Moon Rise trotted down the road in her new unicorn form. unfortunately, her cutie mark had stayed the same. a star inside a full moon. She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. her eyes caught on a bright pink pony with extremely curly hair was bouncing down the road toward her. Moon Rise studied her cautiously. The pony was about to bounce by her, when she froze in her tracks, and skidded back in front of Moon Rise. They stared at each other. The pony gasped.

"I don't know you, which means that you must be new here, which means that you probably don't have any friends, and no friends means no fun, and no fun means..." The pony told her in a rushed voice, and dragged her down the street. Moon Rise rolled her eyes, and decided to go with it. if she caused any trouble, some pony might start to suspect her. The pony stopped in front of a tree house.

"Oh, Twi-light!"she sung.

Moon Rise stiffened.

Twilight... she thought, and slowly smiled. The Alicorn opened the door.

Moon Rise studied her. she checked the streets, and narrowed her eyes. she wanted to do this as secretly as possible. ponyville was home to powerful magic, and she didn't want it to notice her.

"Pinkie... I don't have time for this! Celestia needs me to go help find Princess Cadence! I still need to pack, i don't even have a check list ready, and if I wait too long then Cadence may be lost forever!" Twilight told her. Pinkie pouted. Twilight looked slowly at the Unicorn in front of her. she scanned her eyes, and slowly looked down at her Cutie Mark.

she noted the symbol, and frowned. Princess Luna had described a similar mark being left as a message by Cadence's captor.

it must be a coincidence... maybe... Twilight thought.

"I like your Cutie Mark... what does it symbolize?" Twilight asked.

"Star Gazing," Moon Rise lied quite blatantly, and adjusted her flank away from Twilight.

the princess frowned, and narrowed her eyes. Twilight slowly dismissed this, and sighed. whatever Cadences captor wanted, she would probably attack head on. She was certianly powerful enough not to have too much to fear, and she hadn't stayed in the shadows before.

"Well nice to meet you. feel free to come over any time." Twilight said politely, and closed the door.

"Don't worry, I'll introduce you to Apple Jack! Shes really nice, and the element of honesty! Awesome! not to mention she almost always has time to meet people, so long as you can help her in the orchard afterward! Come on!" Pinkie shouted, exited.

a small smile appeared in the corners of Moon Rises lips. This was going to be easy.

Apple Jack reared up, and kicked the tree. the apples toppled from the tree, and fell in her baskets. her eyes narrowed as she spotted a rotten one. it left a bitter taste in her mouth as she picked it up by the stem, and tossed it to the side.

"APPLE JACK!"

Apple Jack turned towards the noise. she squinted, and made out Pinkie in the distance. leaving her baskets, she walked up to meet her.

"APPLE JACK!" Pinkie shouted at her.

"What is it?" AJ asked, in her deep accent.

"I want you to meet someone! AJ, this is..." Pinkie trailed off, and realized that she didn't know the mare's name. She pouted, embarrassed.

"Rose petal," Moon Rise lied. Apple Jack raised an eyebrow.

"You sure bout that?" she asked.

"yes." Moon Rise pressed. She glared into Apple Jacks eyes.

They flashed silver. Apple Jack started to sway. she shook her head, and looked back up at Moon Rise, slightly light headed.

"okay, then. If you're interested, I could use a little help in this here orchard," AJ suggested. Apple Jack looked back at Pinkie.

"Uh... didn't you say that the Cakes needed you to help them with their kid's birthdays?" she reminded her.

"they sure did!" Pinkie replied. She blinked.

"I WAS SUPPOSED TO HELP WITH THE BIRTHDAYS!" she shouted, and disappeared up the road in a flash of pink.

Moon Rise rolled her eyes, and followed Apple Jack back down to the orchard. When she was sure that no-one was watching, she shot a beam of darkness at AJ. It hit next to her. Apple Jack whipped around, and narrowed her eyes at Moon Rise who was summoning more darkness. Apple Jack charged at Moon Rise, who turned into smoke as AJ pounced on her. Apple Jack tumbled on the grass.

"What the-"

Moon Rise reformed in front of her, and touched her horn to Apple Jacks forehead.

Apple Jack backed up, and started running the other direction.

Moon Rise made darkness wrap around her ankle, and trip her. She approached her, letting her disguise fade.

Apple Jack's eyes widened.

Moon Rise made more darkness pin her down.

"what in the hay are you?!" Apple Jack demanded. Moon Rise smiled.

"You'll find out soon enough. Trust me." she whispered. She pressed darkness into Apple Jacks head. Apple Jack let go of a scream as the darkness began weaving itself in and out of her mind. Tears streamed down her cheeks. she heard voices whispering in her ears. that scared her. that really scared her. her vision flashed black, and seemed to zoom in and out. black flashes started appearing in Apple Jack's vision. she started sobbing, and screamed in between gasps. Moon Rise looked down at her, mercilessly. Cadence had gone crazy because she was an Alicorn, so luckily Moon Rise wouldn't have to worry about that. Moon Rise felt someone watching her. she turned around to see a small pink haired filly with a huge bow in her hair watching Moon Rise. Moon Rise cursed, and made more darkness pin Apple Jack to the ground. the Fillie's eyes widened as Moon Rise galloped towards her, her horn illuminating magic. The filie desperately ran in the other direction. Moon Rise made the filie off the ground. the filie gasped, and clawed at the ground as Moon Rise dragged her back in front of her. she glared in her eyes. they flashed silver. Moon Rise didn't bother trying to force darkness into her. most likely, it would kill her. instead, she glared into her eyes. they flashed silver.

"you... didn't... see... anything," she whispered. the filie groaned, and passed out because of the magic overload. Moon Rise left her there, and looked back at Apple Jack, still sobbing. She walked back to the terrified mare, and lowered her mouth to Apple Jacks ear.

"lead Twilight to the castle of the two sisters. Understood?" she asked. Apple Jack slowly stopped fighting the magic. Her eyes flashed black, and a small smile appeared in the corners of her mouth.

"understood..." she answered. Moon Rise smiled, and let go of her. She turned back into her unicorn form, and walked back up the path. The princess of light had been turned dark. And the elements of harmony... were useless.