My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro, The Hub and of course Lauren Faust who seems to have gone out of her way to make a show about pastel colored ponies with names like "Twilight Sparkle" completely awesome. This story is just for fun and no profit shall be made so please above mentioned people don't sue me. You're not gonna get much. Any OCs that pop up in this fic belong to me and can be used with permission. Please don't steal from me. Now with that out of the way, on with the show.
The Elements of Discord
Chapter 13: A Nightmare In Canterlot
The Elements of Harmony stood stalk still as a feeling of deja vu overcame them. Here they were in the ruins of the old castle deep in the Everfree Forest face-to-face with the Mare in the Moon. Quite literally the stuff of nightmares. Just like the adventure that had brought them all together in the first place. Only this time their bonds of friendship were even stronger and they already knew how to use their elements to banish this evil.
Of course that would require them to do more than just standing around with their jaws hanging open while Nightmare Moon laughed manically.
"Oh the Elements of Harmony, how nice it is to see you again," the dark mare sneered.
The remark brought Twilight back to reality and she narrowed her eyes as she took a step forward.
"Alright girls, we need to-"
She was cut off by a blast from Nightmare Moon that sent her tumbling backwards and knocked off her Element of Magic crown.
"Not this time," Nightmare Moon snarled but then quickly smirked. "I would so love to stay and chat with you but I do have a kingdom to conquer. Successfully this time. But I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again real soon."
Her maniacal laughter echoed off the stone walls again as her mane and tail seemed to swirl out and engulf eight ponies standing behind her.
"Oh no you don't!" Rainbow Dash called out then flew towards the disappearing mist.
Sadly, not even she was fast enough to catch them and by the time she closed the small gap between the two groups Nightmare Moon and her entourage were already gone. Unfortunately, this meant that Rainbow Dash had nopony to tackle and therefore nothing to stop her momentum. Except of course the wall on the other side of the room. She bounced off it with a rather impressive "thud" that matched the one she made when she hit the stone floor.
"Rainbow!" Fluttershy called out as she flew towards her injured friend.
"Dashie!" Pinkie echoed, bouncing forward along with the yellow Pegasus.
"I'm fine," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she rubbed her sore shoulder. "Just sucks that they got away."
"What?! They got away?!" Twilight shrieked from the other side of the room where she was being similarly helped up by Applejack and Rarity.
She brushed the two mares off of her then stood and stared desperately at the circle Nightmare Moon and her lackeys had stood just seconds before. Her legs shook in despair and she fell to the floor again.
"They are gone. I failed..." she whispered in a defeated tone.
"Horse hockey!" Applejack exclaimed.
"What?" Twilight looked up at her in confusion.
"You ain't failed nothing yet. We're still standin', right?" she then looked at Twilight again then over to where Rainbow Dash was still lying on the floor. "Well most of us anyway. We're still here and that's what's most important."
"No, that's the biggest problem! We're here!" the purple unicorn cried out, stamping her hoof on the floor in frustration. "And they could be in Canterlot by now! They could even be in the castle already!"
"So what?" Rainbow Dash asked as she stood up herself. "Let's just go after 'em."
"Don't you get it?!" Twilight cried hysterically. "We don't have time to get them! Even if we were to use the train we still have to walk all the way back to Ponyville and then take the train to Canterlot! Who knows what they could in all that time?!"
"All right Sugercube, just calm down," Applejack said softly as she gave her friend a calming pat on the shoulder.
Twilight still stared at her rather crazily at first but then the reassuring smile the cowpony gave her helped her regain her composure just a bit. She let out a deep sigh and finally seemed to settle down a bit. At least enough to listen to what her friend had to say which she acknowledged with a small nod.
Applejack nodded back before she continued. "All right, now the problem is Nightmare Moon and her cronies just used that teleportin' trick to get to Canterlot ahead of us, right?"
"Yes," Twilight agreed with a slight crack in her voice.
"And you can do that same trick, right?"
"Yeah, so?"
"So why don't you just teleport us all there so we can be right on their tails?"
That suggestion seemed to cause a bit of a panic in Rarity who started vigorously shaking her head behind Twilight's back which caused Applejack to raise an eyebrow in confusion. Twilight, meanwhile, rubbed her chin with her right hoof as she mulled the idea over. Eventually she sighed and shook her head as well.
"No, it won't work," she said dejectedly. "I just don't think I can take all of you with me."
"What are you talking about? I've seen you zap Spike with you all over the place!" Rainbow Dash scoffed.
"It's not that easy Rainbow! Spike's one baby dragon! That's completely different from five ponies! I just can't do that!"
"Silly Twilight!" Pinkie giggled. "You shouldn't believe in the words 'can't'! & 'don't!' Ponies tell me I can't do things all the time but I do them anyway!"
"Yeah I know," Twilight mumbled before she let out another sigh and spoke loudly again. "But I just don't want to take the chance of hurting you girls."
"Except that you won't," Applejack reassured her again.
"But how do you know?!" she stressed.
"Because we trust you," the orange Earth pony confided. "Ain't that right girls?"
"110%!" Rainbow Dash agreed.
"Totally!" Pinkie Pie cheered with one of her usual bounces.
"Um...yes. Of course," Fluttershy added timidly.
Their eyes then all turned to Rarity who was uncharacteristically quiet. She noticed them all staring at her then let out a soft sigh before a wide smile spread across her face.
"Well, naturally we trust you darling," she spoke up.
Twilight looked around at her friends and not since the first time since she came to Ponyville felt a heartwarming tinge in her heart. She returned their cheerful smiles with a small nod.
"All right girls, if you really trust me I'll try it. But we're all gonna need to get in close," she advised them. "And probably put our hooves on each other's shoulders. I think the physical contact will help with the spell."
They all nodded in agreement before they moved into a circle formation and balanced on their hind legs as they laid their forelegs on each others shoulders. Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself then closed her eyes in concentration. Her horn began to glow as it usually did when she used her teleportation spell but instead of being confined to just her, it quickly began to spread out to cover the other five. Her face scrunched up and a bead of sweat started to run down her face from the effort of conjuring the spell. Soon enough light completely enveloped them all just before it intensified enough to fill the whole room then quickly winked out of existence.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
A few short miles outside the city of Canterlot a bright flash appeared in the sky and dumped six disoriented ponies to the surprisingly hard ground below. Although it wasn't far up enough to cause them any major harm it did add some level of soreness to their already jostled bodies.
"Did somepony get the number of that apple cart that ran us over?" Applejack groaned as rubbed her sore head with a foreleg.
"Cart shmart, that was a train that hit us," Rainbow Dash countered from her place face down in the dirt.
"Wheeee! That was fun!" Pinkie exclaimed and bounced back up to her hooves. "Let's do it again!"
"Please...no more..." Fluttershy whimpered.
"Yeah Ah don't think any of us, especially Twilight, could take another round," Applejack said, standing on uncertain legs.
"Where is Twilight anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked, using her wings to lift herself up.
"Over...here..." a weak voice mumbled.
The girls ignored their own pain to rush over to Twilight's side who was still lying in a rather undignified heap.
"Everypony okay?" she asked as Rainbow Dash helped her to her hooves.
"We're a bit worse for wear, but we're okay," Applejack told her.
"And...everypony made it, right?" Twilight asked again, leaning on Dash for support.
"Yep! We're all here and doing okey dokey!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with an energetic pounce.
"Wait. Where's Rarity?" Applejack asked after a second glance at the group.
The answer to her question came in the form of a retching sound that made then all wince a bit. When they looked in the direction it came from they saw Rarity's backside sticking out from a bush with her head buried deep within it. It was quite clear from the sounds she was making that the trip didn't exactly agree with her stomach and she was trying to be discrete about it. She was just failing miserably. After a few more wet sounding coughs she pulled her head out from the bush and wipe her mouth with her right forehoof before she turned back to the others. When she realized they were all staring at her, she game them a very embarrassed look.
"Please don't tell anyone," she begged.
"Don't worry Rarity, we won't be tellin' anypony," Applejack assured her.
"But we may make fun of you for it," Rainbow Dash quickly added.
"That's not-" the cowpony started but stopped when she couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Well that's kinda true."
Rarity let out an offended gasp then narrowed her eyes at the two before she turned her nose up at them.
"Well, some friends you two turned out to be," she scoffed then trotted passed them.
"No! Wait! Ah didn't-!" Applejack started but then sighed before casting a quick glare of her own at Rainbow Dash.
"What'd I do?" the Pegasus asked dumbfounded.
"Wait...where are we?" Twilight spoke up again, cutting off the rest of the conversation. "This doesn't look like Canterlot."
"Looks like we're in the mountains just outside the city," Fluttershy said then squirmed backwards a bit. "The very high mountains!"
"Then...we need to start...walking. Fast!" Twilight declared and tried to step forward but her legs quickly gave out on her.
She would have fallen to the ground had Rainbow Dash not caught her in time.
"Woah there Egghead! You're not walking anywhere!" she told her.
"But...we have to get to the castle," the unicorn insisted.
"And we will," Applejack reassured her as she walked over to the weakened pony. "But you're in no condition to make it down these mountains by yourself. So..." she knelt down, "...you're just gonna have to get a ride."
"But...I can't let you carry me," Twilight tried to politely refuse.
"Shucks gal, you can't be any heavier than some of those apple buckets Ah've carried all over the farm."
"Besides, it's not like you have much of a choice," Rainbow Dash smirked before she gently placed Twilight on Applejack's back.
"But..." she tried again.
"No buts! We're going!" the Earth pony exclaimed as she stood up surprisingly easily.
"Thanks Applejack...I just...hope...we..." Twilight trailed off as her exhaustion finally overtook her and she passed out.
"Don't worry Sugarcube, we will. Ah know it," Applejack stated as she and the others started down the mountain.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Celestia let out a deep sigh as she halfheartedly read over the daily report her assistant had given her. She had hoped that going about her usual routine would help take her mind off Luna's disappearance, but it was to no avail. She just couldn't keep from worrying about her sister's safety. Nor could she keep herself from thinking about the worst possible outcome for this situation. Such as if Twilight and her friends didn't succeed and that monster returned again. Would events truly play out exactly as they had a thousand years ago? Would she have to banish her sister for another millennium? Would the Elements of Harmony die once again? Would she fail everypony who trusted her one more time?
No! She screamed to herself mentally as she shook her head vigorously. I must not allow myself to think such thoughts! Twilight and her friends will succeed! I have faith in them and I know it will be rewarded. She then sighed as a worried expression crossed her face. So then why can't I shake this overwhelming feeling of dread?'
A frightful laugh suddenly cut through the air and caused her to jerk upright and lose her mental grip on the paper. Her eyes grew wide in terror and a chill ran through her body when she recognized that particular laugh.
"No…" she whispered desperately.
"Oh yeeesss..." the voice replied in a jubilant hiss.
Celestia watched in horror as blue, star filled mist appeared a few feet away from her throne. It swirled and swished until it finally solidified into the form of Nightmare Moon. The dark mare smirked maliciously at the Sun Goddess who seemed to be incapable of doing anything more than staring at her in shocked terror.
Thankfully the guards at her side had no such problems.
"Stop right there!" one of the unicorn guards commanded as he lit is horn threateningly.
"Oh please!" Nightmare Moon scoffed before she used her own horn to send the guard flying across the room.
The three Pegasus guards in the room flew towards her in an attempt to rush and subdue her. Unfortunately they were all easily swatted away with a wave of her mane.
"They never learn, do they?" she smirked before she turned her attention to the last guard, a red colored Earth pony who was simply glaring at her. "Well, aren't you going to try to make a futile attack as well?"
"Oh believe me, I'd love to," he replied in a southern accent. "But I just can't bring myself to hit a lady. Even if that lady is a horrible demon determined to attack the princess."
"Very noble," Nightmare Moon nodded in respect. "Stupid but noble."
She then tried to blast him as well but her attack was deflected by one from Celestia before the princess jumped in between her guard and her corrupt sister.
"Go!" she ordered him without looking at him.
"But-" he started to protest.
"I said GO! Get the other guards! I'll hold her off until you can return!"
The red Earth pony looked between the two Alicons indecisively for a second before he let out a frustrated grunt then turned and ran for the doors. Nightmare Moon's serpent-like eyes watched him leave but they were quickly drawn back to Celestia as she forced her way into the dark mare's field of vision.
"Your fight is with me, not him," she declared.
"Too true," Nightmare Moon agreed almost casually.
She flashed a quick smirk before she used her magic to wrap up all four of Celestia's legs then quickly flipped her and hurled her across the room. She crashed into the throne and toppled it over on her way to the floor. Her crown slid along the marble floor with a slight scrapping sound as she started to recover from the sneak attack. Before she could stand, however, Nightmare Moon was on top of her, jamming an armored hoof into her chest to keep her pinned down. She tried to restrain a groan of a pain as she looked up into her twisted sister's hate filled eyes.
"I'll let you in on a little secret," Nightmare Moon nearly hissed as she lowered her face to Celestia's. "It doesn't matter that your guard got away. For you see I've done what you've always said I should have, sister dear. I made some friends! And right now my friends are taking care of all your pesky little guards so that we can have some...family bonding time. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!."
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
"Huh? What was that?" an Earth pony guard asked his partner as they walked down one of the long hallways of the palace.
"What was what?" the other one asked back.
"Thought I heard something..." he explained as he looked around suspiciously.
They were then startled when another guard came flying in between them and crashed to the floor unconscious. Once they were over the shock of it, they looked in the direction he had come from to find a black coated mare covered in scars and with tapped hooves walking around the corner.
"All right," Stampede spoke as she cracked her neck, "who's next?"
The guards glanced at each other before they both rushed her. Stampede smirked before she ran forward as well. The guards seemed a little surprised by this action but continued in their charge. The last second before their collision, however, Stampede dropped to the floor so that they passed harmlessly over her. When they spun around to try to capture her again, they were met with her hind hooves smashing into their snouts. As they reeled back in pain, Stampede sprung around and yanked one of the guard's helmets off their head by grabbing its crest with her teeth. She swung it around to strike the other guard's helmet, which created a loud "clang" sound that reverberated in his head and disorientated him. As he stumbled backwards she swung the helmet back around to its original owner and struck him in the side of the head with it hard enough to knock him out. She spit the helmet out of her mouth then planted her forehooves firmly on the floor and bucked backwards at the still dazed guard with all her strength. She was fortunate enough to catch him right in both eyes with enough force to knock him back into the wall and knock him out as well. She took a moment to smirk at her handy work but her triumph was short lived when another guard called out to her from behind.
"Halt right there!" he ordered.
Stampede spun around in order to fight him as well, but she didn't get the chance as Hammer came charging into the hallway and slammed into the guard and sent him crashing to the ground.
"Hey!" Stampede yelled as she ran over to him. "I don't need any help!"
She then took her right forehoof and hit the guard's exposed face hard enough to knock him unconscious along with his friends. She let out a small huff before she gave Hammer a look that could only be described as a slightly less-than-angry look as she usually had.
"But...thanks," she said a bit reluctantly.
"You're welcome, my angry angel," Hammer beamed.
"Yeach," Stampede bleach in disgust. "And now you ruined it. Let's just go."
"Coming dear," he said as he trotted along behind her.
"Seriously. No more talking out of you."
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Outside the castle, in one of the highest pulpits, a pair of Pegasus guards surveyed the area for...something. They weren't sure what they were looking for, they had just been told to keep their eyes open for something unusual. That "something" took the form of a black cloud slowly moving over part of the castle. The one guard that spotted it blinked a few times just to make sure he was seeing right. When didn't disappear he nudged his follow guard in the shoulder.
"Hey," he said.
"What?" the other Pegasus asked, looking towards him.
"That look weird to you?" the first Pegasus asked back, pointing to the cloud.
The second guard peered over his shoulder to look at the slowly moving cloud.
"Huh. Yeah that is weird. I mean I don't think there were any clouds scheduled for today," he mused.
"And why would it be black? Nopony said anything about a thunderstorm, did they?" the first guard remarked.
"Not that I heard."
"We should probably go check it out then."
"Right," the second guard nodded.
With that, they jumped off the pulpit then spread their wings to glide down towards the errant cloud. When they reached it they flapped their wings so they could hover along side it for inspection. They poked and prodded it but there didn't seem to be anything really unusual about it. One of the guards rubbed his chin with his right forehoof in thought as he leaned in for an even closer look. He was rewarded with a pair of hind legs springing fourth from the cloud and kicking him right in the face. He groaned in pain as he tumbled through the air and eventually crashed onto one of the top walkways of the castle. The other guard then watched in shock as a red coated Pegasus came flying out of the top of the cloud. She hovered long enough to stick her tongue out at him.
"Catch me if you can, loser!" Crimson Streak taunted before she flew off.
He stared blankly in surprise for a second but quickly recovered and flew after her.
"Stop right there!" he ordered as he tried to catch up.
"Make me slowpoke!" she called back as she began to circle around one of the pulpits.
He smirked before he turned and dove towards the other side of the pulpit to catch her as she came around. He was surprised, however, when he rounded the cornered and found no sign of her. He scratched the side of his helmet in confusion before he noticed a small window in the pulpit next to him. He smirked again then cautiously poked his head inside. Again he didn't immediately see her until he looked up and saw her just in time for her to slam both her back hooves into his snout. His body went limp as he passed out and started to slump backwards out of the window. Crimson Streak quickly grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into the small room where she left him in a heap before she flew back outside. When she emerged from the window she found the guard she had struck earlier back in the air with a few reinforcements. All of whom where glaring angrily at her.
"So I don't suppose you boys would want to just talk this out, would you?" she laughed nervously.
"Get her!" the lead guard cried out.
"Guess not!" she shouted before she zoomed off with them quickly following behind her. "Oh this had better be worth all this trouble!"
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
The Royal Palace Theater was specially built so that Princess Celestia could have a place to enjoy private plays shown in her honor. Of course not being arrogant enough to believe she needed plays done in her honor, she instead used it to entertain visiting dignitaries or the guards when they need to relax after work or as many of the townsponies that could fit in the theater for special events like the annual Hearth's Warming Eve play. Other than those times, the theater largely sat empty and undisturbed. Which is why the sign hanging on the door that read "Show Starts In 5 Minutes" piqued the curiosity of two earth pony guards who happened to walk by.
"Do you remember hearing anything about a show today?" one of the guards asked.
"Nope. In fact I thought we were supposed to be on lockdown for...reasons," the stallion remarked. "Wait. Why are we on lockdown?"
"I dunno," the mare shrugged. "The princess is being all secretive about it. We're just supposed to be on the look out for anything that's suspicious."
"Well, an unannounced show seems kind of suspicious, doesn't it?"
"Yep. Let's go."
They pushed the double doors open and stepped inside to find the small theater empty. As they surveyed the room they found nothing odd or out of place.
"Everything looks normal here," the stallion remarked.
"Yeah. Maybe they just left the sign out by mistake," the mare guessed.
"Maybe..." the other guard mumbled as he glanced towards the stage. "Wait. Are the curtains supposed to be opened or closed when the theater's not in use?"
"I dunno, I don't know how it works," she remarked as she doubled checked the area.
"What? You never been to a play before?"
"Nope."
"Why not?"
She shrugged. "Never really appealed to me," she said as she peeked under one of the seats.
"Well...maybe we should go to one sometime," he said rather sheepishly.
Her head snapped upwards and she stared at him in shock. "Are you asking me out on a date?!"
"I...no! Well...I...maybe. It's just..." he stuttered.
"I really don't think this is the time for that!"
He was about to speak again when one of the spotlights suddenly came to life and startled them. They turned back toward the stage where the circle of light was shining on the dark red curtains.
"Welcome mares and stallions! Colts and fillies of all ages! You are about to bear witness to the amazing magical feats of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" a voice announced from behind them.
The two guards watched in surprise and confusion as the curtains pulled back to reveal the light coated mare standing center stage in the spotlight. She balanced herself on her hind legs so she could give a few exaggerated bows for the nonexistent crowd.
"Thank you! Thank you everypony!" she greeted excited.
The two guards stared at her completely dumbstruck for a moment before they looked at each other then quickly back to Trixie.
"Hey! Stop right there!" the mare called out.
"You're under arrest in the name of Princess Celestia!" the stallion added.
"But then you'll miss the Great and Powerful Trixie's Show of Wonder and Amazement!" the unicorn declared.
Surprisingly this actually made the male guard give pause.
"She does have a point," he remarked.
His partner just glared daggers at him which made him shrink back a bit.
"Nevermind."
"For her first trick, Trixie shall dispatch two palace guards without even lifting a hoof!" Trixie informed the nonresistant audience.
The guards readied themselves for some kind of attack but were surprised when the carpet they were standing on suddenly sprang to life and wrapped itself around them with the tassels going into their mouths as makeshift gags. Trixie smirked before she focused her magic on the chandelier hanging right above them. It took a little bit of wiggling but eventually she was able to snap it free from it's perch and bring it down around them to trap them even further. When it was all over she began to give a few exaggerated bows.
"Thank you! Thank you! Trixie has always loved a captive audience!" she proclaimed.
The mare rolled her eyes then started to bang her head against the metal frame of the chandelier in an attempt to just knock herself out already.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Sledge peeked his head out from behind a broom closet door and looked both ways to see if it was clear before he stepped out into the hallway. He adjusted the armor he had "borrowed" from a passing guard as Dark Sky came up beside him.
"So why are we doing this again?" he asked as he fiddled with the helmet.
The unicorn merely sighed at having to repeat herself.
"Because this way we can walk freely through the castle halls without anypony really noticing. And if somepony does question us we just say that you're showing me around the castle. Then we can find where the biggest collection guards is and knock them all out at once," she explained.
"Maybe you can with your magic but it's a bit tricker for me to do that," he countered as they started to move down the hallway.
"I'm sure a big, strong stallion like yourself can hold his own," she retorted with a roll of her eyes.
They had barely begun to walk down the corridor when a red coated guard came running towards them in a panicked state. He nearly passed them up in his hurry but quickly skidded to a stop then turned back towards them.
"Terrible, horrible news rookie! The castle's under attack! The Princess has already been taken! We need to act fast!" he declared in a frantic, southern accented voice.
His panic subsided a little bit when he finally took in the scene before him.
"Waitaminute, who is this?!" he asked, casting a suspicious eye on Dark Sky.
"Oh, this? This is my girlfriend sir," Sledge quickly devised and wrapped a foreleg around the unicorn to help sell the story.
Dark Sky suppressed her shudder and look of disgust in favor of a bright smile as she cuddled up next to him.
"That's right sir. He was just showing me around the castle," she explained in the best clueless, girly voice she could muster.
The other guard stared at them both for a moment, his suspicious look growing for a just a bit before it faded with a shrug.
"All right," he said but quickly grew grave again. "But this isn't the time for her to be wandering around alone! There are evil forces afoot!"
"Oh no! Evil forces! That sounds scary!" Dark Sky shrieked and buried her face in Sledge's shoulder.
"Uh, sir, maybe it'd be safer for her to be in one of the guard rooms," Sledge suggested.
"Good point, rookie. I was already own my way to one of the break rooms to gather up the troops. We'll leave her in there with a couple of the guys while the rest of us go save the Princess!" the head guard declared.
The "couple" nodded then followed behind him, trading sly looks behind his back. Thankfully they didn't have to follow him for very long before they came across a door labeled "Guard Break Room 3." The red guard pulled the door open and hurriedly ushered them in. Once inside they were taken a bit a back to see about 20 or 30 guards in a large room just sitting around eating snacks, reading papers or books and chatting amongst themselves. They were so relaxed, in fact, that only a few of them looked towards the three as they came in. That is, of course, until the red leader spoke up.
"Men! We have a mission!" he barked, causing them all to jump to attention.
"Yes sir!" they all called back in unison.
"Actually, no you don't," Dark Sky spoke up with a sneer.
"What?" the red stallion asked, arching an eyebrow at her.
"I think you've all been working too hard and deserve a nice, long nap," she stated as her horn started to glow. "Now...SLEEP!"
A bright wave suddenly washed over the room and caused all the guards to fall the ground in a deep sleep. She smirked then looked back at her surprised companion.
"There, that's one batch down," she said confidently.
"What did you do?" Sledge asked in awe.
"Just a little sleep spell I've been working on. They should be fine in a few hours. Though we should probably still lock them in here just to be on the safe side."
He nodded slowly before he backed out of the room. Once she was out as well, he pulled the door closed then kicked the handle off. When he turned back to Dark Sky he noticed she was still glaring at him.
"What?" he asked.
"Girlfriend?" she asked back with an arched eyebrow.
"It was the first thing that came to my mind," he defended himself.
"You couldn't have said sister?"
"Look it worked, didn't it?"
She scoffed then turned around. "Whatever. Just don't get any funny ideas from that."
"Oh don't flatter yourself," he muttered as he took the lead again.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Elsewhere in one of the lower levels of the castle, a Pegasus guard lie bound and gagged on the floor. He had been checking on a strange noise he heard when felt something strike him on the head and then he woke up to find himself stripped of his armor and tied up like this. He struggled against his bonds but the rope was tied so tightly and was so course they any movement just seemed to cause more pain. Which he was quickly coming to realize was exactly what his captor wanted. He watched apprehensively as the white coated, blue-maned Pegasus slowly circled him with a surprisingly clam expression on her face. For some reason that disturbed him more than anything. To the point where he actually flinched when she stopped and brought her face close to his.
"Do you know how many feathers you have in your wings?" she asked in soft, even voice.
He looked confused at the question but then quickly shook his head, hoping that would satisfy her.
"Neither do I," Heatless said as she moved over to his wings. "Not even in my own wings. But it's something I've always been curious about."
She then lowered her head and closed her teeth around one of the feathers. She tugged on it for a second, causing the guard's eyes to water from the pain, before she slowly plucked it out. He let out a muffled cry from around his gag and looked up at her as best he could. He shuddered at not just the image of one of his feathers in her mouth but also the fact that she was smiling ever so slightly around said feather. It got a little wider after she spit it out.
"Perhaps it's time we both found out," she said before she repeated the action, earning her another quiet scream. "One."
Another feather pulled.
"At."
And another.
"A."
One more.
"Time," she finally finished after she spit out the fifth feather.
The guard closed his eyes and tried not to whimper as he realized that this was just the beginning...
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
In the deepest level of the castle, far removed from the other goings on inside, two Earth pony guards stood in front of two large, elaborately decorated wooden doors. The one standing in front of the left door was maroon colored and looked as if he was guarding the doors to Princess Celestia's throne room itself. The other guard, an orange stallion, looked as if he was about to fall asleep standing up. The peaceful reprieve ended, however, when the maroon guard's expression changed to a questioning one before he spoke up.
"Hey," he said.
"Huh?!" the orange one replied, startled a bit from the break in the silence. "What?"
"You ever wonder why we're here?"
"I dunno. It's one of life's great mysteries isn't it?" he replied rather profoundly. "Why are we here? Where are we going? Is there an afterlife or is this all there is? I dunno. But it keeps me up at night."
The maroon guard just blinked in surprise.
"I...meant why are we here in front of this door," he clarified.
"Oh. Well then I don't know," the orange stallion replied with a shrug.
"What was all that stuff about the afterlife?"
"Nothing!"
"You wanna talk about it?"
"No."
"Well anyway," the guard spoke again to get the conversation back on track. "I was just wondering why we're always the ones who have to stand in front of these doors."
"I thought it was cause we were supposed to guard the treasure," the other remarked.
"But see that's the thing, as far as I know nopony even knows we have a treasure here. I'm pretty sure most of the citizens believe the whole country just kinda runs on magic."
"Well it kinda does."
"You know what I meant!" the maroon guard snapped. "Not even Princess Celestia comes down here. I'm beginning to think they only reason they put us here is because they want us out of the way."
"Hey that's fine by me," the orange pony replied with a smile. "Let all those other guys doing all that patrolling and guarding and walking," he listed as he looked over at his companion, "I'll just stay right here where nothing ever happens."
When he turned his head around again he was greeted by the sight of another orange pony, this one was a mare with saddle bags, standing directly in front of him.
"Hello!" she greeted happily.
"AAAAHHHH!" the both shrieked in surprised.
"Who are you?!" the maroon one asked in a panic but then quickly corrected himself. "I mean, stop right there!"
"I'm Treasure Hunt!" she replied in answer to his first remark. "I'm supposed to knock you guys out and tie you up to get you out of the way but..." she paused and seemed to sniff the air. "...I smell treasure behind that door."
"Well...yeah, it's the treasure room," the orange guard explained.
"Hey! You're not supposed to tell anypony that!" the maroon one snapped at him.
"I knew it!" Treasure Hunt cheered! "So do you think one of you could give me the key and then tie yourselves up so I can just go ahead and get the treasure?"
"What?! No! Why do you think we'd do that?!" maroon guard asked incredulously.
"So I wouldn't have too. See that seems like a lot of hard work and I don't want to hurt myself."
He sneered then looked to his companion. "You sure she's not related to you."
"Hey I told you I already have a sister and I don't talk about her!" the orange guard remarked.
"So you guys aren't just going to give me the keys and tie yourselves up?" Treasure Hunt asked disappointedly.
"No!" the shouted unison.
"Aww..." she whined. "Oh well I guess I'll just have to do this the hard way."
Her next few actions happened so quickly that neither guard was sure just what happened, all they knew was they were suddenly thrown across the room into a heap and then tied up with Treasure Hunt standing victoriously over them. She smirked then reached down and snatched the keys from the maroon guard's armor. She unlocked the doors to the treasury and hurriedly pushed them open, her eyes sparkling just like the mounds of coins, gems and other various important looking objects inside.
"Oooohhhh..." she cooed as if in a trance before she stepped inside.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Celestia glared at the twisted creature that was once her sister. It had been nearly an hour since she had been captured and she long since given up trying to escape from the magical restraints she had been placed in. Instead she merely tried to tune out all the gloating and taunting Nightmare Moon had been doing. Which was a bit harder than she thought given that she had a tendency to slip into Luna's use of the Royal Canterlot Voice when she found Celestia wasn't listening to her. And when that finally failed to elicit a response, the dark mare resorted to something truly devious and hateful; she started eating a special cake Celestia had been saving!
"Mmmmm...this cake is soooo goooood..." Nightmare Moon practically purred in an exaggerated manner. "I can see what you hid it away."
She cut off another fork-full of the comedically large slice with her magic and grinned wickedly at the captive Celestia as she slowly slipped it into her mouth and made another show of chewing it. For her part, Celestia continued to just glare silently at her, the novelty of the "torture" quickly wearing off. Though she was still greatly annoyed as she was saving that cake for special occasion.
"You want this cake?" Nightmare Moon teased, hovering the plate in front of her.
Celestia did all she could to hide her desire that she did want that cake.
"Too bad!" the other mare snapped as she pulled it away and laughed manically.
"So is this the extent of your revenge, Moon? This childish display of pettiness?" she remarked flatly.
"Oh no, no, no, I have much bigger plans, dear sister," Nightmare Moon assured her as she stepped off the throne she had reset. "This is just the icing on the cake, if you'll pardon the expression."
She floated the plate to cart holding the rest of the cake then wiped the sides of her mouth with a napkin before she moved over to her captive sister.
"You'll find out what they are soon enough but first I have to wait for my loyal subjects to show up."
There were three, short knocks on the door right after her statement.
"Ah that must be them now," she smirked then used her magic to open the door.
Sure enough, the Discord ponies walked into the throne room fresh off their individual victories over the guards.
"Oh that as the most fun I've had in awhile," Stampede said excitedly. "When do we get to do it again?"
"Patience, you'll get your chance soon enough," Nightmare Moon told her then turned back to Celestia to gloat some more. "You see? With my six warriors-"
"Eight," Hammer stated in a matter-of-fact way.
"What?" the dark mare growled as she turned her head back towards him.
"With Sledge and I here, that makes eight," he clarified.
"Fine," she sighed. "My eight warriors-"
"Seven," Celestia said in much the same way Hammer had.
"What?!" Nightmare Moon snapped, spinning her back to the princess in annoyance.
"I only count seven 'warriors' there," she pointed out.
Growing increasingly annoyed, Nightmare Moon turned back to her cabal once again and looked them over more carefully this time. There were indeed only seven ponies standing there. It took her a moment to realize who was missing.
"Where's Treasure Hunt?" she asked the others but then quickly realized the answer to her own question. "Wait. She's in the treasury of course." She sighed then turned back to Celestia one last time with an awkward smile on her face. "Excuse us for a moment, won't you?"
She then disappeared in a puff of blue star filled smoke. The remaining seven ponies shuffled around a bit awkwardly in front of the bound Celestia.
"Sooo..." Sledge said, trying to break the tension.
Fortunately he didn't have to think of anything else, as the cloud quickly reappeared bringing with it both a frustrated looking Nightmare Moon and a disappointed looking Treasure Hunt.
"Get. Get over there," The Empress of the Night muttered as she shoved the orange mare over to the group with her muzzle.
"Awww, but there was still so much cool stuff for me to pick up!" Treasure Hunt whined. "I mean look at this cool ring I found."
She then held up a small golden ring with four pearls around it with her left front hoof. While Nightmare Moon looked less than impressed with it, Celestia's eyes widened just a bit at the sight of it but she tried to keep the reaction hidden for fear of raising their suspicions.
"I don't know who could wear it though, it seems kinda small even for a unicorn horn," the Earth pony remarked as she studied the small piece of jewelry.
"Put. It. Away," Nightmare Moon growled through gritted teeth.
Treasure Hunt gave another disappointed sigh but did as she was told and placed the ring in her saddlebag which caused Celestia to let out a small breath of relief.
"NOW THEN!" Nightmare Moon proclaimed, drawing all their attentions. "If there are no further interruptions..."
She waited to see if anypony would make any kind of motion or look like they were about to speak. When she was sure they weren't, she nodded and finally turned to her sister.
"As I was saying," she started again, "I have been giving my plan some thought recently and decided to change one thing."
She paused for effect as she turned and walked towards the window.
"You see in the past I tried to make the night last forever," she continued. "But as I thought it over I began to realize that those ungrateful ponies out there don't deserve to look upon my gorgeous nights." She sneered and placed her front hooves on the window ledge. "After all they could always turn away from them. Hide indoors. Go to sleep. Or light candles to banish the night away! So why should they get to see my hard work if they're not going to appreciate it?!"
She let out a huff of anger but then quickly calmed herself and turned back towards her sister and the others.
"Of course they don't deserve to see the sun either," she remarked, glaring daggers at Celestia as she walked over to her. "So I thought of something a little more...fitting for them." She looked towards Dark Sky. "If you wouldn't mind that is."
"Me?" the unicorn replied in surprise. "Why me?"
"Because Sky, my dear, I was hoping you would allow me to spread what you consider your curse to all of Equestria. They mocked you just as they mocked me. Well let's see how funny they think it is when they are cut off from both the moon and the sun as you have been."
Dark Sky gasped in shock of this idea at first but the more she thought if over the more she came to like it. Her face contorted into a hateful smirk as it quickly began to fill her with malicious glee.
"Yes. Yes I think it's time they felt my pain," she agreed. "So what do I need to do?"
"Merely lend me your strength," Nightmare Moon told her as her horn flashed to life.
Dark Sky nodded then ignited her own horn and waited for her friend's next move. Nightmare Moon stepped forward then lowered her head until their horns touched. The magic fields surrounding them melded together as they shared their energies. Dark Sky braced herself as a wave of power unlike anything she had ever felt before surged through her body. Both their eyes glowed as their magic intensified as the spell began to take effect.
"Now let an age of darkness consume this land," Nightmare Moon commanded.
( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - )
Twilight stood amongst the ruins of the castle surrounded by the bodies of guards and various other ponies. As horrific a sight as it was, what pained her the most were the bodies of her friends lying beaten and bruised at her hooves. Their Elements of Harmony necklaces had been snapped and the jewels inside them shattered. Her own tiara had been crumpled and tossed aside like so much discarded paper. A wave of nausea washed over her from both the sight of the bodies and her own injuries finally catching up with her. Nevertheless she fought to keep standing. She couldn't have let her friends die for nothing. She still had to defeat Nightmare Moon somehow and at least save Princess Celestia.
She stared with one eye up at the Empress of the Night who loomed over her on a monstrous looking throne and cackling like a madmare. At the base of the thrown laid the bloodied and beaten body of Celestia who looked only slightly worse than Twilight herself. The princess weakly raised her head to give her student an almost accusatory glare.
"Why couldn't you save anypony, Twilight? Why couldn't you save...me?" she asked sadly before her head fell over limp.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Twilight screamed in agony.
"What the hay?!" Applejack shouted as the purple unicorn started to thrash around on her back.
After a second or two of moving about, Twilight finally woke up just in time to fall to the ground.
"Ow," she muttered, rubbing her sore head.
"You okay, Twilight?" Applejack asked as she and the others gathered around her.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine," Twilight assured them as she stood up. "I just...had a bad dream is all."
"Is your strength back, dear?" Rarity asked.
"I think so," she nodded. "I'm still a little shaky but I should be able to make it the rest of the way. Thanks for carrying me Applejack."
"Aw shucks, tweren't nothing," the farm pony remarked. "Like Ah said, Ah've lifted apple buckets plenty heavier than you."
"Thanks. I think," Twilight muttered. "So where are we?"
"Right outside Canterlot. Shouldn't take more than a couple minutes to get there."
"Good. I just hope we're not too late," the purple unicorn said.
"Umm...then-then I hate to bring up bad news but...um..." Fluttershy stuttered sheepishly.
"You guys better look at this!" Rainbow Dash called out.
The others turned towards where the blue Pegasus pointed and could make out the top spire of the castle and the Canterlot skyline. More accurately they could see the dark storm cloud slowly starting to spread out over the city and covering it all in darkness.
"No..." Twilight whispered in horror, the feeling of dread from her dream quickly returning.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Hey, who has two thumbs and finally finished his chapter after another six friggin months?! *Points thumbs at himself* This guy! Yes, after another unintentional hiatus cause of work, life and just plan not being able to focus, I finally have this chapter out. Seems like I end up taking a break along the same time the show does. And I know I've said it before but I really don't mean to keep leaving you guys hanging for so long, it just seems like life gets in the way a lot. But at least I got this chapter out before the show premiered this time so that's something.
Speaking of this chapter, you'll notice that yes I have filled it with references again. I first I was beginning to think I was over doing it a bit...until I started reading the MLP comic and on my God, the amount of references they throw in there! It's like it was done especially for me. Just so many things to find and figure who they've turned into a pony this time! So yeah I'm not overdoing it, I'm just honoring the comic! Yep! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
So now that Nightmare Moon and the Elements of Discord have taken over the castle, what's going to happen next? Well the moment everyone's been waiting for of course! It's the Elements of Harmony vs the Elements of Discord! Will our heroines be able to defeat their evil counterparts or is Equestria truly in for a 1,000 years of darkness! You'll just have to wait for the next update to find out! Hopefully it won't be too long but let's not remember those immortal words from the great Willy Wonka:
"The suspense is terrible, I hope it'll last."