“The three of us left for the hotel that night, all hoping we would run into Fluttershy, Rarity or Applejack, so we could get some answers. Nopony expected anything that happened after we arrived at Brandy’s, though,” the queen said in a solemn voice.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

As the three mares arrived at Brandy’s Flats, Twilight stopped, feeling that something was wrong. “Wait, you two,” she said to Sweetie and Pinkie. “Something doesn’t feel right...” The ponies stopped for a moment, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did.

“Maybe you’re just imagining things, Twilight? I mean, Big Macintosh’s news was kind of unexpected, and Applebloom played a pretty important role in our organization, so I'd understand...” Sweetie Belle eventually said, still saddened by the death of one of her best friends. “Come on, let’s go,” she continued, turning around, only to be face-to-face with another unicorn, this one just as white as her: Rarity.

“Rarity! Man, you would not BELIEVE how happy we are to see-” Pinkie said cheerfully.

“Silence, you uncivilized creature,” Rarity interrupted in a calm voice. “I’ve found them, friends.” At the sound of Rarity’s words, a half-dozen pegasi, all clad in pitch-black armor, landed in a circle around the four mares.

Rarity’s horn began to glow, as the scene around the ten ponies became clouded by shadows.

“What are you doing, Rarity?” Twilight asked, fear creeping into her voice. “Rarity, say something!” the purple unicorn shouted, as dark tendrils grew around the hooves of the trio, gripping their legs tightly.

“Sis! Please, why are you doing this?” Sweetie Belle yelled, as she began sinking into the earth, Pinkie and Twilight following. “Why?” Rarity's response was a simple glare, as if she were disgusted by her sister’s cries.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The queen took in a breath, before continuing: “All we could see for the longest time was darkness. There were no sounds...we couldn’t even hear ourselves as we screamed and cried for help, until...”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

“No...Not your time...Not yet...There is still too much to be done...” a mysterious voice said, as the curtain of shadow was sliced open, revealing a bright light.

As Twilight sat up, she heard groaning around her. Looking around, she spotted Scootaloo, as well as Sweetie Belle and Pinkie Pie, who were both unconscious, and finally, Rarity, who was standing on the other side of a wall of metal bars. They seemed to be in a prison cell.

“Well, at last you're awake,” Rarity stated, annoyed with the two unconscious mares, as Twilight stumbled to her hooves. "I shall inform the executioner that he may be needed earlier than expected,” the white mare continued, laughing. Scootaloo began growling in response.

“Lemme out of here you bucking bitch!” the orange pegasus screamed at her captor as she tried to strike her through the bars, raising a gasp from her, before continuing to spout racial slurs and other obscene things, few of which Rarity would apply for.

Rarity looked as if she was about to explode. “HOW DARE YOU!” she yelled, magically launching the pegasus back, into the wall behind her. “Speak to me like that again, and I shall rip your throat out and have it made into a trophy!” Scootaloo displayed just how little she cared by spitting in Rarity’s face from across the cell. “Eugh! Guard, keep an eye on the prisoners. I’m going to go talk to the executioner...perhaps we can schedule the executions for tomorrow,” the white unicorn said, wiping the fluid off her face as the orange pegasus got back up. As Rarity approached the door, she turned to give Scootaloo an evil glare before leaving.

“Oh, ouch. That really hurt,” Scootaloo shouted as sarcastically as she could manage, pretending to be in pain. By this time, Sweetie Belle and Pinkie Pie were waking up.

“Ugh...That was just a terrible dream,” the groggy Sweetie said, examining her surroundings before noticing Scootaloo. “Oh, hey, Scoots. Blow somethin’ big up this time?” the unicorn asked, snickering.

“Oh bite me. I went to talk at Brandy, and like, right as I left, your sister, being the current bitch that she is, came up to me, knocked me out for whatever bucking reason, and I woke up here probably five minutes ago,” Scootaloo responded, emphasizing her opinion of Rarity.

“People! We’re in a prison cell! We should probably be, you know, trying to fix that?” an annoyed Twilight spoke out, trying to get the other ponies’ attentions. “And seriously, Scoots, quit calling her a bitch. She may be acting like one right now, but that’s beside the point.”

The other ponies present nodded in agreement, and Sweetie Belle stepped over to investigate the lock. “Oh yeah, I can deal with this, but it’s gonna be a challenge, since I’ll have to be extremely gentle so I don’t lock us in here forever. Best back away, you three,” she said, turning around. After a short moment of lock inspection, Sweetie Belle leaned in and touched her now-glowing horn to the gate.

*BOOM*

Sweetie had blasted the gate a clean ten feet away, and stepped out of the cell, leaving three stunned mares behind her. “Well, come on!” the while unicorn said impatiently, looking back.

“What the? Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing!” the pony Rarity assigned to guard the prison yelled from the door, before a bolt of gold lightning struck him in the chest, knocking him back.

“Oh stuff it, nopony gives a damn what you say,” Twilight said as smoke rose from her horn. “Sweetie’s right, we should go,” she continued, running to the door.

The purple unicorn looked through the door: They were in the middle of a hallway in Castle Canterlot. There were two possible paths, with two other paths stemming from them. “I thought I heard something over here! Let’s go check it out!” a voice called from the hall to the left.

“Because an explosion was the perfect way to escape from prison,” the genius mare thought. She motioned for her friends to join her at the door, and to take the hallway to their right. The guards’ hoofsteps could be heard at this point. “Go, go, go!” Twilight whispered loudly.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo went ahead with Twilight, leaving Pinkie Pie standing alone, seemingly lost in thought. The pink mare spoke: her words surprising the other three ponies. “You guys go ahead. You’d be more useful to the fight than me. I mean, seriously, two of you have magic, and Scootaloo can fly...what good am I?” A short silence followed Pinkie’s question. “Exactly. Go on, I’ll try and catch up after I lead them...I dunno. This place have a pool?” she snickered, before running to intercept the guards. “Hey roody-poos, catch me if ya can! Hahahahahaha!”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight and the two remaining Crusaders spent the next few hours searching for the exit to the castle, when a familiar voice was heard. “Pinkie, you didn’t honestly think you could escape three dozen royal guards?”

“Eh, not really. I just wanted to lead them somewhere...fun. Which reminds me, you guys seriously need a pool...or at least a dedicated posse of clowns,” another voice spoke, sounding strangely cheerful.

Scootaloo found where the voices were coming from first, and motioned for the other two to come listen. “Oh, that’s just like you, Pinkie...a noose around your neck, about to be dropped to your last breath, and you’re making jokes,” the first voice spoke again, the owner obvious now: Applejack. The three mares took the chance, and peered in through the door.

Pinkie was standing on her hind legs on a wooden platform, front hooves tied together in front of her, with a rope hanging from the ceiling tied around her neck. In the room with her were Applejack, the three dozen guards mentioned, and a pale-green earth pony in a black hood, presumably the executioner. “Ma’am?” the hooded pony nervously spoke, looking at the blond mare.

Applejack turned to face the executioner. “Do it,” she said The pony nodded in response, and stepped over to a nearby lever.

As the hooded pony was readying himself to buck the lever, Pinkie Pie made her thoughts on the situation clear. “You know what? Both of you are party-poopers.” The pink pony stuck her tongue out at Applejack before the platform underneath her gave way, and a sickening snap was heard.

Pinkie Pie hung there, tongue still hanging out, eyes closed...dead. Strangely, the pale-green pony looked as though he were about to cry. “One down...two to go. Come on, men. Nightmare Moon would love to hear about this,” Applejack said, leading the guard ponies towards the door Twilight, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were hiding near.

“I was right about Nightmare Moon then...so Rarity’s helping her too...wait,” the purple unicorn thought, absentmindedly putting up a magic barrier to shield herself and her cohorts from sight. “'Two to go', she said...does that mean Fluttershy...No. We must have hope!”

After the guards passed, the three freedom-fighters snuck into the room Pinkie Pie was in. “Oh Celestia, I can’t do this anymore! I just can’t!” said the executioner, throwing off his hood. “I’ve got to find those rebels the guards always talk about...I have to stop any more innocent ponies getting killed!” The pale pony ran towards the door, hitting Twilight head-on, dispelling the invisibility cloak, and knocking them both onto their backsides.

As the stallion and mare sat, staring at each other, the white Crusader thought she saw them blush. “Well? Somepony grab him!” Scootaloo said after a few moments, tackling the earth pony. Sweetie Belle took the next few seconds to cut the rope keeping Pinkie Pie in the air, and magically placed the pink pony on the ground in front of her.

Tears began welling up inside the unicorns’ eyes, with Scootaloo too busy holding the struggling earth pony to the ground to cry. “P-Pinkie...” Twilight managed to say.

Almost immediately after, the dead pony’s eyes shot open, glowing a bright white, and surprising the four others in the room. “Twi...light...” she said, in a voice only slightly like her own. As she spoke her friend’s name, her body began disintegrating, forming a sphere as bright as her eyes. The sphere flew to Twilight and shattered, its remains being absorbed by the unicorn, who proceeded to stumble back.

Twilight soon collapsed, barely conscious. “Oh crap...this can NOT be good. We’d better hurry up and get her out of here,” Sweetie Belle said.

“What about this punk?” Scootaloo responded, no longer struggling.

“Hey! I’ve got a name you know!” the third pony yelled, managing to catch the pegasus on top of him off-guard, knocking her off. “It’s Honeydew. You three are members of the Rising Sun, right?” he questioned, standing up. “‘Cause I’m done with these guys. I’m tired of killing innocent ponies, and I wanna help stop this crap.”

Twilight could barely make out the other two mares glaring at Honeydew, before she blacked out. The last thing she heard, was Sweetie Belle saying: “Fine, but we’ll be watching you.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

“Today, we all know that executioner as the king of Equestria,” the queen said, a bit of love in her voice.

“Are you going to hold that against me forever, Twilight?” the king responded, clearly annoyed.

“Yes.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

When Twilight awoke, she was laying on a soft bed in a very large room, with an assortment of ponies and a dragon standing over her. “Ugh...did I get into Applejack’s personal fridge again?” she asked with a snicker, before groaning in pain. “Oh buck, that’s the worst headache I’ve had in years!”

“Calm down, missy,” Brandy said to the mare. “You’ve been here for about two days now, and from what the Crusaders tell me, you took some pretty high-concentration magic head-on. It’s a miracle you woke up at all,” he continued, nodding at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

Rainbow Dash took the first chance she got to speak. “That doesn’t matter now! What I want to know is what you saw! Is Pinkie really...you know...gone?” she asked, sounding sad. Twilight simply nodded, causing the cyan pony to burst into tears. Scootaloo led her out of the room to comfort her. The door closed, blocking out the sounds from the hallway, and a long silence followed

“I think we should discuss what we know now, and try to get some answers as to what the buck is going on with our friends,” the white unicorn said after a while.

“Well, from what Applejack said - ugh...” Twilight started, rubbing her head in pain. Brandy magically pulled a bottle of whiskey and a small glass over, filling the latter and giving it to Twilight. “Thank you, sir,” the unicorn responded, downing the beverage almost immediately. “As I was saying: From what Applejack said, I can tell that her and Rarity are working with Nightmare Moon, and that they’ve captured, killed, or recruited Fluttershy. Considering how AJ and Rarity were acting, I’m not dismissing that last one until I have proof it’s false,” she continued, before pausing. “Wait, what about that earth pony...Honeydew, was it?”

Spike, Brandy and Sweetie Belle exchanged glances. “Sweetie gave him a taste of the, er, actual chain of command, and last I checked, he was still tied up in the basement, crying,” the dragon said with a hint of nervousness.

“A taste!? I gave him more than just a taste!” the white unicorn shouted, startling the room’s other inhabitants. A familiar silence entered the room. “...I broke the chain...” Sweetie said after a while, clearly sad. Twilight and Brandy stared wide-eyed at the mare, as Spike headed for the door.

“I guess I’d better check on him, then,” Spike said, throwing his arms up. “Does Sweetie Belle have to go overboard every single time?” the dragon mumbled as he left the room, allowing the sound of Rainbow Dash’s sobs to be heard again.

“Well, with all that out of the way, I recall you tellin’ me that your sister caught you three and Pinkie outside my establishment, Miss Belle?” Brandy asked over the crying.

“Yeah. I’m not sure how long she’s known we use this place, but it would still be a good idea for us to find somewhere new to sleep, since she might expect us to come back here...I’m kinda surprised she hasn’t tried to lay siege to the hotel yet, actually,” Sweetie responded with a half-hearted chuckle. “I think we’re gonna find somewhere nice in the Rising Sun HQ tomorrow, and try to turn it into some barracks.” As the unicorn spoke, hoofsteps could be heard throughout the floor.

An excited blond pegasus burst through the door, almost destroying it. “Mistress Belle! Mistress Belle! We just got some information you would be interested in!” he yelled.

“Spit it out then, Wingkins,” Sweetie responded, putting on as serious a face as she could manage.

The pegasus attempted to catch his breath before speaking. “The mayor of a nearby city is starting to fight against Nightmare Moon. Said his daughter was kidnapped, and that if the guards didn’t do anything to stop the criminals, he was gonna do it himself, and find somepony else to protect his city afterwards,” Wingkins said between breaths. “His name is something like ‘Mick Haggard’...or was it ‘Ike Lager’?”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened considerably when she heard the name. “Mayor Haggar is going against Nightmare Moon!? Today couldn’t get any better!” Sweetie announced loudly, receiving confused looks from three ponies. “If we can help clean up his city, maybe he’ll let us use it to gather our forces!” The white mare grinned. “Wingkins, you just earned yourself a promotion to Squad Captain, and a dozen of Rainbow’s best Rising Sun soldiers. I’ll have her gather your troops up when she’s calmed down, and I’ll have Derpy inform Mr. Haggar that we’ll help with his problems, in return for use of his city. When you guys are all geared up, you’ll head out to his office and negotiate. Dismissed!” she continued, still grinning.

After the pegasus left, Twilight had been struck by another headache, this one significantly worse than the last. “Sweetie, can you PLEASE leave if you’re gonna talk that loud?” she asked. “Feels like somepony planted a tomahawk in my skull...”

“Heh, sorry.” The white mare blushed a little. “Alright, we’ll leave. Get some rest, Twi, we’re gonna move you around noon tomorrow,” Sweetie Belle continued, as she and Brandy exited the room.

“The hallway was awful quiet the whole time the door was open...Maybe Wingkins scared Rainbow Dash and Scoots away?” thought the purple mare, as she drifted back to sleep.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight was back in the strange black void she had been in after Rarity captured her, only now, she seemed to have a gem of some sort chained to her neck, and she was standing on what looked like a platform made of light. As she looked around, a hooded creature seemingly made of solid darkness appeared. It raised a hand, which then panned in front of it, creating three small curtains. The far left curtain raised, revealing a small phantasmal Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie! What have you done to her, you...whatever you are!?” Twilight yelled. The shadow raised its hand again, signalling for Twilight to be silent.

“I have done nothing to harm your friend. She is...happy, where she is,” the creature responded, its voice echoing slightly. “Young Sparkle; The Judge has fallen. She wished for you to inherit her duties,” it continued, raising the small Pinkie in its hand, crushing it. “Will you accept, and punish those deemed evil, whilst forgiving those deemed good? Will you aid in the fight to save Equestria...or will you allow it to burn?” As the last words left the creature, it released the dust that a moment ago resembled Pinkie Pie, which burst into flames a second later. “Decide, young Sparkle.”

Twilight stood, staring at the creature before her for a while, before answering. “If...if this ‘Judge’ wanted me to take their duties, then they must have a good reason,” Twilight stated, slightly nervous. “And you say this ‘Judge’ was Pinkie?” she continued, suppressing a giggle. “I have no reason to believe you, to be honest, but half of my friends are trying to kill me, so this isn’t the weirdest thing to happen to me.”

“Decide, Sparkle, or I shall crush your shard, and your soul shall be lost forever!” the shadowy being roared, causing the purple unicorn to flinch.

“Oh fine. I'll do it...I accept. Though I must inquire...who - or what - are you?” the mare responded, speaking with bravery.

The creature took a few moments to respond. “I am known by many names...many refer to me as The End; The Abyss; The Shadow; but many more refer to me simply as The Reaper,” it spoke, pulling down its hood to reveal a skull of solid shadows, with a silver gem embedded in its forehead. “Now, Sparkle...your time has not yet come, be gone from my domain!” As the Reaper raised its hand one final time, a surge of white light shot from its palm into Twilight. The energy made the mare feel empowered as the void dispersed around her.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

“Aaaaah!” Twilight jolted upright, screaming. While she was covered in sweat, she was strangely cold. “Oh Celestia...that was a weird bucking dream,” the unicorn thought, head in her hooves. “...Wait a second...” She seemed to be emitting a faint silver glow, though it soon faded. “Not as weird as THAT though.” Twilight shook her head, stood up, and approached the draped windows. “Might as well check what time it is,” she said, opening the window. The moon was half risen, leaving Twilight with an unsurprised expression on her face. “Oh. Right,” she thought, sighing, as she turned to look at her alarm clock: 11:48 AM. “I really should get packing. We’ll be leaving for HQ soon.”

In the plaza outside the hotel, a large crowd had gathered around a huge stage. On the stage stood a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and a baseball bat at her hooves; three pegasus guards; and a white unicorn with a purple and pink mane, sitting, bound and bleeding heavily, rear legs broken, with her horn snapped off around the middle.

As Twilight left the Flats, she wondered where Brandy and Scootaloo were, as neither were in the foyer, or their rooms, before noticing the wall of ponies. The mare pushed her way through until she could see the stage, and the ponies on it could see her. “Ah, our friend Twilight’s finally here, Sweetie. Say hello,” the yellow pegasus said, shaking Sweetie Belle awake. All Twilight could do was stare, as she saw one of her few remaining friends in her beaten state. “No? Aw, that’s too bad...Well, I gave you a chance, but you just didn’t want to take it, did you?” she continued, picking the bat up off the stage and swinging it, letting out a loud echoing *CRACK!*, followed by the dull thud that came with Sweetie's body impacting wood. The yellow pony spat the wooden club out and stared at Twilight, a sadistic look in her eyes. “Your rebellion is doomed, Sparkle. You are all doomed. Nightmare Moon will destroy all who oppose her, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. You can keep Honeydew: That bastard is of no use to us anymore.” The pegasus cackled as she and her three allies flew off, leaving a crowd of stunned ponies, and a single unicorn mare on her knees, ready to give up what little hope she had left.

Fluttershy had become worse than when Discord got to her, and now the Rising Sun were at an even bigger disadvantage than before.

“Do not surrender, young Sparkle...The time for mercy has passed,” the creature from Twilight’s dream said, appearing in front of her. Nopony reacted, as if only Twilight could see him. “Give them something to fear.”

____________________________________________________________________________________

"I realized that day that mercy was for the weak...a realization that changed me into a ruthless pony. All I wanted was to stop Nightmare Moon at any cost - even killing the corrupt Elements. They murdered my friends...That would not go unpunished. I WOULD give them something to fear, that much was clear. The only part that wasn't?"

"How." Next Chapter: Chapter 4 Estimated time remaining: 55 Minutes