The midday air was brisk and cold despite it being Spring. Bugs buzzed and flew past the ears of the four shaken travellers that traversed the harsh terrain of the Everfree Forest. Their hoofprints left indents in the dirt beneath them. They refrained from using the roads as most likely they were being patrolled by Changelings or Wilds. The sunlight glared endlessly in the cracks amongst the thick canopy treetops. Both the flora and fauna were wild and unpredictable. With Applebloom’s immense knowledge of herbs and poisons she could see and identify multiple recurring herbs that showed up. Skullcap which mixed with the right stuff could be used as both a salve and as a poison. It is greatly used amongst herbalists as a sedative for amputations and for strength improving potions.

Then there was the Equestrian Blackberry, not to be confused with a black cherry. Equestrian Blackberry was widely used as a paralysis poison as it locks up the muscles in the ponies body and they fall unconscious and if not treated with an antidote the victim will die within three to six minutes. She also knows how to make different types of reactions with things. A personal favorite of hers is Nitroglycerin-48, a highly explosive agent. The list can go on forever but she came back to reality as she heard Scootaloo descend next to her. She did not fully land on the ground though, she continued to hover as she said,”Hey Applebloom, do you mind if we talk for a second?”

Applebloom fixed her gaze to Scootaloo. Her voice was very cocky and callous, but still sounded feminine. Despite their changes in their destinies and special talents some of their personalities remained the same. Staring long into Scootaloo’s dark violet eyes underneath her bronze helmet she said in an older and country sounding voice,”Shoot.”

“Have you noticed anything different about Sweetie Belle?”Scootaloo says looking at the back of Sweetie Belle’s head. Applebloom concentrated back at dodging roots that poked through the ground and replied,”I reckon she’s changed no more than the two of us. But now that you mention it she does seem more distant than usual, before she managed to keep it to herself.”

That much was true from Applebloom’s knowledge of knowing Sweetie Belle as long as she did, Scootaloo knew her longer than anypony however and were more attached despite being polar opposites. She had always had secret anxiety for always trying to help or messing up and having her sister not find out. They always thought she shrugged it off when they talked to her.

Now she seems to embody and embrace those negative emotions, becoming a shadow of her former self. Applebloom sighed heavily and thought to herself ‘I just hope it doesn’t consume you like it did with Applejack.’ She remembered back when their parents had died and the burden of taking over the farm fell upon Applejack and Big Mac, even though it was mostly Applejack. Applejack let the stress of the job destroy her mentally and let the anxiety destroy her physically. It happened for so long that it got to a point where she just felt overtaken by depression. She remembered back on that fateful night where Applejack did something Applebloom never hoped for her to see.

The night was deathly quiet aside from the thunderstorm that seemed to come out of nowhere. Big Mac was out for a delivery to Manehatten and Granny Smith was visiting with their relatives in Appleoosa. The only ones at the farm was Applebloom and Applejack. Applebloom slumped through the mud as she walked up the front porch of her house.

She walked through the door of the house and as she kicked of her rain boots she said,”Applejack! I finished my chores!”

There was no response just a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning. She could tell from the silence that something was wrong, that and there was no light source in the house. She walked all throughout the bottom floor of the house and did not find her. She then heard the sound of a stool scraping across the floor and followed by choking and gagging. Applebloom rushed up the stairs and burst through the doors of Applejack’s room. As she ran up the stairs she shouted,”Applejack! Are you okay! I’m comin’.”

When she burst through the doors she gasped in horror as she saw Applejack struggling in a noose hanging from the ceiling. As fast as a young bunny she grabbed the nearest sharp object and cut down the noose. It took a lot of struggling but finally she fell to the ground and went into a coughing fit. Applebloom sat over her and said in broken tone,”Why...why AJ...why would you do such a vile and terrible thing!”

Applebloom did not know much about death but she knew about suicide. She knew how wrong it was and it was no resort to stoup to. After coughing for a few minutes she answered,”You were too young to understand. Too young to meet our parents. Too young to feel the unbelievable amount of grief that followed their deaths.”

Applebloom shook her head slightly and said,”But to do somethin’ as drastic as this? You were always the pony that told me that there is always a new day ahead and smiling faces to love you. What happened to that Applejack?”

Something dawned on Applejack in that moment and she realized what she truly needed to do. She began to cry as she said,”You’re right. How could I have been such a fool? I have to look after this family now...no pony else...he told me and me only…”

Applejack lowered her head in Applebloom’s lap and continued to cry. Applebloom did not know what to say. There were no words that could be said to help the situation but she did know something that would help the situation. She remembered the song that their mother would sing to her when she was just a foal. She took in a deep breath and with the thunder stopping she began to sing,

“Ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dream of
Once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dream of
Dreams really do come true

Someday, I wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney top
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dare to
Oh why, oh why can't I?

Someday I wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney top
That's where you'll find me

Oh, somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dare to
Why oh, why can't I?

Ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh.”

As she sings the song Applejack slowly begins to calm down and her natural color began to come back and when she finished Applejack said sniffling,”Applebloom? Can you not tell anypony ‘bout this?”

Applebloom nodded her head and said,”Sure thing big sis.”

Slowly her vision returned to normal and shook her head slightly. She said this out loud this time and said,”I can’t let her be overtaken by this. I cannot allow another one of my loved ones do that to themself.”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow and said,”What are you talking about?”

Applebloom shook her head and said,”Nothing. Just a promise I made to myself a while ago.”

With those final words she rushed next to Discord and said nudging him to get his attention. Continuing walking he looked down at Applebloom and said,”Yes?”

“Can I have a few private moments with Sweetie Belle.”Applebloom asked.”If it’s not too much to ask?”

Discord waved his griffon talons and said,”Not at all.”

He slowed his pace and began walking next to Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle turned to Applebloom and said in a woeful tone,”What?”

Applebloom answered,”You alright?”

Sweetie Belle lowered her head in great sorrow. She wore her hood trying to hide her face. She said,”Yeah. Just a little lost that’s all.”

“Is there anythin’ I can do to help?”

“Afraid not.”Sweetie Belle answered looking over at Applebloom.”I appreciate your offer, but I have to go through this alone. It’s not you or Scootaloo. I just...I just need time to think alone.”

Under normal circumstances she would have just let her alone but something dug at her underneath her skin. She stopped and slammed her hoof on the ground kicking up mud and dirt. Sweetie Belle stopped and looked over at Sweetie Belle as she said,”Damn it! That is not going to solve your problems Sweetie Belle!”

“Sweetie Belle…”

“No, let me finish. You can’t shut out your best friends because you think you can handle this situation by yourself. You have best friends for a reason, we’re here to help you. Cutting your ties with your friends will only hurt you even more. I almost lost one of my family members to sadness and depression. You can’t do this to yourself, it will kill you.”

Applebloom rested her hoof on her shoulder and waited for a response. Sweetie Belle did not meet her gaze as she pulled down her hood and said,”I guess you’re right Applebloom. I can’t fight this Demon inside alone. Thanks Applebloom, what would I do without you?”

Applebloom smiled and said,”You’d probably be walking in circles.”

Sweetie Belle leaned in and hugged Applebloom. Sweetie Belle was never a one of expressing her love for her friends and family physically. She would normally express her love through doing a task or making something. Applebloom accepted the warmful friendly hug and embraced Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo walked up and said,”Alright lets roll the credits on this chick flick, we got a mission to accomplish.”

They both stopped hugging and began to laugh.

After a few hours they found themselves in the middle of the day and most of them were sweating. Sweetie Belle especially, considering she was wearing a long leather trench coat. Applebloom had always had some level of respect for Sweetie Belle, she always knew what to do and what to say. Whether or not the end result was a good thing or a bad thing.

Much to her surprise the Castle of Two Sisters was not as impressive as she imagined. It was a crumbling old mess of broken stone walls. But despite the conditions of the walls, the keep and chambers inside still remained strong and sturdy. The normal bright stone that the Princess’ normally made their castles out of was not this. It was not made from polished marble, it was made from a different stone Equestrian Dark Stone. This was a stone rarely seen being used. Even though it was strong and let buildings last for ages to come, it was not a common building material in modern Equestria as it was as black as sin itself. The northern tower of the castle and the tallest tower was cracked and blasted open.

They were standing hiding in bushes across the ravine to the broken castle. They studied the positions of the Changelings that guarded the walls. They were at least a few yards away from the castle and were very well hidden. Applebloom whispered to the group and said,”So, what’s the plan?”

Sweetie Belle thought for a moment and said in a low tone,”Discord and Scootaloo should approach from the back and the left side, they appear to be the least defended. Silently take out the guards there now and when others are called to take their spot in the minutes of changing guards Applebloom and I will storm the front gates. Once they all go to see what the commotion at the front gates, Discord and Scootaloo, you two will ambush them on your assigned side of the castle and we’ll continue fighting them and draw them into the center of the castle. When we feel we have killed enough Changelings and crippled enough buildings Discord will teleport us out of there. Everypony catch that?”

They all nodded and Sweetie Belle said,”Good, we’ll wait until it gets a bit darker and then we will ambush the castle.

Not more than an hour later did some rain clouds roll in and it began to thunder and hide the sun away. Sweetie Belle assigned Scootaloo to the left side and Discord to the back. Scootaloo silently snuck along the top of the eastern wall and stalked a Changeling guard. As quick as lightning she broke the Changeling’s neck with her hooves. She hid the body and went on to the other guards.

Discord simply absorbed their consciousness’ and used them to fuel his powers. They finished as soon as they had started. They now patiently waited for Sweetie Belle and Applebloom to start.

Millions of different ways to break the front gates flooded her mind but she always went back to the same one that would be faster and easier to maintain. She snuck up to the large wooden gates and looking up it Sweetie Belle said,”Okay. Do you have something that can crack the shell off of this thing?”

Applebloom stepped back from the gates and she said,”I do but you might want to step a few meters away.”

Despite her immense knowledge on alchemy and herbalism she did not know the right quantity to use. She grabbed a vial of Nitroglycerin-48, stepping back she drew in a deep breath and flung the thin vial at the door and with a sound as loud as thunder and it nearly shook the earth with the reaction it had. Her ears began to ring and her vision nearly blurry she almost did not see chunks of stone flying towards her.

Sweetie Belle with quick reflexes shot balls of hellfire out of her horn and they exploded impacting the large chunks of debris. She looked back at the destruction that Applebloom had caused and saw that the entire fifty foot wooden and metal reinforced gate and destroyed a good chunk of the inner wall as well. She looked back at Applebloom with a shocked look on her face, she said,”What? It was the only thing I could think of at the time.”

Sweetie Belle shrugged and said,”Well, I could have done that. But do you think you should really get to know the chemical before you use it?”

Applebloom sarcastically snapped,”Hey, you fill your mind with immense knowledge of plants and herbs and lets see who’s taking the blame then.”

The ghost of a smile crossed Sweetie Belle’s face, she still held grasp of the seriousness of the situation. They probably grabbed the attention of everypony within one hundred square miles. She stood firm and waited for every Changeling to pass through the smoke that rose from the strange colored fire that was left behind in the gate. Coming from the ash and smoke was three Changelings with halberds and they charged Sweetie Belle. She looked back and saw Applebloom was still gathering herself. So she had to fight these three alone.

Her eyes burst in flames and erupted around her hooves as well. With all of her magic she summoned a large ball of hellfire and shot it right in the chest of one of them and they incinerated instantly. They thrust their halberds as her but she dodged both of them and with new supernatural strength crushed another under the weight of her hooves. The fire in her eyes burned brighter and summoning more magic she started to see the Changeling begin to burn from the inside out, until it was nothing more than a charred corpse.

The fire in her eyes dissipated and calmed her nerves until she was tackled by three more Changelings she did not see coming. Before they could land any blows her chest erupted in dark flames and shot outwards in a large wave. They instantly disintegrated and she stood back up ready for another fight. She was fighting a rare Changeling who actually changed into her shape into Sweetie Belle’s. The false Sweetie Belle shot a volley of green magic bolts. Sweetie Belle raised her hoof and smoke came out of it and absorbed the bolts in the ashy shield. Then with both her front hooves she thrust them outward and erupting out of them was a cone of hellfire that singed past the magical shield the Changeling had set up. The Changeling stumbled and its horn glowed bright green and Sweetie Belle felt the ground beneath her break and crack.

Her form shifted into moving ash and fire and materialized behind the Changeling and Sweetie Belle smiled and pressed her hooves on the templed of the false Sweetie Belle and smoke came from her hooves. The false Sweetie Belle screamed in terrible pain and her face began to char and smoke and she stopped struggling and Sweetie Belle stood up and nodded towards Applebloom who was standing and grabbed a vial and through it over to her.

Sweetie Belle caught it with her green magic and saw the liquid was a dark blue color. With one long gulp she choked it down and felt energy shoot through her body and rejuvenate her mind. She said,”What is it?”

Applebloom swigged down a similar potion and said,”Yours is a Draught of Spellpower, it will increase the effectiveness of your spells and regenerate your magic much faster. Mine was a Philter of Chimera’s Stamina, it allows me to lose fatigue and increase my finesse of battle. At least I hope.”

Sweetie Belle winced and saw Applebloom apply poisons to both of her daggers. They were now stained green and she readied them to fight and she nodded at Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle charged through the dark smoke and summoned her magic around her horn and it swirled ready to perform a spell.

She walked into the courtyard and saw it flooding with Changelings. There were way too many to fight herself. Her front hooves caught fire and began shooting volleys of hellfire at the Changeling Horde. Twenty of them dropped into charred corpses before they began forming battle lines. Sweetie Belle looked back at Applebloom who charged next to her. Sweetie Belle said,”I have an idea but you can’t be around her when it happens.”

“But…”

“No, leave and help the others sabotage the buildings.”Sweetie Belle snaps. Applebloom lowers her head and finally she smashes a bottle on the ground and her form disappears. Sweetie Belle then waits for a moment and listened to the hissing horde of at least one hundred Changelings. Sweetie Belle did something she never wanted to do. Her Demon essence could be manifested and she would be powerful beyond imagining, but it came at a cost. Her coat would darken and her eyes would constantly be burning.

She didn’t want to do it just in case her friends would think of her as a monster. But there were no other options. She took in a deep breath and said,”Alright. I accept. Let my mortal form be consumed by the fires of Tartarus.”

She heard the voice of Scorpan in her mind as he said,
Good Sweetie Belle. You are one step closer in becoming the Vessel of Hellfire. Unleash the full powers of Tartarus.

She was lifted into the air and she felt her form begin to change. Dark wings sprouted out of her back and her coat changed into a dark purple color. Her coat turned into pure shadows as well and her tail singed off all the hair and a pointed leathery tail was replaced. She sprouted her wings out when the transformation finished and shot into the sky. When she got high enough she fell back down to the surface.

She fell down and slammed the ground where the Changelings were and a wave of hellfire erupted out in a ground breaking wave that cause many Changelings to turn into ash. The survivors charged her and she fought them with great strength and brought every single one down in ash or bleeding corpses. Coming out of her front hooves were burning blades that cut each Changeling down into ash.

Finally with smoke and ash rising in the air she reverted back to her normal form and she became physically exhausted. She fell to the ground and sweat dripped from the top of her head. Her vision was some what blurry but she continued to focus around her. The air was thick with sulfur and fires continued to burn on broken stone around her.

She leveled the entire front section of the castle. Even some of the buildings were annihilated. Passing through the smoke was seven figures. Three were being carried and the four carried them. Finally they came into view and they were Changelings but yet they weren’t. They seemed to be ponies but their coats were pure black and their manes and tails were made of pure energy. They did not have the same insectoid exoskeleton but they had the anatomy of a pony.

Each one had different colored manes and tails that seemed to glow in the flames around them. The one with blue energy spoke in a masculine but hopeful and soothing voice,”This one seems to be still breathing. Will she go with the rest?”

The one with blue mane and tail that had spoke wore silver plated armor that glistened in the evening sun and in the patches of hellfire that burned around them. A strange axe was sheathed on his back and he knelt down in front of her with eyes filled with purpose and determination.

One wore dark ebon plate armor with a volcanic mace sheathed on his back with a bright red colored mane and tail. His voice was gruff and raspy as he spoke,”Of course she does Icarrus. Chrysalis will want to question these three.”

Before she fell unconscious she looked at the other two and saw that they were stallions as well. One was wearing not full plate but a mixture of cloth and plate with yellow mane and tail, he had a longbow and arrows sheathed on his back and sheathed at his hips was a shortsword and a dagger. He carried Scootaloo and Applebloom on his back and seemed not to falter under their weight.

The last was dressed in only cloth armor but wore metal to act as accents and he even had spaulders. His mane and tail was a dark purple color with a staff and a long sword sheath in his back and at his side. He carried Discord in a large purple orb and also could sense he severed Discord’s magic.

Finally Sweetie Belle lost consciousness and all that she could see was black.