Groggy.

Sickening.

Whatever you wanted to call it.

The scene of the battle was littered with motionless bodies, all dead, all eyes pleading for help in their last breaths. The air was dry, as was the ground, yet stained red with blood. As the wind blew dust clouds across the tattered horizon the distinguished sound of booming thunder cackled across the sky like the world was sending a message.

A message of fear.

But, given the circumstances, maybe it wasn’t thunder.

In the center of the bloody scene was a raging battle between 3 of Equestria’s most powerful known beings, and one of the most evil things in the universe. Masgora was a dangerous being of pure dark magic. He possessed the ability to destroy matter itself. He had already massacred so many ponies and brought so much destruction across the land of Targiria; legend said that he was more powerful than Sombra himself, and not even he had the strength to take him.

Amidst the dust bowl were barely visible flashes of light from attacks. It was as though a mighty storm was erupting in this tiny space. If you had stood still, you could have memorized the pattern.

White.

Then blue.

Then orange.

Then black.

The sound of dynamite exploded through the area and the bowl erupted, tossing from it 3 alicorn mares.

One tall and white with a rainbow hued mane that flowed in the solar winds. Her flank with a plastered sun as a cutie mark.

Another, slightly smaller than the white one, blue with a dark flowing mane and a crescent moon overlaying a black splotch on her flank.

The last tan and just as tall as the white one. Their manes and tails flow the same but hers is tangerine, tiger, and fire. Her cutie mark a Phoenix with open wing and sparks flying in all directions.

Upon impact they tumble across the ground, sprawled on the dusty landscape. Covered in bumps and bruises, her fur red with cuts, the white one stands. The blue remains on the ground, panting heavily with her eyes closed, covered in almost twice the cuts and bruises. Her tiara cracked in several places.

The tan one also stands.

With adrenaline pumping through her veins, Luna tries to get back up but fails to do so as she plops back down into the ground.

“Sister please! Don’t push your self!” Celestia said, turning to her injured sibling.

“I-I can still f-fight!” Luna replied, attempting to get back up again, but failing a second time.

Meanwhile, Goddessera still had her eyes focused on the cloud, awaiting another attack.

Her attention never wavered from the cloud as all three failed to notice a dark beam charging behind it.

But nearby a dark figure drew closer at top speed, noticing the danger that was about to hit the pony he cared so much for.

The shot burst through the dust, heading right for the last princess on the ground. An instant before contact, the figure took the hit square in the chest, sending him toppling across the ground. He was knocked unconscious but for all Luna knew, her husband had just been killed.

“No!” Luna cried, witnessing Nova’s body kicking up dust as he came to a sliding halt. “No! Please Nova! Please!”

Luna’s heart sank as no response came from her husband. Celestia and Goddessera were shocked by his actions. Despite him being the head of the Night Guard, Luna had told the bat pony to stay behind, he hadn’t, and he paid the price for it.

Goddessera’s attention was returned to the cloud as a loud roar erupted from it and a tall black stallion emerged, looking to be in perfect health, and landed a safe distance from the princesses.

His body was shrouded in a purple aura, making it near impossible to see his face, but red eyes burned back at Goddessera and Celestia. His gaze fell upon Nova’s body, and a soft smile cracked when he saw Luna inching towards her husband.

Celestia could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She was terrified but was attempting to remain calm for the sake of her little sisters. Her eyes locked on the monster that was across the way.

“Goddessera, stay with Luna and Nova, make sure their safe.” She said, “I’ll take care of Masgora.”

Goddessera’s ears perked up, attempting to process what she had just heard. “What!? He’ll kill you! You know how dangerous he is you can’t do this alone!”

She was right. Fighting him head on would be futile; Celestia used every magic spell and attack on him but none of it had fazed him, he seemed to take it all like it was nothing. She wasn’t even sure for herself that she could defeat him. No! She refused to let her doubts and fears stop her. She will defeat him, even if it kills her.

“I know...”

Celestia took slow steps towards the dark stallion, and he too, did the same. Goddessera watched as the two stared at each other; waiting for one of them to make the first move.

The wind that had been relentlessly blowing halted its assault.

Silence.

Eerie, unprecedented, silence.

Celestia’s hoof scratched the dust, she lowered her head, and yelled, charging at Masgora.

They met in the middle and with great force, crashed into each other. A shockwave, remanent of the impact, blew through the area, knocking Goddessera off balance.

Struggling to regain her composure, Goddessera stumbled backwards until she was right in front of Luna, who was clinging to her unconscious husband on the ground.

Celestia reeled back and threw a hoof at Masgora, but missed as the dark stallion rolled to the side. He locked his hind legs in position and kicked her hard in the waist, sending her screaming through the air.

Spreading her wings to catch air, Celestia winced at the pain. She was given almost no time to recover as a beam of dark energy fired up at her. Instinctively she fired back, gritting her teeth.

The beams pushed against each other until they exploded. Celestia gasped for air having the wind knocked out of her. Her eyes widened as she saw the stallion take off towards her and ram into her. The two fought fiercely, flying up into the clouds.

Goddessera watched as the battle intensified and the beams appeared more and more frequently through the thick of the clouds. Suddenly, she heard Luna’s trembling voice. “Dessie...” Goddessera turned to face her little sister, and saw tears flowing freely down her cheeks. “He’s dying! Do you have enough magic!?”

Goddessera looked at Nova, and the purple wound that was spreading across his chest. “I believe so-“

“Please help him!” Luna cried, “Please...”

Goddessera nodded and closed her eyes. Nova became surrounded by an orange aura, and the wound on his chest slowly closed, but the bruises remained. He was stable.

Goddessera noticed his eyes open a little. He looked over at Luna and mumbled, “Hey... sorry.” Luna slapped him with her hoof. “Yeah, I deserved that.”

Luna smiled and buried her head into his chest. She looked up at Goddessera and smiled, “Thank you.”

Goddessera turned to see what had become of the battle and was petrified at the sight of Celestia falling towards the ground.

She kicked up a dust cloud as she hit, and was not able to recover as Masgora came down and slammed her harder into the ground. A small crater was the end result of the impact, and Celestia writhed in pain at the center, gasping for air in choked breaths.

Instantly Goddessera used her magic to retrieve Celestia and place her next to Luna and Nova.

Masgora turned to look at her. “Fools... to think that you, of all ponies, would dare to challenge me?”

“It’s over... for all of you.”

His dark aura began to grow bigger then ever before. A large energy ball began to grow out of his chest, aimed straight at the four ponies.

All four of the ponies watched in horror as the energy ball grew bigger. Both Luna and Nova closed their eyes and held each other tighter, Celestia stared at it from afar once again tried to get back up but her legs and hooves gave out from under her.

Goddessera watched as the ball got bigger, she tried to think of an idea to somehow stop all this from happening. But her mind was void of ideas.

She kept thinking and thinking but still nothing. She grew frustrated that she couldn’t think of any plans or a way to beat this monstrosity. Is this really it? Are we going to die... just like this? Beaten by a stallion that we couldn’t defeat?

No! There has to be another way; there’s got to be a way to stop him... but what!? If only I had another spell that could really help this situation.

Wait... there is.

There is only one spell, that could end this; but it is a spell that Celestia warned Luna and I, ever since we had discovered it, never to use, especially in battle. Only she had known it’s dark properties.

Although Goddessera didn’t like the idea, knowing that she’would never see her sisters, her husband or even her already born child, again. There was no other way, and so... she only had one option.

She turned to face Celestia and Luna and smiled at them.

Celestia noticed this, and raised her head to look at her sister, a bit surprised that her sister was smiling.

“Goddessera?”

She didn’t respond but kept the expression on her face. She walked over to Celestia and hugged her gently, she continued to stare at her not understanding what she was planning.

“Celestia. Thank you, for being my big sister,” she paused to fight back the tears. “Please... look after my son for me... okay?”

The Phoenix mare pulled away and took a few steps back from the three ponies. Celestia started getting worried, and when Nova opened his eyes, he to was confused at the situation, then Luna took notice as well.

The three spook almost in unison.

“W-Wait? What’re you—“ Nova first.

“Goddessera, don’t!” Then Celestia.

“Dessie..?” And Luna.

Goddessera’s wings spread and she smiled at them once more as tears were flowing down her cheeks. All three of their hearts sank when they heard the last words escape from the Phoenix pony’s lips.

“Goodbye...”

Her wings lifted her off the ground before she rolled her body around and flew straight at the dark stallion, full speed. The energy ball was finished growing and he shot it straight at her. Goddessera’s right hoof began to glow and an orange aura of Phoenix flames surrounded her hoof before she shouted;

“Solar Flash!”

She lammed her hoof at the ball with all her might, and it disintegrated quickly. This surprised Masgora; not only her speed but how strong she was, he didn’t have time to react and at once the Phoenix pony had her hoof placed over his heart. No matter how evil it was, it was still there.

“Great stone!”

Masgora couldn’t move. It was as though his body was frozen, but what made him more shocked was that his body was slowly starting to turn rock like, from his hooves, his legs and all the way up to his body. He struggled but there was no use fighting at this rate.

“You!” He glared at Goddessera. “What did you do to me!?”

She didn’t reply, she just stood there and watched as half of his body was turning to stone. When it reached to his neck he couldn’t move anything but his face, he Let out one last roar before it faded away slowly. Finally, once his entire body was turned to stone, a sky blue aura shrouded him and in a flash, he disappeared. Masgora was gone.

Then, Goddessera was to pay the heavy toll of the spell.

As her body slowly turned to stone, a little dot of flames started pouring out of her body until it flew in the air and into the sky heading straight north. Goddessera smiled at the flames as they flew away.

“My dear boy. My job as the Phoenix... is done.”

The spell was going a little faster now as it had already reached up to her neck.

“Now... it’s your turn.” She said, before closing her eyes, tears falling down her cheek as she smiled before she too, was now completely turned into stone.

Celestia and Luna galloped towards her stone form while Nova slowly followed behind without trying to hurt himself more than he already was. Before Luna could hug her stone sister, just like what happened to the dark pony, her body was shrouded by the same sky blue aura and flash of light blinded them before it slowly faded.

And the middle alicorn... was nowhere in sight.

Celestia’s stood frozen, her eyes on the spot where she had stood. She was in complete disbelief at what her sister had done.

“She’s... gone” Celestia said, her mouth barely moving.

The three of them were quiet. None of them knew how to react to this.

Suddenly the three ponies heard the sound of wings flapping. A dark green Pegasus with spiky black hair landed right next to them, taking a minute to catch his breath.

He cleared his throat and stared at the three ponies.

“Hey! Sorry I’m late! I got here as fast as I could but those darn shadow creatures were in the way. But I’m here now and—“

His words were cut of when he noticed Celestia, Luna and Nova’s heart broken expressions, but that’s not what made him curious, it wasn’t their faces that made him worried. Somepony was missing, somepony he knew and loved.

“Hey, where’s Goddessera?”

The three ponies finally turned their heads to face him none of them knew what to say or how to put it into words. Their silence only increased the worry in the Pegasus.

“Why aren’t you saying!? Where is she!?”

Author's Note

————————My Note————————

Hey guys! I really enjoyed making this prologue with JetXPegasus. And there will definitely be more to this story with some bumps in the road along the way! Tell us what you think and leave a rating

—————————————This is Jet’s note———————

Hi everyone. I had a wonderful time doing this with Artfulcord; he’s a really talented writer and I hope you’ll all be here to read how this story will go! Anyway, enjoy!