It shouldn’t have ended like this...

We thought we could win... pull out victory from the narrow jaws of defeat like we had done so many times before. But we didn’t…

Now I’m lying here, holding him in my hooves as I watch him slowly flake away into nothing.

This isn’t fair. He had nothing to do with this! He wasn’t even supposed to be involved!

His breathing is starting to grow more heavy. Oh dear Celestia my eyes are feeling dry, I know I need to blink but I can’t bear to look away from him for an instant. This precious little creature who I had grown up beside, who I had personally taken part in bring into this world, was turning to dust in my grasp… and I could do nothing to stop it.

His lower lip quivers as he moves his gaze to catch mine. He whimpers at me, “Twilight… I don’t feel so good.” My heart almost shattered completely in that quarter of a second.

I hear heavy footsteps coming towards me, but I still can’t bring myself to look away from Spike.

“Spike…” I whimper, but I’m not certain he can hear me.

I hear a forlorned sign, one I recognized as someone I now hated with every fiber of my being. He spoke to me, his voice sounding deep and melancholy. From what he had told us when he had first arrived in Equestria, he had done this same thing to countless other races in numerous other realities. From the sound of it, one could assume the weight of these accomplishments were beginning to weigh on him, but assumptions aside, it wasn’t nearly enough for me to want to show him any sort of pity.

“I am sorry…” I heard him say. “...for what it’s worth, let me tell you that I understand. I know the type of loss you are feeling… better than almost anyone else. You can at least take comfort in the fact that his sacrifice, as well as the sacrifice of all the others, will finally bring about perfect balance to your universe... perfect harmony, if you are feeling more poetic.”

I feel so angry I could spit. I wanted nothing more then to antomize him with the strongest spell I could muster. Let him know what it felt like to be erased from existence! But I couldn’t leave Spike, not now, not when he needed me most.

“YOU SON OF A-” I hear Rainbow’s voice blast out of the heavens before being silenced by a slap. The two began saying more words to each other, but I wasn’t paying attention. If I were in a better state of mind, I might have told Rainbow Dash to run away, to not fight him because our powers where no match for his. But Rainbow has always been a fighter to the very end, she wouldn’t give up even if everything she cared about was destroyed, instead of just half… maybe even less than that. Somehow even despite all that was going on, all that had happened, my mind went back to this morning where this when it all started.

It started like any other day, Celestia raised the sun without issue, Spike was cooking breakfast, and the map wasn’t showing any friendship problems needing to be dealt with. It seemed like the perfect day to hang out with the girls, or lounge about the castle library and read.

But then Spike came to me with an urgent letter from the princess, and from there everything changed.

The letter told me about an alien visitor appearing in the fields shadowed by Canterlot Mountain. It said he had arrived through a portal with amagical signature so great, that even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were hesitant to approach him.

He called himself Thanos, the Mad Titan, and told the princesses that he had fused our universe with his own and another. He explained that he had done this to multiple universes before ours, and offered to them an ultimatum… meet him at sunrise tomorrow morning or he would kill half of all living things within our universe.

At first, the princesses thought he was insane, no one could of had that much power. But then he clenched his golden fist, and the sun began to move on its own.

It sped by faster then what was usually expected for an average day, but still slow enough for appeal time to be given to his opponents to come up with a strategy in order to fight him. He clearly didn’t want to have his time wasted.

It was from there that Celestia and Luna assembled the most abled-bodied defenders they could find. Myself, my friends, Princess Cadence, the Pillars of Harmony, even Discord and ex-Dragonlord Torch were called upon to discuss ways of dealing with this Mad Titan.

Our only advantages were that he seemly didn’t know a thing about our capabilities. His ability to move the sun didn’t tell him that Celestia could do the same, so if we could manage to surprise him with the Powers of Harmony or Discord’s near limitless abilities, we might have a chance of defeating him. Unfortunately for us, we were also much in the same boat. We knew next to nothing about Thanos’s abilities as he had walked back through the portal after issuing his challenge. We could only assume they were incredible based on the feat he had already accomplished with such a meager gesture.

Eventually the hour of our duel came about. We wished to have as few casualties as possible, so it was decided that me and the girls would use the Powers of Harmony first to blast Thanos before he could launch any major offensives. When we arrived at the location as where the Princesses met Thanos, he was quick to take note of numbers. He wasn’t at all surprised by the amount of us, and in fact complimented us on how wise we were to bring so many. That fact that he felt the need to say this did not help to put any of us at ease.

Princess Celestia requested that we relocate the battle to a different barren location away from any inhabited civilizations, she nor the rest of us wanted any onlookers getting hurt during the heat of our fight. Thanos agreed, to which Torch offered an uninhabited craigy mesa in the center of the Dragon Lands to act as the battleground. Again Thanos agreed.

For the next few moments he only stared at Torch, almost as if staring through his body and into the depths of his very soul. Within an instant he lifted his hand and clenched his fist, enveloping us and the surrounding area within a dome of black almost-cosmic energy. Once we could see again, we found ourselves standing in the craigy mesa that Torch had described. Torch, as well as the rest of us, blinked in disbelief. It was almost like he had plucked the location clean out of Torch’s memory and used it as a map to teleport us, the grass, and the few surrounding trees straight to the area. What little confidence we had left was slowly beginning to die.

Thanos offered to use the first move, which we greedily accepted. In an instant the girls and I transformed in a bright flash of rainbow light. Colors swirled around us as we rose into the air, our manes began to grow longer, and our hooves and bodies started to become covered in ornate designs. Thanos looked more confused than he did afraid upon seeing our changed appearances.

Before he could make a move, we fired every ounce of our power straight at the Mad Titan. We couldn’t spare any amount against this threat, if we did we would be risking the fate of not only half of all the creatures in Equestria, but half of all the lifeforms in our universe.

The amount of energy we fired kicked up a large cloud of dust that completely blocked Thanos from our sight. We expected to see him frozen in stone, beaten and broken, or in chains and on the way to his Tartarus when the smoke finally cleared. We weren’t expecting to see Thanos absorbing all the energy we fired into his gauntlet before firing it back at us with an equal if not even greater amount of force.

The attack didn’t hurt us, it was our own magic after all, but it did knock us back and revert us to normal. We fell to the ground in a daze, much to the surprise of the princesses and the other fighters on our side.

Thanos examined his gauntlet and grumbled in displeasure, in fact he looked down right disappointed. He motioned for someone to attack him again. Nobody moved, they were all to preoccupied checking on those of us who had been knock to the ground.

After checking on Fluttershy, it wasn’t too long before Discord stepped up. With anger in his eyes, he snapped his fingers and the entirety of a mountain fell atop the Mad Titan’s head. For a moment we were all relieved, thinking we had won, only to see the mountain change into a gigantic swarm of stone-colored butterflies that flew into the sky and out of sight. Thanos was standing in the middle of it looking none to impressed.

Discord blinked and started to growl. He snapped his fingers and sent the Mad Titan away. He said he sent him to the bottom of the ocean, only to see the Mad Titan walk out of a portal seconds later completely dry. Discord snapped his fingers again, and said he had sent him to the sun, but he reappeared again completely unburned and still breathing. Finally Discord had had enough, he disappeared and reappeared behind Thanos and scratched open a portal with his eagle claw. He intended to toss the Titan out of their universe interily, only to miss grabbing him as he suddenly vanished with imperceptible speed. Before Discord could realize what was going on, he was picked up by the neck and tossed through the portal, to which Thanos closed his fist, shutting the portal himself.

Thanos took in a long inhale before turning back towards us. He asked us how long he should expect until Discord came back to challenge him. None of us could give him an answer.

Now looking annoyed, he began to stride towards us. We could all feel he intended on ending this. Torch launched his fist towards Thanos, intent on crushing him before he could get any closer. Thanos merely caught the ex-Dragon Lords fist and flipped him over his head and slammed him into the ground with enough force to cause a tremor that felt like an earthquake.

Flash Magnus and Rockhoof growled, they could not stand seeing their friends and allies treated like this any longer. They charged the Mad Titan, Flash brandishing a spear and Rockhoof his shovel, both aiming for vital areas on Thanos’s body that would lead to a quick death. They were both stopped however, when Thanos grabbed the stafts of both their weapons before they could connect, broke them, then proceeded to punch both stallions a good mile away with both of his closed fists.

Starswirl, Luna, Celestia, Cadence, and Mistmane were the next to attack. They fired a concentrated blast of pure magical energy out of their horns that completely engulfed the Titan where he stood. His silhouette could still be seen within the concentrated beam, at first casually walking then bursting forwards into an all out sprint.

He grabbed onto Celestia’s horn upon reaching her, from there lifting her up and using her like a billie club to swat the others away. He then slammed her on the ground, knocking her out. He turned to see only Luna and Cadence rising to stand after the blow he dealt them. He was quick to kick Cadence sending her to the ground. He then caught Luna by the neck before she had a chance to stab him with her horn.

He squeezed her neck within his grasp, finding no enjoyment in the pained gasps and tears flowing from the Lunar monarch. He felt a tap against the back of his head.

He turned to see Somnambula and Meadowbrook standing before him with rocks held firmly in their hooves. He asked them what they intended to do. They gave no answer but never-the-less stood defiant before this seemingly unstoppable opponent. He grimaced, before dropping Luna and stepping on her head, knocking her out.

He turned and stared at the two mares, as if contemplating the most appropriate move. Then he clenched his fist. Somnambula and Meadowbrook immediately fell to the ground, fast asleep.

It was about this time that me and my friends were able to reorient ourselves, the devastation we saw took our breath away. Thanos nodded to himself as he looked over us and the other defeated heroes of Equestria. He told us, that a winner had been decided.

Without a second thought, he lifted his golden hand and snapped his fingers.

That was how it happened and this is now the result. At first, I only noticed the few ponies around me disappearing before seeing the broader scope. Flash Magnus, Starswirl, even Princess Luna and Torch turned to dust before my very eyes. It hurt to watch, but only hurt more when I heard somepony fall out of a nearby tree because their legs had disappeared.

I don’t know why Spike was taking so long to vanish completely, when the others only took a few seconds. But in a way I was sort of relieved, this way I could comfort him one last time instead of finding him as pile of ash in the middle of the castle’s clean crystal floor.

I heard a sonic rainboom occur in the sky, and saw a brief stint of color out of the corner of my eye. Rainbow must have left, Thanos must have said something that caught her attention. I hope she finds what she’s looking for and that if she does find it, it hasn’t become a pile of ash like so many others we cared about.

I could feel Thanos was looking at me again. “As I had told her, this will all make sense in time.” He commented. “You will rebuild, and you will move on.” The fact he was saying this so casually made me grind my teeth. “And who knows…”

Spike’s weight finally vanished from my hooves as his body disintegrated completely.

“...you might find you enjoy the future much more than you did the past.”

I felt something snap within my brain, and I actually lunged at the Mad Titan with all the fury of a wild animal. To my credit, he genuinely seemed surprised that I attacked him.

I kicked off his stomach with my back legs while he was still caught off guard, and took to the air with a spell already charging within my horn. With every ounce of pain I had stored within my heart I fired at the monster that took my friend away from me.

My beam struck him in the stomach, sending him flying into the distance before skidding across the dirt. The moment he landed on his feet, he stood and glared at me as I dove towards him like a falcon chasing mouse.

I roared like a animal, firing burst after burst of my most powerful spells with the intent of wiping the purple stain of the face of the planet. But he just kept moving, only slightly, but always within my vision and just outside the radiance of my attacks.

I couldn’t tell if he was toying with me, or simple just didn’t feel the need to expel the energy. He had already won. He knew that, I knew that, and after Celestia explained it to the remaining populous of Equestria and its neighboring kingdoms, the whole world would know that. He was trying to tire me out, so he could make his leave unimpeded.

It worked. I fell to the ground, not because of exhaustion, but because I just couldn’t find a reason to fight anymore. I felt the tears pour down my face as I clawed at the dirt.

I so desperately wanted to kick something. I wanted to kick him! Repeatedly! Until he stopped moving all together! But… I couldn’t.

I looked up at him one last time. A portal had formed in front of him, it more than likely being his gateway back to the damnable hellhole he called home. I growled and shouted at him. “YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!” I was beginning to feel stomach hurting, the pure rage I was feeling was starting to get to me. “THE PONIES OF THIS WORLD DID NOTHING TO YOU! WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?! WHAT REASON WOULD MAKE YOU DO ANY OF THIS?! WHY DID YOU NEED TO KILL MY FRIEND?!”

For a moment, Thanos only looked at me. His blank expression didn’t change, but I could tell he was contemplating my question. He looked back at me before stepping towards the portal.

“Unattainable goals.” He said. “Love… the affections of another. The powers of infinity make these things more attainable, and I will burn down as many universes as need be to achieve my desires. Death herself will one day fall at my feet, and grovel in my presence. I will finally stand above all things and claim all that has ever, will, and hasn’t been as my reward.”

He stepped into the portal, before turning back to face me. “It is unfortunate, but I had no reason for coming to this universe. It just so happened to be the next one on my list.”

The portal closed, removing Thanos from Equestria entirely. I sat there and whimpered. I couldn’t think of anything else to do. It was true that he hadn’t taken everything from Equestria, but it felt like he had taken everything from me.

I heard hoofsteps falling behind me. I turned to see Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy just standing there, presumably having been sent to fetch me. Their eyes were watering, I could tell this travesty was affecting them just as much as it was me. Their lips were quivering, I could tell they wanted to ask me a question, but didn’t have the strength to say it at the moment.

It didn’t matter anyways, I knew what they wanted to ask. They wanted to ask their ‘fearless’ and ‘brilliant’ leader what we were going to do next, even though it was her stupid plan that made them lose in the first place!

Truthfully, I didn’t know what we were going to do. In my current depressed and frazzled state I doubted I would be able to given them an answer any time soon. But even despite the addled mind, I could tell one thing… a cheesy smile and a wave from the princess wasn’t going to please anyone this time.

Author's Note

A few more chapters focusing on other ponies points of view will be added at a later time. But for now, I hope your enjoy the story.