Spectacular Seven

Artemis had to commend Adagio for sticking out the fight for as long as she did. Between her sisters nullifying her hypnotic song and the Lulamoons batting her around like a toy, Adagio had put up a decent fight, doubly so when a surge of magic rushed through everyone and gave Adagio a second wind.

Whatever influx of magic had swept through Canterlot gave Artemis and Trixie a boost as well, and between them and Selena’s speed and grace, Adagio remained on the back foot, and in the case of her siren avatar, the back fin.

When the sphere of magic appeared in the sky and cast an eerie purple pall over the city, Adagio used the momentary distraction to finally teleport away, taking her avatar with her.

Artemis took a deep breath and shook out his wand hand. He looked up at the pulsing sphere and shuddered. It was a spell and an extremely powerful one at that. What it would do, he couldn’t say, but he bet his entire store it wasn’t anything good.

He canceled the mute spell, wincing as sound rushed through his ears: cars honking as more people fled downtown, wind rushing between buildings, and to his trained ear, the faint static of magic.

Trixie, Selena, and the Sirens ran over to him, Aria and Sonata massaging their throats. While Artemis still wasn’t fond of them, he gave credit where credit was due. Singing (if it could be called that) for almost an hour straight was no small feat.

Trixie pointed up to the sphere. “What is that?”

“Someone’s charging a spell,” Artemis said.

“Tirek?” Selena asked.

Artemis pulled on his goatee. “I don’t know. I don’t recognize the magical signature coming off from it.”

“Unless it’s about to explode, we have more important things to worry about,” Aria said, her voice croaky. “Adagio got away again!”

“No she didn’t,” Artemis said with a smirk. “I know where she warped off too.”

“You do?” Selena asked. “You never have before.”

“Before, she didn’t leave a massive trail to follow.” Artemis pointed south. “Her siren avatar is literally just a magical projection. An admittedly powerful one at that. I felt it the second she popped up again. She’s in the Everfree Forest.”

Trixie bounced on her toes. “Then let’s go get her!”

Artemis spun his wand. “My thoughts exactly.”

“Oh, hahaha! There’s no need for that,” a new voice said.

Everyone swiveled about, trying to find the voice’s origin. It sounded familiar to Artemis, yet it also sent goosebumps up his arms.

“You’ve done a fantastic job so far, friends,” the voice continued. “But Adagio and I have some unfinished business. I’ll take it from here, so please, sit back, relax…”

Artemis rotated one more time and nearly jumped out of his skin as he locked eyes with a winged purple girl hovering inches from him. Blue fire danced around her manic red pupils.

“And don’t touch my spell,” she said, a thin line of malice hidden behind her smile. In a blink, she vanished.

“What the heck was that?” Aria asked.

Artemis put a hand against his pounding heart. “I… think that was…”

“Artemis!”

He turned around again. From down the broken street came four familiar faces, Rarity at the forefront. She skidded to a stop in front of the Lulamoons and the Sirens.

Wiping tears and mascara away, she said, “We have a problem! We have a lot of problems!”

*****

Pathetic that we ever lost to a spoiled brat like her.

Midnight didn’t teleport into the chateau; that would have been too easy. No, she allowed her body to become as vapor and blend into all of the shadows the old manor provided. She was everywhere and nowhere, and she had Adagio surrounded.

The Siren sat in the main foyer, leaning against the banister of the stairs. She was covered in cuts and bruises, and her messy volume of hair managed to look even more disheveled.

“I had them! I had all of them! If those two hadn’t turned traitor!” Adagio let out a petulant scream.

Noisy and miserable, Midnight thought lazily. Every eye in every shadow stared at the creature. No matter the angle, Midnight saw nothing redeeming about her.

Her friends said she couldn’t be judge, jury, and executioner for all of humanity. Of course, Midnight disagreed. She had infinite knowledge and unlimited magic, what more could one ask for to pass judgment upon others and carry it out? And Adagio had wronged her. She deserved the right to judge and execute the woman.

Besides, she wasn’t even human!

Adagio pushed herself off the banister and limped toward the kitchen door. She pulled it open and immediately stepped off into a dark chasm.

Midnight laughed as she listened to Adagio’s shriek. Pulling herself from the shadows, she dove into the swirling darkness after her. Adagio flailed her arms, fruitlessly grasping for something to stop her fall.

“Hi, Dagi,” Midnight said, her physical body rematerializing.

Adagio stopped screaming and stared at her. “What the… who are you?”

Midnight didn’t answer. She smiled and snapped her fingers, and the world shifted from vertical to horizontal. Adagio slammed back into a wooden chair and steel manacles clamped over her wrists.

“Adagio Dazzle,” Midnight sang, looking down from her judge’s bench. “You’ve been charged with numerous crimes.”

She pulled out a roll of parchment and unrolled it, watching it flow down her desk and end at Adagio’s feet.

“All of them quite serious. The worse one being…” The scroll lit on fire, smoldering into ashes that shaped themselves into an image of a skull.

“You almost killed my brother!” Midnight shrieked. In a kinder tone, she asked, “How do you plead?”

Adagio stared down at the skull, a rare look of fear on her face. She snapped her head up to Midnight and squinted her eyes. “Twilight Sparkle?”

Midnight stood up and grinned. “In the flesh. But I go by Midnight Sparkle now, Goddess of Magic.”

Adagio dared to laugh. “You, goddess of magic? Please, there’s no way a nobody like you—”

With a snap of Midnight’s fingers, Adagio’s mouth disappeared. Her eyes bulged in horror, and she desperately flailed in her seat.

Midnight hurdled over the bench and landed on the polished floor. She leaned in and stroked Adagio’s cheek with a finger.

“You wanted to see me again, didn’t you? Wanted to see how all my anxiety and anger and fear would taste after you had beaten me and left it to fester?” Midnight grabbed Adagio’s cheek and dug her claws in. “So, how does it taste, hmm? Are you satisfied yet?”

Adagio shook her head, pulling away from Midnight as hard as she could.

“Hehehehe…. Hahahahaha!” Midnight let go and drifted back. “You don’t know how much I hate you. You don’t know how many fantasies I have about finally getting revenge for everything you put me and my friends through!”

Adagio kicked her legs, muffled noises coming from where her mouth should have been.

Midnight just grinned. She looked over to the pulpit. “Has the jury reached a verdict?”

Two rows of Cadence and Shining Armors rose. In one voice they said, “We the jury find the defendant guilty on all charges!”

“Naturally. Now, the question is, what shall the punishment be?” Midnight clapped her hands twice and the courtroom dissolved, dropping Adagio onto the grassy hill in front of the chateau back in the Everfree. She clambered to her feet and clenched her fists.

The hippocampus rose from the trees and rushed at Midnight. Three feet from her face, Midnight waved her hand, and the astral siren shattered like glass.

Eyes wide, Adagio broke into a sprint for the trees. Roots broke up from the ground and wrapped around Adagio’s legs, locking her in place. She snatched and clawed at them, but the more she broke away, the thicker the remaining ones became.

Midnight descended before her, laughing softly. Magic was so much fun. “Tell me, Adagio, how does it feel to be the prey this time?”

In a flash, Adagio’s mouth reappeared. She doubled over and took several deep breaths. “If you think I’m going to beg, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Haha! I know better than to think that! You’re an unrepentant bitch! Even if I dragged you to death’s door, you would never apologize for the things you’ve done.”

Adagio glared at her. “Then what are you going to do to me?”

Midnight tapped a finger against her lip. “An excellent question. I could just leave you here. Let you simply expire when this world comes to an end. But no, I think we can be more creative than that.”

She snapped her fingers. “Hehehe… hahahaha! I know what we can do with you! How about a little dose of irony?”

Adagio’s glare melted, and the fear returned. “What?”

Midnight raised her hand. “You just love to hypnotize people. Get them riled up and do things they don’t mean to do. Make them hurt the ones they love. You love taking away their free will.”

“No! Don’t you dare!”

“Let’s see how you like it!” Midnight said with a hungry grin. She tapped Adagio’s gem.

Adagio trembled as a wave of purple spread out over the red gemstone like ink spilled on a page. “N-no! Stop…” Her voice faded out as her eyes glossed over.

“Now you get to be enthralled! Now you get to lose yourself and have someone else tell you what to feel! Now you’re under my spell!”

The roots fell away and Adagio was released, a calm, dreamy expression on her face. “Yes, Your Grace.”

Midnight laughed again. A goddess was going to need servants after all.

A singular applause snapped her attention to the tree line, where out walked a familiar-looking woman. She had silver hair that went down to the small of her back and purple eyes that reminded Midnight of Moondancer. In fact, the woman’s face as a whole reminded her of Artemis.

Midnight cocked her head. “You’re Apalla.” She narrowed her eyes. No, something wasn’t right. The house was being occupied by someone else.

“Tirek!” she hissed.

“Ah, so you can see through to my true nature,” Tirek said with an amused smile. “The level of magic you possess is truly impressive.”

Midnight made a mock bow. “I am so glad I have your approval. Moreover, I thank you for coming to me! Now, I can get rid of you for the sake of my friends!”

Tirek raised his hands in a calm, placating fashion. “I’m sure you’ve heard numerous tales about me. And if we must come to blows then so be it. But before we duel, I would like to voice my reservations about your plan.”

Midnight bared her teeth. “What do you know about what I have planned?”

Tirek pointed up to her sphere of magic, visible above the clearing. “I can feel the magnitude of power that spell contains. It’s on a level that could alter reality on a massive scale. So I can take a few guesses on what it is you want to accomplish with it.”

Static crackled across Midnight’s hands. “I’m going to remake the world. I’m going to create a new paradise where no one gets hurt or sick, and anyone can use magic! Once I fix it into a new, orderly system.”

Tirek smiled and nodded. “An admirable goal. However, it won’t work.”

Midnight clenched a fist and her hair billowed. She had already had her friends reject her plan, she didn’t need to hear it from her friends’ archnemesis! She thrust her palm forward and unleashed a beam of pure magic. It ripped through the trees, leaving behind a scar of charred earth and smoldering twigs.

“Impressive.”

Whirling around, Midnight found Tirek standing on the porch of the chateau.

“I say it won’t work, not for a lack of power or vision on your part, but because the gods won’t let it,” Tirek said with a calmness like he hadn’t just been shot at.

Midnight raised an eyebrow. “‘The gods’?” So, Starlight and Moondancer were right: you truly believe in gods?”

“Of course. I have seen their power. I have seen their blessings. And I have seen their neglect.” Tirek folded his arms behind his back and started to pace.

“They are fickle and scornful and seem to have left this world to fend for itself. But it is still their world. And the gods are possessive. I’m sure watching us struggle in our lives still brings them some level of amusement. But, if someone were to disrupt their creation, remake this world so it is no longer under their thumb…”

Midnight scoffed. “They would be upset? Like a child that had their toy taken away?”

“And they would take it back.” Tirek stopped pacing and looked at Midnight. “For all of your newfound strength and magic, even you could not fight an entire pantheon alone.”

Midnight pursed her lips. Did she believe in gods? Her mind dragged her back to the void, where she saw infinity. In between the threads of knowledge and whispers of truth, she could see the shapes and faces of beings ancient and untold.

And then there was Midnight herself. She had declared herself a goddess. So surely there were other beings with her level of power. As much as she hated to admit it, maybe there was a kernel of worth in Tirek’s words.

Tirek sensed her consideration and his lips curled in a smile. “Everyone wants to paint us as monsters. But we both want to create a better world. I want to rid this realm of the gods that abused it, and you want to create a perfect paradise. And so I ask…”

He held his hand out. “Can our goals not be complementary?”

“An alliance?”

“A truce, but an alliance is not out of the question either. I see no reason why we should be in conflict with each other beyond petty, personal, emotional squabbles. But we are beyond such things, are we not?”

Were they? It was true Midnight’s friends had rejected her. And Tirek was standing right here. She could rip out the source of her friends' anxieties right here and now. But would they even be grateful? From what she had witnessed in the last few hours, probably not.

She sneered. No, her friends would not understand until the deed was done. And if Tirek was telling the truth, the deed couldn’t be done until the old gods were out of the picture.

A marriage of convenience. Until Midnight had what she wanted.

She sat in the air and crossed one leg over the other. “Go on.”