Corrupted Vengeance
by Frost Vortex
First published
When Twilight Sparkle succumbs to King Sombra's dark magic, will her friends be able to save her in time before she loses herself to the darkness forever?
ON HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Corrupted Vengeance begins immediately after the 2nd episode of season 3, otherwise known as The Crystal Empire - Part 2. This is also the first MLP story I've ever wrote, so please provide feedback on the story in order to help me improve my writing for the future!
After the Mane Six return to Ponyville after a tiring day of dealing with the Crystal Empire crisis, Twilight Sparkle is approached by none other but the tyrannical King Sombra during her sleep, who tries to corrupt her with his dark magic as revenge for foiling his plans... and ultimately succeeds. By corrupting the Element of Magic, their magic combined is powerful enough to conquer all of Equestria.
Which is exactly what King Sombra plans to do.
Will her friends be able to save Twilight in time and save Equestria from a horrifying fate, or will they fail to do so and watch as Equestria is taken over by the very friend they had known for so long?
Read the story and you'll find out!
Chapter 1: Corrupted Truths
Multiple hoofsteps could be heard as a purple unicorn emerged from the shadows, her lavender eyes scanning her surroundings uneasily.
"What is this place?" the unicorn, known as Twilight Sparkle, muttered under her breath. She didn't like how she was completely surrounded by crystals as dark as the abyss, their surfaces shimmering with an eerie light; it reminded her too much of King Sombra, the tyrannical king that she had faced earlier that day within the Crystal Empire's territory.
"Welcome, Twilight Sparkle, my dear," an all-too familiar voice greeted her from behind. Shock numbed her senses as she whirled around to find an armored dark gray stallion standing there, purple mist leaking out of the corners of his malicious red eyes.
"King Sombra!" Twilight gasped, her eyes stretching wide.
"Why, hello there, Twilight Sparkle. Surprised to see me, perhaps? It's only been a short while since our last encounter, you know."
"Why are you here, Sombra? We defeated you with the Crystal Heart back at the Crystal Empire! You shouldn't have gathered enough strength already to be able to enter somepony else's dream, much less ruin it!"
"My my, what's with the hostility? This is a dream as you can recall, and not reality, so I can't physically harm you in any way. Anyways, about your question... I came here to help you uncover all the lies you've been told ever since you met your friends. I came here to help you see the truth."
"The truth? What do you mean by that?"
"You see, my dear Twilight, your so-called friends never considered you to be a true friend of theirs. In their eyes, you're nothing but a nuisance, a plaything to toy with until they get bored and eventually throw you away. They always planned to leave you in the end, Twilight, always; as a matter of fact, they became your friends in the first place only so they could manipulate you in secret for personal gain."
"What? No! They'd never do that! They're my friends, not my enemies!"
"Perhaps they really are your enemies instead, Twilight, having devised a plan from the beginning in order to bring you down. But of course, you still fail to believe me. Very well then, my dear... if hearing the truth is not enough to make you acknowledge it, then see the truth for yourself!"
It was at that exact moment that King Sombra moved forward and placed an armorclad hoof on her shoulder, his curved red horn surrounded by a glowing, dark aura. Suddenly, Twilight's vision blanked out, and her vision was shrouded in darkness for what felt like an hour or so before she began to feel as if she was being torn from the inside out. The pain soon subsided, however, her vision clearing at the same time. At first, she didn't really get the scene unfolded before her, her brain seeming to have suddenly died. It was after a short wait of about a few minutes, however, that her brain finally began to function properly again and she realized that all of her friends were glaring at her with the same hateful glare from where they surrounded her in a circle.
"What are you doing here, Twilight? You don't belong here!" she heard Rarity snarl, and turned around to see the white unicorn's eyes blazing.
"You're the worst friend ever! I can't believe I ever became friends with a pony like you!" Fluttershy's usually kind features were now contorted with hate and disgust as she spat at Twilight, shocking the purple unicorn to the core.
"Get out! I don't want to see you ever again!" Rainbow Dash barked, her tone unusually sharp.
"Ya've caused nothin' but trouble, Twi!" Applejack growled, her emerald eyes narrowed.
"You're a party pooper, Twilight! You don't deserve to celebrate a party at all if your job is pooping parties instead!" Pinkie Pie was screaming at the top of her lungs, throwing multi-colored party hats at Twilight.
"W-What?" Twilight blinked, bewildered, only getting the chance to speak once she'd dodged all of Pinkie Pie's party hat projectiles. "Girls, why are you doing this? We're friends, remember? Our friendship managed to save Equestria from a lot of evil villains!"
"Friends? Really, Twilight, you've believed all this time that we were friends? Sorry to disappoint you then, but... we've never ever been friends!" her friends sneered in unison, undoubtedly dampening Twilight's already miserable mood.
"Look, girls, I don't know what kind of prank you're trying to pull here, but please... cruelly joking about our friendship is just wrong when we've gone through so much together that actually did almost end it," Twilight sighed.
"Prank, Twi? Ya think this is a prank? Well then, let mah tell ya somethin', because this isn't a prank and it never will be!" Applejack responded coldly.
No, no, this can't be happening... Sombra can't be right, he just can't be! My friends would never treat me this way! Unable to deal with the misery any longer, Twilight collapsed onto the floor in a purple heap, beginning to sob uncontrollably. She didn't care that her friends were laughing uproariously at her fillyish behavior and neither did she care that she never cried in front of her friends; all she cared about was getting all of her tears out until every last one of them dried out.
"Twilight Sparkle, my dear," King Sombra's voice sounded unexpectedly from behind her. "Do you now acknowledge the truth? Do you now understand that I am only here to help you?"
"Yes," the purple unicorn whispered as she looked up at the dark gray stallion, her puffy red eyes filled with despair.
"As you should have, my dear. Now, tell me... do you want revenge on those you call friends? Do you want to show them how much you actually cherished your friendship with them, even if it was a false one all along? Do you want to make them feel the same pain that you feel now?" King Sombra asked, gently raising Twilight's head with a hoof so they were at eye level. His gaze was so gentle, so soothing that immediately Twilight agreed, all of her doubts about the king vanishing in a flash.
"Yes, King Sombra... I want to make them feel every last ounce of pain that I feel now... I want to make them PAY for their lies!" Twilight's eyes filled with a blazing fury as she suddenly stood up, all tears gone.
"Very well then!" King Sombra laughed, his horn powering up with dark magic.
The last thing Twilight felt was an intense pain, a pain so intense that it made her want to rip herself to pieces before she finally passed out.
"You were so easy to break, Twilight Sparkle," King Sombra smiled darkly, examining his brand new subject as she got to her knees.
"Greetings, Twilight Sparkle. I am King Sombra, your new master, and you shall serve me... forevermore!"
Author's Notes:
Just in case you didn't know and was wondering what Twilight looks like when's she corrupted by Sombra, she looks exactly like the cover image of this story.
Also, since this is my first MLP story ever, please leave feedback on how well I did!
Thanks!
Chapter 2: An Unexpected Disappearance
It was a brand new day in Ponyville, one that clearly had the potiential to become an exceptionally great day if not an exceptionally bad one instead.
A small purple dragon with green spikes rose to meet Celestia's day, stretching luxuriously. This dragon's name was Spike - Twilight Sparkle's personal #1 assistant and best friend - and he wasn't an early riser like you'd expect. Instead, Spike always woke up an hour late than his caretaker, the fatigue from doing assistant-related work the day before catching up to him all of the time.
Rubbing the sleep out of his green eyes, his eyes quickly darted over to his caretaker's bed - which to his surprise, wasn't being sat on by Twilight - since her usual routine always included finishing a book on the bed before she proceeded to do anything else; perplexed, Spike stood up and trotted over to her bedside, examining her sheets carefully. They were all rumpled up and basically messed up badly - which was very unlike Twilight - as if she had experienced a nightmare during her sleep that included struggling against something. Spike, although slightly worried, sighed and began descending down the wooden staircase nearby, hoping to find Twilight downstairs reading a book, just like normal, in the library instead of on her bed.
His hopes were in vain, however.
There was no sign of Twilight anywhere; everything was in their proper place, and not even a book had been slightly moved despite the fact that Twilight was an absolute bookworm and could barely resist books of any kind. To be honest, it was as if Twilight didn't even live there and Spike lived there all alone instead. "Twilight?" Spike called, his panic growing with every second. "Twilight, please stop playing hide-n-seek or whatever you're doing! This isn't a joke!"
Suddenly, he heard the sound of hoofsteps coming from behind him; certain that it was Twilight, he whirled around, only to be greeted by nopony at all. "What? This can't be! I could have sworn I heard something!" Spike had to admit that he was a little creeped out since he'd never ever heard ghostly hoofsteps anywhere.
Anxiously, he continued to feverishly search the rest of the Golden Oak Library in hopes of discovering anything that could hint to where Twilight could've gone; it wasn't like her to disappear randomly into thin air without a trace, and definitely not like her to not touch her books even the slightest bit if it wasn't the former.
"Alright, this is a lost cause," Spike sighed in exasperation as his search yielded no evidence whatsoever. "Wait a minute... maybe the others know something about this! They're her best friends, of course!"
This brilliant idea in mind, Spike quickly hurried out of the library and headed to in the direction of the Carousel Boutique to see if Rarity was there.
Chapter 3: Interviewing the Mane Five
Rarity was just about to finish one of her brand new dresses when suddenly a loud knock on the door caught her attention. She ignored it at first, thinking her unknown visitor to be a random filly knocking on doors for fun. Besides, she had a dress to finish, and it was the most beautiful of her new line by far.
KNOCK!
Rarity narrowed her eyes, intent on finishing the dress and not paying some little filly unnecessary attention.
KNOCK, KNOCK!
"I've had just about enough with you, you troublesome filly!" Rarity shouted, slamming open the door only to reveal a small dragon standing there.
"S-Spike, darling?" she gasped, covering her mouth in embarrassment.
"Hi, Rarity! I just need to talk to you for a moment; it's really important," Spike told her, not even acknowledging the fact that Rarity had just slammed open the door and called him a "troublesome filly".
"Of course, come on in! What'd you need? Here to request a new dress for Twilight, perhaps?" Rarity asked, stepping to the side in order to make room for Spike to enter.
"Actually, no," Spike answered, slowly trudging into the shop, "but it is about Twilight."
"What about her, dear?"
"I don't know, really. It's just that... she disappeared. I can't find her anywhere, so I decided to come to you for help just in case you know where she is; she never does things like this, much less disappear without a trace."
"Well, yes, if what you're saying is true, then I have to agree that this kind of thing's never happened before with Twilight... sorry to disappoint you, darling, but I don't know anything. Maybe you could ask the others instead; one of them's bound to know something."
"Alright then, thanks for the suggestion. Are you coming?" Spike asked hopefully; his feelings for Rarity weren't really much of a secret anymore as all of the Mane Six had already witnessed him trying to impress her at least once or twice. Even Rarity knew about it, but so far she didn't do anything about it yet.
"About that, darling," Rarity paused for a moment before speaking again, "I'm just about finished with a brand new dress; how about you head over to Pinkie Pie's first and wait for me there until I'm done?"
"Of course; I'll do anything you say!" Spike grinned enthusiastically, performing a quick bow before leaving the shop and heading for Sugarcube Corner. Now that he knew that Rarity, his secret crush, would help him get to the bottom of Twilight's disappearance, his mood lightened a lot. Nothing's better than trying to solve something with somepony you've got a crush on, he thought, his grin stretching even wider as Sugarcube Corner came into sight.
"Pinkie Pie?" Spike called as he got closer to the bakery, opening and closing the front door softly behind him.
"Spike! It's you!" Pinkie Pie was standing behind the front display - which displayed a variety of the goods that Sugarcube Corner baked - having just finished delivering an order to a customer, which was apparently a cupcake. "Can I get you anything? A totally delicious triple-layer chocolate cake, maybe?" she asked, giving Spike a warm smile as he went up to her.
"Sorry, Pinkie, not today. Let's just wait for Rarity first, then I'll explain to you what's going on."
"Hi there, darlings," Rarity's voice sounded from the front door as she opened, only to be bombarded by Spike and Pinkie as soon as she'd laid one hoof inside the building.
"Rarity's here! Can you explain everything now? Please? The suspense is making me ka-ray-zy!" Pinkie began to jump up and down in excitement, doing puppy eyes at Spike.
"Right, right, of course! Anyways, we came to find you because Twilight-" Spike's words trailed off as Pinkie interrupted, "Twilight? Did she get eaten by a big, bad zombie or something? Are we going to save her with the Elements of Harmony? Ooh, this sounds like a lot of fun!"
"No, Pinkie, she didn't get eaten by a zombie, and we can't activate the power of the Elements of Harmony without Twilight either," Rarity sighed, rolling her eyes in irritation,"anyways, before you so rudely interrupted, Spike was saying that we came here to find you in case you had any idea of why Twilight just suddenly disappeared into thin air."
"Yeah, that's definitely what I was going to say," Spike grinned, thinking that supporting Rarity would please her even though her words were much different than what he was about to say. "I couldn't find her anywhere in the library, not even her most favorite spots in Ponyville. That's why I came to Rarity and now you for help if you happen to know something about it. It's definitely not a hobby of hers vanishing like that."
"Twilight's missing? Did she get captured by a villain-" Pinkie's blabbering was interrupted once again by Rarity as she coughed meaningfully. Feeling slightly embarrassed, the pink mare immediately stopped talking, giving Rarity the best Pinkie Pie smile she could muster. "Right, darling, I'm not falling for it," she heard Rarity say sweetly in response.
"Erm, Rarity? Were you listening, Pinkie Pie?" Spike asked, breaking the tense silence that had just formed between the two mares.
"Yup! Basically, Twilight disappears without a trace, none of us knows anything about why she did, and we're all panicking because of it," Pinkie chirped, flashing another smile at Rarity, who rolled her eyes in response.
"Even though that's not perfectly accurate, you're still pretty spot-on. Anyways, judging by your words, I'm pretty sure that you too have no idea where Twilight went... right, Pinkie Pie?" Spike asked.
"Yup," Pinkie responded, her happy tone now slightly tinged with sadness.
"Well, if that's so, then I guess we'll just have to go to Applejack's place. Are you coming, Pinkie?" Spike stared at her expectantly.
"Of course! This whole thing just sounds like so much fun!"
"Hey there, Applejack!" Rarity greeted the orange mare as the three friends saw her at the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres, running up to her and embracing her in a full-out hug at the same time.
"Howdy there, partners! What are y'all here for?" Applejack smiled as she returned Rarity's embrace.
"Well, we came here to talk about Twilight, who's apparently missing," Rarity answered.
"Twi's missin'? Ya must be kidding me!" Applejack exclaimed. "How'd it happen and when?"
"What Rarity forgot to mention, Applejack, is that we don't know how it happened, much less when it happened. That's why we came here in the first place, you know. We wanted to see if you knew something about this that could be useful in finding her," Spike added, trying to be as respectful as he could so he wouldn't wound Rarity's pride by correcting her.
"Yep! Maybe some evil pony got her and we have to use the Elements of Harmony against that pony!" Pinkie was blabbering again as she jumped up and down, clearly forgetting that the Elements couldn't be activated without each Bearer present.
"Sorry for not bein' of much help, but Ah really don't know anything about this whole missin' Twilight thing. The last time Ah saw her was the last time y'all saw her too," Applejack replied apologetically, shrugging.
"It's fine, Applejack; it's not like we blame you for not knowing anything about this whole business. Anyways, do you want to come with us to Fluttershy's cottage, in case she actually knows a thing or two?" Spike said, not even bothering to mask the disappointment in his voice.
"Sure! Ah'll try to be of as much help as Ah can!"
"O-Oh, um... sorry though, but T-Twilight never told me anything after we got back from the Crystal Empire," Fluttershy stammered, extremely frightened at the fact that one of her best friends had just disappeared without a trace.
"It's fine, darling. It's not your fault this happened," Rarity told the yellow pegasus.
"Well, I think it's time for the last straw. Our last straw. If Rainbow Dash doesn't know anything as well, then I guess it's safe to say that we'll have to search manually for Twilight. Mind coming with us to Rainbow Dash's house, Fluttershy?" Spike said, sighing.
"Y-Yes, of course," Fluttershy said, closing the door behind her as she followed her friends to Rainbow Dash's house.
"Sorry guys, but I'm not the pony for the job," Rainbow Dash told them, which immediately worsened their moods. "Twilight never told me anything after the train ride back home."
"Well, I thought it'd be this way," Rarity muttered to herself.
"Ah can't believe it! How could Twi just vanish like that?" Applejack exclaimed, her emerald eyes wide in disbelief.
"Maybe somepony really ponynapped her for real," Pinkie Pie suggested, much to the other ponies' irritation.
"Look, girls, how about we actually search for our friend instead of standing here arguing because of her?" Rainbow Dash sighed, breaking into their now growing arguments.
"Rainbow's makin' a lotta sense, y'know," Applejack agreed, nodding.
"Fine then," Spike said, "we're going to manually search for Twilight even if it takes us to the ends of Equestria, which means that Plan B... is in action."
"Yay," Fluttershy cheered quietly.
Chapter 4: Friend or Foe?
The Mane Five, including Spike, were freaking out. Badly.
Ever since their realization the day before that they'd have to personally search for their lost friend instead of bickering, each and every one of them had travelled to every place possible within the bounds of Ponyville, desperately trying to discover at least one clue as to where Twilight could have gone.
As expected, their attempts were futile.
"Ah don't know about y'all, but Ah'm startin' to suspect that there's somethin' fishy behind Twi's disappearance," Applejack was saying as the six friends gathered in a small, run-down barn at Sweet Apple Acres. The barn was their secret hideout, hidden in a rather remote area of Sweet Apple Acres that no one ever laid a hoof upon. "This isn't like her, y'know, vanishin' like that," she added.
"Well, of course, darling. We all know that Twilight would never do something like this without leaving behind a note or something," Rarity answered matter-of-factly, her tone bland. The fatigue from endlessly searching for her friend for hours was catching up to the white unicorn; her sapphire blue eyes were like a husk of their former selves, their usual bright and vibrant color having faded to a light blue so light that you could even say they were a milky white color instead.
"Erm, Rarity, are you okay?" Fluttershy asked quietly, noticing the lack of color in her friend's eyes. "You don't look so great... I guess."
"I'm perfectly fine, Fluttershy, thank you very much!" Rarity suddenly seethed, turning on her pegasus friends furiously. Fluttershy, having never seen the snowy mare like that before, immediately shrank away in fear, trembling visibly.
"Sorry, dear," Rarity apologized, her temper fading, "all this stress about Twilight is making me quite... unlike myself, I believe."
"We can definitely see that," Rainbow Dash joked, only to be met with a threatening glare by Rarity. "Right, right, I'm sorry. Anyways, shouldn't we get to the point instead and actually do something about this?"
"She's got a point," Pinkie Pie agreed, her usual cheerful mood clearly dampened.
"How about startin' from the beginnin', gals? Ah say we pay the Golden Oak Library a visit," Applejack suggested, "maybe we can find some clues there that Spike didn't."
"Great idea!" the others exclaimed in unison. Rainbow Dash immediately took flight and bolted out of the barn through the pony-sized hole in the ceiling, while Fluttershy trailed behind, her wings flapping at a much slower pace. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Spike followed the two pegasi as they led them to their desired destination.
As soon as the six friends approached the treehouse, they knew something bad had happened. The treehouse's appearance wasn't appealing at all, the entire structure having been mutilated and destroyed. Debris was everywhere, so they were careful not to step on any of them - in case of a possible injury - as they made their way to the front door.
"Whoa, did a tornado sweep through here? Sure looks like it," Rainbow Dash remarked as they finally approached the entrance to the library. The door that once stood there, proudly guarding the interior of the treehouse, was now only splintered wood barely attached to hinges.
"Oh my, what happened here? Spike, darling, was it like this when you left this morning?" Rarity asked the young dragon, who only responded with a sad shake of his head.
"Knew it," Pinkie sighed, her mane now completely straight as sadness finally took its toll on her and deflated it.
"Ah guess we're goin' in, right? The inside's still stable enough," Applejack said uncertainly. Slowly, the others nodded, and followed the orange mare's lead as she reluctantly stepped inside.
"Ah, how glad I am to see that you're all here," a malicious voice sneered as an all-too familiar pony appeared in front of them, her horn crackling with dark magic.
"Twilight!" they all gasped in unison, unable to believe that their friend was the sinister-looking pony standing before them. Twilight's entire appearance seemed darker: her light purple body was now a deeper purple than before, her once lavender eyes were now a cold crimson red, her height had increased to that of Princess Celestia's, but most shocking of all... she had grown wings! Her wings were undoubtedly smaller than the Royal Sisters, but they were definitely larger than the average pair a pegasus would have. Besides, that wasn't the main thing, as the main thing was that her new wings was colored a mixture of purple, green, and white. It didn't match up with the normal color scheme a pegasus's wings would have, and that was the color of their coat, whatever color it may be.
"T-Twilight? Is it really you?" Fluttershy stammered, fear coursing through her as she tried to avoid staring into those cold, merciless red eyes. She didn't really believe that it was her friend; Twilight's eyes would never hold such hate or fury.
"Twilight, darling! How'd you get those wings? Does that mean you're an alicorn now?" Rarity was bombarding her with questions, to which she received no answer to any of them. Still, she tried, making it a goal to at least coax one answer out of her friend's mouth.
"Twi, look, we're all glad to have finally found ya, but Ah've got a few questions to ask first," Applejack began, raising her voice above Rarity's to ensure that Twilight could hear her properly. "Did ya get a new make-over or somethin'? That doesn't seem like ya style, y'know. Also, why are ya standin' in the middle like yer the one who caused all this mess? You wouldn't destroy yer own home... right?"
To Rarity's surprise, Twilight finally opened her mouth to speak. It made Rarity jealous of the fact that Applejack managed to coax an answer out of Twilight in about one minute, while she'd spent about five minutes doing so and still didn't get at least one proper answer. Really, it did. However, she was still curious as to what Twilight had to say, so she managed to keep her temper in check for the time being.
"In reality, I did. This is no longer my home, Applejack, so I destroyed it," Twilight answered coldly.
"What do you mean by that, Twilight? This is your home!" Spike suddenly burst out. "Why would you ever destroy it?"
"Look, Twilight, I don't know what kind of prank you're pulling, but... did something happen that caused you to do this? We're your friends, Twilight, you don't have to hide anything from us!" Rainbow Dash said. Five minutes had gone by since Spike had question his caretaker, but still Twilight remained completely silent.
"My friends?" Twilight suddenly spat. "You were never my friends; you lied to me from the beginning! You became my friend only to use me! You think that's called friendship, pretending to be my friend even though you never were? Thankfully, I finally saw past your lies to the truth, so I won't be your manipulated puppet anymore!"
"Twi, have ya gone crazy? We'd never lie to ya! We are yer friends!" Applejack exclaimed, her emerald eyes wide with disbelief.
"Yeah, Twilight! What do you think you're saying?" Rainbow Dash nodded vigorously.
"Twilight, darling, this isn't a light matter to joke about. We've never lied to you, nonetheless even manipulate you in secret like you say!" It was Rarity this time, now completely focused on talking sense into Twilight instead of envying Applejack.
"T-Twilight, they're saying the t-truth," Fluttershy supplied, trying to help the others quite feebly.
"Your words mean nothing! The only real truth here is that my life's been full of lies ever since I came to Ponyville! Ever since I got acquainted with you liars!" Twilight snarled, shocking the others. "And now, to pay for ruining my life, I'll make you suffer the same pain I felt when I learned the truth!" Immediately, her horn powered up with dark magic as she sent six black balls flying toward them, all rather large in size.
"Fluttershy!" Rarity gasped, slamming into the yellow pegasus and getting her out of harm's way since she had just been petrified with fear a second ago.
"You aren't our Twilight!" Rainbow Dash was shouting, taking flight to the sky. "Our friend would never hurt us!"
"Oh, but she is, my dear, and she wouldn't hesitate at all to hurt you now." Immediately, silence dominated the room as all eyes turned to the armored stallion that had just appeared beside Twilight.
"King Sombra!" the group exclaimed in unison. "How did you escape again? We defeated you with the Crystal Heart back at the Crystal Empire!"
"Perhaps that may be, my little ponies. However, my good subject here Twilight helped me attain enough strength again to be able to escape my pathetic little seal. Haven't you noticed the recent reports of missing ponies, my dears? That's my - or more specifically, Twilight's doing - since she was ponynapping ponies and draining their energy in order to convert it into dark energy for me," King Sombra smirked.
"So that is Twilight?" Rainbow Dash's eyes widened, having just realized the truth.
"Why, of course it is! You actually doubted that? How foolish of you," King Sombra laughed.
"No, it can't be," Rarity whispered, horror etched clearly on her face.
"Then what'd you do to her? Why is she acting all creepy-like?" Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes.
"Oh, I simply helped her see the truth," the king responded simply.
Author's Notes:
Sorry for the awkward explaining of Twilight's new appearance; I'm not really good at explaining character appearances.
Chapter 5: The Element of Divinity
"Ya what now?" Applejack exclaimed. "Ah tell ya, King Sombra, Ah don't care whatever truth ya made Twi see. All we want is our old Twi back, and yer goin' to make sure that happens."
King Sombra snorted. "Do you really expect me to surrender that easily by relinquishing control on my most powerful subject yet? You might take this as nonsense and not believe me, my little ponies, but your Twilight is gone. She's been replaced by a better her: her dark side that she's managed to imprison inside the depths of her soul for so long. I've done it a great favor, and that is granting it freedom from its soul prison. Now, it shall serve only me, and me only."
"Slow down now, big guy," Rainbow Dash told him. "You're telling us that Twilight's got this evil side that she managed to imprison in her soul for a long time? And now it took over her body and made her this... this monster?"
King Sombra gave the rainbow-maned pegasus a dark smile. "Indeed... Rainbow Dash, I believe? The best flyer in Ponyville who's wanted to get into the Wonderbolts since fillyhood?"
Rainbow Dash, although suspicious of his sudden curiousity in her fillyhood dream, slowly nodded in response.
"I can make that dream come true, Rainbow Dash. But why should I stop at just making you a plain old Wonderbolt? How would you like to be the captain instead of an aerial team even more elite than the Wonderbolts?" King Sombra's smile grew as he saw the struggle on the pegasus's face.
"A team even more e-elite than the W-Wonderbolts?" Rainbow Dash finally managed to choke out. "Equestria's n-never had one!"
"That's because the Wonderbolts were afraid of this team so much that they convinced historians to erase every trace of its existence from the history books," King Sombra responded simply.
"A-Afraid? Why?" Rainbow Dash asked, confused.
"At that time, the Wonderbolts were just a brand new team slowly rising in popularity. They never expected the day that the Shadowbolts, their lone competitor during the Equestria Aerobatics Competition, bravely volunteered to be their opponent. Every other aerial team was too afraid to challenge the Wonderbolts, but the Shadowbolts weren't. In fact, they actually managed to win against the Wonderbolts, whose captain thought the defeat to be so humiliating that he convinced historians of that time to erase the Shadowbolts from any history record."
"They beat the Wonderbolts? Where are they now? How come the Shadowbolts haven't been so hot in the news lately then?" Rainbow Dash gasped, finally able to speak normally again without stuttering.
"After the Equestria Aerobatics Competition, they were never seen again, and that's because the Wonderbolts ponynapped their members and murdered them in secret. This is a true fact because a few days later after their strange disappearance, one of the Wonderbolts was seen leaving the Everfree Forest with a bloodstained coat. When the police finally managed to get an answer out of that particular Wonderbolt - and it wasn't a decent one either - they traveled to the cabin that the Wonderbolt mentioned, which was hidden deep within the Everfree Forest, and was met with bodies confirmed to be those of the Shadowbolts later on."
"That can't be! If they're actually dead now, then why'd you want me to be the captain of a nonexistent team?"
"It's because I've managed to find replacements for the Shadowbolts in order to revive their legacy, and they're all waiting eagerly for you to accept the role of being their respectful captain," King Sombra told her as suddenly three ponies dressed in a blacker version of the Wonderbolts' attire appeared next to him, their wings folded.
"We've been waiting for you, Captain Rainbow Dash," the tallest one said, bowing slightly.
"We know that you can lead us all to glory," the other two said in unison.
"This... this is the hardest decision I've ever got to make in my entire life," Rainbow Dash gulped, torn between one decision and another. She really wanted to become the captain of this elite team that was even more better than the Wonderbolt, but her Element of Loyalty was holding her back, constantly reminding her of her friends and how helpless they'd be without her.
"Rainbow Dash, you can't!" The rainbow-maned mare's eyes widened as she turned around to look at the one who'd spoke.
Fluttershy.
Her expression was now one of raw determination, which was extremely rare for the meek pegasus. Usually, she was a doormat, constantly being bullied by others until one of her friends saw her and had to intervene in order to protect her. Of course she hated being one, but it wasn't easy to change one's personality that fast. Besides, the first and last time she actually tried to stop being a doormat, she'd turned into a cold, heartless monster and mistreated her friends. Thankfully, Rarity and Pinkie Pie managed to talk some sense into her in the end, and that's how she got back to being the Fluttershy everyone liked and knew. Her current expression though, didn't make it seem like she had all of that history... that meekness.
"You can't, Rainbow," Fluttershy repeated forcefully, "we can't trust King Sombra... ever."
"Oh, but of course you can," a familiar, cold voice cut in. It was Twilight this time, smiling darkly. "He helped me to see the truth of what you all truly are, so why shouldn't he be trusted? Give in, girls; there's no point in fighting anymore. Just give in and you won't have to suffer intensely for being on the wrong side. Surrender, and you'll live a life full of peace for the rest of your days... once we conquer Equestria, of course."
"No!" Spike suddenly shouted, surprising all the others. "We'll never surrender, and we'll bring our true friend back as well!"
"My, my... how interesting. You still don't see a bit of sense after all this apparent trouble. Very well then, my little ponies. Since we've got more important affairs to attend to at the moment, I'm afraid Twilight and I can't lengthen our stay here any longer. Rest assured, however, that we shall meet again soon." King Sombra faked a sad sigh, his curved red horn glowing as he began to cast a teleportation spell.
"And then... I will make you see sense, the way I made your friend Twilight see it!" Evil laughter filled the decimated room as a dark black mist completely enveloped the two ponies and then vanished, quickly teleporting them to another place.
"This is bad, really bad," Applejack was saying, concern on her face. "We've learned that our Twi got corrupted by that evil monster, an' he almost got Rainbow if not for Fluttershy. But that's not what worries me the most, y'know... what worries me the most is what he meant by tellin' us that he'll make us see sense like he did to Twi."
"We need to get help, and fast," Rainbow Dash cut in. "Who knows what that tyrant Sombra's planning? The problem is, however... who's got a wide expanse of knowledge on magic and isn't on King Sombra's side?"
Suddenly, the six friends' eyes lit up as the answer came to their heads at the same time.
"Princess Celestia!"
The Mane Five, including Spike, were escorted inside the Canterlot castle and to the royal hall by two Equestrian guards. As the doors to the hall opened, they were startled to see Princess Celestia standing there as if she'd known ahead of time that they'd be there soon.
"Ah, welcome," Princess Celestia greeted, giving them a sad smile. "I was just about to be on my way to find you. If you don't mind, my little ponies, we have a lot to discuss about. Follow me then, please."
"Of course, Your Majesty."
The Princess led the friends to her own personal chambers, opening the door to her bedroom as they all settled down on wooden throne-like chairs that she had just conjured, trying to be comfortable.
"Now then, shall we begin?" Princess Celestia asked, turning around just as the others got comfortable enough on their chairs.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"No need to be so formal, my little ponies. Just Princess Celestia is fine. Anyways, I've caught news from the Crystal Empire that King Sombra's escaped once again. I'm certain we all know how dangerous King Sombra is after the events at the Crystal Empire, correct?"
"Well, yes, Princess Celestia," Rarity said, noticing that all of the others were too shaken still to even speak.
"Very well. I've also been informed that my own personal protégé, Twilight Sparkle, is missing from Ponyville. Do you happen to know anything about this, or is this simply a coincidence as ponies would say?" Celestia narrowed her eyes, placing a lot of emphasis on the word "coincidence".
"Ma'am," Applejack began, anxiously shifting in her seat. "'Ah know this might be a great shocker, so sorry if it really is, but... King Sombra escaped because Twi helped him to."
"Perhaps I don't really understand you, Applejack, because I do know that my most gifted student would never do such a thing," Princess Celestia replied matter-of-factly.
"Ma'am, Ah apologize for soundin' rude, but Ah'm not finished yet. Anyways, Twi got corrupted by that monster Sombra, an' she helped him escape in return. We met her at the Golden Oak Library, an' that's where everythin' turned upside down when we realized what he'd done."
"If that's so," Princess Celestia mused after Applejack finished speaking, "if what you say is really true, Applejack, then Equestria is in grave danger. We must try to get to Twilight as soon as possible in case she loses herself to the darkness forever. Come with me now, my little ponies. I'm certain I know just the magic we need in order to do so."
The group slowly filed into the royal Canterlot library, eyeing the shelves upon shelves of books surrounding them sadly as memories of their book-loving friend were brought to the surface of their minds. "Twi woulda loved this," Applejack sighed, bowing her head.
"My dear sister, I came as soon as you called. What do you need of me?" Princess Luna's voice sounded from behind them as they turned around to see the other Royal Sister, her flowing mane sparkling.
"Ah, Luna," Celestia smiled sadly before explaining to her the current situation in order to keep her up-to-date as well.
"Oh, my... what a terrible thing," Luna whispered as soon as Celestia finished. Although she'd tried to seal her memories of being Nightmare Moon far in the back of her mind and just forget about them, her method apparently didn't work as the memories came back, clear as ever. Twilight's corruption reminded her too much of them; it drew tears from her eyes as she began to sob.
"Do not cry, sister, for that cursed time is over. You are no longer Nightmare Moon, but instead Princess Luna," Celestia's voice broke through Luna's muddled thoughts like she'd known that she was thinking about her time as Nightmare Moon all along; slowly, the black mare stifled her crying, regaining her composure.
"Luna, do you happen to remember where the Book of Divinity is hidden? Only the Book has the information that we need in order to defeat King Sombra once and for all."
Luna nodded in response, leading the group to the far end of the library where six shelves littered with ancient books stood. Placing her hoof upon the spine of one particular one, the bookshelves swung back to reveal by a dark staircase crumbling from age. "Be careful and put your hooves only where I put them. These stairs are bound to crumble away at even a light touch," Luna warned, slowly guiding them to the very bottom of the staircase. Thankfully, there weren't any accidents, and they all managed to leap off the very last step onto solid ground as they stared at the oakwood table in front of them. A book sat upon it, its cover littered with strange runes and symbols; the Princesses opened it, carefully trying to avoid tearing the book's pages as they were very fragile from age.
The two Royal Sisters studied the book for what seemed like a long while. Starting to get bored, Rainbow Dash was just about to explore the damp room they were in when finally, the Princesses gestured for them to gather around the table.
"According to the Book of Divinity, a legendary book written by Starswirl the Bearded, there is a seventh element - the Element of Divinity - that we can harness in order to purify darkness itself," Celestia began to explain.
"The Element of Divinity? But how could there be a seventh element? It was hard enough already trying to find the sixth element back then!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, her curiosity about the room forgotten as she tried to process this new piece of information.
"Yes, Rainbow Dash, but the six elements apart are not as powerful as when they're combined. To simplify, the Element of Divinity is the result when all six elements are combined. Imagine how powerful the Element of Divinity would be if only one element was that powerful enough already."
"It'd be... divine," Pinkie whispered.
"Exactly, Pinkie Pie," Celestia nodded. "The Element of Divinity is made up of all six elements: Magic, Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, and Laughter. If you still don't get how powerful the seventh element would be, take your friendship for example. Your friendship, as of right now, is already quite powerful. But when all the elements are combined, the strength of your friendship would seem like a tiny pinprick compared to the Element of Divinity's power."
"Has there ever been a Bearer of Divinity?" Rarity piped up.
"An excellent question, Rarity. There are many ancient legends that have rumored so, but we can't be specific on whether the legends are true or not," Luna replied, her eyes glittering.
"But aren't the six elements themselves enough to defeat King Sombra? He doesn't even know we have them yet!" Rainbow Dash pointed out desperately, unable to believe that there was a seventh element after all that hard work on finding the sixth one back then.
"You forgot one thing, Rainbow Dash. King Sombra has already corrupted Twilight's mind and body, but not her memories, so there's a fair chance that he's already learned all he could from her memories." It was Celestia answering this time, tilting her head slightly.
"Look, gals, Ah don't know why yer all wastin' time on askin' questions, but we've got a friend to save. Princess Luna, Princess Celestia... is there a spell for combinin' all the elements together to get this Element of Divinity?" Applejack said.
Celestia smiled. "Of course, Applejack. However, this spell is a very complex one to weave and would take all of Luna and I's energy to cast. Therefore, we would be in no condition to ensure Equestria's safety, and we have yet to figure out a temporary replacement."
"Ah think Princess Cadance's fit for rulin' in the meantime, don't ya agree?" Applejack looked at the others, who nodded.
Luna tilted her head. "Very well then. There is but one last question though."
"An' what would that be, Princess Luna?"
"When the elements are successfully merged together and the Element of Divinity is called forth, a Bearer must be chosen that is strong enough to harness the seventh element's immense power. In addition, by merging the elements, your connections to them will be severed and you'll no longer be under your element's protection. Basically, you'll feel very tired. Are you willing to take these risks, my little ponies?"
"Yes!" the Element Bearers shouted.
"Who's going to be the Bearer of Divinity though?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"If only Twi was here," Applejack sighed in response, "she's one to take risks like this."
"I will," Fluttershy volunteered, her voice barely audible over the others as she stepped forward bravely.
"But Fluttershy, you've never shouldered this kind of responsibility before!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, shocked to the core by Fluttershy's unexpected decision.
"You might get hurt! The Element of Divinity is really powerful!" Pinkie Pie gasped.
"She's right!" Applejack agreed, concerned about her friend's safety.
"Girls, look. Somepony's got to do this no matter what, and even if somepony else volunteered that was a better choice than me, the seventh element's too powerful anyway for any of us to control properly," Fluttershy said, her expression determined just like back at the Golden Oak Library. "I'm good at taming wild animals, so I'm sure that I can tame some energy too. It's really the same thing... I hope."
Chapter 6: Fluttershy's Decision
"I'm sorry, darling, but I'm afraid I didn't hear you right. You hope? This is no small matter, Fluttershy!" Rarity told the yellow pegasus forcefully.
"Yeah! The fate of Equestria depends on this!" the others agreed.
Fluttershy rounded on them, eyes blazing. "You think I'm doing this to save Equestria? Well then, sorry to disappoint you girls, but I'm doing this to save our best friend, not Equestria-"
"Slow down now, Fluttershy. You're basically saying that whether Equestria survives or not isn't important as well? We live here! It's just as important as Twilight!" Rainbow Dash interrupted, folding her wings and landing in front of the other pegasus.
"Twilight needs me, Rainbow Dash! You can't just let down a friend of yours even if something else big is at stake!" Fluttershy snapped, her temper rising.
Rainbow Dash was just about to retort in response when suddenly, Rarity's voice cut her off. "No, my dear Fluttershy. Twilight needs us, not just you. Right, girls?"
"Yep!" the others chirped, excluding Rainbow Dash.
"And you, Rainbow?" Rarity narrowed her eyes at the rainbow-maned pegasus, raising an eyebrow questioningly.
"Yes, right, whatever you say," the pegasus grumbled, her expression unreadable.
Fluttershy's eyes were now brimming with emotional tears as she pulled the others into a group hug. "Thanks, everypony," she whispered, hugging them even tighter.
"We're friends, sugarcube; it's what friends do for each other. Anyways, Ah'm pretty sure that all of ya agree to our Fluttershy being the Bearer of Divinity, right?" Applejack said just as they finished up with the group hug and pulled away from each other.
Everyone nodded.
"Alright then, my little ponies. Shall we begin, Luna?" Celestia glanced at her younger sister, who nodded in response. As if on cue, they immediately intertwined their horns, closing their eyes. A bright flash of light then blinded the group, slowly fading away to reveal a now glowing Fluttershy, whose eyes were a pure white.
"Ugh," she grunted, shaking her head as her eyes once again adopted their normal greenish-blue color. She folded her wings and immediately hurried to help up the exhausted Royal Sisters, both lying on the floor.
"Are ya two alright?" Applejack rushed forward to help her as they managed to ease the Princesses into two nearby seats.
"Yes, we're fine. Fluttershy, how do you feel?" Celestia shifted to look at Fluttershy, who was now experiencing the occasional magical twitch.
"I guess I'm fine," the yellow pegasus answered, going through another magical twitch. "Well, besides these twitches," she added half-heartedly, sinking into a chair of her own.
Luna chuckled. "Magical twitches are a normal thing that you get when your body takes in and tries to adjust to a large amount of magic," she explained, "they don't do much harm... well, except being plain irritating to experience."
"Exactly," Rainbow Dash suddenly chuckled, "Fluttershy doesn't look too hot to me. In fact, she looks pretty irritated."
"You and your jokes, Rainbow," Fluttershy sighed, rolling her eyes.
"It'll be fine, darling. As soon as you learn how to tame this energy better, it'll be a piece of cake defeating King Sombra and getting Twilight back," Rarity assured her.
"Cake? Where?" Pinkie jumped up in excitement as she hopped around the library in her wild search for the "cake" that Rarity had just mentioned. It seemed that the discovery of the seventh element - or more specifically, a weapon to use against King Sombra - had lightened her mood tenfold; her mane was now curly and poofed up just like normal.
"Wait a minute," Applejack gasped as she suddenly realized something. "What 'bout Princess Cadance? Princess Celestia an' Princess Luna don't got much strength in them to contact her about her new role!"
Celestia gave the orange mare a tired smile. "It's all taken care of, Applejack. Before casting the spell, I managed to leave her a message regarding her temporary ascension with my magic. She should receive it back at the Crystal Empire if everything's fine."
"If everything's fine," Rainbow Dash echoed. "What if everything's not fine?"
Applejack chuckled. "Oh, Rainbow. Why would ya ever doubt Princess Celestia's magic? She is an alicorn, y'know."
"Right," the rainbow-maned pegasus mumbled, embarrassed.
Chapter 7: The Crystal Empire
Author's Notes:
When you come across the various green words in this chapter, click on them to get a reference as to what the Mane Five, including Spike, look like when dressed in their respective armors.
Credit to the DeviantArt authors who created those great pictures as I don't own them.
Pinkie Pie burst into laughter as she saw the look on Rainbow Dash's face. "Rainbow, you should see the look on your face! It's priceless!"
Rainbow Dash merely groaned in response and turned away from her friend, only to find the pink mare standing there like she'd been there all along. "You know, Pinkie, I'll never get the way you defy physics," the pegasus sighed, to which Pinkie only gave her a big smile.
"We still have a big problem we need to solve! How are we supposed to find King Sombra and rid Twilight of his control? We can't use the Element of Divinity on Twilight if we don't even know where he's hiding!" Spike's pained voice surprised everyone; it'd be a long time since he'd last spoken.
"Now, now, sugarcube," Applejack began, trying to think of something reasonable to say in response even though she knew that Spike was right, "Ah'm sure we can figure this one out, so don't lose hope just yet."
"Everything will be fine, Spike. Our friendship with Twilight will never be broken no matter what," Fluttershy's gentle voice reached Spike's ears as he looked up to see the yellow pegasus, no longer suffering from magical twitches, getting out of her chair and trotting toward him.
"Yes, darling," Rarity smiled, nodding in agreement at what Fluttershy'd just said, "even if we'll have to go through some trouble to help Twilight, we'll do it together as friends."
"What Spike said was still true though," Rainbow Dash spoke up, "we don't know anything that can help us find him."
The Royal Sisters exchanged a glance before Celestia spoke, smiling.
"Perhaps I can help you with that, my little ponies. Now, if King Sombra's very first goal was to corrupt Twilight in order to ensure that we couldn't foil his plans again without her, what was he originally focused on during his last rampage of terror?"
Immediately, the answer came to everyone's heads.
"The Crystal Empire!" they yelled in unison.
Celestia nodded. "Brilliant, my little ponies. If my hunch is correct, he should be focused on conquering the Crystal Empire again, which means that you have to get there right now and assist Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. If, however, the Crystal Empire is once again on the brink of destruction, you must secure them a safe transport here as soon as possible and try to get to Twilight in time. Understood?"
They nodded.
"Very well then, I'll book a train ride to the Crystal Empire for you six that leaves in about an hour. You're welcome to help yourself to anything in the castle during the meantime, even weapons if need be."
You could very well imagine the excitement on Rainbow Dash's face as the Princess mentioned the word "weapons".
The six friends stood at the train station, the freezing weather chilling them to the bone. Unfortunately, that afternoon was scheduled for a savage wind by the pegasi in Canterlot, which they learned of the hard way when they were escorted to the train station devoid of any wind-protection gear. However, they didn't really mind the wind, as their minds were only focused on the mission ahead of them. If done badly, it could cost them a lot of lives, but if done perfectly, it wouldn't cost them anything.
As expected, they vowed to follow the latter as best as possible.
"Looks like it all comes down to this, gals," Applejack said, turning to the others. She was dressed in armor that had been enchanted by the Canterlot blacksmiths they had met in the royal armory; it was capable of channeling magical energy into the form of radiant green wings making her able to fly when desired, and into her legs, which rendered them her main weapon.
"I guess," Rainbow Dash sighed, dressed in enchanted armor similar to Applejack's. Unlike her friend, however, the blacksmiths had gifted her with a magical headband that enabled her to hold her weapon - a yellow and red lance shaped like a lightning bolt - magically.
"We'll do this together," Rarity declared, her golden armor slightly enhancing her beauty. The enchanted blue star embedded in her breastplate, when combined with her natural unicorn magic, allowed Rarity the freedom of summoning multiple gems at will. It was the perfect weapon for her, and she simply adored it.
"Together!" Pinkie agreed, hopping up and down in excitement. Her personal armor was designed to look futuristic; she even had her own visorscope, a device that was capable of detecting ponies experiencing negative emotions within a 50-mile radius. It could even activate the multiple party cannons Pinkie had hid on her armor if she wanted it too.
"Oh my, doesn't my armor look too... intense?" Fluttershy was complaining quietly about her armor; it was simply too much for her even though her friends, along with the Canterlot blacksmiths, had insisted forcefully upon her donning it in order to keep her newfound powers in check. Much to her relief, however, the blacksmiths didn't bother on equipping her with a weapon of any kind, informing her that the magic she had gained from becoming the Bearer of Divinity would prove as a very formidable one already.
"It's fine, Fluttershy, just give it a rest. You actually look pretty cool in that armor." It was Spike this time who spoke, his own armor bearing a rather similar resemblance to Rarity's; it had been the last set of enchanted armor available in the armory, and since the blacksmiths needed a full week to even enchant one that suited the dragon's tastes, he had simply opted to just go with it without any further complaint. Thankfully, choosing a suitable weapon was a lot trouble-free, and in the end the blacksmiths were able to enhance his dragon breath's lethality.
A familiar honk sounded as the six friends turned to see their train closing in, finally skidding to a halt at the train station. "Crystal Empire, here we come!" Pinkie giggled, leading the way on board.
The entire train ride was rather boring as could be, with nothing for entertainment but perplexed glances from fellow passersby as they saw the group's ridiculous appearances. Even talking with a friend was a lost cause, since nopony could focus on the conversation when thoughts of the mission ahead always lingered in their mind.
However, the boredom dissipated as soon as the train reached its destination: the fabled Crystal Empire.
"Wake up, guys! We're here!" Rainbow Dash announced just as the train pulled up to a complete halt. The others, who were all about to fall asleep, slowly filed out of the train and watched as it began going backwards, eventually disappearing in the shadows of the nearby cave they'd passed in order to get there.
"Hey, guys?" Rainbow Dash said, noticing that they were still staring in a trance-like state long after the train had disappeared.
"Huh? Oh, right," Applejack yawned, shaking herself awake and proceeding to help the pegasus wake the rest.
"C'mon, guys, this is no time for a nap. We've got to get to the Crystal Empire, save Twilight, and beat King Sombra as fast as we can!" Rainbow Dash told them, her tone urgent.
"Right," the others replied, following the pegasus as she zoomed in the general direction of the Crystal Empire, its borders pretty hard to see in the swirling snow of the frozen north.
It wasn't until that they saw the bloody scene unfolded before them that their foggy minds finally cleared and they left exhaustion's clutches.
Chapter 8: Dancing with the Dead - Part One
"Ooh, I'm detecting a lot of frowny faces near here!" Pinkie Pie giggled, having still failed to see the intensity of the battle before her. "Looks like they really need a huge dose of happiness! Maybe a Pinkie Pie-style party can cheer them up!"
"Of course they'll be frowning when they're in the middle of a bloody battle, Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash yelled, unable to push the frustrated anger boiling within her down any further.
"They what?" Pinkie blinked, her mane deflating as she finally realized the truth. "Oh," she mumbled half-heartedly as she turned away miserably.
"Oh, it's fine, darling," Rarity tried to comfort the pink mare as she laid a hoof on her shoulder. "We're all under a lot of stress from Twilight's... predicament."
"Ah wouldn't blame ya for bein' like ya are right now," Applejack sighed, "we're all tryin' ta avoid the truth, y'know."
"Yeah, sorry, Pinkie. I shouldn't have lost it like that; it makes me 20% uncool than normal," Rainbow apologized, embarrassed.
Pinkie gave the rainbow-maned pegasus a small smile as she embraced her. "It's alright, Dashie, I forgive you."
"You do? Thanks a lot, Pinkie! I would never be able to forgive myself if you were still mad at me!" Rainbow's expression changed to that of relief as she returned the embrace. The hug lasted for a long time, no pony willing to let go like they were stuck to each other by very strong glue, until finally Fluttershy eased them apart gently.
"Right," Rainbow cleared her throat, blushing slightly as she did so, "I reckon we'll have to take care of those... are those dead ponies fighting over there?"
As soon as she began squinting - her view was quite flawed from there since all she could see was the glinting of sunlight on the crystalline weapons that the crystal ponies used - to see if her theory was true, a loud gasp sounded from Rarity. Immediately, their attention was drawn to their fashionista friend as they watched her face completely flush of any color.
"Hey, uh, Rarity? You okay?" Rainbow questioned, ignoring the stinging pain of her eyes that she was suffering as a result of squinting too hard. "You don't look so good to me. What's wrong?"
"King Sombra used necromancy, a forbidden type of dark magic, to revive the dead and enslave them to fight for him," Rarity whispered.
Their hearts all fell to the pits of their stomachs.
"Now look here, Rarity," Applejack began, trying to process what her friend had just said, "yer tellin' us that those really are dead ponies over there?"
Rarity nodded.
"An' that ol' Sombra used this necromancy magic ta revive the dead and enslave them to do his biddin'?" Applejack persisted, acknowledging that the answer wouldn't be to her liking at all.
Another nod from the white unicorn.
"Buck this! Even if he really used this so-called necromancy thin', we're still goin' to find Twi and save her!" the farmpony snarled, narrowing her eyes.
"Spot-on, AJ!" Rainbow grinned, hoofbumping Applejack. "So, what's the plan? I've got these babies ready to go at any time!" She spread her wings and flapped them a few times to support her statement.
"We need to get to Twilight as soon as possible," Pinkie finally spoke after a long silence on her part, "even if it means going through all those... undead."
Rarity glanced at the straight-maned mare. "Well yes, darling, but it's too risky and dangerous to go directly into the middle of the fray where most of them are. I say we split up into three groups of two, try to push past those at the edges of the battle to the Crystal Castle, and group up at its entrance. If I've learned anything about King Sombra the last time a disaster like this happened, he should be there with Twilight trying to usurp Princess Cadance and Shining Armor so he could regain what he'd lost."
"Sounds good!" the others agreed, preparing their respective weapons as they divided into their groups: Fluttershy was paired with Rarity, Rainbow Dash with Applejack, and Spike with Pinkie Pie.
At first, Spike wasn't too happy - he wanted to be paired with Rarity instead of Pinkie Pie - but he eventually accepted the truth after some difficulty and followed Pinkie as she led him to the very left of the commotion. On the other hoof, Rarity and Fluttershy went to the very right while Rainbow Dash and Applejack, being the courageous ones, entered through the middle despite the others' protests.
Little did they know that fate would not show them mercy in the coming hours.
Rarity scanned her surroundings uneasily as she trudged on, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to check if Fluttershy was still behind her. For some unknown reason, the area was pretty much deserted and devoid of anypony. It didn't feel right; she was certain that she had at least spotted a few undead around a few minutes ago when she was headed there.
It was also quiet. Too quiet.
Suddenly, fear struck her as she realized that she could no longer detect the sound of Fluttershy's hoofsteps from behind her. She immediately whirled around, only to be greeted with two decaying undead dragging a struggling Fluttershy away despite her slightly heavy armor. One had a grotesque hoof on her mouth - preventing her from screaming for help - while the other one wielded a crystalline axe that was probably stolen from a crystal pony it had brought down.
"Fluttershy!" Rarity's eyes widened as she galloped at full speed toward the undead wielding the axe, her horn glowing with its normal azure aura as multiple rubies appeared in front of her, merging together to form a large ruby sword. As soon as she neared her intended target, her magic propelled her sword forth and it slashed off its head with ease like a knife slicing through butter.
The axe it had previously wielded dropped to the floor with a loud crash, shattering completely, while the now decapitated corpse dropped to the ground, having finally been put to rest.
Rarity turned from the gruesome sight to face the remaining one, her expression one of pure fury. "You'll pay for what you've done, you disgusting corpse!" the unicorn snarled as her ruby sword sped forward and brought the same fate upon it as she'd done to its comrade.
"Ugh!" Fluttershy sputtered as its grip on her loosened. "This is just awful!"
Rarity gave her a small smile, her fury diminishing. "They're quite the disgusting ponies, I agree. Their scents are definitely horrid during death. Oh, how I would love to give them a proper makeover!"
Fluttershy stared at her like she was mad.
"Well, of course I can't since they're dead," Rarity chuckled. "No worries, however. How about we focus on the task at hoof instead of having such a ridiculous conversation on proper undead fashion?"
"Of course!" Fluttershy laughed, smiling.
Chapter 9: Dancing with the Dead - Part Two
Rainbow Dash groaned. It'd only been a short while - to be more specific, half an hour ago - since the three groups had went their separate ways, but already she was getting bored. The dead didn't even put up a fight as her lance impaled them and inflicted fatal wounds, putting them to rest once again. She was dying for a real challenge, a challenge where somepony like King Sombra himself would actually strike back and put up a decent fight.
"This isn't how I roll," Rainbow muttered to herself as her lance once again struck an undead, decapitating it.
"Heya, Rainbow! Ya alright over there?" Applejack's accented voice reached Rainbow's ears as she turned her head to see the farmpony trotting up to her, having just knocked out another undead with her magic-enhanced legs.
"Totally," Rainbow replied half-heartedly, waving her off with a hoof.
"Ya don't seem so ta me, y'know. If there's anythin' botherin' ya, ya can just tell me since Ah'm yer friend," Applejack told her, clearly concerned about her friend's irregular behavior.
"Look, AJ," Rainbow began, her tone frustrated, "I'm perfectly fine, so don't bother with anything, okay?"
Applejack opened her mouth to speak but was cut off as Rainbow interrupted quite rudely.
"I'm fine," the pegasus repeated firmly. "No need to worry, I'm not like about to die or something."
"No offense, but yer actin' like ya are," Applejack grumbled.
Rainbow sighed. "Alright, alright, I give up," she said, exasperated. "It's just that everything's so boring here. The dead don't even put up a fight... they just, like, die really easily. We shouldn't have chosen the middle."
Applejack chuckled. "So that's what ya've been frustrated 'bout all along? It's borin' here 'cause the dead die too easily?"
Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Not ta be annoyin', but yer the one who wanted ta come here in the first place, y'know," the farmpony reminded her, to which Rainbow's face flushed with embarrassment.
"Yeah, I know I did, and now I regret my choice a lot," Rainbow responded, sighing.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up as an idea came to her head.
"You wanna go for a fly, AJ?"
Applejack froze. "What? Ah don't even know how ta fly with these wings yet! Besides, if we get spotted by ol' Sombra's undead, he'll know we're here!"
"Oh, AJ," Rainbow chuckled. "You worry too much about little things. Who cares if we get seen by those rotting corpses? With me on your side, we'll beat Sombra and rescue Twilight in no time."
"Don't be too overconfident, Rainbow; Sombra's got thousands of dead fightin' against us!" Applejack retorted. "Ya think yer able to handle thousands of decayin' dead bodies? Besides, we need the element of surprise so we can beat Sombra without a lick of fuss!"
Rainbow rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Ugh, fine, whatever. When you're dying to fly soon, though, I'm not gonna help you with it."
Applejack gave her a small smile. "That's not gonna happen, sugarcube. Anyways, let's get goin'; we've got an empire to save."
Spike took a deep breath before opening his mouth, summoning forth torrents of green flame. It engulfed the undead in front of him completely, incinerating it until it was nothing more than a pile of ash on the ground.
"Ooh, nice one, Spike! They really spiced up your fire! Get it? Spicy?" Pinkie Pie giggled, her mane slightly poofier than before if not completely.
"Right," Spike responded, his tone sounding rather bland, "how are you adapting to your armor, then?"
"My armor? Oh, well, I'm adapting to it perfectly! Like, since all those big bad dead ponies always have big frowns on their faces, I can detect them from 50 miles away with my visorscope! Isn't that great, Spike? Isn't it?" Pinkie grinned.
"It certainly would be helpful if you'd use that to your advantage right now instead of babbling about it," Spike muttered under his breath, still feeling rather furious from having been paired up with Pinkie instead of his crush, Rarity.
"Huh? What'd you say, Spike? I didn't hear you!" Pinkie sang, which irritated the young dragon even further.
Mustering up the best smile he could fake, he replied, "I was just saying how your armor's great. I mean, even if the dead wanted to ambush us, we would already know where they are before they could do so, all thanks to that awesome visorscope of yours!"
Pinkie gave Spike a huge smile. "I always knew you'd say that! Oh, Spike, you're my bestest friend ever! Wait a minute, is that even a word?"
Spike chuckled. "Maybe, Pinkie Pie. But I guess if you want to know the truth, you'll have to find Twilight. She's the one with all the knowledge around here."
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he realized what he'd just done. Sneaking a glance at Pinkie, he noticed that her expression had shifted to one of sadness... which immediately confirmed his suspicions.
"I'm so sorry, Pinkie! I didn't mean to say that!" Spike gasped.
"It's okay, Spike," Pinkie murmured, her eyes having adopted a faraway look, "at least memories of the old Twilight can distract me from the Twilight we have now."
Spike was, for lack of a better word, confused. "What do you mean?"
Pinkie merely stared at him in response before giving Spike a smile that would have fooled him had he not noticed that her smile did not quite reach her eyes. "Nothing, Spikey. Let's just get moving."
"I guess," Spike mumbled before following Pinkie as she led him in the direction of the Crystal Castle.
Author's Notes:
I'm so sorry about the long delay for this chapter! I've been working on some other secret projects lately. Anyways, I hope you'll be able to forgive me with the addition of this chapter.
By the way, if you were looking forward to the six friends reaching Crystal Castle at the end of this chapter, sorry if you were utterly disappointed. I planned that for the next chapter; besides, if everything goes alright and no more delays happen, with about three more chapters this story will be over.
Don't worry though, I've got a sequel in mind!
EDIT: I hate to do this to y'all, but this story is on hiatus until further notice. Sorry. Oh, and you may have noticed that I've removed all the pictures for each chapter. This is due to Imgur breaking, and since I can't seem to find the original pictures on my computer, the only way was to delete them all.