The air was perfectly saturated with suspense. The wind blew in such a way that Twilight’s hair would sway in a truly epic style. Her eyes stared forward, boring into the one she was about to engage.
Zenith. Appropriately named Spirit of the Sun. A large, wispy being with glowing yellow eyes. His coat was silver, and wherever he went, he emitted a warming aura, heating up everything around him. His smirk was comprised of blindingly white teeth, and his mane seemed to be a physical embodiment of the sun itself.
“So this is what ponykind calls a defense?” asked Zenith, his voice bursting with power. “A powerless alicorn and her friends? Please. You’ll make me laugh.”
“Return my friends, Zenith!” yelled Twilight. Above her, a large ball of transparent yet opaque energy surrounded the five of her friends, entrapping them in the scalding hot atmosphere within. Twilight clenched her teeth, wishing for her friends to simply hold on until she could save them. “Or else I will have no choice but to use force!”
“I would love to see you try. I really would,” said Zenith, looking at the burning landscape behind Twilight. Unfortunately for him, all of Ponyville was evacuated before his rage-filled flames could descend upon them. “But I literally have many better things to do. That means ending the existence of everything on this worthless planet. If you are so eager to die, wait until then.” Twilight charged up a bolt in her horn, firing it at Zenith. It passed straight through him, crashing into the ground behind him. He roared in laughter at Twilight’s attempt.
"Why would you do such a thing?" asked Twilight charging up another bolt. "What has this planet or anyone on it ever done something to you?"
"Because, young mare," started Zenith, still immune to Twilight's magical efforts. "I am tired of being controlled. Every day, I am forced to rise and every night, forced to set. I should have free will over my own body, just like you do, should I not?"
"But this isn't the way to go about it!" yelled Twilight, charging up a very power bolt. She aimed and shot, blasting the wispy pony apart, only to have him form back again with a roaring laugh.
"My means are irrelevant. As are your attempts to stop me." Twilight shot a barrage of bolts.
“There’s more where that came from!” called Twilight, her horn glow with a warm purple light. She was digging deep to find the right spell, but she couldn’t. Transfiguration spells had no effect, freezing spells melted upon being cast. Twilight couldn’t fathom how to defeat an enemy of this caliber. With no help, a weary mind, and tired hooves, the last of Twilight’s magic sputtered out and fell to the ground. Her exhausted breaths were quickly drowned out by Zenith’s roars of laughter.
“It looks like you’re done playing around, little pony.” He rose above Twilight and the rest of the landscape, looking behind him at the mountain that held the capital city of Canterlot. “I am off to deal with more important matters. You may fight futilely or quietly contemplate your demise. The choice is yours.” And in that instant, he was gone, heading towards Canterlot at a speed faster than any train. Twilight fell on her flank, the depression of being rendered powerless kicking in.
“Cheer up, sugarcube,” came Applejack’s voice from above. Twilight didn’t even look up. “Don’t let that get ya down. We may not’ve faced this kinda stuff before, but that don’t mean we can’t do it.”
“Yeah, Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash. “Remember that one time we got swallowed by those killer crocs as big as a house, and you told us that we’d be fine?”
“N-No,” said Twilight.
“Well… if that happened, would you have said we’d be fine?”
“...Probably not.”
“”Good going Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity. “You’ve just made this situation, which, mind you, was already shoddy, even worse. I’d give you a 10 out of 10 on your tactfulness skills.”
“Nopony likes sarcasm, Rarity,” said Applejack.
“I like sarcasm,” said Pinkie.
“And I kinda like it too,” said Rainbow. Everypony in the bubble murmured their opinions about sarcasm before the bubble of energy they were confined in popped, letting them all crash to the ground. Twilight turned around to see them all slowly get up and dust themselves off before returning her eyes to the dirt in front of her.
“What Rainbow is tryna say is that even in tha face of danger, we gotta still try. Right girls?”
“I mean, sure,” said Pinkie, a curious glare replacing her usual cheery smile. “But don’t you know, Applejack? Sometimes there’s just nothing you can do. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can’t do it. Maybe Zenith wasn’t meant to be stopped, and maybe even if he was, there’s no one who could, and maybe—”
“I said,” interrupted Applejack. “We gotta try, right girls?” Pinkie’s smile returned to her face and she put her hoof up in the air.
“Let’s go blow his pop stand!” said Pinkie, striking the fuse on her party cannon, blasting confetti all over Twilight. She took a deep breath and ascended from her slumped position.
“You’re right, girls,” said Twilight, her smile returning. “We’ve got to do something! After all, who else is going to stop him?” Twilight pointed her hoof at her friends, who each placed their own hoof on top of hers. When Rainbow Dash put her hoof on top—after a few minutes of arguing with Applejack for the top spot—they all pushed their hands to the sky, whooping in excitement. “Okay. It’s time to show Zenith the power of our friendship!”
“How the heck did we get here so fast?”
Rainbow Dash’s question was ignored due to the much larger problem at hand. Encased in their own bubble, the two princesses Luna and Celestia were imprisoned and unconscious. Twilight stepped forward to confront Zenith once more.
“Here so fast, yet still late to the party,” said Zenith.
“I’m never late to a party!” yelled Pinkie. “I am the party!”
“I’m sure,” said Zenith. “Nevertheless, it is too late to stop me. Your useless flailing from earlier will be repeated here if you try.”
“Oh yeah?” said Rainbow Dash. “Well, we’re standing our ground, unlike your hairline.” There were a few moments of quiet snickering and hoof bumps before returning to serious times. Zenith sighed.
“Luckily for you, I’m going to let that comment slide,” said Zenith. “Now, watch as your faces drop into despair as I scorch the countryside and everything else on the face of this planet.”
“Not while we’re here, you won’t!” Twilight nodded at the girls and rocketed forward. With the five others at her back, she felt invincible. As she closed in on Zenith his smile widened, and he extended his hoof. “It’s over Zenith!”
“Try your be—”
An explosively loud pop echoed through the chamber combined with a large mass of smoke. Twilight and Zenith were equally confused. The smoke slowly began to thin allowing the 7 in the room to witness who had interrupted their epic showdown.
“Yeah, I think that’s about enough of this,” said a male voice. Out of the smoke emerged something only Twilight had seen before. A large disembodied hand stood before them, swiping away the rest of the smoke. “Sorry for the flashy intro.”
“What’s this?” asked Zenith. “Another one of your pony tricks?”
“I’m not sure what it is either…” said Twilight. “What are you?”
“In layman’s terms, I’m your boss,” said the hand. “And that goes for everyone here. Even those two over there.” The hand pointed towards the bubble encasing the princesses. “Now, the reason I’m here. Twilight, I am sorry to inform you that—”
“Enough of your antics!” yelled Zenith, anger creeping into his voice. “I’ve put up with enough of your tricks and other nonsense! I will bathe the planet in fire and there is no one who will—” The hand snapped it’s fingers, and Zenith lost his mouth. He searched wildly for it, finding nothing there.
“So rude,” said the hand. “Anyway, as I was saying. Twilight, your right to be the main character has been revoked. The heads up there made this decision after watching this charade.”
“W-What?” asked Twilight. “What do you mean my right to be the main character? Main character of what? Who are these heads up there?”
“I understand you must have a barrage of questions to throw at me,” said the hand, waving back and forth. “But I’m afraid I have to ignore all of them. I am a busy hand, you know? The last thing I have to say is that, for now, your stand-in will be the most capable and worthy of the role: Fluttershy.”
The others in the room turned their attention to their friend who had yet to say anything so far. She looked at them all back, cowering from their glances.
“A-Are you sure t-that I should be the one to f-f-fight?” asked Fluttershy. The hand moved behind her and pushed her forward.
“According to our viewers, you are the most popular,” said the hand. “So we thought, why not put her in the main character seat?” Fluttershy was now right in front of Zenith, who looked down on her with threatening eyes. “Now, action!” The hand disappeared, leaving them all to wonder what just happened. Zenith’s mouth reappeared a few seconds later.
“And what are you supposed to be?” asked Zenith, glaring down at Fluttershy.
“U-Um…” Fluttershy averted her gaze. “C-Could we not fight? Please? Can’t we a-all just get along?” Zenith grimaced and brought his hoof above Fluttershy’s head. He started to bring it down, surely going to strike Fluttershy. However, his hoof stopped right above her head. He was trembling.
“W-What is this?” he asked. “My chest… I can’t breathe…” Zenith fell to the ground, his hooves over his chest. The girls all exchanged looks of confusion before walking over to help. Before they could make it over, however, Zenith retreated to a small ball of light. The ball of light was then whisked away towards the horizon with no explanation. Everyone watched in awe until they realized the dangers of staring at the sun for too long.
“What happened just now?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“‘Ah think she killed 'em with her overbearing cuteness, as y'all would call it,” said Applejack. Everyone murmured some sort of agreement.
“Well, I hope everyone learned a very valuable lesson,” said Celestia, suddenly awake from her slumber. “Would anyone care to share that lesson?”
“I know, I know!” said Pinkie, waving her hoof madly. “Fluttershy’s face is as deadly as it is adorable!”
“Correct.” Celestia conjured a brown paper bag and stuck it over Fluttershy’s head. “It is now federal law for you to wear that bag.” Fluttershy sighed
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Author's Note
What even? I don't know, don't ask me.
