Dark Hearts and Spirits

Fluttershy glared at the demon that had killed Discord with more hate than she had ever felt before. Her thoughts of ripping him apart were interrupted by Twilight.

"Girls! We'll have to charge the Elements for him. Pour all your emotions into it! Can you two distract him Princesses?" Twilight barked out, going into complete general mode. Celestia and Luna charged for Darkheart, lighting up their horns as they did.

"I won't even need my true form for this" Darkheart laughed before headbutting Celestia and smacking Luna away. Luna attempted to recover when a magical lightning bolt hit her in the back,

"You're not going anywhere" Trixie growled, finally having gotten back from hiding under a rock. Luna was shocked at the power behind the spell. She had heard Trixie was a weakling, not a powerful mage.

"I suppose Tia will have to fend for herself" Luna grunted before lighting down in front of Trixie. "You're a fool to have let Darkheart control you." Luna mocked as she saw the insignia on Trixie's head.

"He does not control Trixie!" Trixie screamed while firing a barrage of magical daggers at Luna. Luna put up a shield, hoping  she could talk some sense into her.

"That's what the Nightmare said too. Honeyed words are nothing. Darkheart is corrupting you just like the Alicorn Amulet" Luna screamed, creating several illusions in an attempt to confuse the unstable unicorn.

"Trixie was not corrupted! Trixie has to be good at something, otherwise she's worthless" Trixie half sobbed, half yelled at the black diarch before blasting away the clones. Luna teleported behind Trixie, dodging the assault before going into the unicorn's mind. It was a mess to say the least. The most noticeable thing was a red haze, obviously Darkheart's seal, corrupting and warping the rest of the mind. Luna blasted through the smoke to find even more harsh barriers of pride and hatred.Worming her way through, she found memories of a pony with little power and even less love given to her. Born to an elite family, she was expected to be the best but no matter how she trained, she was never very powerful. She compensated by hiding behind a mask of pride and power while really only using smoke and mirrors in her acts. Then Luna saw that the few humble memories were being swallowed by Darkheart's seal and Trixie's own hatred.

Just before leaving the unicorn's mind, Luna shouted "Remember who you really are and stop living in denial!". When Luna exited the mind, Trixie was on the floor, alternating between crying and screaming death threats. Luna was reminded of a rabid dog lashing out at the world with no reason. "I hope you do well" Luna said right before she saw the distinctive bang of the Elements firing.

While Luna had been defeating Trixie, Celestia had been getting beaten down by Darkheart.

"How about I don't use my magic?" Darkheart laughed before rushing Celestia and rushing into a combo too fast to see. Celestia was banged back and forth as the demon slammed his hooves into her. Celestia managed to get the demon off her by blinding him with a blast of solar magic. While Darkheart was blinded, Celestia took advantage to beat down Darkheart with a kicking combo. Darkheart snarled with rage before blasting Celestia away with a bolt of magic.

"I thought you weren't going to use magic" Celestia taunted, attempting to hold the demon's attention as best she could. Darkheart chuckled before dusting himself off in an attempt to get his composure back.

"Well, I think I just need to kill you more creatively that's all" the demon said, pondering with a hoof to his chin. "Oh, I know. I'll drown the Sun" Darkheart said before zooming forward and headbutting the solar princess. Celestia stumbled back only to get smashed across the face by a red energy whip. "Let's find some water" Darkheart laughed before throwing down a huge red lightning bolt, leaving a giant crater and revealing an aquifer. "Into the water you go" Darkheart said before dunking the Princess's head in the water and whistling merrily. Celestia struggled to get back up but the demon's hold was firm and her lungs were starting to burn. "What was that? It's a bit hard to hear anything, well, besides "gurgle gurgle" Darkheart taunted shoving Celestia's head deeper. The water was suddenly getting pleasantly lukewarm. "Huh, I like this" Darkheart said, inching into the now steaming water. He regretted it almost instantly as the water boiled before completely burning away. "Ow! What in Tartarus?!" Darkheart spat as he leaped out of the crater.

"I won't die to a beast like you" Celestia snarled, her body glowing with the full brilliance of the hottest stars. Celestia was lit up in a blue aura as she screamed "I am Celestia! Queen of the Stars!" She rushed forward, her hoof covered in flame, before upper cutting the demon with all her might. Darkheart shrieked in pain as several teeth were knocked out. While internally Celestia was shocked that Darkheart even existed, externally she simply charged with a second punch. Darkheart recovered faster than she anticipated and flew upward dodging the second attack. It was now or never for Celestia. While Darkheart was in the awkward position, she fired a blast of magic with the power of a solar flare, screaming so as to channel all her power into it.

"What?! Noooooo!" Darkheart screamed, slamming his hoof forward in an attempt to hold the blast at bay. Celestia thrust even more power into the blast while Darkheart channeled energy into his hoof, slowly pushing the blast back. The stalemate was broken when the solar beam exploded, bathing the area in a harsh light as the ground shook from its power.

"Don't look at it!" Twilight screamed, averting her own eyes to avoid blindness.

"N-no" Celestia gasped as the smoke cleared. Darkheart was still simply floating there, somewhat banged up and with his hoof nearly burnt to a husk but very much alive. "Not even Discord would've survived that" Celestia sputtered, realizing that the demon really had been holding back and had powered up to survive the blast.

"How could she make me use more than half my power?" Darkheart snarled, glaring at his scorched hoof and watching as bits of blackened flesh fell off it. The beam was about to kill him when he brought out about 3 quarters of his demon power, as much as he could use without transforming. "That hurt" Darkheart said, his voice disturbingly calm as he alighted down. He then clenched the burnt hoof, ignoring the blood dripping off of it before screaming "IT HURT!!" Darkheart slammed Celestia back with a psychic pulse before stopping her flight with another energy whip. "IT HURT!!!!" Darkheart roared as he smashed Celestia back and forth while she was trapped in the energy whip. Eventually he dropped Celestia's broken body before snarling in her face "Where do you get the gall to hurt me?!"

"He, look behind you" Celestia chuckled, doing her best to keep the pain out of her voice. Darkheart turned around just in time to hear a massive bang as the Elements fired.

"OH SH-" Darkheart started before the rainbow beam slammed into him.