A Wizard's War

For the past couple of hours, it was as if Cadance had been in another world.

As she walked among all the dead laid down in the Canterlot throne room, she thought in that moment she felt more hollow than she ever had in her entire thirty six years of life. The deaths of her royal guards as well as Naiose, Gage, and Martin hit her hard. Especially Naiose and Gage - how old were they? Couldn't have been a day older than Joey...

Then there was Joey. He had been upstairs, according to Jo-Ann, for a long time - too long. How long was he planning on talking to Zecora?

She stopped dead as a horrifying thought came to her. What if he had snuck out to go see Lord Valkaris?

She shook her head to rid herself of the nasty thought. Joey wouldn't do that unless he had a real reason - and he definitely would have acted a lot more somber if he was going to die. Doing other wise just wasn't like him. Plus, it was nearly midnight - everyone would have known by now if he had died.

That's when the shockwave came.

The stained glass windows lining the throne room imploded, sending sharp shards everywhere. Cadance dove instinctively over the nearest bodies to shield them from the glass - which moments later she sheepishly and painfully removed herself from them, as they were already dead and could not be harmed any further.

There was a panicked shout, and Cadance looked up at the large clock that hung above the doors to the throne room.

Midnight. Their time was up.

She made haste to the front doors of the castle, where she joined her fellow princesses. She gave Twilight an awkward sideways hug with her wing before turning her attention upon the dark and empty courtyard. It was eerily silent; she assumed the Dark Lord would already be there with his troops, ready to resume battle.

Cadance looked around. "Does anyone know where Joey is? I don't see him!"

"I haven't seen him," Jo-Ann replied, who appeared at Cadance's side. "I'm sure he's still in the tower..."

Cadance turned away, feeling a scared feeling well up in her. What if Joey wasn't upstairs? What if he snuck out to confront the Dark Lord...?

No, that was silly. Someone would have easily seen him - he's the reason the battle started in the first place. They'd want to talk to him... yes, that was probably the thing holding him up.

Almost as if she had read her niece's thoughts, Celestia looked over at Cadance. "Where's your son?" she asked curiously. Luna and Twilight both turned their heads to listen, also looking curious.

"I - I don't know," Cadance replied. "Jo-Ann said he was up in the tower, but..."

"But what?" Luna asked with a slight edge to her voice, but any reply was cut off by Lord Valkaris's magically magnified voice.

"YOUR HERO IS DEAD."

Cadance's stomach dropped as she exchanged a terrified look with the other princesses. No - no, no, no, no...

"YOUR FUTILE EFFORTS ARE OVER," it continued. "I HAVE WON."

Out of the darkness in front of them came the immense crowd of Maulers, led by a gleeful looking Valkaris. He looked out over the crowd of resistance fighters in front of him, and removed the magnifying spell over his voice. There was a long, tense moment during which he walked out into the space between the two armies. His eye glinted wickedly.

"Joey Steffen is dead!!" he cried, and the crowd behind him began to laugh among themselves triumphantly. Even Valkaris himself cackled, beside himself with glee.

"NO!!" bellowed all four princesses (and Jo-Ann) at once. "YOU'RE LYING!!"

"Am I?" Valkaris sneered. "Bring him forth!"

The crowd behind him parted to allow one of the large dragons to pass. As it reached the edge of the crowd, Cadance saw that one of its closed fists was holding something.

The dragon tossed the limp form of a human to the ground roughly. It then retreated back into the crowd.

"No... no... oh, sweet Celestia, no..." Twilight moaned as tears began to fill up her eyes.

Valkaris strode over to the body and kicked it in the side, rolling it over so that now it faced the rebels.

It was Joey.

The entire crowd was so quiet you could have heard an ant walk. Everyone stared, horrified, at Joey's body, which still hadn't moved. Cadance could vaguely feel tears flowing down her face relentlessly.

"No... NO!!" Celestia bellowed, and the entire crowd began to scream and abuse Valkaris with their words. Valkaris stood there with a gloating smile, soaking all of it up as if they were compliments.

"Silence!" he said after a moment, and raised his wand. The crowd fell silent as though a large, invisible blanket had fallen upon them, muffling everything. Valkaris smiled. "Much better." He began to pace back and forth in front of the crowd, looking each creature in the eye individually. "If you do not believe me that your precious 'Chosen One' is dead, observe."

He pointed his wand at Joey's body and said calmly, "Excruciate!"

The body was lifted into the air and shook uncontrollably, but the expression on Joey's face remained passive. After doing this a couple of times to prove his point, Valkaris turned and spoke to the horrified and disgusted crowd.

"You have all fought bravely - however, I think enough innocent blood has been spilt today. Surrender now, and your lives will be spared. Surrender now, and we can build a new age together - a one world regime. Surrender now, and experience the glorious new golden age we have before us."

Lies, Cadance thought, looking at the ground bitterly, but then a golden glint caught her eye. Did that pool of tears in front of her just - sparkle?

"Now... who wants to join me in my efforts first?" Valkaris said with a cocky air. "Ah, yes... how about this charming young lady?"

He flicked his wand, and Jo-Ann was magically pulled out of the crowd. She looked absolutely mutinous.

"I will never join you," she snarled. Valkaris chuckled coldly, sending a shiver down both crowds.

"Don't be a fool..." he said softly. "I know what you have lost - I even understand -"

"You'll never understand!!" Jo-Ann shouted back hysterically, nearly screaming. "Order of Illisair!!"

The crowd of rebels and sovereigns roared, breaking through the silencing charm. They charged forward, catching Valkaris off balance. He shrieked some sort of curse, and anyone in a wide radius of him fell dead in a flash of red.

"Joey! Where's his body!?" Cadance sobbed, searching the ground earnestly side by side with Twilight and Celestia. Luna, however, was busy venting her anger on one of the dragons, which came crashing down on the crowd of Maulers.

Then the tears that fell from the faces of Cadance, Twilight, Celestia, and Jo-Ann began to act strangely. The moment they fell from their faces, they turned a brilliant gold. The moment they hit the ground, they zoomed off in the same direction - into the thick of the crowd. This continued on for a couple of minutes.

After a little while, Valkaris screamed, "ENOUGH!!" and sent out a shockwave that cleared the ground around him on all sides in a fifty foot radius. When the crowd of rebels attempted to push back, they found a magical, invisible wall preventing them from advancing any further.

Joey's body was nowhere to be found, but Valkaris did not notice or care. He glared murderously at the crowd in front of him, and raised his wand. He pointed it at Celestia, who was immediately bound in tight, black cords and magically thrown past the magical wall. She landed in the empty circle between the armies. Nothing stood between her and Valkaris.

"You and your colleagues have been too much of an issue," Valkaris snarled, pointing his wand at the solar diarch. "Now your country must deal with the consequences."

"NO!" Luna screamed. "SISTER!!"

Valkaris sneered as he looked into Celestia's defiant eyes. "Goodbye... your highness." He straightened up and refocused his wand on her.

"Mordo!!"

The swift death Celestia was expecting never came. She cracked one eye open, and felt her jaw hit the ground.

Joey was standing there. Alive. He had apparated in front of Celestia just in time to block the curse with his wand.

The entire courtyard was silent as they stared at Joey in disbelief.

"No - no, you are dead!! I killed you!!" Valkaris screeched, attempting to curse Joey again. Joey blocked it with much difficulty, but stood his ground defiantly. Valkaris roared, absolutely irate, and materialized into a column of smoke. He zoomed at Joey and knocked into him, and the two spiraled off into the sky in Valkaris's tendril of smoke.

"For the Order!!" screamed a new voice, and to everyone's surprise, Derek Bergemann apparated in front of the crowd of rebels, facing Valkaris's dark army. He roared and began to charge, and others followed him, all untied under the prospect of Joey's incredible survival.

Spells rocketed forward, but the rebels were in their prime. Celestia floored Claudier, and Ganger at the same time. Scallius fell screaming at Luna's horn. Cadance, Twilight, and Rarity were dueling seven Maulers at the same time, and clearly had the upper edge. Glynn jinxed down Minotaurs left and right.

Far above the castle, Valkaris and Joey fought one another tooth and nail in Valkaris's tendril of smoke. Valkaris took gut wrenching maneuvers, attempting to throw Joey off as they struck each other in the face. After a minute or two of this, Joey saw the west tower out of the corner of his eye, and pulled on Valkaris with all his might. Valkaris was too bust trying to land punches to realize where they were headed.

The two of them smashed through the tower, and immediately plunged back down towards the courtyard. Far below, the falling tendril of smoke caught Glynn's eye.

"INCOMING!!" he bellowed, and everyone in his vicinity looked up. Those who saw what was coming dove out of the way, and other followed. Others were struck down in their attempts to get out of the way.

The column of smoke collided with the ground, sending dust and bits of stone everywhere. Everyone else fighting stopped what they were doing, and turned to watch with bated breath.

The smoke cleared, and the impact of the landing sent Joey tumbling across the ground. Valkaris did not tumble when he landed, for he caught himself before he moved very far. Both of their wands clattered away from them.

As one, they both rolled over onto their stomachs and looked each other in the eyes - hazel to scarlet. Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion.

Joey and Valkaris both began clawing their way towards their wands Joey was not so far from his...

Only five feet to go...

Four feet...

Three feet...

Only two more feet... Valkaris was awfully close to his wand as well...

Just one more foot to go...

At the same exact time, Joey and Valkaris reached their wands. They stretched out as far as they could and brought them into their clutched with their fingers.

Once either of them had gotten a good grip on their wands, they both slowly stumbled to their feet. At the same time, both of them had brought their wands down in a slashing motion.

"Mordo!!"

"Edomo!!"

A beam of pale green light issued from Valkaris's wand; a beam of blue light issued from Joey's. They met in the center with a great roaring noise, and the two wizards, light versus dark, good versus evil, pushed against one another's spells, trying to gain superiority.

Where the beams met, there was a small white bead of energy there. It slowly moved towards Joey's wand, making the boy break out into a sweat as he grit his teeth harder than ever and pushed back. He halted the bead's progress inches from his own wand.

He thrust his wand downward, breaking the connection. The sudden end to the connection threw Valkaris slightly off balance. Joey used this and struck again.

"Edomo!!" he cried, but Valkaris countered.

"Mordo!!"

The beams of light met again, but this time, the bead moved closer to Valkaris's wand. Joey relentlessly pushed against the bead, feeling more pain than he had ever felt in his life as he did so.

The bead connected with Valkaris's wand, and exploded into millions of particles. Valkaris recoiled, and looked slowly down at his own hands.

Joey watched carefully, along with everyone else in the courtyard, as Valkaris stared down at his own shaky hands. Slowly, he began to turn to dust, which blew off in the wind.

Valkaris let out a pained, soft wail as he turned his face skyward, knowing he was defeated. He disentegrated completely, leaving a silent wail on the cool night breeze.