Once there were two forms of alicorns living together on Equis, the Alicorns of the Light who were ruled by a gentle and wise queen and the Alicorns of Darkness who were ruled by a strict and disciplined king. And since each of them ruled one hemisphere of Equis, both kingdoms brought forth great achievements with several kinds of ponies. While the queen ruled with a mild hand and her subjects learned to thrive in their lands, the subjects under the rule of the king remained stagnant.

As the centuries passed, the queen and king, despite ruling in different kingdoms had two foals together who symbolized the good will between the kingdoms. And they named the light alicorn Celestia and the shadow alicorn Luna. Both the queen and the king stood together proudly for their daughters held the potential to build a bridge between light and darkness.

But as the years passed, the light alicorns and their subjects thrived dangerously close towards the borders in more and more growing numbers. Urging the king about this matter, his disciples and advisors urged him to obstruct this growing threat. Thus long nights of arguments followed for both queen and king. As reason finally seemed to take fruit, reports reached the king that several colonists of the Light kingdom had crossed the borders. This marked the beginning of the conflict.

After ending his relationship with the queen, the heart of the king hardened. The first settlers were treated as intruders and were forced back into their land with brute force. As the number of incidents grew among the equator, more and more military force was summoned by the Darkness alicorns. It wasn’t long before the light alicorns began to send diplomatic agents. But at this time, the border was hardened with floating mountains, fortified bastions with hundreds of Darkness alicorns. With the slaughter of the diplomats the queen as well was urged to call to arms. Reluctantly, she obeyed her advisors and declared war upon the Darkness alicorns.

Shortly after this, the skies were filled with fire and lethal magic as the floating mountains fought each other. In the midst of battle, all subjects of both realms fought one another. With pegasi, unicorns crystal- and earth ponies on their side, the alicorns of the light defended their land while the Darkness alicorns fought with dragons, shadow ponies and draconequis.

The army of darkness was numerous and advanced into many regions of the northern hemisphere, but despite being outnumbered heavily, led by the Council of Harmony, their unity made the queen’s battalions an unstoppable force for the side of light and righteousness.

Aziel, Arch-light alicorn of Discipline
Wielding two whips of 25 meters the yellow alicorn mare lashed hundreds of the ground forces of darkness back so they couldn’t harm the sixth battalion of light.

Inisiel, Arch-light alicorn of Virtue
With the swiftness of her double blade, the alicorn mare in blue coat turned every spell and projectile back to the enemies trying to harm her comrades in the fifth battalion.

Tylasiel, Arch-light alicorn of Protection
Slamming through the enemy ranks with two mighty shields the violet alicorn mare rammed her shields into the enemy heads with both center and edge of the shields while leading the fourth battalion.

Afundion, Arch-light alicorn of Justice
Wielding a mighty blade with him, the green alicorn stallion slayed several foes in one strike with his brethren of the third battalion.

Taleron, Arch-light alicorn of Love
A ruby red alicorn stallion, wielding a golden scepter weakened the minds of the enemy ranks, causing them to fall to the ground weeping in regret, so that the second battalion could slay them.

And Faust, the Arch-light alicorn of Creation and Queen of the Light
Wielding the most powerful spells known to alicorns, she turned the torn land back to former beauty after the battle and healed her soldiers of the first battalion in both mind and body.

As the battle advanced, Tylasiel and her thousand vassals stormed forth and started pursuit to the retreating enemy forces. So many troops were usually lead by a powerful general or Lord,
“Onwards!”

It was then when Aziel landed beside her companion,
“Don’t haste, Tylasiel! We should reform our ranks first before we advance! It might be a trap, a trickery of our enemies”

But Tylasiel just stared at her with wide eyes,
“Don’t haste? But victory is at hoof! We must move on!”

As the Arch-light of Protection pressed on, the other Arch-lights reunited. Queen Faust shook her head at her youngest disciple. She was young and filled with youthful enthusiasm, yet her patience and wisdom needed further refining.

As the young mare descended down the fortress, she found mostly slain shadow ponies and draconequis. Obviously the deeds of her battalion. Yet as she entered a great hall, the sight prompted her to gasp. Her whole battalion lied there, slain. A dark shadow towered above the corpses as she slowly identified the figure.
“Arasorm…”

Hatred was in the voice of the Arch-light alicorn as she faced the stallion before her. She knew he was one of the Prime Lords of the King, an Arch-shadow, on equal power as she was.

“You shouldn’t have come here with only these few brethren! Facing me alone will harm you more than me, Protector!”

Gritting her teeth she glared at him. He tried to provoke her into a 1 on 1 fight, but she wasn’t foolish. She knew he wouldn’t fight honorable,
“Who said I had come alone, Corruptor?”

Growling into a grin, the dark alicorn laughed,
"There is a reason you stormed in alone! Your hate makes you strong, yet you hide it deep within… Maybe you’re hiding it so your queen doesn’t see your real face?”
Huffing angered she leaped forward and confronted him and a fierce battle began between the two immortals. As they fought, the other Arch-lights went into the fight. Within mere moments, the six alicorns of light had subdued the Arch-shadow and had him chained to the ground so that even his horn wasn’t able to move.

Aziel nodded in satisfaction,
“At last we have captured one of the Arch-shadows of the Tacitus’ Six Prime Lords. Arasorm… Arch-shadow of Corruption! Claiming him will surely weaken the king’s forces to our favor.”

Tylasiel stepped in front of Arasorm and glared down at him, held her shield at his neck so the blades at the edge of the shield slightly cut into his coat,
“Come on… Do it! You know you can’t persuade me!”

It was then when Afundion stepped in front of the alicorn mare,
”This is not justice, Tylasiel, my beloved sister… Nor is this a decision for you alone to take! If we slay him, we are not better than he is… But if we win him to our side, this accursed war could end in diplomacy.”

Tossing her sibling away, she began to yell,
“Never trust a darkness alicorn, brother! If we want to protect our subjects, I KNOW WHAT TO DO!!! YOU CAN’T REASON WITH HIS KIND!!!” With this Tylasiel leaped forth and stabbed Arasorm with her horn. The dark stallion coughed blood as the horn pierced his heart. With another burst of magic, his heart was ripped into shreds. Satisfied, the violet mare stepped back as her companions stepped back from her with expressions of terror. Blood ran down her horn and mane as she glared at Arasorm with satisfaction.

Faust shook her head in terror and took a few steps back as blood covered the floor. One of her closest vassals had slain a defenseless being,
“Sacrilege! Is this what we have become?”

Glaring at Faust with a victorious smile, Arasorm muttered his last words,
“So much for your righteousness… Harmony at last… has failed…” With that, the dark alicorn crumbled to ashes.

As Tylasiel turned back to the others, Faust shook her head in disgust,
“No… Stay away from us! Stay away from me! You aren’t a protector anymore! His very presence has defiled you!” As the others returned to the surface, Tylasiel fell to the ground, crying, realizing she had failed her queen and her race by giving in lust for revenge. Her purity had been befouled.

One hour later on the southern hemisphere of Equis, a black muscular alicorn stallion with armor around his body entered the enormous throne hall. Several guards in dark armors escorted him,
“So Arasorm has fallen… He obviously completed his mission then… Harmony is broken! So! How goes the war against the realm of Light? Report, Erisalia! SPEAK! “

A slender dark alicorn mare approached the king from the side, beginning her report,
“This is only the furthest edge of the Alicorn War, but in its heart, hundreds die every hour! We have sealed the borders of the southern hemisphere, our realm is secured and we are closing in on the forces of light as we speak.”

Impatiently the dark king approached the throne,
“Yes! Yes! But what news of Queen Faust?”

Erisalia trotted besides the king and continued,
“She disappeared, King Tacitus! Our spies report that she and your daughters-”

He cut the mare off in midsentence,
“HER DAUGHTERS!!! I won’t tolerate any light alicorn in my line anymore! This was a mistake! A mistake never to be repeated! No doubt Faust will render them effeminate and weak!”

Unimpressed Erisalia continued her Report,
“Our spies report that she and her daughters are nowhere to be found. Neither in the Crystal Plains, nor the Deserts of Colors, not the Plateaus of Joy or the Swamps of Burak! Nowhere! But I’ll assure you, sire… We will find her before the day is out”

Glaring at his throne, his voice was filled with hatred and rage as he muttered through gritted teeth,
“I want Faust kneeling at my hooves…”

Another advisor spoke up; worried in his voice as he did so,
“You say she took her daughters and disappeared? Then we know her intentions! She has completed the Abarasion Spell! And she’ll use it to eradicate alicorns from both Light and Darkness realm alike. Without our leadership, Equis will surely break down to complete utter chaos before calming down and peace will take place more and more…”

The king glared silently at the advisor and every other stepped back from the throne,
"So you say that we should simply vanish from the face of the planet? That we should simply die?”

The advisor shrugged, not knowing his words would seal his fate. Or perhaps he did and wanted to stand up for sanity’s sake,
“Every living creature dies! We alicorns shouldn’t make an exception! Have we fallen so deeply to let our pride dictate our acts?”

This visibly outraged Tacitus in an instant, as he barked at the alicorn stallion,
“I WON’T DIE JUST BECAUSE SHE WILLS IT!!! WE ARE LOOKING BACK AT HALF A MILLION YEARS OF HISTORY!!! I WON’T TOLERATE THAT THIS ENDS BECAUSE OF HER!!!” Then Tacitus sneered upon the advisor. “We alicorns are the immortals of Equis. And everypony else… is cattle! Cattle to be sacrificed on the field of battle! You think we should die that easily? Well then! Here you go! You go first…” With this his horn was engulfed with a black aura and black lightning shot at the advisor, thus disintegrating the lesser alicorn.

With horror the others knelt down before the king,
“We beg for your forgiveness, sire! We live only to serve you!”

Erisalia shook her head,
“It would be a pity to waste all of them in rage, sire…”

Hustling her to the advisors, Tacitus gritted his teeth again, his cat eyes glowing in bright Cyan,
“Save your pity for yourself should you fail me as well! Take them and whatever resources and troops you need!”

The dark alicorn mare glared at her king,
“I didn’t say that I volunteer to go…”

Yet Tacitus sneered down to her,
“Then you should not have spoken… Leave immediately! This ultimate weapon must be finished before Faust makes her move! Once the project is ready, signal me its readiness, I shall have the little one prepared by then…”
As they saluted before Tacitus, he simply barked a “GO!!!” at them and they obeyed.

* * * * *

On the top of the Crystal Mountains, Queen Faust shook her head,
“Lights… Shadows… For one year we have waged this war and see what misery we have brought upon Equis… I fear that our foolish conflict will soon engulf the world in flames. What horrors will we bring upon our subjects if even the purest hearts can be so easily corrupted?” As she heard hoof steps behind her, her head turned around. “Taleron… My son…”

As the alicorn stallion approached, his face showed great concern and uncertainty,
“Mother… Do you really think this is the right thing to do? I mean… Celestia und Luna… They’re still so young… And Luna is just a foal. They are my little sisters and I want the best for them. But Cadance is only a newborn! Don’t you ask too much of Celestia? It will take months for Luna to stand and another year for Cadance. Celestia is too young to take care of two foals.”

“Don’t worry, Taleron… Celestia is an early mature filly. She will find ways to breast feed them. Even if it means that they have to drink the milk of a unicorn pony. I can’t banish the innocent minds of the young ones…”

“Why unicorns, mother? They’re primitives, thousands of millennia behind us.” Taleron stated, concern in his voice.

Caressing the girls, Faust looked at them,
“They will teach the girls to be humble. They will fit between them…”

Worry filled the face of the young alicorn stallion,
“…yet neither of them will be one of them!”

The queen shook her head, causing her red mane to wave,
“No… Their alicorn blood will make them magical stronger.”

With a sad glance, Taleron looked down to his daughter,
“They will be odd… different… “

Faust nodded briefly,
“They’ll be bigger… virtually invincible to them…”

Nuzzling little Cadance, he shed a tear. “…Isolated… alone!”

With this, the queen sighed heavily. She understood her son’s sorrow quite well,
“They will not be alone… As long as they have each other, they will never be alone! And soon something… or someone will come.”

Taleron looked up after placing Cadance in front of Celestia and Luna,
“You speak of the grim prophecy that one day a being shall come and aid ponykind. But do you really think this prophecy will aid our daughters in growing up? No… They will have a hard fate until then.”

Shaking her head, the queen looked up to him,
“And then the foretold hero will come to their aid. And don’t be foolish, Taleron… It was pride that led to this dreadful war. But not the next time. All my wisdom and love… Celestia has it. She will make the one or another mistake, but as the millennia pass, she will make good use of it. Then there will be a time when Light and Darkness can coexist.”

Now standing above the capsule with the two foals and filly, the queen shed several tears, trying her best to remain calm,
“We have to part now, my little ponies. But we will never leave you. Even in the face of our disappearing. The richness of this world… shall be yours. All that we’ve had, all that we’ve learned, everything good we felt… All this and more… I bestow upon you three. You will begin our dynasty anew. You will rule better than we could ever hope for. Farewell forever… my daughters…” With this she kissed the three girls with only Celestia moving a little.

As the capsule closed, Faust looked to Taleron in tears and embraced him as her horn began to glow,
“What is going to happen, mother?”

With a warm smile, her horn emitted a warm bright light,
“Something wonderful…”

Not daring to open his eyes, he hugged her tight,
“I’m scared…"

As her voice began to echo to him, he began to feel light,
“Don’t be! We will be together…”

Light engulfed them and more and more alicorns,
“Where will we be?”

By now her voice was heard from above,
“Where I am now…”

* * * * *

In the meantime, on the other half of the planet, Tacitus stood in front of an alicorn mare and shook his head,
“Nafrasia… You know it has to be…”

Sadly, the mare nodded,
“I know…” Broken hearted, the young alicorn mare stepped outside, where thick snow covered the earth around the luxurious country house. “It’s getting late, Chrysiala! Come inside!” It was then, when something approached the house.

The little black alicorn filly ran across the streets as she heard the warm and caring voice of her mother. Her waving mother, who awaited her, stood there, to nuzzle her welcome and to bring her to bed. But there were other alicorns. Her father was among them.

Dark smirks decorated their faces as they stepped in front of her mother and came closer to the little filly, levitating her up and taking her away. “Mama!” she yelled, but her mother only stood there, falling to the ground, crying. With big eyes she stretched her hooves towards her mother, assured she would come to get her back from the alicorns who wanted to take her away. But nothing happened. Her mother slowly grew tiny until she vanished.

Forced into a big transformation chamber inside a dark laboratory, the little filly was struck in fear. As large machines came to life, green flames engulfed the little filly, she shook her head in terror and agony, as cruel dark magic deformed her alicorn body. Gone was her clothing, her silver tiara. As her body was being deformed by a demonic will, she screamed, slamming her hooves in panic, despair and frenzy against the glass window of the chamber. The king, her father just stood there and watched while she pleaded for his help, cried tears so he would come to her rescue. But his eyes showed no emotion to her. And her lust for love grew as the transformation compelled her to the ground. All she could witness now was the fact that every alicorn around her suddenly turned to bright lights and shot through the ceiling.

As Chrysiala’s skin thickened to hard and thick plates, she lost most of her coat and her wings began to decay. Her beautiful wings… How her mother always praised her for having such beautiful feathers and boasted in front of other alicorn mares for having the most beautiful daughter the king could had beget with her… And now they were gone. Her mother would be so disappointed from her. Pain struck her as her teeth fell out and grew anew to sharp fangs. Tears ran down her cheeks as her voice began to fail her. Only a silent weeping and whimper sounded in the transformation chamber as her body slowly cocooned itself. She didn’t recognize the alarm outside the chamber anymore. Only one thought filled her mind as darkness struck the laboratory as well as her mind.

Next Chapter: 10 - Dark Companion *** Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 56 Minutes