Apples for Ebony 13: Catrina's Revenge Part 1
 
 
Applejack groaned a bit as she stood on the pedestal in Carousel Boutique. It was a few days since Nightmare Night, and the preparations for an upcoming special event were in full swing. News was all over Ponyville by now that another of the mane six was getting married, and they were very excited a happy for Applejack.
 
But... right now Applejack just wanted it to be over. Rarity was a fine designer, but sometimes she went a little overboard with her ideas. Today she was helping get Applejack the gown and.... well...
 
"Ah think ah look like a big marshmallow, an not in a good way."
 
Applejack had on a dress with more white lace and frills and ruffles than Twilight had guards. But worse was the gem sequence, all amber apples, highlighting her dress. Applejack groaned as it was nowhere NEAR what she envisioned, a simple white dress with an apple brooch.
 
"OH Applejack darling this is the wedding kf the decade! It needs more flair! More dazzle!"
 
"More gems?" Applejack groaned. Rarity hummed and put another bunch on the cowpony hat for the veil.
 
"Yes indeed!" Rarity said as Applejack groaned. As she did, in came Spike with some decorations. He snickered some at the big poofy applemellow, earning a glare.
 
"Sorry but... you look so.. . So...."
 
Rarity glared as well as Spike clamped his mouth, revealing the decorations. These were made by residents that Applejack and Ebony had been helping and they looked stunning, ranging from apple pottery to some banners to even a couple of trays of apple muffins with chocolate chips from Derpy and Doctor Whooves.
 
"Smashing!" Rarity said as she gawked over them all. "These will really make the town hall lovely for the reception. Speaking of which... how many will be coming do you think?"
 
Applejack smiled. "Ah figure all mah kin and the town... but Ebony said not too many from his side. Might be a few from beyond our world but not many locally."
 
"Not even that director?"
 
Applejack blushed. "Funny ya mention him...."
 
*************
 
"You want me to what?!"
 
Stage Manager and Twilight were finalizing the details about the reception with Ebony, all meeting at the local Hayburger place, waiting for their orders. Ebony blushed as he repeated his plans.
 
"Well ... we were going to ask you to be best man... but I realized one of the core aspects of our relationship and... well... we would like you to effectively be our ride from the reception... and maybe the honeymoon suite."
 
Stage began to drool at the thought of the two newlyweds being part of his form for awhile, while Twilight was surprisingly accepting.
 
"Honestly I would love to." Stage finally said. "Course it will mean you'll miss the party afterward..."
 
Ebony chuckled. "Well we thought about it, and we were thinking of doing the wedding one day, then the honeymoon, then when we... get back... a big party."
 
Twilight smiled. "I think that's a great idea. It should lessen the rush and the work for you both. And like I said, doing the reception will be a breeze."
 
Ebony looked down at the seed bag he was holding. "Yeah. I wanted to do it like her parents did, may they rest in peace."
 
Stage nodded. "I cannot wait for the day. Now will you be cutting the cake and everything or is that all when you get back?"
 
Ebony chuckled. "OH at the wedding of course. Besides... I wanna see the look on Rainbows face."
 
Twilight was about to ask as over came the orders she and Stage got, with Stage getting a ton of hayburgers.... and Twilight getting a big Mac! And not just any big Mac either....
 
Stage and Twilight blushed as Ebony just blinked. "Ummmm.... I think they switched our orders...."
 
Big Mac looked up from his bun and nodded. "Eeeeeyup."
 
****************
 
After their separate work on preparing for the wedding, Ebony and Applejack reunited in the town square, sharing some pie as they told what had happened. They snuggled close and watched other couples walking by.
 
"That will be us soon..." Ebony finally said. "It's hard to believe this is really happening. I mean when I came here i..."
 
Applejack smiled. "I reckon ya had me at apple pie." She leaned in to kiss... but it didn't happen.
 
Suddenly the world around them went dark, and Applejack saw that she was surrounded by nothing but blackness, even Ebony was gone.
 
*"I have been waiting for this moment."*
 
Applejack looked about to see the source of the voice... and then she saw it emerge from the darkness. A tall, feline form.
 
"You!" She said, gritting her teeth."
 
*"Correct Applejack. Catrina. How wonderful to see you again."* the feline chuckled musically as Applejack charged. But she went wide eyed as she went right through the feline!
 
*"What you see before you isn't my physical form. I'm somewhere else right now. Somewhere... very close. And I have what I was looking for."* The feline drew closer. *"That means Equestria will have its dark side again. And I will have my revenge on you and your fiancé."*
 
Applejack stepped back, but the feline put a single claw on her.
 
*"The best part? Your leaving to prepare for the wedding opened up my target."*
 
Applejack went wide eyed as suddenly everything snapped back to reality. Ebony looked at her with concern.
 
"Applejack?"
 
Applejack looked at him, and after a moment she stood up. "We need to get back to the shop, and fast."
 
Ebony went to ask why but Applejack was already running. Nearby, Catrina chuckled from her hiding spot.
 
"Like moths to a flame. So it begins." She chuckled at her satchel, and headed into the night...
 
****************
 
The two rushed to the store. Many times tje alchemy store seemed and felt welcoming, almost happy to see them. But this time it felt.... cold. Unnerving. Slowly they made their way in.
 
Darkness. No lights or sound. Something was very wrong.
 
"SHODAN?" Ebony said. "SHODAN, it's Ebony. Please turn on the lights."
 
No reply. Applejack suddenly eeped as she felt broken glass by her hoof. She looked down and saw several broken vials, the contents intermixed. Ebony went wide eyed.
 
"Not good.... if the potions mix this could be unstable....."
 
"ExACtlEee....I aM ShOdAn...."
 
The main room was illuminated suddenly, showing the many potions were spilled all over the floor. Some began to bubble and hiss as a sinister and twisted face of SHODAN appeared.
 
"My hardhardhardhard drrrrrrrrive has been COmmmmmpraaammmiiisssss..... I Am UNablE to Stop..... Plz Eb.... AJ.... runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrunru......."
 
"Eb what's happening?!" Applejack said, Ebony stepping back.
 
"SHODAN.... I'll be back for you...." he turned to Applejack. "We need to run. NOW!"
 
Flames began to suddenly emit from the ground, and the scent of chemical fire filled the air. Ebony dove out with Applejack just as flames emitted. But as quick as they came... they stopped, changed by beams of light that began to fire out from the building.
 
"It's a chain reaction!" Ebony shouted. "Multiple potions are going off at once, and the effect could be disasterous!"
 
Several beams slammed into nearby objects, and the two watched as a bush suddenly changed into a frog, and a pony became a giant wolf. Applejack blinked and looked at Ebony.
 
"No fooling!" Applejack said, watching as a beam hit Discord and Fluttershy sitting nearby, changing them into odd looking humans. Fluttershy eeped as she looked at the changed Discord, both looking at the alchemy shop. They suddenly fall prone as another beam slams into a bench behind them, turning into a big serpent.
 
"OK, I'M supposed to be the chaos lord here!" Discord shouts, snapping his fingers and turning back into his dragonnequis form, changing Fluttershy back with another snap. "I may have to sue you for this mister Ebony!"
 
Ebony ducked low as a other blast went by him. "Not my idea! Someone mixed all my potions! The result creates a chain reaction that needs to be stopped! Besides SHODAN is still in there... rather her hardware is... and I got to get to her!"
 
Discord ahhhed some. "Why didn't you say so!" He snapped once more, and suddenly the blasts stopped. Around them everyone was changed back to normal, and looked about in shock and relief. Ebony smiled but then saw Discord was surprisingly winded from that. Fluttershy blinked in concern but Discord just sat down.
 
"Making chaos is easy, but reversing this much is a PAIN. I may have to ask for your resume when I retire given how much I had to undo."
 
"Wasn't me. Someone broke into my shop." Ebony said, Applejack nodding in agreement. Discord blinked and followed the two inside, where the mess had been cleaned. But SHODAN still looked.... glitchy. Ebony headed for a door the group had not used before, leading to the basement.
 
And it was a MESS.
 
Sparks flew from several wires, and monitors with a hurting SHODAN could be seen. One in particular was over a massive Grey cylinder, which glowed some, but smoked slightly.
 
"Sabotage." Ebony whispered. "So they did come in... and even you missed who it was."
 
"Eb eb eb eb ebbbbBbbbbBBBBBony... it HurrrTs..." SHODAN said, glitching some more. Ebony walked over.
 
"It's OK. I got this." He turned to Fluttershy, Applejack, and Discord. "Check to see what was taken if anything. And look to see if there were other traps left for us. I need to repair her."
 
The others nodded and left Ebony to it. They walked away slowly, only Applejack staying for a moment.
 
"Sugarcube, will you be okay?"
 
Ebony looked to Applejack and finally nodded. "I helped her before."
 
Applejack nodded. "I know. She told me. We will find out who did this."
 
Ebony nodded and went back to work, looking at the monitor.
 
"Ebebebebebbbb.... I thhhhink you made made made the right choiiiiiiice being here....." SHODAN said, the glitches starting to fade, giving a soft smile.
 
****************
 
As Ebony worked the others searched high and low for anything out of place. It was hard at first, as Discords snap had not been fully accurate, but it was accurate enough to show that most of the potions had just been smashed on the floor.
 
Except three. Among the shelves, three potions could be seen that were not accounted for. All others had been spilled out.
 
"But why these three?" Fluttershy asked, seeing which ones they were. The first was a simple mind enhancer, the second a reformative, and the third a size alteration brew. It made no sense.
 
"Ladies, you may want to come here." Discord called from above. Applejack and Fluttershy went up and noticed something else was missing. On the shelves was a hole in a set of books. Book had been taken.
 
"But what book I wonder..." Discord pondered, as Ebony came upstairs. Nearby a monitor with SHODAN kicked on. She was still a little glitchy, but looked to be stable.
 
"Welcome back sugarcube. How ya doin?" Applejack asked her.
 
"Slught d d d d damage still But 85% functional. Still need to reeeeeeeeeboot."
 
Ebony pat the monitor. "You go ahead SHODAN, you should be able to now. I leave the coding repair to you." He turned to the others. "Meanwhile, what were they after?"
 
Discord pointed out the missing tome, and Ebony went wide eyed. He looked to the others.
 
"Did they take a mind enhancing potion?!"
 
****************
 
Katrina chuckled as she pulled out the mind potion and the oddly bound tome. On it was a picture of a potion shaped like a skull. It read "forbidden spells and alchemy of the sunken world" on the cover.
 
"At last." She said, looking at the nearby statue of Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis. "How wonderful a world with you was. Challenges to heroes and peace to make the world exciting. You were masters of your craft. All of you."
 
She popped the cork on the mind potion. "And now.... surpassed. I shall be a greater villian than any of you. For in these pages is the potion I seek. A potion I know that pony has." She drank the potion and popped open the tome. "Now, come to me dark knowledge! Fill me with your power!"
 
"Catrina no!" A voice called. She turned and saw Ebony, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Discord. "If you absorb the knowledge of that book, it will destroy you!"
 
Applejack blinked. "Wha? Ya have a tome like that?!"
 
Ebony nodded. "It's from my old home. I found it before I came to Equestria, but I couldn't destroy it. I placed a potion on it to prevent it from being understandable, but that mind potion she took will let her absorb the knowledge!"
 
"Exactly Ebony. Equestria needs a villian, and I intend to become it."
 
Ebony blinks. "Katrina if you do this it will destroy equestria!"
 
But Katrina gazed upon the tome, and felt the power of it enter her. Slowly the pages blanked, and Katrina screamed in agony. She began to grow in size and strength, until at last her eyes opened again, glowing orbs of dark magic.
 
"Oh no." Ebony said, in despair. The giant feline looked down as she pulled out and the size changer. Pouring both on the statue and mumbling some words. The contents began to alter as the very essence of those trapped in the statue began to be extrated.
 
"Behold! A twisting of your benign ideals. The reformative, used to give new bodies after being devoured, now extracts those very souls. Your size changer, twisted to increase the power of those who consume the souls. From three fools comes one ultimate being! Come bastions of darkness across equestria! Come to me and feed my power!"
 
The three souls screamed as they were slurped up by the giant feline, her power growing even more. Her very essence and power mixing with others. Discord was wide eyed in fear.
 
"This is not good. That is pure dark magic. My chaos powers will be useless." Discord said as the sky began to darken. Across Equestria, everyone saw as this began.
 
FT and Rainbow Dash watched as a massive dark cloud began to form.
 
From his Everfree home, Stage watched as the denizens of the darkest shadows began to trot out, called by a new master.
 
From Canterlot, Twilight and Spike watched as monsters converged on Ponyville. They knew a new evil had arisen.
 
And where he was, Ebony watched the feline devour them all and absorb power from all of them, beoming a massive giantess,, filled with pure dark energy. Finally she spoke, a voice of millions.
 
*"THE POWER OF THE DARKEST PARTS OF THIS WORLD IS NOW A PART OF ME. WE ARE LEGION, FOR WE ARE MANY."*
 
"Celestia help us." Applejack cried out, as the transformed feline raised her paw, energy forming in it to destroy those before her!
 
 
 
TO BE CONTINUED!!!