Welcome the Nightmare - Prologue

Twilight walked down Stirrup Street with her friend Rarity, who was talking about her next big accessory line. Twilight had phased her friend out in an attempt to concentrate on other tasks. Although apparently, from what the purple unicorn heard, it was going to be out sometime next week. Instead of answering, Celestia’s student was lost in thought. Something in the back of her head was pestering the poor unicorn; she couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. It brought a bittersweet sense of nostalgia; last time she had this feeling had been the incident with Smarty Pants. Twilight shivered as the mere image of the doll made its way to the front of her mind. Quickly dispelling the idea, Twilight decided to set aside her apprehension hoping that it would eventually go away. She tried to turn her attention towards the fashionista.

Rarity continued talking, unaware of Twilight’s inattention. “So, darling, Hoity Toity asked me for yet another shipment of my newest spring catalogue! If I do say so myself, they’re absolutely marvelous. Twilight? Are you even listening to me?” she inquired, looking in the unicorn’s direction.

Twilight returned the comment with a confused look. “Huh? Oh, yeah. Good luck with that fashion thing. Say, does anything feel... I dunno... wrong in the air? I just have this nagging feeling that... something really bad is about to happen,” she stated.

“Hmm? Well, maybe that’s just your stomach talki-” Twilight’s stomach growled at the comment. “See? You’re just hungry. Nothing a quick lunch wouldn’t fix.” Rarity shot Twilight her signature “I told you so” look.

“Yeah...I hope you’re right. Since Spike was out helping Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres before I even got up, I didn’t really get any breakfast. I mean, I tried cooking, but burnt hay pancakes don’t taste that good...” She looked down; cooking was not Twilight’s strong suit.

“Oh, you poor thing! Here, let me buy lunch. I’d hate having to see you starve because Spike isn’t there to look after you!” Rarity mocked while playfully poking her friend’s ribs. Twilight laughed a bit at the idea; she really did need to learn how to cook.

“Alright, how about that restaurant over there? They make pretty good hay fries!” Twilight pointed at the familiar restaurant she had eaten at a few times before; she was almost a regular there, in fact. The pair walked over to Ponyville Cafe and sat at a small table with two chairs. After about a minute of twiddling with her hooves, a waiter finally came over and greeted the duo. The waiter looked at Rarity and introduced himself.

“And what can I get for you this fine afternoon, madame?” he asked.

“Let’s see... nothing here seems fancy enough for my tastes...” Rarity said after a moment of deliberation.

The stallion cleared his throat and gave her a disgruntled look.

“But I guess I’ll go with the daffodil sandwich!” she proclaimed, not wanting to incite an argument over such a silly thing. The waiter turned his attention to Twilight.

“And for you, Ms. Sparkle?”

“Hay fries please!” Twilight quickly exclaimed, affirming her decision with a nod. The waiter took down their orders and walked away. Shortly after five minutes, their server came out with two dishes.

“Here you go, mesdames. Hope you enjoy your meal!” he said. The waiter trotted over to the next table to serve a new customer. Twilight levitated a fry to her mouth and bit on it.

“I think these guys make the best hay fries here. Besides Spike, at least.” The student giggled before taking another bite. Rarity poked at her sandwich before picking it up and taking a small bite.

“I guess this food is...acceptable for the time being.”

She followed up with another bite, this one a bit bigger than the last.

“So, Twilight. Anything you want to do after this, um... lunch?”

Twilight pondered what she could do.

“How about we head over to Applejack’s and see if we can catch Spike?” she answered before biting on another fry.

“Well, why don’t we take these to go then?” Rarity said, dropping a small bag of bits on the table. “I’m pretty sure they won’t mind if we stay here.”

She levitated her sandwich and walked away. Twilight watched her leave before her friend had even gotten an answer. Twilight sighed, levitated her box of fries, and trotted over to Rarity.

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Meanwhile, in the Royal Canterlot Gardens, the statue of Discord sat in front of the garden’s maze as it always had. Yet, the statue did not appear as it typically did; large cracks began to form on the stone figure. First on the chest, slowly spreading to the head and other extremities. As they widened slowly, a quiet, malevolent laughter filled the air. With a sudden blinding light the statue shattered, letting the draconequus see the light of day for the first time since he had been petrified two years ago. Discord stretched his limbs, producing an audible snap as he began to use his bones for the first time in two years.

“Two years imprisoned and no welcome party? Why, that means I’ll have to make one for myself!” A sly grin crossed his face. “And this time, those ponies won’t know what hit ‘em!” A  laugh escaped his mouth.

Now...if only I could find that little purple princess. Where would she be... he pondered to himself. With a snap of his fingers, Discord began his search.

Discord teleported into Luna’s room. Sure enough, Luna was sleeping under her star-embroidered blanket. “This is rather... boring. I expected a good game of hide and seek!” he giggled, appearing beside the sound asleep Luna, and prodded her. “Wake up, my little queen!” He shouted, making sure his mouth was right beside her ear. Luna began to stir, and quickly opened her eyes. What she saw petrified every part of her except her mouth.

“D...D...Discord? But that’s impossible! How? Why aren’t you in the garden!? You were defeated by the elements two years ago!” she said, her face fixed on what seemed to be the implausible.

“Ah ah ah!” Discord scolded while wagging a finger. “I just wanted to play a little game, is that too much to ask for? Now, I’m going to do something, so please do try to hold still; we don’t want any accidents happening, now do we?” He laughed, then floated over to Luna’s side and touched Luna’s coat. Slowly, Luna’s hair began to change from a dark blue to a pitch-black. “Now, I hope you enjoy the lovely hate I filled your mind with! Isn’t it rather chaotically fun?”

“I- b-but, I- C-Celestia... Equestria... I-I can’t... NO!” Luna stuttered, locked in a battle as her conscious fought off the invading forces of hatred to no avail. Discord’s influence proved too strong for even the goddess of night. With a deafening scream, a bright purple light filled the entire room. A grin sprung onto Discord’s face as the light began to dim. Nightmare Moon stood before him. Her beautiful black coat and purple ethereal mane made her look as brilliant as ever.

“My, my, if it isn’t Nightmare Moon... What brings you here to Equestria, friend?” Discord inquired, holding back a fit of laughter.

“Quiet, Discord! I never asked to be awakened, what do you want with me? You know very well that I won’t rule Equestria with you, so don’t even attempt to persuade me! In fact, I should just kill you right now and claim this little country as my own!” She let magic enter her horn, and it began to shine a very vivid purple.

“Well, well! Is that anyway to treat the draconequis that just saved your royal rump? I expected even you to have some manners, missy!” He laughed. Nightmare Moon grimaced and fired a magic bolt at Discord. Discord, with a snap of his fingers, disappeared and reappeared at the side of corrupted princess. Discord gave the alicorn a disapproving look. “I’m not suggesting we both rule. Now, if only you silly alicorn would pay attention!” He teleported over to her and flicked her horn. “I’m suggesting we become one! That way only one of us rules over, but has the power of both of us! Oh, imagine the sweet chaos! Cotton candy clouds and chocolate milk rain would be the least of Equestria’s worries!” He grinned at her. Nightmare Moon questioned his ideals, but for once they actually made sense.

“Speak your case, Discord! I will only listen for so long before I kill you!” she bellowed out in the royal Canterlot voice. He floated over to her slowly, that same mischievous grin on his face as usual.

“Oh, I’ll show you alright. Close your eyes, you won’t feel a thing...” Nightmare Moon hesitated, but she succumbed to curiosity and closed her eyes.

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Octavius was in the middle of his daily patrol of the royal gardens. He had been drafted five weeks ago, following in his father’s hoof-steps. He felt a great sense of pride patrolling around the garden, knowing that he was one of the ones that the princesses depended on to keep them safe. He let a small smile slip onto his face. Showing emotions was forbidden, and Octavius knew it. All the guards were trained to wear a stoic expression at all times, but Octavius could not help himself. He quickly replaced the smile with a more serious one as another guard came his way. He nodded at the fellow guard, and continued patrolling around the garden.

A sudden bright flash of light caught his full attention, as it appeared to have radiated from Princess Luna’s room.  Octavius was unable to see inside the room; it had been obscured by a thick purple fog. Quickly setting aside the fear that had enveloped his mind, he galloped as quickly as he could into the castle and down the hallway leading to the princesses’ bedrooms. Before arriving, though, he could feel something was off. Blood was smeared across the walls, and and a decapitated guard was on the ground, motionless. His body was contorted into a way that would be impossible to do without immense amounts of magic, and a huge pool of blood was forming around the body. The sight made him want to vomit, but he was trained to remain calm no matter how grotesque the scenario was. The smell of something resembling iron filled his nostrils as an over-sized shadow descended upon him.

“Oh, look. Somepony else to play with, this should be fun, right, Nightmare?” The raspy voice seemed to come from all directions. Octavius stood his ground and kept his stoic expression.

“Stand down, foul beast, in the name of Celestia! You are under arrest!” Octavius shouted. The shadow yawned, then mockingly held its hands out.

“Oh, I must pay for the crimes I have committed against the kingdom! Now please, arrest me puny pony!” The shadow laughed.

Octavius warily started to walk over to the giant shadow before it suddenly vanished in front of his eyes. His chest hit the ground rather abruptly. He looked down to see both of his front hooves suddenly missing, a stream of blood pouring out from each dismembered appendage. Octavius screamed out in pain as something dug into his chest. The shadow once again let out a sadistic laugh.

“Silly pony, how are you going to arrest me if you don’t have any hooves?” the raspy voice said behind him.  “Now, I wonder how it’d feel...but I wouldn’t know, that’s why you’ll have to tell me!” The sound of something heavy slicing through wind made its way to Octavius’ ears, then his backside fell against the ground. Fear filled his mind as he knew what had happened, but he did not want to admit it...he had just lost both of his back hooves. The shadow laughed again. “So, little pony, since you now know how it feels, how does it feel?” Octavius looked down; his muzzle coming in contact with the pool of blood his ripped limbs were producing. His body was starting to feel weak; something which the shadow noticed. “Oh, I’m not going to let you die of your own accord! What fun would that be? None at all, I tell you!” The guard pony mumbled something incoherently towards the shadow before finding himself lifted off the ground. The guard pony’s eyes met with what he thought were the eyes of the shadow.

“W..w..hat are y...you?” He managed to stutter, weakness filling every word.

“Why, I’m your favorite nightmare! Except this time you just can't wake up! But don’t worry,  we’re going to have some real fun!” The shadow winked at the guard, noting that the guard’s eyes were double their normal size and his pupils were pinpricks in the vast ocean of his sockets. With a grin, he lifted his claw up to the guard’s face. “Now, be a good little pony and don’t squirm much, alright?” He thrust his claw forward and grasped the guard’s head in his grip. “Good night, my little pony!” He laughed. With a sickening crunch,  the head exploded from his grip suddenly closing with force, like a grape under pressure. Blood splattered from the newly headless body all over the walls as the shadow dropped the dead body. His hand was still dripping with a viscous red liquid. He shook it, trying to get his hand free of all visible blood. The sound of his previous victim was sure to flow throughout the castle, which should make more guards appear.

“Clean up on the royal aisle!” Discord shouted. Soon enough, two more guards came into the hallway, running towards him. “Oh, this is going to be quite fun.” He smirked and readied his attack. With immense precision, he flew towards the guards and held his claw out. The claw cut through the first guard like he was wet paper. “Oh, why must you silly ponies have so much blood in you. It really gets the claws dirty, you know!” He laughed again. This was turning out great so far. He turned to the other guard that was cowering in fear against one of the hallway walls. His stoic expression had given way to fear as he had watched his comrade get shredded with relative ease. “It must be your lucky day, little pony. I’ve had enough bloodshed to satiate my thirst for chaotic sadism for all of this week! Now, go, run along now! And if anypony asks, you saw nothing, alright?” The shadow said, raising his voice to a mocking tone on the last few words. The guard nodded and slowly backed away.

Discord watched the pony quickly gallop away, and discovered that it was rather fun to install fear into everypony’s heart. He had had enough fun with the guards, as he was quickly showing disinterest in killing them all. He needed somepony new, somepony powerful to taint and have fun with.

“Oh, maybe we should give dear old Celestia a visit, wouldn’t that be rather fun, Nightmare Moon?”

“Why yes, Discord, it would be how you call it... fun” The voice rang out inside him.

“Looks like you finally found out how to speak in my mind! Sure took you long enough! What do you think of the walls? Don’t they look rather... chaotic?” He laughed while floating towards Celestia’s room. A shrill laugh echoed inside Discord’s mind.

“I actually do enjoy what you’ve done to the place. Maybe you should coat the entire castle with it? That would make it much better.” The voice resonated inside his mind, a touch of sadism evident.

Discord looked ahead, and sure enough the door to Celestia’s room was getting closer. As he neared her giant door, Discord concentrated on his form. He easily phased through it like it did not exist and looked around the chamber. The sun was embroidered on nearly everything in the bedroom, the exception being that the symbol was not found on books housed on the numerous bookshelves. He sighed; this really was too bright for his liking. With a snap of his fingers, the image of a half moon found itself replacing the sun symbol.

“What do you think, Moonie? I think I rather enjoy this room now!”

“It certainly has... a nice feeling to it. I like it, but the room is still a bit too light for my tastes. You’ll fix that soon though, won’t you?” Discord thought about the question. Apparently having the royal Canterlot voice used inside your head made it ring like a bell. A rather large one.

“Anything for you, Moonie! I’ll fix this room up after we take care of that dreadful, prissy little alicorn, and I know just the way to do it!” Discord gave off a small squeal. This plan would torture Celestia more than death’s warm embrace itself. The draconequis went over to the bed, laid down on it, and transformed back into a shadow in order to hide in the darkness’ embrace.

“But for now... we wait.”

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Celestia was outside the castle, strolling through her garden. It had been a rather busy day of listening to farmers talk about how they owned land and that other farmers were invading. It was getting rather boring, hearing others’ predicaments that were not even close to being how big they sounded. She turned to the sky; it was late afternoon, and Luna would soon be putting the moon out. Even so, she marveled at her work; today was a beautiful day. Myriads of different animals could be seen either basking in the sunlight or foraging for food. She smiled, thinking about the prosperity which graced Equestria even to this very day. Her train of thought was derailed as a scream fell upon her ears.

“Celestia! We need you at once!” Celestia turned her head in the direction of the scream.  A guard was bolting towards her, his eyes wide with fear.

“D...Discord has returned!” Celestia’s eyes widened and her mouth opened.

“Oh no... this can’t be true, he was imprisoned in stone!”

“But it’s not just Discord... there’s something very wrong about him!” Celestia gave the horrified guard a worried look before entering a full gallop towards the castle.

Upon arriving at the castle, Celestia saw that the inner hallway was soaked in the blood of what used to be her royal guard. Bodies lay mangled in miniature hills of corpses, tributaries of blood fed into a river which seemingly did not end. Celestia slowly walked by the dead guards, taking in every one of the contorted faces of horror and fear her guards were wearing. The sight was sickening, and Celestia felt her stomach churn; she had never witnessed something so gruesome during her entire reign as the ruler of Equestria. Her eyes fell upon the banners of the castle. These banners were once covered in both a sun and a moon, but now only a half moon could be seen. Her thoughts shifted to the only pony in the castle who truly cared for the moon: Luna.

She broke back into a full gallop towards Luna’s bedroom, only to find that the area outside the door contained more bloodshed than the previous hallway. Outside the door a mountain of dead decapitated ponies, stacked in an unorganized fashion, stood in the middle of the hall. Severed limbs were flung all across the hallway, creating a flowing river of blood. Celestia avoided stepping on the limbs as if they were explosives. She slowly made her way over to the room and knocked on it. The door opened to her knocks and she looked inside.

“Luna? My precious sister, are you there?” No response. Besides being empty, the room seemed no different than normal. It was too normal, in fact, save for Luna’s bedsheets laying at the floor of her bed. All of her books were shelved alphabetically, her socks were all neatly bundled in a corner. Celestia sighed. She turned back and trotted to her own bedroom with the thought of the possibility that Luna was hiding somewhere in her quarters.  It was rather... quiet on the way there. Besides the pile of dead ponies outside Luna’s chambers, Celestia saw no bodies on her way back to her bedroom. The silence was unnerving; normally one could hear the rhythm of guards patrolling, but today the halls were filled with emptiness. Celestia finally reached her door and found it slightly ajar. She pushed it open and took a look inside. It was also empty, much to her dismay. Celestia walked in and lied upon her bed, using her magic to pull a book over to her. A sinister shadow slowly crept out from behind her bed until it was right above her.

“Well well, hello there, Celestia!” Celestia jumped and turned to the shadow. Her eyes widened as she saw that it was Discord. No, not Discord. While this being looked somewhat similar to Discord, something was off.

“Discord! You’re supposed to be trapped in stone for the rest of eternity! How did you break free?!”

“Simple, my dear. I petrified myself before being blasted with those silly elements. They didn’t affect me at all! After all, how could I have any fun sitting, cased in stone, in your hot sun? You don’t get it, do you? The existence of yourself and your kingdom is only but a game to those superior to you, my dearie. And this game goes by my rules. Speaking of which, I have a new rule...” Discord contemplated his words, then continued.

“Life’s going to get awfully boring for me if no one’s going to be resisting my tyranny. There needs to be some reason for everyone to hate me, so I can have some fun while gutting them alive. I’d need to take somepony with lots of power and influence, and defile her to make the rest of the world very angry. My, my, revolutions would spring up everywhere! Say, have you ever heard of someone named Prometheus? You probably haven't, but he's from somewhere very far away and very long ago. Soon, you'll have a lot in common..."

“I will not be playing your games, Discord!”

“You don’t really have a choice, Tia. It’s either you play my game, or you die! And I will not have mercy on you, for you see. I have absorbed the raw power and hatred of Nightmare Moon!”

“But... that’s impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible when I’m around! Haven’t your learned that yet, Tia?” He laughed. “Now then, let’s get started.” A vivid bright light engulfed the entire room. The light filled Celestia’s head, and she fell unconscious instantly. “I hope you enjoy re-living your most horrifying moments for all of eternity, Tia! This serves you well for ruining a land of chaos and fun.” He lifted Celestia up and set her down on the bed. “Now you...just stay there until time finally claims your soul, Tia. Now, if you’ll kindly excuse me, I have six other little ponies to deal with”

Simultaneously, the royal guards responsible for filling the moonlight shift at the royal castle had arrived to the scene. The uniform beat of the guards galloping towards the princess’ chambers could be heard echoing throughout the halls. The moonlight shift, composing of ninety six guards, had surrounded the entrance to Celestia’s bedroom.  In a flash, the two giant doors which had separated the room from the rest of the castle were now lying on the floor. Discord was soon to follow, and his voice was next, “Well, hello my little subjects! I would love to entertain the audience I have before me, but instead I have a very important task I need you to accomplish.” With a wave of his two hands, Discord entranced everypony present. A visible change could be seen in their coats, which had turned a light grey.  “I suppose this will have to do for entertainment; we’re going to play a little game. Right now, there are six ponies living in the town of Ponyville, most likely sleeping in their houses. Their names are...” Discord summoned a scroll, which he read off of. “Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and, most importantly, a little pony by the name of Twilight Sparkle.”

“The rules are simple: all you ponies need to do are locate these six ponies and bring them here.”

                                         End of Prologue

Credit:

Editors: Angelhood101, MadJedi, MyDreamName([email protected]), Gancolt, Doom_Pie

Image: (Once again) Es337

Notes from the editor: 

Hello, after editing this I would just like to say some words from me, MyDreamName/Bronies, to you, the reader. Now, I imagine that you read the story, since these notes are located at the end of the story. The main point I wanted to bring up is that all feedback, no matter how critical, is welcome as long as it is constructive criticism. The part of the story which I, personally, am most concerned about are the grimdark portions mostly around the middle of the prologue. I personally do not read grimdark fics (and will not), but the creative director (buggieboy) had wanted to use this as a plot device to convey a more sadistic version of season 2’s antagonist, Discord. When you give feedback we would, of course, want to know about the more obvious errors that we missed, such as any glaring grammatical errors or the failure to use homonyms. But in addition to that, we also want to know what you think about the direction that the story’s course is at; a text could be shined to a spit, but it’s not worth anything if you’re shining coal.

This is a living document and is subject to change based on your opinions, feedback, and ideas.

Thank you.

                        Welcome the Nightmare - Prologue Part 2

The large army of guards stood on a small hill overlooking Ponyville. Discord’s orders were to capture the six ponies with relatively little to no harm done unless they fought back. If they were to do so, they were ordered to capture them all with any amount of force. The head guard gazed at the moon overlooking Ponyville, bathing it under an eerie glow. He turned his head to look at his squad.

“We are to capture them immediately. I want all of you to come back alive. We must not fail King Discord’s order. Now move out!” he barked. The five legions of earth ponies each wore purple armor that was shaped from hardened amethyst laced with gold; it shone in the moonlight, casting an eerie glow. They started trotting in unison towards their designated locations. The single legion of pegasi ponies adorned a dark onyx armor which gave off no reflection. One glance at the armor the guards were wearing filled any observer with a sense of emptiness. They nodded and flew off into the sky, searching for the one cloud home that housed the rainbow-maned flier.

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Rarity awoke from a blissful dream where she was having romantic adventures with a gentlecolt version of Prince Blueblood. She lifted her sleeping mask and gazed at the clock hanging on the wall adjacent to her bed. An abrupt and loud knock quickly filled the boutique, which made Rarity jump in her bed.

“Knocking? At 1:26 in the morning? Who would be so rude as to disturb me at this hour?” she questioned out loud, without concern of anypony heeding her. She grumbled rather loudly, and slowly got out of her bed. Muttering something incoherent, she leisurely made her way down the stairs, stopped her descent at half-way, and looked out of one of the windows that adorned the stairwell to see a group of royal night guards standing outside.

“Oh, what could these scoundrels want at such a late hour?” she pondered. The unicorn shook the thought out of her mind, moved down the stairs and trotted over to her door. Grasping the door handle with magic, she rotated it and pulled it open. “Greetings, soldiers. I hope that you are having a lovely and...calm evening. What could I do for you charming gentlecolts at this late hour?”, she said in a honeyed, sarcastic voice. The guard looked at her.

“Are you Rarity, ma’am?” he asked.

“Why, yes, I am. What do you need me for?”

“You’re under arrest.” Rarity stared at the guard in shock. Under arrest? She had done not anything wrong, so far as she knew. Had she accidentally offended anyone in Canterlot during her last visit? She turned her eyes towards the guards’ new uniforms.

“Me? Under arrest? It should be you, sir, that is under arrest! That outfit you’re wearing is a fashion nightmare! And I thought Nightmare Moon was terrible!” The guard glared at her.

“You’re under arrest by order of the new King, Discord.” Rarity’s eyes grew to double their size.

“Discord? Returned? When, how, why? He was supposed to be locked up!” she managed to sputter out. She knew her only chance at destroying Discord would be to meet up with her friends. Hopefully the guards had only went to her first, that way she can take care of them peacefully and meet up with the others. Rarity needed her friends more than anything right now in order to stop this twisted chaos god before he did something that would turn Ponyville upside down. As she snapped back to reality, she noticed the guard moving in on her.

“You will not touch me, ruffian!” The unicorn turned around and looked all across the room. Something inside of her was telling her not to do any harm to these guards, no matter how vile they were. It just wasn’t in her nature to actually harm a pony, no matter what the scenario was. With a sigh, she turned back to the guard. “Fine! I surrender... but I swear, if you even lay a hoof on my mane, I will do unspeakable things to you!” The guard nodded in her direction, hoping for a peaceful surrender. “Now, tell me. Where exactly are we going?”

“Canterlot.” The guard replied.

“At this time? Are you serious? I can’t do that! I’ll need somepony to carry me!”

“Ma’am!”

“What if my hoof chips? What if my mane gets dirty? I’ll need somepony big and strong to protect me!”

“Ma’am! Stop whining!”

“Oh, you think I’m whining, do you? This is whining! It’s dark out! I can’t see! My mane’s not trimmed! My hoof needs a pedicure! I can’t walk when it’s this dark! Somepony tell the big bad guard to stop an-!” Her words were cut short as the guard had slammed his hoof across Rarity’s head, knocking the unicorn down to the ground.

Rarity staggered up, and gave the guard a surprised look.

“Y..y..you touched my mane! Now. It. Is. On!” Her expression quickly became livid as she lunged at the guard, her horn catching the small opening in his helmet. She felt something wet begin to trickle down her horn. She backed up, and a look of horror dawned upon her face as she saw that her horn had stabbed the guard right in his left eye; a small line of blood was lazily dripping off of his face. He limply fell to the ground. She turned to look at the other guards that were closing in on her.

“I..I..didn’t mean to! I’m being honest!”

“Silence, criminal!”

A guard jumped at her, dead intent on catching her. Rarity quickly levitated up the first object closest to her and held it out in front of her. She hoped to find protection behind whatever she had put in front of her. The trapped pony had closed her eyes, hoping for the best. A quick gasp escaped from the guard’s mouth, and Rarity opened her eyes to see that she had pulled a hoof-full of knitting needles in front of her, stabbing through the guard at multiple places. She quickly dropped the needles and screamed.

Suddenly a bright purple light filled the entire Boutique, causing Rarity to be petrified as she looked upon the shadow that had suddenly taken up most of the free room in her house.

“D...D..iscord?” She muttered, her mind refusing to believe in what she was seeing.

Discord looked around the boutique at the two dead guards, and laughed.

“My my, Rarity. Always so graceful even while murdering! I must say, you’ve done a good job, but your luck, as it would, has just ran out.” He stated, actually managing to maintain a serious tone.

Rarity levitated the needles sticking out of the dead guards chest, and threw them all at Discord. The shadow draconequus laughed, and turned them all into butterflies with a snap of his finger.

“Now now, Rarity. Is that any way to treat a house guest? Now then, right to business. Either surrender yourself peacefully, or I’ll be forced to harm you... not that I wouldn’t enjoy it.” He laughed. Rarity backed up, there were no other items in the Boutique she could use to harm Discord. Without the other power of the Elements of Harmony, she was useless. Deciding to risk it, and with nothing else to lose, she charged at Discord; intent on stabbing him with her horn. As she leaped, the shadow swiped at her. His claws sunk deep into her flesh, as she was flung against the wall of the boutique. Darkness threatened to take her, as it pained every fiber of her body to just keep her eyes opened. From the depths of the void, she made out a voice.

“Alright, one of those little nuisances down, time for the other five. Guards, seize her and tie her up. Place a magic-nullifier around her horn... we don’t want anymore accidents, do we?” He smiled, as watching these guards die was fun to him. Although, capturing these little ponies was the main objective. “Let’s make this night at least somewhat fun, the capture of the one named Fluttershy should suffice for now.” Rarity struggled to get up, but the pain was too much. A tear formed in her eye as she imagined her friends all dying cruelly at the hand of Discord, but she wouldn’t be able to do anything. With a sigh, she closed her eyes. The darkness pounced on the opportunity, and took Rarity as she fell unconscious.

---

At the same time, Fluttershy was taking a nightly stroll in the center of Ponyville, expectant to see the stars which only the night held. As she was doing so, she heard a loud commotion behind her and turned to see what had caused it. She saw the Carousel Boutique, its whites somehow managing to contrast the dark night. This, however, did not capture Fluttershy’s attention. She heard her friend Rarity scream. A sudden realization hit that Rarity must be in trouble. She galloped over to the Boutique, but stopped herself when a bright violent light shone out through all windows. She looked inside to see a rather large shadow. Fluttershy heard Rarity stutter out that it was Discord, then watched as she charged at the shadow being. The timid pegasus watched as her friend had gotten hit, and was sent flying towards the wall. What scared her the most was the large gash on her chest that was bleeding profusely.

Umm... maybe I should warn Pinkie that Rarity’s in trouble, and that Discord’s free! she thought, afraid of speaking out loud in case the shadow heard her.

As fast as her hooves could take her, Fluttershy rushed over to Sugarcube Corner. When she arrived, she saw that a war had already taken place. She squeaked when she first saw the blood of a guard, and turned away; not wanting to retain any memories of what was happening. Maybe she was the last of her friends still alive? She shook her head, her friends were too strong to all get captured.

“Oh my, my animal friends! Maybe they’re in trouble!” She suddenly yelled. Once again, Fluttershy found herself running, this time in the direction of her cottage. It was about forty minutes of walking, but only about fifteen minutes of running. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, as she had to make sure Angel was alright. She wouldn’t let anypony touch him if she had something to say about it.

After what felt like an eternity, Fluttershy arrived at her cottage; the ominous looking Everfree forest stood in the background. There was a group of guards standing outside, and it appeared that they broken down the door and were entering the yellow pony’s cottage. The timid pegasus found refuge behind a bush, as the sounds of furniture getting thrown around the house without care became prominent in the silent night.

“She’s not here!” A guard suddenly yelled. The furniture thrashing ceased immediately as the sentence finished; the guards filed out of the cottage in a straight line. A bright violet cloud appeared from nowhere in front of the guards.

Fluttershy gasped. It’s the shadow from earlier! she thought. I hope Discord doesn’t find me here... she froze in position, unable to find herself move.  A large booming voice broke her out of her catatonic state.

“Are you guards unable to find this little pony? I mean, she’s right over there hiding behind the bushes! You guards are terrible at hide and seek, no fun at all, I tell you. Then again, it helps that I can sense the elements, but that’s no excuse! Now go, I hope you look forward to your executions back at the castle.” The shadow stated, while floating over to the bush. Fluttershy squeaked again, and tried to scurry over to the next bush.

“Ah ah ah, little Fluttershy. You must know that there would be no hiding from the master of hide and seek, right?” With a snap of his fingers, the bush behind which Fluttershy was hiding turned into liquid chocolate, dispersing all over the grass. The dark creature watched her, then slapped his knee and laughed hysterically. “Silly Fluttershy, hiding your head in the ground is a rather good idea, but maybe you should do your entire body next!”

Dang... Fluttershy thought.  I thought I had it there!

The pegasus pulled her head out of the ground, and turned to stare at the shadow.

“Now that’s a good fi-” he stopped suddenly. The look in Fluttershy’s eyes had him petrified immediately. Discord felt his mind being tugged out; his soul being attacked. Whatever Fluttershy was doing was ripping the shadow’s soul apart, and he couldn’t even move.

Fluttershy widened her gaze. She hated using the stare, but this was a matter of life and death. It had to be used. Continuing to hold the stare on the shadow, Fluttershy slowly backed away. Getting distracted by anything would be obviously fatal, so she focused all of her attention on the shadow draconequus. The pegasus slowly felt the amount of foliage around her increase, both in number and size. She was nearing the entrance to the Everfree Forest, but she was willing to bet anything she found in this forest wouldn’t be as bad the shadow itself.

I don’t know how much longer I can hold this stare. Fluttershy thought. I can feel it weakening... I’m going to have to run for it soon... If only I can get close enough to the forest...

The shadow started flinching, the mental bombardment was slowly diminishing. A sudden twitch of his fingers forced his eyes to close. “-Lly... what was that, my dear Fluttershy? I never knew you had that kind of power! Oh, imagine the things I could do with that!... Fluttershy? Oh, silly me, letting that pony get away. Now, where did you go?” Discord pondered. It was quite obvious that the pony had to maintain that stare in order to keep that up, which means she must be straight... ahead. He smirked.

Fluttershy had already turned and ran towards the Everfree Forest. When she saw that the shadow had flinched, she had dropped the stare. There was a fair distance to go before she reached the entrance, but maybe she could outrun that shadow.

“Alright guards, let’s let this one go, but burn her cottage down!” the shadow’s voice bellowed. “Make sure to set fire to everything around it, too. One other thing: let’s roast some bunnies while we’re at it. Make sure she can’t return!” It laughed.

Fluttershy reached the entrance to the forest and threw herself into the depths. Hiding behind a small plant, she turned around and looked at what remained of her cottage. There was a large cloud of smoke filling the sky, as most of her cottage was engulfed in flames. The fire flickered above the cottage, sending small embers towards the ground and starting smaller fires everywhere. Tears started to flow out of Fluttershy’s eyes as she pictured her pets all burning slowly. She let out a cry as her mind turned to Angel, who probably was sleeping atop her bed.
She tried to run back, but large thorn-covered plants had popped up behind her, creating a barricade that prevented her from coming back out.

There was no chance of him getting out alive. Hanging her head low to the ground, Fluttershy turned toward the inner depths of the forest and started walking.

---

Applejack tossed and turned in her sleep, bags evident under her eyes. The cowgirl hadn’t had a good sleep in a few nights, as it was applebucking season again. Her friends were usually too busy to aid her, although it was not the case today; Twilight and Rarity had come to lend a hoof. This was quite a relief for her, as she needed as much help as she could get for the harvest. The apple trees had produced much more than usual this year, and the crop was too much for Applejack to handle on her own. Spike had been keeping Applebloom busy, which had prevented her from getting in the way, and Big Mac had sprained his back hoof in a farming accident. This meant Applejack was all alone, just like that time a few years ago; this time she didn’t over-exert herself.

“No! I can’t eat all the-” Applejack suddenly yelled, launching herself into a sitting position. She looked both ways, and lied back down with a sigh. Just a dream. She thought, I don’t think I can eat apples again after that dream. A loud knock broke her out of her thoughts. She yawned, and groggily got out of her bed. She slowly went downstairs, making sure to not trip. The house was unusually quiet. Usually, if somepony was awake, they would be rattled by the sound of the rest of the family snoring. The knocking must have awoken everypony else! Applejack thought, her face donning a scowl as she was going to give whoever was at the door a piece of her mind.

Standing in front of the door, she pushed it open. Her angry face gave way to a more frightened expression as she saw a group of guards standing outside the door.

“Howdy, guards. What can I do fer ya?” Applejack asked. The guard in front of her turned to his comrade, and nodded.

“Are you Applejack?” he questioned, his stoic expression remaining intact.

“Why, yes I am. What seems ta be the problem?”

“You’re under arrest by order of King Discord, surrender peacefully or we will use force.” Applejack’s face changed to a look of pure horror. As much as she wanted to believe this was just an elaborate prank pulled by Rainbow Dash, she could tell the guard was completely genuine. She needed help to deal with these guards, there were far too many for one pony to take. A sly thought came to mind on which she decided to act.

“Umm... Well then, I’ll surrender. Can I just go and say goodbye to my brother?” She inquired.

“I don’t see why not, just don’t take too much time or we’ll force you out.” Applejack nodded, and quickly ran back upstairs. She bucked Big Mac’s door, shattering the wood into tiny splinters. She galloped over to the Clydesdale, and gave him a soft kick in his chest.

“Big Mac! Get up right now! Discord’s back and the royal guard is workin’ fer him!” She whispered, not wanting to alert the guards. Big Mac turned his head lazily towards his sister.

“You sure ‘bout this, sis?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. You know I’m the Element of Honesty, I can tell when somepony’s lying, and these guards sure aren’t!” The cowgirl whispered. “Now, look. They have us cornered. I’m gonna need yer help to clear the way so we can go warn the others. Now, I have a plan, but you have to follow it, alright? It’s goin’ to get rather messy in the Acres tonight.” She affirmed with a nod, then turned away and walked out of the room. Big Mac sighed and slowly followed.

Once Applejack reached the bottom of the stairs, the guards looked at her. She nodded to them as they slowly circled them. Applejack embraced Big Mac in a hug, her eyes locked on his.

“Alright, you two. It’s time to take Applejack away.” One of the guards said as they laid a hoof on Applejack.

“Now!” Applejack screamed, quickly turning to buck the guard in the head. A loud snap filled the room, as the guard’s spine was severed by the impact. The limp body fell to the floor with a soft thud. Big Mac followed as quickly as he could, kicking at the other guards head with all of his might. The force of his kick had sent the guard pony flying across the room, landing with a large crack against the wall; a small blood smear followed as the guard fell towards the floor.

“Only... a bunch of ‘em left, Mac. Think we can do this?” Applejack inquired.

“Eeyup.” agreed Big Mac.

The next five minutes were a blur in Applejack’s memory. She briefly remembered jumping into the majority of the guards, landing with a sickening crunch on top of one of the traitor guards that Discord had sent for her. After that it was nonstop bucking, just longing to hit something. She felt something wet on her side, but ignored it. Her eyes were closed as she continued to kick randomly, not wanting to see the carnage she and her brother were creating. She felt pressure against her hooves, unsure of what she was hitting, but just knowing that she was hitting something. She opened her eyes, but quickly closed them again. In that one second of having her eyes open, she had seen more death than she had ever hoped for in her entire lifetime.

“We... killed ‘em all Big Mac. All of ‘em.” She said, keeping her eyes closed, but the sight had burned into her memory.

“Eeyup, we did. T’is not a pretty sight, but ‘twas for the best.” he replied, his voice somehow managing to stay calm. “Now, I need you to go run to your friends and see how they’re doin’, Applejack, and try not to loo-” a bright flash of purple smoke interrupted the stallion. The light invaded Applejack’s mind, and forced her eyes open.

“Discord? Yer s’posed to be trapped in stone...” Applejack inquired, staring at draconequus.

“Oh, Applejack. Do you realize how many times I’ve heard that today? It’s getting rather boring. Now, come peacefully if you want to survive, my dear little pony.” Discord stated, emphasising his point by faking falling asleep mid-sentence.

“Applejack, you go on ahead, I’ll hold ‘im off for you.” Big Mac whispered into the mare’s ear.

“But... Big Mac, you know you can’t hold him off.” Applejack stated, looking with fear at Big Mac.

“Just run as far as your legs can take ya, sister. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Letting a tear escape from her eyes, Applejack nodded and began galloping the other way. She had only ran for roughly twenty seconds before the shrill cry of her brother pierced the night air. She turned around, as tears openly began to flood her face.

“No...” was all she could emit, before a sharp pain was introduced to her back.

“You should’ve kept running, dear Applejack. Now it looks like this game of tag is over.” Discord boasted, a hint of victory in his voice. “Now, go to sleep you, silly filly. You look like you need the rest!”

Applejack reeled backwards from a sharp stab of pain. She didn’t know what was hurting her so much, but it felt like something was digging itself deep into her flesh. With a loud scream, her body gave out.

Discord grinned as he looked down at the unconscious Applejack.

“That’s three down! Only three more left. This night will be fun after all!” He laughed. With a violent burst of light, both him and the mare were gone.

                                        End Prologue - Part 2

A/N: If anypony reads this and sees any problems, including grammatical or spelling errors, feel free to comment. This is a ‘living’ document, so to speak, so it is subject to changes at any given time. The finale of the prologue will be uploaded a few days after this is published, so you won’t be waiting too long.

                                
Fair Warning - this is a bit more grimdark then the other chapters. Don’t read this if you’re faint of heart.

Prologue - Part 3

Pinkie was sleepily resting on top of her bed. Her eyes drifted across her pink room, specifically made for the party pony. Everything about it was pink, just like her name, from the curtains to her dresser. The bedroom was fitting for a party pony like her. It had been a busy day of gathering preparations for tomorrow’s ‘It’s Tuesday!’ party she was so fond of throwing. She and Gummy had bolted all across Ponyville in an attempt to gather the necessary party accessories to throw one of her famous Pinkie parties that everypony seemed to enjoy so much. It had taken roughly five hours, tiring the mare out much to the dismay of everypony else who thought she had a limitless source of energy.

The party pony began to shudder so violently that she started to float above her bed. The shuddering abruptly stopped, allowing the laws of gravity to seize the pony and pull her back to earth. The pink mare looked around quickly before giggling.

“Wow, Gummy! That must mean there’s a doozy coming up!”

The alligator turned to her and blinked his right eye, then his left eye.

“Yes I’m sure, silly ally! What good would my senses be if they didn’t come true!” She began to laugh, but was cut short by an impatient knock at the door.

“Visitors? Already? Maybe there’s a late night party going on and they need to Pinkie-fy it!” she nodded. “That has to be the reason, I’m abso-positively sure!”

As quickly as she could, she rushed to her bedroom door and opened it. Bounding down the stairs, she saw that royal guards were outside the gingerbread house.

“Oh, that must mean there’s a late night party at Canterlot that they want me to Pinkie-fy!” Pinkie gasped, excitement evident in her voice. With a sudden outburst of speed, she arrived at the door in the blink of an eye. She pushed the door open and faced the guards with an ear to ear grin.

“Are you Pinkie Pie?” The guard asked.

“Yeppers! Now, what can Pinkie do for you? Need a cake? A cupcake? Muffin? Eclair? Party? No problem!” The party pony responded, nodding her head rather vigorously.

“You’re under arrest by King Discord.” Pinkie looked at the guard with a puzzled look on her face, quickly followed by bouncing around the guard with a grin.

“Oh, you’re such a silly filly! Discord hasn’t returned! Otherwise I’d be bathing in chocolate milk right now! You guards will have to try better to trick the master of pranks. Besides, I’m his favorite pony; Discord wouldn’t arrest me!” She giggled.

The guard face-hoofed, then laid his hoof on Pinkie Pie. “This isn’t a joke. You are under arrest by direct order of King Discord, now surrender yourself.”

The pink pony looked at the guard as what he was saying finally dawned on her. “Oooooooooh... if that’s true... then that must mean...” She jumped and gasped. “You’re after my friends!”

“Your friends have all been captured by now and are being dealt with by Discord.” Pinkie looked at the guard with horror. Thoughts of being alone and losing her friends drove her precariously balanced sanity over the edge. Like a needle poking a balloon, Pinkie’s mane and tail instantly deflated, blasting the guard with a gale of wind. A vicious expression was plastered on her face, showing off her teeth. “Nopony touches my friends!” she yelled.

With a speed that would rival the Wonderbolts, Pinkie ran to the kitchen. “Eat CAKE!” she screamed before picking up a cake and throwing it at the guard. The cake hit the pegasus square in the face. Her pursuer stumbled back, wiping the dessert off of his face before growling at Pinkie. She picked up another pastry, but failed to notice the cutting knife lodged in it. She threw the dessert at the guard, the knife leaving the cake as the projectile flew through the air. A loud wet sound swept through the house as the guard fell to the floor, a bloody wooden handle sticking out of his head. Pinkie watched the guard fall to the ground dead, yet she only felt indifference about it.

The guards rushed in after the party pony, intent on catching her for killing one of their own. They quickly stopped as the entire room went pitch-black, leaving them in a still darkness.

Pinkie had broken all the lights in the kitchen and the entrance with two well-aimed cupcake throws. Pinkie Pie laid in the shadows of the kitchen, holding a butcher knife and wearing a pair of night vision goggles. Stealthily, she shimmied up the corner of the room and lodged herself into the corner, waiting for her prey to walk into the room.

The captain was cautiously approaching what he thought to be the entrance to the kitchen. As soon as he felt a difference in the texture of the floor, his entire world went dark.

Pinkie savoured the moment as she dragged the knife along the vigil’s throat. The head rolled in position with a failing grasp of its spinal cord. “If these ponies want to party, we’ll have a party alright... Pinkie style!” she whispered, not wanting to attract the attention of her pursuers. She looked straight ahead as a few more royal guards walked towards her, stumbling their way through the darkness. With a grin, she charged at the first one, and slid under him. She held the knife up as it sliced open the guard’s chest and stomach. With a quick jump, she plunged the knife right into the eye socket of her next victim and drove it in as deep as she could. Pinkie could not help thinking how she was going to hate explaining this to Mrs. Cake when she saw her next. A sudden noise to Pinkie’s left perked her attention. She turned to see a guard walking towards the basement. He fumbled along the wall and came across the door knob, which he promptly turned. Seizing the opportunity, Pinkie jumped behind him and forcefully shoved him down the stairs. A howl of pain and the sound of multiple bones breaking broke the eerie silence in the house, followed by the noise of the door slamming shut.

“Uh... whoopsies!” the party pony said, turning to see the guards who started to swarm behind her. She looked around, and saw only one escape - a staircase which led to the upper stories of the building. Deciding not to waste any more time, she bolted upstairs as quickly as she could, nearly tripping over the first flight of stairs. Surely, this mistake let the guards know exactly where she was going. She turned back to see that her suspicions were correct because a line of guards had already started to run up the stairs. A sly idea came to her mind as she ran into her room and slammed the door.

The leader of the line was outside the door the pink mare darted into moments earlier. He was expecting her to be trapped and to be an easy capture now. Slowly he turned the knob to enter the room, only to find his muzzle up against a cannon.

“Surprise!” came a voice bubbling with excitement before all went dark.

Pinkie looked at the bloodshed she just caused. Blood adorned every inch of the wall the guards previously stood in. The first few guards had been vaporized by the sheer power of the cannon, the ones behind them had left only limbs. She giggled at the sheer sight.

Suddenly a bright purple light engulfed the room. Pinkie turned to see what had infiltrated her private quarters.

“Discord? Where the buck did you come from! What did you do to my friends?!” She yelled.

Discord gave her a blank stare, then looked into the hallway. “Well, Pinkie. I certainly do adore what you’ve done to the place. That gives me a beautiful idea for what color I should paint the castle with! Now, silly pony. You always were my favorite, you should’ve just surrendered. Now I’m afraid I’ll have to hurt you to make you come with me!” The shadow draconequis laughed.

Pinkie growled, then leaped at Discord. Discord yawned, and swatted at the air. An invisible force knocked the wind out of Pinkie and into the wall on the far side of the room.

“Is that the best you can do, Ms. Pinkamena? I surely expected better from such a premier pony as yourself! Oh well, this little game is over!” Discord appeared right in front of Pinkie before picking her up and flinging her at the wall. The party pony felt a few bones in her body snap as the impact shook her body. She felt herself slipping into the darkness, which was more than eager to overtake her. With a final breath, her body surrendered.

Discord watched the unconscious mare, then let out a hearty laugh. “Four down, two to go! And then, all of Equestria will be mine...”

---

Rainbow Dash was awoken rather violently. Her entire cloud house was shaking as the pegasi guards decided to make their presence known. “Ugh. I hate midnight visitors. So not cool.” After stretching her legs and wings and giving a groggy yawn, Rainbow Dash sleepily took her time to figure out what all the commotion was. When she finally left her house, she was shocked to be surrounded by over a dozen guards. “What’s this about?” Rainbow Dash asked, in a rather sharp voice. “Are you still upset about that incident in Cloudsdale last week? I thought we already settled that matter.”

“Are you Rainbow Dash?” the guards asked.

“Yeah, what’s it to you?” Rainbow Dash was looking at the guards very aggressively. She shifted most of her weight to her front legs and made a point of getting in the guards’ faces.

“You are under arrest,” the guards replied, ignoring Rainbow Dash’s increasing hostility.

“Oh, great, this again? I told you the last time that they started it first! Besides, I thought Celestia pardoned me from that!” Rainbow Dash was starting to panic now. She thought that she had cleared up the last issue with the jock ponies after an apology and a lesson on friendship from Princess Celestia.

“Celestia has nothing to do with this, ma’am,” the guards replied yet again. They kept the same stoic expression they always did. After all, Rainbow Dash was just your everyday, run-of-the-mill pegasus pony.

“Wait a minute, if Celestia has nothing to do with this, then who sent you? Who do you really work for?” Rainbow Dash glanced around suspiciously at the guards. Her ears bent back and she leaned back slightly.

“You’re under arrest by our new king, Discord,” the guards responded. Dash was shocked beyond belief. Her jaw dropped so much that it was on the verge of unhinging. Her eyes grew and her pupils shrank as she started running in place.

“If Discord is back, then that means Celestia’s in trouble! I have to warn the others!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash leaped high into the air and landed as hard as she could on the bit of cloud below her. It gave way, causing the floor to dissipate below both her and the pegasi guards. She regained her bearings as fast as possible and rocketed towards Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie might be the best ally against these rogue soldiers, especially if more showed up.

However, Rainbow Dash, quite flustered and exhausted, could not fly as fast as she normally could. As the guards came up behind her, she tried her best to wrestle them away to no avail. They managed to slow her down considerably, and the less wary guards who plummeted almost all the way to the ground during her earlier stunt were catching up. In a last-ditch effort, she bit deep into the wing of one of the guard ponies grappling her. As the guard screamed in pain, Rainbow Dash kicked him off. She ignored the sickening crunch below as the guard collided with a large rock, but she managed to reach Sugarcube Corner before any other guards could grab hold of her.

A terrible sight met Rainbow Dash’s eyes. The building was obviously in ruin, and a fight had broken out there. Most of the windows were broken, and confetti littered the area surrounding the house. A guard’s severed head could be seen through one of the windows upstairs. Rainbow Dash decided to fly low for a better look. When she looked through the window, she saw piles of metal-clad body parts that may or may not have been from other guards scattered around the room, and a clump of frizzy pink hair at the edge of a large pool of blood. Rainbow Dash noticed another couple guards approaching, and kicked as hard as she could at him. She heard a sickening snap as one of her hooves hit one guard’s neck. The other one got lucky, and fell down unconscious after receiving a rather painful blow to the side of his head.

Rainbow Dash decided to remain in Ponyville long enough to check out Rarity’s boutique. Although Rarity was not the first pony that popped into Rainbow Dash’s mind, she was rather defenseless should anyone decide to attack her. The boutique looked much like Sugarcube Corner. The windows were broken and several sections of the building were completely and utterly destroyed. A giant boulder was on the ground, covering the remains of approximately a dozen guards. Just like at Sugarcube Corner, several guards caught up to Rainbow Dash. This time, though, the four guards that had arrived managed to surround her. Overpowered and outnumbered, Rainbow Dash rammed one of the guards in the stomach, throwing him to the ground with relative ease. The other three ponies seized the opportunity to attack her before she could speed off again, and landed a blow on her back. Rainbow Dash bucked yet again and dislocated the jaw of one of the guards. The other two backed away before she could do any more harm.

Flying to Sweet Apple Acres yielded no new results, either. The remains of what used to be a barn laid over the remains of several guards. Blood covered the front house in which the Apple family lives. Several apples were splattered about the area. Big Macintosh was lying in a pool of his own blood, either dead or hopelessly dying, surrounded by another group of guards. Granny Smith and Applebloom were nowhere to be seen, although Rainbow Dash knew that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were staying at Zecora’s for the night. The guards generally avoided the Everfree Forest, so it was safe to assume that they were alright. Rainbow Dash took a mental note to break the news to Applebloom as soon as this predicament was over.

Suddenly, a glint of metal on the moonlight caught her eye. The remaining eleven guards were grouping a fair distance away from her current location. Even though she was weary and probably not up to the task, she knew what she must do. Flying as fast as possible towards the sky, Rainbow Dash took the guards by surprise by descending upon them at mach speeds. A white cone formed around her being as she was slicing through the sound barrier.  The vertigo began to take its toll, as doing something like this without enough rest would disorient you for a long time. The cone quickly changed from a bright white, to a spectrum of different colours. She sped up, fighting back the thoughts telling her not to. Suddenly, a brilliant explosion filled the air; Rainbow Dash had succeeded in performing another Sonic Rainboom, and the area around Ponyville was momentarily filled with an explosion of sound and vivid display of light. The guards chasing her were sent flying in every direction, unlucky to have been caught in the center of the explosion. Several were missing limbs, and most of them had no chance of surviving for much more than a few minutes. They were all spiraling towards the ground; their wings refusing to open. An unplanned shower of blood proceeded to douse the area over the northern region of Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash circled Ponyville, trying to clear her head. “There must be somepony I’m forgetting!” Rainbow Dash thought aloud. “Stupid me! How could I forget about Twilight Sparkle?” However, just as Rainbow Dash turned to face Twilight’s house, a heavy object hit her back. As she tumbled to the ground, she caught a glimpse of a hulking figure just above her.

Discord descended from his lofty height to watch his prey writhe in pain. “That was very amusing, Rainbow Dash. Especially that Sonic Rainboom you managed to pull under so much stress. I’d like to say that it was breathtaking. Oh, how I wish I had a flier such as yourself on my side, it would make everything more fun. But here you are, bearing one of those silly elements of so-called harmony. Now, let’s see where this element gets you, Rainbow Crash!” Discord whipped Rainbow Dash across the ground with his tail while giving off a sadistic laugh. She staggered to get up as a fresh jolt of pain made her collapse to the ground again. Struggling was no use; she was too worn out and Discord was too strong for one pony to handle. As the rest of the world descended into darkness, she heard Discord’s fading voice say “...and tie her up while you’re at it, okay? You can throw her with the others...”

---

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes closed for a second before she snapped her head back up to read a lofty checklist. “Discord... we imprisoned him two years ago. Nightmare Moon... she’s alright, now. She’s just Princess Luna again. Pinkie Pie... Tomorrow, I’ll have to get her to Pinkie swear that she won’t destroy Equestria. The windigos were destroyed by harmony in Equestria ages ago... maybe I was wrong. Maybe there really is not threat to Equestria this time.”

Spike had drifted off to sleep hours ago, leaving Twilight awake with Owloysius. The owl responded on occasion with a hoot, but was on the whole rather lonely company. Twilight sighed and started heading upstairs to her bed. Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. Sighing again, this time more audibly, Twilight Sparkle turned around and went back downstairs. The pony thought about how she had to tell everypony in town that they had to get any books they wanted before sundown. These late night visits are starting to get unbearably annoying.

“Twilight, what’s going on?” a familiar voice asked from behind her. Spike was awoken by the knocking as well. Huge bags hung under his eyelids. He had not slept much this night, since he had spent all of yesterday afternoon looking for books on dangerous creatures. Twilight looked out of the window to see who these late night visitors were, only to notice sixteen royal guards sitting outside of her door. Princess Celestia must want to talk to me about something important, the purple mare thought, I really hope my suspicions are incorrect. I’ll go without Spike, since he is, after all, a baby dragon. She opened the door and went outside, shutting it behind her.

“What do you want?” Twilight asked. Her mane was in serious disarray, and she could not keep her eyes more than half open, but she managed to be at least somewhat courteous to these royal guards.

“You’re under arrest,” said the head of the group. Twilight’s heart rate tripled. Her eyes opened all the way, and she almost started to panic. She thought back to the last time she had sent a letter to Celestia. The last one she had sent was nearly a month ago.

“Oh, no!” Twilight exclaimed, “I’m so sorry! Please tell Celestia that she’ll be receiving a report from me tomorrow morning. I’m sure this issue was just a serious misunderstanding.”

The guard looked at Twilight Sparkle for a moment, then said “You’re not under arrest by Celestia’s command. You’re under arrest by the order of our new king, Discord.”

“Discord? Oh. This must be one of Rainbow Dash’s jokes. You had me worried there for a second.” Twilight Sparkle turned to head back inside, but one of the other guards had blocked her way.

“This is no joke. If you don’t choose to come quietly, we will use force.”

“If Discord’s alive again, then that must mean...” Twilight muttered, pondering the weight of the current situation. I have to warn the others before it’s too late! she thought. “Spike!” She suddenly yelled. Using her magic, she quickly teleported inside her treehouse just in front of the sleeping dragon. Twilight pushed at Spike, nudging him awake.

“Spike! Discord’s back!” she yelled. The dragon lazily opened his eyes.

“Twilight, this is no time for games! You need some sleep...” he yawned, before turning over and falling back asleep.

“Spike, there are guards outside that want to arrest me! This is not a game!”

“Why would they want to arrest you?”

“Discord must be capturing us one by one so we can’t defeat him! We have to hurry to go see our frie-” The mare was suddenly cut off as the door to her room was flung open. The guards filed in and formed a complete circle around Twilight.

“Capture the mare, kill the dragon!” shouted one of the guards. Twilight looked at the guard, her fearful expression quickly giving way to anger.

“You. Will. NOT. Touch. Spike.” she yelled, making the guard step back. Within seconds the entire area around Twilight was in flames, as the now white-coated mare with a flickering flaming mane was levitating. The look in her bright red eyes had made the guard she was staring at cower in fear. With a quick flash, the guard was turned into a smouldering pile of ashes. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw a guard attempt to approach her. She turned  to face the guard, who immediately cowered back. She screamed and the royal guard exploded, leaving chunks of flesh and splatters of blood on the other guards’ coats and armor. Something wet was dripping on Twilight’s face, but this didn’t bother her. These guards were here to kill Spike, and they would not succeed. With a screech, the fire ball that had formed around her expanded to fill the entire room. Roasted flesh wafted towards the fire mare’s nose as every single guard had been set on fire, and was trying to put out the flames.

Twilight stared at the guards running from the never-ending flames. She exerted all of her power into a spell, as her horn slowly turned into an inferno of towering flames. With a final scream, the entire room was set on fire. Every single guard had been turned into piles of ashes. Exhausted, the purple mare let herself fall down to the floor. The anger she had had tired her out, and now sleep was looking like a good idea.

“Hey... Spike, you okay?” She asked, turning to the dragon. Spike had donned a horrified expression; he seemed to not be able to respond. Twilight nudged him. “Hello? Equestria to Spike?” Spike shook his head, and snapped out of his catatonic state.

“What did you do that for, Twilight? You just killed... a bunch of royal guards...” he stated, a tear flowing down his cheek.

“I had to, Spi-”

“Behind you!” Spike yelled, cutting Twilight off. Twilight quickly turned around to see a shadow inspecting the scene.

“Well, well, Twilight Sparkle. I certainly love what you’ve done to the place! Those flames add a certain... flare to the room. Why, yes, I love it! I’ll have to hire somepony with your tastes to redecorate the castle!” The shadow stated. Twilight studied the beast and realized a resemblance.

“Discord! What have you done with my friends?!” The unicorn yelled.

“Why, don’t worry. They’re all alive and well, just not... awake. Now, I’ll need you to come with me.”

“I’ll never go with you, Discord!”

“Oh?” He suddenly disappeared, and reappeared right above Spike, placing his foot on the dragon’s head. “Well, if you don’t go, there’ll be another casualty tonight! So, now that we’ve set the rules, will you surrender?” He said, a grin on his face. Twilight looked down at the petrified dragon, before nodding.

“I’ll go... just don’t harm Spike.”

“Oh, I promise. The poor baby won’t be hurt at all.” Discord said. Twilight made her way toward the door, only to be met with a large group of guards. She thought about harming them, but she was far too exhausted to do anything else tonight. With a sigh, she walked into the group of guards whom quickly hoofcuffed her. The group of brainwashed ponies put an anti-magic ring around her horn. A sickening crunch was heard behind her, followed by Discord laughing.

“Spike!” Twilight cried out, tears filling her eyes. Discord appeared above her, floating nonchalantly down the stairs. Twilight looked at one of his feet to see blood dripping from his toes. Unable to hold it in any longer, she broke down on the spot, tears blurring her vision as she was taken from her home.

“Now, guards. The reign of a new king shall be spread across this desolate land called Equestria. I’ll need a new name... let’s see... tell them that king Maestro, controller of everything is their new ruler! Now, as for these ponies that wield the Elements of Harmony... spread them across Equestria, and torture them using any means that will crush whatever hope they still have...” A shrill laugh filled the night air, as the moon and sun were visible on opposite ends of the horizon. “The reign of chaos has begun!”

                                                 End of Prologue

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