The Hardest Fight...

May 10th, 2004

The bible refers to hell as a lake of fire, but for Maria, the foreboding clouds and sad winds of Antarctica suggested otherwise. This was the type of feeling she'd experienced many times over throughout her life, and this was how she wanted to confront it; alone. She hadn't even said a word about this task to Twilight. The scratch on her hand from a previous clown encounter was rough on her skin. As she wrapped her arms around herself for extra warmth, only two things were on her mind; securing Antarctica as the last safe place on Earth and her long-deceased brother, Brandon...

"I'm really concerned, Spike. I haven't heard anything from Maria since the radio call after our last mission."

"You can't expect a lot of talking from someone dealing with murderers everyday."

"She'd usually call me up every now and then, though. Something's wrong. I feel it in my bones. It makes me think of him."

"You mean that spooky stallion always hanging around Scootaloo?"

"Yeah; Harmonic."

"I can't believe it's been over three years since all that stuff went down."

"Maria and Harmonic seem to be cut from a similar cloth. I guess pain is inescapable in any universe."

"Hey, why don't you have him meet her?"

"I get the feeling he's got enough on his shoulders."

"What other options are there?"

"...I'll go."

"Do you think you can help if something's going on?"

"I know enough to at least try."

"So you're going?"

"Yeah."

"Be careful."

"Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Twilight teleported to Earth.

"Why are you here? This isn't your fight."

"Why would you come here without saying anything to me!? This is one of the worst places someone in your state of mind can be!"

"How would you know?"

"Because there's someone in my world that's a lot like you!"

"!?"

"I knew you weren't okay from the day I met you! The clothes, the hair; those were all dead giveaways!"

"Kind of small things to consider, don't you think?"

"Okay, so how about the fact you haven't raised your voice to me once!"

"..."

"See! I know the signs! I may rely a lot on logic, but I'm not blind!"

"I wasn't thinking clearly, okay?"

Twilight took a breath to calm down.

"I already knew that."

"I tried to stay calm, but goddammit, I wanted to give up."

"Why," Twilight demanded to know

"I lost my brother and murdered people in the name of justice. Many of them were just kids who got involved with a bad crowd. Some of them were probably threatened."

"There was no other way."

"How can we know that for sure?"

"Through the process of elimination. Reasoning with them didn't work, and you couldn't turn them in. That only left one option."

"Kill or be killed..."

"Exactly."

"It still weighs down on me everyday."

"How many years has it been since the first kill?"

"About three and a half. Why?"

"You made it this far, right? Why give up now?"

"Why not?"

"I'll tell you why not. In the last year, you've freed a lot of major cities from their control. You're one step closer to being done fighting."

"I don't think I'll ever be done."

"I do."

"Why put so much faith in me?"

"Because I want the same thing."

"You don't have to fight with me."

"I don't mean for me. I mean for you. I don't want you to be a killer anymore either. It's a very disheartening path to follow."

"...You're right. It's time we change the future."

"Yeah."

"Come on. Let's end this so you can go home."

Twilight nodded.

When Twilight returned to her castle, she received a note from spike. She had been summoned by princess Celestia.

"I felt a dramatic shift in the other realm," the princess stated, "What's happening over there?"

"It's Maria. She's made the choice to see this through to the end, and so have I."

"You can't possibly mean...?"

"Yes. We're ending this war."

"!?"

Twilight's face formed into a determined smile. Everyone's path was set, and the pieces were in place. Soon, the death and despair would all come crashing to a close.