Darkness Before Dawn

Beams of blue and white deflected Tirek's corrupted rainbow, connecting with their intended target. The impact shook the earth and sky at once, the scenery bathed in blinding light. Ponies above and below shielded their eyes in vain as the force fields over Canterlot and the Aria shimmered and resonated with the cascading waves of energy generated from the concussive blast of the ark's first strike.

Silence filled the air in anticipation of the hopeful outcome. As the light quickly faded, however, it dawned upon all that the Atlanteans' dazzling demonstration of power failed to deliver a killing blow to the cybernetic draconequus, let alone draw so much as a drop of blood or Etherium from his body.

"H... how-- ," Twilight tried to spit out.

"How did he survive all of that?!" Rainbow interjected.

"I got a bad feelin' it's only goin' to get a lot worse from here," Applejack flatly stated.

"That should have sent the beast to his grave!" Firestorm shouted in disbelief, slamming her right front hoof hard to the floor.

"I fear Tirek's corrupted magic merged with whatever Atlantean technology he took into his body, rendering him invulnerable to my namesake's energy attacks," Aria calmly replied.

"Speaking of energy attacks," Star Tracer interjected, "it looks like Tirek's about to unleash his next barrage!"

Casting a slight glance upon Canterlot, Tirek drew his dark magic into the embedded ruby for his decapitation strike.

"We can't have that go without a preemptive counterstrike, now can we?" Minerva proclaimed. "Unleash everything we have! Do not hold back!"

Rapidly pulling all of her power into her sole ion cannon, the Aria screeched in harmony with her fireflies to deliver their adversary's soon-to-be-tattered corpse to the gates of Tartarus. Before the beams could hit their mark, however, Tirek let slip his newfound power upon the Atlanteans with a horrific, painful, deafening roar.

"Brace for impact!" Firestorm ordered.

All aboard took cover as his dark rainbow sliced through the attack, landing a devastating blow upon the ark. Every system short-circuited from the energy wave tearing through the craft's hull. The catastrophic strike also knocked out the force field over Canterlot, much to the shock of all onboard, and of those watching helplessly below.

The barrier gone, Tirek rushed to attack Canterlot Castle, effortlessly pulling the debris field surrounding his mutilated body toward the ruin.

"If it's a fight he wants, then it's a fight he shall have," Celestia proclaimed, wiping away her last tear with a gritty determination on her soot-kissed face.

The princess threw all of her magic high into the crimson sky, wrapping the castle in a solar cocoon. He stopped short of the barrier, allowing the debris to bombard his enemies before turning his attention to the disabled ship floating above.

Determined as he was to send the Atlanteans to their fate, however, exploding flares casting his shadow upon the torn surface of the Aria caught Tirek's attention. He turned quickly to witness every piece of obsidian flung at Canterlot burn up within the protective spell, much to his displeasure.

"Woo-hoo! Go Princess Celestia!" Pinkie cheered.

"Way to show that monster who's boss, Princess!" Rainbow added.

"Don't look now, girls," Twilight warned, "but Tirek doesn't seem too happy about any of this!"

Tirek let fly another tortured scream, rushing headfirst toward Celestia. Though his flesh burned and his metal scales melted, the solar barrier shattered through the force of his will.

"Die!" he bellowed, energy flowing through the embedded fire ruby as he took dead aim at the princess.

"Only if you come with me!" Celestia countered, her horn glowing inside the golden aura of magic.

Before either could strike the other, the six fireflies launched a kamikaze attack of their own, ramming their heads into the ruby, right eye, neck, jaw, chest and belly of the behemoth. Pained howls followed Tirek's violent launch into the capital's mountain side, drowned out by the thundering avalanche wrapping his battered body in its stony embrace. A series of small explosions followed, including one occurring just behind the princesses and their closest subjects.

"Iris!" Rainbow rushed toward the fallen firefly, falling to her knees before all that remained of her avatar. "Why? Why did you and your friends have to sacrifice yourselves like that?" she sniffed, cradling the severed left wing bearing her cutie mark. "Y-you dumb r-r-robots could have done something else, anything else, to save Princess Celestia from Tirek! W-why did you... "

"The fireflies saw no other option," Celestia replied, gently wrapping a wing around the sobbing pegasus. "If saving us meant sacrificing their lives, then we can't fault them for actions that ensured another day for us, and ultimately, for everyone."

"We're not out of the woods, however," Luna said. "If what has happened thus far is any indication, our war with Tirek has only begun."

"Whatever happens, Princesses," Twilight began, "we'll all be here to fight at your and your godmothers' side," everypony agreeing with her.

"Let's just hope the Atlanteans up there can fix their airship enough to fight with us before he gets back up," Applejack said, smoke and sparks pouring from the wounded Aria.

"They gave their lives so that all may live free of darkness," Minerva said.

"Their sacrifice will not be forgotten," Pandora added.

"Star Tracer, what's our status?" Firestorm asked.

"Ma'am, structural damage is at 47 percent, all main systems are offline, we have no weapons or defense to speak of, emergency power is barely keeping us afloat, and we can forget about landing or moving, as those systems were completely destroyed by the second energy attack."

"Any injuries or-- "

"No one has died aboard thus far, General," Pandora quietly said.

"There are reports of minor injuries in Sections 2, 4, 9, 11 and 16," Star Tracer added.

"Those won't matter when Tirek wakes up," Firestorm grimly replied. "He was coming for us before Princess Celestia's solar shield stole his attention; he'll make certain we're the first to be slaughtered upon his escape."

Peering out of one of the ark's broken windows, her grey eyes locked onto the battered castle, smoke and flames ascending into the bloodied skies above Canterlot. Two columns of smoke emanated from the royal garden and what had been the throne room, presumed to be where two of the fireflies laid down their swords for the last time. The worried stares of the eight ponies gathered around one of the columns pierced her heart, all hoping for a better outcome than the one she was about to announce to everypony aboard.

With a heavy heart, Firestorm slowly turned to face the princesses.

"Your Majesties-- "

"No," Aria firmly proclaimed. "Atlantis and Equestria have sacrificed enough. No more shall be made by any of you, nor shall those made previously be for nothing."

Arcs of azure, violet, rose, mulberry, purple and white electricity emerged from the torn surface of the Aria, creeping out from midship to all directions.

"Ma'am! Power is being restored to all sections," Star Tracer urgently reported. "and it appears the ship is... repairing itself?!"

"This is where we go our separate ways," Aria replied. "All of us."

"Your Majesty!" Firestorm begged. "You're not just " -- the Aria's bridge gave way to the inferno that was Ponyville -- "going... to... what?"

Star Tracer pointed at the intense electrical storm rapidly engulfing the ark above Canterlot. "Ma'am, I think we were just evacuated from the Aria... by Princess Aria." She gently pulled Firestorm around. "We're also not alone."

A herd of several thousand ponies stood behind the duo looking upon Canterlot in bewilderment over their seamless evacuation from the ship. Firestorm sensed something amiss about this situation upon scanning the crowd, however.

"Where are Princess Pandora and Princess Minerva?"

Startling Star Tracer, Spike spat out a scroll with a blue ribbon and wax seal bearing a pair of four-pointed sparks crossed on top of each other and surrounded by eight stars.

"Spike?! I thought you were in Canterlot!"

"I was!" he replied. "I was on Twilight's back when suddenly, I was on yours -- " sighing dejectedly at what became of his second home " -- in what I presume was Ponyville."

"'General Firestorm,'" Firestorm interjected, reading from the opened mystery scroll, "'I have evacuated the princesses to be with their goddaughters and their champions in Canterlot in order to take up my sword upon my foreordained demise. May fortune shine upon us all. Yours, Princess Aria.'"

Crumpling the center of the scroll, she grimaced in disbelief. "The gods are crazy this morning -- " she looked back at the Aria " -- but crazy is all we have left if we're to survive now.

"I just hope you know what you're doing, Princess Aria," quietly addressing the now-fully possessed ship.

* * * * * * * * *

"Minerva? Pandora? How-- " Celestia tried to ask.

"Spike? Spike!" Twilight panicked. "Where did he go?!"

"I think the answers to both of your questions are in the scroll tied to Twilight's mane," Pandora answered.

Loosened from her mane, every pony gathered around Twilight as she read from the mysterious tiny scroll with the same wax seal as the one sent to Firestorm.

"'Twilight, I have sent Spike to Ponyville, where he will be safe with the evacuated Atlanteans and Canterlotans.

"'Minerva and Pandora, your greatest roles are yet to come. May you all be ready when the time comes to take up my sword... '" -- shock filled her eyes -- "'upon my foreordained demise'?!"

A celestial flash of magic erupted from the Aria, wrapping itself around the ship and Canterlot amid violent winds dancing and twirling through all that remained.

"What's happening?!" Rainbow yelled.

"Oh... my!" Fluttershy gasped. "That looks painful!"

"It as if Princess Aria is willing the airship onto herself!" Rarity blurted.

"Or she's willing herself onto the airship!" Luna countered.

"That's because she is," Celestia quietly stated.

Within the savage, colorful electrical storm, the Aria's hull buckled, stretched and convulsed. Her tail and wings snapped and bent into a more avian shape. A pair of skeletal legs and feet burst forth from below her developing belly and breast, rapidly wrapped in metal skin. Shimmering gradient feathers of white, rose, azure, mulberry, violet and purple erupted from her tail and formerly solid wings. Similarly iridescent plumage rapidly enveloped the rest of her transforming body, crowned by a crest exploding from the back of her head. Agonizing calls and shrieks escaped from her elongated neck through her newly torn-open beak. The shattered windows of the ship's bridge collapsed, shifted apart, and coalesced into a pair of star-filled, deep violet eyes framed with rose-colored eyelashes and eyeliner.

"You shall not harm my daughters nor anyone else in this omniverse, for this is the day you will cease to breathe!" Aria screamed in the direction of the still-entombed Tirek, her pained voice ringing out through the hypernova exploding from her entire body to all corners of Equestria and beyond.

The wave of light faded, Aria's cutie mark emerged behind the reborn princess, injecting her colors to heal the sickened sky.

"Princess Aria!" Firestorm and Star Tracer gasped.

"Whoa!" Spike awed.

"No words can begin to describe the terrifying beauty before us!" Rarity said.

"Mother?!" Celestia and Luna cried.

"Welcome home, Aria," Pandora quietly proclaimed.

The earth rumbled as a blue force field fell over the remains of Canterlot once more.

"I will see you all in Avalon," Aria said as a spine-chilling roar thundered into the sky.

Tirek clawed his way out of the disintegrating tomb, horrifically disfigured from the savage assault moments ago. Tainted magic from the embedded fire ruby followed the trails of Etherium-contaminated blood pooling into his mangled right eye, transforming it into a blue cybernetic eye to match the one on the left side of his metallic face. Little fur and skin remained upon his body, metal and obsidian replacing and mending every inch of charred flesh, torn wing membrane, and broken bone that wasn't already assimilated.

His palladium razors bared, Tirek bellowed with an anger that boiled away the mountainside. "Thou shalt perish from this world, and thy spirit shall join thine consort's in annihilation!"

"Only half of what you say will be true, but not before I take you down to size!" Aria spat back.

The draconequus lunged at the phoenix's neck, but was set ablaze by her flash attack. Talons penetrated the flames, breaking every rib in her opponent's chest.

"You cannot break me so easily, Aria!" Tirek countered with a violent lash of his partially metal tail, knocking the princess back over the ruined castle.

"Nor shall you break me!" Aria returned, her body igniting into flames of azure, rose and violet as she swept down in front of him. The flame attack blinded him long enough for her to rip out his eyes, crushing them in her claws amid horrible, agonized screams. She then charged headfirst into his left wing, biting down and snapping every bone and tendon off his back. Tirek's broken body impaled itself upon a jagged ledge above Canterlot, liquified dark magic spilling down under Aria's electric rain strike.

* * * * * * * * *

"She is not holding back, is she?" Firestorm asked herself.

"I don't know if I can watch anymore," Spike said, eyes peeking out from his claws now and again.

"Ma'am, that force field isn't going to hold up much longer," Star Tracer stated.

"What?! But my friends are up there! Our princesses are up there with them!"

"How are you able to tell?" Firestorm asked.

"The field shimmers in and out like a heartbeat, a sign of instability with the energy needed to sustain the field properly," she explained. "Furthermore, Tirek's impalement is allowing his -- for the lack of a better description -- 'liquified dark magic' to spill onto the field, rapidly weakening its ability to defend all who remain under it."

"How long until it fails?"

"If they're realizing what's about to happen like we are now, they may be able to escape to safety before it falls within the next few minutes, barring a powerful shattering strike."

"We need to do something!" Spike howled.

"We can't do much from down here," Star Tracer said.

"No," Firestorm began, "but we can fly over to them," glancing over to the damaged dragonflies off to her right.

"Ma'am?"

"We're going to ensure our friends and princesses come out of this alive, and that no harm comes to them in their escape," Firestorm quietly proclaimed, watching the draconequus struggling to free himself from his mountaintop crucifixion.

* * * * * * * * *

"Did she... did she really... with his eyes?" Pinkie asked, her mind close to shutting down from shock.

"I don't think I can watch another wing be ripped off," Rainbow said from underneath Fluttershy's left wing.

"Aria is unleashing 1,400 years' worth of anger upon our enemy," Minerva stated. "Brutality and vengeance are all she has left to give."

"Speaking of givin'," Applejack interjected, "her force field looks ready to give out at any moment."

"Applejack's right," Twilight confirmed. "We need to find shelter before the field dissipates."

"And where exactly are we going to go, Twilight?" Rainbow asked. "There isn't much left standing!"

"Then we're going to have to escape," she said. "Tirek's blood is already causing the field to thin. One good strike will bring it down, and with Princess Aria flying through a blind rage -- no pun intended -- there likely won't be another chance to raise a shield."

"Of course!" Fluttershy gasped. "The dragonfly! She's still in the royal garden!"

"'She,' Fluttershy?" Rainbow questioned.

"That one is," Pandora stated. "Anyway, if she's still functional, we could get away as the field collapses."

"What about the Elements of Harmony?" Rarity asked. "Don't we need to get them first?"

"About that, sugarcube," Applejack gently turned her friend toward the collapsed, burning structure protecting the Elements inside.

"Oh. Right."

"We'll figure something out. Come on, girls! We need to get to that dragonfly!" Twilight said as Aria landed on her own field bubble, sending cascades of electric arcs down all sides and into the writhing impaled heart of her adversary through his blood.

"Don't lose your heart to your own darkness, Mother," Luna quietly stated, looking up with weary eyes at the metal phoenix walking slowly toward her prey.

* * * * * * * * *

A metallic foot slammed down upon Tirek's neck, burning talons tightening around his throat.

"Your time ends now, Tirek," Aria calmly stated, the stars in her eyes bursting into hypernovae.

The princess exploded into the sky, horrifically bifurcating her prey from his impaled heart down. Any dark magic her flames did not burn away rained down on the weakening field, each drop fracturing Aria's protection spell upon impact. She then tossed Tirek high into the air, catching the split ends with her telekinesis before cracking his mutilated body like a whip repeatedly against the mountainside, breaking his arms and right wing, and shattering what remained of his skull, neck, and spine.

Nearly lifeless, the draconequus landed hard upon the field. His adversary followed, using her telekinesis to hold down his pulverized neck. He felt both sets of claws reach into and pulling open his mouth, cascading waves of piercing pain flooding his being upon the loss of his lower jaw and what remained of his upper teeth.

Terror quickly emerged behind the tidal bore upon hearing her cold declaration:

"What has been rendered upon the body, I shall now render upon your spirit."

Aria sunk her talons into Tirek's forehead, grabbing onto the Hope Ruby in an attempt to rip out the source of his power. Tormenting tsunamis overwhelmed him as more dark magic spilled into the cracks and fractures of her force field, building in intensity the more she struggled to free the artifact from its owner.

It was then that a spark ignited in his punctured heart, violently rushing toward the ruby's pulsating center.

"Foolish princess," Tirek telepathically began, "like your starry eyes, you are as blind in your rage as you are in your devotion to the Shepherd. Allow me now to show you the error of your depraved ways."

Black laughter and speech filled the air as the ruby electrocuted Aria, forcing the princess to ascend above Canterlot. Ribbons of inverted rainbows flowed out of the gem and Tirek's mending heart, gently wrapping and levitating the broken draconequus in their healing embrace.

The sky burned in red and gold, the last remnants of his previous life shifting from flesh and blood, to metal and Etherium. A new pair of bluish-white eyes regenerated alongside his wings, teeth and jaw. His bifurcated body fused back together from the heart down amid a torrent of dark magic drenching the force field below. Every bone, organ and muscle in his body transmuted into titanium and woven steel, his scales and fur replaced by Atlantean alloys and obsidian traced in neon lines of red-orange and blue. A mane of tall spikes ran up and over his head, stopping just before the fully charged Hope Ruby, and framed by a pair of black iron horns.

"When I took the Hope Ruby into my own claws, I gave myself over to the Rainbow of Twilight held within," Tirek proclaimed. "Now, bear witness to our true power, Princess Aria!"

The Rainbow of Twilight exploded from Tirek's fully transformed body, shattering Aria's shield over Canterlot. Aria herself attempted to dodge the oncoming nova, only to be impaled through the spine upon the very spot where the draconequus was so situated moments ago. Etherium gushed from her breast, her entire body engulfed in hellfire amid pained cries echoing through the bloodied sky.

Emerging from the full power of the dark rainbow, Tirek hovered ominously over Canterlot, his glowing blue eyes fixated upon the Shepherd and the nine ponies galloping toward the damaged dragonfly in the ashened, glass remnants of the royal garden.