The world was shaken by the union of powerful villains, so Princess Celestia had gathered her best students to use the Elements of Harmony against them and restore order to the planet Equus.
The most talented in Celestia's school was called Twilight Sparkle, and she represented the Element of Magic.
Minuette was a cute cornflower-colored pony, and represented Laughter.
Twinkleshine was the beauty of the group, representing the Element of Generosity.
Moon Dancer greatly admired Twilight and aspired to be like her, and wore the Element of Loyalty.
Lemon Hearts was sweet and friendly, the bearer of the Element of Kindness.
Finally, Lyra Heartstrings, with her strong character, was Honesty.
Celestia had left the girls maximum freedom of action on the mission, and Twilight had come up with an ambitious, if deeply risky, not to mention suicidal project.
In fact, she had proposed to go directly to the enemies' lairs, who had settled in well-defined locations, which were now stained with the ignominy of being infamous places.
The lilac pony had wanted to start from the Castle of the Two Sisters, where Nightmare Moon, the transformed sister of Princess Celestia, now her enemy, had returned to live.
The Sun Princess had covered Canterlot with a strong protective shield and encouraged the more gifted unicorns to do the same in various cities.
However, the situation was desperate, and Twilight's daring choice quickly turned into a trap, as Nightmare Moon made sure to immediately separate the girls as soon as they put the hoof inside her castle, transporting them elsewhere with magic. Twilight was also separated from her adoptive brother, Spike, who followed her wherever she went.
Minuette found herself inside a logic-less realm, ruled by the lord of Chaos, Discord, while Twinkleshine was transported to a place made up of dark crystals, the kingdom of the shadowy Sombra.
"IS THERE ANYONE? PRONTO? QUELQU'UN M'ENTEND?" screamed the blue unicorn at the cosmic nothingness that surrounded her, while the background swirled beneath her astonished eyes to form the figure of Discord, albeit gigantic.
"Oh oh oh! Somepony here studied languages! Tell me, polyglot, what brings you here?"
The multifaceted being opened his mouth and his tongue detached, covering itself with blue polka dots, generating a pair of legs and arms, and running away.
"Err... Nightmare Moon brought me here..." Minuette muttered, dazed to say the least.
"Mh, really? Celestia's hysterical sister surprises me every time..." Discord replies, stroking his beard.
Meanwhile, the mysterious umbrum Sombra had imprisoned Twinkleshine in his black coils, laughing ominously without ever leaving the shadows.
The Castle of the Two Sisters, deep in the Everfree Forest, was enveloped in a perennial night.
It was certainly endowed with charm, with those low lights that pointed upwards, throwing pink, blue and purple shades on the entire majestic building, which culminated with a beautiful crescent Moon on the pinnacle.
Moon Dancer took a few steps, unsure what to do. She was the only one left after the display of Nightmare Moon's teleportation.
"Why did you leave me here?" she asked her, incredibly finding the courage to speak.
The demonic-winged alicorn smiled with malicious satisfaction:
"I want to talk to you alone. I perceived a discordant note in your soul that I personally think is very interesting."
A cold shiver ran down the spine of the young mare, who still tried to stay focused and not panic.
"Don't be so tense. You will be my guest." indulged her the starry pony, holding out a hoof.
The red-haired unicorn hesitated a lot, but she had to remain steadfast: Twilight wanted to understand the reasons of those villains, to bring them back on the right path. Approaching Nightmare Moon could've led one sister back to the other.
Lemon Hearts landed badly after the teleport, and in doing so she passed out.
When she revived, she felt something soft under her body and after touching it with her hooves she realized she was on a mattress.
All around there was peace and silence, perhaps too much. However, they didn't last because a noisy figure burst into the bedroom, a kind of thick albino lemur.
"Rise and shine, pony! What has brought your pretty face to these parts?"
The voice of the being was not threatening, rather mocking, like someone who sounded like the soul of the party.
Lemon could hardly believe that the Storm King was in front of her.
"Do you like this castle? It is perhaps the most elegant building in Drungar."
Lemon Hearts looked around, not sure what to do.
Lyra had come across a barren and unattractive area.
All around there were greenish rocks and soil, sparse medlar trees and two neat rows of brick houses, at the end of which there was a small house that most likely belonged to the mayor of that lost village.
"Welcome, kind guest!" exclaimed a beautiful pink unicorn, with perfectly combed and styled purple hair.
Lyra was immediately on the defensive.
"Don't tense up, nopony here will hurt you. You have arrived in the most beautiful place in the world, Our Village!"
Starlight Glimmer, so the unicorn was called, looked ecstatic and Lyra was blown away.
Twilight contemplated three tombs lined up, which had been placed within what was once a well-kept labyrinth garden, and which over time had been engulfed by the desert and sharp rocks that abounded outside what centuries before had been a little green paradise.
"My parents are down there. And that wretch of my brother."
It was Tirek, the mighty centaur prince of Zorgarth, where a millennium before he had lived with his mother, father and Scorpan, his younger brother.
The girl rested her purple eyes again on those time-worn tombstones; Tirek spoke again:
"You are lucky to live in the most fertile area of the planet Equus. You have never wanted to share anything with anyone, never."
The pony remained silent, reflecting on those words, worried about Spike and her other friends, as the wind blew cruelly and threw sand in her eyes.
Her brother couldn't have had a worse fate: he was in the Changelings' hive.
There was such a buzz around that he couldn't hear anything else, and the dragon's head was bursting.
"Help..." he thought to himself, hiding among the cracked egg shells of the nursery, "Help me..."
It wasn't known how long Twilight sat looking at the worn graves of Tirek's relatives, but a question spontaneously arose from her:
"Have you ever thought of collaborating rather than attacking us?"
The centaur looked thoughtful, and his grim black and yellow eyes darkened.
"Equestria has always been pompous. As cheerful and colorful as it was, it has always looked at the poorest peoples and territories with pity, but it has never moved a hoof to help them!" he spat out, with poison.
How could Twilight argue? Only with silence.