Chapter 23: Thorn strikes back (part 1)

Luna's castle

Two days after the bonfire party. It was a cool night, Luna's full moon was high up in the black starry sky and her royal guards were patrolling around outside the castle. Two guards were standing outside the large double gate in front of the castle grounds with sharp looks in their eyes.

Suddenly, they noticed a large cloaked hooded pony figure walking towards them with his head facing the ground. When the hooded figure reached them, one of the guards stood on front of him. "You're not allowed in the castle grounds, sire. Please turn around and go back." The guard said in a calm tone.

The hooded figure didn't say anything before walked around the guard and continued to walk towards the gate. Both guards then leaped in front of him and stuck their wings out to block the hooded figures path. "Hey, didn't you hear me? You're not allowed inside." The guard said aggressively.

The hooded figure continued to be silent as he slowly raised his head up revealing a pair of glowing blood red eyes.

Once they saw those eyes, the two guards had a slight look of fear grow on their faces before the hooded figures horn glowed white. A white glow then appeared around the two guards and they slowly lifted off the ground until they were both hovering in mid-air.

Before they knew it, they were both pushed back with great force through the gate; breaking it wide open. After they crashed to the ground and became unconscious, the hooded figure walked through the gate way and headed towards the front double doors of the castle.

However, the sound of the crash caught the attention of the other guards patrolling above the walls of the castle; including the captain of the guards. He looked down at the hooded. "INTRUDER, get the crossbows ready!" the captain yelled.

As the hooded figure continued to walk further up the castle grounds, he stopped between two large stone towers. On top of each tower was a giant metal crossbow pointing down at the hooded figure with a guard standing next to it; waiting to pull a lever to fire it.

"I warn you only once, turn back now! Or we'll be forced to fire." The captain yelled down to the hooded figure, the figure remained silent. The captain glared down at him. "Very well, FIRE THE CROSSBOWS!"

With that, the guard on each tower pull back on the lever and the two crossbows each fired a giant metal arrow down at the hooded figure. Just as the arrows were about to hit him, his horn glowed white and the arrows stopped and hovered in mid-air.

The guards eyes widened in shock at the sight of this. At that moment, the arrows then slowly rotated around until they each faced the towers they came from. The arrows then shot back up to the crossbows and crash into the top of each tower; destroying them and the crossbows.

The hooded figure then continued to walk towards the front doors of the castle. While on the walls of the castle, one of the guards walked up beside the captain. "Sire, he's still coming."

The captain turned his head to face the guard. "He won't get far, ready the archers!" he commanded. The guard nodded before he turned around and galloped away to do as he was told.

As the hooded figure got closer to the front door, a large number of guards with crossbows in their hooves all appeared from on top of a wall above the front doors. The archer guard each pointed their crossbows down at the hooded figure and prepared to fire.

The captain of the guards then came up beside the long row of archer guards and glared down at the hooded figure. "FIRE!" he yelled before the archer guards fired their crossbows at the hooded figure.

As the large number of small arrows shot down toward the hooded figure, his horn glowed again and the arrows stopped in mid-air. The arrows slowly rotated around until they were facing up at the archer guards.

The captain's eyes shot wide open once he realized what was about to happen. "GET DOWN!" he yelled before he ducked down. The arrows the shot back up to the archer guards and while a few of them were lucky enough to dodge them, a few guards got badly hit.

Once the arrows were all gone, the captain stood back up and looked in horror at some of his injured guards. One of the guards that didn't get hit then walked up to the captain. "Sire, what do we do now?" he asked.

The captain placed his hoof on the guards shoulder. "Go to the lobby and cut this guy off with the other guards! I'll warn the princess." He said with a serious look. The guard then nodded in agreement before he and the captain galloped inside the castle.

Once the hooded figure finally reached the front doors, he used his magic to push them open to see a large number of guards standing all around the lobby with sharp glares in their eyes.

"Keep him away from the throne room! Don't let him near the Princess!" the captain yelled from the top of the large stairs before he galloped into the throne room and slammed the door behind him.

As the guards slowly hovered towards the hooded figure with spears in their hooves, the hooded figure chuckled darkly before he spread out his black feathered wings with his horn glowing white. The guards then charged at the figure with their spears.

Meanwhile in the throne room, Luna was sitting on her throne when she saw the captain galloping towards her. Luna then got off her throne and approached the captain. Once they were close enough to each other, the captain bowed. "Captain Midnight, what's happening out there?" Luna asked with a serious look on her face.

Captain Midnight got up from his bow and gave Luna a concerned look. "Your highness, there's an intruder in the lobby. We have to evacuate the castle, now."

Luna looked down at the floor and tapped her chin with her hoof before she looked back up at the captain. "Understood, get the guards ready to move out before-" Luna was then cut off by the sound of her guards screaming in terror and pain behind the throne room doors.

Luna and Captain Midnight continued to listen to the horrible screaming; only imagining what kind of horror could be happening in the lobby. Suddenly, the screaming stopped and everything was silent.

"Get behind me, Princess!" Captain Midnight ordered before Luna took a few steps back behind him.

There was a moment silence until the throne room doors swung open and the hooded figure walked into throne room before the doors slammed shut behind him. Once the hooded figure was close enough in, he threw his head back and his hood came off; revealing himself to be Thorn with a devilish smile on his face.

"Thorn!" Luna growled with a glare in her eyes.

Thorn began to approach Luna and Captain Midnight. "Princess Luna!...so nice to see you again, it's been too long." He said with an evil grin before his horn glowed white and his hooded cloak burst into black flames and disappeared from his body.

"Not long enough, Thorn." Luna stated while continuing to glare at him.

"Yes, I could tell by the warm welcome that you gave me on my way in. by the way…you need new guards." Thorn said before he chuckled darkly.

Luna growled. "You sick, twisted-minded monster." She said with an angered look.

"Now, is that anyway for a girl your age to talk? I thought the Princess Sisters were all about kindness and giving help to those who need it." Thorn said as he got closer to Luna.

"We only give it to those who deserve it." Luna stated proudly.

Thorn's smile then turned into an angered growl. "Then I'll just have to take what I deserve." With that, his horn glowed violently white and Luna took a few steps back with a look of shock on her face.

At that moment, Captain Midnight stepped in front of Luna. "You will not lay a hoof on her." He said while glaring up at Thorn.

"You've got some guts…let's see what they look like!" Thorn said darkly with an evil smile. Captain Midnight then leaped forward at him but Thorn's horn then glowed white and Midnight stopped in mid-air.

Thorn grinned before he shot his head left and Midnight was thrown into the left wall with a large crash. With Midnight still in his magic lock, Thorn shot his head right and Midnight was pulled off the wall and thrown into the right wall with a larger crash.

Thorn then tilted his head up and Midnight shot up into the ceiling; causing the ceiling to crack. Thorn gave one last grin before his horn stopped glowing and the white glow around Midnight disappeared before he fell to the floor with a hard thud.

While Midnight was lying on the floor badly injured, Thorn looked up at the cracked ceiling before he shot a large bolt of black lightning at the centre of the cracks and they grew bigger as the ceiling started to crumble. As Midnight tried to stand back up, a large amount of rubble fell down from the ceiling and crashed on top of Midnight.

The second it did, Midnight's helmet slid across the floor and stopped in front of Thorn's front hooves. Thorn looked down at the helmet and chuckled evilly as he crushed it with his hoof before he walked around the pile of rubble.

Luna had a shocked and frightened look as Thorn slowly approached her. "This has been a most disappointing night, Luna. I was expecting more of a challenge…but all you had to throw at me was your pathetic excuse for royal guards that I easily crushed like insects. And once I'm through with you…I'll do the same to Matthew for what he did to me." Thorn said with hatred burning in his eyes.

Luna growled as anger burned in her eyes. "I won't let you hurt him." She said before pointed her horn at Thorn and shot a beam of dark blue magic at him. The beam hit his armoured chest and he stumbled back a few steps.

"Hahaha, so you do have some fight in you. Good, maybe tonight will be interesting after all." Thorn said as he slowly walked towards Luna.

Luna had a shocked look on her face. "How…how are you so strong? Most ponies are usually knocked out cold by my powers."

Thorn laughed. "Hahaha, your castle is too dark, Princess. Darkness fuels my powers and strength. Right now…I'm the most powerful pony here." he said as he continued to walk towards her.

As Luna backed away from him, she shot another dark blue beam of magic at him but he dodged it and shot a bolt of black lightning at Luna.

Luna tried to stop the blot by shooting another beam of magic at it but the bolt was too strong and pushed through her beam before it hit Luna; sending her crashing into her throne and knocking her unconscious.

Thorn then walked up to Luna's unconscious body and smiled evilly to see that he gave her a black eye. "You may be week Luna, but you're powers over the night are strong. Which is exactly why I want them." he said darkly as he slightly stroked Luna's main.

Thorn's horn then glowed white and Luna was lifted off the throne and placed on his back. Meanwhile, Midnight was trying to crawl out from under the pile rubble.

When Midnight was half way out, he looked at the throne to see Thorn facing the other way with Luna unconscious on his back. "Soon, your powers will be mine…and I'll make sure your precious sister watches when I drain your powers from you." Thorn said darkly before he disappeared with Luna in a bolt of black flames.

Midnight couldn't keep his head up anymore and let it hit the ground as he became unconscious.

That morning: Ponyville library

I groaned as I began to wake up and slowly opened my eyes to see I was facing off the bed, I then rolled over in the bed to face the other way to see Twilight facing me with her eyes closed. I guessed she was still asleep.

I smiled warmly at her before I carefully got out of the bed; trying not to wake her. Once I was out of bed, I groaned as I stretched my arms up in the air until I felt more loose. I then walked over to the window and pulled open the curtains.

To my surprise, it was still dark out and the moon was still high up in the sky. I then got confused and looked at the clock to see it was nearly one 'o'clock in the afternoon, which made me even more confused.

At that moment, I heard a small groaning noise behind me and I turned around to see Twilight lean up on the bed before she let out a large yawn. I then walked up to her and she smiled once she saw me. "Good morning." She said weakly as she rubbed one of her eyes with her hoof.

"Morin' Twi." I said sweetly before I planted a small kiss on her lips. Once Twilight was fully awake, she looked around the room to see that nopony else was up. "Is everypony still asleep?" she asked with a smile.

I nodded. "Yeah. By the way, is it usually dark at this time of day?" I asked.

Twilight raised her eye brow at me. "Huh? What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

I pointed to the window. "Well look! It's nearly the afternoon and its pitch black out there." I said before Twilight got out of the bed and walked towards the window. Once she reached it, she looked out and saw the night sky and the full moon above her.

"That's not right; the sun should have been up ages ago." Twilight stated with a confused look on her face.

I then walked up beside her. "Isn't Luna the one who lowers the moon at this time so Celestia can raise the sun?" I asked.

Twilight nodded while continuing to look out the window. "Yeah, this doesn't make any scenes. Luna's never been late lowering the moon before."

"Maybe she's being distracted. You know! With other royal things." I said trying to think of a reason why Luna would be late.

Twilight turned her head to face me. "I don't think so, raising and lowering the moon is Luna's top duty as Princess of the night. Celestia wouldn't allow her to be distracted from that."

As we continued to wonder why Luna was so late to lower the moon, we both suddenly heard a loud knocking on the front door of the library down the stairs. We then went down the stairs and walked up to the front door before we opened it; revealing the rest of the main 6 behind it.

"Guys? What are you all doing here?" I asked curiously.

"Twilight, Matthew, have you both by any chance noticed something rather…strange…about today?" Rarity asked.

"Like the fact that it's still night time?" Rainbow Dash added as she hovered above Rarity.

Twilight stepped forward. "Yeah, we have noticed it. We think that Luna may have forgot or something."

"Wait! Wait! Wait! I thought we were coming over here for a slumber party." Pinkie Pie said with a raised eye brow.

Applejack turned her head to face her. "No sugar cube, we're here about the extra night time thing."

"So I brought these pillows for nothing?" Pinkie Pie yelled as she pulled a bunch of multi coloured pillows out of nowhere and hit Fluttershy in the face with one; causing a small cloud of feathers and a dazed look on Fluttershy's face.

We all stared at Pinkie Pie with awkward looks for a second before we went back to the main subject. "Anyway, we don't know why this is happening." I said.

"What if something's wrong? What if something happened to Luna?" Rarity said with a concerned look.

"Oh, I hope she's alright." Fluttershy said in a worried tone.

"Maybe we should ask Princess Celestia? She might know somethin' about this." Applejack said before we all nodded in agreement.

"I think she already knows." A voice said from behind me. Me and Twilight turned our heads around to see Spike with a scroll in his hand.

"What's that letter say?" Twilight asked before Spike unravelled the scroll and started to read it.

"Dear Twilight and Matthew.

I'm sure you've already noticed that the sky is still dark and the moon is still high in the sky, I do not know why this is happening. I've tried to wright to Luna but she won't wright back. I am starting to worry, that's why I want you two and your friends to go to Luna's castle and investigate. Proceed with caution! There may be something wrong there.

P.S. Remember Matthew! If something happens, summon your Element to defend yourself and your friends." Spike then finished reading.

Once he finished, I turned my head to face Twilight. "Luna's castle? Does anypony even know where that is?" I asked with a raised eye brow.

"I've never been there, but Celestia once told where it was. She said it was in dark lands on the other side of the mountains." Twilight told me.

Applejack stepped forward. "Well, how the hay are we supposed to get there?" she asked.

Twilight shrugged. I then rubbed my chin with my hoof as I tried to think of a way to get there. "Well, Twilight probably can't teleport us that fart. We can't take the train, they probably won't run while it dark."

I then thought of something. "Wait a minute! Don't we have a hot-air balloon?" I asked as I looked at Twilight. She nodded. "Yeah, it's in the fields outside Ponyville."

"Alright, here's the plan. We're gonna use the hot-air balloon to get to Luna's castle and find out why she's not lowering the moon." I said in a confident tone.

Rainbow Dash then flew up in front of me. "Whow wait! So you're tell me that we're gonna take the hot-air balloon to a place we've never even been to before, where who-knows-what could be waiting for us there? That's your plan?" she asked with a raised eye brow.

"….Yep." I answered while nodding my head slightly.

Rainbow Dash was silent for a moment before a she smirked. "Then what are we doing standing around here? Let's do this!" she said before she turned around and shot off in the air towards the felids.

I then looked down at Spike. "Spike, you stay here and watch the library! If Jeff and Peewee wake up before we get back, tell them where we've gone. Ok?"

He smiled and stuck his thumb up. "Will do."

I then turned my attention back to Twilight and the others. "Alright, let's go!" I said before we all galloped into to streets and headed towards the felids. Spike then walked back into the library and shut the door behind him.

Moments later: Felids outside Ponyville

After a while of galloping through the streets, we finally reached the open fields. I looked ahead to see Rainbow Dash standing next to the already inflated hot-air balloon which was held to the ground by a short rope.

Once we reached the balloon, I tuned my head to face everypony. "Everypony ready?" I asked before Twilight and the others nodded.

"Then let's go!" I said in a confident voice before I jumped into the balloon basket with everypony jumping in after me. Once we were all settled in the basket, Applejack went up to the edge of the basket before she untied the rope holding the balloon down and the balloon lifted off the ground. As we started to go, I had a confident smile on my face.

After a while, my smile faded away once I realized how slow we were going. I look down from the basket to see we were still close to the ground and I narrowed my eyes. "Well….this is embarrassing." I said out loud.

Everypony noticed the situation and looked at each other awkwardly. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "I'm on it." She said before she grabbed a rope that was in the basket with us and tied one end of the rope to the edge of the basket and the other end around her waist.

She then flew out of the basket and hovered in front of the balloon. I stuck my hoof out. "Ok Rainbow, just don't go too fa-WHOW." I yelled as Rainbow Dash shot off with great speed; pulling the balloon through the air with all of us inside it.

Later that evening: Luna's castle

After a long flight, Rainbow Dash was still pulling the balloon along through the sky as we got closer to the castle. Once we reached it, Rainbow Dash dove down to the front gate; pulling the balloon down with her before she landed in front of the gate with the balloon landing behind her.

Rainbow Dash turned her head around to face us. "How you guy's doing back there?" she asked. We all pulled ourselves up from inside the basket with faces that looked like we were going to be sick. "We have to…go back…I think I…dropped a lung back there." I said between breaths. Rainbow Dash then gave us a sheepish smile.

Once we all calmed down and felt better, we got out of the basket and walked up to the gate. Our mouths hung open at the sight of the wide open gate. "Looks like something broke right through it, the entire thing's wrecked." Twilight said as she looked at one of the bent gate doors.

"Or somepony really wanted to get in." I said with a suspicious look. After a moment, we all walked into the castle grounds and headed towards the front double doors of the castle.

As we did, we all looked at the destruction around the castle grounds. We noticed the two destroyed guard towers and looked up at both of them; wondering what could do something like this. "This is getting scary." Fluttershy said quietly in a frightened voice.

Rarity gave her a concerned look. "It's alright dear, we'll be alright." She said sweetly trying to calm her down.

We then reached the front doors but they were shut. I walked up to them before I opened them slightly and looked through the small gap. I then gasped in horror at the sight of the large number of Luna's dead guards lying all around the lobby.

I quickly shut the doors before I tuned my head to face Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, cover your eyes!" I said.

Fluttershy gave me a concerned look. "Why? What's in there?" she asked silently.

"Just do it and don't open them 'till I tell you to, ok?" I said with a serious voice. Fluttershy then covered her eyes with one of her wings.

Twilight gave me a curious look. "Matt, what's behind the door?" she asked. I remained silent as I turned my head back to the door before I took a deep breath and pushed the doors wide open.

Everypony excepted for Fluttershy screamed in horror once they saw the lobby filled with dead guards. Fluttershy tried to move her wing away from her eyes but Rarity placed her hoof on it to keep it over her eyes.

We then slowly walked inside and head towards the stairs while looking around at the carnage that surrounded us. Rarity was helping Fluttershy along because she couldn't see with her wing over her eyes.

As we walked closer to the stairs, I looked around at all the dead guards. It was horrible, there were bodies on the floor and up along the stairs. There were even small puddles of blood under some of the bodies. I almost didn't want to know what happened here.

Once we reached the stairs, we walked up them and avoided touching the bodies as we did. When we finally reached the top, I pushed open the throne room doors revealing the big empty throne room with a large pile of rubble in the middle of it.

"She's not here." Rainbow Dash said out loud. We then walked into the throne room before I shut the doors behind me. I then turned my head to Fluttershy. "Ok Fluttershy, you can look now!"

Fluttershy then removed her wing from her eyes. "Thanks Matt, what was it that you didn't want me to see?" she asked in a calm voice.

"Errr…best not to know just yet." I answered. Fluttershy nodded to tell me she understood.

I then noticed the pile of rubble and walked up to it. Twilight and the others walked up beside me. "What could have done this?" I asked myself."

"Maybe it was a dragon, aren't they able to do something like this?" Pinkie Pie asked.

I turned my head to face her and shook my head. "I don't think this was a dragon's work, there's only a broken gate, wrecked towers, dead guards and this one pile of rubble. A dragon would have just destroyed the whole castle. No, what ever did this had an intention." I answered.

"The question is, what was that intention?" Twilight said.

I didn't respond before I started to walk around the pile of rubble to see Luna's largely cracked throne. I gave it a suspicious look before I began to walk towards it.

As I walked past the rubble, I suddenly felt something grab hold of my hind-legs. I turned my head around and yelled in fright at the sight of one of the guards under the pile of rubble with his front hooves wrapped around my leg. "WHOW, GET OFF!" I yelled as I pulled my leg out of his grasp. "Help…me!" he said weakly.

I quickly nodded before I looked over the pile of rubble to see Twilight. "Twilight, there's somepony still alive over here. Help me get him out!" I yelled over to her.

Twilight and the rest of the main 6 then galloped around to me and saw the weak guard under the rubble. Twilight lowered herself down to him. "Hold still, I'll get you out." She said in a confident voice.

Twilight then stood back up before her horn glowed and all the pieces of rubble lifted of the guard and flew across the room before they crashed to the floor.

The guard then rolled over onto his back before I sat down next to him and leaned him up in my arms. "Ok….y-you'll be alright, mate. We'll get you to a hospital." I said as I examined his body to see what kind of damage there was.

He shook his head. "N..no…you have t-to find P-Princess Luna…he…he's insane." The guard said weakly.

"Who? What happened here?" Twilight asked while standing beside him.

"I…I'm Midnight Gaze…c-captain of the Princess's royal guards…w-we were attacked…by a-an alicorn….he killed everypony w-who stood up against him. I…I tried to stop him…but…he was too strong…too powerful….I failed…now, she's gone…taken…the Princess…y-you have to save her." Midnight said weakly before he grunted in pain.

"Who took her?" I asked. "He…he said that he was going to drain her powers over the night a-and the moon…with…he sister watching…" Midnight said.

"WHO?" I asked louder. Midnight then placed his hoof on my shoulder and pulled me down to him. He put his mouth to my ear. "Th…Th…Thorn." He answered weakly. My eyes then widened in shock before I pulled my head away from his.

Midnight then quietly gasped a few times before his eyes slowly closed and his hood fell off my shoulder as he died in my arms.

Twilight held her hoof to her mouth with an upset look on her face. I then slowly laid Midnight's body back on the floor and hung my head to take a moment to calm down.

I took a deep breath before I stood back up. "What did he say, sugar cube?" Applejack asked quietly. I raised my head back up and turned to face her.

"He…he said that…it was Thorn, and he took Luna." I answered.

Rainbow Dash then stepped forward. "Wait a minute! Thorn?...you mean, that big black alicorn who hypnotized all of Ponyville and tried to take over Canterlot?...THAT THORN?" She yelled with a shocked look on her face.

I slowly nodded. "Yeah, he's taken Luna to drain her powers and make them his own. That's why he's done this."

"Well, what do we do?" Pinkie Pie asked with a concerned look. "What can we do? We don't even know where he's taken her." Rarity added.

Twilight looked at me. "Did Midnight mention where Thorn might be?"

I thought about it for a second before I remembered something. "He said he was going to drain Luna's powers with her sister watching…but…Celestia is Luna's sister…so that means he's going to…"

My eyes then widened once I realized where Thorn was going. "Oh no….Celestia. He's going to Canterlot."

Twilight and the others eyes widened in shock.

Meanwhile: Canterlot castle

Celestia was in the throne room with Discord, she was pacing left and right with a worried look on her face.

Discord saw this and stepped forward. "Don't worry, Celestia! Luna will be alright. She's a powerful pony." He said trying to calm Celestia down.

Celestia stopped pacing and turned her head to face Discord. "I know Discord, but something like this has never happened before. What if something happened to her?" she said getting more worried.

Discord then walked up to her and placed his talon hand on her shoulder. "If something's wrong, Matthew, Twilight and their friends will tell us and we'll all handle it. Trust me! Luna will be back." He said in a confident tone.

Celestia gave him a small smile. Suddenly, a sound caught both their attention. "Hey, you can't be here. This is a restrict-AHHH." Somepony yelled from outside the throne room doors. Suddenly, two of Celestia's guard burst through the doors and crashed to the floor; knocking them unconscious.

Celestia and Discord then looked towards the door way and were shocked to see Thorn walk in. "Thorn?" they both said in slight shock.

"Princess Celestia, we meet again. You know! We didn't get a proper meeting last time. What with you running back to this castle like the coward you are." Thorn said with a glare as he slowly walked towards them.

Discord stepped forward. "Well, you didn't really give her a perfect reason to stay after you BLASTED ME." he yelled in anger.

Thorn looked at Discord. "Discord…I'm surprised you're still alive. I'd thought my lighting would have been strong enough to finally finish what I intended to during that fire in the main hall of Ponyville and end your pathetic life." He said darkly.

Discord smirked. "Guess I'm not as weak as you thought I was."

"That…or I didn't give you a strong enough dose. Allow me to try it again!" Thorn yelled before he quickly pointed his horn at Discord and shot a bolt of black lightning at him.

Lightning then formed in Discord's palms before he stuck his hands out and shot a bolt of yellow lightning out of each of his hands. Thorn and Discord's bolts then connected and fought each other.

Thorn and Discord had their teeth gritted as they tried to force the bolts to shoot out stronger. Thorn's bolt then slowly pushed Discord's bolt back until it finally reached Discord's hands.

Discord couldn't keep his bolts up any longer and Thorn's bolt shot into him; sending him flying across the room and crashing into the wall. Celestia's eyes widened in shock before she galloped up to Discord's side. "Discord, are you ok?"

Discord slowly opened his eyes and groaned. "C-Celestia…go…save yourself…don't worry about me!" he said weakly.

"I'm not leaving you." Celestia said with a serious look.

Thorn heard this and raised his eye brow before he laughed. "Hahaha, you can't be serious. You actually have feeling for that creature? He's nothing but a fool who's lived a pointless life."

Celestia stepped in front of Discord and glared at Thorn. "He's not a fool; he's a true and loyal friend to me and my subject. And I will defend him." Celestia then flew up into the air before she shot a yellow beam of magic down at Thorn.

Thorn then jumped out the way of the beam and it hit the floor. "I wouldn't do that Princess! That is, if you want your sister to remain healthy?" he said with a devious grin.

Celestia's glare then faded and she lowered down to the floor. Once she touched the floor, she gave him an angered look. "What have you done with her?" Celestia yelled.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Thorn said before his horn glowed white and with a large flash of light, Luna appeared lying down in a cage with black spikey bars.

"LUNA." Celestia yelled in shock. Luna opened her eyes and tried to stand up but then fell back to the floor. Thorn noticed that Celestia was distracted and smiled evilly before he shot another bolt of black lightning at her.

"CELESTIA, LOOK OUT!" Discord yelled still lying on the floor next to the wall. But the bolt hit her and sent her flying back before she crashed next to Discord. Discord pulled himself closer to her and placed his talon hand on her cheek.

"Celestia, wake up! Please." Discord begged. Celestia then slowly opened her eyes and groaned.

Thorn then stepped forward. "Then again, you two do make an adorable couple….too bad it won't last." He growled before his glowed white.

Suddenly, black chains burst out the wall and wrapped themselves around different parts of Discord and Celestia's bodies before they pulled them both up high against the wall. Discord and Celestia struggled to get loose but the chins were too strong and tight.

Thorn chuckled as he approached Celestia's throne. Once he reached it, he sat down on it before he breathed in through his nose and exhale through his mouth. "Yes…this place will do nicely. It's the perfect place to suck the power out of your precious sister." Thorn said darkly. Celestia gritted her teeth as she struggled harder to get loose from the chains.

Thorn then looked around the room. "Although, this castle could use a little….REDACERATING." He stated before his horn glowed viciously white.

Suddenly, a large shadow started spreading from behind Thorn. It spread around the throne room until it was completely black, it also spread throughout the entire castle until it was completely black inside and out.

When the shadow faded, the colours of the castle and the throne room were dimmer, the walls were covered in cracks and the plants around the castle and in the gardens were now dead. Dark clouds then formed above the castle and started to thunder.

Thorn had an evil satisfied look on his face. "There, that's better isn't it. Now it's a castle worthy of my taste." Celestia and Discord had horrified looks on their faces and Luna started to open her eyes again.

Thorn then smiled darkly. "All…hale…King Thorn. AH-HAHAHAH." Thorn laughed evilly as black lightning struck from the black clouds swirling above the castle.

To be continued

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