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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