Black Sun

"The key to this whole plan lies in the fact that my magic has already interacted with the Tomb of the Gods. I should have minimal trouble casting this altered version of the spell as a result. If it works as intended, and I have every confidence it will, then the tomb's magic will be channelled into my own when I cast spells, allowing me to safely dissipate the safeguards while using magic inside it. I don't know how long it would take, but I believe I can ultimately neutralise the tomb's defensive powers and let you take definitive action against it."

Twilight couldn't help but feel proud. Celestia and Luna were sat on their thrones, studying her plans for the spells she'd created for this situation. Naturally they were untested, but she'd had the experience needed to compensate. Her magic had flowed alongside that of the tomb, felt how it had crept through the walls and touched the spirits of the lekli that slumbered within. In hindsight, that probably hadn't helped with her instabilities over the past few weeks. Now she had a chance to make up for it all though. A chance that was getting better if the curious looks on the princesses' faces were any indication.

"It can also help us bring Tantabus back," She continued. "She'll be aware of my opening the tomb within minutes. Everything indicates she won't be able to pass up a chance to get inside and find her means of overcoming us. She'll have to go through me to get it though, being forced to either flee or take on an opponent stronger than her in an environment, where she can't intimidate me into holding back or letting my other side slip into control. After all her setbacks so far, I can't see her turning tail at this point."

"This is, highly intricate spellwork," Luna commented as she studied the spell that would return Tantabus to her once the opportunity presented itself. The princesses had refined the original version offered to them and Twilight had made further adjustments during her earlier brainstorming. It was likely as good as they would be able to make it now. "The means of keeping Tantabus contained while she returns would need a lot of energy to maintain. Do you think it will work?"

"If I've made the connection before she arrives, then I should have no problem. If not, I'll likely be forced to incapacitate her first. And I'd rather not hurt Sunset any more than she has been already."

"Twilight, you never cease to amaze me." Celestia said as she lowered the other scroll and smiled warmly at her former student. Her own expression was one of cautious optimism, though it was clear she badly wanted to believe it would work perfectly.

"Indeed. I knew my refusal to lose faith would be rewarded." Luna added, passing hers back to Twilight in her magic. "You may proceed with the first part of the spell."

Twilight nodded and stepped up to her throne, looking over the scroll to quintuple-check the spell before focusing her magic. The grooves of her horn glowed with her deep pink aura, rising up its length before a spark jumped from the tip and onto Luna's chest, being absorbed on contact. The night princess jumped slightly at the sensation before relaxing again and looking down at the spot it had landed.

"Settling in place...Aaand done," Twilight confirmed as she stepped back. "That's the anchor point established. Once Tantabus is without a body again, she'll have no choice but to return here."

"Then you have truly offered us hope," Celestia told her thankfully, passing her scroll back as well. "The only question that remains, when can you reach the tomb?"

"I could go right now. I just need to do one last thing though, it wont take more than a few minutes."

There was a hint of understanding in Celestia's eyes as she nodded. Twilight did her best not to give any hint of the sudden dread she felt at that. She instead made her farewells to the two of them and made her way out of the throne room, taking her time closing the doors to look back at the princesses. They both looked happier than they had for some time. The sight dampened any lingering traces of doubt in her heart and replaced it with firm resolve. She wasn't going to fail this time.

As the doors were fully closed she sighed quietly and turned to leave, only to stop in surprise. She'd been so caught up in her thoughts and sights that she hadn't even noticed the trio waiting for her. Applejack, Spike and Aurora. Spike was the only one showing any visible emotion, watching her sadly while he thought the others weren't looking. She hadn't gone into detail about her plans in front of the others, but the look on his face told her that he'd figured out her intent and he wasn't happy about it. She couldn't blame him, none of them would be if they found out. That was precisely why she hadn't been able to tell them. If they had figured at least part of it out though, she couldn't stand there and lie to their faces. The silence between the four hung for several long seconds as she walked over and stood before them, her gaze slowly going from one to the next.

"You know...Don't you?" Twilight finally asked, hesitant to hear their responses.

"Yeah, we do," Spike told her. "Me and Applejack figured it out together. Aurora got there on his own."

"And that's why we're coming with you," Aurora added, determination in his eyes. "We've come too far now to lose anypony else because we're not fully prepared."

AJ and Spike exchanged glances at those words. At a guess, they had a different idea of what was happening then he did. And Twilight had a sickening feeling that theirs was much closer to the truth. She sighed slightly and looked them over, thinking how she wanted to phrase her response.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I want you and Spike to stay here," She told him, offering her scrolls to him. "If something goes wrong, and I wouldn't be surprised after everything that's happened, I want you two to lead the others afterward."

"Right, of course. Sorry. We'll let the others know what's happening." He replied quietly as he took them, mumbling to himself about the need for reserves as he glanced over the spells.

"Well, ah'm still going to watch your back," Applejack told her, stepping forward. The grim look on her face already told that she wasn't taking no for an answer. "If yer so sure of disaster coming screaming in, you're gonna need somepony to hold it off until yer ready to kick it in the keister."

Twilight looked back at her, weighing the options in her mind. Applejack certainly would be an invaluable help where they were going, especially with her strength. At the same time though, volunteering to act as a rear guard against Tantabus was a suicide mission...Though the more she thought about it, the more she realised that was no different to usual. Standing against Tantabus when she was Nightmare Moon must have looked like a suicide mission. So would Discord, and Chrysalis' army, Tirek, Ortasin...And yet none of them had ever wavered against any of those. What was one more between friends?

"You're completely sure about this?" She asked, unable to resist smiling a little when Applejack didn't even hesitate to nod. "Alright...It will be nice to have a familiar face beside me as I walk into the end."

"Good luck, both of you..." Spike said quietly. Despite being fully ready to go, Twilight found herself moving over to the dragon and wrapping her hooves and wings around his chest. He returned the hug in kind, resting his chin on her mane as he did. The role reversal of their younger years was not lost on her.

After a long moment she let it go and moved to Aurora, giving him a hug as well. He stood confused at first but returned it as well. Once she let it go, Twilight gave them both a last look before moving over to Applejack. No more words needed to be said between the two of them. She simply moved alongside before teleporting the two of them away. In an instant the well lit hallways of the castle were replaced by cave walls, illuminated by an ethereal white glow. A look to the left showed the cave exit, nothing visible beyond due to the rock wall on the other side of the canyon. To her right, the Tree of Harmony.

In a sense, this was where it had all began. Now it was where it would end.

Twilight slowly turned toward the tree, looking it over. Aside from the empty spaces the elements themselves usually rested in, it didn't look any different to usual. That was a small mercy The last thing they needed right now was Harmony being caught up in another crisis. While Applejack checked the entrance was clear she walked up to the tree and placed a hoof against it, silently ruminating on everything the tree, the element of harmony itself, had been involved with in her life. Then her eyes wandered to its roots and saw it. The entrance to the Tomb of the Gods, laying on the ground next to the roots as if it had always been there. Soon it would be gone though, either from its safeguards kicking in or from it being destroyed entirely.

She remained in place for a full minute, steeling herself for what was to come, before turning to see Applejack coming up to her. Neither of them said a word. An understanding between them had been reached long ago. Eventually Applejack smiled and offered her hoof out. Twilight grinned and hoofbumped her without hesitation.

With that final farewell made, Twilight turned back to the tomb entrance. Celestia had taught her the spell to open the invisible barrier and she had checked and triple checked she could cast it. The spark left her horn without trouble and landed on the opening, making the barrier pulse silver before disappearing. Now there was nothing but stone steps descending into the darkness between her and her target. She started down the steps and lit her horn to see as she advanced. This time there was nothing else she had to watch out for, nopony she wanted to protect within these walls. Today, Tantabus would face an alicorn with nothing to lose.

Familiarity hastened her steps, making her way down and through the dark entryway in half the time she had with Celestia. As she stepped into the open expanse of the main entrance, idly noting that all the damage done by Ortasin had been repaired since her last visit, the familiar sensation of powerful magic washed over her. On her first visit she had been too focused elsewhere to give it much notice. Now she was more attuned to the feeling. The fur on her back stood on end and her horn became highly sensitive. Nothing else was happening though, telling her the lekli within were not alerted to her presence. Caligo was nowhere in sight either, though she still knew too little about it to know what kind of a factor it would be. Right now though, she was free to act.

Twilight moved deeper into the space, into what she assumed was the center of the room. It almost felt like an entirely different world down here. There was no sound beyond her echoing hoofsteps, no scents in the air, no movement other than the faint traces of dust in the air. It was actually kind of serene. Once she was roughly in the center she sat down and closed her eyes, putting all her focus toward the first of her brand new spells. A tendril of white magic slowly rose up her horn, curling round the grooves, before rising up and into the ceiling above her. Another snaked down from the base of her horn, curling around her neck, splitting up at her chest and wrapping around each of her legs, her hooves glowing slightly as the stream ended at them.

She could already feel her connection to the tomb regaining strength. The magic of the ancient alicorns flowed like an ocean within the walls, her own a minor current being carried in the flow. That worked in her favour though. She was beneath notice as she let her magic spread throughout the complex, letting itself move alongside each type of magic and getting a feel for what was there. Her spell could easily weave its way into each of the others, turning the whole tomb into a gigantic battery for her magic reserves. One she could steadily wear down while duelling Tantabus.

All she needed was time to spread its reach.

Silence weighed heavy in the throne room.

Celestia and Luna both knew the other wanted them to break the tension, but neither of them were sure just how to. Both of them had felt the barrier being opened, knew that Twilight was inside the tomb by now. That also meant that Tantabus would be hot on her hooves. Much as they wanted to believe Twilight had the situation completely under control, experience had taught them to never take anything for granted.

"How did you do it all these years?" Luna eventually asked, managing a small smile as she looked to her sister's throne. "Just hanging back and resisting the urge to stand alongside Twilight?"

"Patience goes a long way." Celestia replied, cracking a grin of her own. Despite feeling at her lowest both physically and mentally, Luna's latest surge of resilience was finally rubbing off on her.

"I know. I can't help but feel that we're taking it a little far this time though. At the very least, we shouldn't be sitting alone and just waiting to see what happens."

Celestia nodded as she thought about it. After Twilight had left, she had given the order that the royal court be dismissed for the day in order for them to focus on what was happening. Instead, the lack of news was just leaving them on edge. That wouldn't do anypony any favours if trouble did break out. They needed something else to do, or somepony else to talk to in the meantime. She slowly stood up and stretched her wings.

"You're right," She admitted. "At the very least, all of Twilight's friends should be here. I shall see if Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Scootaloo are well enough to join us."

"And I will bring the others here as well." Luna replied as she carefully got up.

Celestia nodded and teleported away, leaving Luna to head out of the throne room. She privately hoped everypony was still in the castle, craving some slightly more optimistic company. She had been able to overhear parts of Twilight's discussion outside the doors though, and knew Applejack had gone with her. She silently hoped the earth mare understood just what she had volunteered for. Or at the very least, that she didn't suffer too much at Tantabus' hooves...

Heading through the castle wasn't any trouble in her current state and the halls were deserted, save for the occasional guard patrol. That was something she'd missed in all this: The vibrancy of the castle, almost always finding somepony to talk to as she walked. It allowed her to move quickly in comparison though, and before long she had reached the guest wing. Everypony in Twilight's group had been staying here during their research efforts and her belief they would still be there were reinforced when she saw Aurora standing outside one of the doors.

"Your highness." He said as he saw her approach, bowing respectfully. His teeth were slightly gritted though.

"Crystal prince," Luna replied, taking the formal approach for her response. "Is everypony else here?"

"Yeah, but..." Aurora glanced back as muffled voices came from the other side of the door behind him. "Deep isn't happy that that Applejack went with Twilight and, quite honestly, Spike's probably a better case for talking him down than I am right now."

"I see...May I?"

Aurora nodded and stepped aside, turning to face the door as Luna opened it with her magic. Almost immediately she could see the unfolding argument in front of her.

"But you let her go with Twilight! What were you thinking?!" Deep Note hissed as he hovered in Spike's face. The dragon stared calmly back at him, unflinching. It was clear from his posture that he knew the anger was simply out of the pegasi's desire to look out for Applejack.

"Alright, Deep, I think that's enough" Peace Walker told him, yanking his tail to bring him back to the ground. "Applejack's gone with Twilight, remember? There isn't a pony in Equestria who she'd be safer with."

"If she was facing down one of their regular beasts maybe. Not a monster like Tantabus!" Deep countered, ears flicking in anger. An anger that quickly fizzled out as he turned and saw Luna coming in. "Oh...I err..."

"It's quite alright. Your thoughts on her are not too different from mine." She reassured him, though he still looked cowed by her appearance.

As she looked round she could see everyone was there. Spike was now leaned back against a wall, completely unfazed. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had been hanging back and waiting to see how things played out. Peace had calmed herself down and was now looking round to make sure everypony was calm. Aurora seemed to be a better mood already and had stepped forward to join the others.

Satisfied that everyone she had been looking for was present and safe, Luna allowed her mind to wander a little. She wanted to believe that Twilight and Applejack had everything in hoof by now, but she had heard mention of a plan B. It may have just been extra security, but Twilight had seemed so confident in her plans back in the throne room. Just how likely did they think it was that something would go wrong?

Applejack stared at the opening her friend had descended into, taking the few moments of calm to think about the things that mattered. Of all the ways she had expected this to end, this particular way was not one of them. It didn't matter though. She had made her peace and would keep her promise.

She straightened up and walked over to the Tree of Harmony, placing a hoof on its trunk as she stared up at it. A small part of her remembered when she had first met Twilight, how she had thought something as wondrous as this was mere fiction. Just 'a lot of hooey', as she had put it at the time. Nowadays she had every faith in its ability to watch and protect. Twilight had once told her that harmony was an element all of its own. Now, after so many millennia, maybe it was something more.

"This might sound crazy," She said quietly, only half to herself as she stared at the space where the element of magic usually sat. "But if y'all can do anything to help me out here, I'd appreciate it...Would be nice t'see Deep one more time."

Applejack took her hat off and placed it at the base of the tree. Hopefully this way at least there'd be something of her that wasn't putting itself in danger. With nothing else to do she stepped back toward the entrance, pausing about a third of the way there. Her eyes remained locked forward, every toned muscle primed for what was to come. Roughly a minute later her ears twitched at the sound of teleportation. Then Tantabus appeared at the entrance to the cave and stepped inside at a quick and determined trot. A look of cold conviction was etched onto her face, a clear warning that she would hesitate at nothing to reach her goal. A look that Applejack returned in kind.

She would give Twilight what every hero needed when they walked into the abyss. A few more seconds to spare.

"Save yer threats," She told the unicorn, digging her hooves into the dirt. "Just know that ah'm gonna make ya work for every step!"

Tantabus stared at her, raising an eyebrow in what appeared to be equal parts disbelief and fascination. She never slowed her advance regardless, her horn glowing with magical energy until it began launching sparks of dark aqua.

"So be it." She growled, before firing.