Darkness Before Dawn

"Princess Celestia, why is the sun up so soon?"

Twilight and her friends walked out onto the balcony where Celestia and Luna raised and lowered their respective heavenly bodies, having just escaped their brief encounter with Tirek in Astra moments earlier, when Twilight noticed the unusually cold, silver light of the sun over the western horizon.

Locked into permanent twilight with the low-hanging full moon to the east, the sun drenched the earth and sky in hues of red, violet and blue, spilling onto the formerly grey clouds carried aloft by the intensifying winds of the encroaching storm.

Above the bewildered ponies, Galloway and her surrounding stars shed their warm, welcoming glow to impose a relentless glare upon the remaining dark patches of sky, coating all they touched in a celestial veil of ice.

"I'm afraid this not of my doing, Twilight," Celestia said.

"Whatever is affecting Atlantis now is spreading toward Equestria," Luna added. "I fear we have little... time... "

All eyes turned toward Pinkie's psychic tremors.

"That can't be a good sign," Rainbow groaned.

"Pinkie, what is it?" Twilight begged.

"I don't know, Twilight," Pinkie said, her voice bouncing as hard as her entire body, "but whatever it is, it's going to be a really, really, really, really, really big doozy!"

On cue, Spike spat out a scroll against her face, miraculously bringing a dead stop to the Pinkiequake.

Dread darkened upon the mysterious scroll tied with a ribbon of dark purple, sealed in silver-colored wax bearing a four-pointed star rising off to the right of a waning crescent moon dreamcatcher.

"The royal seal of Princess Minerva," Luna said.

"That's the seal on the note about my speed suit!" Rainbow gasped.

Twilight gently picked up the scroll with her magic, breaking the seal and slipping off the ribbon to reveal the message sent.

"'The Sword falls upon Atlantis,'" she read aloud. "That's all there is."

Sheer terror fell upon Celestia's face, her body drained of color and shimmer.

"Princess, are ya alright?" Applejack asked. "You look paler than usual."

One by one, sirens suddenly wailed down from Cloudsdale, their fear-inducing notes fusing into a harsh, continuous, pulsing drone carried by the four winds generated from the few windmills still functional after the skyquake days ago.

"What is going on here!" Rainbow yelled. "Is this what the Atlantean Royal Guard were doing while 'rebuilding' Cloudsdale?"

"My little ponies," Celestia hesitated, "the letter Princess Minerva sent refers to the Sword of Atlantis. It is a weapon of last resort, built into the framework of The Citadel. The only way its destructive power can be realized is through incredible dark magic, the type of dark magic Tirek now possesses."

"That still doesn't explain the sirens!" Rainbow reiterated, holding a frightened Fluttershy close to her.

"Did anypony notice the violet lights of The Citadel?" Luna asked. "The source of the illumination is liquid Etherium, the same found in your speed suit, Rainbow Dash."

"You mean The Citadel is a bomb?! I knew that place was Creepytown, but what the hay, Atlantis?!"

"Just how powerful is the Sword of Atlantis?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know, Twilight," Celestia lamented, "but based on what happened in the past whenever Etherium interacted with magic, I'm afraid those sirens are for all of Equestria."

"Then we must prepare ourselves for Tirek's impending arrival," Luna solemnly vowed, her icy gaze directed toward the creeping red horizon.

* * * * * * * * *

Firestorm led the princesses and the last of her soldiers urgently across the gantry into the bridge of the Aria, making up for lost time when Minerva penned, sealed, and transmitted her letter to Canterlot. The six fireflies hovered beneath the massive ark in a protective formation, with Iris in lead position.

"Status?" Firestorm barked.

"All vaults and necessary cargo have been secured, the alert code has been transmitted to all world stations, and all citizens minus those sent to Argentum Tor are present, ma'am," an alicorn stallion reported.

"Release Aria from her earthly ties!" she ordered.

The Aria decoupled from her gantry and support structures, floating back up to her original position after bobbing down a few feet.

"May the world forgive us for what we are about to commit," Pandora quietly proclaimed upon placing her right hoof in an indentation keyed to her magical signature on a triangular control console facing toward the front of the bridge. Minerva and Firestorm followed suit with their hooves placed in similar keyed indentations opposite each other.

"Signatures recognized," Aria's mare-voiced AI spoke. "Awaiting Sword of Atlantis activation codes."

"Aria, this is Princess Pandora, Regina primus Atlantica. Activation Sequence One, Code: 11A."

Tense silence filled the bridge, eyes focused upon the three alicorns entering into the binding sacrificial pact.

"Aria, this is General Firestorm, Imperator exercitus Atlantica. Activation Sequence Two, Code: 11A2B."

The trio shared the same look of duty and dread among each other, knowing the fate of all life was now in the hoof of one final voice.

"Aria... this is Princess Minerva, Regina secundus Atlantica. Activation Sequence Three, Code: 1B2B3."

"Activation sequence completed and engaged," Aria confirmed. "Awaiting final instruction and arming code."

Pandora scanned the bridge, locking eyes upon the Royal Standard of Atlantica.

"Three millennia... ," she whispered in lament.

With a heavy heart, she gave the last command.

"Aria, begin final sequence upon detection of magical signature... detonate upon first strike. Arming Sequence Zero, Code: 616-Apsinthium-4."

"Sword of Atlantis is armed," proclaimed Aria.

"Ex vitam ad mortem, sic transit gloria mundi," Minerva softly lamented as a veil of blue magic formed over the ark and her defenders.

"Fiat voluntas nostra in honorem et memoriam Aeterni," Pandora replied, bowing for the final time with everypony on the bridge before the royal standard now fading from view as the Aria's windows shifted from transparent to opaque.

* * * * * * * * *

Below Argentum Tor, a pair of black obelisks traced in blue light rose from the white sand to meet the highest spire of The Citadel, identical pairings to the south, east and west completing the center section of the superstructure. Four more pairs traced in violet covered the ordinal directions to complete the outer circuit, the 60 souls gathered on the hill raptured by the raw display of power beginning to take hold.

Energy from each section of the dark ring arced back and forth, ascending to the top as an inner ring of eight single obsidian structures lined in red penetrated the bloodied sky above Atlantis. The violent display buzzed the ears of the ailing ponies in a dark orchestral movement with the swirling storm, their eyes drawn to the city's eternal veil of light fading rapidly to black.

Blue-white and violet beams jumped in pairs toward their corresponding inner obelisks, spurring the creation of a crimson ring nestled within the outer blue-violet ring. A few ponies caught the scent of burning Etherium from the wind gusts spiraling outward in all directions from the rapidly spinning rings of light, though another, more sulfuric note threatened to suffocate the entire group as they drew whatever fabric they could find to cover their muzzles.

"Wh-wh-what is that?" a frightened pegasus colt pointed toward the main spire of The Citadel.

A malevolent, eight-pointed star descended upon the heart of Atlantis, corrosive beams of light consuming every cloud they touched on the star's journey through the decaying sky. A dark spot coalescing upon its southern pole funnelled energy from the halos unto itself, unhinged, acidic laughter tormenting the ailing souls struggling to hide among the few Douglas-firs closest to the open-sky monument. The towering obelisk under the vile sun glowed violently against the cold light in empathy with its subjects.

Bright, violet coronal flares accompanied by black lightning exploded from the dark spot, opening a supermassive white hole from which a Citadel-sized Tirek slowly emerged to begin his reincarnation. The crimson sun then collapsed into an inverted rainbow through the black hole forming within the center of the pulsating fire ruby, driven through the behemoth's codifying essence already stained in Etherium and the golden light of the Pythia.

His magical signature now detected, the Sword of Atlantis' arming system drew condensed beams of violet-pink energy from the inner crimson ring through the octagonal center spire's capstone. The liquefied elemental veins glowed brighter as the energy permeated down through the entirety of The Citadel, shrouding the obsidian castle in a vibrant veil unlike any witnessed by the city-state's citizenry. At the same time, ribbons of blue, violet and red light snaked from the tops of the outer and inner spires, riding the maelstrom toward their intended prey.

One by one, the ribbons wrapped around Tirek, aggressively constricting and contorting the draconequus to their will the more he struggled to break free of his bondage. A pair of ribbons strangled him with the amulet's meteoric iron chain to better position the cursed ruby directly above the Sword of Atlantis, whereupon a stream of violet-pink light rushed forth from the center spire into the ruby, ripping out Tirek's magical energy and assimilating it back into the now-spiraling feedback loop. The Sword plunged deeper and deeper into the monster, tearing apart every fiber of his essence on its way toward delivering its climatic finishing move.

Tirek's distorted mad laughter and tortured black speech filled the rusting atmosphere over Atlantis and the Sea of Hrímfaxi, savage winds carrying scents of burning blood, Etherium, and sulfur to the ponies paralyzed by the awesome, terrifying display playing out before them. Yet, they would not give the eldritch abomination the satisfaction of silence in the final seconds before the Sword's true power was unleashed.

Kneeling beneath Argentum II's phoenix in the direction of The Citadel, the group loudly delivered their final act of defiance in the face of imminent annihilation:

"Gloria in excelsis Avalon, et in memoriam Atlantica, in nomine reginae ex lux aeterna, fiat voluntas tua in honorem mundi ante oculos de nostra hostis. In amorem et concordiam, nos intrant lux in vitam aeternam. Ave Pandora! Ave Minerva! Ave Atlantica!"

As the last words ever spoken on Atlantean soil left the mouths of their speakers, a double rainbow helix of dark and light magic exploded from the Sword of Atlantis, sinking deep into the Hope Ruby and Tirek before striking down The Citadel in a single action.

The brief silence was deafening.

An intense white flash bloomed from the base of the dark tower, expanding outward rapidly ahead of itself. Every structure and living entity became one with the light until at last, the ponies left behind on Argentum Tor were incinerated by the unholy fire of infinite suns faster than a blink of an eye. The memorial of Argentum II fell as clumps of molten palladium into the steam cloud generated by the boiling waters below.

Milliseconds passed before the blast wave roared in all directions, casting contaminated debris, dust and smoke high into the blacked-out atmosphere above. A trinity of bluish-white halos accompanied the swiftly ascending mushroom cloud, each exploding thrice prior to ejection from the earthbound star below. The destructive gale charged through all in its path with an overpressure no winged creature could ever dream of matching, vomiting the remnants of Argentum Tor, The Citadel, and Atlantis into the raging sea.

Faint blue outlines of a phoenix and six smaller birds underwing miraculously emerged from the epicenter within the stem of the cloud, arcing eastward under the hypersonic rings toward a slit of blue light opening just ahead. The flock shifted and stretched into the opening, vanishing behind a four-pointed spark.

Seconds after the sheer combined power of the Sword of Atlantis and the Hope Ruby dealt their fatal blow, the glassed island collapsed into the black watery veil of the Sea of Hrímfaxi, generating earthquakes and tsunami waves soon to be felt worldwide.

* * * * * * * * *

An eerie quiet permeated the twin cities of Las Pegasus and Applewood, the skies painted black against the small white star quickly ascending from the western horizon. No birds chirped, no hoofsteps echoing off the walls, only an ill wind singing a haunted aria through a lonely Sunset Boulevard.

Equestria's energy boundary glowed erratically against the growing celestine leviathan of light, accompanied by a cacophonic duet between the sea and the wind. Seconds passed before a single, supermassive hypersonic light halo shattered the ethereal blue wall of magic, flooding the air with a divine fire whose all-consuming embrace the cloud city had no chance to refuse. Applewood itself was thrashed upon left and right, tsunami-driven tidal bores clawing away at all that remained of Equestria's entertainment capitals.

The whitish-blue ring of death rapidly fading from view, the blackened sky shimmered with radiant aurorae of blue, violet, silver, and red. Had anypony miraculously survived the onslaught, they might have also witnessed a pale blue phoenix stretch over the desolate landscape from all directions. The survivors' awe may have then turned to panic upon hearing a distorted, tormented voice howl and roar overhead in pursuit of the ring, shrouded in bloodied clouds showering gold lightning and lethal black rain upon the scorched earth.

It would be a while before anypony dared peek their head outside the emergency shelter high in the Applewood hills, however.

* * * * * * * * *

Horns crossed before the various stained glass murals in the throne room, Celestia and Luna combined their magic to block the approaching pale ring from smashing Canterlot. Despite their fears the barrier would not withstand the remaining power of the weakened halo, the sisters stoically maintained their possible sacrifice would not be for nothing.

Twilight and her friends huddled together near the strongest wall of the Dark Magic Wing to wait out the chaos. Slight tremors of sound bounced and echoed within the room, everyone doing all they could to shut out the intensifying cacophonic wail.

In the basement of Carousel Boutique, Big Mac held his baby sister as tight as he could while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo huddled with Granny Smith nearby, frightened by the oncoming firestorm racing through the countryside. All could only hope to make it through, as hope -- and each other -- were all they had.

Deep within the Everfree Forest, Zecora looked toward the darkened sky. She sensed the dark magic driving the remaining energy through the kingdom's heart would likely tear through her chosen home, as well. Resigned to fate, Zecora retreated into her hut.

The halo tore into Equestria's heart, setting Ponyville ablaze before the blast wave scattered the ashes in all directions. Cloudsdale suffered a second, catastrophic skyquake under violent electrical storms, every structure crashing into or falling through the clouds. The Everfree's eastern edge snapped backwards, dissipating the ring's energy before it reached Zecora or the ancient castle on the other side of the mysterious forest.

The last remnant of the Sword of Atlantis shattered itself against Canterlot, destroying the magical barrier and two-thirds of the castle with its final strike. Debris fell into the garden, smashing the dragonfly still resting within the walls. Broken glass and scattered stones littered the city streets, the flames and smoke consuming all in their path.

Aurorae of red, blue, silver and purple danced in the eyes of the princesses. Rendered speechless by the sight, Celestia quietly removed her royal finery, gently placing them upon her battered throne. Twilight and her friends navigated through the shattered stained glass in time to witness Luna follow in her sister's hoofsteps.

"Princess... ?" Twilight asked.

"It is done," Celestia barely replied, her head hung in dejection as the song of flames and falling stone softly played on in the background.

Luna led her crestfallen sister and their subjects back through the trail of glass when a faint, yet familiar, song entered her ears. Celestia's own ears perked up when she heard a warm, comforting voice singing to her. All turned to find the source of the haunting melody, which was thought to have been Fluttershy until a second, disembodied voice harmonized with the pegasus.

The princesses turned to each other in disbelief, realizing the other voice was their mother's voice, and what she and Fluttershy were singing together was their favorite lullaby. Rarity then noticed a phoenix coalesce from the aurorae, jaws dropping in awe of the ethereal display.

"Is this all" -- Celestia tearfully begged the sky -- "a dream?"

Out of the corner of Pinkie's eye, a blue light flashed in the western horizon. When she pointed it out, everypony saw a large, phoenix-shaped ark with six fireflies hovering underneath.

"Mother?!" Celestia and Luna said in unison.

* * * * * * * * *

"What have we done?" Firestorm struggled to process the annihilation now in full view of all aboard the Aria.

"How many?" Minerva quietly asked her sister.

"... too many," Pandora weakly replied.

"The Sword of Atlantis was meant to decapitate Tirek, not empower him," Firestorm fumed. "The destruction before our eyes? We did that. Our sacrifice" -- her stoicism collapsing like the walls of Canterlot -- "was for nothing! Tirek ripped our sword out of his still-beating heart and flayed every last one of us alive with it --" she turned her burning eyes toward Pandora "-- in complete mockery of all you stand for as Shepherd!"

Firestorm whipped back around, shutting her eyes to avoid looking at anything or anypony. She would have shut her ears as well, were it not for a ghostly lullaby attempting to soothe her wounded heart.

"Please, leave me in silence, Princess Pandora. I can't bear to deal with you or anypony else right now."

"I'm not singing, General," Pandora said. "No one is."

On cue, Aria's AI started singing the mysterious song in a voice painfully familiar to the princesses.

"Princess Aria?" she and Minerva asked.

"It feels strange to be one with my namesake," Aria said as the lullaby continued separately. "I'm not sure I'll ever be used to this experience."

Firestorm's eyes threw open, painful rivers flowing from either point. "Is... is this... a dream?"

"I wish it were so," she replied. "Alas, something wicked this way comes."

* * * * * * * * *

"Mother? Is that really you? Please, answer me!" Celestia cried out to the celestine phoenix, tears streaming unabated down her face.

"Hello, my loves. How I've missed you so."

"Ar-are you in that unusual airship?" she asked.

"You could say that," Aria casually remarked. "I apologize for our brief reunion in Astra, but I had to ensure Tirek never sunk his claws into Avalon, the Shepherd, or her chosen champions... with good reason, it sadly appears."

"Is Tirek vanquished?" Luna wondered.

"No. He survived the attempted execution through his corruption of the Sword of Atlantis."

She sighed, dread entering into her detached spirit. "And now, Tirek has caught up with me."

The toxic scent of burning blood, Etherium, and sulfur swept over Canterlot. Overhead, boiling crimson clouds sent gold lightning and acidic black rain down upon the ruins, tormented roars drowning out the sweet lullaby.

"What is this madness?" Firestorm demanded.

"Tirek has found us all," Aria proclaimed.

A blue force field wrapped itself over Canterlot, protecting all from the evil ready to emerge from the poisoned shroud. Aria then slowly pivoted to face the darkness coalescing in the west.

"Fear not, my loves," she reassured her daughters. "I will do all I can to protect you and your champions."

The electrical storm revealed pieces of The Citadel molding itself into a dragon-shaped entity, repairing any disfigurement suffered from the catastrophic explosion moments ago.

"I... cannot... ever... die... ," a stretched, black voice hissed in Minerva's ear.

"Tirek!" she shouted at the monster before her view.

"But that's impossible!" Firestorm added.

"Your... sacrifice... was... for... naught... ," Tirek replied.

"We shall see about that," Aria proclaimed.

"Are those... pieces of The Citadel?" a shocked Rarity noticed.

"If Princess Aria feels weird being an airship, just imagine how Tirek will feel when he becomes a cyborg!" Pinkie cheerfully stated.

"A cyborg?" Twilight quietly asked, looking up at the transformed draconequus hovering ominously in front of the ark.

"Mother!" Celestia tearfully shouted, Luna, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack holding her back from harm's way.

"Annihilation... waits... no... more... ," Tirek declared, his deformed voice echoing in everypony's ear.

On cue, a dark rainbow exploded from the eight-pointed fire ruby embedded between Tirek's bluish-white and crimson eyes.

A gritty look of determination upon her mortal face, Minerva gave her rebuttal.

"Fire."

The piercing Etherium screams of the Aria and her fireflies tore the blood red sky above Canterlot apart.