Lyra - Escalationby XyroXChaptersThe Fight InsideBanished from the OutsideFinish them!EpilogueThe Fight InsideMy task is fulfilled. Sunset Shimmer is no more. But what’s going to happen now? I banished myself, far away from any other living creature. No, Princess Celestia banished you. Banished us. How can you just sit here while she probably earns all the glory for defeating Sunset? WE are the one who stopped her and Chrysalis. We have enough power to take whatever we want, but look at us! Just sitting around in this dark cave, waiting for death. This isn’t the life I wanted for us. This isn’t the life you wanted. I don’t know what I want anymore. Since Bons’ death, I only lived for vengeance, and now that we have our revenge… what am I supposed to do? Are you kidding me? We can do anything! We still have the amulet, and you know how powerful we can get if you let our hate take control. I don’t want to let this happen again. Though punishing Sunset was the right thing, and killing her felt right… the way I killed her was terrible. It was more than usual murder. Besides, murder is never usual, it’s cruel. But we… dishorned Sunset. I ripped half her head off, with my bare hooves! And we both remember the satisfaction we had while we did it. That wasn’t me, and you know it. All the emotions, all the hate just overwhelmed me. I mustn’t let this happen again! We have to destroy this amulet, Nopony should have such power. No, Lyra, we won’t. We won’t throw away the last thing we have! The last thing that grants us power, more than even Celestia could ever imagine! It was weird. I felt the hate rising inside me again, but this time it was focused on myself. I hated myself for the way I ended Sunset’s life. The action as it was justified, though Celestia would never understand that. But I knew I had to get rid of the Alicorn Amulet. Twilight was right, it corrupts me. And I have to get my anger under control before I do something really stupid. You will never escape me. I’m a part of you, even more than this pathetic human half. Hate leads to power, you know that. And combined with the powers of the amulet, we’re unstoppable! How could you even think about destroying it! I was going crazy slowly. Bad enough when I had to deal with my human part in my mind, now it feels like I’m a minority in it. My hate and my human half have turned against me, how could I get this to work? I was no longer in charge of my own mind. All the whispers in my brain, how long could I take this? At least I’m still the one who controls my body, but for how long? I will destroy this cursed artifact. And you won’t stop me! I started to cast the spell that hopefully would end this madness, but I suddenly felt how my magic yielded. You are strong, Lyra, but don’t forget that your magic comes from inside. You won’t use it if not every part of you wants to. And I will never give up such power! I cried in desperate, feeling like a little child that can’t do what it wants because its parents won’t let it. Actually, it was just like that, just that my parents were my hate and my human half. I can’t win this fight. I have to get back to Canterlot. Celestia will help me… Don’t be silly, Lyra. Nothing will help you here. You’re lost. The earlier you admit this fact, the earlier you’ll be able to get over it and finally accept the power you have and take the opportunities it offers you. You can’t just sit here, waiting for death. As long as I’m here with you, it won’t come. You have to do something. Remember, there are still changelings out there, we could at least have some fun again and hunt them down. Hunting and killing isn’t fun. It was necessary, but I didn’t enjoy it. Don’t lie to yourself. You loved killing those disgusting insects, and so did I. Now get out there and do it! I felt how my hate liked that idea, and slowly I stood up and walked to the outside of the cave I rested the last few days. I didn’t try to stop myself, knowing that it would be vainly. Seems that I finally lost control of my body, too. My weak pony half holed up in the darkest corners of my mind. It’s over… I’m cursed to live as a beast, and I can’t do anything against it. It’s my magic that kills, my ears that hear all the crying, my eyes that delight in the suffer and pain of others, but it’s not me who does all this. I never wanted all this. I never wanted to turn into a monster… I heard myself laughing as I found the first changeling and crushed it like a sheet of paper. Close your eyes, don’t listen to it. If I can’t see or hear it, it doesn’t happen, right? See no evil, do no evil… My own mind had managed to break me. Rumors spread like wildfire, especially those about a wicked mare, killing everything it finds. It wasn’t me, but actually it was. I was weak, broken and enslaved by my own emotions. They used my body and I couldn’t do anything against it. Every time something died in my magical grip I wanted to cry, make this all stop, but instead I could hear myself laugh. Since I left the cave I didn’t took off the necklace, and I felt how its impacts began to be permanent. My claws and the cursed yellow eyes won’t fade, even when I’m not hunting anypony, and I didn’t walk on all four legs for days. My human part felt the changes caused by the amulet too, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about what happens to others, as long as we don’t lose any power. Is that human? Just looking at ones own profit, no matter what it causes to others? I guess so. Since I was in Equestria I didn’t felt any negative emotions like greed or envy. Even the hate hadn’t had its origin in me, but in my human half, I know that now. It nested in my mind, and so it was even able to affect me in the time I was parted from my human side. I feel guilty, every time I think back to the happenings since Bon’s death. I know I couldn’t stop it, stop me, but still I know it’s my fault. Because of my hate, I brought so much sorrow to Equestria, even though I ‘just’ killed changelings and Sunset. Sunset was evil, she was insane, that’s a fact. But what about all the changelings I killed? I’m sure, not everyone if them is bad. There are some who want to do bad things, but not all of them. In this point, they’re just like us humans. I know, there are changelings out there who have a family, who love each other, and who’d never harm anypony. In the last moment, just before ones life ends, you can see who they really are. I saw so many good changelings… and I killed every single one of them. I have to stop this somehow... But it’s not going to happen easy going. How could I win against myself if I’m not even in charge of my magic and my body? Author's Note As there are actually three Lyra's having debates in one mind, I used different colors to make it easier to distinguish them: Cyan = Pony-Lyra, Blue = Human-Lyra and Red = Lyra's hate Banished from the OutsideIt was hopeless. By that time, I wasn’t able to stop this madness. So they say if you can’t beat them, join them. I need to make the best of it. And I did. Though it still felt wrong to slay the changelings, I somehow had the feeling that it was for a better cause. I seemed to get back into the round of me, my hate and my human side. The more changelings we killed, the more they trusted me. Maybe I had a little chance to finally get an opportunity to end this? It’s not easy to lie to yourself. I had to really enjoy killing, not just act like I do. My other parts could feel what I felt, if I liked what we did, or if I didn’t. But how could I be sure to get myself to like all the killing and then end it? Would I even want to end it, once I took pleasure for it? Probably not, but what else could I do? All these thoughts went through my mind, and of course I wasn’t the only one who heard them. Lyra, don’t try to fool us. You know, if you stand in our way, we’ll just end this right here. You’re just still with us, because we allow it. There is no escape. Enough! I’m going to stop these actions right now, before she deals some serious damage. You can’t stop us, silly Lyra. Suddenly my vision blacked out. A few seconds later I found myself in a dark, round room with black walls, just lightened by… actually nothing. It wasn’t completely dark, but I couldn’t spot the source of the light, there wasn’t a lamp or anything like this. Though I never had been here before, I knew immediately where I was. I was in the deep of my own mind, banished from everything that could make me interact with anything around me. I was excluded from my senses, forced to be the little being I was, alone in the darkness of my mind. There was no way out of the room, no doors, no windows, just these smooth, black walls. Meanwhile, my human half took control over my body, still under the command of the hate I let flow through me once to kill Sunset. Now that I wasn’t a problem for them anymore, they began to forge plans to get the life they ‘deserved’. “We have to go to Canterlot. It’s wrong that Celestia banished us, and we’ll show her what we do with those who treat us the way she did.” Yes, we will, but first you have to learn to control this body. It’s a shame we had to lock up this pathetic pony, after all she’s the one who knows how to do it, but you’ll learn. It all went quick. Controlling my pony body wasn’t too hard to master, after all we still walked on two legs, just like a human, and of course my other half remembered how to do this. I don’t know how long it took them to get back to Canterlot, I lost every sense for time while I was in my prison. But I could hear every word they spoke. At least, my human part spoke… my hate was just a whisper inside my head, a quite whisper and still it felt like it yelled at me. Every word felt like a blade that cut through my brain. This time we won’t run away. We will take what we deserve! It’s time to let Equestria know who is the one that saved it from Sunset, and who is the right one to sit on this throne. I felt that my emotions intensified. It wasn’t just my hate anymore that whispered inside my head. All the negative feelings were combined to something I wasn’t able to describe. Hate, fear, envy, vanity, anger… they all fused to one bigger thing, it was almost like my body became a manifestation of those emotions. At the same time I could even feel in my prison how we became stronger and stronger. I don’t know where this power came from, but as I benefited from it, too, I was grateful for it. Maybe it could offer an opportunity for me to escape from this place? Since I was here, I noticed that I finally seemed to be the only one who could hear my thoughts, that was another advantage. I slowly felt hope rising in me, but still I had no chance to break these walls down, so I still was caught inside my mind. And who knows what will happen once I escaped from here? Will I be in the real world again? Or will I still be inside my mind? No matter what, I had to find it out. Even though I still didn’t know how… “Oh, Princess Celestia! Guess who has returned? I’m here to finally take what I deserve for helping you with this little problem, Sunset Shimmer. You banished me after I saved your entire kingdom! I may not be the most honorable person, but I’m sure that your actions weren’t it either. Any idea how you could… reward me?” “I knew you wouldn’t stay away, Lyra. Don’t think I’m not grateful for your help, but the way you helped us was just not right. In Equestria we won’t execute anypony, no matter what he or she did. And you didn’t just kill Sunset, you tortured her, you let her suffer, I’m not even able to imagine the pain she must have felt.” “I know, and I loved it. It was nothing but fair! You know what she did to me, what she did to Bon Bon, and what she was going to do with every living creature in Equestria. Deep inside, you know it was right, and I’m sure you wanted to do similar things to her. I enjoyed every single moment when I killed her, and I enjoyed every time I killed one of these pathetic changelings. And I’m going to enjoy taking what I deserve. Give it to me, or let me take it by myself. You decide what will happen.” “So what do you want? You have power, more than anypony else. You have the Alicorn Amulet, and you have your revenge on Sunset. What else could you want?” “I want more! More power, physical power, magical power and political power. I want you to make me join your ranks, ruling over my own kingdom, full of creatures just like me. You know what I’m talking about. I want humans in Equestria! Humans who aren’t forced to live in these ridiculous pony bodies, real humans, just like me! Even though I’m no longer able to get my real appearance back because of this amulet, I’m still a human, and as a human I have desires a pony could never understand.” “No. I won’t let you take more of these cruel creatures to Equestria! The humans have their own world to live in, and it’s not this one. I know about the happenings in your world, and it’s nothing but suffer, torture, poverty and war. You may have destroyed your own world, but you won’t do this to Equestria.” “I think you don’t have to decide this, princess. Humans are stronger than ponies could ever be. It’s true, we may have caused some problems on earth, but what could stop us from moving on to the next world and make it our subject? It’s just like… mining. If one source is empty, we move on to the next one. If this one is empty, too, we take the third. Every world has its expiration date, and earth’s is almost reached. How can you deny me wish to save my species and give it a place to live? A place to raise our children, increase our knowledge and enjoy our lives?” “And a place to conquer and enslave every other living being in it. One last time Lyra: No. It’s too late anyway, right after you left the castle we destroyed the portal. Nobody will ever come to Equestria, and nopony will get into your cursed world. And not even you have the power to create a new portal.” “You underestimate me, Celestia. But I see you won’t give me what I want voluntarily. I’ll let you live, so you can see what real power means. So you can see what I am able to do!” It’s time to take control over this kingdom, and soon we will be the one who is called Queen of Equestria! We don’t need a Princess of the Day, nor a Princess of the Night, and for sure not a Princess of Friendship. Now bring this to an end! Lyra attacked Celestia, and suddenly the room was full of ponies. An entire army of guards appeared to defend their Princess, and Luna and her night guards joined the fight, too. The room was filled with deadly bolts, most of them focused on Lyra, but she didn’t feel a single impact. The Alicorn Amulet granted her enough power to instantly heal any injuries she incurred. It was a fight she knew from the beginning she couldn’t lose. After a few moments, not a single guard was still alive. They all were lying around the two princesses and Lyra who were still fighting. Even though Lyras magic was more powerful than the princesses’, they were fast enough to dodge almost every spell or counter them, throwing them back at Lyra who just absorbed them without getting harmed. “Enough! I’m starting to get bored of you. You know you have no chance against me, so why do you even try and fight me?” “Because we won’t let you plunge Equestria into the abyss without trying to save it. If we die, we die in honor, trying to defend our world!” Luna growled. “Plunge Equestria into the abyss? Oh no, princess, I never had something like that in mind. With me, Equestria will finally be the home of creatures that are worth living in it! Humans, the only race existing that is strong enough to control an entire planet! We don’t have any natural enemies. We survived anything that ever occurred on earth! We survived ice ages, two world wars, nukes and nuclear explosions in power stations, built by ourselves. Nothing can stop us. And you will learn that first hand!” Filled with the power granted by her human emotions, Lyra unleashed an enormous spell that knocked Celestia and Luna out instantly. She grinned. Time to clean up and rearrange this castle a bit… Finish them!I didn’t know what was going on, what the rest of my mind and my body were doing, but I felt some vibrations even inside my prison. Whatever happened out there, I was sure it wasn’t good. I felt how my emotions went euphoric… that couldn’t be a good sign. So Lyra, we finally arrived in Canterlot. It’s a shame Celestia wasn’t happy to see us again, and she didn’t want us to give what we demand! But anyway, we are in charge now. You see, nothing can stop us! How could you even think about defeating us? You are weak, and you will always be! “I may be weak, but at least I’m not a psycho like you are. You aren’t a part of me, neither of you. You infested my body with all the negative powers a human can feel, but I’m no longer human!” It’s true, you aren’t human. You are less, you’re a pony, one of the creatures we will subjugate once we rebuilt the portal. You’ll see, Lyra, thanks to us, there will be a new world for humans, a world that isn’t corrupted like earth! Don’t you see what this means to us, and to you as well? To your entire species? “I’m glad you imprisoned me here, I don’t want to see what’s going on out there… I don’t want to see what you are doing with me!” Now excuse me, I have a world to invade… After Lyra defeated Luna and Celestia, she cleared the whole castle. After about two hours, she was the last remaining living being in it, except the two princesses she forced into some crystal prisons. They were conscious, with their eyes open, Lyra wanted them to see the damage she caused and the one she was going to cause. She placed them like statues in the throne hall, one on each side of the throne she had placed in the middle of the pedestal. It wasn’t an ordinary throne anymore, she used her magic to form it, with ornate human figurines in heroic poses on the top and subservient ponies underneath them. The figures were made out of gold, the rest of the throne was colored in the familiar red and black. Pleased with her work, Lyra sat down on the throne in human matters, idly playing with Celestia’s crown in her claws. It’s time to open the portal. We mustn’t waste any time! Calm down, we’ve got plenty of time. Who could possibly stop us? The only ones that have enough power to bug us are the Elements of Harmony, but even they won’t be able to stem us. I look forward to them to finally come, that will be the last time we can have an actual fight! Sure there are still Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, but honestly, they aren’t even as powerful as Queen Chrysalis, and she was just a sidekick. Let’s just wait for the elements to come. After we crushed them, the portal will be opened. And once this is done, nothing can stop us! You may be right this time. They’re probably on their way already, so we should get sure to provide them an adequate welcome, shouldn’t we? The entire castle shook as Lyra used her magic again to transform every banner in the castle, each of the artful windows and anything else inside the masonry. Soon the castle looked like a mirror of her sick mind, the banners had now the Alicorn Amulet on them, all the statues showed humans and the bright light of the chandeliers was replaced with a dim light of cursed, flameless lanterns that threw a red glimmer on the floors. The windows, formerly showing historic happenings in Equestria like the defeating of Nightmare Moon by the Elements of Harmony, were now signs of the cruelty of humans, showing heroic pictures of soldiers fighting each others, the two nukes ‘Little Boy‘ and ‘Fat Man‘, the fist of the allies crushing a swastika, but also evidences of their technological superiority like the moon-landing, submarines in the deep of the black sea, airplanes starting from an aircraft carrier in the middle of an ocean and jets flying at supersonic speed. Lyra tore out the door that once protected the necklaces of the elements. This was going to be the place the portal would be installed, once she was sure that nopony would disturb her. In the human world, she was never a popular girl. No friends, bad marks and not even loved by her family. But she wanted to bring humans to Equestria, so she finally would get the recognition she deserved. She wouldn’t back down ever again, now it was her turn to bug on others and to give commands. It felt good, having this much power. Now there was just one more thing to do: Waiting for the elements to arrive. Lyra was excited like she was never before. Fighting Luna and Celestia was fun, but they clearly hadn’t had a chance. But fighting the elements, six enemies at once, would finally be a little challenge for Lyra, though she knew she couldn’t lose. The thought of the upcoming fight was enough to make her shaky. Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and of course Princess Twilight Sparkle, combined against one single pony, and they will be crushed by a power beyond their imagination. Lyra knew that they were strong, after all they managed to defeat Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra, but these were all just little bugs compared to her. She sat down again in her throne and waited, scanning the castle with her magic and looking for the Elements to finally show up. Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack sat in Twilights balloon which was pulled by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, Twilight herself was flying behind it and creating some strong blasts to push the balloon with incredibly speed towards Canterlot. All of them were wearing their necklaces with the element stones in them. Except Pinkie they all had the same serious face expression. “I can’t believe she really did this. I knew she was corrupted by the amulet, but I never thought she would do something like this! We should have stopped her when we had the chance to!” “It’s not your fault, Twilight. You tried stopping her, remember? The only one who is to blame for her actions is Lyra herself. And we will call her to account!” “Maybe you’re right, AJ. I’m sorry for what we have to do, but it has to be done before even more ponies get harmed. Or whatever she is going to do…” Lyra could feel them even before they landed the balloon next to the castle. The magic of the elements was something completely different than her own magic or the ones used by Luna and Celestia. It was the purest, uncorrupted magic she had ever seen, almost the complete opposite of her own cursed magic, but she didn’t care. The end justifies the means, so if she needed to use cursed and corrupting magic to gain enough power to reach her targets, that’s what she’d do. And everypony judging her for this will be punished in a way that will warn everypony to never doubt her strength or intentions again. The Elements were perfect to make an example for this. Suddenly, the door to the throne hall was kicked open and the elements dashed inside. Lyra was still sitting on her throne, rattling her claws on the armrest and grinning evilly. “I’m so glad you finally made it! I already awaited your arrival here.” She stood up on two legs, what granted her five surprised gazes. “You know, your pathetic princesses,” she pointed on Luna and Celestia, still in their crystal prisons, “They were so easily to defeat. I had some fun with them, but still it’s boring if you know you can’t lose. Of course I know you won’t be able to harm me, too, but I’m sure that I’ll have much more fun with you six! So many strong enemies at once… you are the last ponies between me and reaching my target.” “You won’t get away with this Lyra. You may have won against Celestia and Luna, but you would be the first to resist the power of the Elements of Harmony! We will end this madness right here, right now! I never thought you would turn into something like this… but apparently I was mistaking.” “Silly little Twilight. I’m not the weak Lyra you used to know. This pathetic pony mind isn’t in charge anymore! I am a human, and I will always be. And the only things that are going to be ended here are your lives! Maybe I’ll let you live like the other princesses, I actually like collecting statues like these, but your friends… well. You are going to die now!” Without any more word she rushed onto them and threw herself into battle. I felt how my prison shook a bit, and suddenly I was able to hear what was happening on the outside. I don’t want to hide this from you, Lyra. Look, and see how the last hope for your Equestria will die! Once the Elements are gone there will be nothing left to believe in! I was shocked, but I knew I had to do something, whatever it was. The black walls became transparent on one side, so I could now see what was going on, too. I saw how the Elements fought against my body, but I knew they wouldn’t have a chance to subdue it. I saw how Rarity and Twilight threw spells at ‘me’, Applejack trying to kick me in my legs to bring me down, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flying around and throwing things at me and in the back corner I spotted Pinkie Pie with a huge, pink cannon, rapidly shooting everything she could grab and stuff into the barrel. In return I saw bunches of red and black spells flying through the room at the six ponies and my claws slitting through every face that got near them. My human part yelled in euphoria, not a spot of fear in her voice or emotions, just the pure satisfaction of being in battle again. She played with them, just waiting until she got bored to finish this. And I knew that wouldn’t take long. I had to finally do something! “I must admit, you’re tougher than I thought. Still no threat to me, but tough, really. Too bad I have to end this now. I have more important things to do, things you would never understand.” “We don’t know what you are about to do, but you won’t be able to do it!” Applejack ignored the deep cuts in her face and took an attack position again. “It’s time to reveal the real power of the Elements of Harmony. Come here, girls!” The six ponies grouped up with Twilight in the middle. She began casting a spell to connect the elements with one another and after she finished a beam of six different colors fired at Lyra, covering her in light and lifting her from the bottom. “Your weak magic won’t stop me! You can’t hold this spell forever, and once you let it down, I will still be strong enough to destroy you!” After the element spell hit my body, I saw that the concentration of my emotions went to it to defend the body from getting damage and my prison became weaker and weaker. Thanks to the power I was able to gain from the amulet I managed to break through the black walls, but instead of being back in my body I still was captured inside my mind. It looked like a long corridor leading to a big door far away. I ran towards it and reached it after a few seconds, though it felt like an eternity to get there. I dashed inside and stood in a big room, actually looking exactly like the throne hall my body was fighting in. On the pedestal were two thrones, one with my human part sitting on it, and one with a whirl of black and red smoke, shaped like a human. This must’ve been my emotions, stuffed into one single manifestation of pure negativity. “Ah, I knew you wouldn’t stay where we could control you. It’s time to finally get rid of you, once and for all!” Don’t think we couldn’t kill you, Lyra. We don’t need you to let this body be alive. We don’t need you in this mind. You are just a parasite, just like all the changelings we already killed. “At least I die fighting, trying to do the right thing! Bring it on!” My human me and my emotions charged at me and we started fighting. Inside our mind we weren’t able to use spells, so it all went down to punches and hooves onto noses. Of course I hadn’t a chance against two enemies who already had perfected their skills and I soon lied on the black ground, bleeding out of my nose and mouth. “It’s over, Lyra. Time to let say goodbye.” They were just about to take a swing for the deadly punch, but it never came. I suddenly shined in a bright light and felt how I got stronger and stronger, I even was able to stand up again. I looked to my left and saw a creature, made out of pure light. I knew instantly what it was: The opposite of the shadow manifestation, it was the incarnation of positive emotions; hope, love, honesty and generosity, even more positivity than the Elements of Harmony. “Let’s make this an even fight. It’s time to leave all the hate behind and start a new life, as a pony in Equestria, not as a human in a world it doesn’t fit in.” This isn’t possible! How can you still believe in emotions like these when you experienced the power I granted you? “Hate will never be more powerful than love. We will prevail and end this!” With my new ally by my side I finally believed that we could really win this fight. We just had to be fast enough to end this madness before the Elements were too exhausted to maintain their spell. And we were fast. The light creature encased his dark double while I took care of my human part. We both had to be careful as there were explosions every time our emotions collided. It took a few minutes and a lot of loud bangs and kicks in several faces, but we finally managed to take them down. Coughing they lied on the ground with me and the light creature standing above them. “You have caused to much suffer to just lock you away. This will be the last time I kill somebody, and it will be the first time it will really free me.” With these words I crushed them under my hooves. Right after the deaths of my human part and my negative emotions I felt how I finally got control over my body again. Still in the elemental beam I grabbed the Alicorn Amulet and ripped it off my neck, throwing it from me so Twilight could see it. A second later the spell ended and I fell on the ground. I just lied there, waiting for anything to happen, actually waiting for Twilight to kill me, but suddenly I heard Princess Celestias voice. The crystal prisons must have been destroyed the second I eradicated the darkness from my mind. “Enough, Twilight. This isn’t the Lyra anymore you started fighting with. It seems she really managed to defeat her own mind.” “Princess! I’m so sorry for what happened… I just lost control and was overwhelmed by my emotions! I trusted them and my human part… but they just used me to get stronger. I should never let them control me like they did.” I cast down my eyes and began to cry. I knew what I had done, all the suffer and death I brought to Equestria. “I’d understand if you want me to finally leave. I’ll go back to my world, so nopony will get harmed by me anymore.” “No, Lyra. It’s true, you caused a lot of chaos the past time, but that wasn’t really you. The real you is the one who ended this. I’m proud at you. You did something I didn’t even think was actually possible! You managed to win against your own mind, you defeated yourself to save us all. A lot of courage is needed to admit your mistakes, but it needs a real hero to face your actions and do anything to make amends. I would be happy to see you in Equestria’s future. You are somepony to look up. Just like my sister you may have caused pain, but you finally are rehabilitated and ready to do good.” I looked up into Celestias light magenta eyes and sniffed. She really wanted me to stay, I hadn’t expected that. I would be an idiot to say no now. “I can’t thank you enough, Princess. I promise I’ll do whatever I can to rebuilt the castle and help you with whatever you need to do. I promise to pay back my fault, every little bad I caused to Equestria. That’s the least thing I can do.” Celestia smiled at me and gave me a hoof to stand up. Meanwhile Twilight had taken the Alicorn Amulet and brought it to the Princess now. “Princess Celestia, this artifact has caused enough damage. It’s time to finally get rid of it.” “Yes, you are right, Twilight. Bring it over to my room, we will take care of this later. First, it’s time to clean up the mess here.” Without a word more she started rearranging the castle again and soon it had back its old glory. EpilogueIt’s over now, finally. I caused so much damage, I took so many lives… and still Celestia won’t punish me. I guess she is right, it wasn’t me who did all these cruel things, it was the human me and its negative emotions that controlled me and finally overwhelmed me to take control over my body. I hope I really got rid of all this now. Being human isn’t bad, as long as you’re human in a human world. In Equestria, humans can cause too much damage. I’m glad the portal is destroyed so nobody will ever again come here to maybe finish what I began. Somehow it’s funny, isn’t it? All this started just because I wanted to get a job as a harpist. At least I reached one goal I sat me that day: I really changed my life, even more than I could ever have imagined. Now that I’m a real citizen of Equestria, maybe it’s time to get finally a private life. A job, a house, a partner… through I won’t ever forget Bon Bon. How could I? without her I would never have been able to be where I am now. I never had killed Sunset and I never had gotten rid of the darkness in my mind. I know, deep inside me, she’ll always be alive. Not just as a memory, but as a part of me. Somehow she took in the place my human part left behind. She will always be with me.
The Fight InsideMy task is fulfilled. Sunset Shimmer is no more. But what’s going to happen now? I banished myself, far away from any other living creature. No, Princess Celestia banished you. Banished us. How can you just sit here while she probably earns all the glory for defeating Sunset? WE are the one who stopped her and Chrysalis. We have enough power to take whatever we want, but look at us! Just sitting around in this dark cave, waiting for death. This isn’t the life I wanted for us. This isn’t the life you wanted. I don’t know what I want anymore. Since Bons’ death, I only lived for vengeance, and now that we have our revenge… what am I supposed to do? Are you kidding me? We can do anything! We still have the amulet, and you know how powerful we can get if you let our hate take control. I don’t want to let this happen again. Though punishing Sunset was the right thing, and killing her felt right… the way I killed her was terrible. It was more than usual murder. Besides, murder is never usual, it’s cruel. But we… dishorned Sunset. I ripped half her head off, with my bare hooves! And we both remember the satisfaction we had while we did it. That wasn’t me, and you know it. All the emotions, all the hate just overwhelmed me. I mustn’t let this happen again! We have to destroy this amulet, Nopony should have such power. No, Lyra, we won’t. We won’t throw away the last thing we have! The last thing that grants us power, more than even Celestia could ever imagine! It was weird. I felt the hate rising inside me again, but this time it was focused on myself. I hated myself for the way I ended Sunset’s life. The action as it was justified, though Celestia would never understand that. But I knew I had to get rid of the Alicorn Amulet. Twilight was right, it corrupts me. And I have to get my anger under control before I do something really stupid. You will never escape me. I’m a part of you, even more than this pathetic human half. Hate leads to power, you know that. And combined with the powers of the amulet, we’re unstoppable! How could you even think about destroying it! I was going crazy slowly. Bad enough when I had to deal with my human part in my mind, now it feels like I’m a minority in it. My hate and my human half have turned against me, how could I get this to work? I was no longer in charge of my own mind. All the whispers in my brain, how long could I take this? At least I’m still the one who controls my body, but for how long? I will destroy this cursed artifact. And you won’t stop me! I started to cast the spell that hopefully would end this madness, but I suddenly felt how my magic yielded. You are strong, Lyra, but don’t forget that your magic comes from inside. You won’t use it if not every part of you wants to. And I will never give up such power! I cried in desperate, feeling like a little child that can’t do what it wants because its parents won’t let it. Actually, it was just like that, just that my parents were my hate and my human half. I can’t win this fight. I have to get back to Canterlot. Celestia will help me… Don’t be silly, Lyra. Nothing will help you here. You’re lost. The earlier you admit this fact, the earlier you’ll be able to get over it and finally accept the power you have and take the opportunities it offers you. You can’t just sit here, waiting for death. As long as I’m here with you, it won’t come. You have to do something. Remember, there are still changelings out there, we could at least have some fun again and hunt them down. Hunting and killing isn’t fun. It was necessary, but I didn’t enjoy it. Don’t lie to yourself. You loved killing those disgusting insects, and so did I. Now get out there and do it! I felt how my hate liked that idea, and slowly I stood up and walked to the outside of the cave I rested the last few days. I didn’t try to stop myself, knowing that it would be vainly. Seems that I finally lost control of my body, too. My weak pony half holed up in the darkest corners of my mind. It’s over… I’m cursed to live as a beast, and I can’t do anything against it. It’s my magic that kills, my ears that hear all the crying, my eyes that delight in the suffer and pain of others, but it’s not me who does all this. I never wanted all this. I never wanted to turn into a monster… I heard myself laughing as I found the first changeling and crushed it like a sheet of paper. Close your eyes, don’t listen to it. If I can’t see or hear it, it doesn’t happen, right? See no evil, do no evil… My own mind had managed to break me. Rumors spread like wildfire, especially those about a wicked mare, killing everything it finds. It wasn’t me, but actually it was. I was weak, broken and enslaved by my own emotions. They used my body and I couldn’t do anything against it. Every time something died in my magical grip I wanted to cry, make this all stop, but instead I could hear myself laugh. Since I left the cave I didn’t took off the necklace, and I felt how its impacts began to be permanent. My claws and the cursed yellow eyes won’t fade, even when I’m not hunting anypony, and I didn’t walk on all four legs for days. My human part felt the changes caused by the amulet too, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about what happens to others, as long as we don’t lose any power. Is that human? Just looking at ones own profit, no matter what it causes to others? I guess so. Since I was in Equestria I didn’t felt any negative emotions like greed or envy. Even the hate hadn’t had its origin in me, but in my human half, I know that now. It nested in my mind, and so it was even able to affect me in the time I was parted from my human side. I feel guilty, every time I think back to the happenings since Bon’s death. I know I couldn’t stop it, stop me, but still I know it’s my fault. Because of my hate, I brought so much sorrow to Equestria, even though I ‘just’ killed changelings and Sunset. Sunset was evil, she was insane, that’s a fact. But what about all the changelings I killed? I’m sure, not everyone if them is bad. There are some who want to do bad things, but not all of them. In this point, they’re just like us humans. I know, there are changelings out there who have a family, who love each other, and who’d never harm anypony. In the last moment, just before ones life ends, you can see who they really are. I saw so many good changelings… and I killed every single one of them. I have to stop this somehow... But it’s not going to happen easy going. How could I win against myself if I’m not even in charge of my magic and my body? Author's Note As there are actually three Lyra's having debates in one mind, I used different colors to make it easier to distinguish them: Cyan = Pony-Lyra, Blue = Human-Lyra and Red = Lyra's hate
Banished from the OutsideIt was hopeless. By that time, I wasn’t able to stop this madness. So they say if you can’t beat them, join them. I need to make the best of it. And I did. Though it still felt wrong to slay the changelings, I somehow had the feeling that it was for a better cause. I seemed to get back into the round of me, my hate and my human side. The more changelings we killed, the more they trusted me. Maybe I had a little chance to finally get an opportunity to end this? It’s not easy to lie to yourself. I had to really enjoy killing, not just act like I do. My other parts could feel what I felt, if I liked what we did, or if I didn’t. But how could I be sure to get myself to like all the killing and then end it? Would I even want to end it, once I took pleasure for it? Probably not, but what else could I do? All these thoughts went through my mind, and of course I wasn’t the only one who heard them. Lyra, don’t try to fool us. You know, if you stand in our way, we’ll just end this right here. You’re just still with us, because we allow it. There is no escape. Enough! I’m going to stop these actions right now, before she deals some serious damage. You can’t stop us, silly Lyra. Suddenly my vision blacked out. A few seconds later I found myself in a dark, round room with black walls, just lightened by… actually nothing. It wasn’t completely dark, but I couldn’t spot the source of the light, there wasn’t a lamp or anything like this. Though I never had been here before, I knew immediately where I was. I was in the deep of my own mind, banished from everything that could make me interact with anything around me. I was excluded from my senses, forced to be the little being I was, alone in the darkness of my mind. There was no way out of the room, no doors, no windows, just these smooth, black walls. Meanwhile, my human half took control over my body, still under the command of the hate I let flow through me once to kill Sunset. Now that I wasn’t a problem for them anymore, they began to forge plans to get the life they ‘deserved’. “We have to go to Canterlot. It’s wrong that Celestia banished us, and we’ll show her what we do with those who treat us the way she did.” Yes, we will, but first you have to learn to control this body. It’s a shame we had to lock up this pathetic pony, after all she’s the one who knows how to do it, but you’ll learn. It all went quick. Controlling my pony body wasn’t too hard to master, after all we still walked on two legs, just like a human, and of course my other half remembered how to do this. I don’t know how long it took them to get back to Canterlot, I lost every sense for time while I was in my prison. But I could hear every word they spoke. At least, my human part spoke… my hate was just a whisper inside my head, a quite whisper and still it felt like it yelled at me. Every word felt like a blade that cut through my brain. This time we won’t run away. We will take what we deserve! It’s time to let Equestria know who is the one that saved it from Sunset, and who is the right one to sit on this throne. I felt that my emotions intensified. It wasn’t just my hate anymore that whispered inside my head. All the negative feelings were combined to something I wasn’t able to describe. Hate, fear, envy, vanity, anger… they all fused to one bigger thing, it was almost like my body became a manifestation of those emotions. At the same time I could even feel in my prison how we became stronger and stronger. I don’t know where this power came from, but as I benefited from it, too, I was grateful for it. Maybe it could offer an opportunity for me to escape from this place? Since I was here, I noticed that I finally seemed to be the only one who could hear my thoughts, that was another advantage. I slowly felt hope rising in me, but still I had no chance to break these walls down, so I still was caught inside my mind. And who knows what will happen once I escaped from here? Will I be in the real world again? Or will I still be inside my mind? No matter what, I had to find it out. Even though I still didn’t know how… “Oh, Princess Celestia! Guess who has returned? I’m here to finally take what I deserve for helping you with this little problem, Sunset Shimmer. You banished me after I saved your entire kingdom! I may not be the most honorable person, but I’m sure that your actions weren’t it either. Any idea how you could… reward me?” “I knew you wouldn’t stay away, Lyra. Don’t think I’m not grateful for your help, but the way you helped us was just not right. In Equestria we won’t execute anypony, no matter what he or she did. And you didn’t just kill Sunset, you tortured her, you let her suffer, I’m not even able to imagine the pain she must have felt.” “I know, and I loved it. It was nothing but fair! You know what she did to me, what she did to Bon Bon, and what she was going to do with every living creature in Equestria. Deep inside, you know it was right, and I’m sure you wanted to do similar things to her. I enjoyed every single moment when I killed her, and I enjoyed every time I killed one of these pathetic changelings. And I’m going to enjoy taking what I deserve. Give it to me, or let me take it by myself. You decide what will happen.” “So what do you want? You have power, more than anypony else. You have the Alicorn Amulet, and you have your revenge on Sunset. What else could you want?” “I want more! More power, physical power, magical power and political power. I want you to make me join your ranks, ruling over my own kingdom, full of creatures just like me. You know what I’m talking about. I want humans in Equestria! Humans who aren’t forced to live in these ridiculous pony bodies, real humans, just like me! Even though I’m no longer able to get my real appearance back because of this amulet, I’m still a human, and as a human I have desires a pony could never understand.” “No. I won’t let you take more of these cruel creatures to Equestria! The humans have their own world to live in, and it’s not this one. I know about the happenings in your world, and it’s nothing but suffer, torture, poverty and war. You may have destroyed your own world, but you won’t do this to Equestria.” “I think you don’t have to decide this, princess. Humans are stronger than ponies could ever be. It’s true, we may have caused some problems on earth, but what could stop us from moving on to the next world and make it our subject? It’s just like… mining. If one source is empty, we move on to the next one. If this one is empty, too, we take the third. Every world has its expiration date, and earth’s is almost reached. How can you deny me wish to save my species and give it a place to live? A place to raise our children, increase our knowledge and enjoy our lives?” “And a place to conquer and enslave every other living being in it. One last time Lyra: No. It’s too late anyway, right after you left the castle we destroyed the portal. Nobody will ever come to Equestria, and nopony will get into your cursed world. And not even you have the power to create a new portal.” “You underestimate me, Celestia. But I see you won’t give me what I want voluntarily. I’ll let you live, so you can see what real power means. So you can see what I am able to do!” It’s time to take control over this kingdom, and soon we will be the one who is called Queen of Equestria! We don’t need a Princess of the Day, nor a Princess of the Night, and for sure not a Princess of Friendship. Now bring this to an end! Lyra attacked Celestia, and suddenly the room was full of ponies. An entire army of guards appeared to defend their Princess, and Luna and her night guards joined the fight, too. The room was filled with deadly bolts, most of them focused on Lyra, but she didn’t feel a single impact. The Alicorn Amulet granted her enough power to instantly heal any injuries she incurred. It was a fight she knew from the beginning she couldn’t lose. After a few moments, not a single guard was still alive. They all were lying around the two princesses and Lyra who were still fighting. Even though Lyras magic was more powerful than the princesses’, they were fast enough to dodge almost every spell or counter them, throwing them back at Lyra who just absorbed them without getting harmed. “Enough! I’m starting to get bored of you. You know you have no chance against me, so why do you even try and fight me?” “Because we won’t let you plunge Equestria into the abyss without trying to save it. If we die, we die in honor, trying to defend our world!” Luna growled. “Plunge Equestria into the abyss? Oh no, princess, I never had something like that in mind. With me, Equestria will finally be the home of creatures that are worth living in it! Humans, the only race existing that is strong enough to control an entire planet! We don’t have any natural enemies. We survived anything that ever occurred on earth! We survived ice ages, two world wars, nukes and nuclear explosions in power stations, built by ourselves. Nothing can stop us. And you will learn that first hand!” Filled with the power granted by her human emotions, Lyra unleashed an enormous spell that knocked Celestia and Luna out instantly. She grinned. Time to clean up and rearrange this castle a bit…
Finish them!I didn’t know what was going on, what the rest of my mind and my body were doing, but I felt some vibrations even inside my prison. Whatever happened out there, I was sure it wasn’t good. I felt how my emotions went euphoric… that couldn’t be a good sign. So Lyra, we finally arrived in Canterlot. It’s a shame Celestia wasn’t happy to see us again, and she didn’t want us to give what we demand! But anyway, we are in charge now. You see, nothing can stop us! How could you even think about defeating us? You are weak, and you will always be! “I may be weak, but at least I’m not a psycho like you are. You aren’t a part of me, neither of you. You infested my body with all the negative powers a human can feel, but I’m no longer human!” It’s true, you aren’t human. You are less, you’re a pony, one of the creatures we will subjugate once we rebuilt the portal. You’ll see, Lyra, thanks to us, there will be a new world for humans, a world that isn’t corrupted like earth! Don’t you see what this means to us, and to you as well? To your entire species? “I’m glad you imprisoned me here, I don’t want to see what’s going on out there… I don’t want to see what you are doing with me!” Now excuse me, I have a world to invade… After Lyra defeated Luna and Celestia, she cleared the whole castle. After about two hours, she was the last remaining living being in it, except the two princesses she forced into some crystal prisons. They were conscious, with their eyes open, Lyra wanted them to see the damage she caused and the one she was going to cause. She placed them like statues in the throne hall, one on each side of the throne she had placed in the middle of the pedestal. It wasn’t an ordinary throne anymore, she used her magic to form it, with ornate human figurines in heroic poses on the top and subservient ponies underneath them. The figures were made out of gold, the rest of the throne was colored in the familiar red and black. Pleased with her work, Lyra sat down on the throne in human matters, idly playing with Celestia’s crown in her claws. It’s time to open the portal. We mustn’t waste any time! Calm down, we’ve got plenty of time. Who could possibly stop us? The only ones that have enough power to bug us are the Elements of Harmony, but even they won’t be able to stem us. I look forward to them to finally come, that will be the last time we can have an actual fight! Sure there are still Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, but honestly, they aren’t even as powerful as Queen Chrysalis, and she was just a sidekick. Let’s just wait for the elements to come. After we crushed them, the portal will be opened. And once this is done, nothing can stop us! You may be right this time. They’re probably on their way already, so we should get sure to provide them an adequate welcome, shouldn’t we? The entire castle shook as Lyra used her magic again to transform every banner in the castle, each of the artful windows and anything else inside the masonry. Soon the castle looked like a mirror of her sick mind, the banners had now the Alicorn Amulet on them, all the statues showed humans and the bright light of the chandeliers was replaced with a dim light of cursed, flameless lanterns that threw a red glimmer on the floors. The windows, formerly showing historic happenings in Equestria like the defeating of Nightmare Moon by the Elements of Harmony, were now signs of the cruelty of humans, showing heroic pictures of soldiers fighting each others, the two nukes ‘Little Boy‘ and ‘Fat Man‘, the fist of the allies crushing a swastika, but also evidences of their technological superiority like the moon-landing, submarines in the deep of the black sea, airplanes starting from an aircraft carrier in the middle of an ocean and jets flying at supersonic speed. Lyra tore out the door that once protected the necklaces of the elements. This was going to be the place the portal would be installed, once she was sure that nopony would disturb her. In the human world, she was never a popular girl. No friends, bad marks and not even loved by her family. But she wanted to bring humans to Equestria, so she finally would get the recognition she deserved. She wouldn’t back down ever again, now it was her turn to bug on others and to give commands. It felt good, having this much power. Now there was just one more thing to do: Waiting for the elements to arrive. Lyra was excited like she was never before. Fighting Luna and Celestia was fun, but they clearly hadn’t had a chance. But fighting the elements, six enemies at once, would finally be a little challenge for Lyra, though she knew she couldn’t lose. The thought of the upcoming fight was enough to make her shaky. Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and of course Princess Twilight Sparkle, combined against one single pony, and they will be crushed by a power beyond their imagination. Lyra knew that they were strong, after all they managed to defeat Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra, but these were all just little bugs compared to her. She sat down again in her throne and waited, scanning the castle with her magic and looking for the Elements to finally show up. Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack sat in Twilights balloon which was pulled by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, Twilight herself was flying behind it and creating some strong blasts to push the balloon with incredibly speed towards Canterlot. All of them were wearing their necklaces with the element stones in them. Except Pinkie they all had the same serious face expression. “I can’t believe she really did this. I knew she was corrupted by the amulet, but I never thought she would do something like this! We should have stopped her when we had the chance to!” “It’s not your fault, Twilight. You tried stopping her, remember? The only one who is to blame for her actions is Lyra herself. And we will call her to account!” “Maybe you’re right, AJ. I’m sorry for what we have to do, but it has to be done before even more ponies get harmed. Or whatever she is going to do…” Lyra could feel them even before they landed the balloon next to the castle. The magic of the elements was something completely different than her own magic or the ones used by Luna and Celestia. It was the purest, uncorrupted magic she had ever seen, almost the complete opposite of her own cursed magic, but she didn’t care. The end justifies the means, so if she needed to use cursed and corrupting magic to gain enough power to reach her targets, that’s what she’d do. And everypony judging her for this will be punished in a way that will warn everypony to never doubt her strength or intentions again. The Elements were perfect to make an example for this. Suddenly, the door to the throne hall was kicked open and the elements dashed inside. Lyra was still sitting on her throne, rattling her claws on the armrest and grinning evilly. “I’m so glad you finally made it! I already awaited your arrival here.” She stood up on two legs, what granted her five surprised gazes. “You know, your pathetic princesses,” she pointed on Luna and Celestia, still in their crystal prisons, “They were so easily to defeat. I had some fun with them, but still it’s boring if you know you can’t lose. Of course I know you won’t be able to harm me, too, but I’m sure that I’ll have much more fun with you six! So many strong enemies at once… you are the last ponies between me and reaching my target.” “You won’t get away with this Lyra. You may have won against Celestia and Luna, but you would be the first to resist the power of the Elements of Harmony! We will end this madness right here, right now! I never thought you would turn into something like this… but apparently I was mistaking.” “Silly little Twilight. I’m not the weak Lyra you used to know. This pathetic pony mind isn’t in charge anymore! I am a human, and I will always be. And the only things that are going to be ended here are your lives! Maybe I’ll let you live like the other princesses, I actually like collecting statues like these, but your friends… well. You are going to die now!” Without any more word she rushed onto them and threw herself into battle. I felt how my prison shook a bit, and suddenly I was able to hear what was happening on the outside. I don’t want to hide this from you, Lyra. Look, and see how the last hope for your Equestria will die! Once the Elements are gone there will be nothing left to believe in! I was shocked, but I knew I had to do something, whatever it was. The black walls became transparent on one side, so I could now see what was going on, too. I saw how the Elements fought against my body, but I knew they wouldn’t have a chance to subdue it. I saw how Rarity and Twilight threw spells at ‘me’, Applejack trying to kick me in my legs to bring me down, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flying around and throwing things at me and in the back corner I spotted Pinkie Pie with a huge, pink cannon, rapidly shooting everything she could grab and stuff into the barrel. In return I saw bunches of red and black spells flying through the room at the six ponies and my claws slitting through every face that got near them. My human part yelled in euphoria, not a spot of fear in her voice or emotions, just the pure satisfaction of being in battle again. She played with them, just waiting until she got bored to finish this. And I knew that wouldn’t take long. I had to finally do something! “I must admit, you’re tougher than I thought. Still no threat to me, but tough, really. Too bad I have to end this now. I have more important things to do, things you would never understand.” “We don’t know what you are about to do, but you won’t be able to do it!” Applejack ignored the deep cuts in her face and took an attack position again. “It’s time to reveal the real power of the Elements of Harmony. Come here, girls!” The six ponies grouped up with Twilight in the middle. She began casting a spell to connect the elements with one another and after she finished a beam of six different colors fired at Lyra, covering her in light and lifting her from the bottom. “Your weak magic won’t stop me! You can’t hold this spell forever, and once you let it down, I will still be strong enough to destroy you!” After the element spell hit my body, I saw that the concentration of my emotions went to it to defend the body from getting damage and my prison became weaker and weaker. Thanks to the power I was able to gain from the amulet I managed to break through the black walls, but instead of being back in my body I still was captured inside my mind. It looked like a long corridor leading to a big door far away. I ran towards it and reached it after a few seconds, though it felt like an eternity to get there. I dashed inside and stood in a big room, actually looking exactly like the throne hall my body was fighting in. On the pedestal were two thrones, one with my human part sitting on it, and one with a whirl of black and red smoke, shaped like a human. This must’ve been my emotions, stuffed into one single manifestation of pure negativity. “Ah, I knew you wouldn’t stay where we could control you. It’s time to finally get rid of you, once and for all!” Don’t think we couldn’t kill you, Lyra. We don’t need you to let this body be alive. We don’t need you in this mind. You are just a parasite, just like all the changelings we already killed. “At least I die fighting, trying to do the right thing! Bring it on!” My human me and my emotions charged at me and we started fighting. Inside our mind we weren’t able to use spells, so it all went down to punches and hooves onto noses. Of course I hadn’t a chance against two enemies who already had perfected their skills and I soon lied on the black ground, bleeding out of my nose and mouth. “It’s over, Lyra. Time to let say goodbye.” They were just about to take a swing for the deadly punch, but it never came. I suddenly shined in a bright light and felt how I got stronger and stronger, I even was able to stand up again. I looked to my left and saw a creature, made out of pure light. I knew instantly what it was: The opposite of the shadow manifestation, it was the incarnation of positive emotions; hope, love, honesty and generosity, even more positivity than the Elements of Harmony. “Let’s make this an even fight. It’s time to leave all the hate behind and start a new life, as a pony in Equestria, not as a human in a world it doesn’t fit in.” This isn’t possible! How can you still believe in emotions like these when you experienced the power I granted you? “Hate will never be more powerful than love. We will prevail and end this!” With my new ally by my side I finally believed that we could really win this fight. We just had to be fast enough to end this madness before the Elements were too exhausted to maintain their spell. And we were fast. The light creature encased his dark double while I took care of my human part. We both had to be careful as there were explosions every time our emotions collided. It took a few minutes and a lot of loud bangs and kicks in several faces, but we finally managed to take them down. Coughing they lied on the ground with me and the light creature standing above them. “You have caused to much suffer to just lock you away. This will be the last time I kill somebody, and it will be the first time it will really free me.” With these words I crushed them under my hooves. Right after the deaths of my human part and my negative emotions I felt how I finally got control over my body again. Still in the elemental beam I grabbed the Alicorn Amulet and ripped it off my neck, throwing it from me so Twilight could see it. A second later the spell ended and I fell on the ground. I just lied there, waiting for anything to happen, actually waiting for Twilight to kill me, but suddenly I heard Princess Celestias voice. The crystal prisons must have been destroyed the second I eradicated the darkness from my mind. “Enough, Twilight. This isn’t the Lyra anymore you started fighting with. It seems she really managed to defeat her own mind.” “Princess! I’m so sorry for what happened… I just lost control and was overwhelmed by my emotions! I trusted them and my human part… but they just used me to get stronger. I should never let them control me like they did.” I cast down my eyes and began to cry. I knew what I had done, all the suffer and death I brought to Equestria. “I’d understand if you want me to finally leave. I’ll go back to my world, so nopony will get harmed by me anymore.” “No, Lyra. It’s true, you caused a lot of chaos the past time, but that wasn’t really you. The real you is the one who ended this. I’m proud at you. You did something I didn’t even think was actually possible! You managed to win against your own mind, you defeated yourself to save us all. A lot of courage is needed to admit your mistakes, but it needs a real hero to face your actions and do anything to make amends. I would be happy to see you in Equestria’s future. You are somepony to look up. Just like my sister you may have caused pain, but you finally are rehabilitated and ready to do good.” I looked up into Celestias light magenta eyes and sniffed. She really wanted me to stay, I hadn’t expected that. I would be an idiot to say no now. “I can’t thank you enough, Princess. I promise I’ll do whatever I can to rebuilt the castle and help you with whatever you need to do. I promise to pay back my fault, every little bad I caused to Equestria. That’s the least thing I can do.” Celestia smiled at me and gave me a hoof to stand up. Meanwhile Twilight had taken the Alicorn Amulet and brought it to the Princess now. “Princess Celestia, this artifact has caused enough damage. It’s time to finally get rid of it.” “Yes, you are right, Twilight. Bring it over to my room, we will take care of this later. First, it’s time to clean up the mess here.” Without a word more she started rearranging the castle again and soon it had back its old glory.
EpilogueIt’s over now, finally. I caused so much damage, I took so many lives… and still Celestia won’t punish me. I guess she is right, it wasn’t me who did all these cruel things, it was the human me and its negative emotions that controlled me and finally overwhelmed me to take control over my body. I hope I really got rid of all this now. Being human isn’t bad, as long as you’re human in a human world. In Equestria, humans can cause too much damage. I’m glad the portal is destroyed so nobody will ever again come here to maybe finish what I began. Somehow it’s funny, isn’t it? All this started just because I wanted to get a job as a harpist. At least I reached one goal I sat me that day: I really changed my life, even more than I could ever have imagined. Now that I’m a real citizen of Equestria, maybe it’s time to get finally a private life. A job, a house, a partner… through I won’t ever forget Bon Bon. How could I? without her I would never have been able to be where I am now. I never had killed Sunset and I never had gotten rid of the darkness in my mind. I know, deep inside me, she’ll always be alive. Not just as a memory, but as a part of me. Somehow she took in the place my human part left behind. She will always be with me.
