Dark Chaos

The smell of burning sugar wafted through the streets of Ponyville as dark plumes of smoke rose from the inferno which engulfed Sugarcube Corner. Twilight stared in disbelief as the flames seemed to dance within the once rosy colored windows now black with ash. The roaring flames intensified and the snapping of wood sounded a death knell. The building seemed to exhale as the roof suddenly collapsed upon itself. The effluence of dust, smoke and the smell of burning confection caused the stunned mare to gag as the once beloved bakery crumbled.

A dark red unicorn began to laugh wildly, "That'll teach you to forget my blueberry muffins!" He yelled galloping off with a very irate Mr. & Mrs. Cake in pursuit. The twins Pound and Pumpkin Cake were wailing loudly from within the saddle carriages strapped to their parents.

Twilight felt a firm nudge to her side, snapping her out of her trance.

"Come on Twi!" Applejack yelled, muffled by the hose in her mouth, "We need ya focused!"

Twilight nodded, and the farm pony ran off to deal with smaller fires that had spread. Turning her attention back to inferno before her, her horn began to glow as she reached out with her magic. She eyes closed tightly as she concentrated, her horn glowing brighter as she focused. A gust of air began to swirl about the fiery remains of the bakery, molding into a stifling dome of wind. The fire began to be sucked outwards by the strong twisting gale, slowly snuffing out their existence; leaving behind only a blackened bittersweet carcass.

Pinkie Pie stared in disbelief as she looked at the twisted remains of what was not only her home, but her sense of being. Her eyes began to swell with tears as her mane, which normally appeared a playful body of airy downiness became no more than a flattened, listless sheet draped upon hear head.

Looking up she watched a lone, charred piece of paper drift from the wreckage. As the paper danced within the subsiding winds she closed her eyes, feeling as if every ounce of herself was being carried away with that breeze. Letting out a heavy sigh she looked down to see the paper had landed at her feet. Leaning down, flipping it over with her nose as a tear fell from her cheek, gently dotting upon the paper.

It was a picture. A cracked, black film covered the image yet she could still make out the rock farm and the cheery family that stood before it. She had taken it after her first party, but now, like her home; it was a memory that laid amongst the smouldering ruins. She felt a gentle nudge as Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around her. Pinkie rested her head in her yellow friends mane as she began to dissolve in tears.

Twilight looked towards Pinkie, realizing how she must feel with all that she's just lost. As she began to walk over to help console her, a brown stallion crashed through a window, landing in front of her. Twilight jumped back as a hail of glass showered down upon the hapless pony, he cried out as the knife edged shards pierced into his hide.

"You don't ever touch my wife again!" shouted another pony from inside as he dove through the window, landing atop the fallen stallion. Howling out in a demented rage, he began pounding his hooves into the defenceless stallions face. A delirious smile grew upon the fiendish ponies face as he cackled between each hit, the sounds of a sobbing mare could scarcely be heard from inside the home.

Twilight stared in shock as she watched the mindless carnage unfold before her eyes. Throughout the streets and alleyways of the town she could hear the guttural sounds of chaos. Shattering glass, frantic galloping, cries of distress and the howls of the enraged. Looking about the promenade she could see the destructive remains. Broken doors hanging loosely from their hinges, the sparkles of shattered glass, all manner of objects strewn about the cobblestone streets. All around her infuriated ponies were arguing, fighting, ransacking stores. If the cause of this malady was not discovered soon, there won't be a Ponyville left.

Twilight firmly bit her lip, the shot of discomfort clearing her mind. She knew what she had to do. Looking off to the mountains that overlooked Ponyville, she saw Canterlot's lights beaming through a break in the haze. A nervous chill crawled through her as she saw the trail of smoke climbing past it's golden spires.

She quickly ran over to Fluttershy who was still comforting Pinkie. "Stay here and try to maintain as much control as possible." She looked back at the ravaged town, her eyes filled with a new determination as her horn emanated a purple aura. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Hey!" shouted Rainbow Dash flying towards Twilight. "Where are you-" A sudden bright flash of light cut her off, quickly she shielded her eyes. As the blinding light subsided, Twilight was nowhere to be seen.

The three mares sat in silence, uncertain as to why their friend would leave so hastily without a word as to why or were she was going. Applejack came running around the corner, her orange coat covered in dust and ash. Stopping in front of the three mares panting, "Where's Twilight?" She gasped.

"I don't know," replied Rainbow.

"She's gone to get the Elements of Harmony," came a saddened voice from behind them, it was Shadow Bolt. Appearing from his shade he looked around the town streets with an expression of guilt. His voice secured the attention of everypony, their stares intent upon his knowledge of their friend's plan. His head hung low as he looked towards Pinkie Pie, quickly turning away as her dejected gaze meet his. The grief of the moment brought tears to his golden eyes, swallowing firmly his voice began to waver. "I...I never should have...I should have...This...Wasn't supposed to..."

"What are you talking about?" said Rainbow Dash through gritted teeth. "Did you cause this?"

Flinching slightly at the pegasus' intensity he looked away. His silence was enough for her. She began to growl as she moved towards the dark stallion. "Easy there RD." said Applejack, pulling the pegasus back by the tail.

"Explain Shadow," said Applejack with authority, "An' give us the truth."

The dark stallion stood silently as he looked back towards the four mares. He couldn't deny them an answer, but he also could not give them the whole truth. Their accusing stares shook him. Taking a deep breath he sighed heavily, "I-I can't." he said, his voice cracked and dry. "Just-Just know that...That this was never any of my intention. If this doesn't work...Then I will do what needs to be done."

He closed his golden eyes, a small river of tears flowing down his cheeks. Without another word, he shifted into his shadow and ran off into the woods. Disappearing within the darkness of the forest. Rainbow and Applejack looked at each other, neither of them wanting to think about what that could have meant.

Twilight awoke with a start. The energies required for teleportation had begun to exhaust the mare, her body ached from the stress of displaced movement from one location to another. She weakly pushed herself off the ground with a groan. As she gained her bearings the world came into focus. She was in a bedroom, it had been torn apart in much the same way the town of Ponyville had. The bed was flipped on its side, linens, books and other objects were thrown about in what appeared to be the aftermath of a large quarrel.

A sudden panic gripped her, she didn't know where she was. The ones who caused this destruction could still be nearby. Quietly creeping out of the bedroom she listened intently for any curious sounds as she cautiously inspected the adjacent rooms of the small hovel. Sighing with relief upon finding the domicile empty, she looked out the window to see how far away she was from the castle. The bustling activity of the picturesque Canterlot Square was nowhere to be seen, everything was in disarray. Much like Ponyville the shops and homes have been devastated; even patches of the road itself appears to have ripped apart.

She looked up the road towards the castle which did not seem to fare any better than the rest of the city. Twilight gasped as she saw the crumbled remains of the leftmost spire which seems to have collapsed, demolishing the circle of homes about it. "I can't risk another teleportation spell," she said to herself. "Looks like I'm walking..."

Stepping into the doorway she quickly scanned the road to make sure she wouldn't run into any unpleasant company. Confidant in the strangely silent surroundings she stepped out from the building. She had barely made it into the square before a piercing scream shattered the serenity. Startled, she quickly dove behind a turned over fruit cart, peeking through a broken slat of wood. A panicked mare soon rounded the corner with two royal guards in pursuit.

"Help! Please help me!" cried the mare, tears streaming down her face.

"Stop!" one of the guards yelled, his voice had a twisted, authoritative tone too it

"You have violated the law," shouted the other guard, a crooked grin upon his face. "Pay the fine and you wont get hurt!"

As the realization of what was about to transpire hit her, a deep anger grew within Twilight. 'How could the royal guards even consider doing such a thing?' Twilight seethed. 'I've got to help-' But her thought ended abruptly as the rational side of her mind spoke.  'No Twilight. If you get hurt, then who will wield the Elements to save Equestria?'

She felt a hot stream of tears run down her face. Frustrated at her hearts desire to fight and her mind's want to flee, unable use her magic and frozen in place. She watched them turn another corner, followed quickly by the muffled screams of protest. Grinding her teeth against her rage she quietly walked away from the dark scene, leaving the mare to her fate.

Twilight spent an hour sneaking through the ominously vacant streets of Canterlot, taking careful mind to avoid the Royal Guard. Should she be found they would easily overpower her in her current condition, and the fate of the mare from earlier may very well end up being her own or worse. Pushing the thought out of her mind she darted across the street, pressing herself against the wall. Around the corner lie the gate to the royal court and to the princess.

She frowned as she peeked around the corner. The golden gate leading into the palace grounds was bent off it's hinges. Two guards were locked in mortal combat a few feet away. As she began to formulate a plan to get past them a dark blue hoof pulled Twilight back, pinning her against the wall; cuffing a hoof against her mouth. Struggling in terror, she gave a muffled scream.

"Quiet," said a hushed voice. "Doth thee want the guards to hear us?"

Twilight shook her head, opening her eyes slowly to see Princess Luna. Nodding to the purple mare she slowly pulled her hoof away. Staring at her savior she was relieved to see she the royal alicorn had not become afflicted. "Princess Luna," Twilight whispered. "Th-thank you."

Luna nodded. "Our sister sensed thy arrival. Quite impressive."

The purple unicorn smiled weakly. "Thank you. So, Princess Celestia is still normal too?" she asked hopefully.

"Our sister is...under control," she said with a frown. "We hath come to take thee to her." Without another word, Luna's horn began to glow, the luminescence enveloped Twilight and the Princess as they vanished. When Twilight's eyes focused she and Luna stood in the princess' royal chambers.

"Twilight..." said Princess Celestia as she stepped forth. Her face creased with anger as she slowly addressed her beloved disciple, "It is...good to see you."

Twilight tensed as she tried to disguise her shock towards the regal white alicorn before bowing respectfully. "Princess Celestia. I'm so glad to see you and your sister are alright."

"Tell me you know whats causing this," said the Princess hastily.

Twilight slowly stood, returning a cautious nod to the princess. She has never before been spoken too so harshly by

her mentor. "There was a ruin I found in the Everfree Forest. I had never seen anything like it before. Earlier today there was a strange smoke coming out of it. It felt as if it was the combination of all sorts of negative emotions."

The princess hesitated for a moment, her jaw flexed tightly. "I knew these...emotions could not be my own. Continue."

"The stones had strange symbols around them, the first thing that came to mind was the remnants of an old tower or castle gate."

"An old castle?" said Celestia, turning towards a table. Reaching out with her magic and laying out a map of Equestria. "Show me where you found it."

The unicorn went over to the table and examined the map. "I'd say it was about here, Princess," pointing to a spot within the Everfree Forest.

With a scoff Celestia slammed a hoof upon the table. "You must think me a fool!" she yelled as the purple mare shrunk back in fear of her mentor. "In all of my days ruling over Equestria there has never been anything of the sort in the Everfree Forest! Do you wish for me to believe that there is a castle there?"

"May we suggest that-" said Luna stepping forth.

"What?" screamed Celestia. Closing her eyes tightly as if fighting to regain control of her mind. "I'm sorry, both of you. What did you want to say?"

"We were to suggest that perchance somepony built it recently."

Twilight rubbed her chin. "But who would create such a thing?"

"It doesn't matter," growled Celestia. "If this structure is indeed related to the cause of this...madness. Then it must be destroyed."

Twilight whimpered a little at the dismissal of her question. Although Luna appeared to be unaffected, it seemed to her

that Celestia was fighting against whatever is the cause of all this malady.

"Princess," said Twilight. "I came to Canterlot to get the Elements of Harmony. I thought to use them at the ruins to try and stop that smoke."

Celestia's horn glowed as a jewel encrusted chest appeared. Turning away as she dropped it loudly in front of Twilight. "Take them and go."

Taking the chest with her magic she placed the chest upon her back. "Thank you Princess."

Princess Celestia scowled. "You're wasting time," she said. Her horn glowed, and a white flash was the last thing Twilight saw of her mentor.

Twilight felt dizzy as she opened her eyes. The bright light of the teleportation spell cast upon her by the Princess fading to reveal the dilapidated town of Ponyville. Reinvigorated with the Elements of Harmony in tow she quickly ran into town to find her friends. Dodging the minefield of destruction within the streets she quickly found Applejack who had just finished hog-tying a stallion.

She looked up to see Twilight running towards her as she fastened a knot around the cursing stallions mouth. "Twilight! Thank goodness you're back."

"Yeah!" Twilight huffed. "I have the elements. We have to hurry! I think those ruins Fluttershy and I found are behind all of this. The princess thinks that it was built only just recently."

Applejack scoffed. "I already know who Twi. It was that Shadow fella. He practically admitted to bein' the cause fer everything!"

"Shadow? Are you su-" Twilight shook her head. "It doesn't matter right now. Where are the others?"

"I'm pretty sure Rainbow's aroun' nearby. The last I saw Fluttershy she was takin' Rarity to the farm to look after my family an' her sister."

Twilight nodded. "Lets go."

The two ran off towards the farm leaving behind the muffled screaming stallion wriggling helplessly on the ground. They quickly arrived at the farm to find Granny Smith guardian the porch, armed with a big iron pan. Big Macintosh sat against a nearby tree with a smug look upon his face, watching them with one eye open. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were wrestling to get at each other, being restrained by Fluttershy and Rarity.

"Let me go!" Applebloom cried as Sweetie Belle stuck her tongue out at the filly Earth Pony. "She pulled my mane!"

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity started. "Calm down this-"

"I don't have to listen to you!" snapped Sweetie Belle. "You're not my mother!"

"Girls," said Fluttershy quietly. "Would you ple-"

"Yer gonna pay for that!" yelled Applebloom.

"Girls I..." said Fluttershy in a firmer voice.

"Oh please," yelled Sweetie Belle. "That mane isn't even worth-"

"Girls!" Fluttershy screamed at the top of her lungs. The two wide eyed fillies looked up at pegasus in shock. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves! You're best friends and you're fighting over nothing!" She stared into the eyes of the young earth pony. "You!" she pointed at Applebloom. "Inside!" She looked towards the little unicorn, snorting out a blast of air. "And you! Over by that tree and leave each other alone!"

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked at each other as Fluttershy scowled at them both.   "Yes ma'am," they quietly said in unison as the headed to their instructed locations.

Twilight and Applejack's eyes were wide with surprise as they trotted up to the two ponies. Rarity wiped her brow letting out a sigh of relief.

Fluttershy noticed the looks on Applejack and Twilight's faces. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she said quietly as if ashamed. "I yelled at them."

"It's all right sugar cube," Applejack said with a smile. "Normally I wouldn't take too kindly to somepony yellin' at my lil' sis like that. But considerin' the situation...I'm gonna have to agree with it."

Fluttershy looked relieved as she turned to Rarity who smiled back at her with a nod of agreement.

"I'm sure they will be alright," said Twilight. Setting the exquisite chest upon the ground, she opened it to reveal the Elements of Harmony. Her horn began to glow as she levitated the amulets out to their respective masters. "But right now, we have to stop this."

The three mares nodded as they donned their elements. Suddenly a rainbow colored blur dropped from the sky, hitting the ground with such a force that all nearby felt the reverberation. As the dust cleared the others could see it was Rainbow Dash.

"Are you alright Rainbow?" said Twilight.

Rainbow panted heavily, clearly exhausted. "Weather team...nuts! Rainstorms...inside houses!"

"We have a plan to stop all this," Twilight said. Handing the amulet to Rainbow.

She smiled, taking the amulet and snapping it on. "Good. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

Twilight looked at the last element in the chest, before looking around for the pony who embodied the element of laughter. "Has anypony seen Pinkie?"

Fluttershy landed beside Twilight. "She's... still going through... Sugarcube Corner," said the pegasus softly.

Twilight sighed sadly. "I'll go get her...We can't do this without her." She focused her energy and teleported to the one place she knew Pinkie would be. With a flash she arrived next to the charred remains of Sugarcube Corner. She could see Mr. and Mrs. Cake arguing nearby, but her eyes immediately fell upon the sulking form of Pinkie Pie. Her mane was still a flat, silken sheet as she listlessly rummaged through the remains of her home. Her usually cheery eyes shone with a thick film of tears. Suddenly her shoulder began to twitch as her Pinkie Sense went off. Quickly running to the left she shoved a pile of blackened debris to the side, revealing a small alligator.

A trickle of tears cleared the soot from the mares face as she picked up the small reptile.  "Gummy... no," she whimpered as she cradled the beloved pet close to her. His eyes were closed yet he was breathing. He was alive, and that's all Pinkie could ask for in this moment.

Twilight carefully made her way over to the distraught earth pony, mindful of the charred wreckage of her friends home. "Pinkie?" said Twilight softly. The unicorn stared at the ash covered alligator, the small reptile was breathing, albeit difficultly. The earth pony's lip trembled as she gently wiped the dirt from his face. Seeing Gummy like that made Twilight wonder where Spike was and if he was alright.

"Why did this happen?" said Pinkie. Her voice quivered as she held back a rush of tears. "Gummy didn't hurt nopony."

"I'm so sorry Pinkie," said Twilight as she gently embraced the distraught mare. Pinkie turned and rested her head on Twilight's shoulder, carefully holding Gummy close to her. Twilight closed her eyes tightly as she felt the warmth of teardrops upon her back.

"Pinkie?" said Twilight. "I have a plan to stop this. But we need your help."

Pinkie leaned back, looking down at her struggling pet.

"I need you to be strong now...Please?"

The pink mare sniffed and gently embraced the tiny alligator, "O-okay..." she said nodding to Twilight. "B-But what do I do about Gummy?"

Twilight looked down at the small alligator and thought for a moment. "Fluttershy is with the others. Bring him along, I'm sure she'll be able to help him."

"O-okay..." she sniffled with a slight nod. Leaning down and gently rubbing her nose against his forehead. "D-don't worry Gummy...F-Fluttershy's gonna make you all better..."

Twilight took the final element out of the box, "Are you ready?"

Pinkie carefully placed Gummy on her back so he wouldn't fall off. Nodding to the unicorn as she took the amulet and put it on, her face revealing a look of revived determination. "I'm ready."

Twilight nodded. "Good. Let's end this."

The two turned and left behind the fragments of Sugarcube Corner. Next Chapter: Chpt 4 - The Dying World Estimated time remaining: 13 Minutes