he was assaulted by an assortment of bright colors. Wait, colors, he quickly opened his eyes ignoring the want to stop looking at the eye blinding colors. This had to be some kind of miracle. He had actually come back, finally free from his prison! "Moving would not be a wise move. It would be a good idea to let your condition improve." A deep, feminine voice caught his attention and had him glancing to his left. He was met with the sight of Zebra stirring a cauldron of an unrecognizable substance. She had the standard black and white stripes along with a short mane that resembled a black and white striped Mohawk. On her right hoof was a row of gold bracelets with a matching set along her neck. A pair of gold earrings that matched her bracelets was set inside each ear. She had a pair of light blue eyes that concentrated on the cauldron of brew as she slowly stirred it. And lastly, she had a swirl on her flank that sported multiple arrow heads surrounding it. He let his jaw hang as he studied the Zebra in front of him. Another sentient form of life, no black, no darkness, no restrictions, everything was real. He quickly stood up and rushed over and examined her, repeatedly poking her in the sides to ensure he hadn't lost his sanity. He quickly recoiled though when a flash of pain entered his hoof. Shaking his injured hoof, he looked to find the Zebra looking at him, a spoon bouncing dangerously in her mouth. She set the spoon back in the cauldron and turned to him once more. "Please do not act so impolite. Stallions and Mares acting out of their age is something I do not like." She sat down and eyed him carefully, taking in the details of his body. "So why don't I spread the icing on the cake. Why was it I found you at the bottom of a lake?" His eyes went wide at the sudden question. Once he had seemingly lost consciousness he had not a clue where he had ended up.

"Uh...I can't explain...that...sudden fate. I thank you though...for...uh...keeping me from...being bait?" The Zebra gave him a looked of confusion and aggravation.

"You seem to have trouble performing such a feat. Are poking fun at the form in which I speak?" She had now exchanged her previous look with one of anger. She did not take him trying to copy her way of speech too kindly.

"What? I thought that was how everyone talked here. I've been absent for so long, I wasn't sure how things had changed." He found her look offering anything but pleasantries. "If everyone doesn't talk in riddles, why do you?"

"It is that way to keep away the locals. That is the reason for having such vocals. Anything foreign to them is considered a sin. So I stay different and they won't come to the forest within." He could easily reason with that. She obviously wanted to be left alone and everyone usually stayed away from anything they couldn't understand.

"Then may I ask that you please not speak in riddles and rhymes with me. I wish to be able to answer your questions in full detail if able, and not always understanding your rhymes might make it difficult." She had a pleased smile take over her anger and gave him a soft nod.

"Yes, and I thank you for you politeness. Now, instead of answering my first question, how about we get introductions out of the way. I am Zecora, Zebra of the Everfree Forest, and Witch Doctor by infamous fame."

"They really think you're a Witch Doctor? I'm guessing it's because of all the masks, accent, and the way you brew in your cauldron."

"Right on the mark." That caused him to instantly facehoof.

"For as much as it's worth, I'm sorry that you are treated in such away." Zecora was surprised by the gesture. Sure she wasn't fond of becoming an outcast because of her heritage, but for someone to apologize was new to her.

"I thank you for the apology. Now, how about telling me your name."

"Yes, sorry about that, I am known as Feral. Fierce warrior of Equestria and practitioner of the bladed arts."

"I haven't heard of any warriors in Equestria except the Royal Guard and the ones of old history books." Feral became confused at the term 'Royal Guard'.

"What exactly is the Royal Guard?"

"It's an elite guard only controlled by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna themselves." At the mention of those names Feral had been overtaken with a look of shock. It was good to hear that they were both living well. He honestly wanted to go and find them now, but he wasn't sure what their reactions may be. Would they still be afraid of him, or would they give him a second chance. "Hello?" He was brought out his thoughts by a rapidly shaking hoof. He shook his head and moved his attention back to Zecora.

"Sorry about that."

"What exactly was that?" Feral gave a sheepish smile to the Zebra.

"Just a little blast from the past. Don't worry yourself with it. This is something I must sort out by myself." Zecora was a bit skeptical with his answer, but didn't try to ease it any further. There were obviously some wounds he had to heal himself, and she wasn't going to open them again.

"So you said that you reside inside the Everfree Forest? What exactly is this place?"

"It is a large forest that lies on the outskirts of Ponyville. The ponies there find it a place of evil, as nature here tends to control itself here. That and the creatures that make this forest their home tend to keep everyone from venturing to far in." Feral did find that strange since he had never heard of such a thing. But it didn't necessarily frighten him. It had to adopt some way of taking care of itself if no one else would.

"Might I bother you with one last question?"

"You may."

"Where exactly are the Princesses and how may I get there?"

"They live in their castle in Canterlot. You can travel there by using a train stationed in Ponyville. Might I ask why though?" His face grew solemn as he moved his gaze to the ground.

"Like I said, I have something to sort out." It was time to go back to the ones he loved. He had made a grave mistake during their childhood, and he needed to fix it. "Though I do thank you for aiding me. I doubt being unconscious underwater would have helped me at all." Zecora gave him a soft smile and a nod.

"It was not a problem, but I do say you should not thank me yet. You may need a place to stay for the night." She pointed a hoof at a small window. Feral looked outside to find that night had taken over. This would serve a problem, as he had no knowledge of the current landscape. And though he didn't think it would become a problem, he wasn't sure of the creatures that inhabited this forest. "Damn, looks like I'll have to think fast and find a quick place to shelter. I thank you again Zecora for troubling yourself with my presence. I believe I should hurry and leave, otherwise I might lose a chance to find a place to stay." He made his way towards the door, but was stopped by the Zebra that suddenly stepped into his path.

"I can't say that I find that to be a good idea. I would feel better if you stayed here." To say he was surprised was an understatement. Here he was, a complete stranger, and she offers him a place to stay in her own home.

"I think that I've already over stayed my welcome as it is." He moved to walk around her only to have the Zebra move back in his way.

"Please do accept my offer. This forest is not a safe place to traverse at night. Plus, I'd like to get to know you better, especially with your look. I may also be a foreigner, but I've never seen such a Stallion such as you." It was a rather true statement from her and thoughts of most of the people in the past. His appearance wasn't exactly an ordinary one to find in Equestria. Size wise, he was taller than most Stallions and looked to be only a tad bit smaller than the Princess of the Sun herself. He was a pure white Earth pony, but that was where normality tripped hard. His mane was made of two colors, a primary black with neon green stripes spread out in the black. It was rather messy, but still came down his face somewhat straight with locks that rested over his right eye and would cover his left eye from time to time His tail was the same but was longer than a regular Stallion's. His came down to the floor and quickly curved up, floating a small amount above the ground, defying gravity. On his hooves were shoes made from an unidentifiable grey metal, one for each hoof. The boots reached all the way up his front two hooves, and only half way on the back. It was the same on his back hooves, but inverted. On his front hooves the shoes had two short one foot long blades the curved up from the shoe. The back two had two more blades, each three feet long, curving up again, but more outwards as to not damage him while running or during any other forms of movement. Lastly, on his flank was a mark that had almost caused her to panic. There was what looked like three large, crimson gashes stretching diagonally from the top of his flank to the bottom, left to right. If it wasn't the fact that it wasn't actually bleeding, she would have undoubtedly tried to fix the nonexistent wound.

"I tend to get that most of the time. If I must, I accept and thank you for your offer. I shall stay here till daybreak, and then I will plan my leave for Canterlot." Feral tapped his front booted right hoof on the floor of the house, as to where it responded by slightly opening just enough to get his hoof out. He repeated the process until he had fully discarded every bit of his armor. Once he was out, he carefully placed the boots off to the side and out of everyone's way. Zecora gave a curios eye to the boots, wondering just how they worked.

"So, will I ever learn anything new about you?" Feral put a bootless on his chin in thought.

"Well I do need an escort seeing as I'm an expert on direction. If you want, you can come with me to Canterlot. You should learn more their when I confront the sisters." Zecora let the question bounce around in her head. She didn't really have anything important to attend to, and she was rather curious of this Stallion.

"Very well, but we will need one more. I'm not completely familiar with Canterlot so we will need the assistance of another I know." Feral gave an understanding nod.

"That is fine, but are you sure? I know that you said you're foreign to this land. I don't want to make you do something that makes you feel uncomfortable." She only gave him a disagreeing shake of her head.

"It is quite all right, really. I used to outcast myself from most, but now the rumors have become more and more a fable and I've been treated more kindly by the local ponies. It is nice to see a friendly face, although I still enjoy the solitude of the forest." With that last sentence said she walked back to the cauldron, picking up two wooden bowls on her way. Zecora set the bowls atop a table beside the pot and filled them up with the strange brew. Setting the spoon back inside the pot she proceeded in turning back to him. "Please, come get something to eat. No doubt you are hungry and would like to stomach something." He walked over to the table as the Zebra took hers and began sipping it. He got a good whiff of the weird soup and quickly scrunched up his face. The only thing he could approach this bizarre smell with was a look of disgust. "I know that the smell is fairly unpleasant, but I promise that the taste is better than what you might think." Though with a look of doubt, he pressed the bowl to his mouth and took a slow sip. His eyes squeezed shut in preparation for the assault of his taste buds, but no matter how long he waited it never came. The taste was rather delectable and interesting, and by all means was a pure opposite to the smell. Sitting down he tipped his bowl and head back as he consumed the soup, until his entire bowl was empty. With it drained of its substance, he set the bowl back on the table and lapped at the remains of the liquid around his lips. A grateful smile was left to adorn Zecora's features. Not many people believed her cooking was great on account of the smell, so she was happy there was one pony that it pleased.

"So might I ask why it gives off such a less arousing aroma?" Zecora stopped sipping at the bowl and took a moment to swallow.

"It is to ward off the predatory animals which live in the forest. A blend of many different greens and spices gives it a terrible stench, but also makes it a tasteful mixture." Feral would have never thought of something as that. He did see that she wasn't someone of conflict, so she would need some other way of protecting herself. Sadly, his ways would have been more brutish and messy. The sound of Zecora setting her bowl back on the table brought him back to reality. She had now retrieved a small jug of water and had begun pouring it on the fire the cauldron rested on. Once that was done she set a lid over the top of the pot, probably saving it so she'll have something to eat tomorrow. "Well, now that it seems we have everything finished and questions asked answered I believe we should retire for the night." Feral agreed with her decision and began looking for a place inside the small hut. He eyed on spot and started to run to the back of the hut. While this was going on Zecora was also thinking of a place he could sleep. The sudden echo of something hitting wood moved her attention to the back of the hut, where there was nothing. Feral was gone, no matter where she looked she couldn't find him. It wasn't until a few fallen leaves floated down in front of her did she look up. The Zebra couldn't believe what she was seeing; there he was with his back legs hanging on either side of a low hanging clump of vines, his front hooves on his chest. "Feral?" The call of his named caused the Stallion to poke his head up and look down from his hammock.

"Yes?" She was sporting a look of skepticism and astonishment at the fact that he had somehow gotten up there

"How exactly did you get in those vines?"

"I jumped off the side of the tree in the back." That must have been the sound she had heard earlier.

"Are you sure that will be fine for you?"

"Oh it's quite alright; trust me when I say that I've had worse." Zecora decided not to argue and let him do as he pleased. She made her way to her bed, got in it, and made herself comfortable. She would get more answers in the coming day, so worrying about would do nothing for her. For now, a good night's rest was required for what was ahead. With that she slowly fell into a blissful sleep, along with a silently breathing Stallion.

Fires raged as they spread from building to building. It became increasingly hard to breathe as the ashes of the gardens swarmed the air and deprived the city of oxygen. The screams and cries were shrill, painful, silenced. One by one the crying stopped, and the village was left lifeless. The ground, market stalls, and even the clouds had become his canvas for the overlapping stains of red. He only sat there, a booted hoof to his chin in thought. He was unaffected, cold, uncaring of what he had faulted. Adults to seniors, Mares to Stallions, Colts to Fillies. He had no discrimination in what he added to his pallet. It played over again and again, every body, every flame, every destroyed family, every drop, it was too much. Make it stop; Make it stop, MAKE IT STOP!

Celestia shot up in her bed in a cold sweat and fit of tears. She could handle any of it. The nightmares, the fear, the replaying images. They were too much for her already scarred conscious. Using her magic, she quickly levitated a scroll and quill in front of her and began writing an urgent message for Twilight and her friends to come meet her in the castle. With it written, she quickly sent it out and raised herself from the bed. Making her way out of the room, she asked the guards outside her door to wait for her return in which they gave a quick salute. Celestia slowly walked through the castle hallways eventually coming out into the garden that once held Discord's statue. This was one of the only places she found to be most calming. It helped her clear get a clear head and think properly. Caught so deep in thought she didn't notice a cloud descend from above until it was levitating right in front of her. "Would you like to talk about it?" Celestia looked up to find Discord lying on a cloud looking up towards the sky. She would have eagerly shared her thoughts, if it wasn't for the thought of him not taking her seriously. "I know what you're thinking, and I can't say I blame you, but I will take something like this seriously." Celestia was surprised to hear this, and would be lying if she said she still wasn't a little hesitant. But she also trusted Discord and knew that he was slowly reforming.

"It's about Feral; I don't know what to do. I want to forgive him, give him another chance just like I did with you, but there is no forgetting what he did. I can't forget all the screams, all of the lives stolen that day." Discord took in her explanations of the fear and sleepless nights. He was there, along with Luna, when these events happened. It wasn't a pleasant sight to any of the three and has lingered within their conscience for countless years.

"I know what you mean, Luna also fears him and I too held fear of him that day. It's not something we can forgive and forget, but I still love him. Even if it's not by blood I found him to be my own big brother. He was always there to take care of and watch over us. Always protecting me, you, and Luna from any kind of harm. It may never be easy for me to forgive, but I'll always still see him the same way I did all those years ago." She had her eyes widened since the beginning of his statement. Even Discord had feared Feral, his own brother. And even through all of that he still loves him. Celestia could not believe who she was hearing this from.

"Well Discord, I must say that you're the last person I'd thought of to have a touchy feely conversation with. I do thank you though, this was much more helpful than sulking about it." Discord only yawned as he pulled a chunk from the cloud he rested and turned it into cotton candy, which in turn he ate.

"Yeah, well don't be spreading it around. I'm still the embodiment of chaos and have plenty of ways to wreak havoc, if only inside castle grounds. How does waking up with you and your sister's mane and tail flip flopped up sound to you? That sounds pretty interesting if I do say so myself." Before she could give any objections he floated off to who knows where in a fit of joyous laughter. Celestia only shook her head at the Draconequus's antics and turned to head back to her room. Hopefully she could get some rest, and maybe live in that dream of a caring childhood once more.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, a baby dragon had woken up and was now rummaging through the library's refrigerator contents for a midnight snack. He was pretty small, about the same size as a regular filly. His scales were a deep purple accompanied by rounded off green spikes starting from the top of his head all the way to his tail, getting smaller as they descended and ending in a small purple arrowhead at the tip. On both of his cheeks there seemed to be fin like protrusion. Along with that was a tan color that began at his bottom lip and moved down to cover his entire chest and stomach region. His eyes were found to be green, matching his spikes. He was desperately shifting through all of the different foods and ingredients, searching for his one prize. "Aha!" Victoriously, he backed out of the fridge holding a large gem the size and shape of football. "I've been saving you for just this kind of occasion." The dragon licked his lips and opened his jaws and brought the gem closer to his face, ready to take a bite. Suddenly, his eyes shot open in surprise as a sudden burp resulted in the fiery materialization of a scroll and him dropping his gem, leaving it to shatter into uncountable pieces. The baby dragon dropped to his knees as he looked to the ceiling in a scream of silence, tears jerking at the side of his eyes. He scooped up a small pile of shards in his hand and stared at them in despair. "I saved up for so many weeks for a beauty like you." In blind anger he searched for the cause of his nightmares. His eyes locked onto the scroll that had caused this problem in the first place. Putting a stranglehold on the piece of parchment, he jerked it up in front of his face with a low growl. "Just what is so important that you ruin one of my best gems?" He unrolled the scroll with such angered force that he threatened ripping the scroll in half. He quickly skimmed through it, his eyed widening in shock and jaw dropping as he read it again, and again, and again. His eyes moved through the writing slower with each read, eyes growing wider and his jaw almost comically hitting the floor. Putting the scroll out of his view, he jumped up in down in place unable to think on what to do. Quickly he made a mad dash for the upper floor that held his caretaker, tripping over furniture as he ran through the dark. "Twilight!"

"And now I present this medal to Twilight Sparkle, for saving our town and banishing the Ursa Major!" All of Ponyville cheered as Twilight Sparkle stepped onto the stage with Mayor Mare. Mayor Mare was a female, light brown, Earth pony. She had a pair of dark blue eyes that were set behind a pair of golden rimmed, half-moon spectacles. Her mane and tail were a light gray with her mane having two streaks of a darker shade and her tail having one. Around her neck was a white collar held together by a light green piece of fabric. Her flank held her Cutie Mark, which was of a small scroll wrapped in a blue ribbon. Mayor Mare held the medal within her mouth as she walked to the earlier introduced Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle bowed her head, giving the Mayor the ability to place the medal around her neck. Mayor Mare, done with crowning their savior, turned back to the crowd of ponies present at the ceremony and raised a single hoof. "I announce that we shall have a celebration in the honor of our hero, Twilight!" That brought forth another roar of cheers from the crowd. The cheering assaulted Twilight's ears as she closed her eyes and raised her head with pride. She listened on, the cheering of her friends, cheering from all of the residents of Ponyville, the clapping of a single pair of hooves. She opened her eyes to find the crowd still cheering, but it was nothing but silence save for the clapping. Twilight looked beyond the crowd to find a single hooded pony sitting on his haunches outside the sea of ponies. He was clapping, slowly...clapping. His white hooves moved as if in slow motion, a loud echo of hoof on hoof sounded throughout all of Ponyville. The crowd had now been stopped, paused in the middle of their multiple actions with some floating in mid-jump. Twilight moved her attention back to the clapping pony that had now stopped his clapping. He had also been set in a spell of slow motion and was taking painstaking time to put his hooves back on the ground. But she would regret every moment she had waited for those hooves to touchdown. They hit the ground and suddenly all hearing was returned to Twilight. Her expectations of more cheering were shattered by the piercing screams and smell of burning. All of Ponyville, it was set ablaze with flames that ate everything and moved on to anything else to satisfy its hunger. Twilight looked back at the crow and instantly lost all contents of her stomach in a sudden gag that turned into a hurl. The ponies that had come to stage were almost unrecognizable by face or coat color. The mutilated bodies were brush stroked in the blood of torn limbs and exposed insides. Twilight had never in her life seen such a barbaric and hellish act of murder. The feeling of some liquid caused her to look up, only to fall down and crawl as far back as she could. Hanging from the stage supports was Mayor Mare. A set of reigns ironically gagged her and wrapped around her neck to be tied to the support and leaving her to dangle. Limbs looked as if they were severed by force with what looked to be fresh blood emptying over the stage. Her eyes were unrecognizable as glass has been broken off in them, implying that she was hit in the face and her spectacles were shattered by the force. The returning of clapping brought her back to the white hoofed pony, the only one unaffected by the disaster. Despite Twilight's fear, she worked up as much of her voice she could find. "Did you do this?" The pony halted his clapping, and instead put his hooves up and casually shrugged his shoulders. Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing! This pony didn't seem to care that her home was now in rooms and all of her friends were stolen from her. Blinded by anger, Twilight charged every ounce her magical power into her horn. She was going to make this monster pay for his crimes.

"Twilight, stop!"

Her focus was averted to the source of the voice. "Celestia!" Twilight was overjoyed to see that her teacher had come to help her. "This pony is the one who started the fire, the one who did...this." She gagged once more as she remembered what was on the ground in front of her. Celestia dropped down in front of the mysterious pony, charging her more powerful magic.

"I know, but you are no match for him. You must quickly leave, run or h-" Celestia was silenced mid-sentence as the hooded pony passed the Princess of the Sun herself. The look of horror on Celestia's face was mirrored by Twilight. Tears freely flowing down Twilight's cheeks like rivers. Celestia gave Twilight one last horror filled look upon her tear soaked face, before her head was fiercely jerked to the right leaving the spinal cord to protrude from her neck. Celestia's head was then unmercifully ripped from its disturbing angle and deposited to the ground. In a flurry of feathers her wings were torn from her back, ripping away with it skin that came off at her flank. The crown that had decorated her head was ruthlessly shoved into her chest, piercing her where the heart would be located. Twilight was speechless as her teacher and idol joined the mutilated corpses strewn upon the streets. And that pony, he just...kept...walking. He didn't even flinch at the massacre he had created. He was moving closer to Twilight, but she was frozen with fear and unable to get her body to respond. She wanted nothing else but to run, to get away, and yet she was held by his invisible gaze hidden in the shadow of his cloak. Stopping in front of her, he leaned his head forward until it was next to her ear.

"Wake up...Twilight." The subtle whisper was followed by the feeling of something piercing her chest. With all the shock, she was unable to look down to find out what it was but widened her eyes as she kept feeling it being repeatedly inserted.

"Twilight!" Her mouth opened to release only a silent scream of pain.

"Twilight!" Everything was going black; she would soon join the end result of Ponyville.

"TWIIILIIIGHT!"

Twilight jumped from her bed wailing, knocking a poor baby dragon to the floor. With tears in her vision she felt around her body for any injuries. When she found that she was perfectly fine and in her home she calmed down a little. Her deep breathing alerted the baby dragon, and was a sign that she was not okay. "Twilight, what's wrong?" Twilight quickly looked to the dragon and took him in her embrace as a few more sobs broke out. The dragon was confused by the gesture but decided not to break the hug in her current condition. After a few minutes of sniffling and hiccups, Twilight finally let the dragon go and wiped away the stray tears. "Thank you Spike, now why was it you woke me up?" Spike stood speechless for a moment. He was unsure of telling Twilight about the letter in her current condition.

"How about this Twilight, you look like you had a rather terrible nightmare. Get some sleep, and I'll tell you about it in the morning."

"No it's fine, I'd like to know abo-"

"No Twilight, I promise I'll tell you first thing in the morning, but for now need your sleep." With a sigh of defeat Twilight slowly nodded her head.

"Okay Spike, I'll get some sleep." Spike gave her a sincere smile as Twilight lay back down to go to sleep. Spike jumped down from the bed and made his way to his little basket. Curling up under the covers, he remembered just what was written on the letter. "Good night Twilight, you'll need it for tomorrow." With that said, he joined Twilight in slumber.

"So you're saying that beyond this forest lays a settlement named Ponyville?" Feral and Zecora had set out early for Ponyville as to not be stretched for time. While it would take a bit if time to leave the forest, it wouldn't cut into too much of their time.

"Yes, there we will find a good friend of mine that can gain us an audience with Celestia. It shouldn't be hard with her being the student if the Princess." Feral gave a long thought to that statement. So he's been gone for that long. He always knew she'd become a great Alicorn, he just didn't know how.

"So how exactly have things been lately in the world?"

"Not too bad, I believe the biggest thing was the incident with Discord. That sent Ponyville into a bit of distress for a while." Feral's face lit up at the mention of the Draconequus. So it seemed the whole group was reunited once more. He didn't know whether to call this his best day ever or his biggest fear. He was set on only confronting Celestia, but now he knew he'd be seeing Luna and Discord along with her.

They kept a swift pace going through the forest. Unknowing to what was lurking in it; they weren't keen on meeting the life within. It wasn't until muffled sounds of moving in the brush were they stalled. Feral sudden stop confused Zecora and had her follow suit. Zecora made a move to ask why they had stopped and was quickly silenced by the rising of Feral's hoof. Horror overtook the Zebra's features as three Manticores stepped out of the underbrush. They were mythical beasts that lived among many more in the Everfree Forest. With the body and face of a Lion, wings of a Dragon, and tail of a Scorpion, they were deadly creatures and should not be taken lightly. "Zecora." The horror filled face of the Zebra gave its attention to the white Stallion in front. "I want you to close your eyes, and no matter what you hear do not look." She didn't enjoy the thought of not being able to see when faced with these beasts, but decided to do what Feral asked on account of the fear pulsing through her. Through everything, not matter what, she kept her eyes closed. The yells, the painful roars, the sounds of struggling, and the silence. No matter what she only kept her eyes shut. "Zecora is there a lake on our way to Ponyville."

"Yes, but why wou-"

"Just please take me to it. Please turn around and then you may open your eyes. I just asked that you don't turn around, don't worry I will be following you." As she was asked, she turned around and opened her eyes. Now able to see she set off for the lake he had asked for. After only a few minutes of walking had they come to a clearing with a lake in the middle. "Thank you Zecora, now for one last time I want you to close your eyes again. Please do not open them until I ask you to do so." So once more she closed her eyes and was met with the sound of a sudden splash. While waiting Zecora only heard the Stallion, as far as she could tell, cleaning himself. The reason for this was unknown and would stay unknown. "Okay, you may open your eyes again." Zecora gained her sight back and was met with the sight of a soaked Feral. "Let us continue on, shall we?" Zecora was confused by all the secrecy this Stallion had gone through with this task and was in need of some answers.

"Just why did you want me to close my eyes." Feral only gave her a small smile and a look that matched that of a father.

"Because, my innocence may be absent, but that doesn't mean I'll dirty yours." That was all she got from him, and it left her even deeper in the dark than before. "Now can we please continue on to our destination?" Knowing that she was out of getting answers, Zecora turned back around and lead the way to Ponyville.

The sun crept through the window of the town library and covered the sleeping form of Twilight Sparkle. With the sudden disturbance, she sat up and gently fell to the floor. Twilight walked over to a mirror and faced her reflection as a nearby hairbrush was coated in a purple glow with a pinkish outer layer. The brush rose into the air and levitated over to Twilight, gently brushing her mane. When she was done the hairbrush was set back down in its earlier position as the glow dissipated. With her hair fixed she gave one last glance at her reflection. Twilight was a young, purple coated, Unicorn mare. Her mane and tail were both a sapphire blue with a single violet and rose streak running through both. Moving to her eyes, they were both a violet color. On her flank was a Cutie Mark of a large six pointed star with a smaller white one behind it and five white stars surround the much larger one. She gave a bright and enthusiastic smile to her reflection. After that nightmare last night she had gotten much better sleep the second time around. No matter how hard she tried, the images of that dream could never leave her mind. She was just glad that she didn't seem to have another occurrence of the dream. With her morning touch up finished Twilight made her way downstairs for breakfast. Since last night she had been curious of what it was Spike had intentionally woken her up for. Once downstairs she made way to the kitchen and fixed herself a cup of tea and grabbed one of the many Apple Family apples she had in her fridge. With breakfast accounted for, she then made her way into the main library where she sat on one of two couches in the middle of the room, setting down the tea and apple on a table between them. Opposite of her sat the baby dragon Spike with a small bowl if various colored gems. "So Spike, I'd like to know just what it was you had woken me up for last night." As if already prepared for the question, he raised a rolled up scroll in his hands. Enveloping it with magic she politely took it from his grasp and unrolled it, bringing it close to her face.

Dear Twilight,

It seems that we may have a dire issue upon us in Equestria. A force I have not met with for some time has possibly become free from his imprisonment. I asked that you gather your friends and the Elements of Harmony and hurry to me immediately. I'm uncertain if this plan will work, but I must do anything to keep a past mistake from reenacting. Do hurry; it is possible that he is making his way to us as we speak.

-Celestia

Twilight was both confused and shocked by what she had read. From how short and to the point the letter was Celestia must believe this to be very urgent. The thing she didn't get was how in the dark she was left. The Princess was usually rather honest with her and would never hide anything. This just gave Twilight even more of a reason to carry out Celestia's request as fast as possible. A loud knocking pulled her out of though and moved her focus to Spike. "Could you please get that Spike?" Spike set his bowl of gems down on the table and hopped down from the couch. Twilight was left to dwell more on her thoughts before a call from Spike interrupted her.

"Twilight, you have company!" Sliding to the floor she made her way over to Spike and the front door. Once was able to see who was in the door she first froze in surprise at seeing a friend she hadn't seen in a while, but that surprise warped into something completely different when she laid eyes on the company that was brought along.

"So this is Ponyville? It is a rather nice little settlement. I wouldn't mind settling down here in the future." Feral marveled at the peaceful little town. Wasn't too small and looked to have a fair amount of friendly faces. It was like a place where frowning was against some law.

"While it is a very enjoyable place, remember why we are here." Feral rolled his eyes at the tribal Zebra with a friendly smile.

"I remember what we really came for, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the travel. There are some things you can only see once in life. Don't rush the time you have, everything can be accomplished in small steps. Even if you have morals and certain standards, you should set some time off to the side for yourself." He gave an intense stare to the small town. It took a minute for him to reach a conclusion that made his eyes open in realization. "Uh...I know this might be a bit rude, but might I ask if I may stay with you at your home? I know it is indecent for a male and female to live under the same roof under our condition, but I can't think of anywhere I can go unless I find somewhere in the forest that is uninhabited. I can find my own food in the forest and I can help you gather herbs, as well as be protection." Zecora was genuinely surprised by the question. She was certain that he might want to stay in the town. One of her friends would have definitely offered him a place to stay. She was the last person she thought he'd want to stay with.

"May I ask why, I'm sure there is someone I know that can offer living arrangements."

"Well for one, you did kind of save my life. Another is the fact that you're the first one I've gotten to know so far. I've never truthfully encountered a Zebra and I wouldn't mind learning more about you. And besides, you should get out a little more. I understand that you enjoy the solace of the forest and that's fine, but there are more things to see outside the forest. I'm rather curious about what is exactly in and around the forest. Maybe we can help each other out there." Zecora was stunned beyond any words. This Stallion she had just met yesterday had accepted her faster than anyone she had ever met. She would consider the reason to be that they were both foreign, but scratched that when she remembered him saying he had been absent. It made her happy to know she had gained yet another friend, something that felt different to her.

"I suppose I could make arrangements for you. Besides, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still curious about you. You may stay, but you must also be willing to help me out and pull some weight." Feral raised a hoof in salute to her command.

"I am an honest pony and wouldn't have it any other way. I can never thank you enough for how much you have helped me."

"It is quite alright, it also makes me more curious of just what you'll do to get me away from the forest." With a joyful smile the Zebra continued on with an equally happy Feral. It didn't take too long to actually reach the town and Feral found that it was much livelier than he had first thought. All of the colors, the stalls, shops, flora, and ponies. It brought all kinds of life to the scenery and mood of the town. Feral was soon broken out of his thought though by an unnatural burst of pink moving at speed he could hardly pull off himself.

"Did you see that?" The Zebra in question only had a look of confusion to the question.

"See what exactly?" Feral guessed that only he had seen it. He was a fast pony himself, but that was an amazing feat to behold.

"Never mind." He continued to follow Zecora to the current destination that he was unfamiliar with. As they moved on he took in all of the sights before him. He found that he would thoroughly enjoy this peaceful settlement and its accommodations.

"Here we are." Feral moved his sights to the giant tree in front of them. It was a large tree and looked to be hollowed out and made for living. There were many windows decorating the exterior, some with light patches of green leaves covering them like awnings in which a lantern hung from one. On an upper half was as small balcony that looked to be accessible from the inside. A sign was posted outside that had a book on the front which, while it might have seemed to be a simple symbol if direction, could mean many other things. The front door was read with the picture of a candlestick on it and had a set of double door handles, yet it seemed that the door opened in a whole rather than a set.

"How many people actually live in trees?" Zecora let out a light chuckle.

"Only a few." Feral and Zecora made their way to the front door. As Zecora raised a hoof the pink blur from earlier returned.

"OH MY GOSH! Are you new in town because I know everyone so you must be new. And if that's the case then I need to...WAIT! Where'd he go?" A pink pony that had suddenly appeared searched everywhere for the new white Stallion. "Oh well, maybe he's already getting ready for the party." The energetic ball of random was a pink Mare with light blue eyes. Her mane looked to be curly puffs of cotton candy, sporting a darker pink color than her coat. On her flank was a Cutie Mark of three balloons, one yellow and two blue, all attached to strings opposite of the balloon's color. She seemed to always beam, the life of the party. But that smile was replaced by a look of fear followed by multiple twitches and rapid body movements. First she would repeatedly begin to shudder, followed by her tail twitching at insane speeds, cutting it off with her moving her legs up and down as if they were in pain. She would go through all of this and stopped, only to repeat the process. At the speed in which she appeared she rushed at the door and began slamming both hooves against it. "I almost forgot why I came here! Twilight, I need your help! This has never in a million bazillions of years happened before!" After a few minutes of relentless pounding, the door was answered by a small purple dragon. "Spike, quick, pretty pretty pretty pretty pleeeeaasseee get Twilight!" When Spike witnessed just what he heard the pink mare yelling on about, he was rather shocked.

"Twilight, you have company!" Waiting a few moments they started to here hoof steps and then found Twilight appearing before Zecora and the crazy pink mare. When Twilight laid eyes on Zecora she gave a friendly smile, but when it moved to the scared looking mare trembling on the ground with her hooves over her face, her face froze in shock.

"Pinkie Pie, what's going on with your sense?" At the sound of her name, Pinkie Pie shot at the purple unicorn and enveloped her with a death grip. Her gaze was locked on the sky as her tail began to twitch.

"I don't know Twilight. I've never experienced something like this. It began this morning and hasn't stopped since." Twilight gave a sympathetic look to the pink Earth pony. She had always lived with being able to know what was possibly going to happen and this new experience had frightened her.

"Don't worry Pinkie. I'm sure that there is an explanation for this. You shouldn't let something new like this frighten you. Even you can't predict everything with your Pinkie Sense. Maybe there are some twitches and combinations even you don't know about yet." That explanation brought a grand smile to Pinkie's face.

"Maybe your right Twilight, I guess it was just weird to not know something I've had for almost my entire life." She suddenly looked up at the sound of rustling in the trees followed by a falling mass. It was a white pony that slowly groaned and rubbed his head as he stood back on his feet.

"That was one fall, I don't remember going into the tree." He turned around and came face to face with Pinkie Pie. Jumping back in surprise, he pointed a hoof comically at Pinkie. "You're that insanely fast pony that startled me and got me up there in the first place!" The pink Earth pony was confused at first, but burst into an enormous smile when everything clicked in her head.

"And you're the new pony in town! I've still got to throw you a party!" She turned to Twilight while repeatedly bouncing in place. "Thank you Twilight, maybe this new sense will be something so amazing it will make everypony want to party twice as hard!" The purple unicorn gave a friendly nod to the hyperactive mare.

"Anytime Pinkie, I'm glad I could help." With a final bounce Pinkie Pie once again shot off at unimaginable speeds. Feral looked on in the direction in which she had disappeared. His jaw had descended so far he wondered if it was even physically possible and if he should see a doctor.

"This town is so frighteningly insane!"

"Being insane they play the part, but they are all great ponies at heart." The rhymes of the Zebra reminded Feral of Zecora's presence. She turned to Twilight with the same smile presented to her. "I am sorry for disturbing you without notice. We came seeking an audience with someone you know closest." Twilight still did not fully grasp the meaning of her rhymes, but got the gist that she wanted to talk.

Twilight stepped aside and raised a hoof offering passage into her home. "Well then, please come in and we can discuss this further."

The unaffectionate blaze of the overviewing sun beat down on the small orchard of Sweet Apple Acres. Apple trees were spread out among the generous stretch of land as far as the eye could see. Inside the jungle was a young mare working her hardest to buck trees to gather apples. She had a fairly darkish orange coat and dark green eyes. On both of her cheeks were a set of three light freckles. Her mane and tail was a light blonde, both in a ponytail. On her flank was a Cutie Mark of three apples arranged in a triangle. Lastly, she wore a light brown Stetson that rested atop her head. Sweat continued to roll down her faced as she reared back and bucked another tree. It was a tedious and mundane job, but it's what she lived for and what supported her family the most. With her current tree done she quickly moved to the next. Just like the last tree, she again reared back and prepared to give it a good buck. Once she released her hooves collided with the tree, but she suddenly lost her balance when the solid form of the tree had disappeared from her touch. Instead she recoiled in pain as a burning feeling shot up her legs. She swiftly twirled on her hooves to meet with a terrifying sight. The tree she had bucked disintegrated into a deep black ash. The ash kept her in an unresponsive trance as it was caught by the wind and began to drift through the rest of the orchard. Her eyes were quickly filled with horror as each tree the ash passed, that tree and those around it spontaneously combusted. Adding to the horror, she witnessed the ash slowly phase through a tree and was left in ashen remains. Her greatest nightmare slowly lived itself right before her eyes, and she was helpless to stop it. Without thinking she made a mad dash her house. Once she reached her destination she made every attempt to keep any contents in her stomach from resurfacing. Just as if it were the orchard, it had been reduced to nothing but ash along with anything inside. "Granny Smith...Apple Bloom..." Breaking out in tears, the orange mare instantaneously sprinted off towards the farm's field. The scene she was met with widened the hairline crack on her mentality. The rusty blow that had been used on the fields had been used to repeatedly cut away at her brother, Big Macintosh. It looked as of the rust from the plow kept it from making a clean cut, so he was hit with it more than once. He was now lying on his side, left as a blood soaked corpse, with the plow lodged inside his body. She was unable to look away, the scarring event taking a toll on her mind. The only thing that registered in her mind was the constant noises of different animals resonating from the barn. While she had no intentions on wanting to find out what was happening, her legs had whim to move on their own towards the barn. The mare tried to fight it, tried to run, but her own body was fighting against her and forcing her to further witness the monstrosities of some sick individual. At the entrance of the barn she found that the inside was littered with the carcasses of multiple farm animals. Innards, organs, skin, and limbs were thrown about the barn and blood bathed most of the floor and support beams. To her surprise she only found one thing stained by the devastation. Casually sitting in the middle of the barn was a lone cloaked figure. Forced by uncontrollable motion, the mare slowly made her way towards the individual. She stopped dead when it made a sudden movement and began to turn to her. The sight drained every ounce of strength she had as she fell backwards in an attempt to crawl away from this monster. In the hooves of the unknown Stallion was the dismembered head of her sister, Apple Bloom. Even after possibly tearing the head from its host, he held it as if it were fragile porcelain. Softly setting the head on the ground, he stood up and slowly strolled over to the downed mare. She had lost all of her strength and could only lie at the feet of this animal. The Stallion sat back on his haunches and tenderly picked her head up, bringing their faces close together. She could only see the masculine muzzle of the Stallion from the shadows of his hood, for it was only inches from hers. With no viewable expression in his lips, she slowly began to feel an increasing force coming from the position of the Stallion's hooves.

"I was only trying to protect you."

The mare couldn't register exactly what he meant by the statement, for the increasing pressure was becoming extremely painful. Her mouth had begun to slowly open and a small voice could be heard. The voice quickly rose in octaves as all of the pain of losing her loved ones and the thought of death weighed down on her. She couldn't stand living at the moment, the slow pain increasing to unimaginable heights for her. All she wanted was for this Stallion to end the life he had already taken.

Only black clouded her vision and she finally thought it was over, but felt something wet on her face. Her heart raced as she opened her eyes and took a quick look around. She was back on her orchard and everything seemed perfectly fine. The trees were all healthy and the fields were once again green. "Applejack!" The mare looked up to find a pony heading towards her. It was a large stallion who sported a red coat, light yellowish grey hooves, and a large collar like object around his neck. His eyes were the same green as the mare's and he even had the same freckles. His mane and tail were both a dark orange, his tail a lot shorter than most Stallions. On his flank was a Cutie Mark of a green apple with a lighter green stem and leaf that had been cut open in the middle, showing a whitish inside full of seeds. "Applejack are you okay? I heard a scream from this direction." Applejack tried in vain to wipe away and hide the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Yes, Big Mac, I'm fine I just... No I'm not fine. Everything was burned, taken, destroyed! All because of him!" The exclamation was followed by another surge of tears. Big Mac took his sister in a gentle embrace as she emptied her sorrow. "He burnt the whole farm, orchard and all. Took my whole family and stole their lives." Big Mac slowly rubbed her back, bringing Applejack a small amount of comfort.

"C'mon, that's enough buckin' for today. Let's get you inside so you can rest." With that said, Big Mac and Applejack made their way back to their house for a break.

"So what is it that you wished to talk about?" Twilight levitated a small cup of tea up to her mouth and took a sip. Zecora and some Stallion she had never seen were sitting across from her. She was curious as to why Zecora brought him here and just how she met him.

"First off, I'd like to introduce myself. I am known as Feral, it is nice to meet you Twilight." He gave a small bow of his head in respect towards the Unicorn. Twilight gave him a small bow as a gesture of good will.

"Twilight, I have a favor to ask if I may. Might it be possible to gain us a meeting with the Princesses of night and day?"

A rainbow blur streaked through the sky, zigzagging among the clouds above. A scrambled blue figure was all that could be seen leading the way. It performed multiple tricks and aerial acrobatics, albeit recklessly. It was only clearly seen once it pierced a cloud and came out the other side, hovering and sprinkled in a small mist of water. It was a Pegasus mare covered in a cerulean coat. On her back were two feathery wings granted to every Pegasi. Her eyes were that of a somewhat darker shade of purple. Her mane and tail were in an outrageous coloration that could only be compared to a rainbow. On her flank was a Cutie Mark of a white cloud with a slightly curving rainbow colored lightning bolt. She took off once more as fast as she came. Twists, flips, and barrel rolls all became part of her aerial stunt show. She once again became the only sign of her existence. This is what she lived for, and what would get her closer to her dream. "Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow Dash looked below her to find a small Pegasus filly looking at her in admiration. The filly's coat was a dark orange and she had a grayish purple eye color. She also had the same wings on her back like other Pegasi. Her mane and tail were a dark variation of pink.

"Scootaloo?" Rainbow Dash's smile widened in great lengths. This was a chance to impress her number one fan and show her how awesome she was. Rainbow Dash shot straight up, ascending great heights above the clouds. Quickly breaking into a U-turn, she took a nosedive straight for the ground below. Her speed gaining quickly she had an even harder time keeping a balance. Getting a little daring, she set herself into a drill spin. The move was experimental and unstable. So far it was going rather smoothly, but a shift in her wings sent her flailing. Rainbow Dash was thrown into a free fall and was beginning panic. She couldn't regain any control and the ground was approaching fast. Out of sheer luck, Rainbow Dash was able to gain control, pull up, and miss a painful crash landing by only a few feet. She touched down in a clumsy matter of trembling legs. Her heavy breathing was accompanied by the unnatural speeds of her thumping heart.

"Rainbow Dash, are you okay?" Scootaloo made her way to Rainbow's side. The unexpected change in her idol's performance along with the view of her near crash experience had frightened the filly.

"I'm fine, Scootaloo." Rainbow Dash hung her head in shame and looked away from the filly. After that screw up she couldn't look at the most likely disappointed face of her biggest fan. Averting her gaze to the clouds, she noticed a single figure resting atop a cloud above. Out of curiosity she flew up to find it to be a cloaked pony. The pony just sat there, looking down at the residents of Ponyville. He wasn't alerted by her presence and made no movements, like he was just a statue. Rainbow flew around until she was in front of him, but still nothing. "Hellooooo?" She waved a hoof in the air in another attempt to gain it's attention. Rainbow grew agitated at the rudeness of this pony. "Hey, are you going to answer me?" She stared intently at the pony's white muzzle, the only thing actually visible.

"I won't let you use them." Rainbow's head tilted at the strange statement. She was surprised when he turned around on the cloud and looked back down towards where Scootaloo was. The surprise turned to horror as the cloud melted to grey and he raised his hoof high. He slammed his hoof on the cloud with a force so extreme, it spawned a bolt of lightning larger than most. Without hesitation, Rainbow was off and chasing the lone bolt of electricity. She used all of her speed in an attempt to catch the bolt before it hurt anyone, but her efforts only seemed to be in vain. No matter how fast she was or how much faster she could go, it only seemed to put more distance between her and the bolt. Tears breached her surface as she lost the race and the bolt struck Scootaloo. The surge sent her backwards, but luckily Rainbow was fast enough to catch her. Rainbow Dash hugged the jittering body of the little Filly. She rocked back and forth as the jumps became less frequent and later came to a stop. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm supposed to be the fastest, but I...I wasn't..." Another wave of tears erupted as she kept rocking. As gently as her trembling body could, Rainbow laid the lifeless body of Scootaloo on the ground. In a fit of despairing anger she whirled around, ready to take down the monster that did this. She frustratingly found that he had disappeared, most likely ran like a coward. She was ready to take off and find him when a sickening crunch froze her in place. She turned in fear to find that the Stallion had somehow gotten behind her and had a hoof risen for a second blow at the already gruesomely indented head of the Filly at his feet. On instinct Dash jumped in and pulled Scootaloo close to her body, successfully protecting her, but sadly put her in the line of the second blow. The pain was so great that it had pretty much made her body numb. She would die slowly, but without the pain of it.

"Rainbow Dash." Dash looked down to see the squinted eyes of the slowly dying Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash pulled her closer in a final hug of farewells. "Rainbow Dash." She could feel the blood slowly spread down her face, mixing with the tears. "Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes with a few blinks to regain her vision. Sitting up, she found Scootaloo in front of her with a worried look. Rainbow quickly latched on to her in a hug of relief. The Filly was shocked to say the least and was so frozen by surprise that she couldn't do anything. "I thought I had lost you." That shook Scootaloo from her cryogenic sleep.

"What?" Rainbow pulled away and only gave her a smile.

"It's nothing." Rainbow stood up and noticed something embarrassing. She was standing in what looked like a crater created by the failure of her stunt. It seemed that she had really crashed and was knocked out for a while. "That's a bit embarrassing."

"Its fine, everyone can't be perfect. I still think you're the best though Rainbow Dash."

"So what exactly is the reason for you wanting to meet the Princesses?" Twilight wasn't gain at helping them, but was curious on why.

"It's kind of a long story and really hard to understand. Let's just say I'm one of her childhood friends." Twilight could only follow up with the response of choking and a shattering tea cup.

"Wha- WHAT!"

"Angel! Angel come back, it's not safe here!" A feminine voice echoed throughout the Everfree Forest. A young mare pulled back bushes and other plantation in search of something. "Angel!" She had a light blonde coat complimented by a pair of cyan eyes. Her mane and tail were a light pink with a small curl at the end of them. On her flank was a Cutie Mark of three butterflies with cyan bodies and wings to match her mane and tail coloration. Her frantic search continued on through the forest of mysteries. "Angel, there you are!" At the sight of a small white bunny she rushed out of the foliage. She scooped the bunny up in a hug, which the bunny attempted to break from. "Oh I've been looking everywhere for you. How many times must I tell you that this place is dangerous?" She set Angel on her back and the bunny angrily crossed its arms. When the mare put her hoof down to get ready for their departure, she heard a quiet crunch. Looking down, her eyes fiercely widened in horror at the sight of a flower beneath her hoof. It was an odd looking blue flower that only grew inside the Everfree Forest. She had dealt with it before and hoped to never see it again, but that hadn't seemed to work out. "The Poison Joke..." Forgetting everything, she made a quick dash back to her cottage where she would make her way to Twilight since she had learned the cute from Zecora. Since she hadn't gone too far it didn't take long to get back to her house, but what she was met with didn't sit well with her at all. Every single animal she has been tasked with to take care of we're scattered in a jumble of limbs around the blazed remains of her home. She and Angel had been left a trembling mess with the scene. The mare shook her head, unbelieving to this sudden turn of events. "No, this isn't happening! It isn't real! It's just the flower!" She kept repeating this as if it was her own mantra, but it couldn't soothe her fear.

"I will destroy you, and this village." In surprise to the voice, the mare looked up to find what looked to be a cloaked Stallion, if the masculine muzzle was anything to go by. "I will not let you use my family for your own personal gain." She backed away in fear of the Stallion. She wasn't positive, but she was sure that this Stallion left this gruesome mess. She could feel a tsunami of malice roll from the core of this Stallion. Without hesitation, she turned around and made a straight shot for town. This might have been an illusion, but the fear was anything but fake. She needed to find Twilight and be rid of this horrible joke. Her frantic rushing through the middle of town caught the attention of everypony, but she could care less. The only thing she was focused on was getting away from that Stallion and finding Twilight so she can cure herself. Everything seemed fine as she ran, the residents were fine and the town was unscathed. Slowing down, the mare wondered if it had just been an illusion she only saw at her cottage. Huffing at the loss of her breath, she turned around only to ignite in a second wind of energy. The Stallion was lazily strolling through the middle of town. Every building he passed was soon alight and the ponies were mysteriously sliced, ripped in half, or met with a fate of agonizing scream as they were consumed by fire. She was tired of the torment and took off in an unfurling of wings that would impress even her athletic counterpart. The library was in her sight and that just meant she was closer to leaving this nightmare.

Twilight hacked up multiple coughs as she kept trying to catch herself. The news of meeting a childhood friend of her mentor and he wasn't even an Alicorn shocked her. It was a surprise to her how he looked as young as he did. "You're really a Stallion from Princess Celestia's childhood?" Feral gave the Unicorn a curt nod.

"That is right; I've been friends with her since she was a Filly." Twilight was unable to get over the initial shock of this information.

"If that is true, then I can get you to the Princess. I'm interested in what she has to say abou-" Twilight was interrupted by a sudden crash at her front door. She carefully slid of the couch and made her way to the entrance. There she opened the door to find a trembling blonde mare. "Fluttershy?"

Pinkie Pie bounced around the small space of the Cake's bakery. Everything was set to make the welcoming party for the new pony loads of fun. She had cake, cupcakes, candy, various refreshments, balloons, streamers, and many other miscellaneous party items. The chiming of the front door bell caught her attention and she looked towards it to find a tall cloaked pony. Her smile never faltered as she bounced right up to what she thought was a potential guest. "Hello! Are you here for the party? Oh this is going to be so great! I simply love parties and so does everypony else! I know you'll have just a blast here!" As she kept rambling on, the stranger just waltzed in and made his way over to the various foods laid out. "Those are for all the guests when they arrive so don't go hogging it all now." Pinkie just kept bouncing around him in a spectacle of infinite energy. The cloaked pony looked up at the bountiful cake laid out before him. It was fairly tall, layers upon layers of frosting and other sugary substances cloaked the fluffy baked good. Pinkie's smile only widened more as the mysterious pony, to what she thought, admired her magnificent work. The cloaked pony raised his hoof high above the cake and cleaved it down through the cake. That instantly wiped away Pinkie's smile and replaced it with a rare frown. "Hey, that's not nice! Just what do you think you're doing?" The Stallion pulled his hoof from the cake and proceeded to flip the entire table of party snacks. "Stop it!" Pinkie marched up to Stallion and planted her face right in his field of vision. "I don't appreciate what you just did. That was for the new pony in town. Are you trying to ruin my party?"

"I won't let you steal away my happiness." Pinkie Pie back away with a questioning brow raised.

"What do you mean? This party was meant to bring happiness." The strange pony gripped a bundle of balloons and watched them slowly pop randomly. Once he finished with that group he did the same thing with another. "Quit that!" The Stallion walked over to the welcoming banner strung up on the ceiling and tore it down. By this time the puffiness of Pinkie's mane and tail had been lost and straightened out. The bright color that expressed her delight was drained and left dark. All she could really do is sit and cry as the Stallion continued to ruin her hard work.

"Twilight, I need your help. I went into the Everfree Forest to find Angel and I ran into the Poison Joke." At the mention of the baneful flower, Twilight quickly pulled the blonde mare inside the library. Feral watched Twilight lead a shaking mare up a flight of stairs to the top floor.

"I'll only be a minute, please take a look around and I'll be back soon." And with that the Unicorn vanished from sight up the stairs. Feral examined the inside of the tree slowly. It was just what you would expect from a library. Shelves of books lined the walls, each with individual categories and authors. The only thing that didn't completely make the place feel like a library was the different pieces of furniture and appliances that would be needed to live everyday lives. He looked over at Zecora as she took a short sip from her teacup.

"So it looks like we have a ride to the castle." Zecora retracted the cup from her mouth and set it down.

"Yes, but I'm concerned by what Fluttershy saw. The Sick Joke has multiple ways of working. Some of which are not so pleasant." Feral wasn't sure what she was talking about, but knew that if it wasn't part of Ponyville that she knew more than him. The sound of hoof steps had him looking back to the stairs to watch Twilight descend into the main room.

"Sorry about that, now where were we?"

Fluttershy sat at the side of the tub as it slowly filled up. Just a few minutes and she'll be rid of that accursed flower. She rested her back against the tub and let out a long sigh. That illusion had given her quite the scare no matter how fake it was. Looking up she was met with the sight of the Stallion once again. In a flurry of flailing hooves she fell back into the tub, submerging herself in the water while taking a mouthful that was downed into her stomach. She emerged from the water with her hooves covering her face. After a few minutes her curiosity got the better of her and she removed the hooves from her face. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth when she found that the Stallion was gone.

Twilight returned to her spot on the couch. "As I was saying, I can get you to Canterlot and a meeting with Celestia and Luna. She had asked me to gather my friends and meet with her as fast as possible. I would like both of you to join us on the train ride there." Feral gave her a deep bow of his head in thanks.

"I would very much appreciate that. I thank you for your cooperation and help."

"It is no problem; once Fluttershy is done upstairs we can gather the rest of the group and head out."

"Thank you again Twilight. I really needed that." Every occupant in the room looked to the stairwell to find the same mare Twilight escorted in. Feral jumped off the couch and walked over to her and offered a hoof, which caused her to hide inside her mane.

"Hello, my name is Feral, you must be Fluttershy. It's nice to meet you."

"Hello I'm..." All he got was a hello and then a silent mumble of her introduction.

"Excuse me?" This time the mumbling was so quiet that he couldn't even catch the beginning. Twilight came up beside Feral and awkwardly pushed his hoof to the ground.

"That won't really get any reaction. She's a bit..."

"Shy."

"Yeah." Feral gave a friendly smile to the shy mare in front of him.

"That's fine, take your time. I'm a patient person so take your time and we can get introductions some other time." Fluttershy blushed as Feral turned to Twilight. "Does this mean that we may set off?" Twilight gave him a nod of approval.

"Yes, Fluttershy I need you to come with also. Princess Celestia has asked us all to come to Canterlot immediately." The shy Pegasus gave the Unicorn an almost unnoticeable nod. "Okay then, let us leave." With that, the group of four quickly left to gather the rest of Twilight's friends.

"Oh dear, this just simply won't do." A lone Unicorn mare ran about the space of her boutique. She was a white mare with a pair of azure eyes. She was blessed with a beautifully curled indigo mane and tail, but was in rather bad shape at the moment. Her horn was lighted by a light blue hue as fabric of different varieties levitated to her. On her flank was a Cutie Mark of three diamonds. She was currently searching for one particular fabric, but had come up empty hoofed. It has been days since her last time of resting. She had been hammered with overflowing orders of dresses and suits from all over. This hadn't been the first time this had happen, but it wasn't often so she wasn't experienced in going hours on no sleep. "No, no, no, oh I'll never get anywhere at this pace. I must get these orders filled posthaste. I must have set the fabric seperate from the others." She set off to search the multiple drawers spread throughout the shop in a desperate search for her supplies. After a few minutes of swimming through her drawers she pulled out with a sheet of red fabric, a look of triumph on her face. She quickly hugged the sheet of red, most likely from the sleep deprivation, but raised her head at the sound of the bell at the front door. Rather than looking at the customer that walked in she closely inspected the sheet for any damage. "Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, I am proudly known as Rarity and the sole proprietress of this establishment, how may I help you?" Instead of a verbal answer she was given the heart wrenching sound of something tearing. Turning around Rarity found a brutish cloaked Stallion tearing apart one of the dresses requested in the order. The sight was so horrifying that she could only let out an ear piercing scream and pass out. The scream she omitted actually made the Stallion jump and looked to the unconscious form of Rarity.

"Damn, that was shorter than expected. I didn't even get to have fun."

Twilight and her team of ponies trotted their way through the town to pick up her companions. Their first stop would be to pick up Rarity. Knowing her, she would kill for a chance to go to Canterlot and quickly join them. It wasn't long before they came upon the establishment of the Carousel Boutique. It was an extravagant building that was taller than most buildings in town. At the front sat two windows covered above by a couple of awnings. Above the front door was a decorative sign with the picture of a pony. The building was adorned with colors of blues, yellows, pinks, purples, whites, and even a diamond patterned roof that made it hard to miss at any view. Farther up was a second story with two pony figures on either side resembling a carousel. At the very top was a small red flag that danced in the wind. Twilight walked straight up to the door and gave it a few knocks. After a few seconds of waiting the door was opened and she was met with a white coated Filly. Just like Twilight she too was a Unicorn and sported a horn on her head. She had a pair of light green eyes that were currently staring at Twilight in surprise. Her mane and tail both had a curl to them with a light purple and pink streak running through them. Her flank was blank as she seemed to be missing a Cutie Mark. "Sweetie Belle, do you happen to know if your sister is available." The newly named Sweetie Belle gave the purple Unicorn a look of worry as she opened the door further to unveil a distraught Rarity sitting on the couch, a cup of tea laid out in front of her. Twilight was surprised to find Rarity in her distraught state. Twilight and the rest of the group, Sweetie Belle curiously examining Feral as he was last to enter. The purple mare walked over to her Unicorn friend and gently set a hoof on her shoulder. Rarity jumped at the gesture, but when she found Twilight at the other end of the hoof she calmed down.

"What's wrong Rarity, I don't think I've ever seen you like this before." Rarity took a shaky sip from her tea cup.

"I'm not quite sure myself dear. It might be from the lack of sleep after getting piled with orders. I believe it was just a trick of the mind and nothing more."

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Well, earlier I was in the process of completing a few of my orders when I noticed I had run out of fabric. I went searching for some in my drawers and when I found what I was looking for, the bell at my door rang. I didn't initially turn around, but I asked if I could help him when I heard the sound of something tearing. I turned around only to find a Stallion in some horrid cloak ripping away at the dresses that I had dedicated sleepless nights to! I might have given a stern talking to, but the stress on my mind was so significant that time finally caught up with me, and I fainted." Twilight's eyes widened in shock at the familiar description of the Stallion. "There was something I found rather queer though. When I awoke the dresses didn't have a single scratch on them." Rarity let out a yelp at the sudden fierceness of Twilight as she took hold of her other shoulder.

"Rarity, did you see any other details about that pony? Color, speech, anything at all?"

N-No, I didn't even register his form at all. I was deathly tired and couldn't focus on looks not did I hear him speak. Why, do you happen to know this particular Stallion?" Twilight's ears dropped and her face adopted a look of sadness at the question.

"No, but I had a dream where I saw an exact Stallion of the same description." Twilight released Rarity and looked to the floor in deep thought. Could this be a coincidence or something else?

"Uh...I-I saw the same thing...when I touched the Sick Joke." Twilight looked behind her at the shy Pegasus hiding behind her pink mane.

"Are you sure Fluttershy?" Twilight only got a soft nod from the mare. This had Twilight becoming even more disturbed at this weird coincidence. She wondered if it had anything to do with the sudden message from Princess Celestia. "This just gives us a bigger reason to hurry to Canterlot. Rarity, since you seem to be a bit fatigued I'd like you to take a rest and try to meet us at the train station. There you can get more sleep on our way to Canterlot."

"That sounds like a splendid idea to me dear. I'll get some rest and meet you at the station. I could really use the break."

"Then I guess we're off. See you later Rarity."

"Goodbye Twilight." With that said Twilight and her little party set off for their next destination, Sugarcube Corner. It wasn't too far from Rarity and was the home of Pinkie Pie. It was a small bakery owned by a lovely couple, the Cakes. Once they came to the little bakery, Feral's face became one mixed of shock and disbelief. The building was literally made of sweets. An iced over gingerbread roof decorated the top of the colorful bakery. Placed on the roof was a small pony figurine holding a candy cane. To top off the outlandish architecture was what looked to be a chimney above the roof in the form of a cupcake with candles on top!

"What in the hell?" Feral's jaw could only hang as he kept blinking, wondering if he was hallucinating. Twilight giggled at Feral's disbelief.

"Yes, every new pony in town tends to have the same reaction. Come on, we should get Pinkie Pie and keep moving." She trotted up to the door and gave it a few light taps. It was soon answered by the owners, the Cakes. Mr. Cake was Stallion with a yellow coat and green eyes. He had a short orange mane and tail. He wore a red and white hat, a white apron, and a red and white striped bow tie. On his flank was a Cutie Mark of what seemed to be cake tipped with white icing.

His wife, Mrs. Cake, was a mare with a light blue coat and dark purple eyes. Her mane and tail resembled a dark pink soft serve ice cream with a lighter pink streak. She wore a dark yellow apron with pink frills and a pair of pink ball earrings. On her flank was a triplet of pink frosted cupcakes topped with cherries. The couple gave a sigh of relief at the sight of Twilight and stepped aside to allow the group to enter. Confused, Twilight entered and was greeted with a strange sight. Pinkie was laid out in the middle of the bakery with her face buried in her hooves. The Unicorn turned back to the couple with a quizzical brow raised. Mrs. Cake stepped forward, giving Pinkie Pie a few side glances. "We're not sure ourselves what she's upset about. One minute she's setting up a welcoming party and the next we come back to find her crying for no explainable reason." Mr. Cake was the next to step forward.

"We found a lot of our baked goods missing and they weren't spread among the party snacks. We guessed that she had a sugar rush and something happened from there." Twilight examined the gracious display of foods spread out for the party. Nothing seemed to have been tampered with and the decorations were in perfect shape. She went over to Pinkie, gently placed a hoof on her shoulder, and laid down next to her. Pinkie looked up to Twilight and instantly brought her into a hug.

"Twilight! It was the worst thing ever! This big meanie pants pony came inside the store all mysterious like with his cloak. I was being nice, inviting him to the welcoming party when he decides to be a jerk and poop the party. He broke the cake, flipped the smack table, popped the balloons, and tore up the banner! All of those poor sweets, murdered!"

"But Pinkie, everything is just fine. Nothing is messed up see, the banner, balloons, snacks, all okay." True to her word, when Pinkie poked her head up she found everything in perfect shape. Seeing this brought a smile to the pink mare and her hair once again inflated.

"Yay! This means that the party is back on! I'll just have to remember to not let cloaked cake hater in!"

"We'll have to hold out on that party, Pinkie. Celestia needs us in Canterlot at once so we need to get everyone else and leave soon." Pinkie just bounced around in her normal manner.

"That's fine! Maybe the Princess wants a party. That'll make it, as Rainbow would say, twenty percent cooler." Twilight smiled, it was good to see her friend back to her over energetic self. Now all they had to do was round up Applejack and Rainbow Dash. With an addition to the party, they left with a wave to the Cakes.

"Now we can head to Sweet Apple Acres. No doubt we might find Rainbow Dash there." Twilight could only take a step before a substantial piece of weight knocked her of her feet.

"What the hell Derpy, I was sleeping on that cloud!" Suddenly a mare drooped from the sky in a sloppy attempt to land. She was a grey Pegasus with amber eyes and a pair of wings. Both of her eyes were strangely crossed and didn't seem to change from that position. Her mane and tail was both a dark blonde and had a messy style to them. On her flank was a Cutie Mark of bubbles.

"Sorry Rainbow Dash, I guess I should have been paying a little more attention." Derpy's ears and head dropped in shame.

"It's fine, just please try to be a little more cautious next time, okay?" Derpy gave Rainbow Dash a quick salute, threw a muffin in her mouth, and took to the skies once more. Feral watched the Pegasus fly off with a look of disappointment on his face.

"Awwwwwww, I want a muffin." What surprised him was that something hit him and the head and when he caught it he found a muffin lying in his hoof. His eyes grew wide in amazement and his mouth went agape. He looked up to watch the same cross-eyed pony give another salute, a bag in her mouth, and take off. He took a bite and happily chewed on the fluffy wonder. "I like her; she seems to be a pretty fun character. And rather friendly." He threw the last piece of the muffin in his mouth, finishing it off.

"As much as I love meeting new faces as the next pony, I don't intend on staying underneath you all day Rainbow Dash." Rainbow looked below her before giving a sheepish smile to the downed Unicorn. She got off of her friend and helped Twilight to her feet. "Good, now that we've found you we can go get Applejack and leave." Rainbow Dash was confused by her statement.

"Why, what happened?"

"Princess Celestia has sent me a letter asking that we all go to her as quickly as we can. Her note seemed urgent and quickly scribbled out so we should get going quickly."

"Then what are we waiting for? I'll go get her ready and meet you at the train station in a flash." With that the rainbow rocket shot off towards Sweet Apple Acres.

"Then I guess we'll be heading off towards the train station. Hopefully Rarity will be there waiting for us." They turned around and began to make their way towards the station. They were there within minutes and gathered near the opened doors of the train. "Okay, now all we need to do is wait for Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, then we can head out."

"Ah Twilight, it seems I've finally found you. I didn't see you anywhere and assumed you were still out gathering everyone." Rarity walked up the group and seemed to look a lot better than she previously had. She seemed to have been to get a good bit of rest and groom herself back to her original self.

"Yes, Rainbow Dash is getting Applejack and they should be here soon."

"More like in ten seconds flat." Everyone moved their attention to the origination of the voice to find a hovering Rainbow Dash and winded Applejack.

"Geez Rainbow, ya think about giving me a chance to catch up?"

"Good, everyone's here, now if we could-"

"Twilight!" Everyone looked once more to find Spike quickly hustling it to the group of ponies.

"Not now Spike, we really need to get going."

"I know, but you're not going anywhere without these." He held up a set of six train tickets. Twilight looked down with a sheepish face.

"Oh yeah, I guess if we wanted to go anywhere we would need these. Thank you Spike." Each mare took one tick for themselves. "Wait, but what about-"

"Two tickets to Canterlot." The group turned to the sound of metal being dropped and found Feral walking back to them with two tickets in hoof. Once he regrouped with everyone he handed his spare ticket over to Zecora, who took it with much surprise in her features.

"I thank you for the good deed, but you didn't have to pay for my fee."

"Nonsense, it's the least I could do." With everything checked out, each of the ponies boarded the train. The train whistled to life and slowly gained speed until they were appending down the tracks towards Canterlot.

"So might I ask who you are. I saw you at my boutique, but I was so tired I could only keep up with Twilight." Rarity was set across from Feral with her pressed together and her chin resting on top of them.

"My name is Feral and I have just recently become aquatinted with everyone here. So far I know all of your names and that's pretty much it." Rarity just sat there and stared the Stallion down. He slowly began to look around the train cart, feeling a bit awkward under the Unicorns stare.

"Might I ask why you are staring at me?" Rarity's eyes widened in recognition of her actions.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. It's just that your look is so...unique."

"You wouldn't be the first to say that." Twilight came up beside Rarity and faced Feral.

"I've wanted to ask you a question since you came to the library. Just how is it you know Princess Celestia?" That gained everyone's attention and they all turned to the Stallion under question.

"That information his is not yet willing to unearth. Trying to pry it from him with prove little worth." The mane six confusedly look at the riddling Zebra.

"This is true; she also asked the same question. I'll tell you just as I have told her; you'll find out when we depart at Canterlot and meet Celestia." None of them were happy with the answer, but if it was all they were getting they'd have to settle for it. "Now let me ask a question." He turned and looked at Rainbow Dash. "What in the hell is up with your mane?" Rainbow quickly rushed up and got in the Stallions face.

"You're one to be talking. Your mane is no different from mine."

"Except that mine doesn't look like the other side of a prism." Rainbow's face quickly scrunched up in anger at the Stallions rebuttal. "Calm down, I'm just kidding. I actually like it. I think looking different shows more character in a person." Her anger faded and was replaced by a stunned blush. All she did was blush and hop on one of the top bunks that littered the car. "Oh yes, I believe this will be a fun little adventure."

It took a few hours, but they had finally made it to Canterlot. Once the train had stopped they all had departed and were now walking the streets of high class society. Feral was taken away with the many expressions of just how classy these ponies were. Opera houses, fancily named restaurants that make no sense, overly priced hotels, and more. He was already missing the friendly and homey atmosphere of Ponyville compared to this cramped catwalk. "There it is." Feral was broken out of thought at Twilight's words. He looked ahead to be met with an outstanding formal castle structure. It had multiple different pieces connected to it that seemed to rise into the sky the farther you went inside. What made it more amazing was all of the cool patterns on the buildings. Stripes, checkered, stars, suns, and many more. And to top it off, it was set over a waterfall on the side of a mountain.

"So this is where she lives. I've always tried to get her to tell me what her home was like. Said she didn't like to think about it at the time, brought back some less pleasurable memories." They all made their way through the downed drawbridge and moved into the throne room. Just like on the exterior, the interior didn't lack in beauty. The floor looked glossy and reflected the rays of the sun that broke through the many stained glass windows lining the walls on either side. Pillars stood erect in front of the windows starting from the entrance and ending at the throne. A very lengthy red carpet was underneath their feet leading to the throne itself. Banners hung along the wall for no importance than just decoration. As they inched closer to the throne, Feral's face lit up in a toothy grin at what was at the end of the carpet. There were two thrones side by side with two Alicorns accommodating them. On his right sat a tall white Alicorn with eyes like Amethysts. Just as each Alicorn, she had a pair of large wings and a Unicorn horn. On her hooves were four golden shoes. Her mane and tail were fairly long with a streak of cerulean, turquoise, cobalt blue, and heliotrope running through them. The most unique aspect was that they both moved as if they were in a constant breeze. She wore a golden tiara and necklace centered with Amethysts as proof of her ruling in Equestria. Lastly, on her flank was a Cutie Mark of the sun.

Beside her was another Alicorn albeit a bit smaller than her senior. She was a dark blue mare with a splotch of black on her flank, and a pair of grayish blue eyes. On her hooves she wore four light gray blue shoes. Her mane and tail looked as if they were fragments of the night sky itself, outlined by a midnight blue. Just like her senior, her mane and tail were also being moved by a nonexistent breeze. A black tiara and necklace with a crescent moon on it was a merit of co-ruling Equestria. Lastly, on her flank was a crescent moon.

And to finish off the reunion was a Draconequus floating above the two rulers on a cloud. Being that of a Draconequus, his body was made up of many different animals. His body was long and resembled a serpent. He had a light grayish head that could be considered pony with a long black mane. On his head were two antlers, one deer and one a blue goat horn. His eyes were yellow with red pupils, but for some unknown reason the pupils were different sizes. He had a bushy be white beard and eyebrows to match. A single enlarged fang protruded from his upper set of teeth. At the end of his serpentine body was a dragon like tail with tuft of white fur at its tip. His right arm was that of a lion and the left an eagle. His left leg resembled a brown goat and the right a type of lizard. On his back was a set of wings, the right of a bat and the left of a light blue Pegasus. At the moment he was enjoying a bucket of popcorn.

The group stopped at the foot of the throne and was met with a friendly smile from both Princesses. Twilight stepped forward and gave a bow to the white Alicorn, "Princess Celestia," a bow to the blue Alicorn, "Princess Luna," and lastly a look of disapproval to the floating Draconequus, "Discord." Discord jumped down from his perch and landed in front of Twilight. He wrapped an arm around her neck a pulled her in close to him.

"Oh c'mon Twilight, are we ever going to bury the hatchet, start over new, become best pals?" He back off after touching her horn, turning it into a pointed candy can, and appeared behind Celestia and Luna, wrapping one arm around each and bringing them into a friendly side hug. "Besides, we're all mature adults here right. Surely we can act the part." Twilight attempted to use her magic, but only succeeded in having peppermint a come from her horn, which Pinkie Pie somehow caught and ate before they touched the ground.

"I would hardly the call your actions mature." Discord snapped his finger and her horn was restored.

"Well, I'm as mature as chaos can get." Twilight rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Celestia.

"So what exactly was the reason for your urgent summon of us?" The smile quickly left as it formed into a serious frown.

"It would seem that an unpleasant article of the past has possibly returned to Equestria." This confused the group greatly.

"Just what do you mean Princess?" At that moment, Discord appears between them holding a rather bountiful looking wrapped present.

"Why I believe you've already become substantially aquatinted." That said, he pulled the ribbon and the box fell apart only to shower Discord in a wave of sugary beverage. They watched on in astonishment as laughter could be heard echoing throughout the chamber.

"Please Discord, you'd think that since I've been around you most of my life that you knew I had ways to counter your tricks." The fountain of pop slowed to a drip and revealed Feral as the centerpiece of the box. Luna and Celestia had a face of shock and awe as Discord went into a fit of laughter.

"Oh it's good to see you once more after such a lengthy absence." Feral let a wide grin spread across his lips.

"I agree I've missed seeing all of you these past countless years." And just to add the jaw dropping spectacle, Discord hugged Feral.

"It's been too long, brother." And they watched Feral return the hug!

"Indeed, too long." Twilight was slowly twitching in place, Applejack looked as if she'd become stone, Pinkie was bouncing high in place, Rarity over dramatically fainted, and Fluttershy looked on with a captivated smile. Pinkie suddenly stopped as she dropped to ground and threw her hooves over her head.

"Pinchy knees..." Suddenly a blast of cobalt blue magic lit the room and collided with Feral, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Luna!" Celestia stared at her sister in shock. She had never seen her act in such a brash manner. Luna was usually calm minded and never jumped the gun like this.

"How dare you even think of showing your face to us again! Especially after the horrors you commuted." The sudden commotion had jogged everyone back to reality and awakened Rarity so they could witness another jaw dropping sight. "You burned an entire village to the ground!" Twilight remembered her dream and how Ponyville had been decimated by flames. "You murdered innocent families!" Applejack saw her entire home once again destroyed and her loved ones stolen from her. "Obliterated even the lives of the wildlife and their homes in the crossfire!" Fluttershy could see every mutilated body of her tiny woodland creatures thrown about the vicinity of her cottage. "Children were also became collateral damage to your rampage!" Rainbow Dash had tears full her eyes as she remembered the broken body of Scootaloo. "And you tore away the dreams of everypony in the settlement." Pinkie and Rarity thought back to how Rarity's wish to become the best designer and Pinkie's wish to make everyone happy had almost been utterly destroyed. "And you believe that we could ever look at you as we once did! You must find us a fool!" Feral shakily stood to his feet. The impact of the blast had caught him off guard and he was unable to brace for it. It wasn't too bad, but he'd be feeling it for a while. The group in which he traveled with turned to the massive stallion. Twilight stepped forward once more to ask the question that littered everyone's thoughts.

"Is this true, Feral?" Celestia's face was hidden behind her mane and Discord crossed his arms and looked to the ground with an expression of sadness. Feral only let out a long sigh before inhaling his next breath.

"Yes, I murdered an entire village. And I wiped it from the map." The ponies all backed away from Feral, afraid of just what it was the warrior stallion could possibly do to them. His smile widened in an amount of sadism that had their blood running cold. "And I have never regretted it to this day. They all had their destruction knocking at their door, and I only forced it open."

Well there you have I kiddies, I now have a second story to work on! Hurray! Now don't think that this means I'll be slacking on my other story. Right now, as you read this, I'm working on the next chapter to Sins of the Fallen. That is if you were follower of the story and was curious. Now I don't want any flames on this story just because it's My Little Pony. This isn't the Hub channel and I'm not targeting a child audience. I would also like anyone who reads this to inform me if I had lacked in or missed any important details. It's been awhile since I've seen the show and I've been slowly re watching it. Instead of going on memory I used the help of technology to find my information! But that doesn't mean that everything is correct and I know something has to be incorrect. So please do tell me, it'll make it possible to make this story even less of an eyesore for you. Glad you stuck around for the ride, till next time!

Embodiment of Darkness