Chapter 1

In a remote part of Equestria, a trio of pony adventurers made their way through the dense underbrush of the jungle. This particular jungle lay far to the south of Equestria's borders; this land was mostly uninhabited and unexplored. Many legends surround these lands, but so too were the dangers which were all too true. Many brave adventurer ponies risked these lands to make their great discovery of a life time. The few that did brave the jungles came back with tales of exotic animals and plants. Even more rarely was the tales of ancient ruins of a civilization long since lost to time and the jungle. No one knew who built these ruins, and no known record of their existence remains.

The rumor of these ruins lead to the rumor of treasure housed within. The first explorers returning home with saddle bags full of gold and gems lent credit to these rumors. Which in turn lead many brave, or foolhardy depending on whom you ask, ponies to the jungle. Many never returned, but the promise of easy riches kept many coming despite the dangers. So it was with the three now. One was an earth pony; his short cropped dark gray mane was tangled and knotted from moving through the dense brush. His auburn coat had cuts and bruises all over, his cutie mark was that of a spy glass; signifying his destiny as an adventurer. His two companions were in no better shape than he. The aquamarine colored pegasus wore a small opal beaded necklace and had her left wing bandaged from an accident from a few days before, her mane was teal colored and she sported a trio of overlapping gold coins as her cutie mark. Finally the rust colored male unicorn had his right foreleg wrapped from an injury from only a few hours earlier, his mane was an orange red color, an astrolabe (a classic tool used for sea navigation) served as his cutie mark.

The earth pony lead the way, cutting a path through the thick brush with a machete gripped in his teeth. The pegasus behind him paused to take a drink from her canteen with her good wing.

"How much further are we going today Wanderer?" She asked the lead pony.

Wanderer chopped a thick brush out of the way, before sheathing the blade on his side. "A little further, we still have some daylight left." He said, continuing on ahead.

She rolled her eyes, but the unicorn behind her spoke up. "We've maybe an hour left before dusk. We need to find a place to set up camp for the night."

Wanderer snorted dismissively. "That is an hour yet to use. Come on Tormod, Tourmaline, there is something up ahead, I can feel it." Wanderer said confidently, the underbrush seemed to thin out some and the going became easier.

The other two huffed but followed their leader. Wanderer had led them this far with only a few mishaps, mishaps not of his own fault. His charisma and strength of character drove them on, even if he could be stubborn at times.

They continued on but all they found in that hour was more brush. As Celestia's sun began to set, even Wanderer had to grudgingly admit they had to stop. They had found a small clearing that made for a perfect camp site. With a quick buck Wanderer had his saddle bags and machete off. His friends followed suit and camp was quickly made. As Luna's moon began its rise, Wanderer took the time to update his logbook; keeping track of their progress. The other two were unrolling their bed rolls for the night, as bone tired as they were, it would not take long for sleep to find them.

Tourmaline, the pegasus, glanced over to Wanderer as she applied a fresh bandage to her wing. "I didn't think 'nothing but brush' would be worth writing down in the log book." She remarked sarcastically.

Wanderer looked up from his writing, the pencil still in his mouth, and gave her a flat stare.

"Though I'm sure whoever finds us in this forgotten jungle can happily read about the flora we've see, if they haven't already figured it out for themselves." She said, giving him an impish smile.

He rolled his eyes at her and jotted down his final thoughts, likely something not too flattering about his companions.

"We actually managed five miles today, despite the misstep." Wanderer remarked, glancing to the rust colored unicorn. "How is that cut doing Tormod?"

The bandage the unicorn lifted from his leg had a red colored aura surrounding it. The unicorn's magic lifting it from its place to reveal the recent, but healing wound. "Sore, but thankfully not infected." He said, taking time to apply a healing balm and a fresh bandage to the wound.

"That rock python caught us by surprise, we are lucky that cut was the worst of it." Wanderer said, referring to a magical creature that was, literally, a python made of rock. Its body made of sharp edged stone. "We'll let you take last watch, give you time to rest."

Tourmaline furrowed her brow. "So who gets mid watch?" Referring to the watch where the pony on mid watch gets the least consistent sleep.

"Flip for it?" Wanderer asked with a grin.

"Not with your bit." She countered.

"I got rid of that trick bit a long time ago." He protested.

"Not taking a chance with you again." She chuckled.

Tormod rolled his eyes at the two's banter. "Closest to a number?" He offered. Both readily agreed to the game of chance.

"Got it." He said after a moment's thought. "Between one and twenty."

"Fourteen." Tourmaline said quickly.

"Eight." Wanderer countered.

"Fifteen." Tormod stated.

Wanderer sighed in defeat, shoulders slumping, while Tourmaline celebrated her victory.

"First watch is yours." He said to her, a smirk on his face.

Her victory was short lived as she realized that sleep would have to wait.

It was well into the night when Tourmaline woke him for his watch.

"Anything?" He asked as he tried to shake the grogginess away.

"Nothing. It's quiet out." She reported, exhaustion clearly seen in her expression.

He shook his head one last time. "Alright, get some sleep Tourmaline. We'll find something tomorrow."

"Right." She didn't sound convinced, and curled up on her bedroll and was quickly asleep.

Wanderer stood apart from his sleeping companions, the dying campfire's light was hard on his night vision. As he kept alert for danger, he couldn't help but agree with Tourmaline that it was quiet; unusually so. Even the wild animals seemed subdued. Yes it was the middle of the night, but the nights previous seemed the jungle was no less quiet at night than day. Not so this night, it almost seemed as if the jungle was afraid to make a sound here. Why that was, he didn't know, but he intended to find out come day break. A few hours into his watch, he caught himself nodding off, and slapped himself to keep sleep at bay. This is why he and his companions hated middle watch, interrupted sleep was the worst.

As he looked around, he noticed the clouds were beginning to thin out. This allowed Luna's moon to shine through the jungle. Mayhap it was a trick of the moonlight, but a glint off to his left caught his eyes. He squinted trying to see better, his ears alert for danger. When nothing made itself known, he stood and gathered his machete and went to look. He made sure not to go far and leave his companions without a guard. However true to his namesake, he could not help but wander.

Fortunately, he did not have to go far to find the source of the glint. As he made his way through the jungle, his hazel colored eyes widened in wonder at the sight he found. The jungle gave way to an old ruin, a rather large one, perhaps a temple of some sort. Wanderer was elated at the discovery. Finally they had found something! Something that would put their names in history books and be remembered as the great adventurers he and his friends were destined to be.

He made his way back to the camp at a brisk pace, his excitement would not allow for less. He paused frequently to mark a tree with a simple mark with his machete to show the path back to the ruin. When he made his way back to the camp he could see that his hurried commotion had already woken his friends who were chasing the last signs of sleep from their eyes.

"Wanderer? What in the name of Celestia are you doing?" Tourmaline asked sourly, not pleased at being woken suddenly.

"I found something in the woods, a ruin! It's not far from here, come on you two, get your things and let's go." He said excitedly, practically prancing like a colt so excited was he.

Tormod sat down heavily on his haunches. "Are you sure it is a ruin and not a figment of your imagination?"

"Tormod, would I be this excited if I wasn't sure? It's the real thing, get off your rump and move."

The rust colored unicorn yawned. "Can it not wait for morning; it's not going to go anywhere."

Wanderer gave him a dubious look. "You expect me to wait and try to sleep knowing what we've been searching for is nothing but a buck's toss away?"

"Get up Tormod." Tourmaline said, already gathering her gear to go. "If he said he found something, I believe him."

With a defeated sigh, Tormod started collecting his stuff.

Less than an hour later, the three stood before the entrance of the ruin, weariness now forgotten with the elation of the discovery. The ruin appeared to be a large square shaped building that had the appearance of a place of worship, though not to any figure the three knew of. The jungle had taken part of the temple grounds back, though strangely the temple itself seemed untouched. It almost seemed as if the plant life was hesitant to touch it. The animal life also seemed to be entirely vacant of the area, as it was almost gravely quiet.

Fearlessly, Wanderer gathered his lantern and began moving for the entrance.

"Wanderer, wait, I don't think we should go in yet." Tourmaline said, obviously nervous at the stillness of the place.

Talking with the lantern still in his mouth, he turned to her confidently. "It is all right Tourmaline. The three of us together, there isn't anything that can stop us. We can't let fear get the best of us."

"But this place feels wrong somehow. It's…still." She explained, looking around nervously.

"It is only scary because we haven't conquered it yet. Once we go inside and learn its secrets, there won't be a thing to worry about anymore."

She didn't appear entirely convinced but Wanderer came back and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

"Come on, we've got this." He said to her reassuringly.

She smiled softly to him; blushing a little, and nodded. Tormod waited a moment more before following them inside.

Inside the temple they found that it consisted of a large central room, with a pedestal in its center, ringed by rows of low stone benches. The place was in a state of disarray. Though the jungle refused to touch it, time and the elements had. A portion of the roof had collapsed and many of the stone benches were cracked or broken. The walls and pillars were adorned with images of ponies, all seemingly genuflecting before a stallion that stood above them all. The worn stone etching made details hard to come by, but they could see that the stallion carried a scepter of some sort.

As they looked around, Wanderer noted one of the etchings of the stone glittered in the lantern light. He peered at it closer.

"Tormod, can you give me some light?" He asked as he sat down his lantern and dug into his pack for a chisel and hammer. Using one hoof to brace the chisel and his teeth for the hammer, he pried away a small gemstone from an indention in the stallion's chest. Setting his tools down, he scooped up the gemstone and looked at it closer by the light offered from his friend's horn.

"Amethyst." Tourmaline said before the others could. The violet gemstone was about an inch long and wide, shaped in the traditional style of a diamond.

"This alone makes our venture here worth it." Tormod said with a wide grin, using his magic to place the stone in his bag.

Wanderer smiled, it was more than the riches that made this trip worthwhile he thought. He then noticed that Tourmaline was removing the wrapping from her wing and was stretching the appendage.

"You're sure you can fly yet?" He asked, concern in his voice, perhaps unknowingly.

She smiled reassuringly at him, stretching her wings to full width. "Don't you worry, I'm not about to miss a chance to see this place from above." With that she sprung up in the air to get a better view from above.

He watched her fly around the temple, despite a wince here and there, she seemed to handle it as well as she always did. Through the broken roof, Wanderer could see the beginning of daylight washing over the ruins. A welcome change to the oppressive gloom the place seemed to hold like a thick cloak.

Wanderer's eyes then settled on the altar in the center of the room. Set in the middle of the altar was a gold crown. As he got closer to it, he could see that it was made of two intertwining snakes in a loop with the heads of the snakes facing outward, each of them having an amethyst gemstone set in their mouths.

Remembering the many lessons of the Daring Do books he read in his life, he suspected a trap and called to both of his friends to be ready. He approached cautiously, looking for any sign of traps surrounding the crown. Finding none, he braced himself and quickly removed the crown from the altar and hopped away expecting to be crushed, shot at, or any number of ways to meet an untimely end for taking treasure.

To his relief nothing happened. He let out an explosive sigh and looked to his prize. The crown strangely reminded him of the stallion depicted on the murals.

"That was…easy." Tormod remarked.

"Too easy." Wanderer agreed.

Just then a low rumbling was heard and the ground began to shake.

"You had to say it." Tourmaline remarked dryly from the air.

Thankfully the ruin did not collapse in on itself, but a small section of wall depressed in and slid out of the way; revealing a hidden passage. When nothing came out to devour them, they relaxed and approached the passage.

"What do you think is in there?" Tourmaline asked as she landed next to Wanderer.

"Only one way to find out." He said with a wide grin. Placing the crown into his saddle bag, he retrieved his lantern and went inside, followed by Tormod then Tourmaline.

The passage was narrow, allowing only one to pass at a time. If the atmosphere of the temple's main room could be called gloomy, then the passage was best described as dead. Nothing moved here, not vermin, not the light, not even the air. A feeling of oppression fell upon them as they moved deeper in. Tormod and Tourmaline hunkered down as they walked, but followed Wanderer as he put on a bold face for them and moved ahead confidently, albeit at a slower pace.

The passage finally ended and widened out to a small room. In its center levitated a scepter made of gold and standing five foot tall. At its head was the face of a manticore with its mouth open in a roar. A large hoof sized amethyst gemstone was set in its mouth. Looking upon the scepter the three ponies could not help but wince, looking on it made them feel dread. Surrounding the scepter was a magical bubble extending six feet from it.

"What do you think?" Wanderer asked his two companions.

Tourmaline was at a loss of words, but Tormod spoke up.

"We should try to get it out of here. If we can get it out in the light, we can study it in better detail." As he approached, he studied the magical bubble. He cast a small spell on it in an attempt to dispel it. When nothing happened he shrugged helplessly and lifted a hoof to touch it. Upon doing so, an unseen force threw him across the room to crash heavily against the wall.

His two friends cried out in alarm and ran to check on him. Despite being sore he was all right.

"A force bubble. I don't think I'll be able to dispel it." He said as he accepted Wanderer's hoof to help him up.

"Do you know another way?" Wanderer asked.

Tormod shook his head, but Tourmaline spoke. "Perhaps we should leave it. Come back for it when we are better rested."

Wanderer looked to the scepter that still hovered in the air.

"Let me try, if it doesn't work, then we'll leave and come back better prepared."

"Do you want to make an indent in the wall too?" She asked him archly.

He grinned at her. "I bounce better."

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not prying you out of the wall."

He laughed and approached the bubble and slowly lifted a hoof to touch it. Fully expecting to be tossed aside, he tumbled forward as the bubble flashed then disappeared as he fell through it.

Both of his companions had shocked expressions on their faces.

"Wha, how?" Tormod sputtered.

"Nothing to it!" He shouted back triumphantly.

He then noticed the scepter float gently down to him then paused before him, waiting for him to take it in hoof.

Smiling his confident smile to his friends he took hold of the scepter.

Too late did he or his friends take notice that the crown in his saddle bag was glowing.

The moment he took hold of the scepter, a dark miasma seeped forth. It began to swirl and enveloped around his body.

"Wanderer! Let it go!" Tourmaline cried out in fear for her dear friend.

"I...I can't!" He yelled back, his eyes wide in fear. He was then elevated above the ground as the miasma swirled faster and began to glow.

His eyes were soon nothing but glowing orbs of light and he screamed to his friends in total panic.

"Run! Get away!" He yelled frantically before the fog completely covered him.

"Wanderer!" His friends both cried out, his words unheeded.

After a short time there was a bright flash that had both ponies covering their eyes. When they looked back, there hovering two feet from the ground, was not Wanderer, but a vastly different pony. He was a stallion, two hands taller than Wanderer. His coat was dark velvet, his mane a lighter purple with a single gold streak down the middle. Wanderer's spyglass cutie mark was replaced by a gauntlet held upright in a crushing pose, and his eyes, once hazel, were now an amber color and full of malevolence. Resting on top of his head was the crown Wanderer had taken from the altar. A gold plated chest plate adorned his muscled chest with a large amethyst gemstone in its center. The stallion looked around the room slowly and paused to look to the scepter in his left hoof.

"Wa…Wanderer?" Tourmaline asked in a quiet voice. Tormod was unable to speak.

The stallion slowly looked from his scepter to the two stunned ponies. How they cringed under those awful eyes.

"You should have listened to your friend." He said in a sinister voice.

In an eye blink he shot out his right fore hoof and a beam of energy shot towards Tourmaline.

"Look out!" Tormod screamed before jumping in front of the beam. As the beam struck him, his body was instantly turned to stone, and it feel heavily to the ground.

With a fearful scream, Tourmaline tore down the narrow passage, tears flowing freely down her face. The stallion did not pursue, nor attack the fleeing mare. He only looked to his scepter and began to chuckle, slowly at first but then loudly to almost ear splitting. His laughter was the only thing that followed Tourmaline as she took wing and fled to the skies.

In Canterlot, Celestia sat comfortably before her throne. A cup of warm tea floated nearby, as did a parchment that she was reading from. She quietly considered her tasks for the day; an envoy from the Crystal Empire was expected this day carrying news from Princess Cadance, as well as new trade agreements from the merchants there. She also expected a report from her favored student. No, not student anymore she corrected herself, but adopted niece. Twilight Sparkle's coronation was only a week past. It was a happy day for her, and so many others. Twilight's becoming a princess was a surprise to many, most of all to Twilight, but not so to Celestia. She knew the mare's potential the day they first met, the day the younger one earned her cutie mark and her place as Celestia's student. Potential realized was one of the many joys Princess Celestia savored in her subjects.

With a thought, the cup of tea hovered to her to sip. That was when the sound of the laughter reached her ears, carried on ghostly winds that she and few others could hear.

Caught completely off guard, she spit the hot tea out over the parchment and gasped in shock and fear. The guards posted at the foot of her throne turned suddenly, surprised and worried at her action.

"Princess, are you all right?" The earth pony guard asked in concern.

She did not immediately respond, the laughter was ringing in her ears, until it faded.

"No, not him. Please, not him." She pleaded inside her mind.

"My Lady." The guard repeated obviously not for the first or second time.

She gave him a reassuring look, one that she did not truly feel. "It is alright sir, a spell that will fade."

He gave his fellow guard a dubious look, but would not question the princess.

"Yes my Lady." They both turned back to their posts.

Princess Celestia thought to herself a moment more, she could not be certain of anything but that laugh was hauntingly familiar. However, without solid evidence, there was nothing that could be done until the danger made itself known.

She looked up as her sister, Princess Luna, ran into the room. Her expression no less worried than her own.

"Sister!" Luna cried in alarm. No doubt she too heard the laugh as Celestia had.

"Be calm my sister. We must learn more before we act." She assured her.

The two guards shared a look; words like that usually meant dark times were ahead.

Chapter 2

A few months after her coronation, Princess Twilight Sparkle sat quietly in her library at Ponyville engrossed in a book she was reading. Her day started just like any other, she had stayed up late studying and woke early to study more. Despite becoming a princess of Equestria, little had truly changed in her life. Her new wings and other ponies genuflecting to her often were about all that was new. Both were difficult in getting used to, as the studious alicorn was not comfortable with either. They brought attention to her that she was not truly fond of. The wings themselves were a hindrance when attempting to sleep as they kept opening up when she finally would get comfortable enough to doze off. How Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy managed to sleep with wings was beyond her.

It was early morning and she was almost finished with her book when she heard footsteps from the stairwell. She glanced up from her book to see Spike make his way groggily down the stairs. The young dragon was a heavy sleeper, even when he got more than enough sleep; he still never woke up well. Twilight herself could go with minimal amounts of sleep and awake feeling refreshed. Something the young dragon grumbled about frequently.

"Good morning Spike." She said cheerfully.

He muttered something, still rubbing at his eyes. "How long have you been up Twilight?" He asked, glancing at the stack of books next to her.

She waved a hoof dismissively. "An hour or two." She stated, having no real idea how long she had been up. "Autumn Leaves received a new shipment of books yesterday at her shop, and I found a few I hadn't read yet." She was referring to a unicorn mare who had opened up a book store in Ponyville a month ago.

Spike grunted and made his way to the kitchen to begin cooking breakfast for the two of them. The smell of cooking hot cakes and barley toast brought a grumble to Twilight's stomach. It had been a while since she had last eaten. She had just finished the last chapter of the book she was reading when Spike brought her a plate of food.

"Thank you Spike, you really are the number one assistant." She said rubbing at his head spines affectionately.

He blushed faintly at her compliment. "Have you already made out your checklist for the day?"

She nodded easily. "Done and done already. I'll get started after breakfast. Fluttershy wanted my help with a task."

"Don't you have more flying lessons with Rainbow Dash?"

Sighing, she said "Yeah, even after months of practicing, she still feels I could do better."

"That's Rainbow Dash for you. She probably won't be happy until you fly as well as she does."

"She has years of flying experience on me, and I doubt I could ever fly as well as she does." Twilight protested.

"Tell her that."

"I did."

"Did she listen?"

"No…"

"That sounds like her then." He said blandly.

They both shared a laugh and not long afterwards the two were moving on to their tasks. It did not take them long to make it to Fluttershy's cottage. They could hear the sounds of the numerous animals that dwelled within and around the pegasus's home. They could also hear the pegasus singing softly to herself. Twilight knocked on the door.

"Come on in." They heard Fluttershy call.

Opening the door, they could see the pale yellow pegasus busy with minor cleaning duties aided by a few of her animal friends.

"Twilight, Spike, I'm glad you both came." She said in her typical quiet voice.

"It's no problem Fluttershy. We're glad to help." Twilight said, as she Spike hopped off her back. "What did you need help with?"

"Well, with you being so good at cataloguing and keeping things organized I thought you would be able to help me keep track of the supplies I've collected." She said, kicking a fore hoof to the floor shyly. Even despite knowing each other for years the yellow pegasus was still shy and hesitant in asking for anything.

Twilight smiled at her friend. "Of course Fluttershy, we'd be happy to help."

Fluttershy smiled warmly. "Oh thank you."

Spike already had clipboard and quill in hand before Twilight could say anything.

It did not take long for the task to be finished. Despite Fluttershy's call for help, she was already adept in keeping her storage shed tidy, like her home. Twilight asked her why she needed help when she had pretty much done everything that needed done.

Fluttershy again kicked the ground idly. "Umm…Well…I knew that Rainbow Dash was going to make you practice again. I just wanted you to have a break. I know how Rainbow Dash can get when she wants to push someone to do something." She looked to Twilight with a faintly worried look. "I hope you're not mad."

Twilight smiled to her friend. "Thank you Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash has had me train awfully hard lately. Though we both know she'll find me eventually and likely make me work extra hard."

"I know, I just wanted…" She started but didn't finish.

"I know Fluttershy, maybe if we're lucky she won't-" Twilight began.

"There you are! Slacker!" A shout was heard from above them.

A rainbow blur landed beside them, appearing outraged. "I've been looking everywhere for you Twilight." Rainbow Dash said as she brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I've something to show you."

"Another lesson?" Twilight asked with a sigh.

"You can say that." She said, and then smiled wide in anticipation. "It will be awesome!"

"Awesome?" Twilight asked dubiously. "Do you consider my crashing into things as awesome now?"

"No, no,… well sometimes. You've had some pretty crazy crashes before, but no, that's not it. Come on you three, you've got to see this."

"M.m. me too?" Fluttershy asked, surprised and a little nervous.

"Yes, you too Fluttershy. Come on you two, we're wasting time." The cyan pegasus said pushing them along the path back to Ponyville.

Well, perhaps not directly to Ponyville, but instead the cyan pegasus ushered them to the local swimming hole. It was a popular place for the residents of Ponyville to cool off from the summer's heat. As they approached the lake, Twilight could see that a recent addition was being built. She could see from her view point that it was a large slide and that there was a fast moving pink blur near its base.

"What is Pinkie Pie up to?" Twilight asked Rainbow Dash. Watching the pink mare zip around the newly built slide, a feeling of trepidation came over her. When Pinkie was excited, the end result was never certain.

Rainbow Dash smirked. "It's not just Pinkie Pie. She and I got an idea after the Cutie Mark Crusader's last attempt at getting their cutie marks."

"What were they…?"

"You don't want to know." Rainbow Dash said dryly. "It involved a water pump, I'll just say that."

"A water pump?" Twilight asked curiously.

Rainbow Dash would not be baited. "Come on you three, they should have it done by now." As she pushed them along.

When they got to the watering hole, they could see that the slide was a simple straight down slide that turned upward sharply at its end. The slide was wide enough to accommodate a fully grown pony. Standing about two stories tall and with an impressive incline, Twilight could imagine Rainbow Dash's excitement. She noticed that her friends Applejack and Rarity were there as well, the former hammering in the last of the nails to the slide and the other sun bathing on a nearby bench.

"Afternoon, Twilight, Fluttershy, Spike, 'bout time ya got here. What kept ya RD?" Applejack said as they approached.

"These slackers were trying to hide out. I found them at Fluttershy's place."

"We were hiding?" Twilight asked Fluttershy quietly, with a faint smile.

The yellow pegasus smiled quietly in turn.

"Twilight! Have you seen what we've built?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, appearing next to Twilight, lifting her up in her excitement. "It's going to be a giant water slide!"

"I can see." Twilight grunted as she was unceremoniously dropped to the ground.

"Oh, when it's done, we'll have a big pool party. It's gonna be fun!" The pink mare said excitedly.

"When it's done? It's done now." Applejack said, driving in the last nail to the top platform. "Rainbow, bring up that hose, won't ya?"

"You got it." The cyan pegasus flew over and brought up the requested item.

As Applejack set the hose in its designated place, she called down to Twilight. "Can ya put that other hose in the lake Twi?"

"Of course." She said, then used her magic to levitate the other hose over the lake before dropping it.

Applejack nodded in approval. "Alright Pinkie, let'er rip."

"Okely, dokely!" She hollered before turning on the large water pump.

Instantly the machine roared to life, and began draining water from the lake and to the top of the slide. The machine was putting out enough water to provide a good, steady stream. It was perfect for the water slide.

"Yee-haw! It works." Applejack reared up in triumph.

"Alright!" Rainbow Dash cheered, giving Applejack a high hoof.

Pinkie Pie's show of excitement was a blast of confetti from her trusty party cannon.

The only one to show no real excitement was Rarity; who only lowered her sunglasses enough to look at all of the commotion. She then snorted dismissively, and pushed her glasses back to their place and to her sun bath.

Twilight looked at the water slide with a smile, amazed her friends put together such a thing. "Where did Applebloom and her friends find the pump?" Twilight just could not resist asking; directing the question to Applejack.

"Who knows where they get half the things they get. It's one'a them things where ya is better off not askin." The orange mare shrugged.

"Fair enough." Twilight shrugged, finally letting the topic go.

"So who's going first?" Applejack asked them.

"I will!" Pinkie shouted before anyone could answer, already in mid-leap over the start of the slide. With a high pitched 'Whee!" she slid down the slide at a good rate of speed. She then flew over the lake and splashed down with an impressive cannon ball. The resulting wave soaked all standing near the lake, including an unaware Rarity.

The white unicorn sputtered as she shook off the water, a horrified expression on her face. "P,Pinkie Pie! My…my hair!" She declared in a tragic tone.

"Oh, sorry Rarity." The pink mare said as she floated in the middle of the lake, a not so sorry expression on her face. "You should come swimming with us; it's a whole lot of fun."

Rarity scoffed. "Fun? Darling, I fail to see how swimming in a dirty old lake could even possibly be considered fun. But you girls go ahead and have your fun; I'll enjoy my time in the sun." With that, she used her magic to dry her hair; which promptly settled back to its normal state. She then went back to her sun bathing.

The other mares had a small laugh and had a fun time with the new slide. Even Fluttershy gave the slide a try, after much coaxing from her friends. It soon became a contest between Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie on who could make a larger splash. Though none got close to Pinkie's first cannonball, they didn't lack for trying. After Applejack's last attempt, an impressive splash that reached well into the air, Rainbow Dash zipped up to the top of the slide and stretched her wings, acting for the entire world as if she was preparing for a big race. With a confident smile she leapt into the air, going up a short distance, then turning a sharp 180 and descending swiftly. Her wings tucked to her side, she gained speed as she reached the end of the slide.

As she sailed out over the lake, she did a few midair flips and splashed down with a loud. "Yeeeaaah!"

The splash nearly out did Pinkie's, the resulting wave soaked everyone along the shore; save Rarity who saw it coming and used her magic to shield herself from the water, not a hair out of place.

"Yeah! That's how it's done!" The cyan pegasus cheered from the water's surface. Her friends all cheered as well, that was when Rainbow looked Twilight's way.

"Alright Twilight, it's your turn. I want you to do the same thing I just did."

Twilight blinked, it took her a moment to respond. "You want me to dive from the air..?" She asked incredulously.

"That's right. It'll be your flight lesson today. There's nothing to it, just tuck your wings in as you dive and you'll get up a good speed"

Twilight did not appear convinced.

"You'll be fine." Rainbow said to that look.

With a sigh, Twilight took off into the air and hovered at a point above the slide.

"Just tuck them in?" She called down.

"Just do it Twilight!" Rainbow yelled back up at her, impatience thick in her tone.

"You can do it sugarcube!" Applejack called up encouragingly.

"Yay! Twilight! Whoo!" Pinkie Pie added.

Fluttershy looked on, eager to see how Twilight did. Rarity lowered her sunglasses enough to view the spectacle. Spike, of course, looked on with a hint of worry.

With a calming breath, Twilight descended down as Rainbow had earlier. Tucking in her wings, she descended with a good rate of speed. She hit the slide and sailed out over the lake…and beyond. Rainbow noticed it a second too late to warn her, her wings were not tucked in enough and the resulting wind current carried her further than anticipated.

"Twilight! Look out!" Spike called, mirroring other shouts from her friends.

With a panicked scream, Twilight tried buffing her wings in an attempt to stop herself, but it was not enough to keep her from crashing into a tree near where Rarity sat.

Her friends, sans Rarity, rushed over to call up into the tree she crashed into.

"Twi, you alright?" Applejack asked.

"Ugh…never better." Came the sarcastic response from the tree.

The typical Twilight response set them all at ease.

"Ya had us worried there sugarcube."

"I had myself worried. Whoa!" Came her surprised yelp, followed by the resounding thuds as she bounced off each branch the whole way to the ground.

She sat dazed a moment, and then shook her head to clear the dizziness.

"What did I do wrong?" She asked.

"You had your wings out for too long. When you got to the slide, you should have had them by your side." Fluttershy said softly.

"You couldn't have told me that before I dived head long into a tree?" Twilight said exasperated, but then apologized as she saw Fluttershy wince from the words.

"Really darling, you shouldn't let Rainbow Dash talk you into doing every crazy stunt she does. Not until you're at least a bit more experienced in flying." Rarity said, and then added as if an afterthought. "No offense Rainbow Dash."

"Oh, none taken." Rainbow Dash said, far too easily.

There was something in her tone that had Rarity turn to look at the pegasus. She then saw a grinning Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, who quickly grabbed her and lifted her up from her bench.

"Girls! No! What are you doing? Put me down this instant!" Rarity yelled, struggling to escape.

"Oh, we're not doing anything." Pinkie Pie chirped as they carried her towards the lake shore, their intent obvious.

"No! Girls! No, not the lake! "My-" Her remaining protests were lost in a scream as she was unceremoniously tossed into the lake.

She came up sputtering, her make up running and her hair soaking wet. No easy magic was going to fix it this time. She was quickly joined by a diving Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, soaking her once again.

She gave them one of her death glares and uttered. "It. Is. ON!" She then promptly dunked Rainbow under the water.

The girls all shared a laugh and enjoyed the rest of the day at the lake, having fun and enjoying each other's company. It was one of those days they would all look back on and remember fondly. Unfortunately, it would also be one of the last they would have for a long while.

That same day, Princess Celestia quietly sat out on the balcony overlooking the city of Canterlot. The last she heard from her sister was a few weeks ago, saying that Luna's expedition had found the temple and more; and to expect her home soon. Luna was expected back this day, and Celestia would finally learn if her fears were well founded. Their form of communication was not consistent as it was with Twilight and Spike. Their magical sendings were much more difficult to send and maintain. Thus the sisters had agreed to share the final news in person.

Her thoughts drifted once again. Equestria had only just begun to settle into a state where there was little fear of an outside threat. Nightmare Moon was vanquished, Discord reformed, the changelings imprisoned, and Sombra defeated. It had seemed that peace and stability had finally settled over her kingdom. With a newly crowned princess, her ponies were happy. She dreaded that their happiness would so soon be threatened once again.

She was jarred out of her thoughts by the sound of a horn being blow by the gates of the city, signaling the return of Luna and her expedition. Celestia quietly made her way back to the throne room, there to await Luna.

She did not have to wait long. Luna made her way directly to the throne room. When she arrived Celestia saw she was followed by a pair of guard ponies pulling a canvas covered wagon and also accompanied by a worn looking blue-green pegasus with a three coin cutie mark. Celestia looked over the pegasus with a look of concern before looking to the wagon curiously.

"Welcome home sister, I hope you and those of your expedition are well?" She said to Luna.

"We are indeed sister." Luna replied. "But I fear the news I bring is most dire."

Celestia felt her heart sink. "It is true then?"

Luna nodded gravely. "We found Tourmaline there, at the fringe of the jungle. In ill health and delirium, but we were able to determine she knew where the temple lay hidden. We nursed her back to health and she agreed to show us where it lay." Luna turned to Tourmaline. "Come forward young one; please tell my sister what you have told me."

Hesitantly the blue-green pegasus stepped forward and bowed respectfully to the Princess.

"Princess." She said softly.

Celestia smiled gently. "It is alright my little pony, it is safe here. Your name is Tourmaline yes? It is a beautiful name."

"Y, yes princess." The pegasus replied, feeling more relaxed at the princess's words.

"Can you tell me what you witnessed at the temple in the jungle?"

Tourmaline looked crestfallen and looked to the canvas covered wagon. "I truly wish we had never found it."

She then told Celestia al what occurred that day at the temple. She told of Wanderer, her brother Tormod, the crown, and the scepter; and the awful stallion that Wanderer had become.

"Can you describe what this stallion looked like?" Celestia asked when Tourmaline came to that point in her telling.

Tourmaline closed her eyes a moment. "His coat was a dark purple, almost black, his mane was a lighter shade of purple with a gold streak through it. He had gold armor on his chest, as well as the crown and scepter. But it was his eyes, I cannot stop seeing them. Yellow eyes and how they looked at me. We three had battled monsters before, some of them very dangerous, and I never flinched against them. But his eyes, looking at them and I couldn't move, and that was when Tormod." She choked back her words, looking to the wagon again with a look of shame, unable to continue speaking.

Celestia looked back to the wagon and with a soft glow from her horn, the canvas lifted; uncovering a still petrified Tormod. Celestia looked on with wide eyes then looked to Luna.

"I have been unable to undo what was done to him. He dreams however and I have visited him there, and he has relayed much the same to me." She said to her sister.

Celestia nodded slowly and approached the petrified unicorn. Her horn grew much brighter and the same colored aura surrounded the statue. Despite her effort, she too was not able to undo the petrification. She did recognize the magical aura that surrounded it still, seen only by her and her sister, it confirmed without a doubt who was behind it. It was a magical aura that she would not forget.

She turned and looked to the worried Tourmaline. "You are tired young one, you and your brother will remain here as my guests in the castle. I promise you that I will do all that I can to cure your brother."

Tourmaline bowed graciously to her. "Thank you Princess, I truly thank you for your help."

"You are most welcome." Celestia then looked to a guard who stood by stoically. "Please show her to the guest rooms."

After Tourmaline had left Celestia turned back to her throne in quiet contemplation; Luna stood quietly next to her, allowing her sister time to mull over the news.

"I should have foreseen this." Celestia said quietly.

"One cannot predict the future sister. You cannot be blamed for his return."

"I know this, but I dread what he is capable of now. He has had centuries to focus his power despite his imprisonment. "

"He has been released for a few months now, and we have neither seen nor heard anything of him. Perhaps he is weakened instead and is unwilling to face us as of yet." Luna suggested.

"Perhaps." Celestia allowed. "However, it is not in his nature to act rashly. When he does reappear, it will be thoroughly planned out and he will come for us. We cannot let him harm our subjects in his goal for domination."

"Until he acts, we can do little but prepare for that day."

Celestia nodded in agreement. "We will have to warn princess Cadance and princess Twilight, and advise her friends to have the elements of harmony at the ready. We will also have to inform Discord, he might be able to provide more information that we can use."

Luna winced at the thought, even if Discord offered information; she hoped it would make at least a sliver of sense.

In another part of Equestria, south of the Applelosian Mountains and past the forest of Leota, sat the remains of a recently destroyed castle. The remains of a small town surrounding it had long since been abandoned. Inside the castle, it was as still as night. It was not until one came to its lower confines that one would hear a sing song voice happily repeating the same tune over and over again. It was broken long enough to recite a poem before breaking out in song again. A routine that was maddening to any one subject to it with no means of escape.

Maddening was putting it lightly, the Queen of the Changeling thought to herself. For almost a year now she and her hive of changelings had been imprisoned in this infernal dungeon. Ever since that fateful night of the comet and the battle with Twilight and her friends, the queen had to hear that insufferable song and rhyme repeated. All in the voice of the pink earth pony, it drove them all to the ends of sanity.

She and her minions tried in vain to not only dig themselves out, but also tried to solve the riddle of the enchanted costume that blocked the only exit from their prison. Queen Chrysalis even attempted to use her magic to destroy it, but whatever Twilight had done to the costume, it was impervious to her power. How she wished she could go even a short time without hearing that song again!

"My Queen." Said one of her minions, her lieutenant to be exact, distinguished only by the armor he wore that her others did not.

"What?!" she snapped, her patience long since eroded away.

He flinched at her tone but gave his report anyway. "We have tried digging at a different section of the antechambers but they too resist our efforts."

She scoffed at this. "You tell me nothing I don't already know. Do not come back to me unless you have found something that will get us out of here."

He bowed and backed away. "Yes, my queen."

After he left, she looked around in despair, there was no way out she knew. Not until Twilight herself came back to release them, and what were the chances of that ever happening? She plopped down on her dais, her hooves over her head, trying to drown out the rambling of the possessed costume.

Then it happened, the costume seemed to have stopped its singing for a split second, almost like a hesitation. The queen perked up, as did her nearby minions, and looked to the large costume that barred the door. When it started up again she had thought it was only a cruel joke played by her mind. At least she thought until the costume exploded out in a shower of shredded cloth and material.

The sound of its destruction had her and her changelings on their hooves in shock. Finally that insufferable singing had ceased, but in its place stood a tall stallion earth pony. His coat was dark velvet, his mane a lighter shade of his coat and a gold streak going through it. Adorning his head was the snake entwined crown, and he held the gold manticore scepter in his left hoof.

The stallion's amber colored eyes scanned the room of the collected changelings before settling on their queen. A small sneer crossed the face of this stallion.

"The queen of the changelings, I presume?" He said in voice that was dark yet had that edge of charisma that could likely sway any pony that heard him speak.

Chrysalis scowled softly, looking at this one; perhaps they would have been better off with the annoying costume.

Chapter 3

Her changelings bristled at the sight of this pony who so boldly stepped into their prison alone. Only the sharp command from their queen kept them from attacking him in their desperation to escape. The queen looked again at this pony, he stood tall, nearly the same height as she. His amber colored eyes had a haunting arrogance behind them and his smirk spoke of extreme confidence in himself.

Remembering who she was, she finally spoke to his question. "Just who are you to demand anything of me?"

His smirk widened only slightly. "Who I am is not important at this moment, but what I have to offer you and your…" He paused a moment to glance at the collected changelings…. "brood."

She scowled at his choice of word. "You don't have anything I want, and now that the annoying costume is gone, we can finally leave!"

Before Chrysalis or her changelings could move, the stallion's eyes flashed an evil color and a solid wall of amethyst appeared at the doorway. The one changeling to touch it was thrown across the room to land heavily against the opposite wall.

"You will find that impossible to pass through." His tone changing none. "If you so wish it, I can restore the automation, and see to it that it is truly indestructible."

The threat alone stopped them all dead in their tracks.

"Now that the foolishness is done, are you willing to hear my offer?"

The Queen narrowed her eyes at the stallion. "What do you want?"

"A simple arrangement, I require you and your changelings for a foray along Equestria's borders, and in return; I offer you and yours a small section of it for yourselves once I make Equestria my own."

She scoffed. "You intend to challenge Celestia for her throne? You are a fool then. You have no idea the power she has at her disposal."

"To which you will inform me of. I offer you and your changelings freedom from your imprisonment and a small kingdom of your own. All you need to give in return is to swear fealty to me and follow my orders to the letter. I will not make this offer again."

She furrowed her brow at the finality in his tone, and mulled over his offer. Freedom from her tormenting imprisonment and a kingdom of her own, and all she need do was swear loyalty to this stallion? A fool who still favors spoken oath as some sort of binding agreement, it was almost laughable. Still, if this stallion succeeded her and her kin would be free and with a kingdom of their own; and if not, they would still be free.

"Fine you have a deal." She said, the beginnings of a plan forming in her mind.

"Good." He said and something in his expression made her suddenly feel ill at ease. "But first, I require your oath and some information."

"You will have it, but I want to know who you are first." She said.

His grin widened. "Has history forgotten me?" He chuckled snidely. "No matter, the world will soon know my name once more. And let it tremble at my coming."

It was two days after their day at the watering hole that Twilight and her friends stepped off the train at the Canterlot train station. Having lived there for years before moving to Ponyville, Twilight knew the fastest way to the castle. The six friends made their way through the city at a leisurely pace.

"What do you think the princess wants to tell us so badly?" Rainbow Dash asked as she hovered above the others.

"I don't know Rainbow Dash; all her letter said was for the six of us to come see her as soon as we could. I'm sure whatever she has to say will be important." Twilight said as they wound their way through the streets of the unicorn city. The upper class citizens of the city, who usually just snubbed the ponies from Ponyville, genuflected or whispered amongst themselves as their newest princess passed by.

"I still don't know how you do it Twilight." Fluttershy said quietly.

"What is that?" Twilight asked her.

"All the attention you get." She nodded towards a small group of ponies who bowed as they saw Twilight. "I don't think I could ever get used to something like that. I'm not sure I'd want to."

"There are times." Twilight said dryly. "I know that being a princess would garner respect out of other ponies, but there are times I wish they would treat me like everypony else again."

"Oh darling, you are looking at it the wrong way. You shouldn't look at the looks and bowing as cause for embarrassment. Rather look at them as signs of respect of your station. You are royalty now dear, and awe and respect are all part of it." Rarity sighed dramatically. "Ahh, what I wouldn't give to have the adoration and admiration of the ponies as they give to royalty."

"I would give it to you if I could." Twilight said dryly.

"You mean that?" Rarity asked loudly, hopefully.

"No." Twilight said deadpan,

Rarity's shocked expression could not hold up to Twilight's disarming smile, and the girls all shared a laugh. All of them except for Applejack, whose expression, was one of disapproval.

"Well, ah think it's a bunch of bologna." She said firmly. "All them ponies used to not even give ya the time'a day, but now that ya is a princess, they're falling all over themselves to give ya respect. They ain't doing it because of who ya are, but what ya are. It's as dishonest as ya can get."

Twilight considered that and found that she could not argue the point. She also considered that she had earned her title of Princess, as Princess Celestia had told her that fateful day of her transformation. She also had many other questions but Celestia promised that all would be clear in time. Perhaps all of her effort had led to this newfound attention. Applejack knew the value of hard earned rewards better than most other ponies, perhaps she hadn't considered that. She was about to say as such before Pinkie Pie chimed in.

"If you want to know what I think, I think you shouldn't let it bother you too much." She said as she hopped along. "Yeah sure, other ponies are acting different around you, but does it hurt to have them bow or whatever? If anything they're the ones getting their knees all dust doing it, and I don't think dusty knees are anything to worry over, so why worry? If it makes them happy, let them do it I say."

"It's just plain dishonest though Pinkie." Applejack said stubbornly.

"Yeah." She agreed easily. "But is it hurting anyone?"

"No…" The orange earth mare said grudgingly.

"Then let them worry over dirty knees." She smiled.

This time all the girls shared a laugh and soon made their way to the castle.

The girls soon found themselves in Celestia's throne room. The princess of the sun smiled warmly as Twilight and her friends arrived. Her sister, Princess Luna, stood next to her; a warm but restrained smile on her face.

"Princess Twilight, everypony, I am so pleased to see you all." Princess Celestia said as they approached. She shared a quick embrace with her former student.

"We came after we got your letter Princess, is there some emergency we need to know about?" Twilight asked.

"When is there not some emergency?" Rainbow Dash muttered dryly.

Twilight glared at her friend, but the princess only smiled. "It does seem that I call you all often with warnings of danger, and I promise that I do not do so purposefully. I called you all here to make you aware of a possible threat; although it is not one we believe that presents so any time soon."

"So what is the trouble then, Princess?" Applejack asked respectfully.

The princess of the sun did not immediately respond.

"A brief explanation first. As you all are aware, our world exists by a balance of the forces that make up our world; such as good and evil, love and hatred, and order and chaos. As much as we might wish it otherwise, we need the negative aspects to balance out our world to maintain harmony."

"Wait, how could too much good, love and order possibly be a bad thing?" Rarity asked, somewhat taken aback by the thought.

Luna spoke up. "Have you ever heard of the old saying? 'Too much of anything is a bad thing'? If we were to have too much of any emotion, harmony would be out of balance and the opposing emotion would swell to balance out the imbalance."

"So too many parties are a bad thing? Cake too?! What of chocolate candy?!" Pinkie said with growing pitch to her voice.

Celestia smiled gently. "Does eating too much cake or chocolate not cause you to have an upset stomach?"

"It takes –a lot- of cake and candy to do that to Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash said.

"Indeedy!" The pink mare agreed.

Luna continued. "Regardless, it is because of this that we need to inform you of the possible shift in the balance."

"Well what could'a thrown the balance out'a whack?" Applejack asked.

"An accidental discovery." Celestia said. "A small group of adventurer ponies discovered a long lost ruin far to the south of Equestria. One I had hoped would not ever be found. Unknowingly, they released a long sealed spirit."

"Oh dearest Celestia, would you please get to the point? Much more of this and I'm likely to fall over from boredom." Came a voice that originated from above them. It was a male's voice that all of them knew all too well.

"Discord!" Fluttershy said happily, with the others all saying the same, but with much less enthusiasm.

"So good to see you Fluttershy, and you as well you other grumbling ponies." The spirit of chaos said as he appeared as part of a nearby stained glass window; reclining against an image of Celestia. "Now if good Celestia would kindly move this along, we'd all not be moved to bored tears." He stretched and a glass of tea appeared in one hand which he took a noisy sip from.

The princess sighed at the antics of the spirit of chaos. "Very well then, the spirit they released was the spirit of order. He is Discord's polar opposite."

"And an even more dreadful bore than Celestia." Discord said airily.

"His name is Tyranny, and he represents the aspect of complete order and control." Celestia's horn glowed a moment and an image of Tyranny appeared before them, the same pony that Wanderer had become.

All the girls flinched at the image, his expression and gaze alone was intimidating.

"He is ugly enough to frighten isn't he? Though I guess not everypony can be as good as looking as me." The draconiques gestured to his patchwork face.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie giggled, though the others all groaned in pain.

"Is there anything useful you could tell us about this guy?" Rainbow Dash asked the stain glass window where Discord still idly sipped on his cup of tea.

"I see patience is still not your strong point Rainbow Dash." Discord said dryly. With a snap of his fingers, the draconiques appeared in the throne room, dressed in formal attire, monocle, top hat, and cane. (The head of the cane was of Discord's face but with its tongue sticking out at someone.) "To put it bluntly, Tyranny likes things neat and orderly. Structured with little deviation from what he considers right and proper." He said speaking in a fancy accent. With a disgusted snort, the outfit and all disappeared. With another snap of his hand, a cone of chocolate filed cotton candy appeared in his hand which he took a generous bite of. "Far too controlling for me. I prefer things nice and random with some unpredictability thrown into the mix."

"Don't we know." Came many sarcastic remarks all around.

"Surely you wound me." He said, placing his free hand over his heart dramatically. "But there is one thing you can expect from Tyranny, predictability. He cannot help but follow set patterns and plans. It is a weakness of the excessively orderly." Giving Twilight a sly glance. Unbeknownst to the spirit of chaos, Pinkie Pie had snuck up and helped herself to his conjured snack.

Twilight glared at him then turned to back to Celestia. "If he has been released, how come we have not seen any trouble from him? If he is anything like this guy." Nodding towards Discord. "He should have caused some trouble by now."

"That, we do not know. It could be that his power has weakened from his imprisonment, but we truly do not know. That is why I wished to inform you of the development, so that you are aware should he strike." Celestia glanced out the nearby bay window for a moment. "Aside from the unfortunate happenings of the adventuring troop that released him, we have seen nothing of his presence. It is worrisome."

"What happened to the adventurer ponies, Princess?" Twilight asked.

Celestia closed her eyes a moment, in sadness. "Their leader was possessed by the spirit of order. The moment he laid hoof on his scepter, Tyranny took control of his body so that he could influence this world."

"You mean, like a Nightmare?" Twilight asked, casting an apologetic look towards Princess Luna.

Luna closed her eyes a moment, but did not appear truly bothered by the mention. "Not quite, at the time of his imprisonment, his power was so great that we could not seal it all away in stone. So we used the elements to divide his essence and sealed it separately. His physical form was destroyed in the process. Something we did not intentionally mean to do."

Celestia moved the conversation along. "When Luna went to investigate the temple, she found one of the adventurer ponies and with her help guided my sister to it. That is where they found the third of their troop turned to stone by Tyranny."

There was a collective gasp, though a snort from Discord. "With Discord's help, we have been able to undo what was done to him, but it will be a while before he can move about again. The return from stone is a taxing process on ponies."

"It is one to everypony, Celestia." Discord said dryly. "If I might add one more thing." He paused and looked to his nearly devoured treat; he pulled it away at the last second before Pinkie Pie could take another generous bite, causing the pink mare to crash heavily to the ground. "As much as I find Tyranny to be an insufferable bore, I will admit that he is clever. He won't do anything rash or stupid or completely random." With a snap of his fingers, he and his treat disappeared, then reappeared above them all relaxing in a hammock, sipping from a coconut drink and wearing attire as if at the beach.

"In the end Twilight, I just want you and your friends to be ready if and when he makes his appearance. Which I hope is not any time soon." Celestia said.

Just then the doors of the throne room flew open and in rushed one of the royal guards.

"You majesty, majesties." He stammered to Celestia and the other two princesses, kneeling before them. "There is news from our eastern border. One of our outposts was attacked."

"Attacked by whom?" The sun princess asked.

"Guess who?" Came Discord's snide comment from above.

Chapter 4

A few days before Twilight and her friends were to visit Canterlot, Tyranny and Queen Chrysalis stood on a cliffside overlooking an outpost of the Equestrian Guard. The outpost was located along Equestria's eastern border and some distance from any town. It overlooked a popular trade route that extended out into Equestria's eastern neighbor. The small fortress itself was inhabited by close to a hundred guards and about a score of worker ponies, all of whom monitored the border for traveler safety or threats from the lands beyond. It was well into the dusk hour and soon Luna's moon would fill the sky; though it would not be visible tonight as it was very overcast. The lack of light was not a hindrance to the spirit of order or the queen of the changelings.

"Your minions have supplanted the guards as I have ordered?" Tyranny asked of the queen, not taking his gaze from the outpost below.

"They have, almost half of them; as well as a number of the workers." She said with a hint of arrogance, she then looked to the stallion as he stood a few paces in front of her. "How much longer are you going to make us wait at this game? My colony needs to feed."

"They will feed when I will it." He said, glancing to her; not bothering to look at her fully. "That time will come sooner than you think."

She bristled at his tone; she could not stand any other creature speaking to her arrogantly. Especially not a pony who was not as tall as she, but she reminded herself that she just needed to bide her time and tolerate him… for now.

"Fortunately for you, we will move on the fortress tonight." He continued.

Her ears perked up at that. "When?"

"The darkest hour." ( meaning midnight.) "Give the order to your minions, and make sure that they follow their orders exactly as I have instructed. Do so, and we will take the fortress with little difficulty."

Again she scowled at him as he turned to look back at the fortress. Was this how her minions felt when she spoke to them? No matter, she would not suffer this for too much longer.

"Lieutenant." She barked, and in a moment the armored changeling flew up to her and kneeled.

"Yes, my Queen?" He asked of her.

"Inform the others, we strike at midnight. See to it that they follow their orders." She instructed.

"As you say; my queen"

"Remember, I need them all unharmed, they are no use to me injured." Tyranny said to her firmly, and then moved away from both, heading back to their encampment.

"How much longer, my queen?" The changeling asked once he was out of earshot.

She grinned maliciously. "Tonight, after we take that fort. Then we will make him pay for his insolence." The changeling's grin soon matched her own.

It was nearing the midnight hour, and the commander of the garrison made his rounds to make sure his guards were awake at their posts. More than once he had to chastise a few of them for sleeping on the watch, most ended up with kitchen duty as a result. The commander was a unicorn with a tan pelt and brown mane, covered by his helm. He was not a hard commander, but he made sure things remained professional under his command. He was walking along the wall when he noticed two of his watchponies talking with each other.

"You two, enough chattering and keep your guard up. We don't need thugs slipping into Equestria because you two were talking about the weather." He said to them firmly.

"Yes sir, sorry sir." They both said in unison; both guards had tired expressions on their faces.

The commander let his hard visage slip a bit. "Don't worry boys, a week more and we get our leave. Then you can get all the sleep you want."

Both guards smiled at this. "Can't wait to get home and see our families' sir." One of them said.

"Don't we all son, don't we all."

"You got a family to go home to sir?" The other asked.

"Yes, a wife and daughter." He furrowed his brow. "Why do you ask soldier?"

"I thought you practically lived here sir, it's good to know the commander is just as pony as the rest of us." He said lightheartedly.

The commander laughed and pounded the soldier on the shoulder, who flinched under the heavy hoof.

"Finish your watch and get some sleep. We've only got a week more."

"Yes sir." They both said.

He was about to continue his rounds when he noticed a green flash of light from beyond the wall and from the dark woods that surrounded the fortress.

"What in the name of Celestia was that?" He asked, pushing between them, looking over the wall.

"What sir?" One guard asked.

"That glow there, there it is again." He said as the glow flashed briefly from the woods once more.

"Oh, that? It's nothing sir."

"What do you mean it is nothing? Rouse a patrol and go find out what it is."

"There is no need sir." The guard said with a sneer.

"What?! I should have you..." He did not finish as the guard before him flashed a quick green flame and was replaced by a coal black creature with blue green eyes and long fangs; as well as a pair of insectoid wings and a curved horn on its forehead. It looked at him maliciously.

"Changeling! Guard! Get the..." He turned quickly and found a second changeling in the place of the second guard, this one grinning much the same as the first.

The commander's instincts kicked in and he lashed out with both hind legs; catching the second changeling in the chest, sending it sprawling. The first tried to use its horn against him, but he ducked low and lifted the overbalanced changeling over his shoulder and onto the other changeling. He raced down the wall, heading for the barracks.

"To arms! We're under attack!" He called out. He then heard a loud buzzing sound, as if a giant wasp nest had been disturbed. He could see many glowing eyes above him and many green flashes as the changelings swarmed over the outpost. He heard the sounds of fighting from the barracks and ran to aid his soldiers, or at least tried as a sticky substance suddenly struck his back leg.

"What the...?" He looked back and could see a sickly green substance clinging to his leg and tail that kept him firmly in place. He used the magic of his horn to remove it, but then three more globs of the stuff struck him; pinning his back legs and front hooves to the ground. Before he could use his magic again, a final glob of the stuff struck him in the face. Covering his horn and one eye; he was caught and he knew it but continued to struggle.

The fighting had ceased, the entire pony garrison was captured and held by the changelings. All had gone according to plan, save for the garrison commander's outcry, which lead to the battle in the barracks. Fortunately all were relatively unharmed, just as Tyranny had ordered. He and the queen stood in the courtyard as they surveyed the outpost and the captured ponies gathered there.

"My minions did well." Chrysalis said smugly

"They did passible." He said bluntly.

She scowled again, but he took no notice as he walked towards a bound pony guard.

"Where is your commander?" He asked of him.

The guard flinched under his gaze but tried to keep a defiant visage; though he stole a quick glance to a similarly bound unicorn nearby.

Tyranny's gaze followed his. "I see." He then moved to the unicorn who still tried repeatedly to free himself, but with no success.

"You command this outpost?" Tyranny asked.

"I do, who are you? Who do you think you are?" The commander looked to the stallion with a hard glare.

"Silence!" Tyranny cut in, his tone harsh. "Who am I? I am Tyranny, the spirit of Order and your new ruler."

The unicorn scoffed. "We'll never follow you!" He said defiantly but then a band of black shadowy substance clamped his mouth shut.

"You will speak when spoken too, not before." Tyranny then noticed the unicorn's eyes widen, he was looking past Tyranny.

Tyranny did not bother to turn, he could only smirk smugly. "How pathetic." He said to himself. "Did you honestly think that I was not aware of your plan?" He said out loud.

His spoken words had all of the changelings stopped in their tracks. They had surrounded him from all sides, their gaze locked on the stallion. "You creatures of flesh are so predictable", he continued.

The changeling queen stepped past her minions to stand a short distance behind him. "You are the fool to think you could command me and my hive to do your bidding. I was using you to get our freedom and so that we could feast on those here."

"I am afraid that is not going to happen." He told her matter of fact. "I have need of them, unlike you. Your usefulness is now at its end." He still did not even dignifying her by turning to face her.

She seethed with rage. "Changelings!" She yelled.

At once her entire hive charged at him from every angle. There was no way anypony could fight off that many foes at once.

Tyranny was not just anypony.

With a dismissive snort, he rapped the butt of his scepter to the ground and a whirlwind lashed out violently, knocking every changeling out of the air. They all crashed heavily against the dirt and walls around them. Her lieutenant tried to get to his feet, but Tyranny pointed his free hoof towards him and a shadowy clawed hand sprang forth and smashed him to the ground and held him there.

Queen Chrysalis could only look on in shock and horror. Her entire hive, defeated with just a single spell. Not even Celestia could do such a thing, or at least she never tried. The queen barred her teeth at the stallion as he finally turned to face her.

"You won't find me as easy to defeat." She snarled at him.

His reply was his infuriating smirk.

With a scream of rage, she shot a massive beam of green energy at him. With a simple backhand sweep of his scepter, he deflected the beam towards a section of the outpost's wall. The blast caused the wall to explode outward, bits of mortar and stone spraying into the night shrouded woods.

The queen could only look on in shock. "H...how?" She stuttered.

"You are simply going to have to do better than that." Tyranny informed her.

She turned back to him hatefully and charged him. She intended to shoot a glob of sticky substance at him at the last second and then use her horn to finish him. However, he saw it coming and side stepped the attack. The queen was unable to stop in time before tripping over the unicorn commander. She landed with a grunt and tried to pick herself up, but a large shadowy hand grabbed her and slammed her to the ground. The hand then lifted her up, slammed her into the side of a building, and then tossed her negligently to the ground. She hit the ground and skidded to a stop at the hooves of Tyranny. The shadow hand that originated from his free hoof, dissipated into nothingness.

"Yield." Was all he said to her.

With a glare she shot another beam of energy, this one with less power than she wished, point blank. Even the spirit of order could not dodge in time and he took the hit to his armored chest. He stepped back from the force of the attack and the queen was quick on her hooves to press the advantage. Before she could follow up with a second blast however, Tyranny glared back at her with an irritated expression and his eyes flashed an evil color. A second shadow hand engulfed her head, and again slammed her into a wall. The hand then lifted her well up into the air and then brought her back to the ground with enough force to make a small shockwave of dust.

This time, when Tyranny approached her, he did not have to ask her to yield.

"I yield." She cried after trying, and failing, to stand.

He snorted and lifted his forehoof menacingly at her.

" I yield, I said!" She yelled frantically.

This time a different energy beam shot out but this one did not harm her, but rather lifted her from the ground encased by a clear magical bubble. The queen looked confused and faintly relieved, but it was short lived as the magical bubble began to shrink in on itself and her along with it. Her scream of denial became as high pitched as that of a chipmunk as she and the bubble shrank down to the size of a marble.

The bubble then levitated to rest in his fore hoof, as he scrutinized his work.

"This will do for now." He said, and then the marble and queen both disappeared.

He then approached the still pinned changeling lieutenant who looked up at him in fear.

"Gather your kin and go back to your castle, and remain there until I have need of you." Tyranny commanded.

"Our, our queen?" The changeling stuttered.

"Will remain my prisoner. Her presence will ensure your compliance. Now do as you are told."

The changeling looked to his fellow kin uncertainly.

"Now!" Tyranny's voice carried.

The changelings wasted little time to flee the outpost and back towards their castle.

With that done, Tyranny walked back to the unicorn commander who was still trying to escape the goo. He turned to look defiantly at the approaching stallion.

"We won't serve you, no matter what you do to us." He said.

"We shall see." Tyranny said unperturbed at his defiance. "Fortunately, I do not need you personally for my designs."

The commander looked to him confused at that.

"Fear not, for this is not your end."

With little change of expression, a dark beam shot from his free hoof that struck the commander in the chest. The ray did not harm the unicorn, but slowly and steadily, it turned his body completely black. The unicorn cried out in panic as it engulfed him; once he was completely turned black, his body cracked and shattered like glass; the fragments dissipating into nothingness. The unicorn's armor clanked to the ground, all of the ponies who saw it happen could only look on in horror.

Tyranny only smiled wider as his eyes flashed again, and soon the discarded armor rose up and was filled by a creature made of shadow. Completely black save for a pair of pure white, round eyes, the creature did neither sport wings nor a horn or a cutie mark. It was vaguely pony shaped, save for its head, which was perfectly round.

Tyranny looked at the shadow creature and a wicked grin crossed his face. He then turned his attention to all of the remaining ponies of the outpost. All screams and pleas for mercy were soon silenced.

Twilight walked alongside one of the wagons of the small force of royal guard ponies. It was their fifth day since they had left Canterlot and her mind once again wandered to the final conversation with Princess Celestia.

"I need you and your friends to gather the elements of harmony and join Princess Luna and a small number of the royal guard and head to the outpost and find out what has happened there. If it is the changelings like our scout hinted at, your numbers should be enough to deal with them. Between your friends, Luna, and yourself, you should be able to defeat them."

Twilight nodded, they had done so before. "Yes princess Celestia." She had said before turning to leave.

"One more thing Twilight." Celestia added gravely. "If it is Tyranny who is behind this, use the elements. He is likely a foe too powerful to defeat without them; and Twilight, be warned, Tyranny is a master manipulator. He will say things in an attempt to deceive and control you. So warn your friends as well if he attempts to speak to you."

Twilight smiled confidently. "Don't worry princess, it will never happen. If my friends and I can handle Discord, we can handle Tyranny."

Celestia smiled warmly. "I have faith in you Princess Twilight." She had said.

As Twilight walked alongside the wagon, she looked ahead to the other two wagons that made up their caravan. They contained supplies for the trip, the foremost wagon was for Princess Luna to rest within after her nightly duties with the moon, stars, and dreams for the pony folk. The day was hot and dry, and the few clouds that flew overhead did not offer much relief when they walked under their shadows.

"So Twilight." She heard Spike say from the back of the wagon, she slowed her pace to walk behind the wagon to see him. "How much longer do you think we have to go?" He asked.

"I don't know Spike; I haven't been to this part of Equestria before. It can't be too much further though, we are not too far from the border last I saw on the map."

"Ugh, all this dust from the road is just ruining my mane." Rarity complained from the wagon. The white unicorn reclined on a few pillows within, with Spike fanning her with a large feathered fan. Fluttershy sat calmly nearby with a few birds flying near her; a young sparrow zipped and zagged outside the wagon while she watched.

"Ooh, that is very nice." The yellow pegasus said to the sparrow.

"What is he doing?" Twilight asked curiously, watching the apparently crazy looking bird.

"Oh, he is just showing me how well he flies, he only recently left the nest on his own. It is a very important day to young birds." The pegasus said as she smiled softly as the bird flew off.

"I guess it would." Twilight allowed. If only she could learn to fly as well as the sparrow. With the bird however the ability to fly was instinctive; with her she had to learn, which was a much slower and painful process.

It was still midsummer and the day's heat was almost oppressive. Twilight soon found herself baking under the sun.

"Don't suppose you could fan me for a while Spike?" She asked the dragon.

"Oh Twilight, you shouldn't be out in the sun for so long without something to cover your head, dear. Here, I have this for you." Rarity said, she then used her magic to levitate a white sun hat from one of her suitcases. It was much like the one Rarity wore now, save for this one was white with a purple band, and Rarity's a purple color and a white band. Both had a few artistic embellishments added to them as Rarity was known to do.

The white hat sat easily on her head. "Thanks Rarity. When did you make this?"

"Oh I made them after our day at the lake. I felt everypony should have something to wear the next time we spent the day there. I made one for everyone." She continued to say as two more hats appeared from the cases and levitated to Fluttershy and Spike. Their colorings were much the same as their coats and mane and scales and spines respectfully. "I even made one for Applejack, even though I know she'll never part with that old Stetson she favors."

"What's wrong with mah hat?" Came Applejack's voice, looking to Rarity with a raised eyebrow as she joined Twilight at the back of the wagon.

"Nothing is wrong with it dear." Rarity said without missing a beat. "It is just well…worn."

"That's how ya know it's a good hat." Applejack said firmly.

"Have you seen Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked the orange earth pony before a debate on hats could start.

"She's out scoutin around with the other pegasus guards, keepin an eye out for us. Ya know she ain't one ta sit around when she could be doin something."

Twilight nodded. "And Pinkie?"

"She's up with the other guards and the princess, tellin jokes and keepin spirits up. Keepin folks laughin as Pinkie does. And here I thought nopony could make the royal guards laugh, but leave it ta Pinkie."

Twilight smiled, it was something the pink mare did well, making others laugh.

"One'a the guards I was talkin too said the outpost shouldn't be too far ahead. We should get there about evening time." Applejack continued to say.

"Good, we are not too far away then." Twilight said.

Fluttershy's sparrow came back then, chirping excitedly to her.

"You have? Oh my goodness, what did you see?" She asked of the avian creature.

The bird chirped some more.

"Oh my goodness." She said, covering her mouth with both forehooves.

"What?" The ponies and dragon all said union.

"Our little friend here said he just came back from the outpost we are going to. He said it is deserted and quiet, and that he felt uneasy being there." She said worriedly.

Twilight nodded firmly, standing straighter. "I'll tell the princess and see if we can pick up the pace. The sooner we get there the sooner we will have our answers."

"Do we have to?" Fluttershy asked in a small voice.

"Yes we do Fluttershy." She said as she raced ahead to the princess's wagon.

Chapter 5

They arrived at the outpost a short time later; the woods surrounding it were forlorn and eerily quiet. The afternoon sun still shone brightly above but all there could feel a sense of gloom pressing down over the place. Many wary and worried glances were shared as they entered through the ruined remains of the wall. True to the sparrows words the outpost was deserted, all around was evidence of a battle; the blasted wall being chief among them. There was no sign of the Equestrian Guard or the changelings; though the hardened remains of their binding goo was all around the outpost, they themselves were not to be seen. The royal guard fanned out to investigate the outpost by command of Princess Luna while Twilight and her friends searched around the courtyard.

Twilight herself was investigating a point in the court yard, where a strange indention in the ground was evident and she puzzled over why it was there when she had not seen others of it's like around elsewhere outside the outpost.

"What do ya think happened here Twi?" Applejack asked as Twilight looked over the deepest depression.

"I'm not sure. It certainly looks like it was the changelings, but there is no sign of their feeding anywhere. The damage done to the wall could have been done by Chrysalis, but why destroy the wall when they can fly over it?" She glanced downward. "And these depressions, it looks like something heavy landed here."

"Ya think it was Tyranny then?"

Twilight did not look certain; she continued to survey the area. "I don't know." Was all she said.

Her friends joined her then, each of them looking nervous save for Pinkie, who never seemed to let much at all bother her.

"Rarity, Fluttershy, did you see anything?" Twilight asked the two.

"Not a thing dear." Rarity said, with Fluttershy only nodding in agreement.

"Pinkie?"

"I saw more of the green goo but nothing else. I did find barely cakes in the kitchen and they're still good. Want some?" She asked as she presented the offered cakes.

"No Pinkie." Twilight said dryly. Pinkie's levity was surprising at times.

"More for us." She said, and made the offer to the others, with only Rainbow Dash being the only taker.

"What? No sense wasting them." Rainbow Dash said as she finished hers quickly.

"Did you see anything Rainbow?" Twilight asked.

The pegasus swallowed the last of the barely cake. "I didn't see any sign of the changelings or fighting outside of the wall."

"Not outside the wall." She echoed. She then noticed two more depressions; one against a building, the other against the wall. She again went thoughtfully quiet as she worked over the information in her head.

"What are you thinking Twilight Sparkle?" Luna asked as she landed softly near them.

Twilight did not immediately respond. "I think that this was not just the changelings alone. The barracks, and the green goo here was no doubt them, but these depressions were not caused by them. The changeling queen could have blasted out the wall, but she would not have used that much power against the guards here. She might have if she was battling you, princess, or princess Celestia; but not against ponies like us."

"You should not belittle yourself Twilight." Luna said.

"I'm not princess, I was making a point is all. The point would be she would have to be facing someone strong. Since it was not you or princess Celestia, or Discord; I can only think of one other who it would have been."

"Tyranny." Luna answered, to which Twilight nodded.

"You don't think he was the one who released the changelings in the first place do you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"He would have had to been the one, unless Discord had something to do with it."

"He didn't" Fluttershy said with conviction.

Twilight did not argue. "That leaves Tyranny; he would have the power to destroy the costume I enchanted."

"He destroyed my costume?!" Pinkie shrieked.

They all winced at her volume; even a few guards looked over at the outburst.

"It is the only way the changelings could have escaped." Twilight said as the ringing in her ears faded.

The pink earth mare pouted, sitting down with her fore hooves crossed. "Hmph, I'll have to give him an earful when I see him about that."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "If I know Chrysalis at all, she likely used him to free herself and her changelings; and then tried to betray him." She looked then to the indentions in the ground and walls pointedly. "Which did not turn out in her favor."

Luna nodded. "I had come to much the same conclusion. Now it begs the question. Where have the changeling queen and her minions gone after the betrayal, and where has the Equestrian Guard gone to? There have been no sign of anypony leaving the barracks. Finally, where has Tyranny gone from here?"

"All good questions Princess." Applejack said to her.

One of the earth pony guards walked up to them, bowing low before the princesses.

"What did you find?" Luna asked him.

"I've come from the armory princess; all of the Equestrian armor is missing. Yet strangely, all of the weapons remain."

"Strange."

"Now why take the armor and not the weapons?" Rarity asked.

"Would the changelings have taken it?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight shook her head. "A changeling's anatomy would make wearing armor meant for ponies impractical at best."

"Curious." Which was echoed by the others.

Then a pegasus scout flew overhead. "Your majesties, I found a set of tracks heading north."

"How many?" Luna asked him.

"One that I could tell. It might have been made by a large stallion."

"Tyranny." Was the collective thought.

It was a few days later when they stumbled upon an overturned wagon. It was a small enough wagon for it to be pulled by a single pony, and as they got closer to it, it became increasingly familiar to the ponies from Ponyville.

"Is that?" Applejack asked, squinting.

"Trixie's wagon?" Twilight finished looking on curiously.

The two rushed ahead of their caravan, joined quickly by their friends, to find the blue unicorn sitting next to her overturned wagon. She appeared worn and haggard, but stood up quickly as she heard running hooves.

"Back! I warn you! The Great and Powerful…Twilight!" She yelled as she recognized the approaching alicorn. "What are you doing out here?" She demanded.

"Trixie, what happened to you and your wagon?" Twilight asked.

"Who did you anger this time around?" Rainbow Dash growled at her.

"Rainbow!" Twilight admonished. "Go ahead Trixie."

Trixie glared at the offending pegasus before looking to Twilight. "It was awful. A large stallion was on the road heading the opposite way of The Great and Powerful Trixie and would not step aside for her. Despite that he walked alone and she was pulling her wagon. When she demanded that he show manners and move aside, he…." She choked a bit. "He used magic Twilight, he looked like an earth pony but he wielded magic more powerful than Trixie had ever seen. His eyes, they glowed for an instant, and Trixie and her wagon were thrown aside like some sort of refuse. Trixie has not been able to get her wagon upright again." She said forlornly.

Twilight looked over the fallen wagon, she could likely get it back up right herself but it would take some effort. Applejack followed Twilight's gaze and could see where her train of thought was heading.

"We can get it upright Twi, ya don't need to use ya magic when we can do the same with a little muscle work."

"You want to help –her- out?" Rainbow asked crossly.

"Oh come on Rainbow Dash, would you just turn away from somepony who genuinely needs help?" Rarity asked. "Even if it is Trixie." Her tone to the final words clearly indicating she had not forgotten the show mare's previous actions either.

Rainbow huffed. "Fine."

Applejack retrieved a few coils of rope from one of their wagons and tied them to the opposing side of the wagon. With all of their combined help, they managed to get Trixie's wagon back on its wheels.

"Trixie thanks you all." The blue unicorn said grudgingly.

"You're welcome." Rainbow said tartly.

"So where is your hat and cape Trixie?" Pinkie Pie asked out of the blue.

It was then Twilight noticed that the show mare was not wearing her favored star covered hat and cape combo.

"Trixie…does not know. She has yet to find them." She said.

Twilight frowned briefly but that was when Princess Luna stood next to her to address the blue unicorn.

"The stallion that did this was he tall and dark coated, and carried a gold scepter?"

The unicorn nodded. "He was indeed princess."

"I see, thank you." Luna said before returning to her caravan. "Twilight, we should continue on."

Twilight turned to Trixie. "Will you be alright then?"

The show mare nodded. "The Great and Powerful Trixie can look after herself." She said extravagantly.

"But can't seem to right her own wagon." Rainbow Dash said sarcastically from above then flew off.

Twilight rolled her eyes and joined her caravan, taking the path northward.

The blue unicorn watched them go until they were out of sight, then in a puff of black smoke, the visage of the show mare faded away; in her place was one of Tyranny's shadow beasts. It quietly relayed all it saw and heard to its master before disappearing in another puff of black smoke.

Not far away from it, the cap and cloak of the show mare sat forlornly in the tall grass, their owner not long ago sharing the same fate as those from the outpost.

In Canterlot castle, Princess Celestia walked calmly down a walkway towards the guest rooms of her castle. A light rain fell this morning, but she was unbothered by the falling water. The weather pegasi had done another wonderful job in putting together the rain storm today. While she did prefer the nice, clear, sunny days; she did realize that the rain was just as necessary as her sunlight.

She made her way into the wing of the castle set aside for visitors and found the rooms that she had given Tourmaline and her brother. She knocked politely on Tourmaline's door.

"Coming!" Princess Celestia heard the startled voice of the pegasus from within, as well has a thump, followed by an annoyed "Ow!"

The princess smiled in humor, but waited for the door to open; once it did she could see Tourmaline peeking out. Her eyes widen and she quickly opened the door as she saw who her visitor was.

"Princess Celestia, I'm sorry, you caught me sleeping." She said, for it was apparent that the pegasus had just gotten out of bed. Her mane was tussled and had yet to be combed and a quick glance inward Celestia could see the blankets of her bed on the ground; tossed there in her rush to answer the door.

"It is alright, I had thought to invite you to have breakfast with me."

"I would princess Celestia, I just need a moment to freshen up. I'd never live it down if I showed up a mess for a meal with the princess." She smiled wanly.

Celestia chuckled softly. "Alright, I will see you down momentarily then. I will check with your brother while I am here."

"Alright, I won't be long." Tourmaline quickly closed the door, muttering to herself as she quickly found her brush and began sorting through the tangles of her teal colored mane.

Celestia made her way to the next room and found that it was slightly ajar, she pushed it open and found the rust colored unicorn at a desk writing away in a tome; a number of maps were scattered around him.

"May I come in?" She asked from the doorway.

He turned at the sound of her voice and nodded easily. "Yes, princess, please do." He sat down his quill and bowed before her; being more mindful of proper etiquette than his sister.

"I am glad to see that your return from stone has not been so hard on you."

He winced a bit at the mention of his time being made a statue. "It was difficult princess, but I am well on my way to a full recovery thanks to you and Princess Luna. I truly thank you for your help."

"I am glad to have helped, though I cannot take full credit either. It was with Discord's help, that we were finally able to purify you." She glanced past him to the window that was streaked with rain water. "Would you and your sister care to join me for breakfast this morning?"

"Of course, I would not turn down such an offer." They both looked towards Tourmaline's room as there was a surprised shout of "Horse feathers!" as Tourmaline's shower water was colder than anticipated.

"As tactful as a troll..." Tormod sighed, and then looked to the princess. "I apologize for my sister, she can be…willful at times."

She smiled to him. "It is alright, I have heard far worse in my time. I will see you both down for breakfast soon."

"Of course Princess." He said and bowed low again.

Celestia sat at the head of the table as the waiters cleaned up after a pleasant breakfast with the siblings. The two shared many tales of their adventures they have had, together with their friend Wanderer. The three apparently had known each other since fillyhood and have been together ever since. They had all found their cutie marks shortly after the other; Wanderer had been the first to gain his, as he was constantly wandering in many places he was not intended to go. Tourmaline earned hers from finding missing valuables from their hometown that had been lost to thieves. Finally Tormod had earned his when he found that his love of studying maps and working with navigation equipment was his special talent. Their combined special talents had made them the adventuring troupe that had been known as. From their own words, it was usually Wanderer who discovered leads for hidden discoveries and treasures. They spoke of him often and to Celestia, it sounded as if they really respected him.

"It sounds to me as if you all are great friends." She said to them.

"We are princess; we'd do almost anything for each other. We've faced monsters, difficult adventurers and faced harsh weather; but this last one. None of us were prepared for what happened." Tormod said.

"How could you have been Tormod? What you found, I had hoped none would have ever been able to find. I had let the jungle grow wild so that it would hide the temple away forever." She sighed. "But his influence seemed to expand to even keep that from hiding him."

"Is there any way to save Wanderer, princess?" Tourmaline asked.

The princess looked to her, her expression showed that the answer was important to her. "We will certainly try, Tourmaline. But first, Tyranny must be found before we can try to save Wanderer."

The pegasus nodded, accepting the answer.

The princess stood from the table. "You both are allowed to remain here as my guests until we find your friend, but you need not remain just within the castle. Please see Canterlot while you are here, the city has much to offer that ponies like yourself will be pleased to see."

"We will princess; again we thank you for your generosity." Tormod said, to which Tourmaline agreed with quickly.

A guard pony approached and offered the princess a letter.

"From my sister?" She asked.

"Yes princess, it is a report on their venture." He said.

She nodded and scanned over the letter, she then gasped softly. The two siblings looked to her concerned.

"What is wrong princess?" Tourmaline asked concern in her tone.

"They might have found a lead on your friend." She said softly, her tone leaving them with the feeling that the news is not likely good.

Chapter 6

That night after Twilight and her fiends helped Trixie, the six ponies and one dragon sat around a campfire talking. Luna had raised the moon already, and a warm breeze blew through the forest around them. Their conversation was mostly on thoughts of home, homesickness had struck, but they knew that they were still needed elsewhere.

"I wonder how Sweetie Belle is doing?" Rarity said. "Goodness knows that she and the girls can find their way into no small amount of trouble."

"Oh, the girls are not all that bad." Fluttershy said. "True they can get into trouble, but they are not as bad as that."

"You should have seen Sugar Cube Corner after they tried to be bakers," Pinkie Pie said. "It was one doozy of a mess, a delicious mess, but still a mess."

"Or when they tried their hooves at being librarians," Spike muttered. "I still have nightmares." Twilight also winced at the memory.

"The girls'll find their way, I don't doubt'em," Applejack said. "I just hope they don't really hurt themselves trying all the crazy things they do."

Rainbow Dash nodded idly, looking around the camp with an exasperated expression. "All this talk of home is kind of depressing; we should do something that isn't such a downer."

"Oh, oh, me! I have an idea!" Pinkie raised a hoof excitedly.

"What're you thinking Pinkie?" Rainbow asked.

"A song," She said cheerily, a banjo already in hoof to play.

"Where did you get that?" Applejack asked.

"I had it with me the whole time," the pink mare said airily and began to strum the banjo, she then broke out into a fast pace, folksy campfire song.

"Oh we're sitting around the campfire here tonight.

The night is all around, it's such a fright.

We're sitting around the campfire

Telling tales of walking trails.

We're sitting around the campfire here tonight.

Oh the marshmallows are'a roasting, they're so yum.

Eating melted smores is so much fun

We're sitting around the campfire

Eating smores and fighting off the snores

We're sitting around the campfire here tonight.

Oh I'm sitting at the campfire with my friends

With no one else, the day I'd rather spend

We're sitting here together

Cause together is so much better

We're sitting around the campfire here tonight.

During the course of her song, Pinkie gleefully involved her friends and many of the royal guard. It did not take long for her friends to join in, and even a few of the normally stoic royal guards began to sing and laugh along.

After the laughter had settled down Twilight looked around the camp curiously.

"Where is Princess Luna?" she asked aloud. Twilight had not heard the princess sing along with the song or even saw her once since they set camp.

"She went to have a look around, guess she was feeling bored," Rainbow Dash told her.

Twilight nodded easily and looked at Fluttershy curiously. The yellow pegasus, who a moment ago was smiling and singing along with everyone else, was now quiet. She was looking off into the woods with a troubled frown.

"What is wrong Fluttershy?" Twilight asked her with concern.

"I … " she said quietly, her worried expression growing. She walked a short distance out of the camp, Twilight followed her out of curiosity. "It's quiet."

Twilight smiled faintly to her. "Well after Pinkie Pie's singing, it would seem that way," she said lightheartedly.

"It's not that, the woods are quiet. I don't hear any of the woodland creatures around us."

Twilight then listened to the woods as well. Fluttershy was right; the woods around them were eerily quiet. There were no sounds of owls, insects, or other creatures of the night. With it being midsummer, the sounds of nature should have almost been deafening.

"What could …" she began

"Twilight!" she heard Spike scream.

The two turned back and stood in shock, as a large black puff of smoke appeared in front of them. A creature of black shadow stepped from the smoke before them. It was vaguely pony shaped; it's only features were it perfectly round white eyes and the armor it wore, which was a darkened version of the Equestrian Armor used by the guard ponies.

"What is that?!" Fluttershy screamed.

"Don't know!" Twilight yelled, before jumping aside as the creature lunged at them.

Not far away from the camp, princess Luna glided easily over the forest canopy. Her moon shown in the sky above, basking the entire wood in a soothing pale light. Luna enjoyed this, flying quietly under the moon light. She was the princess of both the moon and the night; while her sister watched over their subjects during the day, she watched them during the night. She frequently slipped into the dreams of the ponies under her care and helped those with nightmares to face their fears. Because of this, Luna was beloved by her subjects for her compassion. That did not mean she did not take time for herself, like enjoying a peaceful flight during the quiet of the night, but she was first and foremost the princess of the night.

Tonight was an excellent night for flying; a cool breeze flowed steadily above the trees, making it perfect for gliding. Luna flew alone to be with her thoughts, it was not uncommon for her to do so. Her guards were used to her going off alone; the princess was more than capable of defending herself from aggressors.

She spotted a small clearing ahead, landing lightly within. She looked around to see if it was empty and sat down to stare at the night sky. She reflected back on the years since her return to Equestria. Since then the ponies of her country came to accept and love her after a millennia of them fearing her name. They no longer feared her as Nightmare Moon; her thanks were owed to Twilight and her friends for both her return and her acceptance with the common pony folk. The second chance she was given was one she swore she would not waste.

Her ears twitched as the sounds of loud singing reached them. She recognized the cheerful voice of Pinkie Pie to start, then followed by the voices of everypony else. Luna smiled softly, she was glad they all were enjoying themselves. Their journey had little to be cheerful of so far, and it promised to not get much better. As the song faded Luna went back to her star gazing. She then frowned as she heard a different sound originate from the camp; shouts and cries of alarm.

"Oh no," she breathed, and prepared herself to fly off to aid them.

"And just where do you think you're going?" A voice from behind her said, a voice she had not heard in over a millennia.

The lavender alicorn and yellow pegasus ran back to the camp, and they both saw more of the shadow beasts fighting the guards and their other friends. The shadow beasts made not a sound as they fought, but for every buck, punch, or body blow they took, they gave back in turn.

Twilight saw three press Applejack and she was quick to blast two of them away. Applejack then bucked the remaining one on its chin that sent the creature tumbling away.

"Twilight, where'd ya-Behind you!" the earth mare yelled with alarm. Twilight was not much for physical violence, but instinct kicked in and she also lashed out with a two legged buck that caught the creature behind her between the eyes. It stumbled back but did not fall; turning quickly Twilight blasted it with a powerful blast of magic. The creature did not try to dodge as it was struck; it disappeared in a puff of black smoke as the magic passed through it. The armor it wore clanged to the ground lifelessly.

"Thanks Applejack," she said breathlessly.

"Don't worry Twi. What are these things?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know. They seem to be made of some black substance. I've never read of them before."

"We have to do something, they just keep coming," Applejack said, she then had to turn and meet the charge of another shadow creature.

Twilight turned her magic to aid her friends. Rarity also used her magic and her surprising martial prowess to fend off her attackers. Rainbow swopped down and out, rushing and kicking the creatures that seemed unable to catch her. Pinkie had all manner of different ways of defending herself, all ranging from clever to amusing, yet all were effective. Fluttershy stayed near Twilight, the pegasus was not a fighter. Spike used his flame breath to drive the creatures away from him and Rarity. The royal guard was holding their own against the creatures.

"Twilight!" hearing Fluttershy's panicked outcry, she turned, expecting another creature to be charging at them. Instead she saw the armor of the first creature rise off the ground and another, or was it the same, creature fill the armor. Once it was fully formed it attacked once again. Twilight was so shocked by this that she did not react in time. It was Fluttershy who saved her, the pegasus throwing herself into the creature's side; sending it tumbling away. Twilight recovered and blasted it again; it disappeared in a puff of smoke and the armor again falling lifeless to the ground.

"They can rejuvenate?" she asked, beside herself.

"This is never going to end," Rarity said frantically.

"We've got this," Rainbow called down. "If they want to get their flanks kicked more than once, we'd be happy to give it to them." She charged down and somersaulted once, landing with both hind hooves on top of the head of a creature. It dissipated in a puff of smoke from the blow. "Ha! You guys are such pushovers. Can't do anything with me in the air."

In response, three of the creatures sprouted a pair of shadowy wings and flew in the air to meet her.

"Didn't see that coming," Rainbow muttered and took off, the three now winged creatures in close pursuit.

Rainbow darted and weaved through the trees, trying to lose her pursuers. The shadow creatures were closing in on her she realized. She needed to do something to get rid of them.

"Gotta lose these guys," she said to herself. She saw a branch on a tree growing out perfectly horizontal. With a wicked grin she sped ahead and grabbed hold of the branch, pulling it back as far as she could. She released it at the right time and the branch swung out, catching the closest full in the face, causing it to dissipate into nothingness.

"Yeah!" she cheered, followed by a quick "Whoa!" As another darted at her, which she managed to dodge.

"They just don't give up," she took off with the last two in close pursuit.

"Rainbow, Rainbow! Over here!" she heard Pinkie's cry. Rainbow could see the pink mare had her party cannon aimed at her. She smiled wickedly and swooped low over Pinkie's head.

"Now!" she cried as she flew over the pink mare.

On cue, Pinkie let loose with a blast from her cannon. The blast caught both creatures unaware with a blob of cooking dough. The two flew backwards, crashing into the trees and dissipated. The remaining armor however was stuck in the globs of sticky dough.

"Ahh yeah!" they both cheered and shared a high hoof.

They both returned to help their friends, but could see that the fighting was nearly over; the fallen armor of the creatures ceasing to rise.

"Why did they stop Twilight?" Spike asked as he warily nudged a fallen helmet of a shadow creature.

"I don't know Spike, none of this makes sense."

"Any idea where they came from?" Applejack asked.

Before Twilight could respond, Rainbow Dash spoke up loudly.

"Where's princess Luna?"

They all gave a collective gasp, looking around. It was then they heard the sounds of fighting off in the distance. Twilight could see the flashes of light in that direction, magical lights.

"Princess Luna!" she cried and the six took off towards the source of the lights.

"It has been some time Luna." Tyranny said as he appeared from out of nowhere behind her. "I truly hadn't expected to see you so soon. Did Celestia send you to pursue me?"

"Why are you here Tyranny?" she asked, turning to face the imposing stallion.

"I merely wished to take the measure of Equestria's lesser ruler." he said snidely.

She did not allow him to bait her. "What have you done with the ponies of the outpost? What did you do to them?" she demanded, determined to get answers from him.

He gave her his sardonic grin. "I merely recruited them to further my designs. They make the most excellent and loyal minions. As your caravan has no doubt found."

She scowled at him and set herself. "What is your ploy Tyranny?"

"That is enough questions my dear. Time to take your measure. Defend yourself if you can." He also set himself, putting aside his scepter.

With a quick huff the princess of the moon and the spirit of order charged each other. The two butted heads, Luna's horn barely scratching his forehead. The two jostled a moment before Luna lashed out with her front hooves, causing Tyranny to block with his own. Luna spun around quick as a cat and bucked; Tyranny in turned crossed his fore hooves in a block. The force of Luna's kick had him skidding backwards.

He lowered his guard only be seen sneering at her. "Impressive." He then dashed back in, lashing out with measure jabs. Luna, the quicker of the two, dodged them but hopped back to avoid a sweeping back hoof blow. Tyranny followed it up with a blast of energy from his hooves. Luna quickly put up a magical barrier and the ray of energy burst into sparks as it struck. Tyranny followed the first ray with a barrage of others and Luna felt her barrier buckling under the onslaught. As her barrier failed, she took to the sky.

Tyranny watched her as she hovered above. "Has your power waned ever the millennia?"

"No more than your ability to change" she countered.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, a shadow hand flew out from his right fore hoof. Her eyes widened and she dodged aside; the hand flew past harmlessly. She turned in time to see Tyranny only a few inches from her face, scepter in hoof in a back hoof swipe. As she plummeted down to the ground, she righted herself at the last moment flying low over the ground and back up to meet the levitating stallion. Again he fired another ray of energy at her, which she dodged. She used a different tactic and emitted a bright flash of light from her horn. Caught off guard, Tyranny covered his eyes and Luna did not waste time in hitting him with a focused blast of magic of her own. The hit sent him skyward with a grunt; growling in frustration he dissipated her magic and swooped down after her. She flew up to meet him and at the last second pulled up sharply and flew just inches above him. She kicked down with her hind legs, and caught him between the shoulder blades; sending him plummeting towards the ground.

Before she could enjoy the clever ploy, he whirled and fired a shadow hand from his free hoof that caught her by the hind legs and pulled her down with him. The two crashed nearly simultaneously to the ground. Luna stood quickly and braced herself for another attack, but found Tyranny only picking himself off the ground and dusting himself off.

"Impressive. You are a much better fighter than I anticipated," he said as he looked to her, his body language did not speak of further hostilities.

"Maybe it is you who has weakened Tyranny. I recall you not being much for a personal encounter. Now answer my question, what is it that you plot?"

He sneered. "I had thought it obvious, my lady. That I intend to bring all of Equestria under my rule, and in doing so, see to it that strife, chaos, and disorder become a thing of the past."

"It is because of tyrants like you that they never truly fade," she said hotly.

"Because individuals like you are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifice to make it a reality."

"Do not speak to me of sacrifice," she bristled.

He chuckled mockingly at her. "Then it is true. Your own return to Equestria has not been too long ago either. Under less than harmonious circumstances as I am aware."

She glared at him.

"What was it? A thousand years imprisonment in the moon? By your sister no less. What was her reason for doing so?"

"She did it to save Equestria from the dangers that I and the Nightmare I became presented," she said, unable to keep all the regret from her tone.

"And you honestly believe that?"

She narrowed her eyes at him dangerously.

"True, the monster you became did need to be dealt with, but a thousand years imprisonment was her justification? I think not. Have you ever stopped to wonder why she never released you before hoof?"

She gritted her teeth.

"Perhaps she had other reasons to keep you locked away in the moon? Think of it, two sisters sharing the same throne would no doubt cause a separation among their followers; thus causing a country to be divided between them. A divided country would only lead to strife and war, so what better way to unify a country, than to remove the competition?"

"Be silent," she whispered.

"Your becoming a Nightmare over petty jealously proved to be the ultimate reason to harmlessly do away with you and cement Celestia as Equestria's sole ruler."

"Be silent," she spoke louder.

"True, an act of compassion may have allowed your release and eventual reformation. That bringing you back to her side, but only after it was widely accepted that Celestia was the ruler of Equestria. Even after the years of your return, your name is not the one the ponies cry out for when they are in dire straits."

"Be silent." Even louder.

"I can attest to you, it is not," he sneered sardonically at her outburst.

"Be silent!" she yelled at the top of her lungs and lashed out with a raged filled blast of energy from her horn.

The stallion was caught off guard and the blast hit him squarely on the chin, jerking his head to the side and sending him stumbling backwards.

He turned back slowly, his grin still there but his eyes were intense. He again chuckled mockingly at her. "Seems I am not the only one then."

"Princess Luna!" they heard a concerned shout from the trees. Turning in time to see Twilight and her friends emerge into the clearing. Seeing the dark stallion, the six rushed to Luna's side.

"Princess Luna, are you alright?" Twilight asked, noting the rough marks and scratches on her coat.

"I am fine Twilight Sparkle," she said, glad for the arrival of the Elements of Harmony.

"Ah, so this is Equestria's newest princess," Tyranny said as he looked to the new arrivals.

"And just who are you supposed to be?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

He raised one eyebrow questionably. "You are unaware? Celestia continues misleads her minions I see."

"Who are you calling a minion?!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"Enough of your games Tyranny. These are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony; they will be the ones to see your reign ends before it ever began!"

"That is Tyranny?" Pinkie asked Twilight.

Twilight nodded to her. "Yes it is—" before she could say anything more, the pink mare was suddenly eye to eye with the spirit of order.

"You buster, owe me a new costume! That one you ruined was special!" she said poking him in the chest. "Now apologize!"

He narrowed his eyes at her and an aura surrounded the mare; she was roughly tossed back to her friends.

Tyranny snorted dismissively and looked back at Luna. "As enjoyable as I found our little encounter, it is not yet time for me to deal with you or the bearers of harmony."

"You running scared?" Rainbow Dash taunted, helping Pinkie back to her hooves.

He turned his gaze to her. "We will meet again soon," he said firmly. Without so much as a change in expression he faded from sight and was gone.

They all breathed a sigh of relief and Twilight again looked back at Luna.

"What did he say to you Princess?"

"Lies, princess Twilight, all lies," she responded, though Twilight frowned a bit at a subtle difference in her tone. "You must all ware his words, he will bend and twist them to his advantage and seek to cause doubt. Doubt in his greatest weapon and he will not hesitate to use it."

Tyranny's laughter was heard around them. "I head north, if you wish to stop me, come and find me," his voice faded and was not heard again that night.

"Arrogant lout," Rarity snorted

"Ya got that right," Applejack agreed.

"Come, we should all get our rest and send message to my sister of what occurred here," Luna said.

The others nodded in agreement and they all headed back for the camp.

Fluttershy lagged behind a bit and Twilight slowed to walk alongside her.

"Fluttershy?"

The shy pegasus looked to her quickly then stole a glance to Luna, who was ahead of them. The dark blue alicorn seemed lost in her own thoughts.

"Its princess Luna, she …" she hesitated. "She looks like she is hurting."

Twilight again looked to the princess then back to her friend. "What do you mean? She just got out of a fight with Tyranny."

"It is not that … oh sorry, I, I brought it up," she said and trotted to catch up to the others.

Twilight watched her go and then paused to look back towards the clearing; her own thoughts inward. She could only guess at what had transpired between Princess Luna and Tyranny; she made a note of it to ask her when she got the chance.

When they arrived back at the camp, they could see the royal guard ponies patching up wounds and repairing the wagons. Spike came running up to them as they appeared, the young dragon was relieved to see them unhurt.

"Twilight, everyone, I'm glad you're alright. What happened out there?" he asked.

"Tyranny made an appearance, he and princess Luna fought," Twilight answered.

The dragon looked to the princess with a measure of awe. "Did you beat him princess?"

"I did not; he fled not long after the others arrived to aid me," she said, looking to the royal guard commander nearby. "Are any hurt?"

"Bumps and bruises princess. None are seriously hurt," he reported.

"What was it that attacked the camp? Describe them for me," she asked intently.

The guard hesitated a moment. "They were all black, shadow like creatures, princess. They wore Equestrian armor and had pure white eyes."

"And they grew wings," Rainbow added.

"And disappeared in a poof when you beat them," Pinkie Pie added, throwing both of her arms out at the 'poof' to greater emphasize the point.

"Once ya did put'em down, the armor came back to life after'a little bit. With another of them shadows in'em," Applejack said.

Looking around the camp Luna noticed that there was no discarded armor littering the ground. "The armor?"

"Faded away princess. Shortly after the bearers went to help you," the guard said.

She frowned. "Troubling," she then addressed the entire camp. "Get your rest, we head north come daylight." She looked to Twilight as the camp moved to finish their work. "Please bring your dragon friend to my wagon princess Twilight. We need to send letter to my sister."

"Of course princess," she said. "Come on Spike." The young dragon was quick to gather his writing implements.

Chapter 7

The following week, the pony caravan steadily made its way northward. In that time they had come upon a second outpost that had shared the same fate as the first. The only difference was they found a survivor, a worker pony who had been found unconscious under the ruined remains of a vending cart. The survivor sat before Luna, Twilight, and her friends as he had his injuries bandaged.

"Can you tell us what happened here?" Twilight asked the worker.

"Yes, Princess," the pony said as he gingerly rested his leg on the ground. "It happened only a few days ago; a squadron of Equestrian Guard showed up at the gates. They claimed that they were sent as relief; the garrison commander said they were early as their replacement was a week away yet. But the other commander had a letter with the royal seal and our commander took it as truth." He gulped, his expression distant as he recalled the memory. "That night, the guards had a big dinner to celebrate the end of their tour."

"A good reason to throw a party if you ask me," Pinkie Pie said, nodding sagely. She received a number of huffs and glares before the worker pony continued.

"The entire garrison was there, all of them but the new arrivals. I was out by the cart, getting more food, when I saw them surround the mess hall—" he hesitated "—I don't know why, but I hid. Something about what they were doing scared me. It was then they all changed into some sort of black creature. They all started to glow and used some sort of magic on the mess hall. One minute there was laughter, then there were screams, then just silence. Afterwards the black creatures just disappeared. I was so shocked I stumbled back and hit my head. I must have been out for a while because you were the ones who found me."

Luna frowned softly. "Was there a tall dark stallion with these black creatures?"

The pony shook his head. "No, Princess, only them."

Again she frowned, and Twilight stepped forward, her expression troubled.

"I need you to hold still, sir," she said.

"P-princess?" The pony blinked, a worried expression on his face.

"Twi?" Applejack looked to her with concern.

Twilight assured her with a look before turning back to the worker.

"This won't hurt; I am just making sure of something," she told him.

He nodded slowly, and Twilight's horn began to glow. A nimbus of light surrounded the pony and quickly vanished.

Twilight nodded. "Good."

"What did you do, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"It was a detection spell. The spell would have made anything that can change its shape revert back into their real form." She looked to the worker pony. "I was only making sure you were not one of the shadow creatures in disguise."

He nodded quickly. "Good thinking, Princess."

Luna looked on with a distant expression. She turned towards the barracks as the guard captain exited from within.

"Did you find anything?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, Princess, it is like the first outpost. There is no sign of them." Luna frowned at the news.

"Are you well, Princess?" Rarity asked.

"Something troubles me, yes, but I will speak of it later," she said, and looked to the worker pony. "Do you require any provisions to get you to the nearest town?"

"No, Princess, I can get what I need from the stores here. I can't take food from the princesses."

She smiled softly to him. "As you wish. Take care on the road."

He bowed to her and soon departed.

"Man, this Tyranny guy is really started to cheese me off. What's he doing to all the ponies out here?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Wish I could give that guy a swift kick or three."

"I hear ya there, Rainbow, it ain't makin' a lick a sense what he's up to," Applejack crossed her front hooves irritably.

The girls discussed the mystery among themselves before Luna spoke up.

"Perhaps I should share some information with you all." She directed them from the abandoned outpost and to their caravan wagons. As they gathered around, Spike joined them; as he had remained behind with the wagons rather than enter the outpost.

Luna took a moment before speaking. "I believe I know what may have happened to the ponies here and at the other outpost, but I wish to be sure before I speak with any certainty."

"What is it, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"I wish to be sure before I say, Princess Twilight." The dark alicorn closed her eyes and her horn glowed softly. When she opened her eyes, it was not the teal-colored irises they were used to, rather they were pure black orbs. It did not take her long to gasp suddenly with sadness. "It is as I feared," she said as her eyes returned to normal.

"What?" the group said in unison.

She sighed. "It will be easier to show you." Luna cast her spell again, her eyes darkening once more.

An image came to Twilight's mind and she saw darkness. Several ponies from the outpost floated into view. They hovered listlessly in the darkness, occasionally twitching or moaning like one caught in a terrible nightmare, one from which there was no awakening. Twilight could see they were all unharmed but could not wake from their tormented slumber.

One of the ponies made her gasp with recognition. "Trixie?" Luna's spell ended and the visions faded.

"Ya saw her too?" Applejack asked, and all the girls nodded.

"What was that place, Princess? What is happening to them?" Twilight could not shake the horrible images she saw from her mind.

"It was so dark," Fluttershy said quietly.

"And spooky," Pinkie Pie added.

"It is the Realm of Shadow. An alternate dimension where there is no light. It is the birthplace of darkness. There have been only a few who have been able to travel there and return. Tyranny often used the Realm of Shadow for his own ends," Luna explained.

"Is there any way to bring them back?" Twilight's brow furrowed in silent determination.

Luna shook her head sadly. "Only the one who sent them there can release them. Unless we defeat Tyranny, they will remain trapped there."

"Not even Trixie deserves that," Rarity said gravely.

Twilight looked to Luna. "Is this where Tyranny gets his shadow creatures from?"

"Their substance yes. The shadow beasts are made from the darkness of the Realm of Shadow, but they lack any driving force behind them." She paused and considered a more apt comparison. "Think of them as statues of shadow or Rarity's clothing mannequins. That is all they are, dolls, without a force to give them life."

"What force does it take, Princess?" Applejack grimaced. Twilight felt she already knew the answer.

"The life essences of the ponies sent to the Realm of Shadow," she answered before Luna could.

Luna nodded. "Indeed, Twilight Sparkle. The ponies sent there give life to the shadow creatures that Tyranny conjures. He can make dozens of them from just one pony."

"Sweet Celestia, he is building an army," Rarity breathed.

"Think how much cake batter you'd need to feed all of them?" Pinkie Pie said flabbergasted.

"Pinkie!" Twilight said sharply, giving the pink earth mare a glare.

"It would be a whole lot, Twilight," she said defensively.

Twilight could only sigh. "We're going to have to stop him quickly, Princess. Not only to save all the ponies he sent to the Realm of Shadow, but also to keep him from building his army. He could easily make thousands of them if he finds more outposts or even a town."

"We might catch up to him if we ditch these here wagons." Applejack waved a hoof at the caravan.

Rarity winced at the thought of having to actually walk all day on dusty roads.

"Don't ya say it," Applejack said to her.

"Wouldn't dream of it, darling," Rarity huffed.

Luna was about to say something when Spike, who had sat quietly throughout the whole discussion, suddenly belched. A rolled-up parchment formed from the burped flames, bearing the royal emblem.

Twilight was quick to snatch up the letter with her magic and unrolled it. "It's from Princess Celestia." She said to them as she began to read. Her startled gasp was so sudden, she dropped the letter and made her friends jump.

"What is it, Twilight?" Rainbow asked, looking to her worriedly.

Twilight recovered from her shock and picked up the letter again and read the message out loud.

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

You, your friends, and my sister must make all haste to the Crystal Empire. It has fallen under attack by Tyranny and his shadow creatures. Do whatever you must to make haste; Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are in need of you all.

---

Princess Cadence sat on the balcony of the crystal tower overlooking the Crystal Empire. Her husband stood beside her, his determined expression set in stone as he looked in the same direction. A pair of crystal pony guards stood by stoically, but Cadence could see it in their eyes; they were afraid, and with good reason.

She looked back out over the Empire and to its borders. Surrounding the entire Empire was an army of shadow creatures, ones she had never seen nor heard of before. They had not made a sound or moved to invade since they first appeared. The creatures, however, stopped all who tried to leave; not even the trains were able to depart. Any that tried to cross the protective barrier of the Crystal Heart, vanished in a puff of smoke; even the armor they wore crumbled to nothingness. Being unable to proceed, they had settled into a holding pattern around the Empire. The Crystal Guard attempted to break their lines to keep the trains going, but were beaten back.

Cadence sighed softly; the Empire's fields were within the protection of the Crystal Heart, so there was no fear of starvation. It was the attrition she knew would take its toll. The crystal ponies continued with their lives, keeping their spirits high, but it would only be a matter of time before those spirits would be hard to hold. It was Cadence's hope that Princess Celestia would send aid to rescue the Crystal Empire before that were to happen.

Her frown was small, but her husband was quick to notice.

"Don't worry, Cadence. I am sure Princess Celestia is sending help. She won't leave us to fend for ourselves."

"I know. I just worry what this will do to the crystal ponies. They have been through so much lately; they do not deserve more hardship."

Shining Armor frowned, unable to argue the point. "But as long as you are strong for them, they will see it through." His smile attempted to reassure her.

She smiled warmly at her husband. "As long as we are strong,"

He chuckled a bit. "You're the one they look to for guidance, Cadence, but I'll be here to protect you."

She smiled and leaned against him, feeling comforted next to him.

It was then a pegasus guard flew to the balcony and landed before them. His orange coat and neon blue mane was a stark difference from the other crystal ponies' coloring.

"Have you seen any sign of relief from Princess Celestia?" Cadence asked the pegasus.

"No, Princess. I was pursued by a couple of those things, but I was able to fend them off," Flash Sentry said.

"I am glad."

Shining Armor spoke up. "As long as the Crystal Heart stays strong, we can wait them out."

"Yes, I just hope help comes—" she was interrupted by a loud explosion that sounded like from inside the tower.

"What was that?!" Cadence yelled in concern.

"Go find out, Flash," Shining said, but the pegasus was already on his way.

---

Flash Sentry flew past a number of other guards who were stationed in and around the throne room. He sped down the hall until he came across another guard, this one a ranking officer. The officer was bellowing orders to others around him as many of them raced down the hallway towards the crystal tower's entrance.

"Sir, the princess wishes for an update?" He saluted respectfully. He looked down the hallway where other pony guards were running. He could hear shouts and the sounds of magic being cast in that direction.

"I don't know, there is some sort of commotion at the front door. We think it is an intruder. Tell the princess I am heading there to take care of it. Stay there and guard her, Flash," he said before running towards the entrance.

---

It did not take Flash long to return to the throne room, where princess Cadence and Shining Armor awaited his return.

"What is going on, Flash Sentry?" Shining Armor demanded, sounding very much like the commander of the guard that he was.

"It isn't clear, sir. The officer said it might be an intruder and that he was going to deal with it."

The sound of conflict still came from the hallway, but it sounded as if it were drawing closer.

"Bar the doors! Protect the princess!" Shining shouted to the small squad of guards assigned to protect Cadence.

As the doors were closed and secured, the guards formed a defensive line in front of the royal couple. Unicorns and earth ponies stood shoulder to shoulder, and the pegasi, Flash among them, hovered above. The commotion grew louder until it sounded like it was just outside of the door, but suddenly, it stopped.

Concerned glances were shared, and just as Shining was about to order they go find out what happened, the doors were blown inward. One them was completely blasted off its hinges, and the other hung from the ruined remains of its lower hinge. Through the dust and smoke strode Tyranny, his gaze locked on the pink alicorn on the throne.

Flinching under his glare, she glanced to Shining Armor. "Shining, your spell!"

"Right!" He gathered his power around his horn and unleashed a purple sphere that expanded outward. It was the same spell that had expelled the changelings from Canterlot so long ago. The spell would expel this stallion from their wall in a similar manner. As the sphere moved towards him, Tyranny lowered his shoulder and lunged into it. As it connected, he was pushed back a few feet but stopped; the sphere struggling to continue but held back by Tyranny's power.

None of them, most of all Shining, could not believe what they were seeing. Not even the Queen of the Changelings could resist the sphere, but this stallion was holding it back single-hoofedly.

With a growl, Tyranny lashed out and the sphere shattered before him, its magic dissipating into nothing. With a contemptuous snort, he started forward again.

Shining was quick to recover. "Now!"

The unicorn guards lowered their heads and launched a barrage of magical blasts at the intruder. Tyranny held forth his right hoof and a barrier appeared, their magic offensive unable to penetrate his magical defense.

"Not nearly enough," he told them matter-of-factly.

"Earth ponies!" Shining barked.

The earth pony guards set themselves, and with a shouted battlecry, they charged. In response, Tyranny rapped his scepter once on the crystal floor. Suddenly, a black wall of force appeared in front of him and rushed out to meet their charge. As it connected, the ponies were hurled backwards, landing hard and groaned wherever they lay.

"Pegasi!" Shining Armor yelled.

Flash Sentry and the other pegasi dove down to fend off the intruder. With an amused grin, Tyranny chose to meet them in combat; swatting away each one as they tried to bring him down.

Flash ducked a swipe, and lashed out with a side kick. Tyranny didn't bother dodging, and the strike glanced off his armored chest, and he punched with his right hoof, but it came up short as the faster pegasus jumped back. However, Flash did not expect a shadowy claw to reach from the hoof and grab hold of him. It chucked him behind Tyranny, where he smashed against the wall and fell to the floor. The unicorn guards wasted no time in charging themselves, but they fared no better than their comrades.

"Now that the foolishness is done, it is time that we speak," Tyranny said to the royal couple after the last of the guards fell.

"We have nothing to say to the likes of you." Shining Armor stepped protectively in front of his wife.

"Leave our kingdom in peace; we have no quarrel with you," Cadence said.

Tyranny smiled mockingly at her. "There you are in error, Princess. You sit upon the throne of what will be the start of my Empire, and you are what stands in my way."

"I won't let you pass me," Shining Armor growled. Tyranny simply smirked at his gesture of defiance.

"We know who you are, Tyranny. It doesn't matter what you do here; you will not have Equestria. Princess Celestia will see you stopped beforehoof."

The Spirit of Order laughed.

"Why has the Crystal Heart not stopped you as it has your creatures?" Shining demanded, trying to buy time to think of a plan.

Tyranny looked at him. "The Crystal Heart is powered by the emotion of 'love,' and it was a challenging ward to bypass, I will admit. However, it is something that draws power from a—" he looked up suddenly and whirled, his scepter lashing out. Flash Sentry, who had picked himself up and charged the distracted stallion, was knocked aside.

"Persistent," Tyranny muttered as the pegasus stood up once again. This time the shadow talons that latched ahold slammed him into the high ceiling of the throne room and let him drop. As Flash fell, Tyranny pointed his hoof at the falling pegasus and the ebon ray struck out. Flash Sentry shattered into a million black pieces as he crashed into the floor, the shards vanishing into nothingness.

"Flash!" Cadence shrieked in horror, her hooves covering her mouth.

"You monster," Shining growled through clenched teeth.

"He yet lives."

"What?" the couple said.

"None who have battled me have met their ends. Doing so serves no purpose. I am, after all, no mindless monster."

"I don't care what you are! Leave now before—" Shining stopped as Tyranny, who had stood a distance away, was suddenly before him with his hoof on Shining's forehead.

"Silence!" Tyranny yelled, and an arc of electrical energy burst forth and sent the white stallion flying across the room to land in a daze at Cadence's hooves.

"Shining!" She fell to her knees to hold his head protectively. Tears streamed down her face as Tyranny approached.

"Surrender your sovereignty to me, Princess, and this senseless violence will cease," he said, leveling his scepter at her.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I seek to bring stability and order to this chaotic world, and to that end, all must submit to my rule. There are none more suited to rule than I." She looked up at him slowly, her expression saddened but holding great strength. It was something Tyranny had not expected from the young alicorn.

She looked at her senseless husband. "How did you get past the Crystal Heart?"

With no change of expression, Tyranny held up his hoof; in a puff of black smoke, the Crystal Heart appeared. To Cadence, the Crystal Heart had lost its luster, and more worriedly, it was not on its pedestal.

"A powerful relic, yet one with a flaw; it is powered by 'love,' a fickle emotion that changes as easily as desire, another emotion that has led to no end of despair, hatred, and jealousy. It is an unreliable thing to use for protection." Contemptuously, he tossed aside the relic sending it skidding across the floor. "Now, surrender your authority to me." His tone indicated that he was fast losing patience.

She looked at him, and so did Shining Armor, though his eyes were still unfocused.

"They will never accept you," she said.

Tyranny smiled wickedly at her on his way to the throne. "They have no other choice."

Tyranny sat upon the throne and smiled victoriously. He cast a spell, and a huge projected image of him on the throne appeared around the crystal tower. All the crystal ponies turned in shock to view the image.

"Citizens of the Crystal Empire, I am Tyranny. Your princess has surrendered her throne to me, thus making me your new Emperor. I am sure you have many questions, but answers will come with time. Know that your lives will change little, as long as a monthly tribute is paid and all laws are followed to the letter. Obey me, and no harm shall come to you or your families. Any defiance shall be met with swift and firm punishment. For now, go about your lives. My minions will pose no threat to you, but know that they are my enforcers." He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the stunned masses. "Rejoice, for we are the beginning of a new world that will be without strife or chaos."

The image faded and Tyranny summoned a half dozen of his shadow creatures. "Take the royals to the holding cells below; they will remain my guests," he instructed, more for the royal couple's sake than to actually give orders to the creatures.

"You intend to imprison us?" Cadence demanded as her husband leaned on her for support.

"Of course. Your presence here will ensure that the crystal ponies will remain loyal to me."

"You hold us hostage then," Shining stammered.

"It also serves another purpose, but one you need not concern yourself with." He turned to the shadow creatures and held up his hoof. A small marble appeared out of the air. "Take this one as well; I tire of carrying her around."

"Who is that?" Cadence looked to the marble with sympathy.

Tyranny grinned wickedly at her. "One you are well acquainted with. She has told me much of you, and I believe a reunion is in order."

Chapter 8

Outside of the Crystal Empire's borders, Twilight, her friends, and Princess Luna watched the comings and goings of the crystal ponies from their vantage point. It looked like it was a day like any other in the crystal city, but patrols of shadow creatures in the streets were the only thing that said otherwise. The crystal ponies avoided these patrols as soon as they saw them and stayed far away.

Twilight was looking towards the tower that sat in the middle of the city, her mane blowing loosely in the wind. Inside that tower were her brother and beloved sister-in-law, held in the clutches of Tyranny.

Despite the reassurances from her friends, Twilight still worried for her family. None of her friends truly knew if they were alright. Images of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence floating listlessly in the Realm of Shadow haunted her.

A comforting hoof rested on her shoulder. "Ah know you're worried, Twi, but don't let yourself get caught up in worryin'. Ah believe Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are in there a-okay," Applejack said.

"But we don't know that, Applejack. You've seen what Tyranny can do, what he did to Trixie and the others. Who knows what he would do to Cadence or Shining?"

"Ah know, sugarcube. But ya gotta believe they're ok, you can't focus if yer held up by yer fears. We'll get them out. Don't ya fret."

"Besides, dear, that lout Tyranny wouldn't do anything rash. Remember what Princess Celestia said? He's a careful planner and schemer. It wouldn't do to have them sent to that dreadful place. He'll likely want to keep them close by," Rarity said as she stood by Twilight.

"Actually, it was Discord who—"

"Rarity's right, Twilight." Pinkie said, interrupting Fluttershy. "It's kind of like candy. When you want to get a snack, you keep your favorite, most-delicious candy nearby so that you could have the best for when you get snacky."

"Yeah, I don't think comparing Princess Cadence and Twilight's brother to candy would be the best comparison," Rainbow Dash said dryly.

"If they were candy, what do you think they'd be? Oh, I bet it's gumdrops!"

"Pinkie!" chided more than one of her friends.

Twilight, however smiled at Pinkie's levity. It was just like the pink mare to bring a smile even during the grimmest of times.

Brushing aside a grateful tear, she smiled warmly to her friends. "Thanks girls," she said and the six shared a group hug, something Twilight dearly needed.

"It is best you go in under the cover of night, Princess Twilight," Luna said, breaking up the moment. "Also, it is best that all of you have the Elements of Harmony, in case you confront Tyranny. First and foremost, you must rescue Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor. The Crystal Tower belongs to Tyranny now, and a confrontation with him will leave you at a disadvantage. Once you have set them free, we can meet with my sister and plan a confrontation on our own terms."

"He'll likely have them secured in the holding chambers below the tower." Twilight looked to Luna with a furrowed brow. "You're not coming with us, Princess Luna?"

Luna shook her head. "Tyranny can likely to sense my presence from afar. If I were to accompany you, it would likely lead to a confrontation we are not ready for."

"It should be a good night for movin' around quiet like. Looks like the crystal pegasi are puttin' together a storm." Applejack motioned to a part of the sky where a team of pegasi were putting the finishing touches on a rainstorm.

"A storm?! That would be a dreadful time to be outside in any occasion," Rarity said.

Rainbow Dash huffed. "It isn't going to be any big storm, Rarity. That's just going to be a squall. Besides, a little rain never hurt anyone."

Rarity turned up her nose and sniffed. "I beg to differ."

"Let's not get into a fight over how wet we might get. We're going in to get Princess Cadence and my brother out of there." Twilight's gaze hardened as she looked back towards the crystal tower.

"Heck yeah we are, and we'll kick some flank while we're at it." Rainbow rubbed her front hooves together in anticipation.

"We're not going to pick a fight, Rainbow Dash. We're not going to be seen," Twilight said.

"Oh! Like a ninja. All stealthy and unseen and swift as the wind," Pinkie Pie bounced in excitement, already dressed in dark ninja attire.

"You really think we aren't going to be seen?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow incredulously.

"No, we won't." Twilight started down the cliff towards the city.

Rainbow didn't believe it, but if they were discovered, she would be ready to protect her friends.

As night and rain fell over the Crystal Empire, the girls made their way through the city. They moved from cover to cover as they snuck towards the Crystal Tower. The rain fell at a steady, soaking pace, the occasional flash of lightning illuminating the streets.

In fear of being spotted by the frequent patrols, Twilight didn't dare use her magic to light the way. Her friends followed her lead closely through the city.

They made it to the last home before the open plaza of the Crystal Tower without mishap; however, the entrance of the tower was guarded by a quartet of shadow creatures. They made no indication of moving, standing silent yet watchful. Twilight knew they would not move from their posts unless they had a good reason.

"Well this certainly poses a problem," Rarity whispered, rain sliding off the rain hat she insisted on wearing. "How are we going to get past those ruffians, Twilight?"

"I don't know, and it doesn't look like they're going to move anytime soon either," she said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"Should we go back and get Princess Luna?" Fluttershy said, her shivering having nothing to do with the cold.

"No, Fluttershy, we need to do this on our own," Twilight said.

"Patrol coming." Applejack warned.

The six of them hid behind the house and its foliage as a patrol of shadow creatures made their way towards the tower. Between them, they dragged a struggling crystal pony, her eyes wide with fear.

"State your business," The sentry's voice was like ice, void of any emotion or warmth.

"This one was out past curfew. She is to be jailed immediately," replied the patrol's leader, its voice no different.

"Very well, take her away." The captive sobbed as two of the door guards dragged her inside.

"I only wanted to find my cat," Her crying was cut off as the door slammed shut. In a puff of smoke, two more creatures appeared to take the place of the two who had removed the prisoner. The patrol turned back down the street from which it came.

"That poor pony." Twilight had watched the whole scene with a sickened expression.

"And her cat," Fluttershy whispered, tears rimming her eyes.

Rainbow Dash growled, jabbing at the air a few time. "I can't wait to get my hooves on Tyranny. Jailing innocent ponies because they were out looking for their lost pet? That really makes me mad."

"You and me both." Applejack gritted her teeth.

"Such is the rule of a despot." Rarity wiped at her eyes.

"A despa-what-now?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"A despot is somepony who rules in a tyrannical and cruel way." Her attention on the guards, Twilight's answer was like an automated reply.

Pinkie giggled. "It still sounds silly."

"Quiet now. We don't want ta get caught either," Applejack said as she kept watch down the road.

"So how are we getting in? Thrash the guards and bust down the door?" Rainbow asked.

"No, if we take out the guards, Tyranny will know we're here," Twilight said as she studied the almost lifeless creatures guarding the door. "We're going to need a distraction,"

"On it!" Rainbow leaped ahead.

"No, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said quickly, using her magic to grab the pegasus by the tail and yank her back to cover. She looked quickly to see if the creatures took notice, and sighed in relief as they remained unmoving.

"You said you needed a distraction." Rainbow frowned as she dangled upside down from her tail.

"Not caused by us. We'll need everypony to save Cadence and Shining."

"Who then?" Rainbow asked as Twilight dropped her to the ground.

Twilight brooded on the question.

"We could always let ourselves be captured. They'd take us right to where Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are," Pinkie Pie chimed in with her usual smile.

All she received were glares.

"Just an idea," she said.

Twilight's eyes widened suddenly and she grinned. "I'll make an illusion of another crystal pony. The guards will chase it away and give us time to get inside before they come back."

"That might actually work, but will they not get suspicious if the pony suddenly vanishes?" Rarity asked.

"I'll make sure to release the spell out of their sight."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Applejack nodded.

"Ok, once they are out of sight we will have to hurry, in case more of them come back."

The girls nodded and readied themselves to rush the door.

Twilight took in a deep breath. "Here goes," she said, and her horn glowed. A short distance away a crystal pony appeared and walked towards the tower. The observant eye would've noticed that the rain fell through the conjured pony; luckily the shadow creatures didn't have such a distinguishing ability. As one, they turned towards the visage.

"Citizen, halt, and prepare for questioning," they said in unison.

The pony fled down the road, and the four guards took off in pursuit.

"You did it, Twilight." Fluttershy smiled to her friend.

"This is really hard to hold, get to the door, girls," Twilight said through gritted teeth.

As the girls ran, Twilight's illusion jumped behind a building and vanished. She ran for the door, only to find it was still closed.

"What's wrong with the door?" she asked.

"It won't budge!" Rainbow's words were strained from the effort. She, Applejack, and Pinkie were shoving against the door, but it wouldn't move.

"The pony?" Rarity asked worriedly.

"I already dispelled it." Twilight's eyes widened in panic.

"They're coming back!" Fluttershy said frantically.

"Everypony push!" Twilight said as they shoved against the door together. The door gave only slightly to their efforts.

"Come on… " Rainbow pushed against the door with all she had.

Crashing against the wall, the door flew open and they tumbled inside.

"The door, the door, the door!" Twilight said.

Applejack quickly shut the door. Just in time for the guards to return and take up their posts again, none the wiser.

Twilight freed herself from the tangle of ponies and glanced around. The foyer was empty. She turned and offered Rarity a helping hoof up.

"Thank you, darling. Now I suppose we'll have to find where they're being held." She adjusted her mane to its perfect setting.

"They would be in the lower levels; the holding cells are there, and the center stairwell is the only way to get there. I can't see Tyranny putting them anywhere else. If he didn't… " With a shake of her head, Twilight looked back to her friends. "Let's stay together; that way we can—" frowning, she looked around the room. "Where is Pinkie Pie?"

"She was just here a moment ago," Fluttershy said. She squeaked in fright as her body glowed and vanished.

"Fluttershy!" the remaining four shouted.

Twilight heard Rarity gasp before the unicorn disappeared in a flash of light.

"What—?" Rainbow Dash disappeared.

"Twilight?" Applejack asked worriedly before she faded.

"Applejack? Rainbow? Rarity? Oh Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie? Where are you? What is going on?" Twilight's hooved clopped loudly as she darted around the room. She fully expected to disappear as well, yet she never did.

"But how? Where?"

She looked up as a dark, mocking chuckle echoed through the halls.

Twilight's eyes widened. Tyranny knew! He knew they were in the crystal tower, and he had let them only believe their infiltration was successful. Twilight hurried down the hallway, hoping to find her friends before he did.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Rainbow Dash appeared in a flash of light in another section of the Crystal Tower, the rain pounding against the glass of the windows nearby. She looked around frantically and saw that none of her friends had appeared along with her. She realized she was in a part of the tower she was not familiar with. Despite this, she was determined to find her friends and rescue Princess Cadance and Shining Armor.

"Alright, time to kick this into overdrive. Gotta find the others first," she said aloud.

She heard a voice say. "That will not be necessary."

"You!" She turned quickly to the source, her hackles standing on end. Tyranny stood nearby, his expression passive. "You finally decided to stop hiding, huh?"

"An impudent lass," he said dryly. "Still, one with its uses. You are Rainbow Dash, the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, are you not?"

"That's right. What's it to you?"

"If there is one amongst the Elements I can respect, it's the Element of Loyalty. Little is more important than dedication to the one you serve. Rather that loyalty is born of dedication, delusion or fear." A flash of lightning illuminated the hallway.

"There's no way anypony would ever be loyal to a creep like you. I saw what you did to those ponies at the outpost and you're going to pay for it." She stood on her hind legs and jabbed at the air a few times.

"Then I cannot persuade you to be loyal to me?" He was unperturbed at her stance.

She laughed. "You've got to be kidding me? I would never serve somepony like you."

"Hear my offer. Once I take control of all of Equestria. I will need one to oversee the pegasi and lead my minions when I turn to other lands. I can think of none better than the Element of Loyalty herself." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Think of it, you will be the leader of all the pegasi of Equestria and the commander of my airborne minions."

She looked at him defiantly, though her determination was slipping a little. His tone and manner made it all sound so real and so plausible.

"The Wonderbolts will be at your beck and call. You would be subservient to only me. A far greater destiny than anything Celestia can offer you. All you need to do is accept my gift and swear loyalty to me, and all of this shall come to pass." He held out his hoof and a flight suit appeared, hovering in the air. It was similar to the Wonderbolt's uniform, yet was colored like Tyranny's cutie mark, which was emblazoned across the breast.

Rainbow Dash stared at the outfit. She could see herself as Tyranny explained: all the pegasi and even the Wonder bolts would be hers to lead. Rainbow always dreamed of rising through the ranks of the Wonderbolts, but she had never dared to dream that she could be their leader. All she had to do was swear loyalty to him, and he could make that dream come true.

She slowly approached him, her eyes mesmerized by the suit. She stood before him and lifted a hoof towards it.

There was a gleam in her eye just before she lurched forward and drove her shoulder into his chest. He grunted and hopped back, the conjured suit vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"You honestly thought I was going to serve you? Ha! You don't know the first thing about loyalty." She expected an angered retaliation but was caught off guard by his approving smile.

"You truly represent your element well. Had you taken my offer, you would have been proven disloyal, and I would have no need of you." He stood straighter. "Enough of the games then, time to deal with you." He leveled his scepter at her.

She took off like a shot, determined to not let him get a spell off. She did not get far before a glowing sigil appeared in front of him. It had a diameter as wide as he was tall, and numerous runes swirled within.

"Wha—" She tried to stop, flapping her wings frantically, but her momentum carried her into it. As soon as she touched it, she and the sigil both vanished.

Tyranny snorted dismissively, brushing off his armor before moving on to the next bearer.

-0-

Rarity galloped down the hallway she had found herself in. She was not familiar with this particular hallway, but it did not concern her. She knew the general layout of the Crystal Tower, and if one floor was similar to the others, she could find her way. Only now, she needed to find her friends first before rescuing Princess Cadance and Shining Armor.

A metallic gleam caught her eye as she passed a door that was slightly ajar. Turning her head curiously, she could see the light was being reflected by something made of gold. She paused and looked back down the hallway. There was nopony nearby, and she rationalized a small exploratory side trip couldn't possibly hurt.

Upon a daid rested a golden tiara with a fabulous black diamond, one of the rarest gems in the world, set in its center. Black was not her color, she privately admitted, but such a rare gem could easily overlook that. She could fashion a regal dress to compliment the jewel and create a gorgeous ensemble. She found it curious, however, that Princess Cadance had never worn nor put it out on display for visitors to marvel at.

She levitated the tiara with her magic and set it upon her head. The tiara seemed to fit naturally, as if it was custom-tailored for her. She turned to view herself in a nearby mirror, and smiled at the sight; the tiara was simply stunning on her.

She imagined herself wearing it and an equally stunning dress, while being adored by all the ponies of Ponyville. They all looked upon her with adoring and envious eyes as she basked in her glory. Mayor Mare gladly surrendered her office to her, for only one as regal as she deserved such an honor. The ponies brought her gifts in an effort to show their appreciation and adoration for the regal unicorn. She saw herself giving a tithe to her overseer. The one whose rule brought about true peace and order. For only he was fit to—

She shook her head violently, the tiara falling from her head with a metallic clank. Her eyes widened in shock she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"Why would I imagine something so horrid?" she asked aloud.

"Is it not your true desire?" asked Tyranny.

She spun around and saw the dark stallion standing in the doorway. He glared fiercely at her, and she took an involuntary step backwards.

"To be adored by your peers and have them shower you with praise and worship," he continued. "Is that not what you truly wish for?"

"No, well, yes. But I wish to earn their respect and adoration from my own hard work. Not through the brute force that you so easily employ, Sir Tyranny." She turned her nose upwards. "It is unseemly, not to mention rude. Did you not learn it is very impolite to sneak up on a lady?"

His expression went flat. "I should imprison you as I have your friends. However, I could make use of somepony with your talents."

"Oh? Do you wish me to fashion a suit for you that is actually up to date with today's fashion?" she asked sweetly, giving his gold-plate armor and bracers a look of distaste. "Armor is so last millennium's fashion."

He glared at her. "Insolent foal." He growled, leveling his scepter at her. A sigil similar to the one that had taken Rainbow Dash appeared and rushed at her.

The unicorn gasped and jumped aside, dodging the sigil by inches. She fired back with a magical attack of her own. Rarity didn't have the magical ability of Twilight or the royal sisters, but that did not keep her from trying.

Tyranny held out his hoof and her blast was halted without any apparent effect. "You don't stand a chance," he said matter-of-factly.

Thinking quickly, Rarity used her magic to pick up everything she could and flung it at him. With a startled curse, he was forced to cover his head as furniture and other things bombarded him from all directions. Rarity did not remain idle; as soon as he was distracted, she bolted past him and into the hallway. She ran as fast as her hooves would carry her, not daring to see if he pursued her or not.

She turned down another hallway, still running as fast as she could. She shrieked as the sigil appeared on floor in front of her and she was unable to avoid it.

"No!" she screamed before falling into the sigil and vanishing.

-0-

Pinkie Pie happily bounded down the hallway. Unlike her friends, Pinkie had wandered off on her own after they had gotten inside. She knew where the stairs down to the lower levels were and intended to lead them there, but they had all disappeared on her when she went back to get them. Since she knew where they would all be going, she figured she would wait for them there.

She turned down a hallway and stopped. In the middle of the hallway stood Tyranny, looking at her in distaste.

She smiled friendly to him, despite his scowl. "Hello there Tyranny, have you come to say hello or maybe even throw us a welcoming party? It's awful kind of you to do that for us," she said in her usual cheerful tone.

He narrowed his eyes. "You are perhaps the one I despise the most. Embodied within you is chaos immeasurable. Only the Spirit of Chaos himself dares exceed it. Your frivolity and chaotic mannerisms would disrupt the order I would bring to this world."

"The world ain't so bad. Even if things do go wrong, it's not anything a good laugh or song can't fix. I bet if we throw you a big ol' party you wouldn't be nearly as cranky. I mean, a thousand years without a single birthday party? I can't imagine anything worse, well except for running out of candy for that whole time. But look at it this way; you have a thousand birthday parties to catch up on." She smiled wide at the thought.

He scowled at her. "I'll not waste words on you. Imprisonment is the punishment for your friends; for you however, the Realm of Shadow awaits!" He lifted his hoof and the ebon ray shot out.

Pinkie closed her eyes tight as the ray struck her, however, the ray did not have the effect Tyranny intended. Instead, she fell over in a fit of uncontrollable giggles. She rolled around holding her stomach laughing, the ray not having any other apparent effect on her.

"What?!" Tyranny shouted. He fired a second beam her way and the giggling started all over again.

"Stop it, stop it!" she said between giggles, trying to catch her breath. "It tickles so much."

He looked to the breathless mare, and his eyes fell upon the amulet she wore. The gold choker and balloon shaped gemstone had a faint glow about it.

"Hey!" Pinkie shouted as she was levitated towards Tyranny, pulled along by her element. He studied the jewel for a moment before his eyes lit up in recognition.

"I see now," he said, unceremoniously dropping her to the floor.

Pinkie rubbed at her sore behind. "Well that was just mean. Why can't you try being nice to ponies for a change instead of being a big'ol meanie pants?"

He scowled at her. "You should consider yourself fortunate. Your Element of Harmony is what keeps you grounded to this realm. Even if I were to remove it from you physically, your connection to it serves as an anchor."

"So it weighs me down? Funny, it doesn't feel heavy." She looked at her element curiously.

"Indeed." He rolled his eyes at her, turning away. "Now be gone." The sigil appeared under her and rose to the ceiling, taking her with it.

He rubbed at the side of his head, a small headache beginning to form.

Applejack charged down the hallway, making for the tower's center. She knew the central stairs would lead down to the holding chambers. She figured if she kept moving, she'd find her friends and keep Tyranny from finding her. That hope vanished as the Spirit of Order appeared before her, stopping her in her tracks.

"Just where do you think you are going?"

She set herself, ready for a fight. "Ya know exactly where Ah'm goin', ya swindler. Now, get outta the way before things get ugly."

"Charming," he muttered dryly. "Have you, in your haste, a moment to speak?"

"Ya got nothin' Ah wanna hear. Now move!" She glared fiercely at him.

"Hear me out. A hard working mare, such as yourself, deserves the respect that she has earned. You and I need not fight, for I hold no hostility towards you."

"Only mah friends."

He snorted. "When this world is under my control, I will have need of strong work horses such as you. If you swear your loyalty to me, I shall see to it that your farm and lands shall always remain within your family. Nothing shall change in your life, save for the tithes that will be owed to me."

"Ah don't need somepony like you tellin' me who owns mah farm and who doesn't. Princess Celestia gave the land ta mah family and it's goin' ta stay that way."

"Then I will find one willing to do as I command, and you and your family will become nothing more than rootless vagabonds." His glare hardened at the defiant mare.

"Ain't happening." she said determinedly.

"So be it."

He shot a ray of energy at her, which she ducked under as she charged at him. She swerved to avoid two more blasts and pivoted to buck at him. Tyranny crossed his forehooves in a block, similar to how he had against Luna. This time, however he was caught by surprise as the workhorse's kick nearly sent him stumbling backwards.

"Impressive." He gave her a look of new respect.

"Comes from many hard days a work; not that you'd know anythin' about that," she said, kicking at him again. This time, he side stepped the attack and lashed out with a band of shadow that pinned her against the wall. Try as she might, she could not escape from its grasp.

"No fair," She struggled to free herself.

He gave her an incredulous look. "What made you think I would fight fair?"

-0-

In yet another section of the tower, all was quiet and nothing stirred, or so it seemed. A potted plant slowly, furtively moved from one part of the wall to another before stopping, silently making its way down the hall. At one point the plant lifted out of its pot to reveal a nervous-looking Fluttershy. She glanced around before hiding and moving down the hallway some more.

The pegasus had found herself alone after disappearing from the entrance of the tower. At first, she had hidden and remained still in hopes that one of her friends would find her. When they didn't appear, she grudgingly decided she had to go find them, thus she used the potted plant to move around so that Tyranny or his scary shadow guards couldn't find her.

As she moved about, she paused again to check to see if the coast was clear. Finding the hallway was empty, she hid again and made her way down the hall along the wall. She stopped abruptly as she bumped into something solid.

"Funny," she thought, there was nothing along the hallway for her have bumped into. She slowly took a peek from her hiding place and saw a golden chestplate with an amethyst set in its center. It was an odd thing to run into. If that was what she had bumped into that meant…

"Eeep!" She hid fully into her disguise.

"Come out."

She made no move to comply.

"As you wish."

She blinked in surprise as the potted plant disappeared. She found herself before Tyranny, his scary eyes glaring down at her in annoyance.

"The Element of Kindness, as useful as she is brave. Tell me, how did your friends plan to stop me?"

"We-we were not here for you," she said in a whisper of a voice.

He raised one eyebrow at her, and a slow smirk crossed his face. "I see… " He turned away from her almost contemptuously. The sigil appeared in the hall, but it made no move for her.

"Your friends are through that sigil," he said before starting away.

He had meant for her to walk through the sigil on her own accord, she realized. She looked to it then back at him; did he truly think of her as so weak as to merely follow his orders? By his own words he had already found her friends and had done something to them. Fluttershy found herself growing angry, how could anypony be so mean? So heartless? She remembered a few of the lessons she had learned from Iron Will and planted her hooves down.

"No," she said firmly, for Fluttershy anyway.

He stopped at her denial. "No?"

"That's right. I said no."

He turned to look at her incredulously. "You would dare defy me?"

"That's right, mister; I won't let you bully me or anypony else. You should be ashamed of yourself. Stop what you are doing right now, and apologize to everypony for being so mean." She lowered her gaze. "If you would, please."

Tyranny looked at her, for once at a loss for words. This cowardly pegasus not only defied him, but also demanded that he apologize of all things. After a minute he began to laugh, not his usual mocking laughter, but one of actual humor.

Fluttershy cringed. Even that sounded menacing to her.

"It is always the quiet ones who house the hidden strength," he said. His eyes flashed and the sigil swooped over the stunned pegasus. Tyranny actually considered the entire encounter and laughed at the absurdity of it all.

"Only one remains," he said to himself.

-0-

Twilight rounded the last corner of the hall; the passage down to the lower levels was just ahead. She hoped her friends had found it as well. Not knowing where they were or if they were unharmed made her pace for the stairs even more frantic. Up ahead were the stairs. She saw a pony standing there and her heart leaped at the thought that her friends were waiting for her. She skidded to a stop as the pony turned out to be the Spirit of Order himself.

"Princess Twilight, we meet again." The stallion blocked the entrance to the lower chambers. "Did you come to surrender or plea for the release of your friends?"

Her heart sank but she kept up her determination. "Sorry, Tyranny, but I don't have time to deal with you." She ran towards him.

He scowled. "In too much of a haste even for conversation!" He brought his hoof back and shot out a bolt of energy at her. She dove under the blast and rolled behind him. The butt of his scepter hit the floor behind her as she rolled past. She didn't hesitate and kept running down the stairs away from him.

She could hear him pursuing. If she could release her friends and family, they would be able to defeat him using the Elements of Harmony. The holding chambers were just ahead, and she was confident she would make it.

Her eyes widened as a wall of amethyst sprang up from the ground in front of her, blocking her path. Thinking quickly, she gathered her magic and teleported. She smacked into the wall hard, rubbing at her head in a daze from the failed teleportation.

"That will be one barrier you will not be able to pass." She turned to find Tyranny at the other end of the short hallway. A similar barrier appeared behind him, blocking the other way out of the chamber, effectively trapping them both inside.

"What have you done with my friends, Tyranny?" Her horn glowed brightly as she glared at him.

"They are with the princess and prince as my guests."

"As prisoners! Release them!"

He snorted at her demand, and a quintet of shadow creatures appeared between them. "It is time I see what Equestria's newest princess is capable of. Take her."

Soundlessly, all five charged her. Twilight gritted her teeth and lashed out at the creatures with a blast of magic. Three of them vanished in puffs of smoke, their armor clattering to the stone floor. The other two charged in. She dodged the tackle of the first but grunted as the second crashed into her. She rolled with the tackle and used her hind legs to heave the creature off of her. Her strength surprised her as the creature hit the wall hard and dissipated.

The first charged in again, its hooves lashing out in punches. She kept away from its offensive, casting a quick look towards Tyranny, who just stood by watching impassively. She cringed as the armor of the defeated shadows began to stir again.

Twilight hopped above the attacking shadow and stomped on its head. She quickly turned and launched a blast of energy at the idle stallion. He didn't even flinch as a shadow intercepted the blast for its master.

She was breathing hard from her exertion. "How long do you plan to just stand there?" she demanded.

"Until my shadows are extinguished or you can no longer fight," he said bluntly, gazing at her with a hint of annoyance.

"Fantastic," she muttered as the shadows attacked again. After defeating them, Twilight realized she was beginning to tire out. No matter how many times she beat them, they would just keep coming back. At this rate, she would not have the energy to use the Elements of Harmony at all. The five creatures surrounded her, and Tyranny appeared to be growing bored.

"Disappointing," he muttered.

The five creatures lunged at her simultaneously. She gathered her magic and a sphere of energy radiated outward. All of the creatures vanished as they were struck; even their armor faded away into nothing. Tyranny put up his own magical field to counter her spell. Her magic nearly spent, she slumped to her knees, panting heavily.

"Is that all?" he asked.

"All!? No…" She stood up and gathered her magic again, meaning to battle him with all she had. "As long as you endanger my friends and family, I will stand against you!"

He smirked. "You have strength, child, I will give you that. I see why Celestia keeps such a valuable tool such as you."

She sputtered in outrage. "How dare you?! Princess Celestia is not like you! She never uses ponies with no regard to their feelings. She is no monster like you."

He grinned sardonically. "If there is anything more useful than a tool, it is a disillusioned tool. It is beyond comprehension that one as intelligent as you so easily believe her lies."

Remembering the words of Princess Celestia, she looked to him defiantly. "All you speak are lies, Tyranny, the lies of a despot."

He narrowed his eyes, but did not lash out at her impudence. "Have you never once questioned anything your beloved princess has asked of you? Were you not the one she chose to deal with her rogue sister? When she was more than capable doing it herself? " He spoke above her protests. "What of the dragon who threatened Ponyville with its smog? Or the changelings, or Sombra, or Discord?" He growled the last name. "No, she let her most beloved and faithful tool do the work for her. You dare insinuate that she is no different than I? You are a foolish disillusioned child."

"She trusted me to do all of that!"

"She trusted the tool to do its job."

Despite her best efforts to stop them, tears formed around her eyes but she shook them away. "Let's finish this," she said as she mustered the remainder of her magic.

"Indeed." Before she could react, the sigil appeared from above and swooped downward, sending her to join her friends at last.

"We will speak again, and soon, princess," he said to the now empty hallway. The amethyst barriers faded away, and he walked back towards the stairs.

Chapter 10

Twilight was not sure how long she had been unconscious; she remembered what Tyranny had said to her before she was teleported elsewhere. She vaguely remembered a voice calling her name in concern, but the exhaustion had drained her and she collapsed. When she came to, she was in a damp, musty cell lying on a straw cot. A plate of bread and a bowl of water laying nearby. Applejack was dozing on a similar cot on the other side of their cell. Twilight sat up slowly, shaking the grogginess from her head, and the sounds of her moving woke Applejack from her doze.

"Twilight! Thank goodness yer alright. Ya had me worried, sugarcube." Applejack got to her hooves. "How ya feeling?"

"Thirsty," Twilight said, her tongue flicking at the dryness of her mouth.

Applejack gathered the bowl of water and helped her drink.

"Thanks, Applejack." Twilight looked around their cell. "Where are the others? Are they alright?"

"They're in cells like ours. Tyranny put us all together in the same hall at least." She nodded towards the bars of their cell.

Twilight nodded but furrowed her brow as she spotted her Element of Harmony on a stool nearby. She looked to Applejack quickly and saw she was wearing her own Element.

"Tyranny didn't take our elements?" She retrieved her Element and set it back on her head.

Applejack shook her head. "Nuh uh. He left all our elements behind. It doesn't make a lick of sense why he left 'em. Pinkie did say that he told her even if he removed 'em, they'd still protect us. Maybe that's why."

"Maybe," Twilight said quietly. She rolled off of the cot and looked through the bars of her cell. The dungeon was a cool, damp chamber of stone. She looked curiously at a few crystals that were set in the stones above the cells. Across from her were Rainbow Dash and Rarity in one cell, and next to them were Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The four chatted excitedly when they saw her.

"Twilight! You're alright!" Rainbow Dash yelled in excitement.

"Girls, I'm so glad you're all okay." Twilight wiped away a relieved tear that threatened to spill over. "How did Tyranny catch you all?"

They each shared their tales of their private encounters with Tyranny. When they finished, Twilight shook her head in frustration. Tyranny had obviously planned it all. Despite all of their careful planning, he had seen through it. Now they were all his prisoners.

Twilight nodded firmly. "Alright girls, we need to get out of here. Find Princess Cadence and Shining Armor and get back to Princess Celestia."

"You don't have to look for us, Twily," said a familiar male's voice.

"We're here with you," she heard a second voice say.

"Shining, Cadence, you're both alright!" Her voice cracked in relief at hearing their voices. She tried to see into the cell next to hers, but it was impossible.

"Us too, Twily. He didn't hurt you, did he?" Shining asked.

"No, he just stood by as his shadows did all the dirty work. I'm tired, but I'm not hurt. How long have you been down here?"

"A little over a week. It's been a few days since you were all brought here."

"Days?" Twilight's head snapped back in shock.

"Three of them," Pinkie Pie clarified.

Twilight couldn't believe they had been incarcerated for three days; it only seemed like one had passed since she had fought Tyranny. "It doesn't matter. Now that we're all together, we can all get out of here."

"If this little reunion gets any more cozy, I think I might get sick," said another voice, feminine yet sinister. It was a voice Twilight hadn't ever thought she would hear again.

"Chrysalis!" Twilight growled. The voice had come from the cell on the other side of Rainbow Dash and Rarity's cell. The darkened cell made spotting the changeling almost impossible.

"So good to see you again, Twilight Sparkle, you certainly have been a busy little girl since you imprisoned me," the queen said as she stepped into view.

"We've had to share this ghastly prison with her uncouth presence since we've been here." Rarity turned her nose up indignantly.

"I'm not fond of the company either." The queen snarled.

"How did you escape, Chrysalis?" Twilight demanded.

"My hive and I were released by our gracious host. Tyranny thought to use us, and when I objected, he imprisoned me in a little bubble until he put me in here with the love ponies." She glared at the royal couple across from her.

"We haven't enjoyed your presence either. I haven't forgotten what you did to us at our wedding." Cadence didn't back down from the glare, only returning it in spades.

Chrysalis hissed at her, but Twilight interrupted. "Ignore her. We have to get out of here." She studied her cell bars for a moment. "Hold on, Applejack, I'm going to teleport us out of here." She began to collect her magic in her horn.

"Twilight, wait!" She heard her brother say a second too late. She cast her spell, and both she and Applejack smacked heavily against the bars. They both had to shake away the stars that were darting around in their vision.

"Well that didn't work," Applejack muttered as she readjusted her Stetson.

Chrysalis snickered, but Shining Armor spoke up. "These cells are designed to keep unicorns in by limiting their magic." He motioned to the crystals above the cells.

"A cell's no good if you can't keep nopony in it," Rainbow muttered dryly.

"Otherwise, I would have blasted out and left a long time ago." Chrysalis snorted.

Twilight growled in frustration. "We have to get out somehow."

"Why don't we use the key?" Pinkie Pie suggested.

"What key?" Twilight asked in confusion.

"The key to the cell, duh." Pinkie reached into her curled mane and produced a dark key made of iron.

"Where did you get that?" Applejack asked, her jaw dropping at the sight of the key.

"I've had it since Tyranny picked me up to look at my element. I saw the key on him and snatched it up before he dropped me."

"You tell us this now?" Rarity asked in exasperation.

"And miss this fun time we've spent together?" Pinkie grinned wide.

The collective silence was tangible.

"Besides, it doesn't go to mine and Fluttershy's cell," she said before any protests could start.

"It doesn't?" Fluttershy asked.

"Nope."

"Do you know whose cell it goes to?" Cadence asked.

"Nope."

"I guess we'll have to figure out which cell it belongs to," Twilight said.

"And how do you plan to do that? None of us can reach the other cells," Chrysalis said.

Twilight glared at her. "I think I can still use my magic to move the key and find the right one."

"Let's just hope it ain't hers," Applejack said acidly, looking to the changeling queen. "She'd just run out and leave us all high and dry."

The changeling scowled but didn't deny the accusation.

"Let's see if this works." Twilight collected her magic again, focusing on the key. Normally, telekinesis was a simple thing for unicorns to perform, but in the magic-suppressing jail cell, it was like trying to move a large boulder.

The key shakingly lifted from Pinkie's hoof and floated to Twilight's cell, but it didn't open their cell. Nor did it turn for Shining and Cadence's nor Chrysalis's, much to the later's chagrin.

Twilight strained under the magical suppression of the cell and sweat ran down her face as the key floated to Rainbow Dash and Rarity's cell. With a gasp, Twilight lost her focus and the key fell lifeless to the stone floor.

"Sorry girls," she said between pants, gladly accepting the bowl of water from Applejack.

"Don't worry, Twilight. I think I can reach the key." Rainbow stretched as far as she could and managed to bump the key close enough for her to grab it. "Let's hope this works." With a loud click the lock turned and the door swung open.

"Yeah! Finally out of that cell," Rainbow Dash said, stretching her wings wide.

"Indeed, Rainbow Dash. I'm going to need to bathe for a day or more when we get home. Three days without one is just horrid." Rarity grimaced at the collected grime on her normally-pristine coat.

"Now we need to get the rest of you guys out of your cells too." Rainbow tried to force open Twilight's cell to no avail.

"There should be a guard room down the hall, Rainbow Dash," Shining told her. "I haven't seen any guards here, except the one shadow that brings us the food. In the room there should be a key ring with all the keys to this level."

"On it! Come on, Rarity." The two hurried down the hall.

The others waited with bated breath, hoping that the two were safe. They sighed with relief as the two returned with a ring of keys in hoof. Soon enough, everyone but Chrysalis was free.

Twilight looked to the others. "Alright everypony, we need to get out of here before he finds out we have escaped. Hopefully Princess Luna is still waiting for us on the borders of the Crystal Empire."

"How are we to escape unnoticed?" Cadence looked down the hallway with a worried gaze.

Shining was watching the same hallway "With this many of us, it will be hard not to be spotted."

Twilight rubbed at her chin in thought. With everypony together, stealth would be impossible. They could fight their way out, but that was something they wanted to avoid, especially if Tyranny arrived in force. If they were caught again, there likely wouldn't be a second escape. It only left one option.

"I'll have to distract Tyranny. While I have him distracted, you all can get past his shadows with little trouble."

"But, Twilight, if you face him, how will you escape?" Cadence asked with obvious concern, mirroring the concerns of her friends.

"Don't worry. I've seen what he is able to do, and I think I know how to get past his tricks. He won't catch me a second time." She spoke confidently, though she privately questioned her plan.

"Ah don't like it, Twi. We might get away, but what if ya don't? We ain't going to leave ya behind."

"It's the best way we can get everypony out. I won't let him capture me. I need you to get Princess Cadence to Princess Celestia so we can come up with a plan to stop Tyranny once and for all."

Their worried frowns didn't let up in the slightest.

"Don't worry girls, this will work," she assured them.

They all reluctantly nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait! You can't leave me here!" Chrysalis shook the bars to her cell door desperately.

"And why not? You'll likely help Tyranny just to save your own flank," Rainbow said hotly.

"You can't leave me here. If he finds all of you gone but I'm still here, who knows what he might do."

"Good." Rainbow started climbing the stairs.

Twilight looked to the changeling queen with a hard expression.

Chrysalis looked at her in turn, and Twilight could actually see fear in her eyes.

"If he wins, there will be no place for my kind. He is as much as my enemy as he is yours. Don't leave me here," she pleaded.

Twilight looked at her for a long moment, and the keys to the cells opened her door.

"This changes nothing, Chrysalis. When Tyranny is defeated, I don't ever want to see you or your changelings in Equestria again." Her tone left no room for debate.

The two locked stares before the queen looked away. "Fine."

Applejack whispered to Twilight as the group ascended the stairs. "Ya sure that was a good idea, Twi? Ya can't trust her for all the apples in Equestria."

"I'm not sure, no, but I won't leave anypony at Tyranny's mercy," she said distractedly as she stared ahead.

As they made it to the ground floor, they looked around quietly and saw that the coast was clear. The crystal ceiling above was dim without the light of the sun to brighten them.

"Alright everypony, wait five minutes after I am gone, then get out of the Crystal Empire as fast as you can. Once I've distracted him long enough, I will join you. Head to the outskirts, Princess Luna should still be waiting for us."

"Be careful, Twilight," Cadence said, a sentiment that was echoed by all save Chrysalis.

Twilight shared a quick hug with her family and friends. "Don't worry, we'll meet again soon." She turned and ran down the hall towards the throne room. Her friends watched her go with worried looks.

-0-

Tyranny reclined upon the throne in the crystal tower. The throne room was dimly lit by the few torches along the walls, causing the shadows to dance across the crystalline room. He rested his head on his right hoof, his scepter held idly in his left, and appeared bored out of his wits. In truth, he was concentrating on his shadow minions. They were his ears and eyes throughout the city; whatever they saw or heard, he knew. The creatures not only made for perfect, loyal soldiers, but they also made for the perfect spies.

The sound of running hooves brought his focus back to the throne room. He smiled inwardly; the princess was on her way, just as he knew she would be.

"So predictable," he thought. All he had to do was make sure that a single key was stolen, and the rest fell into place. He silently shook his head at the futility of it all; creatures of flesh were truly pathetic.

"Lady Twilight Sparkle, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?" he asked in a detached manner once she made her way into the throne room.

She took a moment to catch her breath. "I've come to stop you, Tyranny. I want you to release everypony you've imprisoned and stop this now!"

He scoffed. "You've come to stop me? By yourself? It seems a foolish move on your part."

She readied herself to fight, her horn glowing. "I won't let you hurt anypony else."

He remained seated on the throne, showing no reaction to her stance. "It was never my intention that any come to harm. All everypony needs to do is bow to me and accept my rule. The choice to fight and the continued strife is your own doing."

"Nopony would ever willingly follow you. We believe in Princess Celestia."

"Ah yes, Princess Celestia, the loving patron of the ponies of Equestria." He sneered. "Tell me, child, is your faith in her really so absolute?" He leaned forward, resting his chin on both front hooves.

She scowled. "I won't let you deceive me with your lies."

"Lies? I do not need to lie or make false promises to do what needs to be done, child. I merely wish to enlighten you with truths that you should be aware of, as they pertain to you in particular."

It was her turn to scoff. "Truth? From you? You're not capable of telling the truth, Tyranny."

He narrowed his eyes at her impudence. "Who was it that informed you that I would attempt deceive you? Celestia?" He snorted disgustedly. "She would say such things, all the more reason to protect herself and make sure her faithful tools would not dare to think of betraying her."

Twilight's hackles rose in her outrage. "Princess Celestia is an honest and truthful ruler. She is more than you could ever dream to be, Tyranny!"

He stared at her for an uncomfortable moment. "Tell me something, child. It is my understanding your beloved Princess Celestia is responsible for your… transcendence into an alicorn. Is this true?"

She stood proudly. "She was. I earned the honor."

"And has she told you of all the blessings that come with such an honor? Or about its curse?" He looked at her intently.

"Curse?" She frowned softly. "What are you talking about?"

A pitying smile crossed his face. "She hasn't told you. You poor child. It is like Celestia to hide the awful truth from her subjects, even the ones she favors."

"What curse?!" she demanded.

"I have seen the passing of generations of ponies in my long existence, child. Centuries have been but days to me, and there are but few others who can claim that as well as I. Among them is your beloved Celestia and her sister. Have you ever wondered how that is possible?"

Twilight considered the question. There were many tales on the subject, but she knew the widely accepted one. "She and Princess Luna were born as alicorns."

His laughter mocked her. "Is that the lie she tells? No matter, the fact is that she has transcended above the pony folk she rules over in being an alicorn. It has granted her power—" he leaned forward looking to her intently. "—and the ability to see her country through many, many years of her reign."

"What are you—?" She started, her voice cracking with doubt.

"If it is not obvious yet, child, alicorns are long-lived creatures. It is a gift of the transcendence into something above the common pony." He paused. "Think of the implications of this, for your sake in particular."

Her voice softened and her eyes slowly widened as realization struck her. "You don't mean?"

"Indeed." His sneer made its way into his tone. "You, young Twilight Sparkle, will also see the birth and death of generations of ponies, including those of your dear friends whom you rely upon for the majority of your power. No doubt as your beloved princess had planned for you since she first took you under her wing."

The revelation echoed within her mind. Was it true? Was she destined to see centuries come and go as Celestia and Luna has? What did that mean for her friends? Was she doomed to see them age before her and worse, see them pass on while she remained to grieve? Did becoming a princess also mean she would have to sacrifice everything she ever cared about? Did Celestia know from the start? So many more questions swam through her mind in that awful moment.

The tears came unbidden, and she could do nothing to stop them. She tried to remember anything Celestia ever spoke of what it meant to be an alicorn, but the princess had told her it would all become clear in time. What was it that she didn't want her to know? Why didn't she tell her? What was so horrible that she could not tell her? Was she hiding something from her? Why?!

He continued mercilessly. "You shall helplessly watch your friends age and die, as well as their children and theirs after them. The feeling of their loss will not lessen with the passage of time, and it will continue until you feel nothing but a void in your heart where friendship had once resided. Why Celestia chose to allow you to learn the magic of an element so easily lost is beyond my comprehension."

He let her stew in misery, her barely choked back sobs echoing through the throne room. He glanced to the side as images of the element bearers and the royals on the outskirts of the city fought with his creatures. The images did not last long, as the last thing he saw was magical bolts obscuring his vision. "Clever," he thought to himself before looking back to the grieving princess.

"Tell me now, child, do you still believe that the gift you received from your beloved princess to be a blessing?"

She didn't respond. The tightening of her throat kept her from speaking.

He chuckled at her misery and calmly stood, walking towards her. "It seems you need time to think, my lady. It is time that we part ways."

Twilight made no effort to stop or challenge him. "…Our fight is not over, Tyranny." She spoke past her grief as he stepped past her. There was a budding anger in her tone, underlining the grief.

Tyranny knew that anger was not directed at him alone. "No, it is not," he agreed. "But the next time you dare challenge me, you had best do so with all of your might, for I will not be so merciful again. Now begone!" His eyes flashed an evil color, and Twilight was teleported away.

Chapter 11

Applejack looked towards the other escapees as they waited for Twilight to rejoin them. They had all managed to escape the city despite being spotted at the its edge. They had defeated the quartet of shadow creatures, but gave up stealth at that point and fled for the borders of the Crystal Empire. They had all looked over their shoulders as they had to run, fully expecting pursuit from more shadows or Tyranny himself. When none came, it left a sour taste in Applejack's mouth. Why hadn't Tyranny chased them down? Surely he couldn't let them get away. He had kept them imprisoned for a reason, so why didn't he come after them?

There was no sign of Twilight or Princess Luna, and Applejack grew worried. She was by no means a simple mare, but trying to figure out the Tyranny's machinations was beginning to give her a headache; combined with her worry for Twilight, she was about ready to scream. She snorted in irritation and looked at Fluttershy as she stood nearby, her gaze directed towards the city in the distance.

"Do you think Twilight is alright, Applejack?" she asked as the farmmare approached.

"Ah think so, Fluttershy. Twilight ain't one to put herself in too many situations she can't get out of." Applejack winced, recalling a few times where Twilight had done exactly that.

She rubbed at her foreleg nervously. "That's true, I suppose. It's just that Tyranny is so scary and mean. I'm afraid what he might do if he captures her again."

"Don't ya fret. Twilight will come back, and we'll all find a way to stop him fer good."

"Yeah, cheer up, Fluttershy. It doesn't matter what he does, Tyranny's going down," Rainbow Dash said confidently from overhead.

"Indeed, darling, that ruffian won't stand a chance against us all. We will win the day," Rarity added.

"Then it'll be party time!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

The five of them smiled and agreed to have one big party once everything was all said and done. The royal couple smiled at them and agreed to come after they liberated the Crystal Empire. Queen Chrysalis stood aside, looking at them in disgust.

The sound of flapping wings had them whirling to face the source, expecting another attack from the shadows. They sighed in collective relief as Princess Luna descended from the clouded skies above.

She looked at them in relief. "I am pleased to see you all—" Her eyes darted to the changeling queen and she scowled fiercely. "What are you doing here, monster!?"

Chrysalis bristled. "I won't tolerate others speaking to me in such a manner! Especially not you, Moon Princess!"

"What is she doing here?" Luna demanded, not taking her eyes off the dangerous changeling.

As the ponies informed her of the recent developments, her glare softened only a little.

"What are your intentions?" she finally asked.

"Revenge," Chrysalis said firmly. "The indignity I suffered at his hooves cannot go unpunished."

Luna nodded slowly, looking at the changeling queen intently. "Once Princess Twilight rejoins us, we will head for Canterlot to—" she stopped and looked to the side. Twilight quietly approached them from the hillside, her head lowered as she walked.

"Twilight!" her friends shouted in relief, but it was quickly replaced with worry.

"Twilight, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Fluttershy looked her over in concern.

Twilight looked at them with red, swollen eyes. They all could see that she had been crying for some time.

"I… I…" she started to say, but stopped as she looked to the ground. "I need to talk to Princess Celestia."

Rarity wrapped a sympathetic foreleg around Twilight's shoulder. "Twilight, you can talk to us. We're your friends."

"What did that scumbag do to you?!" Rainbow Dash turned her glare towards the tower in the distance.

Twilight looked at them and tried to say something, but what ever she meant to say, she left it unsaid. "I promise… I will tell after I speak with Princess Celestia." There was silence that followed as her friends struggled with wanting to comfort their friend but also wanting to respect her wish.

"Pinkie Promise?" Pinkie asked softly.

Twilight looked at her. "I promise to tell— Pinkie Promise—after I speak with Princess Celestia."

"What has Tyranny told you, Princess Twilight?" Luna asked.

Twilight looked at her fellow alicorn for a long moment before lowering her gaze. "I'm sorry, Princess Luna."

Luna looked at her for a moment and relented. She knew that the young alicorn saw her sister as her trusted mentor, and if Twilight were to find the answers, it would be best for her to get them from Celestia.

"Very well, but we must make haste. Tyranny will not allow us to remain unhindered for long. A train station is not far from here. Come, let us go." She lead them away from the crystal city. Cadance looked towards her city regretfully before her husband laid a sympathetic hoof on her shoulder. She gave him a sad glance before turning away and following the others.

The ponies left the Crystal Empire behind with no further incident. Along the way, Twilight was quiet and withdrawn, and any attempt at conversation by her friends was met with silence. She even looked away from her brother as he attempted to get some answers from her, and he could only sigh in frustration. He, like the others, was not happy at seeing her in such a sorry state. Chrysalis smiled inwardly at the whole ordeal, but knew it was best that she keep her thoughts purely to herself.

As they made it to the train station and onto the train itself, Twilight didn't pay much attention to the stunned conductor as he found three royal princesses, a royal prince, and a changeling queen boarding his train. Such passengers were not something he ever thought to see riding his train together.

They all took their seats as the train began its journey towards Canterlot. Conversation naturally turned to a discussion of what had transpired at the Crystal Empire. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor spoke of the battle in the tower. They told of the fate of their guards and others whom had fallen. The royal couple was taken aback when they learned what had truly happened to their subjects.

Queen Chrysalis grudgingly told the tales of her release and of the first outpost, which sparked a heated debate until cooler heads prevailed.

Twilight sat detached from it all, only offering a word or two as a question was sent her way. Her friends and family frowned when she did not offer her usual thoughts and opinions, but any attempt to get her to speak met with no success. After a while, Princess Luna suggested that they all should seek their rest. Though it was near morning when they boarded the train, it would be dark before they would arrive at Canterlot. Exhausted from their ordeal, they readily agreed with her suggestion.

The private cart was set aside for them, and they all soon found themselves asleep. Twilight tossed and turned, her bed sheets entwining her legs and torso. In her dreams, she saw herself standing over the graves of her friends in a rain-soaked field. They were dead and gone while she remained, her friendship with them lost to the passage of time. In her dreams and in the flesh, her tears fell, and there was no denying them. Try as she might to think of other things, she was always brought back to her grief.

Suddenly, a few more tombstones appeared that bore the names of her brother and parents. A few more appeared, for Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, and they were followed by even more bearing the names of the ponies she knew from Ponyville. More and more tombstones appeared and kept coming until the rows stretched out further than she could see. She felt the loss of each one keenly, each one a life she had known and loved only to have them taken away from her mercilessly by time.

Time had left her behind.

She mercifully awoke some time later. The dreams had been so real, so vivid, she couldn't believe her dreams could be so horrible. She thought about speaking with Princess Luna about her dreams, but saw it was in the afternoon and decided to leave her be.

With a sigh, Twilight tossed aside the covers and quietly made her way to the passenger cart. Thankfully, it was empty, and she took a seat near a window. She leaned against the window frame and watched distantly as the terrain swept past her.

Rationally, she tried to think out her troubles. All her years of study taught her to break down a problem to its core elements, analyze them, experiment and draw a conclusion. Yet for all of her rational, it was the unknown that kept her from finding a solution. The dreaded "X" in the equation, one she could not solve for. No matter what avenue of thought she tried, it always came up with no satisfying answer. She shook her head in frustration and hoped that once she spoke with Princess Celestia, she would have her answers.

As her train of thought went down that track, the first question that came to mind was if Princess Celestia actually knew. Did Princess Celestia know that Twilight would live far longer than most ponies? Did she know this when she put Twilight on this path to learn the magic of friendship? Did she even consider her feelings? What of Cadence? Did she know?

She had become an alicorn only a few months ago, but she understood so little. She hadn't even mastered flight yet! To learn the truth about alicorns in such a way— told by a cruel tyrant rather than her trusted mentor— left her feeling hollow. Had Tyranny been telling the truth all along, and Celestia had been deceiving her? Why couldn't the princess have been more straightforward with her? Why all the crypticness?

Princess Celestia had always been so kind, so loving towards her. Celestia trusted Twilight enough to make her a princess, and that was proof that Celestia thought highly of her. But why did she feel this way? Why did Tyranny's words seem to have a ring of truth to them when Celestia had always been so good to her? Twilight rubbed her face vigorously, trying to make sense of it all.

The burden of leadership hadn't been set on her shoulders as it had with Cadence. Celestia had allowed her to remain in Ponyville as she always had., but with Twilight's newfound alicornhood, how much longer would it last?

The day she became a princess was one of the happiest in her life. Her friends and family were there to share in the joy of her coronation. It was a day she would remember for the rest of her life. The thought that the happiest day of her life was also the start of an eternity of misery—and it being pre-planned by Celestia without her consideration—didn't sit well for her in the slightest.

Engrossed in her thoughts, she paid little to the passage of time. She didn't register the sound of the door opening and closing. She started as she felt somepony sit next to her. Fluttershy looked at her with soft, sympathetic eyes.

"Twilight, please tell me what is wrong. You look so hurt, what did Tyranny say to you that hurt you so much?"

Twilight gave her an apologetic look. "I… can't, Fluttershy. I don't want you or any of our friends to worry about it. Once I speak with Princess Celestia and I have my answer, I will tell you. I promise."

Fluttershy frowned faintly and looked at the ceiling of the train cart. "Do you remember when I was a model for Photo Finish? I was doing something I didn't like doing, but I did it for Rarity. Your letter to Princess Celestia said that one should not hesitate to show your true feelings with your friends. Maybe if you told us, it wouldn't be so bad."

Twilight thought back to that letter and found that Fluttershy was right. Not sharing their thoughts and feelings with each other had led to grief between Rarity and Fluttershy. It was only after they had shared their feelings that they were able to make amends and be friends again. Could this be the same thing? Jealousy was one thing, but could outliving your friends and seeing their memory fade with time be considered the same?

"We promise, dear, that we would think no less of you," she heard Rarity say she joined them.

"There ain't nothin' that's going to make us think so, sugarcube," Applejack added.

"You're the most superest, awesomest, most wonderful pony there is, Twilight. You'll always be our friend," Pinkie Pie said with her usual energy. She wore a white T-shirt with "#1" written next to a picture of Twilight's face.

"Yeah, what she said," Rainbow Dash added finally. "You always said that when we work together we could handle anything. Well that includes Tyranny. So it doesn't matter what he does or says, as long as you have us, we can handle anything."

Twilight's heart swelled, and grateful tears came to her eyes. She truly couldn't have asked for better friends. No matter what they faced, they would believe in her and she in them.

"Thanks, girls," she said, sharing a group hug.

None of them could see the fresh tears that streamed down her face.

-0-

True to Luna's words, the train pulled into Canterlot Station as the sun was beginning to set. Luna had decided to raise the moon from the train, so as to not make a show at the train station. She bid the rest of them to join her sister at the castle and to keep watch on Chrysalis.

As they stepped off the train, Twilight could only stare at the towering castle overhead. Princess Celestia was there, and she held the answers to the awful questions in her head. Even after being comforted by her friends, the thoughts came back stubbornly and drove into her mind even further than before. Anger and frustration had set in, and Twilight was finding it hard to keep the emotions in check.

Rainbow Dash noticed her stare. "Hey, Twilight, are you ok?"

With a frustrated growl, Twilight took off towards the castle. Her horn glowed and she teleported. She did so again and again, getting closer with each teleportation.

"Twilight! Wait!" Rainbow called after her, ready to give chase.

"No, Rainbow, let her go," Applejack said.

"Huh, why?"

"She needs ta talk ta the princess on her own. She'll get there, just give her time ta sort it out first."

Rainbow growled softly and nodded with reluctance. She wanted to be there for her friend but knew this was something Twilight needed to figure out on her own.

-0-

Princess Celestia sat calmly upon her throne, looking over a few letters she had received from across her kingdom. Many of the correspondents were from other major cities reporting their preparations for an assault from Tyranny's forces. Thankfully, no such assault had come yet, though. She knew it would only be a matter of time before he would strike out from the Crystal Empire. Tyranny was not one to remain idle for long. She swore that no other city would be caught unaware as the Empire had.

Her correspondence with her sister and Twilight had lessened after Spike had returned to Ponyville. The last message she had received from her sister had said that they would be returning to Canterlot tonight along with Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, and an unexpected visitor. Once Celestia knew that they were all safe and sound, they could turn to formulate a plan to defeat Tyranny.

She looked up quickly as she felt a surge of magic nearby. It was a familiar aura of magic, but something was wrong. A violet aura surrounded the doors of the throne room before they flew open, and in ran Twilight Sparkle. Her face was streaked with tears as she glared fiercely at Celestia.

"Princess Twilight, it is good to—" Celestia began.

"How could you?!" Twilight demanded, her scream echoing through the throne room.

Celestia's eyes widened impossibly. Few had ever spoken to her that way. She had never, ever expected her beloved niece would speak to her so and neither had the two guards at the foot of the throne room, who stood just as shocked as she.

"Twilight, what is wrong? What has happened to you?" Celestia asked after her shock faded.

"How could you not tell me? How could you lie to me?!"

Celestia was about to say something but caught herself. She looked to her niece and saw the pain— a silent plea for answers to some inner turmoil that only she could answer.

She turned her gaze to her guards. "Please, leave us." They nodded silently and walked past Twilight without so much as a glance, closing the doors behind them.

"Twilight, please tell me what has happened. What has made you so upset, my little pony?" she asked again.

Twilight looked at her with gritted teeth, her expression hurt. Images of the tombstones she had seen in her dreams were still vivid in her mind. "How could you not tell me that I would outlive my friends? Did you know this when you made me a princess?"

Celestia's eyes widened again. "Where did you hear this?"

"Tyranny told me everything about what it means to be an alicorn, and what it does to you!"

"He told you—" she breathed, but Twilight interrupted her again.

"Did you know this, Princess Celestia?"

"Twilight—"

"Why would you make me learn the importance of the magic of friendship if it meant losing the very friends I made?"

"Twilight," Celestia said more firmly.

"How could you hide this from me?!"

"Twilight Sparkle!" Celestia said in a tone she rarely ever used.

Twilight looked to the floor, both in shame and in sadness. She knew she had overstepped her bounds, but she couldn't help it. The feelings of loss, betrayal, and grief were overwhelming.

Celestia looked at her for a quiet moment. "Twilight, what has Tyranny told you?"

Twilight looked to her. "He told me that becoming an alicorn, becoming a princess, would mean that I would live to see my friends and family die while I continued living." Her voice was a soft whisper. "To live out centuries while all I knew and loved faded in front of me. I… I… don't know if I could… Why didn't you tell me?" She looked to her mentor with wide, vulnerable eyes.

Celestia sighed sadly, it pained her to see Twilight in such a state. "You must understand. It is—"

"Must you continue to lie to your subjects, Celestia? It almost seems that you enjoy misleading them," said a dark voice.

Both of them started at the intrusion.

"Oh no…" Twilight's fur along her neck stood on end.

Chapter 12

Tyranny's voice echoed throughout the throne room. Twilight felt a sickening feeling in her stomach. How had Tyranny managed to make his way here without being detected? After the changeling invasion, Canterlot was protected by numerous magical wards to prevent hostile forces from gaining entrance. Celestia's throne room was also protected by magical wards created by the Sun Princess herself. He shouldn't have been able to make his way here, but the voice was Tyranny's without a doubt. Celestia and Twilight both looked around for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

His voice sounded again. "I could almost respect you, did I not despise you."

"Tyranny, show yourself!" Celestia demanded. Unlike the gentle swaying her mane typically did, it moved as if caught in a fierce wind.

He dismissively snorted. "You should know better than to demand anything of me, Celestia. I had thought I drove that lesson into your head over a thousand years ago."

"How did you get past the wards?" Her demand echoed throughout the room.

"Your most faithful tool made it possible," he said, appearing in the throne room. "I can see why you favor her so." His glare was full of barely restrained anger.

Celestia frowned deeply, but Twilight spoke. "How did I do anything for you?"

"When you foolishly confronted me in my throne room, I left part of my essence upon you before sending you away. I simply stayed with you until you brought me right to Celestia. Your emotional outburst made for the perfect opportunity for me to quietly disable all of her wards."

The blood drained from her face. "You used me?"

He scoffed. "And this surprises you? I had thought you were used to being nothing more than a mere pawn for your master."

"Stop it, Tyranny!" Princess Celestia commanded.

"You… you were behind those dreams, weren't you?" Twilight's voice was barely above a whisper.

He smirked. "I needed to make sure you went directly to Celestia. All I had to do was give you some incentive. A few visions of the future was all that was needed to send you running to her side."

"Do you have any idea how horrible those dreams were?!" she screamed at him.

"I know exactly how horrible they were. The truth is often just that." He continued speaking to Twilight as he looked at Celestia.. "I do not attempt to hide the truth behind petty words or false promises."

Celestia stood firmly. "You and Discord both were to maintain the balance of our world, yet both of you gave into your excesses. Tyranny, you were supposed to keep this world from falling into chaos, but all you ever did was cause it."

His glare hardened, and his tone was as harsh as anypony had ever heard. "Do not perceive to lecture me about my purpose, Celestia! This world was—and still is—in the grips of chaos. I was to bring true order and stability to this world, and you betrayed me. You and your sister made your choices the day you imprisoned me."

"You suppressed the pony folk and would not allow them to flourish with your warped ideal of order." She looked at him sternly. "We could not let their suffering continue, and we did what was necessary to save them. Everypony should be allowed to see their potential and to find their happiness."

"The 'ideal' of happiness is different for every individual, Celestia. With differences come disagreements on what is considered 'right.' Strife follows these disagreements and chaos ensues. Happiness is such a frivolous idea." His glare hardened at her further, if that was even possible. "Happiness is one emotion you will never know again, Celestia. You will atone for your crimes." As he stepped forward, his hoofsteps echoed loudly, as if the marble floor was crying out in agony.

"The only crime I am guilty of is not being more forthcoming to those I care about the most." Celestia looked to Twilight apologetically. Twilight returned her look, but lowered her gaze to the floor.

Tyranny growled. "You imprisoned me for over a thousand years, Celestia. You denied this world its rightful ruler, usurped my throne, and destroyed my physical form. For that and more, you will face judgment. I will be your judge, jury, and executioner. Defend yourself if you can!" His voice rang through the castle as he leveled his scepter at her.

She set herself to meet him, her horn glowing brightly. The throne room doors flew open, and the two guards returned.

"Princess!" one of them called, and they both charged at the dark stallion.

Tyranny never took his eyes off Celestia as he turned slightly and blasted both of the guards with his ebon beam.

-0-

In the guest wing of the castle, Tourmaline was resting peacefully on the canopy bed in her room. She was not attempting to sleep but simply relaxing on the comfortable bed. A warm summer's breeze flowed through an open window nearby. It had been a few weeks since her brother and she had first arrived at the castle. With Tormod fully recovered and frequently lost in the numerous maps and tomes he was allowed to study while they stayed in the castle, boredom was Tourmaline's constant companion.

It was not that she was ungrateful for being allowed to stay at the castle—Princess Celestia was the very soul of a generous host—it was just that the adventurer in her wanted to get out and explore. Canterlot had many things for a visitor to enjoy, but Tourmaline felt she had seen it all. With no new news of Wanderer's whereabouts, Tourmaline was getting antsy. She had helped the pegasus ponies work the weather over Canterlot, but even that was not enough to keep her adventurer spirit content. Coupled with her worry for her friend, the recent days were almost unbearable.

She rolled off the bed and walked towards the window. She sighed in frustration and tucked a stray lock of hair out of her face. She privately wished something would happen to alleviate her boredom.

As if answering her thoughts, a puff of smoke appeared out of nowhere and coalesce into a creature of pure blackness. It wore armor made for ponies, and its round white eyes glared at her.

"What in the name of—" she swore as the creature lunged at her. Narrowly dodging, she lashed out with a kick. The shadow skidded to the side but came back swinging. Tourmaline was no stranger to battle—she had faced numerous monsters with her friends and was quick enough to dodge or block the creature's attacks. She jumped up as the creature lunged at her again. She kicked upward with her hind leg and caught the shadow on the chin. The thing flew backwards where it hit a dresser and dissipated in a puff of smoke, its armor clanging loudly to the floor.

"Thought you could take me, think again," she taunted before a shout from the hallway caught her attention.

"Tormod!" She ran out of her room, and saw her brother crash through the door to his room, the door shattering to splinters as he flew through it. He skidded across the floor but got back up quickly, his horn glowing. Another creature stepped from his room, its eyes on him. Before it could charge again, he shot a ray of energy that the shadow dodged. It jumped out at him, and Tourmaline wasted no time in driving her shoulder into the creature mid-lunge. It slid across the floor, and exploded as Tormod blasted it.

She kicked away the creature's fallen helm. "You alright?"

He grunted and nodded brushing the splinters from his coat. "It caught me by surprise. I never thought I would be attacked in Canterlot Castle of all places."

They both looked down the hall as the sound of battle reached their ears, and shouts from guards and citizens alike were heard in the distance. They both looked out a nearby window and saw more of the creatures chasing the groundskeepers and battling the guards.

"What is going on? Who would be attacking Canterlot?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, I've never even heard of these things. They're not changelings."

Both of their ears shot up and their eyes widened as a shout reached them. The voice they had both heard only once before, but would never forget.

"Wanderer!" Tourmaline rushed down the hallway towards the throne room.

"Tourmaline! Wait!" Tormod said with unmistakable fear, but he soon followed after his sister's brave charge. "Blast it…"

-0-

Both princesses could only look on in sickened awe as the guards turned black.

"P-Princess?" one uttered before he shattered, the shards disintegrating into nothingness.

"You monster!" Celestia yelled and shot a beam of energy. Tyranny sidestepped the attack and countered with one of his own, but Celestia stopped it with a barrier.

"Do not do this Tyranny. You cannot defeat me here. If you would turn your powers to good, it would end the conflict. Nopony else needs to suffer."

His answer was a much more powerful blast that had her straining to keep it at bay. Once the attack stopped, she could only look at the stallion with wide, shocked eyes.

"Why so smug, Celestia?"

She glared at him, surrounding herself with a magical aura, Tyranny did likewise, his aura utter darkness compared to hers. Celestia knew that her battle with him was going to be destructive, and she needed to lead him away from the castle and from Canterlot, or somepony could get hurt. She shot out of the bay window, making for the skies outside the city. Before she could get far however, Tyranny appeared before her.

"I think not." He shot another energy blast at her, but she dodged the attack and flew upwards. Tyranny pursued her until she turned and dived back at him. As the two collided, their auras sparked and cracked. The two broke apart and flew around a brief moment before colliding again and again, each collision echoing like thunder across the city. To a distant observer, it would almost appear like a pair of fireflies having at each other.

As the two spiraled around spires of the castle, they traded volleys of energy blasts. Celestia could only cringe as the beams exploded upon the castle and town below—she prayed that nopony was hurt in the struggle.

Try as she might, she could not find an opening in his offensive, and he was too quick for her own. Rounding a corner she stopped suddenly and emitted a blinding flash of light. Once her light faded, she found that he was nowhere to be seen. She looked up quickly to see him in the final moments of a back hoof swing of his scepter.

She crashed heavily into the street below, startling a number of ponies who were watching the battle in awe.

"Princess!" one of them shouted as she and a few others ran to her aid.

Celestia looked at them as she rose to her hooves. "Please, get away from here! I don't want to see any of you harmed! Go!"

"But, Princess—"

"Go! Now!" she shouted. The gathering looked at each other before fleeing. Celestia sighed—she hadn't wanted to shout at them, but she would never forgive herself if they came to harm during the battle.

Before the ponies could take more than a few steps , a number of shadow beasts surrounded them. The ponies gasped in terror as the creatures began glowing a dark light. The ponies unfortunate enough to be struck by their magic suffered the same fate as her guards.

"No!" Celestia's horn glowed and she blasted away the hostile creatures. Tears ran down her eyes as she destroyed the creatures, allowing the remaining citizens to flee to safety.

She looked upward quickly as she heard an evil chuckle. Tyranny leered down at her from above. "Again you show your weakness, Celestia. Concerning yourself over the well-being of those under you and paying little mind to that which—" she teleported behind him and bucked him full in the back, the force of the blow sending him soaring across the city.

Unfortunately, he crashed into Donut Joe's shop, smashing through the storefront and landing hard against the counter. Pastries of all types were tossed about from the impact.

"My donuts!" the shop owner cried out, holding his head in absolute dismay. His eyes only widened as he saw Tyranny pick himself up from the mess with a pained look of annoyance. With a scowl he surrounded himself with an aura and shot back out of the ruined store. Donut Joe could only stand in shock.

Celestia saw him coming and raced out to meet him. She shot another ray just as Tyranny did the same. As the two beams collided, there was a blinding flash of light followed by an explosion. Celestia covered her eyes and ducked quickly, she felt the swish of the scepter rip through her mane and she bucked out again with her hind legs. Tyranny dodged to the side and placed his free hoof on her face, an arc of electrical energy sending her spinning downward. Before she could correct herself, shadow talons grabbed her and slammed her into the walls of a nearby building before pulling her back up towards him.

"Do you yet realize how futile this is? Once I am done with you, I will move on to your sister, and I will enjoy watching her drown in anguish over your obliteration before I send her to join you."

What Tyranny failed to realize was that his shadow talons only bound her by her chest and front hooves, and her defiance was shown in the form of a well-aimed kick to his midsection.

He grunted and flew back before looking back at her, just in time to take rage-fueled blast to his chest.

"You. Will. Not. Hurt. My sister!" She blasted him again with a massive beam of energy that sent him flying away.

He had only escaped her blast when she appeared above him and kicked him downward to the streets below. Tyranny only had time to hit the ground before she stomped him fully into the cobblestone pavement.

"Enough of this, Tyranny! Surrender!" Her eyes and horn blazed brightly as she glared fiercely down at the supine Tyranny.

"Fool!" He kicked her into the air. "You are not capable of stopping me!" He fired out a second set of talons that were much larger than earlier. She shot a beam at them, but they slithered out of the way and wrapped around everything below the neck. He forcefully pulled her downward to look her straight in the eye.

"I have dealt with your defiance long enough, Celestia." When she tried to bring her magic to bear, the shadows closed about her tighter, causing her to lose her focus. He levitated back into the air, dragging her with him. "Do you have any idea what it is like to be imprisoned for over a thousand years? With your very essence divided and your soul screaming to be whole again? Do you know how much the ache hurts? Do you?!" The shadows tightened even more, and Celestia cried out in pain.

With a growl he flung her back towards the castle. She screamed as she crashed through the windows of the throne room and bounced across the floor, skidding to a stop near a shocked Twilight Sparkle who had watched the whole battle in the skies from the bay window in stunned disbelief.

"Princess Celestia!" she yelled in concern and looked up as Tyranny appeared before the throne, holding his side a moment from where Celestia had blasted him.

"You have crimes you must atone for, Celestia, and your judgment is at hoof," he said in a perfectly calm, unsettling voice. He stood straighter and lifted his hoof towards her as it collected energy. Celestia tried to stand, but her battered body would not heed her command.

As the energy reached a boiling point, he shouted a parting before a massive beam of energy raced out towards her. Celestia could only close her eyes as she saw doom before her.

"NOOOOOOO!" Twilight yelled frantically, and a violet beam shot out and deflected Tyranny's through a wall, where it exploded over the city.

Tyranny watched it with an annoyed look before turning to find her standing defensively before Princess Celestia. Twilight's glare more than matched his.

"You would defend her after all she has done to you?" he demanded of her.

Twilight looked at Celestia with apologetic eyes and turned back to look at him. "She may not have told me everything and had me go through many rigorous trials in the past. But if she hadn't, I would never have met my friends and have grown into the pony I am today. She is kind and loving, and a better ruler than you can ever hope to be. I won't let you hurt her anymore!"

"Twilight," Celestia said, emotion thick in her voice.

"Foolish child," he spat. "You would deny this world its rightful ruler and all for her lies?! It is best then that you be obliterated along with her!" He lifted his hoof and fired another ray.

Twilight quickly surrounded herself and Celestia with a violet globe of light. His ray exploded upon her barrier, showering them with multi-colored sparks.

"Twilight! Princess!" They heard a chorus of shouts from the doors of the throne room.

The other Elements of Harmony and Princess Luna ran into their aid. Twilight's friends quickly stood beside her in defense of Princess Celestia, while Luna helped her sister to her hooves.

"You're here," Twilight said with relief, sweat running down her face from protecting Celestia.

"Tyranny brought along his friends. They kept us from getting' ta ya any faster than we did," Applejack explained, glaring fiercely at the annoyed-looking stallion.

"They weren't going to keep me away from finally kicking this guy's flank." Rainbow Dash punched at the air a few times.

Tyranny glowered at them in annoyance. "Fools."

Celestia leaned on her sister for support. "It is over, Tyranny. The Elements of Harmony are here, and they will seal you away again. Girls, use the Elements."

"You heard the princess, girls. Form up!" Twilight said, and her friends gathered around quickly. Their Elements began to glow.

"The Elements take time to charge, and time is something you do not have!" Tyranny lashed out with a band of shadow, aimed at the exposed Twilight. A golden barrier appeared and the band dissipated.

"We must give them time, sister," Celestia said as her barrier faded.

Luna nodded and shot a ray of her own at Tyranny, who simple back hoofed the attack away. He gave the sisters a disgusted look and dozens of shadow creatures appeared in the throne room. The sisters defeated many, but were pulled down by the rest. The shadows were suddenly blasted away by a trio of energy rays. The princesses looked up to see Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and Queen Chrysalis running in. Their combined efforts cleared the room of the persistent shadow creatures as the Elements were nearly finished charging.

"I think not." Tyranny struck the ground with his scepter. Erupting from underneath Twilight and her friends were six shadow fists. Each one found its mark and disrupted their concentration as they were scattered about.

-0-

Tourmaline and Tormod ran for the throne room. They could hear the battle ahead of them. They knew without a doubt who was behind this attack on the castle—the voice they had heard long ago in the jungle ruin seemed to echo throughout the castle. While it filled Tormod with dread, Tourmaline showed no fear. She knew Wanderer was ahead, and she would do anything to save him. She outpaced her brother, who lagged behind, breathing hard from the run through the castle.

"Tourmaline, slow down. I can't keep up with you," he called ahead to her.

She didn't slow in the least. "Come on, Tormod! We have to help," she called back.

"What do you think we can do when we get there? We're just two ponies, we don't have Princess Celestia's power, and you saw just as well as I did what happened when she fought him. What do you intend to do?"

"I'm doing whatever it takes to help out," she said determinedly. "Even if I have to pound Wanderer into the ground to get him to come to his senses."

"Did you ever think that maybe Wanderer is—?" he started to say, but stopped abruptly as she whirled on him.

"Don't you dare say it! Wanderer is still in there, and I won't believe he isn't!" She glared at him fiercely.

Tormod raised his hooves. "I just don't want you to be hurt should the worst happen, Tourmaline. I don't want it to be true no more than you do."

She huffed at him. "The worst won't happen if we could get there to help out. Now move it, Tormod!" With that, she turned away and galloped down the hallway.

Tormod sighed softly and ran after his headstrong sister. Good or bad, he was not about to abandon her or their friend, even if it meant he would have to face his fear again.

-0-

The bearers of the Elements of Harmony shook their heads clear of the dizziness. The dissipated magic and the blows from the shadow fists had them all seeing stars. Tyranny simply levitated above the throne, smirking at them arrogantly. "None of you stand a chance. Kneel before me, and I will show leniency."

"Again, girls, we can't stop." Twilight helped her friends to their hooves. They all nodded, and again began to charge the Elements.

"We must protect them," Celestia said, standing between them and Tyranny.

"Shining, your spell," Cadance said to him. He nodded, and as the girls began to hover in the air, his protection spell enveloped them.

"You will not stop me!" Tyranny yelled and went back on the offensive. His magics were countered and his minions bested by the royals. He tried one final time to break through the barrier surrounding the Elements, but they finished their charge and the distinctive rainbow-hued beam lurched out in its arc. Tyranny's magic meant nothing to it, his beam was simply overwhelmed by the power of the Elements of Harmony.

As the Elements' power descended towards the spirit, he could only look onto the approaching beam. Celestia looked at his expression, expecting chagrin or outright denial, but what she saw made her furrow her brow in confusion.

His expression was one of victory.

Her eyes widened impossibly, he knew!

"Twilight! Stop!" she cried frantically.

Once the power of the Elements had been released, there was no stopping them. Not until the source of the disharmony was neutralized.

With a wide smile Tyranny lobed his prized scepter into the path of the oncoming beam. As the scepter was struck, it began to shake and crack violently. The amethyst shattered, and there was a blinding flash of light that had all but Tyranny looking away as the scepter shattered into a million, ruined pieces.

Chapter 13

The throne room was still, save for the small metallic sound of the scepter's remains falling to the floor. As the glow from the magic of the Elements faded away, the ponies looked toward where they had last seen Tyranny. They expected him to crash to the ground as a statue, but their expressions spoke volumes, as he instead floated in the air above the throne. Faint whispers drifted around him as a dark miasma swirled around his body, slowly being absorbed. He looked at his front hooves as if seeing something no one else saw.

"What the hay? What happened?" Rainbow Dash's jaw hung slack.

"Didn't the Elements work?" Fluttershy asked quietly, shrinking away from the spirit.

"Princess Celestia, what happened? Why didn't the Elements work?" Twilight's eyes showed a growing worry. When no answer came, she looked towards her mentor. Celestia stood stock still, her own expression fearful.

"Sister!" Luna called, snapping Celestia from her daze.

"The Elements worked as they should have, but…" She looked at Tyranny who remained oblivious to them. The miasma was starting to swirl around him even faster. "He found out what I had hoped he would not."

Rarity looked her worriedly. "What do you mean, Princess?"

"When Luna and I imprisoned him long ago, he was too powerful to seal all in one place. To seal him, we were forced to divide his essence separately. We used his crown and scepter as the receptacles. Alone, they could do nothing, but together, they allowed him to influence this world."

"Even with this separation, his power was mostly sealed within the scepter," Luna said grimly. "Which was just destroyed by the Elements of Harmony—"

"—and released his power," Celestia finished.

Applejack stamped her hoof to the marble floor. "Then what are we standin' around for? Let's stop 'im before he gets too powerful again."

Celestia nodded. "Indeed, we must act before he gains too much power."

"Alright, girls, again. Form up," Twilight said. The girls were quickly back on their hooves and began collecting the energy to charge the Elements of Harmony once more. Tyranny paid them no heed as the miasma continued to be absorbed.

Everypony could only watch as the Elements continued to gather power. From the doorway, Tourmaline and Tormod watched in stunned awe, their eyes locked upon the stallion who had possessed their friend.

"Do you still think he is in there?" Tormod asked her quietly, the memory of being turned to stone vivid in his mind. Tourmaline did not answer; her eyes were locked on Tyranny's, whose eyes showed a growing manic expression.

The Elements of Harmony finished their charge and the rainbow-beam arched out, making its way towards the oblivious stallion. Just as the beam was about to connect, the remaining miasma flew into the spirit and he put both front hooves up above him. With a collective gasp, the ponies could not believe what they saw next, as Tyranny simply stopped the power of the Elements of Harmony. With a confident sneer, he pushed back the magic of the Elements with his own beam of energy.

With a mocking laugh that roared over the discharge of energy, the dark beam pushed the rainbow one back into its bearers. Twilight and her friends could only cringe as the beam struck and threw them across the room and into the others below.

As they picked themselves up from the floor, Tyranny hovered above them, an intense gleam in his eyes.

"After all this time, I am whole again. The Elements of Harmony have failed you, and with their failure, goes your last hope of defeating me. The entire world shall now fall under my reign!" An arrogant smirk crossed his face. "I truly have you all to thank. Were it not for your efforts, it would not have been possible."

"What are you saying, Tyranny?" Celestia asked.

"That everything went as planned." His grin grew wider. "I knew from the moment of my release that the majority of my power was sealed inside the scepter, and that I would not be able to regain it on my own. Not even you, Celestia, had the power to destroy it, but I knew of one source that did. The one you and Luna used to defeat me before."

"The Elements," Twilight said quietly.

"Indeed, Princess, but when I learned that they had passed on to a new generation, I needed to harness their power in a way that would benefit me. It is true that I could have allowed you to use them in the clearing or at the crystal tower, but that would not have allowed me my full vengeance against Celestia."

"Then all of this was just some game to you?" Twilight yelled.

He laughed at her. "There was no game, Princess. A game would signify a contest between equals, and you will never be my equal. I did what needed to be done to bring order to this world and bring about a satisfying revenge in the same process. Simply overwhelming Celestia and Luna with my full power would not have been near as enjoyable." He lowered himself to the marble floor, which darkened at his touch, like the very light was being snuffed out. "The hope you felt in thinking you had me defeated—only to have that hope taken away at the last moment and crushed before your eyes—that was what I strove for. And I can see it in your eyes. Your hope is dead, and there is nothing that can stop me now." He spoke with such a commanding tone that they all felt a shiver of dread run up their spines.

"Oh, pah-leese Tyranny. Could you get anymore melodramatic? That little speech sounded like it should have been on stage," a disembodied voice said.

Tyranny's eyes narrowed, and he looked around quickly.

"Discord!" Fluttershy said happily and with no small amount of relief.

"Hello again, Fluttershy," Discord said as he appeared. He leaned on one of the few remaining pillars of the throne room, his front paws resting comfortably behind his head. "And you other ponies and pony—" he glanced at Chrysalis "—thing."

The changeling queen growled at the impudent spirit, who promptly stuck his tongue out at her.

"I had wondered when you were going to show your disfigured face, Discord," Tyranny said flatly.

"Aw, missed me did you, Tyry my boy? I'm touched." Discord appeared beside Tyranny, leaning on his shoulder. "You know me, always loving a flashy entrance." With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared by the ponies. "Well my dear ponies, you certainly made a mess of the place. Very nicely done, might I add." He looked around the ruined throne room with a nod of approval.

"Discord!" Twilight said. "This is no time for games. Tyranny just—" she was cut off as he rested his elbow on her head.

"Oh I know it, little princess, how about you let me handle mister grumpy over there, hmm?" he said to her in a conspiring whisper, one that was not all that quiet to begin with.

"What are you babbling about, Discord?" Tyranny growled.

"Oh, just about the weather. You know how the winged ponies feel about that sort of thing." He shrugged.

Tyranny scowled at him.

"But really, Tyranny, after all these years, you are still bent on the classical idea of ruling the world?" He appeared next to the stallion, calmly walking around him. "Must be boring to not have a single different thought in over a millennia."

Pinkie Pie was the only one to giggle.

"And you cannot even finish stringing one thought from the next," Tyranny countered. "Such is the fallibility of chaos."

Discord appeared next to him again, wrapping one arm around him buddy-buddy like. "You want to know what I think is incredibly ironic?" Discord said, ignoring Tyranny's glare. "It's that I, the Spirit of Chaos, have my own original handsome body, whereas you, the Spirit of Order, the one who is to signify stability, has to possess another pony to even exist in this world." He laughed, slapping at his knee in mirth. "Such delicious irony. It almost makes me want to—"

Tyranny blasted him against the wall, his eyes blazing in rage.

Discord dusted himself off after being dropped to the ground. "Well, that was certainly rude. Guess I struck a nerve." He smirked and snapped his fingers, and a two-ton anvil dropped onto Tyranny's head, smashing him to the floor with a loud metallic clang.

"Ah, the classics are always the best," Discord said wistfully.

The anvil exploded into a million pieces, and Tyranny picked himself from the ground, shooting another beam. Discord yawned, and a bucket appeared in his paw, trapping the ray inside.

"Really, Tyranny? An energy beam? So overdone and clichéd. Surely you can think of another way to beat me." The bucket turned into a glass of water, which he promptly drank down.

Scowling, Tyranny raised one hoof above him and lightning arced out all around the throne room, destroying walls, pillars, furniture, and even arching towards the ponies, who had to dive for cover. The lightning left black scorch marks that continued to spark afterwards.

Discord gave him a snide smirk as the lightning missed his face by inches. "Losing your temper, Tyranny? So unbecoming of you. I had always thought you were master of your emotions."

Tyranny merely glared at him. "Do you really think you can distract me with words, Discord? You are a bigger fool than I remember."

"Alright, that's it! I've had it with this guy!" Rainbow Dash yelled as the lightning ended. She picked herself up and flew towards Tyranny. She had not gotten far before a large wall of clear amethyst materialized out of nowhere, completely separating them from Tyranny and Discord.

"You will not interfere," Tyranny told her matter-of-factly. He turned his gaze back to Discord, who was busy idling with a paddle ball.

"Mock while you can, Discord, for it will be your last time." Tyranny held his front hooves before him, turning them towards each other. A sphere of energy began to form between them as he gathered his power.

"I highly doubt that," Discord said smugly, considering the growing sphere curiously. "Well now, this is a new one."

Tyranny collected the energy until the sphere was as large as he was, and he hurled it at Discord.

"Oh how I love a ball game," Discord said happily, instantly dressed in a baseball-player's uniform, a long wooden bat held in paw. "Batter up!" He swung the bat as the sphere neared. Unfortunately, instead of reflecting the sphere back at Tyranny as he'd intended, the bat disintegrated.

"Oh bother," he said and twisted his body so the sphere barely missed him. It went through the wall behind him, leaving a perfectly round hole.

"Your aim is a bit off," Discord said.

"Is it?" Tyranny asked with a sneer.

Discord turned in time to see the sphere race back at him.

"Oh bother," he muttered again and raced away, the sphere in close pursuit.

No matter where Discord slithered around the throne room, the sphere followed. Any time he flew near one of the scorched marks left from Tyranny's earlier lightning outburst, a smaller sphere would pop up and explode. Discord did his best to avoid them, but the larger sphere made dodging the smaller ones almost impossible. Numerous times he had to take the smaller explosions to avoid the larger sphere.

Just when it seemed the sphere had begun to slow, Tyranny appeared before the draconequus and kicked him solidly in the chest. Discord flew backwards and straight into the pursuing sphere of energy. The resulting explosion shook the entire castle, and Discord was violently thrown downward.

"No, Discord!" the ponies shouted disbelievingly.

Discord was slowly pushing himself up when he noticed a small ball of light floating in front of him. The ball turned into a ring of similar spheres with energy arcing between them. It was then he realized that he'd landed right on of the scorch marks from earlier.

"Traps," he muttered disgustedly before the ring exploded.

Fluttershy's scream was heard above the others.

When the dust cleared, Discord lay in a daze. He moved a bit before a band of shadow wrapped around him and hauled him towards Tyranny. The two were muzzle to muzzle, and he glared at Discord, who still wore a slight grin.

"Something humorous, Discord? As I see it, you are losing."

Discord shrugged slightly. "Maybe." A lemon-cream pie appeared in his paw, and he promptly splattered it into Tyranny's face. An explosion sent the stallion flying into the amethyst wall, which cracked under the force of the impact. "At least I know how to have fun."

"Exploding pies. Why didn't I think of that?" Pinkie commented.

"Pinkie!" chided more than one of her friends.

"Now, now. One should never doubt the power of pie." Discord nodded sagely.

Tyranny growled and teleported in front of the draconequus. Before Discord could react, Tyranny grabbed him by the face and electrical energy arced out, causing him to writhe in agony under the assault. Any time Discord tried to struggle, Tyranny shocked him with an even stronger jolt of energy.

"Having fun now?" Tyranny growled. "What is it that these ponies have given you that you hold so dear? Did you honestly believe it would have aided you against me?"

Discord managed to glare at the stallion. "It is something… you'll never be able to understand."

Tyranny threw him contemptuously towards the stunned ponies. He landed with a grunt and rolled onto his back, just in time for Tyranny to stomp on his chest.

Discord grunted in pain and tried to pry the hoof off his chest, but Tyranny held a forehoof over him, and numerous arcs of dark energy washed over the draconequus. Discord writhed in pain as the energy sapped him of his strength. It seemed like the assault lasted forever to those who were forced to watch. When it mercifully ended, Discord let his arms fall to the his side weakly, turning his head to give the stunned ponies an apologetic look.

"It is over," Tyranny said firmly, his harsh glare upon the ponies beyond the wall. "Order has triumphed over chaos, and this world will finally, truly belong to me." He cast a disdainful expression to Discord. "You honestly thought that you could have outlasted my assault? You always were a fool, Discord. Your powers have weakened and serve no purpose to me." He lifted a hoof towards him. "I have waited a long time for this." The dark energy swirled and grew around his hoof.

Discord tried to move again, but found that he could not. He looked to the gathered ponies on the other side of the wall, even to the two at the door.

"I suggest you ponies all learn how get along." With a weak snap of his fingers they all vanished in a flash of light.

Just in time for Tyranny to hit him with the spell. The Spirit of Chaos could only watch as his body began to blacken.

"This is going to be sooooo boring." He looked at Tyranny, who stood over him with a smug look. "Oh, don't be so smug, Tyry. Those ponies are a lot more clever than you think."

Tyranny snorted. "It doesn't matter what they do. They cannot stop me now."

Discord cringed as the blackness reached his face. "You would be surprised."

"Either way—" Tyranny looked straight into Discord's eyes "—You will not be here to see it. Farewell, Discord." He turned away contemptuously as the draconequus was banished from Equestria.

Chapter 14

Outside of the city of Canterlot, in a clearing surrounded by tall trees, the ponies appeared in a flash of light. Unfortunately, they also appeared ten feet in the air. The winged ponies were able to save themselves, but the others all landed with undignified grunts. After picking themselves off of the ground, they looked to each other in confusion, clearly not expecting this to be where Discord would have sent them. The lights of Canterlot Castle could be seen glowing in the distance.

"What happened? How'd we get here?" Applejack asked, looking around the darkened clearing warily.

Twilight looked at the ground. "Discord sent us away before Tyranny could turn to us."

"What do ya think happened in there? To Discord?" Rainbow Dash asked as she looked towards Canterlot Castle.

"Tyranny used the same magic he used on Princess Celestia's guards," Twilight said. "Before they turned completely black and shattered like glass."

"The spell sent them to the Realm of Shadow," Princess Celestia finished. "Where Discord is now imprisoned as well."

Fluttershy gasped and lowered her head in quiet sobbing, Rarity and Princess Cadence offering their supporting hooves. The she had seen a lot of cruelty at the hooves of Tyranny, and knowing that her friend was gone now, it was more than she could bear.

"With Discord gone, how are we supposed to beat Tyranny now?" Rainbow Dash asked again, her forelegs folded in front of her.

"Rainbow Dash," Rarity said, keeping a supporting foreleg around Fluttershy.

"Oh… sorry, Fluttershy," Rainbow said apologetically, rubbing at the back of her head. Fluttershy nodded silently, her eyes still rimmed with tears.

Luna looked towards Celestia, who sat staring at their castle. "What should we do now, sister?"

Celestia closed her eyes, and Luna saw the faintest of tears rimming her eyes. "I truly don't know, Luna. With Discord gone and the Elements no longer powerful enough to stop Tyranny, we do not have many options left. He will not fall for the same deception we used before."

"Perhaps we should rouse the ponies against him and remove him by force?" Shining Armor said. "If we can wear him down enough for the Elements to work, that might defeat him."

Celestia shook her head. "It would take time to rally the Equestrian Guard to assault his holdings. He would only solidify his power the longer we wait."

"That would also lead to a massive battle, and many ponies could get hurt," Princess Cadence said, standing next to her husband. "We can't let that happen."

He looked at his wife with regret. "We may not have much choice, Cadence. As we are, we're not enough. We may have to fight if we are going drive him out."

She nodded softly to the point. "But we should still avoid an all-out war if we can."

Queen Chrysalis scoffed and began walking in the direction of Canterlot.

"Where do you think you are going?" Celestia demanded.

Chrysalis glared back at her. "I'm going to do something worthwhile, instead of standing around like a lost herd of sheep."

Luna narrowed her eyes at the changeling, clearly not happy that anypony would speak to her sister so. "You intend to face Tyranny by yourself then?"

Chrysalis snarled hatefully. "If I have to. He is going to pay for what he did to me and my hive."

"By your own words, you faced him before with the support of your hive, and you were defeated. How do you intend for it to be any different this time?" Luna asked curtly.

Chrysalis appeared thoughtful a moment, and gave a sly look to Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. "Perhaps if the love birds would let me absorb most of their love. I would have the power to defeat him. The same way I beat you, Celestia."

Shining stepped in front of his wife, glaring firmly at the changeling. "Never again."

Chrysalis scoffed. "How else do you think to get rid of him then? Without endangering your precious pony folk?"

As a heated debate started between the royal couple and the changeling queen, Tourmaline and Tormod stepped towards Princess Celestia—who watched the exchange with a frown of disapproval.

Tourmaline watched the debate for a moment before speaking. "Princess Celestia."

The princess turned to regard them. "Ah, Tourmaline and Tormod. I had not realized you were brought here with us, I am glad. What did you wish to say?"

Tourmaline stood straighter. "Maybe we could try talking to him."

Celestia frowned in confusion. "I do not understand your suggestion, Tourmaline. Talk and negotiation will not work with Tyranny. He will not yield to demands other than his own, and anything he will demand will not benefit any of us."

Tormod gave his sister a disapproving glance. "What my sister meant was that we could try reaching out to Wanderer."

Celestia blinked in surprise.

"I know he is still in there, Princess Celestia," Tourmaline explained. "Wanderer would never give up. Not even someone like Tyranny could keep him down for long. If we could appeal to Wanderer, maybe that could help."

Celestia smiled softly to the pegasus. "You believe in him so firmly?"

"Yes!" she half-shouted. All eyes turned towards her, and she blushed, lowering her head in embarrassment. "I mean, yes I do, Princess," she said a bit softer. Tormod snickered at her, which earned him a jab in the ribs.

Celestia looked at her with a saddened expression. "As noble as that is, Tourmaline, I am afraid Wanderer is truly suppressed within his own mind. Nothing we say can get to him."

Tourmaline stamped her hooves down firmly, the dry grass crunching under her stomp. "I don't believe that!"

Luna stood beside her and laid a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "Your friend is beyond our reach, brave Tourmaline," Luna said to her firmly but not harshly.

"No!" Tourmaline shouted. She turned and galloped off—too proud to let them see the tears forming in her eyes.

"Tourmaline!" Tormod called after her. "Excuse me, Princess." He quickly ran after his sister.

Applejack watched the two run off towards the edge of the clearing. "Now hold on. We shouldn't be givin' up hope. There's got to be another way."

Rainbow Dash gave her an annoyed look. "Do you have any bright ideas, Applejack?"

"I ain't hearin' anything from you, Rainbow," she said with a glare. "Why don't ya help figure out what we can do instead a complainin'."

Rarity pushed them apart. "Girls, this is no time to be arguing with one another. We need to be putting our heads together to formulate a plan, not butting them together in frustration. All of our friends and family are depending upon us."

Rainbow and Applejack turned to look at her. "Do you have any ideas, Rarity?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, I… no, I don't," the fashionista admitted. She looked towards Twilight. "Twilight? What about you?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, but I'm trying to think." She frowned softly. There was a nagging thought at the back of her mind, but it remained frustratingly out of reach.

"Oh, oh, I got an idea!" Pinkie Pie excitedly waved a hoof around in excitement.

Applejack gave her a flat stare. "Does it involve a party?"

"Or a song?" Rainbow Dash added.

Pinkie's smiled faded a bit, but held her hoof up again.

"Does it involve monkeys too?" Rarity asked.

Pinkie lowered her hoof and sat down, crossing her forelegs in a pout. "It was a good plan too."

As arguments and discussions began all over again, Twilight finally let the nagging thought go. She quietly watched as heated words were exchanged and tempers flared. It pained her to see everypony fighting. Her trusted friends, her mentor, and everyone else was upset over what had happened in Canterlot—she couldn't honestly blame them. Considering everything she went through herself, she couldn't understand how she wasn't also emotional. Perhaps it was because she felt so emotionally drained that she had nothing more to give.

She considered that the arguing and division were also part of Tyranny's plan. He seemed to have every step thoroughly planned out, even contingencies for those plans, and likely contingencies for the contingency plans. How were they going to beat him when he had everything so well planned out? By looking at her feuding friends, the unlikely ally Chrysalis, and the siblings who had known the pony before Tyranny possessed him, she wondered how anything could be done to save Equestria from the domination of Tyranny.

Twilight sighed and looked at Fluttershy, who had been sitting quietly during the whole ordeal. She hid behind her mane, and the one eye that Twilight could see shone with muted sadness.

"It's alright, Fluttershy, we'll find a way to free Discord and everypony else who was captured."

Fluttershy sniffed and pushed her hair back. "It is not that, well, mostly not that."

Twilight looked to her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"It's just that…"

"Just?" Twilight prompted, she had a feeling that it was important.

The pegasus looked towards the others. "I just wish that everypony could get along and not fight with each other."

The nagging thought from earlier rushed back to her, dancing on the very tip of her tongue. "What did you say, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy looked at her curiously. "I said I just wish everypony would get along."

Twilight's eyes widened, her smile growing wide. "That's it! Fluttershy, you're a genius," Twilight lifted her friend up in a hug. The others turned to look at the pair oddly.

Fluttershy looked at her in confusion, straining to draw in breath. "Umm… sorry."

Twilight released her from the bone-crushing hug. "Do you remember what Discord said to us? That's the answer!" Twilight was practically ecstatic as a plan began to form in her mind.

Fluttershy looked at her with a confused expression. "About getting along?"

"What do you mean, Twilight?" Princess Celestia asked as they gathered around Twilight.

"Do you remember what Discord said? He said that we should get along and work together."

"I don't get it," Rainbow Dash muttered after an uncomfortable pause.

"Don't you see? Discord knew the answer. If we work together, we can defeat Tyranny."

"Can somepony please have her explain what she's sayin'?" Applejack asked in exasperation.

Twilight took in a breath. "We each have tried to defeat him in our own way, and individually, it hasn't worked. But if we were to combine our strength together, not even Tyranny with all of his power could match us. We have to stand together to face a tyrant like him. History has long told of tales of tyrants falling to the combined efforts of those who stood against them, together. It is no different with Tyranny. Together, we can beat him."

After a moment, Rainbow's grin begin to grow. "Yeah, each of us is pretty awesome, but together, we're even awesomer."

"The awesomest!" Pinkie Pie added.

"That too!" Applejack smiled wide.

"When the cloths and materials are put together, that is when a dress comes together perfectly. That is how we shall be, a perfectly designed dress!" Rarity added wrapping an arm around Twilight.

"For all our friends," Fluttershy added.

"Twilight, how do you intend to use our powers together?" Celestia asked, stepping forward eagerly.

Twilight looked at her mentor, and she felt a pang of betrayal for a moment, but it was lost as soon as it came. "If we all gave our power to the Elements of Harmony, all of us together, it would be more than Tyranny could ever hope to match."

Luna rubbed at her chin thoughtfully. "It seems a sound plan, do you think it would work?"

Twilight gave her a nod of determination. "I know it will, Princess Luna. I am sure of it."

"We are with you, Twily," Shining Armor said as he and Princess Cadence joined them.

"For peace and love to return to Equestria, we will do all we can," Cadence added.

All eyes turned to Queen Chrysalis. She stood apart from them, not sharing the enthusiasm the others felt.

"Queen Chrysalis," Twilight said firmly, narrowing her eyes at Chrysalis. "We have never been friends, and likely won't ever be, but even you cannot argue that Tyranny would be no kinder to you or your changelings. Will you help us in ridding Equestria of him?"

The queen scowled and did not answer for a moment. "What's in it for me?"

Celestia spoke before Twilight could. "We will not imprison you or your hive for your past deeds if you aid us. Of this, you have my word."

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at her in suspicion but stepped forward. "This doesn't make us friends. I'm doing this to save my subjects." Twilight nodded.

As they all gathered around, Twilight felt her morale lift at seeing the hopeful expressions. All of her lessons on friendship would once again save Equestria—she was sure of it.

"So how are we going to face Tyranny? Going back to Canterlot would not be wise, so what would we do?" Luna asked.

"I have a plan, Princess." Twilight eagerly began to hammer out the points of her plan. Those around her grew increasingly excited as a flicker of hope sparked where there was nothing but despair before.

Chapter 15

It was midafternoon when the ponies put their plan into motion. After a night full of excitement and heart break, they all had needed their rest. Celestia had still raised the sun, and Luna had still lowered the moon—the honor had not been taken away from them yet. Celestia watched with pride as Twilight began pointing out the specific details of her plan to her friends, making sure everyone knew their exact role in the upcoming conflict.

She watched Twilight and softly promised herself that she would share the truth of what it meant to be an alicorn with her when everything was said and done with Tyranny—the full and honest truth. Celestia took in a long breath and released it slowly in a sigh. She silently blamed herself for Twilight's distress over the issue. Had she been forthcoming with her, perhaps she could have staved off her emotional turmoil and kept Tyranny from taking advantage of it. She truly had meant to tell Twilight when she felt that she was ready, but the opportunity never came. For that, Celestia could only blame herself.

She turned her head at the sound of rustling grass and saw Tourmaline and Tormod approach her. The two had spoken with Twilight briefly before seeking her out.

"Princess Celestia," they said, bowing to her.

She smiled to them. "Tormod, Tourmaline, how can I help you?"

Tourmaline stood straighter. "Princess, what do you want us to do in the upcoming fight? Princess Twilight would not give us a place to help out."

Celestia looked at her. "I understand your desire to help, Tourmaline, but we cannot allow you to put yourselves at risk in this battle."

"The bearers of the Elements are putting themselves at risk too, and Wanderer is our friend. We should be helping," Tourmaline objected.

Celestia shook her head. "We want you both to witness what happens here today. Should we not prove victorious, I want you both to lead the ponies of Equestria against Tyranny and resist him with all of your might."

"It won't come to that, Princess. You will win and we want to aid everypony," Tormod said. "I'm not nearly as strong as everypony else here, but I would gladly give my power to the Elements if it were possible."

Tourmaline stood firmly, her eyes showing her determination. "We started this mess, Princess. Let us help fix it."

Celestia smiled, again feeling a surge of pride. Despite all these two had been through and the heartache they had felt, they still stood strong and determined in the face of adversity.

"Then stay with us, but promise me you will not risk yourselves needlessly. If events do take a turn for the worse, promise me you will flee and show the ponies of Equestria the strength you have shown me."

"Yes, Princess," Tormod said, bowing to her.

"Count on us." Tourmaline pumped a foreleg.

Celestia smiled again and hoped that their strength would carry them past this final test, for it would soon test them all to their very limits.

-0-

It was nearing the evening hours when Twilight stood in the center of the clearing, going over the final details of her plan. She was confident in her plan and expected to succeed, but that did not stop the doubts from stubbornly forming. It was the curse of those who tended to overthink on things—they tended to question everything, even themselves. What if her friends missed a cue? Or they weren't strong enough? What if her plan was folly from the start? So many questions swam through her head. She closed her eyes as she tried to make sense of her jumbled thoughts and fears.

She looked up as she felt a comforting hoof rest on her shoulder. She turned and saw Princess Celestia standing next to her with a compassionate smile on her face.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight said softly. Looking at her, Twilight was not sure if she felt sadness, guilt, or hurt. The words of Tyranny still held in her mind. Despite coming to Celestia's aid in the fight at Canterlot, she was still not sure if she trusted her former mentor.

"Twilight, I want to let you know that I, that we, have complete faith in you. You have faced many more challenges before and have always come out for the better." She sat next to Twilight as they both looked towards the castle in the distance. "And I fully expect the same today."

Twilight sat silently for a long moment before she let out a long sigh. "I know, Princess, but I still have doubts, questions."

"We all do, Twilight, we all do. But know that no matter what happens, your friends, your family, and I trust you and your judgment, even if that judgement has sometimes lead to some interesting situations." She smiled in good humor.

Twilight smiled wanly, blushing some in embarrassment.

The two sat quietly and watched the sky for a moment until Twilight spoke up again. "There is something I don't understand, Princess Celestia." She looked towards her mentor. "Tyranny is supposed to represent order and stability, but surely he has to know that his way of thinking and actions only cause more chaos for Equestria. How is it that he became what he is?"

Celestia sat for a long moment, watching the sky above her. "Tyranny was always dedicated to his role as the Spirit of Order, but he was not always so cruel. He made many decisions that would be considered hard, but he was always fair. Luna and I supported him because he not only helped maintain our realm, but he also kept Discord in check in those days." She glanced away. "All I know is that he changed one day and became the oppressor we know. We tried to reason with him, plead for him to let go of whatever it was that so changed his heart. But in the end, we did what we had to do for Equestria." She shook her head. "I really wish I knew why, Twilight, but we will never know unless Tyranny himself tells us."

Twilight huffed in frustration. "But what about how you and Princess Luna defeated him the first time? You used the Elements, didn't you?"

Celestia nodded after a moment of silence. "We did, yes. But there was more to it than that."

"How did you do it?"

"Tyranny's original form had a flaw. We used that flaw to render him unable to stop the Elements from sealing him away." A gust of wind whipped both of their manes around wildly for a moment. "He has apparently learned from his past mistake."

Twilight rubbed at her face in irritation. "There are so many questions and not enough answers." She then changed the subject. "So your spell will allow him to hear me? And he will come to meet us?"

Celestia nodded. "He will. He will not turn down a chance to make sure that any threat to his authority is dealt with. Knowing that you challenged him will further solidify the likelihood of him coming to us."

Twilight nodded and stood. "We'd better get started." She took a calming breath as Cadence had taught her long ago.

"Twilight," Celestia said softly. She turned to regard her curiously.

"I promise to you, once this is done, I will speak to you of what it means to be an alicorn. Honestly and openly, I swear this to you."

Twilight nodded slowly after a moment. "Thank you, Princess," she said honestly.

"Are you ready then?" Celestia stood up from the ground.

Twilight looked around to make sure her friends and the others were in their places; each one gave a nod of confirmation. "We are."

Celestia's horn began to glow and Twilight felt herself become lighter for a moment.

"Now, Twilight, anything you say, he will be able to hear."

Twilight issued her challenge to the winds.

-0-

Tyranny sat on what was once Celestia's throne. The throne room was being cleared of debris by a number of worker ponies. A line of Canterlot's citizens were being paraded before the throne, each forced to swear their allegiance to their new ruler. The shadow beasts silently herded each one to make their pledge and saw them back out. Fillies and colts wept in their parent's forelegs, and many adults had downtrodden looks to them. They muttered in disbelief that their beloved princess had been ousted and replaced by this stallion, who was even more terrifying than his shadowy minions.

"Have you found them?" Tyranny asked a nearby pony guard, one of the few who hadn't steadfastly resisted his take over. He was also one of the few who had not shared the fate of so many others.

The guard lowered his head, shaking slightly underneath the cold glare. "No, my lord, we're still searching though."

"You had best find them, and soon. I will not tolerate failure." Tyranny gave him a meaningful glance. The guard knew that failure would not have a pleasant outcome.

"Yes, my lord," the guard said again, bowing.

Tyranny saw through a few more pledges before his head snapped upwards, his gaze on something that was not truly there.

"Tyranny!" He heard Twilight's challenge carried on ghostly winds that only he could hear. "We will not run anymore. If you want to finish this, come find us in a clearing outside of Canterlot and we will settle this once and for all."

His sudden laugh startled all of the ponies in the throne room. He could not believe that she would dare challenge him so soon after suffering such a resounding defeat. It was beyond laughable. Her foolish gambit just made it easier for him to find and deal with her, the Elements, and the princesses in one fell swoop. In doing so, his victory would be complete, and none would have the power to challenge him ever again.

He stood up from the throne, and his gaze settled on the cowering citizens of Canterlot. "Your foolish princess has dared to challenge me to a final confrontation. When I return, you will watch as I parade them before you in chains." His gaze swept over all of them. "Rejoice! For once I return, Equestria will no longer know strife nor chaos." With an eager grin, he faded from sight.

"Return to your homes, all of you," the shadow beasts said in unison in their emotionless voice.

The ponies wasted no time in leaving. As they were ushered out into the streets, more than a few prayers were given in support for their princesses.

-0-

Twilight stood alone in the clearing, the wind blowing steadily from behind her. The tall grasses swayed in the steady breeze like the waves upon a lake. Her mane snapped freely in the wind until she tucked it behind her ears and out of her eyes. The twilight hours were upon them and had set the surrounding area in a relaxing orange glow. It was peaceful—serene even—but Twilight did not let that lure her into complacence. She knew Tyranny was on his way and their feud will finally be coming to an end; for the better, she promised herself.

She felt his magical aura approach long before he appeared in the clearing. Tyranny appeared not far from her, unbothered by the fact she waited for him. She returned his glare, unafraid.

"So, you have chosen this to be the place of our battle, Lady Twilight?" He looked around with a sneer. "It is beautiful, I will give you that, but not as dramatic as I was expecting."

"Enough of your games, Tyranny." Her tone showed no hint of weakness, only the strength of her resolve. "I said it was time to finish this, and I meant it. We will defeat you and end this pointless struggle."

He scoffed. "There is nothing pointless in bringing about peace and order to this chaotic world, my lady. You of all others understand the need for order; without it, all else falls to chaos."

"There is nothing peaceful in the order you bring. All you bring is control and disharmony. Nothing can grow or change for the better if not allowed to flourish." A sudden gust snapped her mane loose again, but she did nothing to restrain it.

"Sacrifices must be made to ensure the stability of our world, and change threatens that. It is unacceptable. Do you honestly believe that you are capable of keeping this world from falling into chaos? You are a fool to believe your actions will ever matter in the long run." He looked to her, a faint smirk on his face. "It is not too late, lady Twilight, to use your powers for me. I promise you will not go unrewarded."

She growled at him. "You have nothing I want."

"Not even if it meant saving your friends?" He grinned wider. "I can ensure that you will never be parted from them, no matter how long your existence might be."

Her answer came in the form of an energy beam that he swatted aside.

"So you would take your one hope and crush it?" He chuckled evilly. "You creatures of flesh are a true paradox." He began to hover off the ground. "As you will then. On your knees! Bow before me!"

"Bow to this!" Rainbow Dash flew in and kicked him across the muzzle, snapping his head to the side. Before she even had the chance to enjoy finally getting her hooves on him, he caught her by her tail. She gasped and yelled in surprise as he twirled her about his head before tossing her away.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy quickly caught her friend, but the force of the throw sent them both tumbling to the ground.

Rainbow Dash shook the dizziness away. "Totally worth it."

"Are you alright, Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked her in concern.

"Yeah, just wanted to do that for a long time." She smiled wide before they both looked towards the glowering Tyranny and quickly ran to stand by Twilight's side.

Tyranny snorted at them. "Did you really think your actions would have changed anything?"

Rainbow stood in defiance. "No, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try. I'll kick your rump as often as I have to if it means protecting my friends."

"A bully is all you are! You should be ashamed!" Fluttershy, for once, did not back down from his glare.

"Foolish," he muttered and brought up a foreleg towards them.

"Oh no ya don't!" A pair of sizable rocks flew out towards him. The stallion deflected both missiles but did not have anything ready to ward off the next projectile, a blast of icing and cake batter shot from a cannon.

Applejack nodded firmly. "Good shot, Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie blew on the tip of her hoof as she leaned on her trusty party cannon. "Gotta love cake. I know I do," she said before both of them joined Twilight in the clearing.

With a growl, the cake-covered stallion vaporized the batter and looked at them angrily. "You dare mock me?!"

"Only 'cause it's funny, silly. I bet if you laughed, it wouldn't seem so bad." Pinkie met his scowl with a wide smile.

"But a swindler like you ain't got what it takes in yer heart to see anything past yer own nose," Applejack said hotly.

Rarity gracefully strode to stand beside her friends. "There is beauty in life with a bit of randomness. All the patterns in the world mean nothing without the creative inspiration to see them realized."

"Enough! I will not listen to the babbling of ignorant foals!" Tyranny shot a beam of energy towards them.

The beam dissipated on a violet barrier. Tyranny looked past the six to see see that it had not originated from the princess.

"We will stand forever against your ilk. When you threaten family and friends, we will fight you to our last breath," Shining Armor said as he also joined them, his horn glowing.

Princess Cadence stood by him, her expression firm. "With love in our hearts, we have the strength to defy those who wish us harm."

Tyranny scowled. "Love, family, honor? All pathetic concepts to cling to. Each one is so easily taken away, leaving you with nothing but despair. You may know your precious happiness for a short time, but you will forever know despair and sadness as all you hold dear is eventually taken away from you. Life has forever shown this lesson, yet you all foolishly cling to them still."

His forehoof lashed out, and a single shadow band pierced Shining Armor's barrier and grabbed hold of Cadence. "And you will watch as I demonstrate this lesson by destroying the one that represents 'love'." He spat, lifting her from the ground.

"No!" Shining Armor shouted above the others as Cadence squirmed fiercely in the crushing grip.

A pair of energy beams, one gold and the other midnight blue, shot out towards him. Tyranny hastily erected a barrier that caused both beams to burst into a shower of sparks. The band holding Cadence vanished, dropping her back into the waiting forelegs of her husband.

"Are you alright?" he asked her with concern.

She gave him a warm smile. "Never better."

"Over a thousand years ago, Tyranny, you caused no end of hardship for the ponies of Equestria, and you still do so in this day and age," Princess Celestia said as she took her place with the others. "Have you truly learned nothing in all that time?"

He glowered at her. "You speak as if you are superior, Celestia, yet you can do nothing on your own without the support of those beneath you. A true ruler is capable of handling troubles without the blessings or consent of those under them. Look to your sister and your beloved student as proof of your weakness."

"My sister did as she had to when she sent me away." There was no doubt in Luna's tone. "Despite all the hardship she has endured, she did right by Equestria for the sake of her subjects and kingdom."

"And you have forgiven her? A thousand years of lonely imprisonment in the moon, and you forgive her?" he asked with an incredulous scowl.

"I have." She gave a warm smile to her elder sister, who gratefully smiled back.

He spat contemptuously. "Fool."

Twilight spoke in a tone that carried her conviction. "Princess Celestia has entrusted all of us with helping her oversee and protect Equestria. That is one thing you never learned, Tyranny. Trust. You never took the risk in trusting others for fear of betrayal."

"Fear?" He laughed at that absurdity. "It is not fear, child, it is truth. All things will betray you at the first opportunity to which they will benefit. I have seen this tragedy repeated so many times; there is no doubt to my words. Even your dearest friends will betray you one day, just as your mentor has!"

Twilight would not let that barb sting her.

"You are all fools for believing—" he growled in anger as a lime-green energy ray struck him from behind. He whirled to see who would be so brash as to attack him so brazenly.

"Don't you ever stop talking?" Queen Chrysalis sneered, her horn still shimmering with magic.

"You, impudent bug!" He fired a number of retaliatory beams that she scrambled to avoid. The changeling queen wasted no time in getting beside the ponies.

"You would ally yourself with them? Knowing that they will turn on you just as easily?" he asked.

She quickly glanced to the ponies before looking back at him. "I don't like them any more than I used to, but I will do as I must to protect my hive and our way of life from the likes of you. Better a soft heart like Celestia than a merciless dog like you."

He looked to the assembled ponies before him and sneered at the sight.

"You vermin may swarm, but you are still just that, vermin. What can you possibly hope to accomplish?"

Twilight stepped forward. "We may not all be friends, Tyranny—" she glanced briefly to Chrysalis, who simply rolled her eyes "—but there is one thing we all can agree on, and that is that we will never bow to you! Not now, not ever! As long as we have each other, we will defy you. Our love and friendship will never be controlled."

Tyranny looked at them silently, thoughtfully. It was obvious to him that they truly believed in their words. He privately admitted it was an impressive sight, even if misguided. As long as they held those beliefs he would never gain total control over them or any other in Equestria.

"I see, so I was wrong all along," he said calmly, too calmly. His words caught them all by surprise; Fluttershy even dared a hopeful look.

"I was wrong in believing that I could allow the pony folk their free will and bring about peace and stability to this world at the same time. It leaves only one solution." His expression quickly turned stern. "And that is to make everything mine! All of those pathetic concepts you cling to will be meaningless, as you will become mere extensions of my will! Never more will this world know strife or chaos, because you will be nothing more than puppets dancing on my strings!" He levitated upward and held out his forelegs.

All of them, even the pegasi and earth ponies could feel the magic he conjured. It seemed the world itself was groaning in pain from the magical build up. A thick overcast formed and began to swirl violently in the sky. The wind picked up to near gale-force power as it grew suddenly dark.

"We won't let you!" Twilight yelled. "Girls! Now!"

Instantly the Elements began to glow, each emitting their respective properties. The six of them levitated into the air as the Elements began to charge.

Tyranny laughed at them. "The Elements of Harmony could not stop me before. Why do you think they would work this time?"

"Because we believe in each other!" Twilight yelled and collected the energy in her element, and the rainbow-colored beam shot at him.

He scoffed and held out his hooves like before, holding back the power of the Elements with little difficulty. "It is futile. You were foolish to confront me." His eyes flashed and a black energy beam began to push the magic of the Elements back.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! Now!" Twilight yelled as she and her friends strained to continue the energy of the Elements.

"Now, sister, give the Elements your power," Celestia said to Luna who nodded in turn and closed her eyes. Both began to glow and levitated to join the Element Bearers. Their combined energy caused the rainbow beam to swell, and it pushed back the dark beam.

With a grunt, Tyranny scowled and fought back with a power surge of his own. He halted the advance of the Elements, and slowly began pushing them back again.

"Cadence, Shining," Twilight called.

"For the Crystal Empire!" Shining shouted.

"For Equestria!" The couple glowed, and they too levitated with the others. The Element's beam surged and advanced on Tyranny.

Tyranny's growl of frustration became louder as he strained to hold back the powers of harmony. It was inconceivable that they could enhance the Elements of Harmony so; it was unheard of! However, even with the royal couple's added power, the dark beam eventually began to push forward once more.

"Chrysalis!" Twilight yelled.

The changeling queen looked to the exchange of raw energy with a look of pure, frightened awe.

"H-how?!" she stammered.

Celestia's expression was strained. "Feel the world around you, and give yourself to the Elements. Feel their glow and their warmth, and allow yourself to become part of it."

Chrysalis looked confused but closed her eyes and concentrated. As she closed her eyes and felt the world around her, she could feel the massive power of the Elements of Harmony fighting the dark powers of Tyranny. The Elements felt so welcoming and inviting as she joined their embrace. The warm feeling she felt, was this what the ponies felt every day of their lives? She decided now was not the time to think on it, and she bathed in the warmth that she felt for the first time.

Tyranny strained under the combined powers of the ponies and changeling queen. The sky still swirled above and the winds howled, but not by his doing alone. The combined energies of the Elements and his own caused them to act out violently. Lightning flashed and struck the ground around them, splintering apart trees and blasting holes in the turf.

Sweat rolled down Tyranny's face as he stared at them in disbelief. He simply could not believe the sheer power they had amassed together. Never before had any stood up to him like this—pushing him to his very limits—not even a thousand years earlier when Celestia and Luna had tricked him and caused the imprisonment that had destroyed his physical form.

Rage flashed across his expression as the memory filled his mind, and his anger gave him new strength. With a growl, he gave another surge to his magic. To everypony's horror, the black beam slowly, ever so slowly, began to push back the Elements of Harmony.

"No!" Applejack yelled in denial.

"This can't be!" Rarity shouted in despair.

"Focus! Push him back!" Twilight yelled under the punishing strain.

The two energies pushed to a standstill, but eventually, the dark beam inched forward.

Maniacal laughter erupted from Tyranny. "It is no use! You are nothing before me! True order shall win the day, and this world will be mine!"

The ponies gave everything they had to stop the inevitable.

"Wanderer!" A shout from below had all eyes turned towards its source.

"No! Tourmaline, Tormod, stay back!" Celestia cried, gritting her teeth.

The two ran through the wind-torn grasses of the field. Their manes whipped around violently, and both struggled to keep standing. "Wanderer! Don't let him win!" Tourmaline cried over the howling gale.

While Tyranny's head never moved, he did stare downward at the two ponies who dared to interfere with his victory.

"We know you are in there, Wanderer, fight him!" Tormod called up.

"You never let anything keep you down before, why start with him?!" Tourmaline shouted.

There was no change in Tyranny's expression and his magic kept its slow, steady advance on the Elements.

"Do you remember what you always told me?" Tourmaline asked. "You said to not let fear stop you, and things were only scary until you conquered them. Well, follow your own words! Conquer your fear and stop him!"

There was still no change.

"Please! Wanderer!"

Tyranny's gaze was locked on the pegasus, simply staring at her with no apparent emotion. Then, for a split second, Tyranny's amber eyes were replaced by Wanderer's hazel.

For a split second, the Spirit of Order lost control.

Tyranny's magic faded for that split second, and the power of the Elements was no longer restrained. Tyranny quickly asserted control of his body again but didn't have the time to muster enough energy to stop the Elements, and there was no possibility of avoiding them.

His expression showed pure disbelief, and his scream of denial was heard throughout Equestria as the power of the Elements of Harmony washed over him. There was a bright flash of light, and a thunderous explosion flung them all to the turf.

Chapter 16

The silence that followed the explosion of light was almost palpable. The wind had died down to a gentle breeze, and even the animal life had been subdued in the aftermath of the struggle. The storm that had raged only a few moments before had faded as fast as it arrived.

Twilight and the others pushed themselves off the ground, shaking their dizziness away.

"Ugh," Rainbow muttered. "Did we win?" They collectively looked back to where Tyranny had been.

Their eyes widened in denial, and they gasped loudly as Tyranny still hovered in the air above them. He appeared battered and beaten, and one eye was closed shut. He was panting through gritted teeth, glaring at them with pure disbelief. He slowly lifted one hoof towards them.

Or at least he tried to, as his arm dropped limply to his side. With a cough, he fell to the ground. The snake crown fell from his head and rolled in the grass before disintegrating into nothingness. He slowly pushed himself up, supported only by his front legs, wisps of black miasma drifting off of his body and vanishing.

With his one good eye, he glared hatefully at Twilight. "How is this, possible? I can't lose to somepony like you."

Celestia stood slowly and gave him a look of regret. "If only you would have changed a little, Tyranny, and used your powers for good, it would not have come to this. You brought this upon yourself, and it is finally over."

His laughter sounded like a weak cough. "All this time and still you know nothing, Celestia. As long as the desire for order and control exists, so will I." He glared at her. "I will be back again!" He stood painfully on all fours as a low rumbling started. "Enjoy this victory while you can, but don't you dare think this is over…"

"It is over, Tyranny! You have lost!" Luna snapped at him.

He managed a contemptuous scoff. "Poor, little, Luna… You fool. You will see the truth of my words...You will see…" He slowly levitated into the air. "From the depths of darkness… I will return… to rule again." The rumbling was growing louder and louder.

Twilight glared at him defiantly. "Come back as often as you want. You won't ever beat us!"

Tyranny wanted to retort, but a severe spasm of pain caused him to wrap his forelegs around his barrel. With a look of disbelief and a shout, he threw his forelegs outward, and a loud, violent eruption of light came from him, causing them all to shield their eyes from the bright glare.

-0-

The outpost along Equestria's eastern border stood as empty and bare as it had since Twilight and the others had arrived. The stillness was suddenly broken as a flash of light appeared. In its place was the unicorn commander who had been Tyranny's first victim. He looked around in confusion as more flashes of light brought back his soldiers. All across Equestria, the ponies who had been banished to the Realm of Shadow reappeared in a similar manner, the magic binding them unravelling. The soldiers could only look to each other with confusion before the commander just shook his head and muttered, "I need a vacation."

-0-

In another part of Equestria, a certain blue unicorn showmare appeared by her wagon. Her violet eyes glanced to and fro, clearly confused, before they settled on her nearby magic cap and cloak. A pinkish aura surrounded the garments, and with a dramatic flourish, they settled in their usual places.

"Trixie has returned!" she declared grandly to nopony in particular. Her smile was as wide and genuine as the breeze that blew through her silvery mane.

-0-

In the Crystal Empire, an orange-pelted and blue-maned pegasus picked himself up and looked at his fellow guards.

The commanding officer was quick to assert control. "Find the Princess and Prince, we need to find them! Flash, get to Canterlot and seek Princess Celestia's aid."

"Yes, sir." Flash Sentry saluted before flying southward.

-0-

In Canterlot, the guards picked themselves up and looked to the nearly destroyed castle in disbelief. They jumped in surprise as Discord appeared and muttered his annoyance while dusting himself off.

"Finally!" he huffed. "Took them long enough. Next time, I'll remember to draw them a picture."

The guards simply looked to each other. "Do you have any idea what is going on?"

"Not a clue."

-0-

Once the glare began to dim in the clearing, the ponies squinted at its center. Instead of the dark velvet stallion, an auburn-colored earth pony floated listlessly in the air as the last of the dark miasma vanished from his body. He floated in the air a moment more before plummeting to the ground.

"Wanderer!" screamed a panicked Tourmaline. She took off with a speed born of adrenaline and caught him before he could hit the ground, but the two tumbled in a heap. She was quickly back on her hooves and at his side.

"Wanderer, please wake up!" she pleaded. She pressed her ear against his chest, listening for a heartbeat. "Wanderer, please don't do this to me. Wake up! Don't give up now! Wanderer!" she cried out, her voice cracking.

The wind ruffled his mane, but it was the only movement from the unresponsive stallion.

"Wanderer…" she uttered softly, and she let the tears flow unabashed.

Tormod rested a hoof on her shoulder, and she looked at him with grief-stricken eyes. Her brother's own eyes were rimmed with tears, but he held strong for her.

"Tourmaline—"

"No! He's not gone! Not after all we've gone through, not now!" She turned a pleading look to Celestia. "Princess Celestia, please help him! Don't let him die!"

Celestia walked up to the still stallion and lowered her head to listen to his chest. After a moment, she looked at Tourmaline with saddened eyes. "I am sorry, Tourmaline, there are some things not even I can change."

"No! I won't believe it! Wanderer, please don't do this to me! Wanderer!" She looked back at him and buried her face into his neck, her sobs shaking her entire body.

All around, tears of sadness and pity were shed for the pegasus's loss. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie wept openly. Twilight tried to hold the tears back but failed. Rainbow Dash and Applejack did their best to hide their own.

Tourmaline cried more and uttered her friend's name a final time before resting her head on his neck.

It was then she heard it, a faint thump, which was followed by another. She looked at his face and saw his eyes flutter a bit before he drew in a breath. A soft groan escaped his mouth.

"W-Wanderer?" she asked quietly, her eyes widening in hope.

He grunted again and pushed himself up slowly, looking at her in confusion. "Tourmaline?"

"Wanderer!" She wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug, tears of loss replaced by tears of unrestrained joy.

He grunted in pain from the viselike grip of her hug. "Tourmaline… my ribs… ow."

She gasped and let him go, but when he smiled weakly at her, she tentatively hugged him again.

They heard shouts of surprise from behind them. A blast of confetti and streamers showered over everybody—a show of Pinkie's unrestrained joy.

Luna looked at the two in shock before looking to her sister, who wore a perplexed expression as well, though it quickly warmed up at the sight before her. "How is this possible?"

Celestia shook her head softly. "I don't know…"

"Tormod, what's going on? Where am I?" Wanderer asked his friend. The unicorn stood by quietly, a relieved smile on his face.

Before he could answer, Princess Celestia approached. "There is much to speak of, but first we need to make sure you are alright."

"Princess Celestia," he breathed and lowered his head respectfully. The bow would have sent him back to the ground had Tourmaline not been there to steady him.

Celestia smiled warmly. "Do not worry. You and your friends can stay at my castle to heal and enjoy the celebration."

"Celebration! Party! Whoo hoo!" Pinkie cheered and danced around, rubbing her hooves together eagerly.

As everyone laughed and congratulated each other, Twilight looked around and noticed that Chrysalis was nowhere to be seen. The changeling had likely disappeared shortly after Tyranny had been defeated. Twilight could only shrug. If Chrysalis tried to make a move on Equestria, they would be ready for her. Twilight, however, silently hoped that Chrysalis had learned a thing or two about friendship and trust while she had been with them.

-0-

The mood in the train car was one of joy and relief as the ponies agreed that they should all return to Canterlot together. Smiles and laughter were shared as they all excitedly talked about the upcoming celebration. Princess Celestia watched Wanderer as he sat quietly next to Tourmaline, watching the others talk and laugh amongst themselves. He was leaning against Tourmaline, and—to Celestia—he seemed to enjoyed the pegasus's presence as much as she was his.

"Wanderer, would you be willing to tell us what happened to you while under Tyranny's control?" Princess Celestia asked.

His gaze snapped to her, and he lowered his head a bit. The mood in the train cart changed, just like that, as all gazes were on him.

He rubbed the back of head. "I'm not sure how to describe it. It was like being in a small room to myself, with only a single window to look out of. Through the window, I could see and hear everything he did but couldn't do anything to stop him. Anytime I screamed or yelled at him to stop, he taunted me. He told me over and over how powerless I was to do anything, and that I should consider myself fortunate to witness his dominance over Equestria and not end up like everypony else he had sent to the Realm of Shadow." He shuddered. "I wouldn't wish that upon even my worst enemy."

"So, how did you break free?" Fluttershy asked. "I thought I saw your eyes for a moment before Tyranny stopped attacking us."

Wanderer frowned faintly in thought. "When he was fighting all of you together, I guess it put a lot of strain on him. The room I was in suddenly cracked open, and I jumped through without thinking. I only got to see the clearing for a second before I was put back in the room. But then there was the light, and his yell before… I don't know. I can't honestly tell you." He shrugged helplessly.

The royal sisters shared a glance before Applejack spoke. "So is Tyranny truly gone fer good, Princess?"

She shook her head. "No, it is as he said. As long as ponies desire order and structure, he will continue to exist."

"Despite what we may want otherwise, our world needs order just as much as it needs chaos. Without it, the world could not maintain harmony," Princess Luna said.

"So we'll have to keep things from getting too chaotic for him to come crawling back again," Rarity said, still trying to fix her mane after the brutal beating it had taken from the storm's wind.

"Oh, where is the fun in that? A little bit of chaos isn't such a bad thing." Wanderer's eyes widened as a voice drifted around all of them. He jumped a bit as a draconequus appeared beside Rarity, idly flicking at her mane.

"Discord!" shouted many ponies. Happy tears ran down Fluttershy's face as she enveloped him in a fierce hug.

"Good to see all of you again, though you certainly took your sweet time." He released Fluttershy from the hug. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to play I Spy in the Realm of Shadow? It is no walk in the park, let me tell you."

Wanderer looked quickly to Tourmaline for an explanation.

"A friend," she said, nodding to Discord. "He was the one who helped Tormod when he was turned into a statue."

"Another absolutely boring experience, that is. It's horrible when you have an itch that needs scratching and you can't move your petrified arms to get to it," Discord said.

Tormod smiled weakly. "Indeed."

Discord looked at Wanderer. "Well, I'm certain that being turned to stone would have been preferable to being stuck in your own mind with that insufferable Tyranny as your only company. I'm glad to see that you don't have to suffer that anymore."

Wanderer smirked wanly. "He was a bit of a blowhard."

Discord laughed. "That he is, that he is. Well said."

"There is one thing I don't understand," Rarity said. "Why didn't the Elements turn Tyranny to stone?"

The draconequus rolled his eyes, but the others seemed thoughtful. Twilight looked at Wanderer for a moment and was about to say something but caught herself.

"What were you thinking, Twilight?" Princess Celestia asked her.

"It's… a theory. I don't have any proof," she admitted.

"Let us hear it," Luna said.

"Well, I think that you had something to do with it." She looked again at Wanderer.

His head snapped back in surprise. "Me?"

She nodded. "I theorize that because Tyranny was in control of your body, that the Elements didn't turn him to stone. If they had, they would have sealed you in stone along with him." She shook her head. "That would have been far too cruel, and the Elements would not have done something like that."

He glanced to the side. "You have no idea…"

Again, she nodded. "I don't know where Tyranny has gone. His essence might have been scattered or banished, but I do not know where it could be. Tartarus maybe?"

Celestia frowned faintly. "Perhaps, I will speak with Cerberus when we return to Canterlot."

"Well, I can't say much on the subject. The only experience I've had with the Elements is being made into a lawn ornament," Discord muttered.

"You are never going to let that go are you?" Rarity asked him irritably.

"Not in my lifetime or yours," he said matter-of-factly and showed her a mirror that appeared in his hand. Her expression turned to pure horror as she saw her purple mane had been turned into a solid black.

"My mane! You fiend! A black mane with a white coat is so monochrome. You dastard!" she cried with a horrified voice.

Discord wagged a finger at her. "Now, now, language. A proper lady would not use such vulgarity."

"You know exactly what I said, you hooligan. Change my mane back, now!"

"Oh, if you insist." He snapped his fingers again and changed her hair to crimson.

"Discord!" Her shriek almost hit ear-piercing levels.

"So much for keepin' things from bein' too chaotic," Applejack remarked dryly.

-0-

For three days, the celebration was shared all over Equestria. Tyranny's defeat was one of joy and merriment. In Canterlot, Pinkie Pie and Discord made sure the celebration was extravagant and would never be forgotten. The storm of confetti clouds and uncountable amount of cupcakes had made for an unforgettable event.

Princess Cadence and Shining Armor returned to the Crystal Empire to bring the news to the crystal ponies and assure them that all was well. The Crystal Heart was soon set back in its pedestal, and happiness flowed forth once again.

After the third day, the adventurers took their leave of Canterlot. Twilight found herself with Princess Celestia in the throne room as the three announced their departure. She stood beside her mentor as they spoke to the three. The damage done to the throne room had been repaired by a simple snap of a draconequus's fingers.

"So, you are leaving?" Princess Celestia asked them.

"Yes, Princess, I'm getting the urge to move on," Wanderer said, his friends beside him. "It usually means there is more adventure ahead for us."

Celestia smiled and nodded. "You will take care of them, yes?" she asked, turning her gaze to Tourmaline.

Tourmaline smiled wide. "I will, Princess. I promise we won't get into too much trouble."

"Except for the trouble you inevitably start," Tormod muttered.

"Care to say that a bit louder, dear brother?" Tourmaline asked acidly, glaring daggers at him.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said with aplomb.

Wanderer laughed, which earned him an elbow to the ribs. "Every day's an adventure, Princess. As long as you have great friends with you, it's never a dull moment."

Twilight smiled at them. "You three will visit Ponyville one day, right?"

He turned his easy smile to her. "You can count on it, Princess. The Everfree Forest is one place we all want to explore one day. Keep an eye out for us."

"Of course, farewell to you all." With that, the three politely took their leave. Wanderer and Tourmaline walked closely together as they left.

Twilight smiled warmly at them. It was good to see happiness in others. For her, happiness had been restrained during the celebration. Her long awaited talk with Celestia was at hoof, and she would finally have the answers she so desired to her questions.

"Well, Princess Twilight, are you ready?" Princess Celestia turned to her with a serious expression.

Twilight took a calming breath. "I am, Princess. For better or worse, I am. However…" She hesitated a moment. "I want to say something."

Celestia looked to her curiously and gave a nod of encouragement. "Speak on then."

"Even if it was just for a moment that I doubted you. I never would turn my back on you. Not for anything. Even if it means that I will have to see my friends and family move on without me. You are still my friend, and that will never change. If I have to live forever too, I know I will have you, Luna, Cadence, and Spike with me."

Celestia looked to her for a long moment and smiled warmly. "There is something I must show you before I speak." She raised her head up, and her horn glowed brightly. Twilight could feel herself slipping away, her essence leaving Equestria.

-0-

She opened her eyes and looked round slowly. She stood in a place of ethereal light where every color of the spectrum shown brilliantly. They flowed and ghosted around her as she looked around at the marvelous display. She recognized where she was; it was the place she had gone on the day she had become a princess.

Small "screens" floated by. They showed images of other alicorns as they went about their lives, and there were even images of male alicorns, few as they were. Twilight could only look on in wonder, as there were dozens of them. From what she saw of the backgrounds in the screens, she could tell that they spanned centuries in time. Yet, none of them were alicorns she knew of. All of the faces and names had been lost to history, remaining in the memory of only one pony.

"They all felt the same as you, Twilight. They all had questions of what it meant to be an alicorn, or what it meant to be a princess or prince," Celestia said as she joined her student.

"Who are they, Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked, her eyes wide as she looked to the various images.

"They are my recollections of others whom I had adopted and given the title of Princess or Prince of Equestria. It is here, in the Realm of Light, where I can see their faces and hear their voices again—even if I cannot do so in Equestria anymore." There was a tightness about her voice, and Twilight saw that Celestia had tears rimming her eyes.

"So they are…?" Twilight asked, though she knew the answer.

"Dead and passed on, yes," the princess said with no small amount of grief. "But here, I keep their memory alive and with me forever."

"So that means that I…" she let the thought hang, not able to give it voice.

"Will not have to endure the loss of your friends through aging without you aging along with them. I would not be so cruel as to have you learn what true friendship was, only to have you see it pass on in front of you. Nor could I let Cadence marry your brother if it meant she would have to helplessly watch him leave her behind."

"Princess Cadence… So she does know?"

"Did you not ask her?" Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow and small smile.

Twilight blushed sheepishly. "I was afraid to ask her, just in case she didn't know. I didn't want to upset her at the time, considering the situation we were in."

Celestia nodded in understanding. "Tyranny likely planned it that way and influenced your thoughts."

Twilight frowned. "Why would he say such things? Surely he knew the truth."

"He did, but he took the risk and assumed you did not. Once he knew, he used you. Because of that, I take the blame, Twilight. Can you ever forgive me?" Celestia asked.

The way Celestia had said it, Twilight knew her answer would be important. After a moment of thought, she smiled warmly. "Of course, Princess. I would be a horrible pony if I didn't. You only wanted to protect me until I was ready, and Tyranny took advantage of it. You couldn't have seen it coming. So yes, I forgive you."

Celestia smiled warmly, and the two shared an embrace.

"But, Princess, how is it that you and Princess Luna have lived for so long? Whereas Cadence, the others, and I don't?"

Celestia closed her eyes a moment, and spoke honestly. "My sister and I were born as alicorns, Twilight, and with that came incredible longevity. Not immortality, but a long lifespan. One that has spanned well over a thousand years."

Twilight looked to the screens of the deceased alicorns as they moved past and felt sympathy for her mentor. "How do you do it, Princess Celestia?"

She looked to her curiously, and Twilight explained further, "Each of them and me—how do you stand seeing them live and pass on? It has to hurt anew each time."

Celestia watched the images float past for a time. "It is hard, Twilight, but I find comfort in knowing they all lived their lives to the fullest. It does not lessen the grief, but it certainly helps me cope."

Twilight considered that. "You are strong, Princess Celestia, stronger than I will ever be."

The Sun Princess smiled. "Do not sell yourself short, Twilight. When you faced Tyranny, you showed strength that I would be hard-pressed to match." She nuzzled her student affectionately. "Seeing you and your friends lead happy, full lives gives me my strength. Remember that."

Twilight smiled warmly and felt herself returning to Equestria. Her heart felt lifted after so many days of despair.

-0-

Twilight and her friends stepped off the train at the Ponyville train station. Twilight could see that nothing had changed in the sleepy little town. She saw the Cakes still ran Sugarcube Corner. Big Macintosh was selling apples at the local market. She saw Autumn Leaves happily unloading a wagon full of new books with the help of her sister, Winter Blossom, who looked dejected as she helped unload the wagon. Twilight made a mental note to get to the store as soon as possible to browse the shop keeper's new inventory.

Twilight was truly happy to be home. After so many weeks of being on the road and so much frustration, heartache, and eventual closure to many questions, she was glad to be home. She saw that her friends felt the same way as she, as each of them wore wide, eager smiles.

"Alright, better see if the weather ponies have been keeping things running smoothly while I was gone," Rainbow Dash said as they stopped for goodbyes. "I'm sure that without me around, things have gotten hectic."

"Oh, I bet Angel and all the woodland critters will be so happy to see me. I can't wait to see them." Fluttershy pranced excitedly in place.

"Ah better be getting on home too. Ah'm sure Applebloom is going ta chat mah ear off askin' questions, and sure enough, Ah'll hear about all the trouble she and her crusader friends been in while we were gone." Applejack smiled wanly.

"Oh, oh, I gotta let Mr. and Mrs. Cake know I'm back in town. Pound and Pumpkin Cake will be so happy to see me." Pinkie Pie bounced excitedly, her saddlebags overflowing with treats and goodies left over from the celebration.

"I'm sure Sweetie Belle has left quite the mess for me to clean up once I get back to the boutique. No doubt there are orders that will need to be seen too as well." Rarity sighed. "A lady's work is never done."

"I'm sure Spike has a surprise for me waiting at home too. I know he's been missing us all since he came home without us," Twilight said.

"He's probably glad he didn't stay with us," Rainbow joked.

The girls all shared a small chuckle and turned for home.

"Same time this next weekend at the watering hole?" Rarity asked.

Applejack tipped her hat. "You betcha."

"Indeedy," Pinkie Pie added.

Rainbow gave a confident smirk. "You know it."

"I'll be there," Fluttershy said quietly.

Twilight smiled. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Alright, see you girls soon." Rarity waved in parting, and turned down the lane towards the boutique.

As each went their separate ways, Twilight watched after them. She truly felt blessed that she would have excellent friends no matter what came their way. Together, they would see it through as the best of friends for the rest of their lives. With a happy, content sigh, she turned for home.

Epilogue

It had slept for so long. For millennia, it had remained in a deep, quiet sleep, undisturbed as the world continued without it. The passage of time meant little, but that had ended as the balance of the world shifted violently. Slowly, a set of serpentine eyes opened to the darkness of its prison. An intake of breath signaled the creature's awakening. It peered ahead at the massive stone slab that served as the door to its cell.

The hiss of steel broke the silence as it brought a blade to bear, and with a mighty swing, it swung its weapon at the slab. Before the weapon could connect, a sigil appeared on the slab, and the magic rebounded the blade back at its wielder. The creature hissed in pain and in rage as it was flung backwards. It collected itself and tried once more to break through the sigil with no more luck.

The creature settled down as it considered its options. Clearly, the magic that bound it still held, and it would not be breaking out by force any time soon. The creature then considered that if force would not work, subtlety would have to be its next option. Large incisors dripped venom as the creature smiled wickedly. It might have been imprisoned, but that did not mean it was completely bound. It could feel the living souls that surrounded its prison, so it knew that the ponies still lived and thrived in the world. If the ponies still existed, then it would find its way out.

The creature reveled in the thought of once again bringing about the plague to the world.

-0-

Outside of Trottingham, a sole wagon approached its outskirts. The mare pulling the wagon could only smile softly as she imagined the reception she would receive. For a certain showmare, she was ready to get back on stage to entertain the masses after her jaunt in a realm of darkness. For surely, Trottingham would be the start of her grand return to fame.

She was unaware of how the hands of fate were guiding her to her ultimate destiny.