Filly Fantasy- Requiem of Ponies

Chapters

PART I
PART II
PART III
PART IV
PART V

PART I

FILLY FANTASY: REQUIEM OF PONIES

CHAPTER I: PROLOGUE

There are many ways I could start the story of what happened. But so much has happened. In the past few months, I’ve seen lives taken in fire, towns consumed in flames, and bonds severed and destroyed. I know every second like back of my hoof. I just don’t understand how my life could have been so simple and become so complicated so fast.

I was just a simple librarian… nothing special anymore. I hadn’t been anything special for ten years. The bonds of friendship were the first to fade, even though I thought them eternal. But we all had gone our separate ways. Most of us achieved our dreams eventually. But that too soon became nothing. What we had forsaken each other for… had become dust in the wind.

But look at me, a doddering old mare just blabbing about her life. Imagine that… I feel like I’m old at 33. And there wasn’t a day between 25 and 32 that wasn’t boring. Guess you’d never think that a librarian arranging dusty old books for her job would be one of the saviours of Equestria. Had been before, and after a long ten years, I was about to be a saviour again.

CHAPTER II: JUST ANOTHER DAY

I remember it all started with books. Yep, books. Nothing fancy, just an endless life filled with books. I had achieved my dream… Librarian of Canterlot. And I found out seven years ago it was the most horrendously boring job that existed. I mean, I liked actually reading the books, not spending all day dusting them off. The only people who ever even borrowed them were Celestia and Luna, and since they knew all that was in them, they really were just doing this as a pittance of attention to a painfully isolated existence. I was more bored than Rainbow Dash in a boutique.

And today was no different. At least, it wasn’t really different. Another day, another thousand books to dust off. Never had I thought I’d hate books this much, but lo and behold, I hated books with every fiber of my soul. After I finally had dusted off the last book, I sighed and said, “I’m finally done. Every last book… has been dusted. Awful, awful books… I hate you so much.”. I was about to retire, but then Celestia decided to come in and probably say some routine crap that I couldn’t care less to hear.

Celestia said with her usual perkiness, “Hello, Twilight Sparkle. I trust you’ve had a nice day?”. I said in an irritated tone, “No. No, no, no. I have NOT had a nice day. I have not had a nice year, I have not had a nice decade!”. Celestia said, “Is something the matter? I thought you loved this job. You always wanted to have a life of books. You got what you asked for.”.

I snapped, “This isn’t what I wanted! I wanted to learn and study! I thought being a librarian would give me time to do just that! But now, my passion is gone… it is a void and bitter memory. And all I have left in my pathetic life are these BOOKS!”. Out of a fairly vicious instinct, I bucked the bookcase behind me with full force, and left a large crack in it. Celestia glared at me and I said, “I know… just dock it from my pay.”.

Celestia said, slightly on edge concerning my temper, “I was going to tell you I had a job for you. I have a book shipment that is supposed to be picked up from Manehattan. I need you to pick them up, and from the looks of it, a change of scenery for a bit might shape up your attitude.”. I put on my saddlebags upon hearing this and said, “Fine… anything to get out of this horrid library.”.

And so I just went on my way. Personally, I hate Manehattan. It’s smelly, vile, and a dump. The whole place has been a glorified slum ever since their economy went down in flames. But if it gets me away from those infernal books, I will do it. Because as it stands, I hate nothing more than those books. But enough about books. Let’s get on with the story.

CHAPTER III: IGNORANCE IS MAGIC

So, I’m out the gates of Canterlot and am riding a train en route to Manehattan. Yep, I have a boring life. Every detail pains me to recollect. The ride was going to be unbearable, because it felt like an oven outside. But that would be an Earth Pony’s problem. I just fired of a spell to chill the train down a bit, and was fine. At least I had uses for this horn other than my terrible job of arrange, dust, repeat.

The train wasn’t cool for long, however. The temperature shot right back up, and I felt like my face was about to boil. Maybe I’m a little rustier with my magic than I thought. I blame my job for that, like I do with everything else that goes wrong. I tried the spell again, and it worked. For a few seconds, it was cool… until the inferno came back. This wasn’t weather. This was magic fighting me.

I saw a unicorn across from me, and thought they might be the one fighting me. I couldn’t tell if it was a mare or a stallion, because their hair was covering most of their face. Well, they had to be. Nopony else was on this train. So I activated the spell and watched their horn for a glow. Just as I predicted, the glow came, and the temperature reached a boil once more. So I activated the spell over and over, trying to exhaust them, but they matched every move perfectly. For the next minute or so, we were changing the weather so fast it would make a pegasus’ head spin. After a while, the other unicorn lashed out at me and said, “Will you STOP?”.

I simply responded, “Look, we are ponies, not pizza. I can’t stand this kind of heat!”. The unicorn said, “You must not be from Manehattan then. It is never cold there.”. I said, “You’re right, I’m from Canterlot.”. The unicorn responded, “Oh, Canterlot. I had a friend who used to live in Canterlot. She was very nice, but a little nerdy. Never figured out where she ended up. She just kind of drifted off, and we lost touch slowly. Been about eight years since I talked to her.”.

Interestingly enough, that sounded exactly like me. I asked the unicorn, “Who are you, by the way? Your ‘friend’ sounds exactly like ME.”. The unicorn said, “My name is Rarity. Never liked the idea of a stage name.. it kills the sense of uniqueness in my industry.”, as she swept her hair to the side, showing her face. I was rather surprised to see an old friend of mine. Rarity asked me, “What is your name? It is only fair we both exchange names.”.

I said to her, “You know me well. I’m your old friend, Twilight Sparkle.”. Rarity got a little more excited upon hearing this and said, “Oh, Twilight! It’s so good to see you after all these years! How have things been?”. I said, “Boring, bland, tasteless, and awful. I’m a librarian… the most incredibly monotonous and dull job that exists.”.

Rarity said, “Well, I guess not all of us can fall into glamour like I have. Well, maybe something good will come for you eventually.”. A glare was starting to form on one of Rarity’s bracelets, and it was blinding. I asked, as I covered my eyes, “What are those? They shine much more than any bracelets I’ve seen.”. Rarity laid back and said, “They are weapons. They are sharp bladed bangles that I had to make for security reasons. You see, thieves are quite a problem in Manehattan, so I needed a good… deterrent.”.

I said to Rarity, “They don’t look very sharp…”. Rarity then smiled as she flicked her forelegs out and cut the curtains on both sides of her cleanly in half. Rarity said to me, “What was that again?”. I said nothing, I just stared in awe. Rarity said, “The usefulness of them is extended to cutting pretty much everything. Indeed, a fashionista’s best friend. The great thing is that they are on each leg, so their uses know no bounds.”.
Time apparently passed quicker in conversation, because the train had apparently stopped five minutes ago. As Rarity and I got off the train, Rarity said, “I’m going to stay with you. Considering I’ve seen all of Manehattan many times, I doubt you’ve been here before. A guide could serve you well, Twilight.”. I just smiled and nodded in agreement, as we left the train depot together.

CHAPTER IV: A FRIENDLY FACE… KIND OF…

As Rarity and I entered the slums of Manehattan, or to be more accurate, all of Manehattan, I checked the list I was given for the books and where they were supposed to be delivered to. I said, “Some dump named Equestrilibrium. I swear, ponies these days are terrible at naming places.”. Rarity scoffed and said, “ I have seen that place. You are right in saying it is a dump. It looks more like an attic than a store.”. I sighed and said, “Let’s just get the dumb books and go.”.

As we were walking along the sidewalk, I heard a splash and felt my hooves get wet. I looked down, and saw the revolting liquid: urine. I stepped back and said, “That’s… gross.”. I looked to the side and saw it was coming from some hobo. He looked really rough, with a mangled mane and tail, a ratty old coat on, and a chewed up hat covering most of his face. Three features drew my eye: His chest was mostly metal crudely welded to him, his left foreleg and hoof were a dark navy blue metal that was probably a prosthetic, and his mane and tail were a very unusual colour… rainbow.

I yelled at him, “Hey, ponies are walking here!”. The stallion grew irritated and said in a deep, raspy voice, “Kid, you can wait. I’m almost done.”. Rarity added in, “Don’t you have somewhere ELSE to go?”. The stallion finished up and took a swig of bourbon from an old brown bottle and said, “Lady, you think I like being homeless? I’m jobless, friendless, and I haven’t eaten or showered in days. Do I really need prissy unicorns telling me what to do?”.

I said to the livid stallion, “Can I ask one question?”. He said testily, “Make it quick… ONE question only.”. I asked him, “What happened to your arm?”. The stallion sighed and said, “I lost it at a Wonderbolts performance. They were experimenting with griffon prosthesis at the time, and they used me as a test subject. As a result, I now have a hand on that leg instead of a hoof. Pretty useful for pretty much everything.”.
Rarity said, “You are a fan of the Wonderbolts, I take it?”. The stallion said, “No, I was a Wonderbolt.”. Rarity said, “Let me guess who you are… Soarin?”. The stallion said, “No… but I had a pretty big crush on him.”. This left both me and Rarity in a very awkward silence. After a half a minute or so of incredible awkwardness, I broke the silence by saying, “Err, you mean you… loved him?”. The stallion said, “Ever since I was a little filly.”.

This just made everything more awkward. I didn’t know what to think or say. After a few moments, the stallion said, “Everyone thinks I am a stallion. Never was. When I was rescued from the performance, they didn’t have mare transplant pieces that were being accepted by my body. They kept finding matches from a colt that had died at the performance from smoke inhalation. Most of my body was replaced with their parts, mainly on the face and jawline. The rest, like my chest, was metallurgic triage.”.

The mare continued, “My vocal cords were shredded by various impacts, and in the end, they used the colt’s vocal cords. A little magic, a little snipping and cauterizing, and I could speak again. The fact that he died of smoke inhalation caused a drop in the pitch and quality of the voice produced, which is why I sound like utter crap when I speak. After that, a mechanical heart was put in, and it only lasts a year before I have to get it rewound by magic.”.

Rarity said, “It must be simply horrid to go from fame to ruin like that…”. The mare responded, “I take it as a learning experience. I was always so vain and arrogant and full of myself that it hurt a lot of ponies. That experience taught me humility. I went back to flight school, got back on my feet, and even learned a few skills along the way.”, as she opened her coat to show a knife. I asked the mare, “Who are you?”. The mare responded, “Rainbow Dash. The name’s Rainbow Dash.”. I said in response, “The one and only!”, as Rainbow joined in saying “one and only”, showing she knew the phrase still.

I asked Rainbow, “So, what have you been up to? Looking for work or something?”. Rainbow indignantly replied, “Drowning myself in booze over at Applejack’s Tavern.”. I said, “You know where Applejack is?”. Rainbow Dash smiled and replied, “I’m there constantly… Come on, let me buy you a drink and catch you up on our old friends.”.

CHAPTER V: CATCHUP-XXII

Rainbow opened the bar door and yelled out to Applejack, “Hey, App, three rounds. I’ve got company.”. Applejack wiped down the counter and said, “Pull up some seats. I got this.”. Rainbow told me and Rarity, “Grab a stool in the front, these are on me.”. Me, Rarity, and Rainbow each got up and took a seat at the front of the bar. Applejack slid me and Rarity a shot and said, “Drink up, ladies.”. Applejack slid six shots to Rainbow and said, “The usual, as always.”. I looked over and said to Rainbow, “Sweet Celestia, how much do you drink?”. Rainbow let out a dry laugh and said, “A lot, sister… a whole lot.”, as she polished off two shots.

Applejack said, “Too much, that’s for sure. Thanks to her, I need to be a janitor.”. Rainbow blew through the rest of her shots like they were water, and said, “Applejack cleans up my puke more than you’d believe.”. Applejack said, exhausted, “The only reason you are even allowed here is because you make me more money in a day that Spitfire makes in a week!”. Rainbow belched loudly and said, “True… I do, don’t I?”. Me and rarity stared at the amber fluid sloshing in our glasses, and promptly pushed it across the marble counter towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow downed them quickly and said, “Your loss.”.

Rarity asked Rainbow Dash, “So, how have Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy been?”. Rainbow said, “Fluttershy became a vet. She works at the animal shelter in Downtown Manehattan. As for Pinkie Pie… she’s dead.”. I said in shock, “Dead? What happened?”. Rainbow scoffed and said, “Goneighrhea. Simply rotted to death in a brothel. She turned a pretty foul way, and I don’t mean colts. She died alone and in obscurity, and wasn’t even buried.”. Rarity said, “That is horrible! I feel sorry for her.”. Rainbow snidely said, “Don’t be. She was her own death sentence. She rode herself down a path of destruction because of her stupid decisions.”.

Rainbow said, “Now, how about we go see Fluttershy after I tell you MY story?”. Sounded like a good idea to me… and I’d get to hear what happened to Rainbow that made her life go so wrong. I said to Rainbow, “Sure, why not? I’ve got plenty of time on my hooves. I wasn’t given a deadline, after all.”. Rainbow said, “It all started seven years ago…”.

CHAPTER IV: RAINBOW’S FLASHBACK

“Everything was going fine for me. Fine until the day I nearly lost my life.

I was at my first Wonderbolts performance as a Wonderbolt. I wasn’t nervous, not with how cocky and arrogant I was. Everything was going perfectly, and nothing seemed different or off. Other than a faint beeping, nothing was odd at all. Spitfire said to me, ‘You ready to do this, kid?’, to which I responded, ‘Oh yeah...”.

An air horn went off, and we were sailing through the air… graceful as swans and fast as falcons. We did many tricks and spins and maneuvers, and as the crowd roared, I soaked in every bit of glory from my many adoring fans. But as we continued on, that beeping grew louder.

I shook it off, and kept with the rest of the Wonderbolts, effortlessly doing everything with acrobatic grace and magnificent agility. After our final loop, we dove down and leveled out so we could blow by the bleachers, which was to be followed by me rising into a Sonic Rainboom. As picked up speed, so did the beeping. I turned my head and said to Spitfire, ‘Spitfire, I think we have a problem.’. Spitfire just said dismissively, ‘Worry about it later, let’s just finish this up.’.

So I just ignored the rapid beeping and sped up. But as we were blasting past the bleachers, a loud sustained beep went off and the stands erupted into a tremendous explosion, annihilating everything in sight. I was flung towards a collapsed building and I slammed hard into the walls. When I came to, I saw smoke and fire everywhere, and saw many ponies dead or wounded mortally. I was weak… and helpless… a feeling I never had before. For the first time in my life, I thought I was going to die.

My body had been torn to shreds. Most of my face and chest were gone, one of my forelegs was missing, and I was bleeding out. I summoned the little life in me to crawl across the ground on my belly, in order to minimize the bleeding. Slowly, I made my way to where the explosion happened. I just wanted to know if there were survivors…

After several minutes, I collapsed onto a slab of rubble from a building. It was then that I heard Spitfire said weakly, ‘Dash… are you alright?’. My eyesight was blurred, but I squirmed slowly toward the yellow light before me. I look at Spitfire and said, voice quivering and tears flowing, ‘I’m here… I’m here.’. I don’t know what had come over me… but I was scared and I felt like I was about to die.

I asked her, ‘Soarin?’, and she said sorrowfully, ‘He didn’t make it…’. I was so weak that I barely hear her… and I looked down at Spitfire to see her covered in my blood. I just broke down and said, ‘I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.’, and Spitfire said, ‘I should have listened… it’s my fault.’. My body became too weak to move, and I just passed out. I don’t know how long I was out, but I woke up and wasn’t the same.

When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. I tried to sit up, but a nurse pushed me back down and said, ‘Easy… you shouldn’t strain your new heart.’. I asked her, ‘New heart-“, but stopped myself when I heard my voice. It was deep, rough, sore… It wasn’t a mare’s voice, that’s for sure. I asked her, ‘Show me what I look like…’. The nurse said, ‘I don’t think that’s-’, and I barked at her, ‘Show me!’. When she passed me a mirror, I saw nothing of what I was before. My chest, my arm, my face… everything had changed.

In a blind rage, I threw the mirror at her, which she narrowly dodged. I roared out at her, ‘What have you done to me??’, and I grabbed her uniform and yanked her towards me. She yelled out, ‘Code Grey! Code Grey!’, as I started to mercilessly punch her in my furious rage. Several workers rushed in and started to subdue me. I just kept yelling the same thing… roaring out, “What have you done to me? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?”. The doctors sedated me, and I stayed unconscious the whole time I was there. That’s my story.”

CHAPTER V: SOME OTHER FRIENDS…

Rainbow said, “And that’s all there was to it.”. I asked Rainbow, “What happened to Spitfire?”. Rainbow said, “Gal works the pole now. After the bombing, she couldn’t fly well. The ends of her wings had are metallurgic implants. She makes decent money, but she sure doesn’t have an ounce of dignity. Money makes ponies desperate.”. Rarity said, “Didn’t Scootaloo use to be a fan of yours? Was she there?”.

Rainbow Dash said, “She was, but she faces pretty minimal injury. Though, she never found a niche. She ended up being a waitress at the gentlecolt’s club Spitfire works at. But that isn’t all bad. She gets to work in the same place as her mother.”. I asked, “I thought Scootaloo was an orphan?”. Rainbow Dash said, “She was. Spitfire adopted her.”. Rarity said, appalled, “What kind of mother raises a child in a strip club?”.

Rainbow Dash said, “She may not be a great role model, but she’s a loving mother. At least Scoot got that.”. Rainbow Dash got up and said, “Enough talk about how everyone’s lives suck… Let’s go see Fluttershy. At least she ended up happy.”. And with that, the three of us went out and headed for the animal shelter.
I particularly hated this section of Manehattan. Smelly, rotten, and vile. Oh wait, that’s all of Manehattan. I hate cities, almost as much as I hate books. But I guess I had to get used to it for a while. Celestia probably is still angry about that bookshelf, and I am in no mood at all to actually do what I came to do now.

We arrived at the animal shelter, but Rainbow held her arm out and stopped us. Her ear flicked several times, and she said, “There’s ticking.”. I said, “So what? That could be a clock or something like that.”. Rainbow responded, “You don’t understand. I heard the same ticking at the Wonderbolts performance seven years ago.”. Rarity said, “Do you mean-”, and Rainbow Dash said, “Yes. There is a bomb around here.”.

I gasped and said, “Fluttershy!”. The ticking grew louder and faster, and I dashed towards the animal shelter. The beeping became rapid, and Rainbow Dash told me, “Get back, Twilight! It’s going to blow!”, as she shoved me back to where we were. I said, “I’m going to help her!”, and Rainbow said, “No you aren’t. You’ll die trying.”. I said, “It’s worth a shot”, and tried to gallop off, only to have Rainbow Dash restrain me.

Rainbow Dash said, “Rarity, grab her. I’m not that strong anymore.”. Rarity did so, and as the two ponies held me back, I looked in terror as I saw the silhouette of Fluttershy through a window… praying she would get out, or see us. The ticking got faster and faster, and I knew what was to come next: The sustained beep that signals the explosion. And that beep went off.

Fluttershy saw me, and took one last glance into my eyes, and I looked at her with tears in my eyes, because I knew that she was about to die. I knew that was the last time I would ever see her. Mere seconds later, a massive explosion burst out, destroying the building, engulfing it in flames, and sending a fiery rain of debris earthward.

I hysterically cried out, “FLUTTERSHY!”, and when Rainbow let go of me, I ran towards the smoke-filled ruin. I sat down and said, “Fluttershy…”. Rainbow Dash said, “There is nothing you could have done. And there is nothing you can do. She’s dead.”. I said to her, “I just wish I could have said goodbye.”.

Rainbow Dash said, “I’m really sorry, Twilight. Look, if it makes you feel better, I’ll buy you a few drinks.”. I said, “Aren’t you broke?”. Rainbow responded, “I’ve got enough bits left for a few good rounds. Shoot, you need a little liquor right now anyway, because you are an absolute wreck.”.

I said to Rainbow, “I guess you are right. Rainbow, lead the way.”. Rainbow Dash said, “With pleasure.”, and with that, me, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash made our way back to Applejack’s Tavern. Perhaps a drink or two WOULD make me feel better… I know for sure it couldn’t make me feel worse.

END OF PART ONE

PART II

CHAPTER VI: VIGILANTES

A lot of time had passed… days. It took quite a lot of time for the rescue squad to sift through the rubble looking for survivors. I looked towards the ruin, and saw Rainbow talking to one of the paramedics, though I couldn’t tell what they were saying. Rainbow finished up and proceeded to walk towards me. I didn’t want to wait, so I ran towards her to meet her. If I was going to hear bad news or good news, the wait would only hurt.

When I met up with Rainbow, I asked, “Well? What did the paramedic say? Is she alive?”. Rainbow shook her head and said, “That wasn’t a paramedic… It was a mortician. She’s dead, Twilight… the body was barely even identifiable. I’m sorry, Twi.”. My heart just sank when I heard those words. I may have barely known her by now, but to think that one of my old friends had died… the thought was inconceivable.

My thoughts were clouded with memories and feelings… an inundation of years and years of memories and feelings about her. But in this mental haze, something came through… I realized something. I said to Rainbow, “You’ve heard this beeping before, haven’t you? You said yourself this was that EXACT same beeping!”. Rainbow said dismissively, “Same bomb type I guess… what does it matter-”, but then Rainbow realized exactly what I was on to. She realized as well as I did that the bombings were connected.

Rainbow started walking away and called out, “Rarity, Twilight, follow me.”. As the two of us caught up to Rainbow, Rarity said, “Why, where are we going?”, and Rainbow responded, “Applejack’s Tavern. You’ll see why once we get there.”. I asked Rainbow, “You have a plan, don’t you?”, and Rainbow just simply nodded. I had a bad feeling about this… but I didn’t know why.

CHAPTER VII: SPECTRA APOTHECA

When we entered the tavern, Rainbow yelled out to Applejack, “Applejack, cellar!”. Applejack nodded, and bucked off the hinge on a trap door leading to the tavern’s basement. Rainbow said, “Follow me.”, as she jumped into the cellar. I followed suit, then Rarity jumped in, and then Applejack jumped in.

I looked around and said, “Oh… my… wow. Just… wow!”. The cellar was filled with rows of firearms and weapons, all of which looked like they would be very painful if they gave you a wound. There was also a table with several odd devices laid out and hundreds of test tubes of various colours on the walls.

Rainbow said, “Each of us has weapons. I stockpiled some for all of us in case we got back in touch. You’ve got daggers for me, ringblades for Rarity, guns for Applejack…”, and I said, “Wait… guns for Applejack?”. Applejack said, “You got it, sugarcube. I’ve had some… violent customers in the past.”, as she showed me her left foreleg, which had a small shotgun attached to it.

I said, “Hold up, how do you fire that thing? You’re an earth pony… and you don’t have hands!”. Applejack said, “Simple, with Spectra.”. I tilted my head in confusion, but before I could ask, Rainbow chimed in, “Spectra are the individual colours of liquid rainbow. I’ll explain how it works.”.

Rainbow put on her left foreleg one of the odd devices I saw earlier, a large and clumsy device. It was mostly flat, quite bulky, and contained several holes in the back along with small glass tubes on the center of the top. Rainbow said, “This device is called an Armarium. You place it on your leg, and it will stick several electrodes that are on the bottom of it on your skin.”.

Rainbow continued, “To use it, you have to load in vials of Spectra. The Spectra go in these slot in the back, and they will slide in and a mechanism will draw the Spectra from the vial into one of the glass tubes on the top.”. Rainbow took a red vial of Spectra and slid it into the leftmost slot, and the bottom leftmost tube filled with red Spectra. Rainbow explained, “You can have up to twenty-five Spectra combinations being used, one for every tube on the top.”.

Rainbow explained further, “When you mix two Spectra, you get a new colour entirely. Every spectra represents a magic type, and mixes will be an entirely new spell altogether. For example, green Spectra is for Wind magic and blue Spectra is for Ice magic. When combined, you get cyan Spectra, which is for Tornado magic.”.

Rainbow continued, “If you have more than one vial of Spectra for the same magic, you can expend more than one at once and create a more potent magic.”. Rainbow Dash walked to two small kilns and said, “These are Apotheca. When you put all several types of Spectra in, you get either black or white Spectra. The Black Apotheca makes black Spectra, and the White Apotheca makes white Spectra. These are the Spectra that correspond to the spells Meteor and Ultima. Putting black Spectra in a Black Apotheca will make Utma Spectra, which is reverse of a rainbow. Putting white Spectra in a White Apotheca makes Atma Spectra, which is the colour of a rainbow. Utma Spectra and Atma Spectra correspond to the spells Apocalypse and Ultima.”.

Rainbow tossed me and Rarity Armariums, and we put them on. Rainbow said, “Questions?”. I didn’t know where to begin. It was so much. But I got most of it, though I had some things nagging me. I asked Rainbow, “How do you use these?”. Rainbow responded, “You two can easily use them with your horns, but me and AJ have to focus our thoughts. The focused mental concentration lights up very specific parts of our brain, and that signals the electrodes to activate. Because of the problems emotions draw in, non-unicorns need to keep a very clear head when they have Spectra loaded in their Armariums.”.

I said to Rainbow, “Makes sense. But one thing really nags me. You speak of these incredibly powerful magics and spells, but what is the catch?”. Rainbow said, “For one, the magic has as much an effect on you as it does the world. If you try to cast something you are not capable of or prepared for casting, you will either be hurt severely or die.”. Rainbow continued, “Also, non-Pegasi have to adapt to high levels of Spectra in their systems. Spectra can cause Rainbow Burn, which is where rainbow coloured fire starts appearing on your skin. So while ease of use goes to unicorns, ease of compatibility goes to Pegasi due to our heavy Spectra exposure.”.

Rainbow said, “Now, for a demonstration…”. Rainbow pointed her hoof at a wall, and stood very still. Nothing really seemed to happen… until I saw the Armarium start to glow. Rainbow strained as a ball of fire was appearing slowly in front of her hoof. As Rainbow’s sweat flowed and dripped onto the floor, the fireball grew larger and larger until it built to a point where it was bigger than her. Rainbow grunted sharply, and the fireball shot at the wall, creating a large explosion.

Rainbow collapsed, and I ran over to her, asking, “Rainbow, are you alright?”. Rainbow said, “I’m fine… I just am really out of practice…”. Rainbow got up and said, “Now, I’m going to hit the hay. Get some practice and get used to those. If you need help, ask AJ. She knows all about them.”. With that, Rainbow exited the cellar and Rarity and I got to practicing.

CHAPTER VII: FINAL ROUND UP

I felt the mastery of some of the basic spectra coming to me. After a week of training, I could feel this sense of power coming to me. But I already knew magic well… why did I need practice to feel this way? Perhaps only Rainbow really knew the mysteries of Spectra. After all, she was a pegasus. I’d only seen Cloudsdale once, and I never was introduced to where the individual Spectra were made.

Speaking of Rainbow, she had walked in the door already. Rainbow, reading my face like a book, said, “Relax, I’m here.”. Rainbow became more serious with her tone and said, “Now that we have gotten practice on using our Armariums, I will proceed with discussing my plan.”. Twilight said, “But why did we need practice? AJ was used to hers, and me and Rarity need no practice in magic.”.

Rainbow remarked, “Don’t fall into the vanity I succumbed to long ago. Your skills have atrophied from your clear lack of use of them. The most important thing is I needed to raise your Spectra tolerance so you can get to using higher level magic quicker. I needed to get you a headstart.”. Rainbow continued, “Now, for my plan. I’ve decided we are going to try and figure out who is the bomber. We are going to meet up with Spitfire and Scootaloo and get their help. They both have significant combat experience and, being Pegasi, have very high Spectra tolerance.”.

Rainbow continued on, saying, “Next, we need to figure out where is going to be struck next. The bombings have been attempts to kill your friends, Twilight, and they have proceeded in reverse alphabetical order. The bombs are tri-spectral lunar ordinance, a type of bomb using red, green, and blue spectra cores to excite lunar rocks coated in Atma Spectra.”. Rainbow explained the possible ponies, saying, “The only ponies that can access Spectra are Pegasi or flying creatures. However, Pegasi cannot fly to lunar height, so the only possibilities are Luna, a draconequus, or a dragon.”.

I remarked, “Luna went comatose due to a severe disease years ago, and Discord is still in stone. As for dragons, it can’t be the same dragon because most dragons were in their sleep cycle when you had your accident. Something else must be behind this.”. Rainbow said, “It doesn’t matter. We need to rendezvous with Spitfire and Scootaloo first.”. With that, Rainbow left the tavern and the rest of us followed suit.

When I caught up to Rainbow, I asked her, “Rainbow, I have a question.”. Rainbow said, “Ask away, Twi.”. So I asked her, “Are you doing this for vengeance for when you were hurt, or to avenge the death of Fluttershy?”. Rainbow said, “It’s more than that. I’m doing it because it is right. So many have died in just these two bombings… and I know a lot more ponies will die in this next one.”. I asked her, “How do you know? Where is it even going to be?”.

Rainbow said to me clearly, “Think carefully. I said the bombings were reverse-alphabetical. Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack… those are the targets in reverse alphabetical order. That means the next bombing will be at Applejack’s Tavern.”. I said, “But AJ is with us!”. Rainbow retorted, “Bet your bits that the bomber doesn’t know that.”.

It really didn’t take long to get to the gentlecolt’s club. It probably was only a block or two from Applejack’s Tavern. I looked up at the sign once we got there… and it was a pretty terribly named shack. I said out loud, “The Gilded Pinion? Sounds like a dive, all right.”. Rainbow said, “The Gilded Pinion is notorious for being the gaudiest, vilest hole in the wall in all Manehattan. It’s a dump, that’s for sure.”.

Once we reached the door, a security guard stopped us. He looked strong enough to snap any of us in half. He looked at Rainbow Dash, checking out to see if she was a mare or a stallion. Honestly, it’s not the easiest thing to figure out with what she looked like. The guard said in a gruff voice, “You can go in, sir. Your lady friends will have to stay back.”.

Rainbow walked in, and looked like she tried her best not to be completely offended by the garish décor and filth everywhere. I asked the security guard, “Is it alright if I move closer? I need to be hearing what my friend is saying.”. The security guard said spitefully, “Why don’t you and your fillyfooler gang beat it? I don’t have time for garbage like you.”.

Applejack pointed her gun at the guard and said, “Please repeat that… now that this gun here is loaded.”. The guard backed off and said, “Fine, she can go in, just don’t kill me!”. With that, I walked in and proceeded towards Rainbow and Spitfire, who appeared to be having a spat.

Rainbow said, “Look, Spitfire, we need you and Scoot to help us! The bomber could strike at any time.”. Spitfire held onto the pole with her wing and said, “Look, Dash, this is your problem, not mine. I can’t be there for you all the time.”. Rainbow bitterly said, “It wouldn’t kill you to be there once for me, you stupid whore!”. Spitfire swung up onto the pole next to her upon hearing this, and swung around full circle, giving a vicious kick to Rainbow’s face, knocking Rainbow to the floor. Spitfire said, “You insult me one more time, and I’ll tell the guards your secret.”.

When I heard this, I snapped. I ran up to Spitfire and bucked her into the pole. I then shoved her up against the pole and said, “You listen to ME. We’ve got enough red Spectra to turn this place into a pillar of fire. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”. Spitfire pressed one of her Armariums against me and said, “You make me any angrier, and I will make you a living torch.”. Rainbow tossed a yellow Spectra into her Armarium and shot a bolt of lightning at Spitfire, knocking her away.

Scootaloo came in and said, “I heard fighting, everypony okay?”. Spitfire said, “Grown-up stuff, honey. Just let the adults do the talking.”. Rainbow said, “We need you and your mother’s help. There is a bomber who is trying to kill us.”. Scootaloo looked at us and said, “Wait… Twilight? Applejack? Rarity?”. Rainbow said, “And Rainbow Dash…”. Scootaloo ran up to Rainbow and said, “Can I help? Can I? Can I?”. Rainbow said, “That’s what we are hoping for.”.
Spitfire panicked and said, “Wait! I’ll give you whatever you want, just don’t take my daughter away!”. Rainbow said to Spitfire, “We don’t want you separated… we want you together. But if she accepts and you don’t, we WILL take her.”. Spitfire said, “Fine. Scoot, pack your weapons.”. Scootaloo said, “Alrighty, Mom.”. While Scootaloo was off, Spitfire kicked at the base of her pole, causing it to fall down, and activated a mechanism in her Armariums that caused it to have rudimentary digits. She then grabbed the pole with shockingly good reflex, despite the awkward looking “hands”.

Spitfire said, “You can see my profession has the benefit of giving you some fighting skill. The grace and agility needed to work the pole means you get quite a lot of strength, upper and lower body.”. Rainbow, bleeding from the wound Spitfire gave her, wiped her sleeve across her face and said in an irritated tone, “I can tell.”. Meanwhile, Scootaloo called out, “Ready!”, and came in.

On Scootaloo’s back was a lance, one that looked quite sharp. As Scootaloo walked up to the main group, Rainbow said, “Now, if we all are ready, we should start heading for the sewers. Rarity, I know you hate sewer, but it’s the only way. Let’s go.”. When Rainbow finished speaking, the six of us all walked out, and went towards the sewer entrance.

CHAPTER VIII: A NEW ENEMY AWOKEN

When we entered the sewers, we couldn’t really see much. Like about half of Manehattan, it wasn’t lit at all. Rainbow said, “Hold up. I have a plan.”. She put a red Spectra vial and a Purple Spectra vial in her Armarium and said, “It’s about to get roasty in here. Twilight, I’ll need you to slowly release some blue Spectra on my signal. Keep it going for a while.”.

Rainbow then focused her red Spectra and shot a fireball at the base of the brown liquid of the sewers, causing a huge explosion to happen that filled the sewers. But before it could even reach us, Rainbow fired off the purple Spectra with lightning speed, shielding us with a spell. Rainbow said, “We’re safe now, the sewers are clean, and we can see. Now, Twilight, use the blue spectra slowly or we will burn up.”.

I did just that, and while sustaining the spell, I loaded a few more vials of blue Spectra in, but Rainbow cut me off at five. Rainbow said, “For every five Spectra you have, the sixth becomes a purified and enhanced version of the vial before. If you put in a sixth, you could freeze us.”. I asked, “What are the spells and their levels?”.

Rainbow explained, “For red Spectra, there is Fire, Fira, Firaga, Firaja, and Flare. For blue Spectra, there is Blizzard, Blizzara, Blizzaja, and Icestorm. For yellow Spectra, there is Thunder, Thundara, Thundaga, Thundaja and Maelstrom. For green Spectra, there is Aero, Aerora, Aeroga, Aeroja, and Tornado. For indigo Spectra, there is Gravity, Gravira, Graviga, Gravija, and Pulsar. For purple Spectra there is Shell, Protect, Reflect, Dispel, and Esuna. For orange Spectra, there is Cure, Cura, Curaga, Curaja, and Full-Life. Black Spectra, white Spectra, Utma Spectra, and Atma Spectra do not have levels. More vials just make them an incredible degree stronger. Thorough enough?”.

After all that, I didn’t really have much to say… Rainbow just spoke for two minutes straight. The bright side of that is that it took long enough that we had gotten to the ladder out of the sewers by the time she finished. Rainbow told me, “Load in some vials and fire off a Blizzara at the fire, so we won’t burn Manehattan down.”. I said, “But am I able to do that? I’m not sure I can tolerate that much Spectra without damage.”.

Rainbow said, “You’ll be fine. Just trust me.”. Rainbow loaded in the Spectra and lowered the shield. Without a second to spare, I fired off the Blizzara spell and made both the flames and the ice become nothingness. Rainbow said, “Now, up the ladder.”, and she ascended the ladder, with the rest of us close behind.

After traversing a few sets of stairs, we reached a boiler room that had a ramp going up to a catwalk. An unfortunately familiar beeping was slowly starting to become audible, and Rainbow dashed up the ramp saying, “Follow me! We don’t have time to lose!”. We tailed her as best we could, following her to an cloaked figure, who I assume was a draconequus, as they were standing on their hind legs with great ease.

Rainbow pulled out her knife and leapt towards the bomb. With a single movement, she kicked away the figure and tore the bomb off the wall, flinging it behind her. I acted on instinct, and used five vials of purple Spectra to use a high level Shell spell. The spell enveloped the bomb, and the explosion was contained when it went off. As Rainbow furiously slashed at the figure, the mysterious creature blocked every move perfectly, and when Rainbow missed, the bomber took Rainbow by the mane and flung her through the ceiling, into Applejack’s Tavern, and leapt through the hole.

Fearing what he’d do, we all clambered up to help Rainbow. The bomber and Rainbow were soon out the door though, and we galloped as fast as we could in hot pursuit. We saw them head for the train station, and saw the bomber leap on top of the train, Rainbow flying to its top as well. Spitfire saw a cart that was not being used, and she said, “Scoot, get in the front of that cart!”. Scootaloo nodded and yes, “Yes, Mom!”. Spitfire and Scootaloo saddled themselves up, and me, Applejack, and Rarity all jumped in the back. Spitfire then flew up to the train and we jumped off onto it.

Rainbow, however, was fighting a losing battle. Scootaloo, never one to think out her plan, bit down on her lance and started to join in the fight. Scootaloo was more impressive than I thought. For someone who didn’t fly until they were ten, she had incredible acrobatic skill, fighting like a graceful and perfect machine. Spitfire ran and said, “I’m helping her… she is a fast one, but not a strong one.”.

Despite a skillfully done and impeccably performed onslaught of steel, the bomber just countered everything with unbelievable perfection. I called out to Rarity, “Rarity, mount a ringblade on AJ’s shotgun! I have a plan!”. Rarity did so and Applejack said, “What do you need me to do?”. Twilight said, “Improve the power of that gun with Firaga spell. Fire on my signal!”. Applejack said, “Firaga? Are you insane?”. I just yelled, “Do it! Now!”.

Applejack primed twenty vials of red Spectra, and fired her gun. A tremendous explosion erupted, and the ringblade went forth at an unbelievable speed. They tore through the bomber, and blood starting pouring out of him. He ran off, toward the end of the train, and slid down into the conductor’s car. I said, “He has the power to derail the train and kill us. Just let him go.”.

We went over to Rainbow and helped her up, asking her if she was alright. Rainbow said, “I’m fine… But we need to stay on this train. He’s headed for Canterlot.”. Rarity asked Rainbow, “Is he going to bomb more ponies in Canterlot?”. Rainbow said, “No… He’s on his way to kill Princess Celestia.”.

CHAPTER IX: CHASING GEESE

I felt something happening… something odd. We were slowing down, but the rest of the train was speeding up. Rainbow said, “Feathers! He disconnected the car! We’ll have to make a break for it.”. With that, the six of us leapt off the car and galloped as fast as possible to make it to Canterlot in time.

As we bolted down the track, Rainbow said, “Quick, everyone mix five vials of green Spectra with five vials of purple Spectra. Use it, and we’ll go very fast.”. I asked, “Wait, what does that make?”. Rainbow said, “High level Haste. Now, mix!”. Rainbow signaled all of us to stop, and we mixed the Spectra, then loaded it up.

Rainbow said, “On three… One… two…”, and as we prepared to fire off the spell together, Rainbow said, “Three!”. We combined the Haste vials and started running like there was no tomorrow. Everything had become a blur of light, and we figured out very soon we were going too fast. The reason we found this out is we slammed into the back of the train, which had purposely been abandoned to impede our progress.

When we got up, Rainbow said, “Canterlot can’t be far. We’ll just have to run at a reasonable pace. No doubt more obstacles are coming.”. So we were off, and as Rainbow guessed, Canterlot wasn’t far… because we were at the train station when we hit the train. Five bits says Rainbow saw the station sign and played dumb on purpose. Nevertheless, I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt on that one.

We WOULD have gone out the station the normal way, but debris covered the archway. Rainbow said, “A terrorist who plays mind games. Just peachy.”. With that, we took the long way around by going OVER the arch. I can’t imagine me and Rainbow were the only ones sick of these dumb tricks. Everypony might have been keeping a straight face so they wouldn’t snap.

CHAPTER X: BLACKENED SUN

When we got through the castle, we found a massacre had occurred. Many of the guards were dead. Scratch that, all of them. Even my brother was dead. Rainbow said, “How could he kill this fast? I don’t understand… we were right behind him.”. Rarity said, “He probably used a high level spell. Those seem to be incredibly destructive.”.

While others were talking about the bomber, I just looked at my brother. I loved him so much, and now he is gone… killed by someone I haven’t even seen the face of. Rainbow came over and put her hand on my shoulder, saying, “Twi, I’m sure he fought honorably. His death will not be in vain.”. I said, “Whoever did this… I will kill them.”.

Rainbow said, “Be careful. There is a thin line between avenging and vengeance. Do not let hatred fuel your motives. It will kill you from the inside out.”. I got up and said, “Like you would know. You haven’t lost crap. You are the only of us who hasn’t lost someone they loved.”. Rainbow pulled me close and said seriously, “I loved Soarin. And he died.”, and she walked towards the door.

I said spitefully, “Just because you bed somepony doesn’t mean you love them. Get that straight.”. Rainbow turned around and cold clocked me, making me fall to the ground. Rainbow said, “I tolerate a lot of crap. I don’t tolerate cheap shots.”. Spitfire yelled out, “Enough! Both of you! We’ve all lost a lot. Fighting can’t bring anyone or anything back to us.”.
Rainbow said, “She’s right… Sorry, Twilight.”. I replied, “I’m sorry too… Let’s… just do this. I’m hoping we got here in time.”. I got up, and Rainbow signaled us to keep moving. For being past friends like we were, we sure have bad chemistry now. But… why do I say “past friends”? Shouldn’t we STILL be friends?

The six of us then walked in the castle, and when we got inside the throne room, we saw something horrible. Celestia laid cold and lifeless, limply draped on the seat of her throne, with the blade of a long rapier in her skull. Upon her sat the bomber we had chased. He pulled down his hood and said, “Greetings. My name is Silemn. Let us talk.”.

END OF PART TWO

PART III

CHAPTER XI: CASSOPEIAC PHANTOMS

We looked at Silemn, and every bit of mystery remained to his ways. We saw he had the form of a draconequus, but his form was uniform and plain. What little we could see, his hands and feet, shone a metallic silver, which was presumably his scale colour. He was covered in a robe of blackened goat hair, the hood of which shrouded his face in darkness and shadow.

Silemn wore a smile and said, “I’m sure you are wondering why I have done all this. Bomb the show, bomb the shelter, turn the guards into pulpy ribbon, gore Celestia… Surely there must be a reason to this madness, hmm? What fun is there in telling my plans? I hold the power, and I don’t need to release it.”. Silemn then pulled out the long iron rapier from Celestia’s skull and licked off the blood. Silemn laughed and said, “You want some?”.

Rainbow said angrily, “We don’t care for your mind games. Either you stop on your own accord or on ours. Either way, you WILL stop doing all of this.”. Silemn quickly changed in his mood, as his eyes blazed with anger and his smile turned to a scowl. He walked up to Rainbow and slashed her across the face with his rapier, knocking Rainbow back and leaving a bleeding cut across her face.

Silemn said to Rainbow, “You filthy, petulant child… Don’t even dare try to give me orders, you mangled clump of rotted flesh and putrid metal. Were it not something that would hinder my plans, I would kill you where you stand. Do not test my luck, for your value is not irreplaceable.”. Silemn then spat onto Rainbow’s face, and walked back to the throne.

I said, “We aren’t children. Most of us are over thirty.”. Silemn sat down and looked at us with an irritated gaze. I was getting the feeling that Silemn was nowhere near thirty, and that he well knew our ages. I said, “If you’re going to talk to us, show your face. I’m not talking to someone I can’t see.”.

Silemn sighed and said, “Very well. I am a reasonable man, and can accommodate your demands, however rudely they are delivered.”. Silemn took off his hood to reveal his head and face, both draconic in form. There was almost a devious and menacing charm to his appearance. As far as draconequui go, he was far from hideous. I noted this, saying to Silemn, “I expected much worse, honestly. But it is the most destructive and most wicked who cloak themselves in false aesthetics.”.

Silemn said to me, “You are well read, child. But as you do not know me, you are not well read enough.”. Silemn paused, to make quite sure he had everypony’s attention, before continuing on. Silemn then proceeded to say, “The one you called Nightmare Moon… was not the first of Equestria to be banished. I was the first to receive such… honour.”.

Silemn continued, “Long ago, long before Celestia or Luna, I had extraordinary power. More power than anything else I knew of, of any species. I was more powerful than even Discord. The havoc I wreaked upon the planet was extreme. I hated ponykind, because they hated me. The cyclical hatred fueled my rage, and as it grew, I drew power from Equestrian Windigoes, who had long been feeding on the rage. The reason they could not defeat me is because the Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns feuded and bickered amongst one another over… mundane problems. However, they came to realize only the true power of their unity could defeat me and end their pains. When the tribes came to a conditional treaty, held together by a consensual disapproval of my actions, they worked on a weapon that could defeat me. The unicorns gave their magic, the Pegasi their Spectra, and the Earth Ponies their basic machinery. By some process, they used a calcinatory to create the Elements of Harmony. Their six leaders bore them, and used them to violently force me into the depths of an asteroid; one their astronomers believed would hold me forever.”.

Silemn continued, “However, that was not so. Nine years ago, the asteroid was struck by the Moon, causing it to hurl towards Equestria and become a meteor. The meteor crashed in the desert, destroying a place known as Dodge Junction. The impact broke the meteor and when I awoke, I stepped out onto the free soil. For millennia, I had been trapped in that stone hell, and when I breathed the fresh air, I felt a sense of power come back into my veins, after so long of an imprisonment. But I lacked the power of before… I was a mere shadow of what I was. For years, I had to rely on frequent Spectra injection for magical capability. So I vowed revenge… but since my original captors were long dead, I had to go for the next best option: Killing the current keepers of the Elements of Harmony. After some research, I learned everything about them… their historical keepers and their current ones. So you, Twilight Sparkle, and your friends… You, the 57th keepers of the elements… will die by my hands. I have seen two die, and that leaves four to go.”.

Spitfire said, “What about me and my daughter? Why do you try to kill us? We never bore the elements, and it’s not fair to take your beef with the Elements of Harmony’s bearers out on us!”. Nothing changed on the face of Silemn, his actions and their consequence did not disturb him at all.

Silemn said, “Foolish woman, I do not want fairness in my world. The entirety of the races of ponies was my enemy… Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns all took place in my banishing. I will have my revenge, do not doubt me. I am no opponent like you have ever faced before. Your lives are a blink in my eyes… For in your years I am 15,000. An ancient plague of fire and smoke, one who chokes the world of light by the darkness he spreads with every waking step. You are no match for what power I can hold.”.

I asked, “Why have you waited to kill us then? Why not kill us now and be done with it? What value does keeping your bitter adversaries alive hold for you?”. Silemn did not answer; his emotion was neutral and withdrawn. As much as I tried to read him, his face was a blank page. He was clearly hiding something, and he clearly knew his way around deception, as his poker face was impeccable.

Rainbow got up and Silemn said, “Do you think you can behave now, sir?”. Rainbow snarled and said, “Let’s just end this now. We kill you, and we can be downing drinks in a bar by midnight.”. Within a blink, Rainbow had leapt across to strike Silemn with impeccable agility. And though Rainbow had become nothing more but a cyan streak of light in that moment, her strike was met in an instant with a parry by Silemn’s rapier.

Silemn said, “Do you really think I’m that weak? That I would be bested by a ragged pegasus who is far past her prime in every way?”. Silemn then swung his rapier in a sideways arc and flung Rainbow’s dagger into a wall. He then leapt, planted his feet into Rainbow’s throat, and kicked off, sending Rainbow crashing into the palace door.

Scootaloo, not surprisingly, rushed towards Silemn with her lance, giving her assault every ounce of power she could muster, power that meant nothing considering the perfection of parrying Silemn pull off with ease. Spitfire said to the rest of us, “I’m going to go help her! He’s way too powerful for her.”.

The moment Silemn was gaining an edge, Spitfire mixed and loaded up cerean spectra for a high level Haste spell and joined in the fray. Despite the onslaught, Silemn was perfect in every step, every guard, and every return. Then again, such could be expected from someone with millennia of life to practice with.

Applejack said, “Think we should help?”. I said, “Nah, I’d rather not get sliced to bits. I have a plan though. Rarity, prepare a Curaga for Rainbow Dash. Applejack, you and I will fire Thundara at the hilt of Silemn’s rapier. The shock should disrupt his focus for just long enough for Spitfire and Scootaloo to get some blows in.”.

As Rarity went off to help Rainbow, me and Applejack loaded up our Armariums with the vials needed for each of us to give a pretty nasty shock. I told Applejack, “Fire!”, and thunder erupted from our Armariums and struck the hilt of Silemn’s rapier squarely, causing him to drop it.

Scootaloo and Spitfire, despite their growing fatigue, used this chance to deliver some damage to Silemn. Silemn still tried blocking with his hands, but he messed up so frequently that he may as well have just taken the full brunt of the beating. Cuts and gashes soon abounded on him, as he was being beaten into submission.

The moment Rainbow was healed, she dashed toward Silemn’s sword as Silemn was about to recover it. Rainbow soon grabbed the rapier from the floor and tore across Silemn’s face with the blade in a single vicious swing. Rainbow stood over Silemn, breathing heavily, and said, “Now… now it will all soon be over. You will die, and Equestria will have peace. Without your bombs and sword and magic, you are nothing. You are a braggart, nothing more and nothing less.”.

I noticed something about Silemn’s blood, however, that told a very different story. He was not dripping blood from his wounds, he was dripping Spectra. Silemn’s mouth gained a very visible twitch, and the irises of his eyes went from a yellow to a deep sapphire in colour, and his scales darkened to a deep gray colour. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t good.

CHAPTER XII: SPEAKING IN FANCY

As Rainbow was about to kill Silemn, I yelled out, “Wait, stop! That won’t hurt him! He’s dripping Spectra… and where there are all the Spectra, there is Protect.”. Silemn’s transformation only grew more disturbing, as his muscles soon doubled in size and his robe tore off in the expansion. He no longer spoke, but only made pained grunts of rage and violent anger as his veins became prominent and the rainbow hue of his Spectral blood became slightly visible as the blood rose to the surface of his skin.

His robe now off, we saw the mountain of muscle he had become, clothed in some kind of white garb with gold parts to it. I asked Rarity, “Rarity, what is he wearing?”, and that earned the reply, “It is called an eodoric. It was worn as an ornate ceremonial gown of sorts by the ancient Neighyptians during religious ceremonies.”. I asked, “How did one get here, on him? Why this?”.

Silemn’s transformation soon finished, and he stood, an aegis of flesh and muscle, hard as steel, covering his body. His grunting and seething soon subsided, and he stood before us, staring in pure hatred at us. The wind grew cold and the air grew heavy as Silemn prepared to speak.

He then said to us in a deep, menacing voice, “Je suis ... Je suis un cauchemar. Vous les enfants pathétiques et stupide, combien peu vous comprenez de mes moyens. Pensez-vous que je mourrai avant bâtons et de pierres? Non! Je suis une puissance comme jamais auparavant!”.

None of us seemed to understand what he was saying, at all. None of us, except for Rarity, that is. Rarity said to the transformed monster before us, “Pourquoi vous battez-vous? Pourquoi avez-vous torturé les autres dans le passé?”. Applejack just said, “Too much fancy talk hurts my head…”.

Silemn looked at Rarity emotionlessly and said, “Je ne sais pas ... Je ne comprends pas ce monde. Il est rempli à la perfection, la compassion et la compréhension. Vous ne vous sentez pas les conflits, vous ne vous sentez pas en cas de catastrophe, et vous ne vous sentez pas la douleur. Par conséquent, je dois détruire ce monde. Je dois le refaire à mon image. J'ai besoin d'un monde de douleur, la douleur et l'angoisse ... parce que c'est qui je suis.”.

Rarity asked, “Mais vous devez comprendre ... qui n'est pas souhaité par tout le monde. Nous ne comprenons pas vos manières. Quelle valeur puis organisez-vous ici, si tout meurt?”. Silemn responded, “Il est tout. Tout dans mon cœur gravite dans cette direction. J'ai été formé et engendra un incendie, d'être ...”.

Rarity questioned, “Pour être quoi?”. Silemn responded plainly, “Pour être le meurtrier du monde.”. I asked Rarity, “What is the verdict?”, and earned the response, “He is crazy, and he wants to murder everything.”. Silemn stood still, apparently not able to understand our language anymore, not fazed by the things we had said.

Silemn lost his calmness, and soon boiled into senseless rage. He roared in fury, bellowing violently, “Je suis la bête par lequel cette planète enchaîné doit mourir! Je vais le libérer du cauchemar du sommeil de la paix!”. As he roared, he grew a fireball in his palm, and we watched as it went from Fire to Fira, Fira to Firaga, Firaga to Firaja, and finally Firaja to Flare.

As he prepared to throw it, Rainbow yelled, “Everypony, High level Protect, now!”, as she tossed everyone Spectra vials which we quickly loaded in. Despite all six of us combining High level Protect, the single Flare shattered it, but the Protect stood up well enough so that we were barely singed. As Silemn prepared another Flare, Rainbow shouted, “Out the window! This one is far more powerful!”.

As we leapt out the building, I could feel the destructive force of the Flare. I have no doubts the throne room was now a smoldering ruin. As we landed, we just kept running for our lives. Whatever we had awoken, it was beyond a nightmare. Silemn was an indescribable monster, and we knew if we stopped, we would die. I could not even bear to turn my head; I could only imagine the crackling fires I heard that engulfed the castle.

CHAPTER XIII PART I: WAR DRUMMING

We had been running for days for safety, but we found nothing but barren wasteland and desolation in the form of hapless deserts. For the first time in days, we had finally stopped at a town. One that wasn’t abandoned or destroyed, by our great luck, the little we had left. We were camping outside when the night had become cool, and the only thing that was uncomfortable was a mutually disliked silence. Nopony could figure out what to say after all that had happened.

Rainbow Dash leaned her back against a wall and said, “So, let me get rid of the white elephant here… How are we going to defeat Silemn? He’s far too powerful. What little we saw… we don’t even know if that is the full potential he has.”. Applejack responded, “Probably not. I reckon that even if we master Atma and Utma Spectra, we still won’t have nearly enough power to destroy him.”. Spitfire said, “What about the Elements of Harmony?”.

I said, “First off, we don’t even know where they are. Second, the bearers are broken up now.”. Spitfire said, “Hear me out, Twilight. Rainbow is still very loyal, as shown by the fact she’s so willing to fight to defend us. Twilight, you still hold the great power of magic, even if you do use an Armarium. Applejack has shifted a lot towards generosity as Rarity has shifted towards kindness. Scoot has become honest over time and that leaves me with laughter.”.

I said skeptically, “Explain how you remotely cause laughter.”. Rainbow Dash said, “Hmph… You ever see her clients after hours?”. Spitfire jabbed Rainbow sharply in the gut with her staff and said, “You’re eight feet away, don’t think I can’t hit you.”. I fired off a Shell spell and said, “Play nice… we’re in this for the long haul.”. I lowered the shell and said, “Look, we’ll need to get to somepony before we can get to some answers. That pony would be Luna. If anyone would know, she would. Now, I’m going to bed. I suggest all of you do the same, because we have a long day ahead of us.”.

CHAPTER XIII PART II: SEEDS OF REMORSE

Even though I said first that I was going to sleep, sleep was the last thing I seemed capable of doing. I kept thinking about everything: Silemn, the Elements, my friends, and everything else. Everyone else could sleep except for me. Well, almost everyone… Rainbow Dash was sleeping, but it sure wasn’t sound sleep.

I looked over and saw her moaning and thrashing in her sleep, like something in her dreams was tormenting her. I went over to her and starting viewing her dreams with my magic. I wasn’t too surprised when I found out it was a constant loop of all of Rainbow’s memories of the Wonderbolts show. I was worried about her, so five loops or so in, I decided to plant myself in the dream.

The world was smoky and hazy, covered with ash, but it felt like I was viewing the world as if a reflection in water: wavy and unstable. I walked around, in search of Rainbow Dash, and I eventually found her, having recently started crawling across the ground away from the wall. She looked terrified, for the first time in her life. She wasn’t nervous; she felt a deep pain and an agony inside her. I know… because I saw the terror in her eyes.

I walked up to her and said, “Rainbow, it’s me, Twilight. Everything is okay. I’m here now.”. Rainbow just looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “Twilight… I’m so scared… I don’t want to die! I’m too young!”. I looked sorrowfully at her, knowing she was only a figment in a dream, but I said, “It is okay. I won’t let you die, not today, not ever.”. Rainbow clutched tightly to my legs and said, “I… I need you here. I don’t want to be alone.”.

Suddenly, I was ejected from the dream. The likely reason was because Rainbow happened to have just woken up. Rainbow said to me, “You need me, Twi?”. I said to Rainbow apologetically, “No, I just saw you having trouble sleeping. Sorry for that.”. Rainbow said, “It’s okay. At least you are someone who gives two craps about me.”. Rainbow took out a bottle of bourbon from her satchel and took a few swigs before she said, “You want some?”. I just shook my head to decline… I never was one to get jazzed about booze.

Rainbow also took out a greywheat stalk and used a touch of Fire to light it up. Rainbow laughed and said, “Armariums… piece of work, ain’t they?”. I asked her, “Rainbow, is there an unhealthy habit you don’t have?”. Rainbow said, “I don’t shoot up Spectra.”. I asked, puzzled, “Pegasi do Spectra as an IV drug?”.

Rainbow said, “Yes, they do. Because of the magical capabilities of Spectra, you can shoot up different types and, when you mix and match, you get some performance enhancement. All types affect all of your physical aspects, but some are better for individual aspects than others. I don’t shoot up Spectra because, as I’ve told you, I’m afraid of needles.”.

I said, “Let me get back to the topic of your dream… You have to realize one of these days it wasn’t your fault. You are tormenting yourself by replaying these memories over and over. It’s cruel to do that to yourself.”. Rainbow said, “I know. But I still feel guilt. Because I can feel compassion.”. I asked Rainbow, “Why were you talking to me in the dream? Didn’t you realize I was a projection?”.

Rainbow responded, “I responded because that dream is still a reflection of my emotions. Before the six of us joined up recently, I had been alone for seven long years. No one would care for me, no one would talk to me, and no one wanted to see me. I had become a pariah, trash thrown to the side in the oubliette of society as a relic of a forgotten golden era. Sure, I would see AJ plenty, but someone cleaning up my vomit doesn’t really count as care.”.

Rainbow finished by saying, “By the way, Twi… You don’t really have weapon skills, do you?”. I responded, “Honestly, no.”. Rainbow said, “Take a second Armarium then, you could use the extra firepower.”. Rainbow then mixed up some Spectra and cast a Sleep spell on herself, presumably to avoid the tumultuous dreams she was having.

I furrowed around in Rainbow’s satchel and did, in fact, find a spare Armarium. I attached the device to my free foreleg and went off in the distance to practice magic. I had this nagging feeling I’d need more than simple Firaja spells to defeat the horrible monster we had created.

CHAPTER XIV: SHADOWS OF PAST ERAS

When I awoke at the crack of dawn, I saw Rainbow and the others were already set to head out. Apparently, despite waking up at five, I had overslept. Everyone had apparently prepared well, considering massive amounts of spectra covered them, neatly arranged in countless belts across their backs and legs. Even their weapons were new, fresh, and upgraded.

I asked Rainbow, “Where did you get all this Spectra?”. Rainbow replied, “The only place you can get it: Cloudsdale.”. I guess I could have figured she’d get a mountain of Spectra sooner or later. After all, we went through Spectra like candy. I asked further, “Where are we going that we need all this?”.

Spitfire said, “This is a long term supply of Spectra. We haven’t exactly been using our supply efficiently. Truth be told, we are only heading for the mountains. According to some folks here, a royal chariot blew past this town and was heading west. Sure sounds like Luna, because it’s definitely not Celestia.”.

Once the preparations were finished, we started our way across the desert and towards the mountains. Applejack said, “I sure hope this isn’t a dead end. It’s no short trek to those mountains, and we’re going off rumors of a royal chariot, the passenger of which we don’t have a clue about.”. Applejack did bring up a pretty solid point. We are going off the word of ponies that live in a remote desert. For all we know, they saw a mirage and we are chasing phantoms. Still, it was our only hope for finding Luna as it stands.

The desert sun beat heavily on us, but some graciously applied Reflect from Rarity cast away most of the heat. Hours passed pretty quickly, but the mountains seemed like they were getting farther away. In fact, they were getting farther away, a fact I didn’t realize until we had been travelling for ten hours. I stated, “Hold up… we were a six hour walk away from the mountain range. Why have we been getting farther away?”.

Nopony had an answer, so I answered for them, “It’s an illusion…”, as I cast a High level Dispel from both Armariums, as well as using a failsafe spell with my own magic. Rainbow said, “That’s a tad bit overkill, Twi. You’re using far too much magic for a simple illusory barrier.”. I responded, “No, I’m barely using enough… I know who put up this illusion. This is an alicorn’s barrier It was Luna, using it to protect herself from Silemn, I assume.”.

Soon, the Reflect and the barrier shattered, to reveal we were at the top of the mountain. I noted, “The reason why it was going away was because we were going up. The illusion attempts to dissuade the intruders from continuing on by making them believe they are fighting a losing battle. It is clever, in that it seems logical and innocent. Now, let’s go in.”.

Before we could move, we heard the sliding of a bolt and the cock of a rifle. The pony holding it said cryptically, “Two rings in an eternal dance of dusk and dawn battling for light, the pillar of fire never scorned and the stone temple in the icy night. What is the answer to the riddle I pose?”. I responded, “The Sun and The Moon.”.The rifle lowered and the pony said, “Come in, your ways determine your fate.”. When we entered, we came to find out that the cryptic pony was, in fact, Luna.

CHAPTER XV: THE LENDARIO EXPLAINED

The seven of us sat around a fire, silence remaining as me and my friends waited for Luna to speak. Luna’s ways were always mysterious, but a sense of seriousness that was less common in Celestia had always shrouded Luna. Luna’s reclusive nature allowed for her to devote herself to studies, studies that would now be something that could come very much in handy.

After a while, Luna broke the silence and said, “This creature… Silemn… is not a being of this planet. Unlike it seems, he is not, in fact, a draconequus. He is something far more powerful: A Lendario. Several thousand years before the birth of either me or Celestia, there existed a planet known as Loas. Loas was deep within the outer reaches of the galaxy we inhabit, in an area that remains mysterious and bizarre to this very day.”.

Luna continued, “Loas was a dying planet, because of the Hay’zhhm, a group of Lendario that grew in power by consuming the magic, matter, and energy of the planet. They ruled in tyranny for many millennia, but their power indeed came at a cost. When a certain Hay’zhhm started drawing power from the eight suns of Loas, he started to make the stars unstable, and all eight stars went into a violent supernova. Every single one of the Lendario on Loas died, but one Lendario, one that had been cast into space as punishment for a deed of his that now is lost in history, survived. That Lendario, the last Lendario, was named Oyekhyym in the tongue of the Lendario. In our words, he is named Silemn. He was far from the most powerful, but he was still more powerful than anything we know of.”.

Luna concluded, “The state you saw him enter at Canterlot is the natural Lendario transformation when their lives are in grave danger. However, they can only stay in the state a second for every year they are old. In Silemn’s terms, he was in this state for about a sixth of a day. However, it is certain that another near death experience will thrust him right back into this state.”.

Rarity asked, “He told me he exists to be the ‘murderer of the world’. What are his plans? Why does he wear an eodoric, something long abandoned in Equestria? What can stop him?”. Luna simply motioned for Rarity to be silent, as she prepared to answer the unicorn’s questions.

Luna explained, “The eodoric is the traditional wear of the Lendario, simple as that. It is in his culture. As for his plans, he wants what all Lendario thirst for to the point of complete destruction of everything around them… power. He wants to draw the power from the Elements of Harmony in full, and consume the Sun and the Moon. He wants everything… so that he can become a god. He has the Elements, but he must take the blood of each of you… you, who have embraced the Elements and exhibited their properties. There is only one way to stop him without the Elements… send him hurtling into the Sun. The only weakness of the Lendario is stardust.”.

Applejack cut in, “That’s fine and dandy, but do explain how we are supposed to send someone that powerful that far away?”. I explained, “An Ultima cannon. There is a cannon in Manehattan that was used centuries ago in a short war as an anti-zeppelin measure. If we can load that to the brim with Utma Spectra and lure Silemn towards it, the ensuing blast should propel him far enough.”.

Rainbow said, “If we’re going to do that, we will need all the Spectra in Cloudsdale. Ultima in that caliber will take several rainbows worth of Spectra.”. Luna stated, “That may be a problem… look outside.”. We walked to the edge of the cave, and saw Cloudsdale in flames, slowly plummeting to the earth before erupting into a fireball.

END OF PART THREE

PART IV

CHAPTER XVI: ASTRALLIONS

We all just stared at the fiery wreckage of Cloudsdale, a wonder turned into ruins. Rainbow said, “Well, that sucks. It’s going to be a pain to reload on Spectra.”. Rarity, appalled at the reason for Rainbow’s disappointment, said, “That is all you cared about? The stupid Spectra?”.

Rainbow said, “That’s all that was lost. Cloudsdale was abandoned years ago, once we found a different area to settle a new city.”. Cold as it may seem, I too worried about the Spectra. Spectra are expendable, and we would have needed a lot to take down Silemn. Considering how reliant we are on it, I do not believe we could last much longer on such a relatively small batch.

I said to Rarity, “Rainbow is right. Our most powerful magic relies on enormous amounts of Spectra. For one Forbidden level Ultima spell, it takes 175 vials of Spectra. Same goes for Forbidden level Apocalypse spells. Now that our Spectra are limited in number, we need to rely on our weapons. And we cannot rely on these weapons… We need more powerful ones.”.

Luna said, “I know of a place you can go to find weapons of legendary power, but it is not a place I expect you can survive. It is called Desolation, the realm of unnatural power that was cast from Equestria in Ancient times. When war was removed from Equestria, and weapons were destroyed, five weapons were cast to the forgotten world of Desolation. A rifle, a sword, a chakram, a staff, and a spear… the weapons each of you have mastered.”. I asked Luna, “What is the weapon I am to have? What lies beyond Apocalypse and Ultima in power?”.

Luna responded, “Apocalypse embraces the power of darkness, as it destroys the light it touches. Ultima embraces the power of light, as it heals the darkness it touches. These are push and pull, light and dark, good and evil… When their powers combine, the light shall consume the darkness as the darkness shall consume the light, and the pure essence of magic shall form. That power is indescribable, and shall shame all weapons and all magic. But the cost is high… very high.”.

Scootaloo said, “Why don’t we spread our targets? Send five of us after Silemn to try and reclaim the Elements, and one of us to retrieve the weapons? Silemn needs the blood of each of us to make his plan work.”. Rainbow Dash said, “If we are to carry out that plan, I will retrieve the weapons. Of the group, I have the most powerful weapon as of now and I have the best Armarium skill.”.

I stated, “Risky as this sounds, we have to do it. The missing pony from his plan will give enough time for us to be able to compose a good plan. Spitfire, Scootaloo, Rarity, and Applejack, you are coming with me to face down Silemn. Luna, I’ll need you to go with Rainbow and guide her through Desolation.”. And with that, Luna and Rainbow prepared to head through a portal to Desolation, leaving the rest of us to track down Silemn.

CHAPTER XVII: RAINBOW ACCOUNT

“Me and Luna had stepped into Desolation, and it appeared as if something out of a horrible nightmare. The world was dark and barren, not graced by either a moon or stars. I saw no life in sight; the realm consisted of nothing but endless fields of blown dust and ash with mountainous walls looming over everything, deepening the insufferable darkness with a cold, frosty shadow.

Luna stated, ‘Be careful. What little life exists here is beyond fathoming in power. The most vile and wicked of banished beasts exist here. Do not expect to see the weapons unguarded… all treasures worth having are well protected.’. I didn’t respond, because I frankly didn’t need to. I had too much on my mind, and the weapons were the last thing I was thinking about.

Luna, noting my foul mood, said, ‘Is something wrong, Rainbow Dash?’. I just coldly responded, ‘Yes, but nothing I’d share with you’. I spent most of my life in a selfish vacuum of careless and self-centric emotion. I feel that it is now time I keep an altruistic purpose within. I don’t need to raise a banner… I just need to know what I am going through pain for is worth fighting for: Redemption.

Desolation was endless and terrifying. I felt every ounce of hope and peace being taken from me with every step in this ruined world. Every step in these fields of ash, of void lives and failed promises, troubled me and reminded me of what I was and where I came from. I have failed everyone I have ever known… my parents, my followers, and even my friends.

Death and pain have been brought to so many because of my inaction and my ego. My self-worship led many to destruction, none of whom deserved it except for me. I have earned every one of these scars, I have justified these wounds, and I have many times over deserved every misfortune that has happened to me.

Yet for all the destruction I have had inflicted upon my body and soul, it is not enough to justify all those ponies who lost their lives because of me. Because of me, innocents have died in scores… and I had all the power in the world to stop it from happening. Were I not such a selfish being, I would have trade my life to save them.

Luna said to me, ‘I know what troubles you. I have heard of the bombing from seven years ago. I tell you the truth, no life will be in vain if there is a sacrifice to balance the scales.’. Not a word this alicorn speaks makes any sense… but I figure for every cryptic riddle, there is a prophetic grain of truth.

We soon entered a large valley, the end of which held a great monument of black marble and stone. Above it rested a massive beast, with a byzantine body molded in the form of a colossal four-legged beast, the likes of which I had never seen before. Its neck and head were much like Silemn’s in colour and form, but the neck was many times longer than the head and had sapphire fronds lining its backing. Outstretching from the middle of the neck where two great and monstrous mangled claws of a mossy emerald colour, with spikes of turquoise protruding outwards from many parts of the arms. From the back of the same part of the neck sprawled draconic wings of a worn and dull silver, hundreds of feet wide, at least one hundred feet tall, and probably thirty feet thick.

We approached the center of the valley, but upon seeing the beast awake, we stopped. The beast leapt to the ground, creating a ferocious quake that tore the surface of Desolation. He stood erect, looming hundreds of feet above us, and said, ‘Do thee, mortal horsefolk, come to raid that which I guard? Hath mine home and mine kin not been taken by thy insipid and weak kind? Hath my whole not been stripped of all dignity and cast like a dog to the oblivion world of space? Why rob mine last treasures?’.

I said to the great beast, ‘We come to find that which will save our world. We have no fight with you.’. As I attempted to walk towards the weapons, the beast slammed his hand down in front of me and said, ‘Thy kind is who I wish to eradicate… for what thy ways hath done to mine life.’.

Luna said to the creature, ‘If we do not destroy the threat on our world, he will destroy not only us, but everything. He is the embodiment of the End as we know it. Tell us your name, that we may reason with you.’. The beast said, ‘Mine name is Levaresh. But knoweth in full, little ones… I do not wish to reason.’, and he pulled from a mountain in the side of the valley a massive sword that was little but a massive, wide slab of steel on a hilt.

Levaresh let the end of the bladed behemoth drop to the ground, creating a scar in the earth it laid in. Levaresh said, ‘Boldly face me… thou art dust and ash that shall be forsaken in this world for all time.’. With those words, he swung the blade towards us, but the mere weight of the slow juggernaut Levaresh held gave us quite some time to take to flight.

I yelled out to Luna, ‘Keep my body safe from Spectra overdose! I’m going to pepper him with some Meteor, Flare, and Holy!’. As I loaded up five vial arrays of Meteor, Flare, and Holy, me and Luna dodged the massive sword of Levaresh the best we could. I fired off Meteor at the shoulders and neck of Levaresh, slowly weakening him and killing off his ability to use the sword.

Levaresh soon dropped the sword and proceeded to swing at me with his mammoth claws. Whenever he took a shot at me, I channeled High level Flare through my sword and let loose, tearing his arms apart with firestorms of my creation. I then leapt to the ground and used a Forbidden level Meteor on Levaresh’s entire body, pummeling him with meteors to the point where he nearly had been killed.

Levaresh said, ‘And it is in thy mind that I have been bested… Know for sure, urchin, I shall end thy life if it means taking mine as well!’. Levaresh lifted his head skyward, and I saw a massive tempest form above as Levaresh drew to his breath all the magical life force of Desperation, and a great foaming fire appeared in his mouth. He lowered his head towards us, eyes blazing and mouth frothing with pure magical energy. He released the energy and sent a great fireball our way, one bigger than even an Ultima spell.

As the fireball neared, I put the rest of my white Spectra in, all twenty four, and I pointed my hand to the center of the fireball. I waited and waited, as it drew closer, and when it was starting to consume the rock and the dust around it, I fired a Ascended level Holy spell.

The fire of the magical blast and Holy collided, and fought against each other with all the power they had. The powerful heat and energy of the great fires torn wounds in me, and I began to bleed rivers from many small holes that peppered my skin. As the duration of Holy grew near its end, I said, ‘Come on… Come on! The fate of Equestria relies on this spell!’. In the final waning seconds of Holy, the spell erupted explosively, sending the great fireball towards Levaresh, and upon impact the fire consumed him and tore his mountainous body apart.

When it all was said and done, me and Luna traversed the valley and proceeded towards the weapons. The weapons stood in grand cases, each ornate and bearing a plaque at the back. We walked first to the gun, which was named Kohai. The gun had a vibrant blue barrel of crystal, and the grip and stock were made of blackened rock. Upon the pedestal was written:

Kohai is the destroyer of lands. In ages surely now past, it was forged from sacred materials as an unholy weapon of war. It was made from the healing crystals of the temples used to heal the sick and pained, and from the fertile volcanic rock upon which food for the poor and destitute was grown. It mocked charity and kindness by using the tools of holy purposes to spread its abhorrent ways of massacre and violence. It was made in thoughts of hatred, when one pony named Abbot decided the petty conflicts of the world could not be settled in ways pleasing for him except through violence. For many years he used Kohai to rain hatred upon the world, but the weapon struck back in time. The holy materials in the weapon cried out in anguish from the blood they were forced to shed, and Kohai exacted the life of Abbot as a way to avenge the lost souls it was forced to take. Kohai is a sentient weapon, and if its user is not just in their ways, it shall take their life.

I looked to Luna and said, ‘Luna, go ahead and take these while I’m reading these plaques. This information could be valuable to us later in our journey.’. After Luna picked all five out, I moved on to the sword. The sword, as I had seen, was a long black rapier, much like Silemn’s, but with a far sharper blade. Upon the plaque read the name, Oblivion, and the inscription:

Oblivion was born in the Astral Plane, far from any of the mundane realms of existence. It was begat in Apocalypse and blessed by ruin, the elements it embodies. It was formed from an unknown metal, presumably something native to the Astral Realms. In the destruction of the realm it inhabited, it was cast away as a worthless token of the Astral Plane. Centuries later, it landed in a field far from any village or town that was known of. It rotted for many centuries more, neglected and alone, taken slowly by overgrowth and grasses. It grew rueful of its fate, and vowed the death of any who dare take it as a treasure of luxury, for it loathed those of better fate. Many ponies tried to claim it as a trophy for their luxuries mansions, but Oblivion instantly killed every single one of them, as it promised. After a long time of wrath, a homeless soldier came to lean upon the weapon. The weapon did not know what to do, for it had not been taken, and it clearly saw the one leaning on it was dying. It was someone just as neglected… and Oblivion allowed the soldier to keep it. On the soldier’s deathbed, Oblivion abandoned the planet to search for a better home. It is a bitter sword, and will allow itself in no hands but those of the utterly miserable.

It sure sounded the part for me… So I’m glad I got the sword that happens to be as miserable as me. I moved on to the next weapon. According to the plaque, the name of this weapon was Firebrand. Unlike Rarity’s previous weapons, this appeared to be only a single ringblade. It appeared to look like fire, but it was metal that was the same colour and shape as flames. Its inscription read:

Firebrand is the blade of fury, born in anger and pain. Long ago, a baker had a thief take every single thing from his store. When the baker found this out, he was in complete rage. So he used his oven as a forge to make a weapon, one that he poured every last drop of malice and bloodlust in his heart into. He did not know how to make blades well, so he bound the blade together by dipping it in a souvenir he got from a friend in Cloudsdale: red Spectra. The weapon was graceless and malicious, make so quick it barely had set. The baker tracked down the thief and sliced a mortal wound in the thief. The baker confronted the thief, and the thief explained sorrowfully that he only did it because he needed food for his family to survive. The baker did not listen, nor did the baker care. The thief begged for his life, tearfully apologizing to the baker and saying he would give anything the baker wanted to make things right. The baker said to the thief that if he killed him, only that would make things right. Right then and there, he murdered the thief in cold blood, and Firebrand became a weapon of murder. Eventually, the baker was hanged for his wicked deed, and Firebrand was sent far away, so its evil could never rise up again. Firebrand embodies death and violence, and if it goes a week without blood, it will kill its wielder.

The more I read these, the more I started to realize that if any of us deviated from where our mission was, these weapons would kill us. I walked over to the fourth weapon, which was named Okos. It was a great wooden staff with bands of metallic studs lining it, and its inscription said:

Okos was born in shame and fear, away from the civil world. It was crafted by a vicious band of ex-mercenaries, and each would take turns using it to lay waste to caravans that carried great shipments of gold and jewels. Eventually, one of the mercenaries realized it could be used to eliminate his associates, making the amount of money for him as high as possible. So in the night, he clubbed his comrades to death, and he set out to raid caravans alone with his potent weapon. For decades he brought terror to caravans, each of which fell despite having fortified armaments and incredible defenses. This continued until the mercenary retired in wealth, and he mounted the weapon as a trophy above his fireplace. But Okos grew agitated with its disuse, because it desired the feeling of greed. So one night, when the mercenary sat in his favorite chair at the fireplace, Okos broke the hooks it was mounted with and it crushed the mercenary’s spine, killing him. The weapon then passed from thief to thief until one wielder battled in too difficult a fight and was slain, leaving Okos abandoned. Okos is an avaricious weapon, and it will only fight with one who has prosperity or riches to gain.

I kind of laughed at that one. Spitfire sure has a LOT of money to gain with her line of work. I walked over to the final plaque, and saw the last weapon was named Sefyr. It was a long platinum rod adorned with thin golden bands studded with four rubies each along it and a double-barbed spearhead made of diamond at the end. Its inscription read:

Sefyr was forged in the icy mountains, in remote parts unknown. It was formed from treasures, and made by time in a cave. It was forged slowly as the parts comprising it were frozen so much that the permeating frost bound them together permanently. It laid in the cave for an unknown length of time, before a climber took it and decided to take it home as a treasure. Along the route home, he was attacked by a band of highwaymen, but instead of using the weapon in battle, the climber took it and ran away. He escaped unharmed, but Sefyr was enraged by his cowardice. It did not feel it was right to patiently wait for a hero when it was taken by what it saw as a weakling. So Sefyr punished his cowardice by freezing him solid for all eternity, a fitting punishment for his deeds. The weapon was later recovered by an adventurer, and it passed from hero to hero until was lost at the remote death place of its last wielder. Sefyr is a weapon of courage, and if it is wielded by one without the heart to fight, it will freeze them as an eternal punishment.

Luna looked to me and said, ‘Ready to go, Rainbow?’. I hesitantly said, ‘Yeah, I’m ready, Luna. Let’s go back to the others.’. With that, Luna opened up the portal to Equestria and we were on our way back to help Twi and the others. I had a bad feeling help was going to mean rescue, however…”

CHAPTER XVIII: DEUS EX MACHINA

The last few hours felt like a blur… I remember running to find Silemn, but passing out without explanation. The world had become dark, and I saw clouds of miasmic smoke pass over us as my failing vision blurred, slowly drawing me to the drowned darkness of unconsciousness.

When I awoke, I found myself in a field, unable to move, chained to a machine that had forced many needles into me. When I looked around, I saw my friends had met a similar fate. Silemn stood in the center, taking pride in this brutal machination and upon noticing me awake, he said, “I see you are awake… That is good. It shows my Sleep spell was not too powerful.”.

I said, “We… know what you are. We have heard the tale of the Lendario.”. Silemn laughed heartily and said, “Oh, have you? Let me tell you, you know so little of the tale. I am not some mere priest of Loas… I am the king of the Hay’zhhm… the only one powerful enough to withstand the destruction of the Planet.”.

Silemn continued, “I drew power from the eight stars of Loas, indeed, but there was no supernova that destroyed Loas. When I exhausted the stars, I started consuming the lives of every Lendario… and in time, the planet itself. I wandered the universe, and found this planet of yours in time. I brought much of this world to ruination, but the Elements of Harmony soon were created in a unified effort to completely destroy me. They left me weak and nearly powerless, and I was banished to a meteor for my actions. Now I come to make all right.”.

Spitfire said to Silemn, “What have you made right? All you have done is destroy!”. Silemn turned to her and said, “I have come to eviscerate this wicked and evil planet.”. I said, “We aren’t wicked! All we practice is love, kindness, and peace!”.

Silemn said, “I have come to abolish the unholy concepts you practice: Love, tolerance, peace, kindness, compassion, and mercy. Through the coddling of souls, no one is made stronger. I shall bring strength to Equestria! I shall bring forth the rain upon this planet! And your blood shall grant me that power… The power to heal this land!”.

Clearly he had a very different system of good and evil. Was this in his nature or was this the way of the Lendario? I am not sure, but I knew our time drew thin, as Silemn extracted vials of our blood from test tube racks in the machines, and he poured the blood on his flesh, presumably to integrate it with his body.

Silemn then breathed in, as his veins blazed a fiery red with the blood of me and my friends. Silemn exhaled slowly and said, “The power I have is soon to be complete and whole. I shall save your kind from its ungodly ways… save you before it is too late. In the blood of you and your friends shall dawn a golden age.”.

Silemn walked to a combine that was in the field, and ripped the blade clean off of it. It was a crude yet brutal weapon, a four bladed sword of malice and pain. Silemn walked to Scootaloo and said to the helpless pegasus, “And who shall be the first victim? You.”. Silemn then buried the combine blade into Scootaloo’s head, killing her instantly. Everypony stared in horror at the nonchalance this brutal killing was delivered with, and Silemn said, “The weak do not belong in my world… they are rejects in my vision. This was the first time this worthless child was still enough for me to eliminate her.”.

Spitfire yelled at Silemn, “You’re wrong! My daughter was strong… and she had every reason to live! You had no right to take her life!”. Silemn cut the chains on Spitfire and said with his blade to her neck, “Prove me wrong, then. Let the worthy live, let the weak die. To the victor lies the right to judge.”.

Spitfire grabbed her pole from the side and tripped Silemn with it, before going on a merciless attack against him. With every moment, Silemn responded with perfection. As the battle wore on, Silemn said, “A fight born in rage is one where mistakes abound…”, and when Spitfire missed a strike, Silemn threw his blade at her, impaling her and pinning her to the combine out in the field.

Silemn said, “Do not feign a sense of power. You are not fighting a simple beast; you are fighting a being forged in the fires and flames of murder, genocide, and war. The least of my kind could have enslaved your planet… And you face me, the mightiest of the Lendario. So bid farewell to your planet, for it shall be your grave!”.

As Silemn finished, I saw Rainbow Dash and Luna rush in to save us, throwing the legendary weapons they found in Desolation at our chains, freeing us. Rainbow Dash held Oblivion in her hand and told Silemn, “It ends here and now. I will not have a second of mercy in this fight.”. Silemn gazed at the blade of Oblivion and saw its extraordinary aura. The blade was one of desolation and pain, and it drove Silemn to rage. In his explosive anger, he felt his risen form come to the surface, and he was driven to madness by the emotional power of the sword.

Silemn’s facial twitch resurfaced, and his anger was only indicated by an explosive roar of vicious wrath as he transformed before our eyes into the monster he was before. Silemn slowly walked towards Rainbow Dash and looked at her. Me and Spitfire motioned to the others not to attack, as we had no idea what power Silemn held.

Silemn flew into a rage and picked up Rainbow by the chest, crushing her with his hand. As he tightened the force of his grip, electricity ran through Rainbow’s body, slowly killing her. Silemn said heartlessly, “Vous être vil ... vous vous tenez comme un monument de les péchés de votre espèce, lorsque j'avais présenté la lumière! Je vous ai donné le monde à votre type, et que vous rejetez à poursuivre vos maux!”.

The very power around Silemn was indescribable. As his rage furthered, the power he released summoned a massive cyclone of Aeroja, which began to uproot whole slabs of the earth around us. As Silemn drew the lifeblood of Rainbow Dash into his veins, his scales became black as soot and blood began to flow from his mouth as he said, “La force est que en vie en no Coeur… En on… en on ça en tout mon corps!”.

When he finished uttering those words, Silemn blasted Rainbow away with Ultima and he turned to walk back to Canterlot. Rarity said, “If you wonder what he was saying… he stated that the end has begun. Our world shall soon be destroyed… because Silemn shall become a god.”. At this, we all headed for the Tower of Canterlot.

CHAPTER XIX: ABADDON HAS COME

When we arrived at the top of the Tower of Canterlot, we saw Silemn floating above the ground, the Elements of Harmony orbiting around him. Applejack said, “Shoot, we’re too late!”. Unfortunately, I realized that was the truth… Silemn had everything he needed to transcend mortal form: The Elements of Harmony and the blood of those who bear their ways.

Silemn said, “You are correct, child. And you now shall echo in time as the failures of your race, should I ever divulge to my other victims the details of your existence. How suiting it would be if the torch carriers for those who erased my name from history should become but forgotten dust and ashes themselves. Now… now you will witness true power!”.

Silemn drew the power of the Elements of Harmony into his blood, and as the symbols and glyphs drew to the core of his heart, Silemn became a blur of light. An explosive flare blasted outwards from him, setting the air ablaze. When we could see once more, we beheld the form of Silemn in godhood.

His sinew had become the thick twisted bark of a yew tree of ancient times, he developed eight great wings of azure crystal, and his veins became cyan crystalline vines that twisted and sprawled across his being, carrying blood made of pure magic. His teeth, eyes, claws, and the membranes of his wings became the same crystalline forms, and he bore an aura of Apocalypse about his body. Everything about him was of nothing less than pure power and magic.

Silemn stayed silent for many moments, giving no indication as to what he would do. Finally, after a long time, he spoke the words, “Il est fait. Le pouvoir de tout coule en moi. Je vais prendre sa revanche sur votre genre, et je vais vider votre course pathétique ... Il ne vaut rien économie. Il doit être nettoyé tous les rééquilibrer l'univers.”.

Silemn drew the power and life of Equestria into his body, leaving all to ruin and waste. In this, he killed the Sun and the Moon, the animals of the world, everything… from the greatest of dragons to every last blade of grass. The world was turned into the world of Desolation, as the barrier between Desolation and Equestria was eviscerated by Silemn’s power.

When Silemn drew all the power he could, he released the most power spell of them all… one simply known as The End. As the world was being destroyed, Silemn laughed and said, “Insensés! Insensés! Quels imbéciles que vous êtes horribles! Je suis assez puissant pour anéantir cette planète en clin d'œil ! Si vous ne contre-attaquez pas, je vais la réduire en poussière !”. In a brilliant flash of light, we had witnessed the death of everything we knew…

END OF PART FOUR

PART V

CHAPTER XX: THE FINAL MAELSTROM

The four of us stood before the ruins of our forgotten world. The earth had turned to sandy loam, the sky was blackened by many tempests, and the world was dark. Time no longer existed in this world, and no life, be it animal or vegetation or pony, was anywhere. Our world was bound to Desolation once more, and the planet was covered in a thick aura of Apocalypse.

Silemn floated in the air, and, bewildered at our survival, said, “The End had come. I destroyed all of the life on this planet… Why do you remain here?”. Applejack mounted Kohai so she was prepared for battle and said, “It is in our will. We fight because we must. We must fight so the world does not die.”.

Silemn said, “Abandon the love of your futile planet. Look around you… I have killed all but you four. There is nothing to recover, because you have lost it all. Canterlot is now a mangled ruin of wrought iron and marble. I shall take everything… I shall inherit the universe unto my bloodstream. You have lost.”.

Rarity said, “So long as we can fight, we have not lost.”. Silemn laughed spitefully and said, “Then I shall quickly ensure your deaths…”, as he hurled Ultima towards us. We counter with five High level Esuna spells and destroyed it. Silemn laughed, “You think you can just defend against me? Your Spectra runs thin, and my power is endless.”.

Applejack said, “Then we go down fighting!”, as she starting firing Kohai off at Silemn, doing very little damage despite the power of the weapon. Rarity joined in, as she leapt off the tower and dug Firebrand into Silemn, gashing his hide and trying her best to hang on. I shouted out to Rainbow, “We’ve got to help! Grab Sefyr and Oblivion and fire on all cylinders!”.

Rainbow picked up the weapons, and leapt off the tower. Silemn starting weaving away from Kohai’s gunfire, and the weaving motion caused Rarity to be flung off of Silemn. Rainbow used the incoming Rarity as a makeshift step to vault off of, making her able to close the distance between her and Silemn.

Upon landing on Silemn, Rainbow started to viciously tear away at Silemn, slicing many of his wings to bits, barraging him with an endless onslaught of metal. Rainbow tried her best to move from the gunfire of Kohai and the blade of Firebrand, as well as the Firaja I was slamming Silemn continuously with.

Silemn became enraged, and the moment Rainbow came into view, he grabbed her and flung her forcefully at the tower, smashing the tile of the tower. Silemn said, “Enough is enough. Your weak weapons are merely irritating. The blood of a god will not be on your hooves this night!”.

Silemn summoned Tornado and blasted all of us off of the tower, as well as disarming us. Rainbow thought about the weapons on the tower, and said to me, “Twi, I have a plan. Get all the Spectra we have and follow me!”, as she dashed off towards the castle. I raided Applejack and Rarity of their Spectra and tailed Rainbow as best I could, though I was far from where I needed to be.

As Rainbow gracefully scaled the tower, I tried to clamber up to where she was. Needless to say, the body of an old librarian isn’t a fit one. Rainbow, as far past her prime as she was, still bested me with incredible ease. Rainbow waited for me, and pulled me into a room of the tower when I had caught up. I asked Rainbow, “Dash, please tell me you have a good plan… We don’t have much hope left.”.

Rainbow said, “The weapons we received were legends on their own, but the plaques I read indicated they shared common features and fates. They all were surrounded by violence and ill intent, their original wielders made grave errors that cost their lives, and they all represented facets of their destined wielders. We are going to combine the weapons into one great sword… Kohai as the pommel, Firebrand as the tsuba, Sefyr as the right part of the hilt, Okos as the left part of the hilt, and Oblivion as the handle and blade… they shall become one weapon.”.

Silemn heard us speaking and said, “You scheme in what you believe is the quiet. I tire of everything you and your kind are. I have given the chance for you to repent for your wickedness, but now I know this planet cannot be saved from its sin. So I shall end your world now, so that its darkness will fade away.”.

CHAPTER XXI: THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PLANET

We watched Silemn as he summoned energy through his veins to his hand, forming a white ball of fire. He hurled the fireball towards the ground, where it burrowed and destroyed the core of the planet. The tower and a great amount of earth below it went into freefall, before the sinking earth plugged up the hollow core of the planet. But time grew thin, for the earth was being boiled by the mantle of the planet, causing the planet to slowly collapse.

In the force of the event, Rainbow and I had been knocked out. When I came to, my vision was blurry, but I distinctly saw Rainbow before me. Her body was scarred, bruised, battered, and scraped. Every part of her was stained with blood. She asked me, pained, “Twi, you okay?”. I nodded, and sighed painfully at this turn of events. Rainbow said, “Don’t worry… it’s all going to be alright.”.

I asked Rainbow, “Tell me, how can everything be alright? We’ve lost so much… we have lost so many of our friends, we have nearly lost our own lives, and we are sitting here on a planet that is about to die. Unbelievable… this all started with trying to get a book shipment, and now I am laying here… the planet is dying and I am slowly sinking to my fiery death. How did it all go so wrong?”.

Rainbow said, “I don’t know. Years ago, we had such passion in our lives… but where did that end us up? Twi, strange things happen with destiny… all this hurt had to happen for a reason. We went in our downwards spirals, but each of our miseries was what led us to this important path… to save the world. Without these pains and these suffering that transpired, we all would have died by the hand of Silemn. Look at the unity we once had as friends… and look at how every bit of that is worth fighting for.”.

I told her, “Rainbow… I don’t want to die. Not like this… forgotten and alone.”. Rainbow laughed, put her bloodied hand on me, and said, “Twi, trust me, you aren’t dying alone here. If you die, I die. I’m sure not happy about it, but what happens… happens.”. As she finished, I heard a loud creaking sound, and the tower suddenly collapsed, smashing the floor and ceiling when it landed hundreds of feet into the dark abyss below.

CHAPTER XXII: CHOICE IS NOT ALWAYS FINAL

When I awoke, I saw something amazing… a true stroke of grace. I pointed above and said joyfully, “Rainbow, look! Look!”. Rainbow looked to the ceiling and saw exactly what I saw: The weapons. Rainbow said, “This is perfect! Now we just need to get them.”.

I felt something off though… I was laying not on stone, like Rainbow. I was laying on dirt… the same kind that had been collapsing this whole time. When another slab of dirt had presumably melted below, I would fall into the mantle of the planet. I felt my body slipping, and I said, “Rainbow?”.

Rainbow looked over as the dirt collapsed from under me, and I was starting to fall, Rainbow grabbed my arm with her hand. Rainbow said to me in panic, “Hold on, Twilight!”. I looked below at the mantle, several hundred feet below me, and said, “Do you really think I have plans of letting go?”.

Rainbow said, “It’s alright, I will save you!”. I simply said to her, “No, you need to get the weapons… It’s a sacrifice you need to make. I beg you, Rainbow Dash, save the planet!”. Rainbow’s face was etched in fear as my hoof started to slip, due to the slippery blood on Rainbow’s hand.

Rainbow said, “I can’t do it, Twilight. I have let too many ponies die. I’m not letting anypony else die. I’m tired of having lives on my head… ponies that died in vain. I hear their pain and agony every night… I see their horror and their screams of anguish and fear every night in my dreams. For eight years, I have been haunted by the revenants of their memory, the forgotten and the obscure who sit in unmarked graves. I will not let that happen to another one of my friends… You shall not become a memory!”.

Rainbow then yanked me up, and I crawled over to solid ground. Rainbow then fired a Fira at the ceiling, causing it to disintegrate. The disintegration released the weapons, and Rainbow started to put them together in exactly the order she spoke of: Pommel, Tsuba, Right half of hilt, Left half of hilt, Handle, and Blade.

Rainbow held the awkward and massive weapon, but it didn’t stay that way for long. Soon, it became a bright white, and in a blinding flash, the sword morphed into a beautiful, graceful rapier. The pommel was an incredibly beautiful sapphire, the cup hilt was made of diamond with crisscrossing bands of wood with metal studding, the handle and blade became a dark amethyst, and from the back of the blade emerged many spikes that were much like saw teeth. Rainbow then said, “Let’s climb to the surface and end this… once and for all.”.

CHAPTER XXIII: LIGHT APPROACHING

We were well on our way to the top, slowly ascending by following the few stairs that remained and leaping from one pile of rubble to another. The task was long and arduous, and for the most part, me and Rainbow kept a pretty solid silence. But, me being me, I needed details on the plan that I knew admittedly very little about.

Rainbow somehow sensed my confusion, and said, “The blade is a legendary blade named Kanyo. It is a seven foot rapier by now, one foot for every weapon in it and one foot for every five millennia since it was forged. The power of the blade is incredible, but it is not enough to defeat Silemn alone.”. I asked, “If it is not powerful enough, what would make it powerful enough?”.

Rainbow responded, “A while back, I mixed up 350 Spectra vials in our Apothecas… the amount needed to make to be able to cast one Forbidden level Apocalypse and one Forbidden level Ultima. That is where you come in. You will load the vials up into your Armariums, and you will cast Apocalypse and Ultima at each other, making the spell Rapture. When the spell Rapture forms, you will fire it at Kanyo, and Kanyo shall beam with pure magic. Then I will kill Silemn.”.

I asked, “Why didn’t we do this earlier, then?”. Rainbow said, “It’s not just that we didn’t have Kanyo… I do not know of anyone who has the power to cast Rapture. I had to make sure you were ready. Even so, I’m not sure you will live through it. Do you understand what I mean?”.

I nodded to Rainbow Dash to show my understanding, and we continued on up the tower. I don’t know what has transpired on the surface, but I assume someone as cocky and arrogant as Silemn would simply be waiting for the destruction of the tower to complete. Though, it is hard to say he is vain, as his power is difficult to overestimate.

We slowly but surely made the way to the top. Before we stepped to the outside world, Rainbow told me, “Twi… I may be good at heart, but so long as I am unredeemed, I am not worthy of honour by anyone’s name. I just want you to know that we may not make it out of this alive… but if I am to die and you are to live, do not display my tombstone in valour.”.

I responded, “I understand, Rainbow. I just hope this works…”. With that, me and Rainbow walked out of the tower and went to the ruins of Canterlot. Silemn saw us and yelled out, “Why won’t you die? Give up! This wretched land is not worth fighting for!”. Rainbow drew Kanyo and said, “If there is one thing I know for sure… it is that you are wrong.”.

CHAPTER XXIV: THE DEATH OF SILEMN – RAINBOW ACCOUNT I

“Silemn covered his body in the power of Aura, and said, ‘Dear child, do not say I am wrong. Prove it. Prove there is a single thing worth fighting for on this unholy earth and in this ungodly water. Prove your wickedness can triumph over my holiness!’. I tossed Twilight a bag full of Spectra vials and said to her, ‘Twi, load up all the Spectra and use the spells!’.

Silemn just was waiting, almost as if to mock what he thought was our impotent plan, for Twilight to load the fifty vials in. She asked me, ‘Rainbow, you ready?’, and I gripped Kanyo forcefully with my hand and hoof, saying, ‘I have been ready for eight years… Fire!’.

Twilight focused all her thought and energy as Twilight pointed the Armariums straight at each other. The power of Ultima and Apocalypse in their truest glory collided, releasing explosive amount of mystical energy that were hardly contained within Twilight’s force field that she had put up to direct the spells. The spells merged, and a beam of smoky bright blue wisps appeared… the sign Rapture had formed. Twilight then fired Rapture at Kanyo, the force blowing her body into the combine from earlier, which was hundreds of feet away.

I felt an unspeakable power flow through Kanyo as it gained an aura of blue fire. Bands of Holy surrounded the bladed, electrifying the very air around me. Silemn said to me, ‘A nice effort, but a parlor trick in vain!’, as he cast Ultima at me. When it came near, I just swung my blade in an arc to the side, and the Ultima erupted into a violent explosion upon hitting a mountain, and I returned to my previous stance.

Silemn yelled, ‘You malicious and sinful horse, why do you still fight? Why persist in a world that must be destroyed and reborn in the holy fires of light? Why do you defy me? Your cause means nothing, for you stand for NOTHING!’. And to me… the answer was simple.

I told Silemn, ‘You can destroy my body, and you can destroy my world, but you can NEVER destroy my heart! Deep inside, there is a flame in me that never goes out! I will always carry on, no matter what odds lie against me! I do not do this for glory, and I do not do this for honour, and I do not do this for recognition!’. Silemn asked, ‘Pray tell, child… why then do you fight me?’.

I took to flight with an iron grip on Kanyo and as I approached Silemn, I roared out, ‘I do it for forgiveness… and I do it because it is right!’. Silemn began to prepare to charge the most powerful spell he knew, Forsaken, so that he could kill the planet in a single blow.

Before Silemn could finish charging his spell, I swung Kanyo through his body vertically, shearing his body in two. As the corpse of Silemn slowly fell, it erupted into Rapture, and with a single blast of destructive force, it returned life back to the world. Everyone came back… animals, plants, and ponies alike. Even Scootaloo had been revived, as I could see.
The fire and smoke would soon clear to reveal a world that could be rebuilt. We had triumphed, but I was not rid of my chains… the guilt remained. When I landed back on the solid ground, I said to myself, ‘My price is not yet paid… There is still a life that must be rebuilt.’.”

CHAPTER XXV: THE SCALES REBALANCED – RAINBOW ACCOUNT II

“I walked toward the combine, to find Twilight lying on the ground… dead. Spitfire looked to me and said, ‘I am so sorry, Rainbow. Rapture killed her when she cast it.’. I did not respond, but merely gashed my arm on the combine blade Spitfire was impaled on, creating a large wound. Spitfire didn’t say anything, but just watched whatever I was trying to do.

I took off the hub cap of one of the wheels for the combine, sat it down, and let my blood drip into the hubcap. I started feeling very dizzy after several minutes, as I was processing my blood and turning it into orange Spectra. When I was done, I felt very weak, as I loaded the Spectra in my Armarium, filling it to the brim. The wound kept pouring out blood, but I didn’t care.

I focused all my will and power to cast Full-Life on Twilight. Then and there, the last of the Spectra was being used… With me would die the last pony who knew the secret of making Spectra without using Cloudsdale’s facilities, which were now in ruins. Time grew thin as my blood kept gushing out and my body became weak, but I finally was able to cast Full-Life and resurrect Twilight from her untimely death.

Twilight opened her eyes and looked at me. She said to me, ‘Rainbow, did we beat him?’. I nodded and said, out of breath, ‘Yeah, Twi… we beat him. Silemn is dead.’. Twilight saw my wound, and saw that I was dying fast. I said, ‘Don’t bother. We are out of Spectra. I used my own blood to make the Spectra needed to save you…’.

I continued, ‘Twilight, I’m leaving this world as we speak. Soon, I will join the fallen in death. I won’t be here to rebuild this world, and I’ll die with the knowledge I will never be able to see Equestria in its former glory again… Now that you live again, I am at peace. My guilt is no longer here; it is gone and I shall die happy. You, Spitfire, Applejack, Rarity, Scootaloo… all of you need to make this world ascend from the ashes… because I won’t be able to.’.

Twilight teared up upon hearing this, and as Spitfire weakly pulled the combine blade out of her own body, the two walked up to me and spent their time with me in my last moments. It felt nice to know others were there for me in my last moments of life… a life now complete in love and happiness.

The world started to grow black, and I said my final words, ‘When I die… remember me for all that I was: A loyal, honest friend.’. I hardly heard Twilight speak these final words to me, ‘And the only one who would die for what is right…’. I knew not what would be said of me and my life after I passed, but I know I could never have been the same.

I gave Twilight my last account of this part of our journey, and I hope one day that is put to pen and paper. Not in vanity, but in memory, that I may live on in the minds of others. My legacy is barren, but not fruitless. As the sound and the light faded, I drifted slowly into the tranquility of my seemingly eternal slumber until the Day of Judgment. In my last words, I say only this: My life was the price to pay to rebalance the scales… and I shall remain the Requiem of Ponies.’.”

FINIS