Cadence slowly stood. Power surged through her veins. A sick smile spread across her lips. She turned towards where Shining Armor stood, Frozen. He had the most terrified expression on his face that Cadence could imagine. Moon Rise released him. He fell on the floor, and looked up at Cadence. Tears formed in his eyes. Cadence laughed, and summoned darkness to her horn. She felt alive. And she loved it. She chuckled.

"Cadence... please..." he whispered. Cadence summoned darkness to her horn, her power growing by the second. Her vision became tainted black. She shot the darkness at Shining Armor. It wrapped around him, pinning him to to ground. Sombra watched, amused. Moon Rise studied the violence, unsatisfied. Shining Armor let go of a scream. He started gasping for air. Cadence chuckled, and threw him against the wall.
"Cadence! snap out of it!" he shouted at her desperately. she laughed, and summoned a huge surge of engergy to her horn. Moon Rise glanced at Sombra.

"run," she mouthed, and flashed herself out. Sombra took her warning, and melted into shadow. A huge explosion of darkness erupted from Cadence. a surge of adrenaline jolted through Cadences veins, as everything around her was destroyed. her wings became tinted black, and dark ribbons curled from her eyes.

o)0()0(o

Cadence gasped, and sat up. Her heart pounded inside her head. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she scanned her surroundings. She was in what was left of the castle. The many stories had been reduced to rubble, and the surrounding houses had been destroyed. it slowly sank in that it was her. it was all her. in the center of it all. the rest of the empire hadn't seemed to suffer as much... but there was no pony to be seen. she gasped between sobs, and looked around her terrified. She started trembling, and closed her eyes. Her ears pricked up as she heard someone behind her. She screamed, and shot a huge arc of darkness at them. It harmlessly dissolved against the Alicorn who had done this to her.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed at her. The mare continued towards her, expressionless. Cadence screamed at her, and made herself explode off the ground. she took flight, and shot more slices of darkness at the mare. they exploded against her coat, and consumed most of Cadence's vision with sparks, and black magic. Cadence gasped for air, as the fur on the back of her neck stood on end. she frantically scanned the darkness for any evidence that the mare had survived. Cadence took deep breaths to calm herself.

"I'm afraid that it will be a little harder than that to kill me," The mare said from behind Cadence. Cadence screamed again, and shot more darkness at her. the mare threw her hooves up, and curled it to her will. she shot it back at Cadence. it forced its way into her mind. Cadence screamed, and held her head as her vision flashed black. she flew away from the mare, tears reforming in her eyes, and streaming down her cheeks. The mare made darkness wrap around her, and pull her back.

"NO! Let go of me! let me go..." She trailed off into a sob as the mare positioned Cadence to face her.

"what do you want with me..." she asked, breaking into despair.

"we want your help. that is all," The mare promised her. Cadence slowly opened her eyes, and looked into the Mare's piercing irises. they flashed liquid silver. The metallic color slowly bled into Cadence's eyes.
"You are going to come with me. understood?" she asked. Cadence stared into the mare's eyes, mesmerized.

"understood..."

the mare slowly brought her down to the ground, and released her from her dark bonds.

Sombra slowly melted out of the shadows. he and Moon Rise exchanged a glance. Moon Rise smiled at him. he looked back at Cadence, reassured.

"Where do you wish to take me?" Cadence asked.
Moon Rise smiled, and Cast a spell on Cadence and Sombra. Their images flashed and disappeared.

Moon Rise was about to trance-port herself when a thought occurred to her. she looked at the ground under her, and flew up into the sky. Moon Rise shot darkness at the ground, and made it form the symbol she had painted on her flank. her horn began to glow an eerie light as she made it sink into the ground, tattooing it. Studying her work, she flew up higher. it was of a full moon, and trapped inside, a small black star.

Moon Rise found herself Next to Sombra and Cadence, in the castle of the two sisters. Sombra looked up at her, unamused.

"tell us... why, exactly did you take us to the biggest excuse of a dump you could muster?" Sombra asked. Moon Rise ignored his attitude. His magic would get weaker if she tried to disciplining him, and that was the last thing she needed.

"Because we're going after Princess Twilight next. The Princess spends a lot of time here, and we're setting up an ambush," Moon Rise answered. Sombra sighed, and made a black crystal patch one of the broke walls, not wanting a draft.

"I'm going to PonyVille. I'm taking over one of the elements, so that they will be inactive. Stay here, and don't stir up any trouble in the woods. If anyone notices, then our attack plans may be destroyed."

her horn began to glow as she made herself trance form into a greenish colored Unicorn. Getting used to her new and smaller form, she carefully trotted down the hall. Cadence and Sombra exchanged a glance. Cadence sighed.

"I'm guessing that you're still ticked about the crystal heart," she commented. He scoffed.

"You mean for blasting me into a billion pieces? No, were totally cool," he replied sarcastically. Cadence sat down, and sighed. Sombra snook a glance at her cutiemark. The once blue heart had turned black. He smiled a little, and sat down next to her. He sighed.

"I guess I'm sorry about making you stay up for weeks on end," he tried to get rid of the awkward silence. She raised an eyebrow.

"That's fine. I mean, it gave me a reason to ditch my husband for a ten day nap." she told him. He smiled.

"you don't like him?"he asked.

"well, I guess I didn't really see it earlier, but hes just so... ugh. Like, remember when I got the crystal heart right before you could grab it, well he grabbed me, his half dead wife, and shot me in the air. and then when i had been impersonated by a demon named Chrysalis, he didn't even notice until she had already trapped me in some ancient mines, and taken over his mind. he doesn't even do anything." she complained.

"wow," is all he could muster.

He sighed and lay down on the ground, studying the book shelves. His eye caught on a small lever on the wall. His eyes moved up to a plaque on the wall. It had faded, but he could make out the word... Stella. He frowned, and walked over to it. Cadence stood, and followed him. He cautiously pulled the lever. The book shelves started to flip, and stopped halfway. Cadence followed him into the room. He made his horn glow a reddish light. Cadence took in the room. she looked behind him, and spotted a strange statue of an Alicorn.

she read the engraving, and frowned. deaths remorse.

Sombra spotted a book that was laying on a table, left open. He picked it up, and started reading it, intrigued. Cadence looked over his shoulder, and frowned. She read over the enchantment.

The pain inside of growing hate

to the point where your heart shall be set aflame

the smoke shall rise,and cloud your mind

your old self shall be left behind

turning you into the monster you were meant to be

no force on earth could set you free

death may be the only escape

to turn you back, and reverse your fate

Sombra narrowed his eyes, and set it on the table. He read the spine, and stiffened.

"Who wrote it?" Cadence asked.

"Take a guess," he told her.

"Nightmare moon?" she asked. He shook his head.

"She... probably cast it on herself... that would explain a lot... but, no. It wasn't her."

"who?" she asked.

"I'll give you a hint. Princess."

"Celestia?" Cadence asked, liking the idea of the princess of the light writing a spell like that.

"princess Stella," he answered.

"Who?"

"one of the two Alicorns that came before Celestia and Luna." he explained.

"moon rise..." she realized. "so... she turned herself into a monster." Cadence managed.

"Yes. And she passed the curse down to Luna." he answered.

"Wow..." Cadence sighed, and leaned against a wall. She cursed, and recoiled. A loose nail had scraped her. She summoned darkness, and sealed the wound. Sombra continued reading over the books, looking for something interesting. probably about dark magic. Cadence looked back at the book, and started flipping through the pages. she found a picture of Moon Rise, holding a small orb with what looked like a Pony trapped inside. Cadence, squinted, and looked back at the picture. it was an Alicorn with bluish fur and a star on her flank. she looked down at some writing scribbled across the bottom.

princess Stella. trapped forever in her own mind

Sombra placed a book back on the shelf, and left the room. Cadence took one last glance at the book, and followed him. she looked back at the plaque on the wall.

Stella. Princess of the night.

(ps, please review. i'm still getting used 2 writing in 3rd person, and i realize that my writing might be suckish in more than one place. thnx. review. review! REVIEW!)